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John M. Ford Memorial Auction tonight in Boston

  • News
  • February 17, 2007

180px-johnmford_2001_ddb-7444471As part of Boskone 44 this weekend, The New England Science Fiction Association is holding the Mike Ford Memorial Auction & Extravaganza at 8 PM tonight. All proceeds of the auction will be donated to the John M. Ford Memorial Book Endowment, a special fund of the Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library.

According to Linda K. Merritt of the Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library, "For every $500 dollars deposited in the endowment funds, the Friends purchase a book for the library system annually with the interest earned on the endowment. This really is the gift that keeps on giving. You can specify what genre or library location/branch the books are intended for. Some people just specify ‘where most needed.’ We prepare bookplates and have them inserted in each book before they are shelved. Patrons will see Mike’s name each time the book is opened! I think it is important for people to know that these funds are ‘permanently restricted’ to the annual purchase of books. The money will never be diverted to other use."

Although his only comics credit was for Captain Confederacy, John M. Ford was the man Neil Gaiman credited as "the best writer he knew" at his eulogy.

UPDATE 12:36 AM: Due to the large number of items received, there will be a silent auction for the remainder of donated items this weekend throughout the convention.

Astronaut farmers go to Salvador

  • News
  • February 17, 2007

Boom! Studios has announced that the writer/director/producer team behind the Warner Brothers film The Astronaut Farmer, set to open on February 23 will be following up by launching a project called Salvador "in the world of comic books."  The teaser gave no further information, but they could be talking about this offering found on the Forbidden Planet international site, and an interview with artist Sebastian Jones seems to confirm it.

Teaching comics creation

  • Uncategorized
  • February 16, 2007

Via Johanna, the Whitney Center in Harrisburgh, PA is holding a special event on March 3 from 10 AM to 3 PM called Kids Love Comic Day, featuring presentations by Jane Fisher-Smith (WJHC), Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!), Harold Bucholz (Apathy Kat) and John Gallagher (Buzzboy).  Featured programs include a number of hands-on workshops and Gownley’s launch of a new Amelia Rules book.

And ComicMix colleague Mark Wheatley writes to say he’ll be teaching a class on March 24 at the Maryland Institute College of Art.  Here’s the official course listing (scroll down to "Illustrating Graphic Novels"), but Mark has a much more complete and intriguing description below, and adds cryptically, "I have been approached by a media instruction company about committing this event to a DVD package for sale. But that’s probably news for another day."

 

 

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Michael Davis: I’m not that guy

  • News
  • February 16, 2007

michael-davis200-2365727I’m a pretty simple guy. I see clear distinctions between right and wrong, good and evil, love and hate and Republican and Democrat. In this age of political correctness and doing the right thing I don’t make decisions because they’re popular. I make decisions because I think something is right.

Remember the days when someone punched you in the face and you could punch him  (or her) right back without having much to worry about — well, besides getting your ass kicked. After the fight (or, in my case, ass whipping) you and the other party would decide to be friends or continue to hate each other. Either way you knew where you stood with that person. NOW if someone punches you in the face — YOU may get sued — and worst, with the current state of our world you don’t know where you stand. I don’t know about you but I would like to know where I stand after I’m punched in the face.

I grew up in the projects in New York City during the days when a threat sounded like this: “I’m going to kick your ass, Davis.” Back then my response was “You will have to find me first, lady.” Now I simply call my lawyers. (more…)

Bone go Pogo!

  • News
  • February 16, 2007

Fantagraphics has announced it will be relaunching a Complete Pogo series with cartoonist (and Walt Kelly admirer) Jeff Smith as series and book-by-book designer. Tom Spurgeon reports the series "will be released on a roughly annual basis" with the first volume appearing this coming October.

Miller’s movie opens to accolades

  • News
  • February 16, 2007

IESB reports that the movie adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300 received a standing ovation at its world premiere last night at the Berlin Film Festival.  "The screening was interrupted again and again by spontaneous applause and cheers from the 1700 strong audience," adds the movie site.  This would seem to jibe with earlier mostly positive reviews by folks who have seen sneak previews, including Len Wein and Marv Wolfman, and fly in the face of the chorus of boos reported at the earlier press screening.

Lynda Carter does Smallville

  • Uncategorized
  • February 16, 2007

Smallville viewers should note that the April 12 episode will feature yet another inspired bit of stunt-casting, as Lynda Carter will appear as the mother of Daily Planet reporter Chloe Sullivan. I’m begging for Clark not to fall for Moira Sullivan;  that would be all ooky.

“Batman” spotted at AZ school?

  • Uncategorized
  • February 16, 2007

Three Arizona schools went into brief lockdown mode after a student at one of them, Desert Arroyo Middle School, reported seeing a person dressed as Batman run across campus, jump a fence and disappear into the desert.  No such impostor was located, and officials concluded the student has filed a false report and disciplinary actions were being considered against him or her. And just when the world needs more heroes, too.

Meanwhile, Fremont’s own Jimmy Olson appeared in Nebraska’s Dodge County Court Tuesday and pleaded no contest to DUI. It was his third offense. And Fremont resident Christopher Reeves, is currently on probation for his third DUI offense.  It can’t be easy having the same name as a Superman-related icon; maybe these guys should just get outta Dodge.

Elayne Riggs: Beyond Fifteen Minutes

  • News
  • February 15, 2007

elayne200-4801695At my age (insert obligatory “hey you kids, get out of my store!, what do you think this is, a reading room?” here) the blasts from the past seem to blow with ever increasing frequency and velocity. I’m used to various elements of my past circling back on me, as my forays into pop culture hobbies always seem to result in intersecting circles of friends and acquaintances. A number of the same people who used to write for a zine I self-published twenty years ago probably (like me) have their own weblogs now, in an era where self-expression means you no longer have to spend a single cent to get your writing out to potentially millions of readers every day.

And yet, the more things around us seem to update and lurch into fast-forward, the more familiar they seem to me. No substantial difference, really, between passing around handwritten story pages to classmates or cranking out apazines or posting on message boards or blogging. It’s all one-to-many conversation, it’s all storytelling and essay-writing, it just comes down to a matter of scale and audience. The big difference is that nowadays, thanks to online archives and search engines, our stories are no longer so easily lost. (more…)

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