Here in New York City, some people are wearing face masks on the subway and are being mocked as overly anxious about the COVID-19 virus. But the recommendation is we SHOULD wear face masks IF we have symptoms, in order to protect others...so maybe that's what's going on? Jaded city folk!
Was that a boring intro? It was, it was. Sorry. Let's try these bits of business instead:
• Michael de Adder is the 2020 winner of the prestigious Herblock Prize for excellence in editorial cartooning, and Matt Lubchanksy is the finalist. Huzzah!
• The Society of Illustrators in NYC announced three upcoming comics-related gallery exhibits: Women in Comics: Looking Forward, From the Silly to the Sublime: A Century of American Comic Strips and original art from Derf Backderf's Kent State graphic novel. Let's go see all of 'em!
• Cartoonist Hy Eisman will be honored with the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement award by the National Cartoonists Society at the Annual Reuben Awards. Also: check out Tom Richmond's poster for the NCS Awards.
• The COVID-19 outbreak in Washington state has caused a number of publishers and creators to pull out of Seattle's Emerald City Comic Con. Refunds are being issued to attendees and Artist Alley exhibitors.
• TCJ published a formal obituary for publisher/historian Russ Cochran.
• NPR's Malaka Garib created a comic explaining the COVID-19 virus to kids. It can be read online or downloaded and printed as a mini-comic. That's cool!
• For your viewing pleasure — or at least mine — promo art from the very beginning of Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9QhwGFJRGv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
•••••
WASH YOUR INTERVIEWS FOR TWENTY SECONDS
Interview (Yeah — as in "Andy Warhol's"!)
• Cartoonist Michael DeForge by Shanti Escalante
Off Panel with David Harper
• Writer-artist Elsa Charretier
SF Weekly
• Cartoonist Lawrence Lindell, founder of the BAYlies collective, by Grace Li
Bullseye with Jesse Thorn
• Cartoonist Lynda Barry
Cartoonist Kayfabe with Jim Rugg and Ed Piskor
• Legendary comics artist Dave Gibbons
Publishers Weekly
• Cartoonist Lisa Brown (creator of the recently published Phantom Twin) by Sue Corbett
• Cartoonist Noah Van Sciver by Chris Barsanti
The Beat
• Writer Tom King, and artists Mitch Gerads and Evan “Doc” Shaner by Hussein Wasiti
• Writer Matt Kindt by Zack Quaintance
• Writer Mark Russell by Zach Q.
Speech Bubble with Aaron Broverman
• Michael DeForge AGAIN
Solrad
• Cartoonist Ariel Bordeaux by Anna Sellheim
Word Balloon with Jon Siuntres
• Money Shot writers Sarah Beattie and Tim Seely
• Writer-artists Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti
SyFy Wire
• Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer writer David Crownson by Karama Horne
The Drawl with Jason Latour
• Comic book writer Robert Kirkman, Part 2
Blockhead! with Geoff Grogan
• Fowl Language cartoonist Brian Gordon, Part 2
•••••
• Benjamin Marra is the only person you call when you need to illustrate an article about denim:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9FauP9BTyQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
• A Virginia man donated his collection of African-American focused comic books and other cultural items to William & Mary Libraries.
• The Seattle Times wrote about the 30th anniversary of Peter Bagge's Hate.
• Hyperallergic looked into how cartoonists are processing the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Underground anthology Slow Death is making its return, with some marquee names onboard.
• The Paris Review has an excerpt from Michael DeForge's new book, Familiar Face.
• Gimme some of that Mike Del Mundo magi(k):
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Kx70onnji/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
• Cartoonist Kayfabe shone a spotlight on the classic how-to primer Re: A GUIDE TO REPRODUCTION. Published digitally by Ron Rege Jr., David Choe, Brian Ralph, Jordan Crane, CK co-host Jim Rugg printed a copy for himself. The full book/PDF is archived here.
• Them CK boys also leafed through The Will Eisner Sketchbook. Just astounding.
• PW has a healthy preview of Yao Xiao's Everything Is Beautiful, and I'm Not Afraid.
• Oh wow: Heavy Metal posted a ton — yes, I said tonne — of very early Richard Corben artwork.
• TCJ profiled Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Corinne "Coco" Rey. She is absolutely amazing at making cartoons.
• Adrian Tomine has been posting thank you illustrations he created for the people who blurbed his upcoming book. They all feel very personal, but they're posted publicly, and I can't help myself with this one:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9UZw19pSea/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
• I am laugh-crying at Ward Sutton's "Where All That Bloomberg Campaign Money Went" at The New Yorker.
• Joel Pett has retired as the president of the Cartoonists Rights Network International’s board of directors, to be succeeded by Matt Wuerker.
• Oh dear, TCJ's Micheal O'Connell tripped very far down into the history of Steve Canyon. Our gain!
• SOLRADasks: "What is Comic Poetry?"
• The Beat recapped the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo spotlight panel on C. Spike Trotman's Iron Circus Comics.
• Arthur Adams' pencils to the cover of his Marvel Monograph scratch every itch I will ever have:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9U7b7AHfxw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
•••••
SNEEZE AND COUGH INTO YOUR REVIEWS
The Guardian
• Steven Appleby's Dragman by Rachel Cooke
PopMatters
• Moa Romanova's Goblin Girl by Chris Gavaler
Women Write about Comics
• Jonathan Hickman and Russell Dauterman's Giant-Size X-Men #1: Jean Grey + Emma Frost by Kayleigh Hearn and Wendy Browne
TCJ
• Tetsunori Tawaraya's Assassin Child by Tim Hayes
• Niki Smith's The Deep & Dark Blue by Hillary Brown
• Sarah Leavitt's Agnes, Murderess by Heather Leighton
• James Romberger's For Real #1 by Anya Davidson
Solrad
• Xia Gordon's Sorry! by Daniel Elkin
• Kevin Czap's Four Years by Alex Hoffman
• Ink Brick #10 by Ryan Carey
The Beat
• Michael DeForge's Familiar Face by John Seven
• Ben Passmore's Sports is Hell by Philippe Leblanc
Multiversity
• Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, et al.'s Marvel #1 by Rowan Grover
• Tom King, Mitch Gerads and Evan Shaner's Strange Adventures #1 by Jonathan O'Neal
Broken Frontier
• Mark Russell and Steve Pugh's Billionaire Island #1 by Andy Oliver
•••••
• So that's how Conor Willumsen does that:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9UiDQ8jvc5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
• As detailed by Michael Maslin, a new Charles Addams collection features rare and never-before-seen gags from the master.
• Here at TCJ, R.C. Harvey went in on the Watchmen "sequel" Doomsday Clock.
• We have nominees for the French language comics-focused Bédéis Causa awards.
• What do you know about comic book vending machines?
• PSA/shameless plug for an all-time Flanders Favorite™ — rare Al Jaffee posters are (or very soon will be) for sale at his site:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9R-fNWDw1-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
• Do you think I am going to miss the 60th anniversary of Family Circus? I am NOT! (Thanks to The Daily Cartoonist, that is.)
• This week, rapidly-becoming-Flanders-Favorite™-nostalgia-site 13th Dimension brings us "13 Groovy Bronze Age Marvel Hostess Ads."
• Great, gorgeous stuff here: Tenth Letter of the Alphabet spotlights Barry Windsor Smith's lettering.
• The Beat has a preview of the upcoming Tenacious D graphic novel.
• Jeffrey Rowland has a new comic going! It's about dogs!
• You have been made aware of the brilliance that is Koreangry, have you not?
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9TOdkoDCq4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
One question before we go, to see how well you've been paying attention: which did I link to more this week — COVID-19 or Michael DeForge? First commenter is the first commenter!