This weekend, if you’re in Columbus, Ohio or anywhere nearabout, the only place to be is the Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond exhibit opening at the Wexner Center for the Arts. Of course it contains mucho awesome Jeff Smith art, but there is more:

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. The catalogue features an introduction by Caswell, essays by Filipi, Sandman creator Neil Gaiman, and cartoonist and scholar Scott McCloud, and an extensive and wide-ranging interview/conversation with Jeff Smith, Caswell, and Filip.

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.

There are a host of related events, as well, starting this Saturday at 2:

• Jeff Smith and Scott McCloud in Conversation Book signing follows Sat, May 10, 2008 | 2:00PM Mershon Auditorium

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

In this informal gallery talk, the curators of Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond talk about the project’s development and selected pieces in the exhibition. Lucy Shelton Caswell is professor and curator of Ohio State’s Cartoon Research Library. Dave Filipi is the Wexner Center’s curator of film and video.

• Terry Moore
Artist’s Talk Book signing follows Thu, May 15, 2008 | 7:00PM Film/Video Theater

• Paul Pope
Artist’s Talk Book signing follows Tue, May 20, 2008 | 7:00PM Film/Video Theater

Bonus: See photos of the show set-up at the Bone blog.

ALSO: Smith talks about the exhibit with Vaneta Rogers.

Technorati Tags: Jeff Smith

Lynda Barry’s WHAT IT IS comes out in a few short days, and the legendary cartooner will be touring all spring and summer, into the fall D&Q reports. Here are her current tour dates:

06/4 The Strand New York, NY
06/5 Free Library of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
06/6 NYU Cantor Center New York, NY
06/7-8 MoCCA Fest New York, NY
06/12 Hideout Chicago, IL
07/24-27 Comic-Con San Diego, CA

Dan Barlow sends word of a spring tour for this New England cartoon collective–frankly we didn’t know there were two conventions in New Hampshire alone!

The Trees & Hills comics group will celebrate the end of a long winter this year by hitting the road for a spring tour.

The 2008 SPRING THAW TOUR features the debut of several new comics by members of Trees & Hills - a social cartooning group for creators in Vermont, New Hampshire and western Massachusetts - and a chance to meet with local comic fans and other creators.

Trees & Hills members will appear at two conventions in New Hampshire in May before trekking out to New York City for the MoCCA festival in June.

First up is the Granite State Comicon in Manchester, N.H. on May 18. Trees & Hills co-founders Dan Barlow and Colin Tedford will be on hand for the event while Mimi’s Doughnuts creator Marek Bennett leads the crowd in a massive comics jam

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Blair Marnell writes to tell of of a new West Coast comedy/comics talk show called Comics on Comics — the set-up will sounds familiar to anyone who’s ever been to The Comic Book Club here in NYC which has an identical format, but a West coast version would be a natural — three comedians and one comic book guest. The first episode tapes tonight at Meltdown. PR below:

Retcon Media today officially announced the launch of Comics on Comics, an innovative video podcast mixing stand-up comedy and comic books. The show, which gathers three comedians and one comic book related guest, is hosted by the hilarious Robbie Peron (The Best Damned Sports Show), and is taped in front of a live audience.

“The inspiration came from an article in Wired,” said Comics on Comics co-creator and executive producer, Juan-Manuel Rocha. “A blurb on the cover about ‘Comic Podcasts’ led me to believe that it would be about my favorite comic book podcasts. Instead, the story was focused solely on comedy podcasts. However, it sparked my first thoughts about combining comics with comedy and almost immediately, the concept for Comics on Comics started to take shape.”

“Juan came to me with the idea and I knew it had tremendous potential,” added co-creator and executive producer, Vito Lapiccola. “We quickly settled on a format, but we felt that we needed someone well versed in both comedy and comic books to serve as our host. Fortunately, we found Robbie and the rest will hopefully be history.”

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The MoCCA Fest benefitting Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art has announced its programming, and it definitely leans towards the adventurous edge of comics, with CF, Frank Santoro, Chip Kidd, Bill Plympton and more, including Norwegian cartoons.

All of it sounds great, and we’ll be there.

[Cartoon Via American Elf.]
Retailers around the world report that Saturday’s Free Comic Book Day was a big success. Lots of kids came in, happy to be getting their free comics, potential new customers came out in large numbers, and it was a big event in and of itself. In Dearborn, MI, the Mayor even made a proclamation. All of the Image founders (including Whilce Portacio!) signed at Atomic Comics in Phoenix, AZ, an event recounted in pictures by Andy Khouri. Matt Brady went to Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find in NC. Lots of people went all over the place!

Scanning FCBD blogs entries, the majority pretty happy and upbeat. Scanning them , many are from people who dressed up as superheroes to partake in the promotions. Tim O’Shea rounds up more quotes and reports. Eric Trautmann co-owner of Olympic Cards & Comics in Lacey, WAwrites at Whitechapel:

Our big winners were OWLY, which a whole bunch of kids instantly fell in love with; oddly, the GYRO GEARLOOSE Disney issue did well for us, as well. The grownups gravitated toward Dan Dare, Hellboy, and All Star Superman, so that was nice. Good books all. Other retailers’ mileage may vary, but FCBD is always a shot in the arm for us, and a great form of community outreach, if properly marketed. If I had one gripe, it was the very short-sighted move by Marvel, not having a standalone IRON MAN for FCBD, because a rather large number of people came in looking for Iron Man. The trio issue of Iron Man, Spider Man and Hulk was okay, but most of the younger crowd were really in the throes of Tony Love after the movie–just didn’t WANT Spidey or Hulk getting in the way. Sigh.

LA Mood Comics, in London, ON, does what we’ve thought some smart comics shop should do someday and puts the Simpsons in the window.

Despite the rain, what a great day it turned out to be! Thank you Great and Loyal Customers for making Free Comic Book Day a huge success! I know we had way more people through the door than ever before! We gave out FCBD bags to each person who came in and went through 500 of them by 1:30! whew!

Here’s a picture from later in the day from the same blog:

Not everyone was COMPLETELY happy, of course. Matt at Alert Nerd writes:

Call me the Grinch What Stole FCBD, but I think a limit on the number of comics you can get sorta defeats the purpose of Free Comic Book Day. As it’s evolved, FCBD has basically come to serve two audiences: Diehard comics readers who want to get free stuff and maybe check out material they might not otherwise see, and non-readers of varying descriptions who turn up because they heard about the free stuff. Neither of these audiences is served by a limit, because no one gets to really TRY anything they don’t already WANT. Like most fans, I went into FCBD with a small list of titles I knew I wanted to check out, and it was way longer than three. So it’s possible I would have just gotten material I already was reading, like DC Universe Zero, which this store had for free (admittedly, a nice move) but which isn’t really gonna convince me to try any additional DC books, since I’m already gonna get most of them anyway.

Where there will always be questions and cavils, it sounds like comic books are now child-safe, well-liked and socially acceptable. So maybe a comic book is as good as an ice cream cone.

PLUS: Critical round-ups of this year’s offerings:

¶Douglas Wolk at Salon (you must watch a short film to read.)

¶
Occasional Superheroine

¶ Johanna part 1.

It was a busy day at the traditional ICv2 conference held before the NYCC. Milton Griepp kicked things off with his annual white paper. See today’s Publishers Weekly Daily for details. Then came a panel on “the battle for talent” where editors and agents talked about issues in acquiring and maintaining talent. Graphic Novels for “Tweens” were the focus of the next panel, with the buyer’s panel wrapping things up. The overall message? All systems go! However a few cautionary notes were sounded: there are a LOT of graphic novels and manga out there, and shelf space is full, both in stores and the homes of consumers. The question of “Where will manga readers go as they grow up?” was considered by a number of panelists but no one had a solid answer. A few pics from the show:

Calvin Reid leads a discussion with editors Mark Siegel, Betsy Mitchell, Ginee Seo, and agents Bob Mecoy, Judy Hansen and Merilee Heifetz.

Two views of the crowd.

Laura Hudson dressed to match the tasty Transcontinental blue martinis! Later in the day she was banned from all Virgin Comics events.

After this conference it was off to Coolture Spain for a special CBLDF reception for the publishing industry. Neil Gaiman and Paul Levitz were on hand to explain to the book publishing industry the importance of supporting the defense fund as more and more traditional publishers get into the graphic novel business. Representative from Harper Collins, Random House and other book houses attended along with cartooners Jess Smith, Paul Pope, Colleen Doran and Peter David.

(We don’t have IDs on all these photos because our memory is shot, alas.)

Chris Staros, Jeff Newelt and Mike Geszel.

Neil Gaiman, Paul Levitz and Charles Brownstein.

Unidentified, Troma’s Lloyd Kauffman and Gaiman. Yes, Neil has a black eye.

Staros, Paul Pope, Judy Hansen and unidentified.

We had to poop out on last night’s RASL party because..well..we’re only human. Missing out on the chance to hobnob with Jeff Smith, Frank Miller, Colleen Doran, Kazu Kabuishi, Larry Marder, Becky Cloonan, Nikki Cook, Dan Goldman, Josh Dysart, and 100 fans was painful but necessary. At any rate the party was a big success as these photos by Ryan Roman show:

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If you aren’t at the con, there is still plenty of comics related frolic to be had, including this event at the McNally Robinson bookstre: Comics for Kids with TOON Books:

Geoffrey Hayes, author of Benny and Penny in Just Pretend
Frank Cammuso and Jay Lynch, creators of Otto’s Orange Day
Introduction by TOON Books editor Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly
In this very special McNally Robinson Saturday Storytime, kids will hear stories and make crafts with the creators of two new graphic novels just for kids! Geoffrey Hayes will show pictures on the big screen to tell the story of Benny the mouse and his little sister Penny in Just Pretend. Jay Lynch and Frank Cammuso will share their story and pictures about Otto, a cat who wishes for a genie to make everything orange! The artists will also wow the crowd with original drawings, and afterward kids will create their own graphic novels. The authors will be introduced by the creators of TOON Books — series advisor Art Spiegelman (author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus) and editorial director Francoise Mouly (art director for The New Yorker and co-editor of RAW magazine) — who will talk to kids and parents about what comics for kids are all about. Join us for a special comics edition of Saturday Storytime! Please note: Mr. Spiegelman will not sign books at this event.

A few quick photos from last night’s event which was a packed hoot with all the folks from Act-i-vate, ComicSpace, the CBLDF and assorted out of towners from Oregon, England, Italy and maybe even the Bronx.

There was drinking but also drawing. You can see folks like Jeffrey Brown, Larry Marder, Paul Maybury and more slaving away.

The CBLDF’s Greg Thompson addresses the troops. Drama!

Alex Maleev, Jen and Greg Thompson and returned from world travels Ivan Brandon.

Tony Lee Dean Haspiel, and Neil Kleid.

The many drawings on hand! Ask at the CBLDF for those still available.

The party was great but many attendees spoke of the rigors of “the home show.” Not only must you deal with the upcoming con but regular stuff like taking out the garbage. It’s grueling.

No it’s not the LIberty. Friends of Lulu and the Women’s National Book Association presnet a panel with agent Judith Hansen, Abrams’ Charlie Kochman, artist/teacher Jessica Abel, artist Christine Norrie and publisher Dan Nadel. Frankly that’s as good a panel as it gets kids, so go on down.

As graphic novels continue to increase the comics industry’s success, the New York chapters of both the Women’s National Book Association and Friends of Lulu present a multifaceted panel called Speaking Graphically: Graphic Narratives in the Publishing Marketplace.

This event, taking place on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Center for Independent Publishing, 20 West 44th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues) in Manhattan, features five panelists who will share insights on the creative process and the editorial work involved in publishing graphic narratives. They will also discuss the variety of genres in the graphic narratives field, describe the marketplace for graphic works, and offer advice to prospective authors.

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This year’s New York Comic-Con related partying activities are more brutal than ever with the party scene kicking off TONIGHT! That’s TUESDAY! Holy cripes! But it’s so much fun. Benefitting the CBLDF and co=sponsored by ComicSpace and Image, this is definitely the pre-show, pre-red-eye place to get up to speed and hear all the party poop for later in the week. See you there.

Tax Day is Over! Now drink up with NYC’s best cartoonists and party for a good cause! Featuring Jeffrey Brown, David Finch, Dan Goldman, Alex Maleev, Paul Maybury, and dozens of NY’s Finest Cartoonists. Sponsored by ComicSpace.com and Image Comics, premiering Paul Maybury’s graphic novel AQUA LEUNG.

Tuesday, April 15
7:00 to 11:00 PM
Village Pourhouse
64 3rd Avenue at 11th St
Drink Specials all night!
$5 Suggested Donation; $20 for VIP Schwag Bag

Drew Weing’s Fluke ‘08 photos on Flickr. (Above) Cable & TWeed has more.

Paste pot Pete also reports:

I attended the Fluke convention in Athens, Georgia this past weekend. For those who are unfamiliar with Fluke…it’s a small convention held upstairs in Tasty World in downtown Athens. Consisiting of nothing but independant and self-published comic creators, Fluke was definately a thrill. About 25-35 comic creators set up their tables with their art and comics (comix). Among the guests were Top Shelf’s Andy Runtun (of Owly fame) and J Chris Campbell (of, well, the bizarre). Most were local or from surrounding states. The great thing about this convention was it was small and intimate. There were no comic dealers selling their back-issues of superhero comics. Their were no costumes. No dealers selling action figures. And especially, and thankfully, no manga or anime (except for one creator).

OBEY
FLUKE Mini•Comic and Zine Explosion.

TCj message board thread preview hinjkery.

The year of the symposium roars on with the ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference which takes place the day before the New York Comic-Con. A bunch of new panelists have been announced:

ICv2 has announced the addition of six renowned panelists to complete its roster for the third annual ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference at New York Comic Con next week. The new panelists include literary agent Merrilee Heifetz, whose clients include Neil Gaiman and Laurell K. Hamilton; Ron Hill, chief buyer for Jim Hanley’s Universe; editor and creator Kazu Kibuishi (Flight, Flight Explorer, Amulet); Jim Salicrup, editor-in-chief of the very successful Papercutz graphic novel line; Ginee Seo, VP and Editorial Director of Ginee Seo Books; and Brandon Waters, graphic novel buyer for Books-a-Million.

“These panelists complete a great roster with some of the best minds in the graphic novel business,” ICv2 President Milton Griepp said. “With this kind of group, we’re anticipating an excellent exchange of ideas on the key issues in this rapidly changing category.”

The “ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference: Breaking Out” will be held on Thursday afternoon, April 17th at the Javits Center in New York City. The panels will take place between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., with a cocktail reception sponsored by Transcontinental Printing to follow. In addition to Transcontinental, Viz Media LLC and Publishers Weekly are sponsoring the Conference.

This conference is always a real eye opener, and attendance is recommended…get your tickets here.

We’re a little late getting around to running this great announcement, but 2008 is really going to have a hard time being bested as “The Year of the Comic” when April has been proclaimed Comics Month in the city of Portland, OR. That’s real civic recognition! What would Wertham say?

Mayor Declares April 2008 “Portland Comics Month”

The Stumptown Comics Foundation is delighted to announce that later today, Mayor Tom Potter will declare this April Portland Comics Month. The proclamation officially recognizes both the cultural importance and creative influence of this vibrant art form on the entire city.

Portland has deep roots in the comic-book publishing world, as it is home to scores of comics industry professionals and to three of the nation’s most prominent independent comics publishers (Dark Horse Comics, Oni Press, and Top Shelf Productions). Moreover, the local comics community has seen sizable growth in the past few years, further bolstering the Rose City’s defining ties to the creative arts and industries.

To champion and support Portland Comics Month, the Stumptown Comics Foundation has catalogued a staggering number of comics-related events in the Portland metro area for the entire month of April. The current list is below; further information, additional events, and running updates are soon to be had at www.stumptowncomics.com/comicsmonth. Join us in this month-long celebration of sequential art—culminating in the Stumptown Comics Fest and Free Comic Book Day!

Legendary animator Ralph Bakshi is one of those few creator who really deserve the “legendary” before his name. Besides just directing the first x-rated cartoon movie (FRITZ THE CAT), he pioneered animation as an adult medium with movies like COONSKIN, HEAVY TRAFFIC and the fantasies WIZARDS and the first LORD OF THE RINGS adaptation. Sadly, he gave up movies after the controversial COOL WORLD. Black Book has a new and meaty interview with Bakshi that fills in some of the picture:

BB: How do you think Fritz the Cat would have turned out if the studio heads at Warner Bros. had gotten their way?

RB: There’s a picture called The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat, the sequel to my movie. If you want to see how Fritz would have turned out, look at that. It would have been this cat that, once in a while, said something hip, and then falls in love with some girl and chases her all over town. [Laughs.] You should have seen their faces in the screening room when I first screened a bit of Fritz. I’ll remember their faces until I die. One of them left the room. Holy hell, you should have seen his face. “Shut up, Frank! This is not the movie you’re allowed to make!” And I said, Bullshit, I just made it.

Bakshi will also be making three upcoming appearances in New York, including NYCC 08 in conjunction with a new book on his work:

Ralph Bakshi will be appearing in person in New York City at the following events! Also you will find the co-authors of Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi Jon M. Gibson and Chris McDonnell and copies of the book at each event.

Thursday, April 17th:
Animazing Gallery Exhibition and Book signing.
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
416 Broome Street
New York, NY 10013
RSVP at their site.

Friday, April 18th
New York Comic Con Panel Talk & Book Signing
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
IGN Theater
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
655 West 34th Street
New York, NY 10001
Presented by MoCCA.

Saturday, April 19th
Anthology Film Archives Author Q&A, Book Signing & Film Screenings
7:00 PM Heavy Traffic
9:00 PM Coonskin (on a restored 35mm print)
32 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003
Tickets $8 at the door, good for one or both features.

Cartoonist Stephanie McMillan writes to tell us of several upcoming events:

Resistance Through Ridicule: Two Evenings with Political Cartoonists Ted Rall and Stephanie McMillan

Kick-ass, controversial cartoonists Ted Rall (www.rall.com) and Stephanie McMillan (www.minimumsecurity.net) will present a slideshow of their latest comics, plus a humorous and inspirational discussion about politics, ecocide, the Evil System, and resistance. This will happen twice:

7 p.m. Monday, April 14
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St., New York, NY (between Stanton and Rivington, near the
Second Ave. F train stop)
212-777-6028; www.bluestockings.com
$3-$5 suggested donation

And:

7 p.m. Monday, April 21
Idlewild Books
12 W. 19th St., New York, NY
(across from and sponsored by Revolution Books, which is moving)
212-691-3345; www.revolutionbooksnyc.org
Free

The year of the scholarly look continues in Edinburgh as the National Library of Scotland presents a two month exhibitions of comics and a series of events featuring Alan Davis, Vince Deighan (Frank Quitely to you and me), Metaphrog and many others. You can see the entire list of events here but here’s the basics:

Local Heroes: The Art of the Graphic Novel

The evolution of the graphic novel as a ‘serious artform’, from its humble beginnings in newspaper cartoon strips and superhero comics, has been rapid and revolutionary. Its influence in cinema, popular culture and literature is beyond doubt, while the subject matter of illustrated works grows increasingly diverse. This exhibition draws on material from the Library’s vast collections to tell the story of how comics have ‘grown up’ over the past 40 years, and the influential role Scots artists and writers have played. The Broons, the superheroes and villains of Marvel comics and international work such as Tintin and Japanese Manga all feature, alongside the seminal work of Alan Moore, Art Speigelman and Frank Miller. Scottish artists featured include Grant Morrison, Alan Grant and Cam Kennedy, whose original artwork from the graphic novel adaptation of Kidnapped will also be on show. Put your creativity to the test with a host of interactive exercises.

Opening Hours: 10am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm Saturday and 2pm to 5pm Sundays

§ Mark Evanier followed up on his post about why audience questions aren’t always that great:

One other thing I oughta mention: I’ve done a couple of public interviews where the interviewee stipulated certain topics that could not be discussed. That happens. Years ago at a comic convention, I did a one-on-one with Harvey Kurtzman, who among his other achievements was the founding editor of Mad. An unannounced condition of Harvey’s appearance was the agreement that he would not be asked on stage why he’d left Mad or about any of the business-type aspects of his relationship there.

§ There should be more Manga 101 things like this concise profile of Arina Tanemura .

Arina Tanemura is a shoujo manga superstar, with hit series such as Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne and Full Moon wo Sagashite under her belt. Her current ongoing series is Gentleman’s Alliance†, which is being released in English by VIZ.

Tanemura’s debut work was a 1997 series called I-O-N, about a girl named Ion Tsubaragi who develops psychic powers. After that she charged ahead with a collection of shorts called Firecracker is Melancholy, and dove into her first big hit: Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, a magical girl series about a high school girl who transforms to fight demons. Jeanne was followed up by the shorter Time Stranger Kyoko, which is a slightly sci-fi magical girl series set in the 30th century.

§ It’s been a long time since we checked in on John K’s blog. Here he analyses the humor of Don Martin:

My pal Eddie has a term he uses when he likes something funny. He calls it “Ignorant Humor”. I think that’s a funny term too, but hope he never uses it in front of a layman or cartoon executive, because it might give the impression that cartoons are stupid and easy to do.

§ David Hajdu author of THE TEN CENT PLAGUE is interviewed at Vulture:

Speaking of pictures, our only beef with the book is that there are only four pages of them! Why
so few? That was my decision. My editor wanted more. To me, I didn’t want people to pick up the book and mistake it for a coffee-table-ish thing about fun comics of the fifties. I wanted the seriousness of the issues involved to come across. I wanted the book to look kind of text-y and grayish; for a long time I also wanted a somber black-and-white photograph on the cover. That one I lost! And I’m really glad I lost it because the Charles Burns cover is great.

§ Oni’s June solicits. Issue 2 of Tek Jansen! Did you think you would live to see it?

§Whitney Matheson teams with Tim Sale for mischief at the ‘Tope [Via Matt Maxwell]

§ Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaardhas no regrets

“I would do it the same way (again) because I think that this cartoon crisis in a way is a catalyst which is intensifying the adaptation of Islam,” he said in an interview on Wednesday, speaking in English.

“Without a cartoon that provoked the Muslims, it would have been something else; a novel a play, a movie, this situation would have occurred sooner or later anyway.”

§ Two early silent anime cartoons have been found in Japan. They are the work of artists including Junichi Kouchi and Seitaro Kitayama and date from 1917. No word on whether they contained the popular “bloomer shots” of the era.

§ When the hell did this happen?

This has nothing directly to do with comics but this brilliant piece by Eric Alterman in The New Yorker is one of the best things we’ve ever read about the internet, and how internet news is changing not only how the publishing business is run, but how society processes information:

Taking its place, of course, is the Internet, which is about to pass newspapers as a source of political news for American readers. For young people, and for the most politically engaged, it has already done so. As early as May, 2004, newspapers had become the least preferred source for news among younger people. According to “Abandoning the News,” published by the Carnegie Corporation, thirty-nine per cent of respondents under the age of thirty-five told researchers that they expected to use the Internet in the future for news purposes; just eight per cent said that they would rely on a newspaper. It is a point of ironic injustice, perhaps, that when a reader surfs the Web in search of political news he frequently ends up at a site that is merely aggregating journalistic work that originated in a newspaper, but that fact is not likely to save any newspaper jobs or increase papers’ stock valuation.

We have a lot to say about it, but that should await a more suitable venue.

As economic morons, we were also interested in this piece by Peter Dreier in HuffPo which gives a longer historical context for the mortgage mess. We’d imagine a lot of people would disagree with his analysis. Like we said, we barely know how to put pennies in a jar, so it’s all voodoo to us.

Meanwhile, we had a nice time at the COMIC FOUNDRY party last night, and the new issues looks amaz-o! We didn’t take any pictures, but plenty o’ other folk did and hopefully they will be showing up online. Seen around, Yuku Shimizu, Ben Trinh of Rabid Rabbit, Rocketship’s Alex Cox, DC’s Alex Segura, Virgin Comics’ Michelle Gomes, Valerie D’Orazio, irrepressible Torsten Adair, and of course the stars of the night, Tim Leong and Laura Hudson. We surely are forgetting many people because our throat is sore from yapping too much.

Otherwise, we’re kinda tuckered out again and it’s a quiet week. In other news we’ve upgraded to the beta of Firefox 3, but it’s in beta and bookmarks behave oddly. Plus no “Copy as a Link.” We also started a Tumblog, but its not ready for public unveiling yet.

Plus, we decided we really like Hugo Montenegro.

Flog alerts us to a couble of appearances by Drew Friedman. They may not become as famed as his Friar’s bash, but should provide good fun:

THURSDAY NIGHT IN SEATTLE:

DREW FRIEDMAN: THE FUN NEVER STOPS!
March 27 – May 6, 2008.
Opening Reception and Book signing
Thursday, March 27, 5:00 – 8:00 PM
Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 206.658.0110

SATURDAY NIGHT IN LOS ANGELES:

WHO: Drew Friedman & SPECIAL GUESTS!
WHAT: Discussion, Q&A and book signing
WHERE: Skylight Books
1818 N. Vermont Ave. • Los Angeles, CA 90027 • 323.660.1175 tel.
WHEN: Saturday, March 29, 5PM

At Skylight, Drew will be joined by several very special surprise guests, as well as discussion moderator Ben Schwartz and comedian Andy Kindler (whose father, Larry Kindler, was good friends with comic book legends Harry Chester and Harvey Kurtzman).

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ComicsPRO, the organization for comics retaielrs, held it’s conference last week, and Matt Price has a bunch of posts on the public presentations. Scroll back for reports on presentations by DC, the Hero Initiative, Graphitti Designs, and the CBLDF, among others. There’s bits of news scattered throughout, like this from Jeff Smith:

In May, “Stupid Stupid Rat Tales” and “Rose” will come back into print from Cartoon Books. At some point, a color version including some of the Rat Tales with a new framing sequence will come from Scholastic. Smith’s latest series, “RASL,” sold about 24,000, Smith said. After surveying the audience, Smith said he planned on reprinting “RASL” No. 1. Each three-issue arc will be collected in oversized trade paperbacks of about 110 pages. Another new product from Cartoon Books is a 2-foot plush of Fone Bone, the hero of “Bone,” which will sell for about $40.

Take a break from lamb chops and chocolate:

When: Sunday March 23, 7 pm
Where: KGB Bar 85 East 4th Street

This year, a lotta humor and a little drama with:

Julia Wertz (Fart Party)
Liz Baille (My Brain Hurts!)
Sam Henderson (Magic Whistle)
Jason Little (Motel Art Improvement Service)
Tom Hart (Hutch Owen)

Festivities will begin at 7 pm, and is free- just buy a drink ya cheapies!

Another one of those annual local small press comics fests approacheth, this time Athens, GA’s FLUKE! Details below.

This year’s FLUKE Mini-Comics Festival , sponsored by Bizarro Wuxtry, Flagpole Magazine, Inch-High Button Guy, Top Shelf Productions and Wide Awake Press, will take place on Saturday, April 12 at Tasty World on 312 E. Broad Street, Athens GA from 11:00 AM until 6 PM. Admission is $5.00 for all attendees.

EVENT SPECS
Tables and spaces will be provided for mini comic artists and distributors on a first-come, first-serve basis. All attendees are welcome to bring enough work to fill a small (4′ x 5′) table space. In the interest of providing display space for as many artists as possible, attendees may not use more than one table. Large displays and booths are not permitted at FLUKE, so please do not bring them. You will be asked to keep them in your vehicle.

FLUKE’s STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/ MISSION
FLUKE is a mini-comic festival that has been organized by Athens-area comic artists, underground publishers and their enthusiasts since 2002. Conceived as a venue for the discussion and exchange of timely ideas related to mini-comics, zines, and other independent publications, FLUKE is not a large comic convention or merchandising-saturated extravaganza. This isn’t to say we don’t like our share of stuff–’cause we do. However, we have kept the organization of the event as simple as possible to ensure that it remains focused on work and ideas rather than merchandising.