WOGGON DEAD AT 92
Mark Evanier eulogizes Katy Keene cartoonist Bill Woggon, who died March 2 at 92. Katy Keene famously included attributed fashion designs by readers, and Woggon "was a charming man who devoted much of his life to cartooning, and who injected a personal touch into a kind of comic that was too often produced by anonymous assembly lines," says Evanier in the piece spotted by The Comics Journal's "iJournalista!" website.
INFO: POV Online
posted by Egon on Saturday, March 08, 2003

PLASTIC TRAY, METAL RAIL
Philadelphia area residents can treat themselves to Ben Katchor's "The Great Museum Cafeterias of the Western World." Katchor brings his illustrated lecture to the University of Pennsylvania's Meyerson Building on March 19. The event is free and open to the public.
INFO: Katchor.com
posted by Egon on Saturday, March 08, 2003

TIME ALLEY
Time.comix critic Andrew Arnold waxes enthusiastic over Spain's "Nightmare Alley" in the latest edition of his online column. Arnold calls Spain's adaptation of the William Lindsay Gresham novel "the real stuff: not a neo-noir homage, but the genuine india-ink original."
INFO: Time.comix
posted by Egon on Saturday, March 08, 2003

GLOECKNER GETS NERVOUS
Nerve interviews Phoebe Gloeckner about her latest book, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl." Gloeckner discusses the autobiographical fallacy, literary inspirations and gender segregation in comics: "There are anthologies of female cartoonists; there are histories written about female cartoonists. There are no histories written about men cartoonists." The website also includes an illustrated excerpt from Gloeckner's book.
INFO: Nerve.com
posted by Egon on Thursday, March 06, 2003

BEAUX MEANS BEAUTIFUL
The inaugural edition of "White Space," a new column by A. J. Duric on the Monthly Montreal Comix Jam website, includes an English-language translation of introductory text from the latest, comics-themed issue of Beaux Arts Magazine. The essay by Benoit Mouchart examines comics' roots, their international development and the historical lack of a medium-specific critical lexicon and apparatus.
INFO: White Space
posted by Egon on Thursday, March 06, 2003

SHADOW OVER LONDON
Beginning with the current, March 6-dated issue, the London Review of Books runs Art Spiegelman's "In the Shadow of No Towers." The strip will not appear in the Review's online edition.
INFO: London Review of Books
posted by Egon on Thursday, March 06, 2003

CFP: CAC 2003
The Comics Arts Conference issues a call for papers for its 11th annual meeting, to be held in conjunction with the San Diego Comic-Con International July 17 - 20. The Conference seeks "abstracts for papers, panels, poster sessions, and slide talks... from a broad range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives, and welcome the participation of academic, independent, and fan scholars." Abstracts between 100 and 200 words should be submitted to Peter Coogan by April 15; Dr. Coogan can be reached via e-mail at coomics@hotmail.com.
INFO: Comics Arts Conference
posted by Egon on Wednesday, March 05, 2003

FEAZELL STICKS WITH IT
The Detroit News surveys Matt Feazell's career in today's edition, highlighting the artist's mini-comics, online strips and his regular half-page cartoon for Disney Adventures magazine. Feazell hopes that the graphic economy of his minimalist drawing style carries an implicit inspirational message: "Don't try to fool people into thinking that you're a great artist... Draw what you want to draw. Discover the comic within you -- just draw that."
INFO: Detroit News
posted by Egon on Wednesday, March 05, 2003

FEIFFER'S LIFE AND TIMES
Today's New York Times Arts section profiles Jules Feiffer on the occasion of his current retrospective at the New-York Historical Society. The piece catches up with Feiffer's activities post-"Feiffer," including his children's books, illustration and "A Bad Friend," an upcoming play "about his experiences in leftist politics in the 1950's," which opens June 12 at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. Feiffer has no regrets about ending his satirical weekly strip in 2000: "I always believed that what I did, along with other cartoonists, could effect change in some way. I no longer have that illusion." On his artwork: "I can draw people in any pose imaginable, but I have trouble drawing tables and chairs." "Julz Rulz: Inside the Mind of Jules Feiffer" runs at the New-York Historical Society through May 18.
INFO: New York Times
posted by Egon on Tuesday, March 04, 2003

OHIO U FETES ATOM, CARTOON ART
The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library shows "Happy Birthday, Atom! Celebrating Tezuka's Astro Boy" at the Reading Room Gallery through May 31. The exhibit showcases the library's growing manga collection with an emphasis on robots, including "variant versions of the story of Astro Boy's birth, an original drawing by Osamu Tezuka, and facsimiles of cartoons of robots by Fujiko F. Fujio, another important cartoonist." The library also announces its triennial Festival of Cartoon Art, planned for October 15 - 16, 2004 and focusing on "issues related to censorship, self-censorship, and editorial control of printed cartoon art."
INFO: Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library
INFO: Festival of Cartoon Art
posted by Egon on Tuesday, March 04, 2003

DOSSIER: DAN CLOWES
The latest issue of French publisher PLG's eponymous comics magazine cover-features Dan Clowes, reports Ken Parille to the Comics Journal's message board. The issue includes a new interview with Clowes, "in English and French," an image gallery and an abbreviated version of Parille's own Clowes bibliography. The 84-page magazine is available for 10 Euros.
INFO: PLG
LINK: Dan Clowes Bibliography
posted by Egon on Monday, March 03, 2003

PANTER, SPIEGELMAN & WARE ON DARGER
On April 11 the American Folk Art Museum will host "Mutual Obsessions: Three Cartoonists Look at Darger," featuring Gary Panter, Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware in conversation about Henry Darger, reports Anne Bernstein to the Comics Journal's message board. The three cartoonists will "discuss how Darger told his unique stories, and what they mean in the context of picture stories and comics today." Tickets to the 6:30 event cost $20.
INFO: The Comics Journal
LINK: American Folk Art Museum
posted by Egon on Sunday, March 02, 2003

L.A. SPLENDOR
The February 27 - March 6 dated issue of the L.A. Weekly includes a story written by Harvey Pekar and drawn by Gary Dumm, as spotted by the Comics Journal's "iJournalista!" website. The two page strip, chronicling Pekar's experience at the Sundance Film Festival, is available for viewing at the Weekly's website.
INFO: L. A. Weekly
posted by Egon on Sunday, March 02, 2003

NEST PRESENTS WARE UNCUT
The Spring 2003 issue of Nest Magazine features a three page strip by Chris Ware. The twentieth issue of the quarterly magazine is the "uncut" issue: "you cut your own pages with a special tool we attach to each cover."
INFO: Nest Magazine
posted by Egon on Sunday, March 02, 2003