Must Read: PEN profiles Zapiro
South African cartoonist Zapiro is famous for his sharply observant cartooning and also for standing up to constant and onerous political pressures because of his observations. Most famously he was sued by the Prime Minister of South Africa for defamation—but as this profile at PEN.org shows, he's always been at the center of controversy reserved for those who tell the truth.
Continue ReadingCartoonists sound off on sex problems
Grace Bello has taken the bold step of going to cartoonists and asking them for sex advice -- and posting the results on Nerve. The results may shock you. Not really, but we had to say that, just because "cartoonists" and "sex" were long considered a bad match --unless you were one of those swinging '60s Don Draper cartoonists in the NCS, of course. Anyway, back to the present day. Rick Altergott on the pecking order:
Continue ReadingNice art: Jason Pearson
If you're wondering why Twitter and Facebook suddenly blew up with the name of artist Jason Pearson, he was having a low moment and the comics community has rallied on a Friday afternoon with helping words and deeds. The creator of BODY BAGS, Pearson has done work on tons of comics over the years. His stylish art has an especial soft spot for drawing the ladies, as the Catwomen art shows. And in case you are wondering, the comics community has a big, big heart. No matter how silly or stupid things get, I am always grateful to be a part of this world. Have a great weekend, everyone.
Continue ReadingAlec Longstreth above to shave at long last
If you've seen cartoonist Alec Longstreth in recent years, you are probably wondering what religion he joined that prevented him from cutting his hair or shaving his beard for three years. It was the religion of comics: as explained in this interview, Longstreth vowed not to shave until his comic BASEWOOD was finished -- which took three years. During this time, Longstreth cut quite a figure -- his beard was not just an earnest but under-achieving sprouting, but a full on man-garden at the height of summer. And in about an hour, with the release party for his minicomic PHASE 7, Longstreth is finally about to go under the razor.
Continue ReadingNice art: Ed Piskor’s Wally Wood beer label
Toonseum, the Pittsburgh-based comics museum, has teamed with East End Brewing Company to produce Illustration Ale, a pen-and-ink friendly brew that has six different labels by illustrators. Ed Piskor has posted the process for his label which features Wally Wood:
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New Yorker releases 2011 Cartoons of the Year
Well, now this is nice! The New Yorker is releasing a "Cartoons of the Year" special issue tomorrow, edited by Robert Mankoff, the cartoon guru for the magazine. The issue features more than 250 cartoons by Charles Barsotti, Glen Baxter, Harry Bliss, David Borchart, Pat Byrnes, Roz Chast, Tom Cheney, Frank Cotham, Michael Crawford, Leo Cullum, Joe Dator, Drew Dernavich, Matthew Diffee, Liza Donnelly, J. C. Duffy, Bob Eckstein, Emily Flake, Felipe Galindo, Mort Gerberg, Alex Gregory, Sam Gross, William Haefeli, William Hamilton, Trevor Hoey, Carolita Johnson, John Kane, Zachary Kanin, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Farley Katz, Edward Koren, Robert Leighton, Lee Lorenz, Robert Mankoff, Michael Maslin, Ariel Molvig, P. S. Mueller, Paul Noth, John O’Brien, Jason Patterson, Danny Shanahan, Michael Shaw, David Sipress, Barbara Smaller, Karen Sneider, Mick Stevens, Julia Suits, Ward Sutton, Tom Toro, P. C. Vey, Kim Warp, Christopher Weyant, Gahan Wilson, and Jack Ziegler.
Continue ReadingR. Crumb’s rejected gay marriage New Yorker cover: The rest of the story
Last year, R. Crumb announced he wouldn't be working for the New Yorker any more after one of his covers was rejected with no stated reason. Now VICE magazine's Nadja Sayej has unearthed the cover as (of all things) the illustration for a bookmark in the Danish catalog from the Venice Biennale art show. It was for a story on gay marriage and shows what may (or may not) be a drag king and drag queen applying for a marriage license.
Continue ReadingJack Davis, Phoebe Gloeckner headline Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest
The featured guests for this Decembers Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival have been announced, and it's pretty spectacular: CF, Jack Davis, Phoebe Gloeckner, Lisa Hanawalt, Chip Kidd, David Mazzucchelli, John Porcellino and Brian Ralph. If you are like us, you are most excited about the chance to meet the legendary Jack Davis, who was not only an EC Comics mainstay, but one of the original MAD artists and one of the most influential illustrators of the 60s and 70s with his unmistakeable "bigfoot" style. So YEAH. Amazing.
Continue ReadingSusie Cagle’s account of her arrest
Cartoonist/journalist Susie Cagle has a full report on the events on the night of her arrest along with 100 other Occupy Oakland protesters, from the fires at the barricades to jailhouse indignities.
Continue ReadingLegal Right & Ethical Might Part 2 with AUDIO
On October 21st, Stephen Bissette from The Center for Cartoon Studies met up with Oliver Goodenough from The Vermont Law School to discuss Jack Kirby and his relationship with Marvel Comics. The Comics Journal put the audio up and it is a good listen with a nice James Sturm introduction
Continue ReadingCartoonists and the law: Susie Cagle arrested, charged with misdemeanor
Cartoonist Susie Cagle -- who was previously teargassed during another confrontation -- was arrested as part of the Occupy Oakland protest on Wednesday night. Cagle was not there as a protester, but as a reporter, covering the scene for Spot.us. According to Cagle's father, Cagle was arrested despite having a prominent press pass and the arresting officer actually knowing her and her work. After being held overnight at Santa Rita Jail, Cagle was released, and charged with the misdemeanor of "present at raid." On her twitter stream she mentions she's currently trying to retrieve her wallet and housekeys from the Oakland police.
Continue ReadingCartoonists and the law: Steve Rude update
Following up news of Monday's arrest of Steve "The Dude" Rude on charges of assault and violating a restraining order, Tom Spurgeon got further details of the night in question from Rude's wife Jaynelle. It seems that on Halloween evening, Steve was outside, in costume, giving out Halloween candy, when barking dogs in a neighbor's yard distracted the Dude, which led him to throw rocks at the fence in front of the dogs. The owners of the dogs -- who had previously obtained the restraining order against Rude -- came out and an argument ensued, which ended with Rude physically shoving one of the neighbors and ripping his shirt off. Rude then returned to handing out his Halloween candy until the police showed up and arrested him.
Continue ReadingJesse Moynihan, cartoonist of today
You might not expect to find an interview with Jesse Moynihan up at Newsarama, but he's got so much cool stuff going on, including Forming, his visually stunning webcomic retelling the origin of the world via a pan-pantheistic mythology. If all that sounds hopelessly highbrow, he also gets to subvert America's youth (and stoned adults) as a storyboard artist on Adventure Time. Zack Smith gets him to explain how he does it:
Continue ReadingTo do 11/3: Lily Renee Wilheim and Trina Robbins at MoCCA
Two comics icons together -- this is a real don't miss event.
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