Things to do in and around LA:
COMEDY – Two improv comedy groups, the Magic Meathands (with me!) and Jump Start Improv, perform at The Mary Pickford Studio in West LA, Saturday night at 8 PM. Tickets: $7.
CONVENTION – The virtual comics convention DigiCon (previously called the Non Con) will be running all weekend long. Tickets: FREE
This moving short film was written by my friend James Cole. His screenplay was inspired by his own childhood with too many hospital visits. Since it’s award-winning film festival run in 2003, the 20-minute film has been used to train nurse practitioners for pediatric services and has screened at medical charity conferences. The Night Before was directed by Jay Holben.
Jim and I lived in the same apartment building in Burbank when my wife and I first moved to Los Angeles. The building was eventually bought up by a studio, which eventually kicked everyone out, renovated the building (painted it a really ugly yellow) and now use it for temporary studio housing. Jim was one of the first people we met and got to know in LA and he has always been so kind to us. It was really inspiring to see his wonderful script get turned into this beautiful short film.
Little Island Comics opens for business
Little Island Comics has opened in Toronto, Ontario, and it may be the world’s first comic book store specifically targeted to children. It quietly opened this week, with a more formal grand opening planned in the near future. The store is run by The Beguiling, an acclaimed comic book store in Toronto that has been open for 25 years now.
What a smart move!
Comic books needs kids, and fortunately more educators and parents than ever have been realizing that comics are a great reading and education tool for kids. But as you might’ve noticed, some of the material isn’t exactly appropriate for younger readers. Having a store exclusively dedicated to reaching this specific demographic, parents have a peace of mind that only the right material will reach their kids’ hands. And with workshops and other events planned for the store, it should build a wonderful community that encourages kids’ creativity and imagination.
It’s also great for a retailer to get so specific and specialized. With the digital side of comics growing, stores will have to find a good reason for customers to stop by beyond them carrying as much as everything that they can fit between their walls. Because there’s no competing with Amazon.com‘s warehouses or comiXology‘s ever-deepening library. So, survival will depend on the ability to engage customers and the larger community in specialized retailing like children’s comics. Or maybe literary and art comics, and mini-comics. A unique experience will be more important and more valuable than simply having every volume of Ed Brubaker’s run on Captain America.
Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles has done a great job at this. It helps that they have a massive space to work with, which gives them a much larger selection. But they also have international comics and mini-comics and more experimental material. And most of all, they’ve become a destination for events. Stand-up comedians regularly perform there now. Popular podcasts regularly do live broadcasts from the store. An art gallery in the back displays comics art exhibits of varying themes. Workshops are held there. Every week, there are a large number of events being held there. Meltdown Comics is a venue as well as a store. They are a physical destination that gives patrons more than any online shopping can give. Other stores in Los Angeles have similarly transformed themselves but none on the scale and success as Meltdown.
I’m hoping Little Island Comics has just as much success, and helps strengthen the children’s comics market.
Full press release after the jump. (more…)
Congratulations on making it through Labor Day! That was real tough on all of us. I think we could all use a little something to make it worth it.
How about a comedy show?
This Saturday night, I’ll be performing with the Magic Meathands to give you a full hour of completely made-up sillies. No script, just your suggestions and whatever our unbalanced minds can come up with. And right before us is the Beach Cities improv troupe Jump Start, so that means you get 2 full hours of comedy.
And I think we all know that you deserve it after Labor Day.
Tickets: $7
Where: Mary Pickford Studio, 8885 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles 90034
When: Saturday, September 10, 8 PM
Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four meet their son Franklin for the first time, Fantastic Four Annual #6, 1968 (art by Jack Kirby, words by Stan Lee)
(Click the image for an awesome theory at Major Spoilers that I’ve also had about Franklin Richards for years. But be warned: it’s definitely not for the casual comics reader.)
Things to do around LA this weekend:
COMEDY – The Magic Meathands (with me!) perform improv comedy at the Westside Comedy Theater followed by improv groups The Waterbrains and Mission: IMPROVable, Friday night at 8 PM in Santa Monica. Tickets: $10.
Got something going on in and around Los Angeles on an upcoming weekend? Email me.
Ali Ferzat: down but not out
It may seem like a cushy job to draw cartoon characters all day long, but in some places it’s dangerous.
In Syria last Thursday, popular political cartoonist Ali Ferzat was kidnapped and beaten by four or five men believed to be from President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces, according to The Guardian. Two of Ferzat’s fingers on his left hand and his right arm were broken and his left eye was damaged in the early morning encounter. The attackers specifically told Ferzat “this is just a warning” and that he shouldn’t satirize Syria’s leaders. He was left on the side of a road bloodied and bruised with a bag over his head. According to AFP and Al Jazeera, Syrian police forces are currently searching for the suspects.
Assad has been the subject of increasing international pressure due to his handling of heightened protests against his increasingly oppressive regime. Over 2,500 Syrian citizens have been killed by Assad’s security forces. Ferzat, who once considered Assad a friend and supported his election in 2000, has become an outspoken critic. He has focused his work on covering the uprising that began in earnest this past March.
Ferzat, now 60 years old, began his career in the ’70s and has gained international acclaim, particularly in Germany, France and the Netherlands, as well as throughout the Middle East, where he is considered one of the most famous cultural figures of the Arab world. No stranger to controversy, Ferzat received a death threat from none other than Saddam Hussein, then president of Iraq, because of a 1989 exhibition of his work in Paris. Ferzat has also won recognition for his years as a human rights activist.
Ferzat is not the first Syrian celebrity to get such treatment. In July, the composer Ibrahim al-Qashoush, who wrote a popular song against Assad’s regime, was found dead with his vocal chords forcibly removed. Several other Syrian writers and actors have been arrested in recent weeks. But Ferzat’s international reputation helped increase the reach of the story, which was specifically referenced in a statement from the US State Department criticizing Assad’s regime:
“The regime’s thugs focused their attention on Ferzat’s hands, beating them furiously and breaking one of them, a clear message that he should stop drawing.”
“We demand that the Assad regime immediately stop its campaign of terror through torture, illegal imprisonment and murder.”
Ferzat’s fans as well as the political cartoon community and the larger comics community have come together in support of Ferzat. A Facebook event page called We Are All Ali Ferzat was quickly set up soon after the incident. It currently has over 8,000 supporters. The Washington Post‘s Michael Cavna issued a call to arms to all cartoonists, and one of the responses was the One Thousand Ferzats Tumblr page, a growing collection of political cartoons in support of Ferzat and criticizing Assad. The above image quickly circulated with the belief that it was a self-portrait by Ferzat. That has mostly been dismissed as a rumor but the actual artist is unknown. Below is thought to be Ali Ferzat’s last published cartoon before he was attacked. At this time, it is unknown whether Ferzat will be able to draw again.
While the incident is a shocking and disgusting display of abused power, it’s also a reminder that comics and art are still powerful and inspiring. The editorial cartoons Ferzat has been publishing on his website (naturally, Syria has been banning his work in their state run newspapers for a while now) have been like a rallying cry to the protesters in Syria. And that power is a huge threat to a ruling force facing calls for resignation both domestically and internationally.
So to summarize: comics are hardcore.
Ali Ferzat's last cartoon before the attack
The Magic Meathands (including me!) will hit the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica this Friday night at 8 PM. Literally. We are actually going to assault the theater stage with our fists. We’ve been feeling a little angry recently and have decided that some pent-up violence committed against an inanimate and non-sentient object would help us feel better about ourselves.
After that, we’ll probably do some improv comedy. So if you want to stay, that should be pretty entertaining too. And after us, you can also stay to see The Waterbrains and Mission: IMPROVable, two very funny improv groups.
Tickets: $10.
House of Night #1 (cover art by Jenny Frison)
The issue of gender in comics has been getting a lot of attention over the last few months. One of the recurring criticisms is the lack of female creators. The grassroots anthology Womanthology proves that there is an abundance of very talented comic book creators ready and willing to work, and that there is a very enthusiastic audience ready and willing to pay for such material. And yet most comics publishers still have a significant minority of female creators. Or in some cases, none whatsoever.
To get a better understanding, I’ve taken a look at nearly 25 comic book publishers and the products they are planning to release this November.
The only publishers that have an even split or majority of female credits are manga publishers Viz Media, Yen Press, Go Manga/Seven Seas, and Digital Manga Publishing. Publishers with a more literary or alternative focus, such as Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly, have 1/3 female creators. Of the major comic book publishers, proportionally Dark Horse probably has the best female representation, but still a minority. Despite criticism leveled against DC Comics for the lack of women creators in their New 52 marketing blitz, they are not the worst of the larger publishers. Archie Comics surprisingly has only one female writer.
Jenny Frison appears to be the busiest with 7 credits, mostly for cover art, such as the image here.
What does all of this prove? Manga captured a greater female readership for a reason. It’s a lesson that the rest of comics could stand to learn, just as it was learned by the producers of the sitcom Community. Despite all of the numbers, it’s not a quota. Hitting an exact 50% or more really isn’t the goal or the point. The idea is that if you want to speak to a demographic, you hire that demographic. And it works.
This doesn’t mean that men can’t produce work that appeals to women or that they shouldn’t be hired. There are plenty of examples and reasons why that doesn’t hold water. There are enough comics (and jobs) for everyone, especially if more people are reading comics because of the increased diversity.
And of course the other lesson is that real diversity and experimentation often happens first outside of structured publishers. That’s why there are so many fantastic female creators making web-comics with varying levels of financial success. The establishment will eventually catch up.
For a great look at how the industry got to this disparity, see this excellent Comics Alliance article. And for some great solutions, read Shaenon K. Garrity’s column at Comixology.
Click through if you want all of the nitty-gritty numbers. Corrections welcome. (more…)
Me being creepy for Drama After Dark
For the third time, I’ll be performing several Edward Gorey stories for Drama After Dark: A Night of the Macabre with Poe and Gorey on Saturday, October 8. Click that link to buy tickets but do it soon because it sells out surprisingly fast every year. Tickets are $35.
The entire event is held all over the grounds of The Huntington. Bring a flashlight to make your way around and discover different performances of Edgar Allen Poe and Edward Gorey stories. At times creepy, at times funny, at times both at the same time, it’s a great way to get into the spirit of Halloween.
Edward Gorey combined his wicked prose with Victorian-looking cartoon sketches to produce a twisted and peculiar world of perpetual bad luck for its inhabitants. While his work seems to come from the 1890s, his work was created and published starting in the 1950s. He remained active right up to his death in 2000. He’s not typically considered a comics artist since his work was structured closer to childrens books (no word balloons, one image and text combination per page, no panel borders), but I think there’s room to argue that point since there are plenty of comic books and graphic novels that have used those elements.
Excerpt from Edward Gorey's The Listing Attic
Corey Blake 