Sam Milai @ CRL; lecture 10/27

Currently playing at the Cartoon Research Library is the work of Sam Milai, an editorial cartoonist for the Pittsburgh Courier, a prominent black newspaper. Most of the work covers events during the civil rights movement of the 60s. There are also profiles of prominent blacks throughout history. Next Monday at 4:30, there'll be a discussion of Milai's work led by Dr. Rebecca Wanzo. The exhibit continues through December 31.

Discussing the Discourse of Comics

The Rhetoric of Comics -::- November 10, 2008, 7PM
A talk by Karin Kukkonen, PhD candidate at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and the University of Tampere, Finland.

Being a medium of visual narration, the images of comics are not limited to merely showing events. On the contrary, much of their storytelling relies on what the image sequences tell readers. Yet are images even capable of telling like language? Can they reproduce the stylistic effects of metaphor and metonymy? And will Superman escape the clutches of anaphora or is he doomed to live through the same story time and again?

Addressing these and other questions, Karin Kukkonen's talk explores the visual rhetoric of comics narration on the level of individual images, image sequences and larger narrative structure. If the rhetoric of comics emerges from the same thought patterns as classical rhetoric, she argues, this longstanding critical tradition can help us to understand how comics tell their story.

Co-sponsored by Project Narrative and the Cartoon Research Library.

Location:
Seminar Room next to the library
Cartoon Research Library
27 W. 17th Avenue Mall
Columbus, OH 43210

Akron, OH Editorial Cartoonist Buyout

Just got this update from Tom Surgeon's Comics Reporter feed. It's a link to The Daily Cartoonist's news blurb about Akron Beacon Journal's editorial cartoonist, Chip Bok, retiring. Tom's going to write a more detailed post on his blog tomorrow. So do yourself a favor and check that out, in fact subscribe to his feed, okay?**

In other Ohio editorial cartoonist news (thanks to a little searching on the Daily Cartoonist site): There's good news & sad news about Mike Peters... I was fortunate enough to see Mike last year at the OSU Cartoon Research Library Festival of Cartoon Art and he's a total goof. Seriously.

One more from The Daily Cartoonist: although Sam Milai wasn't an Ohio editorial cartoonist, his work is being exhibited through the end of the year at the OSU Cartoon Research Library.

**Update 10/13/2008: Chip Bok will continue on with the paper until November 7 - election day.

Getting back into the swing of things

Over the summer, this blog was left fallow and that's entirely my fault. But recent events and circumstances have rejuvenated me and I will (along with some of my fellow Sunday Comixers) be updating this site with the sort of information you readers have come to expect. Such as this one (be warned, this event is probably not for the kiddies nor for the faint of heart!):

Nicole Hollander Tales of Graceful Aging from the Planet Denial: A Reading

Tue, Oct 21, 2008 - 7:00 PM
Wexner Film/Video Theater

Nicole Hollander is the creator of the comic strip Sylvia, which appears in over 80 newspapers across the country. On October 21, she will read from Tales of Graceful Aging from the Planet Denial, her humorous and very personal reflection on the realities of aging. Famed cartoonist Jules Feiffer calls the book, “infectious, smart, wacky, laugh-out-loud funny and gorgeously written.” Ms Hollander is alos the author/illustrator of Cats with Attitude and Psycho Kitties. A book signing at the Wexner Center Store follows.

This event is co-sponsored by the Cartoon Research Library, Wexner Center for the Arts, Project Narrative, Department of Women's Studies, and Geriatrics and Gerentology Center.

Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: A Graphic Novel Workshop

Sat, Jul 26, 2008 | 1:00 - 5:00PM
Wexner Center
Advance registration is required

Matt Madden, illustrator and author of 99 Ways to Tell a Story and Drawing Words & Writing Pictures (with his wife, Jessica Abel), is going to offer a crash course in creating your own graphic novel in this hands-on workshop for adults. In introduction to an interview conducted for the Comics Journal, Gary Sullivant wrote:

What has impressed me most about Madden, beyond his considerable skills as a visual artist and storyteller, is his constant experimentation. His approach to comics differs from that of most practitioners, which is to find a particular style that works well and refine it, often revisiting the same subject matter from book to book. I pretty much know what I'm going to get in the next comic by Adrian Tomine, the Hernandez brothers, or even Chris Ware — though I love what each of them does. But Madden, even before 99 Ways to Tell a Story, has approached each project as an opportunity to explore different styles, methods and even subjects. In this, he embodies the great New York poet Frank O'Hara's most famous line: "Grace to be born and live as variously as possible."

So, this is definitely not going to be a "how to draw superheroes" sort of workshop! No prior experience is necessary, and materials will be provided. There is a fee of $12 for members of the Wexner Center or $15 for the general public. To register, call the education department at (614) 292-6493, or e-mail edweb@wexarts.org.

A Looney Tunes Evening with Jeff Smith

Thu, Jun 5, 2008 | 7:00PM
Film/Video Theater

Jeff Smith has described Bone as “a Bugs Bunny cartoon meets Lord of the Rings.” Join him next Thursday, June 5 as he introduces some of his favorite Warner Bros.’ cartoons and discusses the influence their characteristic zaniness had on his own work.

The program features Chuck Jones’s celebrated “hunting trilogy”—Rabbit Fire (1951), Rabbit Seasoning (1952), and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1953)—all three starring Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Daffy Duck. (app. 90 mins., 35mm).

Bring your family and young friends. This program is designed for all ages.

TICKETS
$5 members
$7 general public
$5 students
$5 senior citizens
$3 children under 12

TO PURCHASE TICKETS CALL (614) 292-3535 or buy tickets online

Wexner Center for the Arts
The Ohio State University
1871 North High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1393
Entrance Level of the Wexner Center

The exhibition Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond, on view through August 3, features original comic book drawings by the Columbus-based artist and some of the comics artists who have inspired him. The exhibition and related events are presented in collaboration with Ohio State’s Cartoon Research Library.

It Just Keeps Growing!

As if what's going on at the Library isn't enough as it is, I just got this press release (which is pretty damn awesome-- especially the fourth paragraph)...

The collection of the International Museum of Cartoon Art (IMCA) is moving to The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library. The union of these two institutions will create the largest collection of original cartoon art in the world.

IMCA was established in 1973 by Mort Walker, the creative force behind Beetle Bailey, as the first museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting cartoons. The museum opened in 1974 in a converted mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut. Two years later, the museum relocated to a renovated castle in Rye Brook, New York, where the collection was displayed until 1992. At that time the city of Boca Raton, Florida invited the museum to construct a 52,000 square foot facility as part of an effort to attract cultural institutions to Palm Beach County. The museum was a very popular attraction with highly acclaimed exhibits, events and functions for the public. It was still paying off the cost of its construction when two of its financial backers went bankrupt creating a $5 million loss and causing the museum to close.

IMCA’s collection consists of approximately 200,000 works, including original drawings from all genres of cartoon art (comic strips, comic books, animation, editorial, advertising, sport, caricature, greeting cards, graphic novels, and illustrations), display figures, toys and collectibles, and works on film and tape, CDs, and DVDs.

Lucy Shelton Caswell, professor and curator of the Cartoon Research Library, said, “We are honored that the IMCA’s board has placed its treasures in our care.” Efforts are underway to provide increased space for the Cartoon Research Library that will include museum-quality galleries. “It is critical that we have state-of-the-art gallery space to display IMCA’s collection appropriately,” notes Caswell. A gallery in the new facility will be named in honor of IMCA founder Mort Walker.

Joe Branin, Director of The Ohio State University Libraries, issued the following statement: “Special Collections, original manuscripts, photographs, and other rare or unique items so necessary for scholarship, are one of the critical identifiers of any research library. Universities point to their special collections as distinctive points of pride, those things that make their libraries unique. In receiving the collection of the International Museum of Cartoon Art, the Cartoon Research Library has substantially enhanced its standing as one of the premier research libraries. We are excited to make this outstanding collection available for scholarly study and for general appreciation in exhibits and other public programs.”

About the Cartoon Research Library: The Cartoon Research Library's primary mission is to develop a comprehensive research collection of materials documenting American printed cartoon art (editorial cartoons, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, sports cartoons, and magazine cartoons) and to provide access to these collections. The library is open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Weekend Hangover

This post is very late...

I don't drink, but boy oh boy, did I get drunk last weekend! Not on alcohol but on comics. On Friday night, I hung out with a hundred or so people at the Wexner Center to celebrate Jeff Smith's Bone and Beyond show there. I got the chance to chat with the likes of Scott McCloud and Harvey Pekar (who was in town for the Ohioana Book Festival). I was telling my friends Chuck & Sam, who were with me, that it was the first time (in a long time) that I've been giddy about loving comic books. The party continued on Saturday afternoon with a "public conversation" between Scott McCloud (who acted more like an interviewer) and Jeff Smith at the Mershon Auditorium. The conversation was great and the Q&A session was fantastic. There was a book signing afterwards. and I ended up being close to the end of the line and had some great conversations with the other McCloud & Smith readers.


I scoured the internets to find some well-written and informative articles about the event(s) and came up with the following:

• From the horse's mouth-- Boneville's photo journal of Smith & Co. setting up the gallery at the Wex (part one & two).
• Local newspaper The Columbus Dispatch published a nice article in their Arts section.
• Local writer J. Caleb Mozzocco wrote two far superior, more in depth articles about the exhibitSmith/McCloud conversation on his blog, Every Day Is Like Wednesday.
• A great Comic Related Recap of the weekend. There's loads of pictures on the Comic Related website: here, here, here, here and here.
• Yours truly took a few snapshots, too.
  

I'm sure there's more to be found, but I'm still recovering.

A Bone To Pick

Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond
Sat, May 10 - Sun, Aug 3, 2008
Wexner Center Galleries
(Admission is free & open from 11 AM until 8 PM)

Jeff Smith is one of the great success stories of independent comics. In July of 1991, he launched Cartoon Books in Columbus, Ohio, to publish his black-and-white comic strip Bone. A tale of three marshmallowy creatures named Bone, adrift in a world of humans, monsters and fantasy creatures, Bone has since been translated into 15 languages and won Smith countless awards.

In 2005, Time magazine called Bone one of the 10 greatest graphic novels of all-time. This exhibition—a partnership between the Wexner Center and Ohio State University's Cartoon Research Library—encompasses approximately 80 original drawings: primarily original black-and-white pages from Bone, with a smaller selection of full-color Bone covers and post-Bone work, including original drawings from Smith's recent Shazam series for DC Comics and from Rasl, his current project about a time-traveling thief.

The exhibition also includes a selection of original comics whose artists Smith cites as direct influences, among them examples from Walt Kelly's Pogo, Will Eisner's The Spirit, George Herriman's Krazy Kat, Charles Schulz's Peanuts, Carl Barks's Uncle Scrooge, Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury, and E. C. Segar's Thimble Theatre. The exhibition is organized by Lucy Shelton Caswell, professor and curator of Ohio State's Cartoon Research Library, and David Filipi, the Wexner Center's curator of film and video.

Here is the calendar of events being held in conjunction with the gallery show:

Artists Talk: Jeff Smith and Scott McCloud in Conversation
Sat, May 10, 2008 | 2:00PM
Mershon Auditorium

Join Bone-creator Jeff Smith and comic book artist and theorist Scott McCloud for a lively conversation about Smith’s career and each artist’s view of the practice and future of comic book art. McCloud is the author of Understanding Comics, Making Comics, and Reinventing Comics and the creator of the comic Zot!

Gallery Talks: Lucy Shelton Caswell and Dave Filipi on Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond
Wed, May 14, 2008 | 12:30PM
Wexner Center Galleries

In these hour-long gallery conversations, you'll discuss the current exhibitions with artists, curators, and members of the Ohio State community.

Artist's Talk: Terry Moore
Thu, May 15, 2008 | 7:00PM
Film/Video Theater

Best known for his epic and unpredictable comic Strangers in Paradise and a key figure in the self-publishing of comics, Terry Moore is one of the most influential artist/writers working today.

Artist's Talk: Paul Pope
Tue, May 20, 2008 | 7:00PM
Film/Video Theater

One of the most eclectic talents in comics, Ohio State alumnus Paul Pope works in such diverse genres and styles as superheros, erotica, and manga.

He’ll offer insightful comments about his own practice and an overview of his remarkable career, which includes the sci-fi book THB, Heavy Liquid, and Batman: Year 100. The collection Pulphope: The Art of Paul Pope was published in 2007.

A Looney Tunes Evening with Jeff Smith
Thu, Jun 5, 2008 | 7:00PM
Film/Video Theater

Jeff Smith has described Bone as “a Bugs Bunny cartoon meets Lord of the Rings.” Join him this evening as he introduces some of his favorite Warner Bros.’ cartoons and discusses the influence their characteristic zaniness had on his own work.

The program features Chuck Jones’s celebrated “hunting trilogy”—Rabbit Fire (1951), Rabbit Seasoning (1952), and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1953)—all three starring Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Daffy Duck. (app. 90 mins., 35mm).

Bring your family and young friends. This program is designed for all ages.

A related show, titled Jeff Smith: Before Bone, is on view nearby in Ohio State's Cartoon Research Library from May 1 until September 5. (The library entrance is just north of the Wexner Center's main entrance, along the sidewalk under the "grid.") That exhibition is open 9 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday, and on Saturday, May 10, from 1 to 5 PM. Admission is free.

Can You Hear An Echo in Space?

In honor of promoting the "Trifecta of Self-Publishing 2008," I am posting the following announcement:

Terry Moore's ECHO #1 will debut on March 5th (with a silver foil cover!). The books will hit the shelves in comic shops all around the country three days after S.P.A.C.E. wraps up (where you can meet Dave Sim) and a little over two months before Terry comes to Columbus (on May 15) to help celebrate Jeff Smith's BONE exhibit at the Wex Center.

“Echo” is the story of a young photographer named Julie Martin. “Julie becomes the unwilling host to a symbiotic nuclear weapon," so says Terry in a recent interview with Comic Book Resource's Emmett Furey. Echo is quite a different story from SiP, but so it is with the rest of the ToSP 2008.

What is the Trifecta of Self-Publishing 2008, anyway? Terry Moore, Jeff Smith and Dave Sim are three of the "deities" of the 1990s self-publishing boom. They have all finished up their respective award winning, critically acclaimed ongoing comic book series (Strangers In Paradise, Bone and Cerebus). By coincidence, this year they are all returning to self-publishing with new comic book series: Echo, RASL, and Glamourpuss. If that ain't a trifecta, I don't know what is.

First OSU 2008 Cartoon Exhibit Announced

Recently posted on the OSU Cartoon Research Library website:


Anne Mergen: Editorial Cartoonist
February 1 – April 11, 2008

Anne Mergen’s editorial cartoons chronicle history from the Great Depression through the Cold War. During that time, she was the only woman in the nation working as an editorial cartoonist.

Mergen was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1906. She studied commercial art in Chicago before moving to Miami in the mid 1920s to work as a fashion advertising artist for a local department store. When the Miami Daily News, part of the Cox newspaper chain, hired her as its editorial cartoonist in 1933, she was the only woman editorial cartoonist in the United States, a status that continued until her retirement in 1956. She continued to have cartoons published as late as 1959.

She had a home studio and all of the contemporary press coverage about her career celebrates the fact that she drew her editorial cartoons only after fulfilling her duties as wife and mother to two children. In addition to being published in the Miami Daily News, her cartoons were published in other Cox newspapers including the Atlanta Journal and the Dayton News.

The editorial cartoons in this exhibit range from Mergen’s take on Goebbels’ propaganda to the advent of nuclear power. She was a thoughtful commentator on the events of her time and her work merits wider recognition.

Anne Mergen died in 1994. The cartoons in this exhibition were donated to the Cartoon Research Library by her grandchildren, Matthew Bernhardt and Christine Hoverman. The Anne Mergen Collection at the Cartoon Research Library contains almost 600 original editorial cartoons documenting her work.

Be sure to visit the Library and see the exhibit of Ms. Mergen's work.

The OSU Cartoon Reasearch Library is located in the Northeast portion of the Wexner Center complex, north of the Mershon Auditorium. Entry doors are located underneath the large, white, steel grid that runs north-south (parallel to High St.) at the north end. After entering the building, take the stairs or elevator down one floor. The Cartoon Research Library is located next to the Fine Arts Library.

The Gallery/Reading Room is open M-F 9a-5p. No appointments are necessary to view exhibits in the reading room.

The Ohio State University
Cartoon Research Library
27 West 17th Ave. Mall
Columbus, OH 43210-1393

T 614.292.0538
F 614.292.9101
E cartoons@osu.edu

Parking for the Cartoon Research Library is available at the Ohio Union Garage . The South Campus Gateway garage, located one block east of North High Street between 9th and 11th Avenues, is also nearby. For other parking on campus, search area parking map.

Interview with Sci-Fi Smith

As posted on PW Comics Week:

After taking a successful plunge into mainstream comics with last year’s Shazam: The Monster Society of project for DC Comics, Jeff Smith is returning to the world of self publishing with his new series, RASL, which debuts in February. But fans of Smith’s long-running and internationally acclaimed independent series Bone be warned: RASL is a departure from kid-friendly material. Planned as a quarterly series, RASL is a blend of science fiction and noir, following an art thief who jumps dimensions to steal famed paintings. Read the "Let’s get ready to RASL" interview here.

Hmmm... It seems the Spring of `08 is the Trifecta of Self Publishing. Mr. Smith's new book is being published in February. Terry Moore returns to self publishing with his comic, Echo, available in March and Dave Sim will be merging onto the road he helped to pave with his "secret project" (which is not so secret anymore), Glamourpuss, to be launched in April.

Also of note, all three of these artists will be appearing in Columbus this Spring: Dave Sim will be at S.P.A.C.E. on March 1, and Jeff Smith & Terry Moore will speaking at the Wex Center in conjunction with Mr. Smith's Bone art exhibit. (More announcement to come regarding the Bone Exhibit.)

P.Craig Russell visits OSU Cartoon Resaerch Library

This video is from Wayne Alan Harold's upcoming profile of acclaimed Ohio comics illustrator P. Craig Russell (DR. STRANGE, SANDMAN, THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG).

Mr. Harold notes:

This is just a rough scene that gets us down there and into the place—there will be quite a bit more in the finished profile, including a tour of the library, glimpses at Hal Foster and Winsor McCay originals, an examination of Craig's original CORALINE art, a surprise appearance by one of Craig's previous publishers, plus (as they say) much, much more!"

High Praise for Columbus Comix Culture

Chuck Moore wrapped up his Comic Related coverage on the Mid-Ohio-Con with this to say:

"It was a great show! The relaxed pace and positive attitude of the show staff really contributed to making it a success. Organizer Roger Price and everyone who worked so hard to put on the show should be proud.

"We will return for next year's Mid-Ohio-Con and we'll be back to Columbus for S.P.A.C.E. (www.backporchcomics.com) March 1-2, 2008.

Not to be ignored and in the area is the Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond gallery show. Put on by Ohio State University's Wexner Center for the Arts (www.wexarts.org) and the Cartoon Research Library (www.cartoons.osu.edu), the show will run May 10th - August 17th, 2008.

When it comes to comics, Columbus is at the top of their game and that's proving to be a very good thing."

And, of course Sunday Comix will be doing it's thing every month at the Upper Arlington Library as well as putting on a gallery show or two over the next few months... Yep., without a doubt, 2008 is going to be a banner year for comics in Columbus.

Festival of Photos

Thanks to Craig Boldman over in the NCS Great Lakes Chapter for taking these great photos of the "Plot Threads" event at the Thurber House as well as a few shots from the OSU Festival of Cartoon Art.

The Daily Cartoonist has a good list of links to other photos & write-ups on the Festival. Hard to believe we'll have to wait another three years until the next one! Be sure to keep calendar clear for October 2010!


Can you name all the artists who contributed to this jam?

Mike Peters at OSU Festival of Cartoon Art

Mark Anderson, posted this video of the last 7 minutes of Mike Peters' presentation at the OSU Festival of Cartoon Art last weekend. I was fortunate to see the whole thing live.

Carol Tyler at the Wex - Nov. 8

Just received this press release from Jenny Robb of the OSU Cartoon Research Library:

Carol Tyler
Sepia Tome: Telling Dad's World War II Story
Thursday, November 8, 2007
4:00 pm

Free and open to the public
021L Wexner Center, 27 West 17th Avenue Mall

Adjacent to the Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library

Comic artist Carol Tyler will discuss her upcoming book Sepia Tome: Telling Dad's World War II Story. Tyler's comics first appeared in Weirdo and Wimmen's Comix twenty years ago. Since then she has contributed to numerous comics anthologies and published two solo works, The Job Thing in 1993 and Late Bloomer in 2005. Late Bloomer presents a rich and powerful collection of Tyler's autobiographical comic stories beautifully published in color by Fantagraphics.

In the introduction to Late Bloomer, Robert Crumb writes, “She is tops, in my book, one of the best artists alive and working in the comics medium. She has fine aesthetic instincts... Her drawings are always pleasing to look at, warm, delicate, inviting. Yet the content, the stories, are all about gritty reality, the hard struggles of common, everyday life.” For more information about Carol Tyler, see her website: www.bloomerland.com.

Tyler’s presentation is co-sponsored by the Cartoon Research Library, Project Narrative, Department of Women's Studies and the Department of History's Harvey Goldberg Program for Excellence in Teaching.

This event is part of Storytelling 2007: A Celebration of Graphic Narrative, a special year of events and exhibitions celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of master-storyteller Milton Caniff, the founding donor of the Cartoon Research Library. Caniff was the creator of the comic strips Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon.

For more information, see http://cartoons.osu.edu.

October is the Month of Caniff in Columbus!

In honor of the centennial of Milton Caniff's birth...

Read!

this article in the Columbus Dispatch.

Visit!

Milton Caniff: American Master and School of Caniff
Mon Oct 8 – Sun Oct 28
Hopkins Hall Gallery + Corridor

Rarities: Unusual Works from the Caniff Collection
September 4th, 2007 - January 19th, 2008
OSU Cartoon Research Library

Celebrate!

“The Hopkins Hall galleries are a wonderful place to celebrate the Caniff centennial,” says (Lucy) Caswell. “Caniff studied painting with Professor James Hopkins—the building’s namesake—when he was an Ohio State student.”

An exhibitions reception is scheduled 4–7 pm Friday, Oct 26 in Hopkins Hall.

Collins' Alley Oop Doc

Caveman: V. T. Hamlin & Alley Oop
(Max Allan Collins, 2005)

Wed, Oct 10, 2007 | 7:00PM
Wexner Center for the Arts: Film/Video Theater

Directed by Road to Perdition writer Max Allan Collins, Caveman examines the career of V. T. Hamlin and the creation of his long-running comic strip Alley Oop.

First appearing in 1932, the strip follows the prehistoric character Alley Oop, his pet dinosaur Dinny, and the citizens of the kingdom of Moo. Featuring interviews with Will Eisner and longtime Hamlin assistant Dave Graue, the film provides a wonderful depiction of the process of producing comic strips in the 20th century. Along with the graphic novel Road to Perdition, Collins has written numerous novels and comic strips, including a 15-year run on Dick Tracy. (53 mins., video)

Cosponsored by Ohio State’s Cartoon Research Library in conjunction with Storytelling 2007 and the 2007 Festival of Cartoon Art being held October 26–27 in Columbus. Please visit http://cartoons.osu.edu for more information.

$5 members
$7 general public
$5 students
$5 senior citizens

- Buy tickets online

OSU Festival Speaker Update

Oh, for the love of links...

I read on the Daily Cartoonist that Mike Rhode's ComicsDC Blog posted new info on OSU's upcoming Festival of Cartoon Art. The update is that Paul Pope, Arnold Roth and David Saylor will be added to the line-up of speakers, replacing Jules Feiffer, Guy Delisle and Mark Siegel, who have canceled their appearance.