News
May 23rd, 2008 | Posted in News
The Lovely Anna and I arrived in New Orleans yesterday afternoon… amid dark skies and thunderstorms. The weather doesn’t look too promising for the weekend. Hopefully there will be plenty of gaps in the downpours so we can see some of the city. Not much to report on “Day 0”. We had dinner reservations at a terrific restaurant called Cuvee just a few blocks away, where we meet up with Orlando caricaturist Keelan Parham and his wife Barbie as well as NYC illustrator Ed Steckley and his wife Heather… long time friends. After dinner we had a drink at the hotel bar and got a… READ MORE
May 19th, 2008 | Posted in News
Pizac/AP Photo I haven’t gotten a chance to write a review about “Iron Man“, which I stole away and managed to see last week. No time this week, as I am busy meeting deadlines prior to leaving to attend the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Awards in New Orleans this weekend (look for daily reports here on The MAD Blog). Suffice it to say it’s my new favorite superhero movie… ever. Think the idea of a mechanical superhero suit is science fiction? It’s not as far fetched as you might think. I ran across this article this weekend about robotic’s engineer Rex Jameson and his work… READ MORE
May 16th, 2008 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Artwork ??á©E.C. Publications and MAD Magazine Will Elder, one of the defining artists of the early MAD comic and long time collaborator of Harvey Kurtzman, passed away Thursday morning of unspecified causes at the age of 86. Elder had been ill for some time battling Parkinson’s disease and had difficulty signing his name let alone drawing, according to a communication I had recently with a friend of Will’s. It goes without saying that a true pioneer of cartooning left us yesterday. All cartoonists get asked about who their major influences are, and among the usual suspects it sometimes surprises people when I name Will Elder… READ MORE
May 3rd, 2008 | Posted in News
Huzzah! It’s Free Comic Book Day! Whaddya mean, “What is Free Comic Book Day”???? D’OH! “Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores”, that’s what it is! It’s a great promotion and encourages people to read and experience comics. There is a wide range of different kinds of titles, from popular superhero fare (Superman and the X-Men have special FCBD issues this year) as well as some less mainstream stuff (Hellboy and Alex Ross‘s Project Superpowers, among others) and some… READ MORE
April 28th, 2008 | Posted in News
Artwork by Jay Kennedy Scholarship winner Juana Medina A few days ago I wrote a brief post about last year’s dual recipients of the National Cartoonist Society Foundation’s scholarships. This year the NCSF awarded the first Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship, an award established by a donation to the NSCF by KingFeatures in memory of the late jay Kennedy, to Juana Medina, a sophomore at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). From The Daily Cartoonist: The National Cartoonists Society Foundation (NCSF) announced the winner of the first annual Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship, Juana Medina, a sophomore at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Medina… READ MORE
April 25th, 2008 | Posted in News
EDIT- Having read the actual bills on release, I have a number of corrections and futher information in accordance to the actual bill’s language and content. I’d recommend reading this more recent blog post to separate the facts from the FUD. Tuesday the Illustrator’s Partnership received draft copies of the 2008 version of the Orphan Works bill I’ve discussed so often here. The bill itself was released yesterday. I’ve read and blogged a lot about this issue. Here’s a link to the articles I’ve done on this horrifically misguided piece of legislation. A week or two ago I found this sarcastic but reasonably well written… READ MORE
April 18th, 2008 | Posted in News
Christina Beard and Evan Palmer, 2007 NCSF Scholarship winners In 2007 the National Cartoonist Society Foundation, of which I am honored to be a board member and to serve on the scholarship committee as well as chair the investment committee, gave away two scholarship awards to college students studying cartooning/animation. That year the awards were the Herblock and Mendez awards, named after the estates that provided the funds. This being our first year of giving out scholarships, we presented the awards to a single school, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), and they were dispersed to two deserving students studying comic art and… READ MORE
April 3rd, 2008 | Posted in News
The nominees for this year’s divisional Reuben awards have been announced: Book Illustration Nancy Beiman – “Prepare to Board” Sandra Boynton – “Blue Moo” Jay Stephens – “Robots!” TV Animation Sandra Equihua and Jorge Gutierrez – Creators – “El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera” Stephen Silver – Character Design – “Kim Possible” Richard Webber – Creator – “Purple and Brown” Greeting Card Gary McCoy Glenn McCoy Dave Mowder Newspaper Comic Strip Paul Gilligan ?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ” “Pooch Caf?¬©” Jim Meddick ?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ” “Monty” Richard Thompson ?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ” “Cul De Sac” Editorial Cartoon Gary Brookins Michael Ramirez Bill Schorr Magazine Illustration Daryll Collins John Klossner Tom Richmond Newspaper Illustration… READ MORE
