Washington City Paper: The Year 2010 in Cartoons

Mike Rhode posted his "Year in Cartoons" for Washington City Paper. He writes:

Other papers may pick what they think were the best cartoons of the year. Here at the City Paper, we're doing it differently. We've asked some local cartoonists to pick their favorite piece that they made over the past year and share it with us.

David Hagen, Steven Artley, Michael Cavna, Donna Lewis, Carolyn Belefski, Nick Galifianakis, Kevin 'Kal' Kallagher, Ann Telnaes, Molly Lawless, Matt Dembicki, Joe Sutliff, Richard Thompson and Matt Wuerker are all featured.


Read the full article here: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2010/12/27/arts-in-review-the-year-in-cartoons

Recap and Film: In Between the Panels

On November 17, the Women’s National Book Association, DC Chapter sponsored "In Between the Panels: DC’s Emergence on the Graphic Novel Scene" – a discussion on the Washington, DC area graphic novel scene. The panel included Carolyn Belefski (myself), Molly Lawless, Matt Dembicki, and Mike Rhode.

Comicsgirl and DC Cultural Events Examiner are media that I know covered the event. In addition, Astray Productions graciously filmed the full panel and posted it on YouTube. Below is part 1 of 6 and all the parts link to each other on YouTube.



Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x26ZBYIl5Oc
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft8mAYB_Yyc
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pejmI3Q8Upo
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwFoBZxVTPY
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPp4Uc5WNqk
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOoTnaoi1c4

I had a great time discussing comics that evening and we had a crowd size better than most expected. The audience was able to purchase books after the panel and I got to meet a handful of new people after the event. "Black Magic Tales, Volume 1: The Adventures of Roxy and Dean, World Famous Criminals" was my the top seller at this event. One guy in particular came up to me, but I got pulled away into another conversation, so I missed out on talking to him... so if you are that guy, please email your question to me at info@curls-studio.com. I apologize for not being able to finish our conversation.

The event was wonderful because we got to educate the general public more about comics and what goes into creating them. I hope a lot of people walked away with a fuller view of comics as a storytelling medium.

NOV 17 Comics Panel at Busboys and Poets, 5th & K Streets

Hi everyone! I was asked to be on a panel and now I'm asking you to join me. Please pass this on on anyone you think would be interested. Did I mention - it's FREE to attend. ALL are invited to...

In Between the Panels: DC’s Emergence on the Graphic Novel Scene
Wednesday, November, 17, 2010, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Busboys and Poets, 5th & K Streets, Washington, DC
Cost: FREE and open to the public!

The Women’s National Book Association, DC Chapter will sponsor a panel discussion on the DC graphic novel scene. The panel for the event, to be held at Busboys & Poets in Mount Vernon, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., will include Carolyn Belefski, Molly Lawless, Matt Dembicki, and Mike Rhode. The event is free and open to the public.

Carolyn Belefski is the mastermind behind the web comic Curls. She is also one of the creators of several other comic books: Kid Roxy, Black Magic Tales, and The Legettes, and an indefatigable (nightly) poster to her blog, Sketch Before Sleep. Her work has appeared in USA WEEKEND Magazine, The Commonwealth Times, Virginia Living Magazine, Magic Bullet, CROQ Zine, and The Pulse on COMICON.com. Ms. Belefski is a nominee for the Kim Yale Award for Most Talented Newcomer for 2010.

Matt Dembicki is a DC-based cartoonist whose work includes the award-winning nature parable Mr. Big, The Great White Shark Story, Xoc, and The Brewmaster’s Castle, about legendary DC brewer Christian Heurich. His latest anthology, Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection, has received rave reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and has been nominated as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association’s 2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens. In addition to his own work, Dembicki also hosts kids’ workshops in the DC area and beyond on making comic books.

Molly Lawless, a Boston native, moved to the DC area in 2005. She has self-published mini comics as well as a compilation, Infandum! Ad Infinitum. She is currently working on a full-length graphic novel for McFarland Publishing titled Hit by Pitch. She is an avid blogger and includes stories about her family in her daily posts.

Mike Rhode, panel moderator, is co-author of the comics research bibliography, editor of Exhibition and Media Reviews for the International Journal of Comic Art, and a contributing writer for Hogan’s Alley. In 2008, he was named Best (Comics) Art Blogger by the Washington City Paper for his Comics DC blog. Rhodes edited Harvey Pekar: Conversations, a book of interviews with the late underground comic book writer and author of American Splendor published by the University Press of Mississippi. He has written for the Comics Journal and was selected as an RFK Journalism Awards judge for the editorial cartoon division of Comics Journal in 2009 and 2010. Rhodes currently writes about comics for the City Paper.

This event is FREE and open to the public!