Thursday, January 19, 2017

"The idea was always to go up to the Revolution": Jason Rodriguez speaks about his second Colonial Comics book



by Mike Rhode

The second book in the historical non-fiction short story anthology Colonial Comics was released this week. I met with editor Jason Rodriguez at Lost Dog Café in South Arlington and we chatted a bit about putting both books together. I hadn't gotten a copy yet, so the discussion is a bit abstract regarding the second volume, but hopefully our talk and some pictures from the book will hold your interest, dear reader. You can also check out this 2015 interview on book one from the Washington City Paper.

JR: It’s funny that the second book in the Colonial Comics series is actually thicker than the first one. They changed the paper stock, and the second actually has more pages. The covers are supposed to be continuous. [The first book] has the Massachusetts coastline, the Mayflower coming in, a bunch of Pilgrims parked on the shore, and one Native American overlooking it. The second continues with the same shoreline, but now built up to Boston and more ominously, with the British fleet coming in. When we do a mid-Atlantic version, the drawing is going to continue South (i.e. lower in the cover).

MR: Are there any more books in the New England series?

JR: No more. We’re going to cut it off at the Revolution, partly because a lot of people know about the American Revolution. They learned about it in school.

MR: There’s always more, smaller stories…

JR: Absolutely. There’s plenty we could do, but as far as Colonial Comics, the idea was always to go up to the Revolution. Otherwise, it would be Revolutionary Comics. We wanted to focus on the origins of the country.

MR: Are you planning on working your way to the South now?

JR: The third book is supposed to be mid-Atlantic history. We don’t have any plans to start it immediately. With the first book, we put it out there and started working on the second book. We got feedback on the first that we incorporated into the second, but we want get new feedback before we start thinking about the third book. I wouldn’t expect us to start working on a third book for six months or so.

MR: Fulcrum is enthusiastic about the line?

JR: Yes, although the first book didn’t sell quite as well as either of us wanted it to. When we go to a new printing of the book, we’ll make some changes. The second book is strong and addressed feedback we got from the first book, and should take off quicker. The first one sold fine; it just didn’t sell fantastically.
  
MR: I think part of the problem with the first book to a certain degree might be the amount of religion that’s a part of the early American colonies – it’s hard to get away from, it’s hard to understand, and it’s far removed from our culture.

JR: Yes, that led to a structural problem with the stories themselves, because from 1620-1750, people know the landing at Plymouth and the witch trials, and when we try to fill in the spaces, a lot of it is based on religion and is dark stuff, like wiping out populations. And for a lot of it, we have to use primary sources because it’s not covered in a book that we can turn to. Because of that we ended up getting a lot of text-heavy stories that was aimed at an adult audience, but marketed to middle-graders and young adults. With the new book, I was much better at keeping people doing things that feel  like comics with actual actions and not just captions everywhere. I think we took a lot of issues with the first book to heart and came up with something much more fantastic.

MR: Did you use mostly the same contributors?

JR: No. There are some repeats. I have my people that I love working with. John Bell and David Lewis are back as assistant editors. They both also wrote a story. There’s a lot of our DC-area folks – Jason Axtell colored a story in the first book, but he illustrated a story this time. Matt Dembicki’s back. Scott White did the cover again, and this time he also did a comic story. Chris Piers, even though he’s out in Seattle now. [Being interviewed in a bar, Jason overlooked Arsia Rozegar, Mal Jones, Matt Rawson, Rafer Roberts, and Carla Speed McNeil who also contributed]. I always use Charles Fetherolf, Josh O’Neill and James Comey. I loved working with E.J. Barnes and Sara Winifred Searle  in the first volume so I invited them back. Jason Hanley has always been my letterer but for the most part I brought a lot of new people on board.

MR: How do you find people?

JR: We had a general call for submissions that several people responded to, including some great finds. That’s probably where Jackie Roche came from and she is phenomenal. She does these fantastic watercolors. Just like with the first book, I wanted to focus on under-represented narratives, unknown stories, things like that, but I still wanted to touch on some of the big stories that we know.



 I wanted to include the Boston Tea Party in some way, and Jackie came to me with a pitch about actually tracing the tea trade – starting in China, following it through India, and then into Massachusetts and tracing the tea as it went into the harbor.

A lot of the stories are ones I just found. Ashley Victoria Robinson wrote “Mercy Otis Warren” about the playwright, and one by nature I guess, because there were no plays in Boston. It was against Puritanical rules to produce plays. Warren wrote revolutionary plays, originally anonymously, but later took credit for them. Ashley wrote me saying she wanted to do a story about nurses in the Revolutionary War, which we weren’t covering, but since Ashley also had some playwriting experience, I suggested Warren. 

Some people I paired with a topic, and some people came in with great things. Kevin Cooney came through the submission process with a story about the Stamp Act obelisk which I think is one of the greatest things I learned. Matt Dembicki illustrated it. When the Stamp Act was repealed, Paul Revere designed this obelisk which was supposed to be a permanent fixture under the Liberty Tree. The problem was that it was made out of oiled paper and wood, and it was lit from the inside with candles and they put fireworks on top of it, so it burned down the first night they celebrated it. Paul Revere’s plates still survive and I actually made an origami version of it for promotion purposes so you could print it out and fold it.

MR: Do you have an editor at Fulcrum?

JR: Yes, Fulcrum assigns me a chain of editors. Rebecca McEwen edits for content and what’s allowed and what’s not in these books. It’s not just sex and violence but language. There are two stories where I had to put a disclaimer noting that “negro” and “mulatto” were common terms. We had to cut out “damns.” There was a little pushback at times from the artists, but we managed to sustain most of it. The copy editor was Alison Auch and she was great to work with. She was very responsive and helped put the book together. She worked really hard in the last month, because I was late in delivering everything. But I do all the design work including the cover and literally deliver them an entire book, so they could just publish it as-is, but they don’t. They fine-tooth-comb it, and have third party people read it, and put a lot of effort into it.

MR: A few years ago, you did an Amazon-only Kindle children’s book and you’re about to launch a Kickstarter campaign for that?

JR: “The Little Particle that Could” is a story about particle physics and general relativity for kids. The original version followed a graviton who was perfectly happy just spinning and pulling things down to earth until a photon catches her eye and she decides to chase it, off the Earth and into a black hole. We wanted to do a print edition that was a bit more special so now we have a new colorist, and Jason Hanley is re-lettering it. We’re hoping to do a hardcover with nice glossy stock, and then stretch goal to a board book because I love them. We just need to raise $5000, and then $10,000 for the board book. I think it’s achievable.

Another Resist! article

The Women Drawing Against President Trump, One Comic Strip at a Time

The comic RESIST! is a reaffirmation of the liberal principles—free speech, a free press, racial and gender equality—that its creators see as threatened by a Trump presidency.

01.17.17

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/17/the-women-drawing-against-president-trump-one-comic-strip-at-a-time.html

Slate on 'March'

John Lewis' March Puts Obama's Legacy in Heartbreaking Perspective

By Isaac Butler
Slate's Browbeat Blog

Another Resist! interview

Interview: RESIST! & Political Comix and Activism in the Era of President Trumphttp://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-resist-political-comix-and-activism-in-the-era-of-president-trump/

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Catholid Herald article on animator De Angel

Youth minister uses his talents in animation to illustrate God's love
Arlington Catholic Herald

After years as a professional artist Miguel De Angel felt called to use art more directly in ministry.



De Angel's video on YouTube

'March' wins another award

Rep. John Lewis: I hope my book inspires people to 'speak up and speak out' [in print as Lewis's latest 'March' wins Walter award].


Washington Post January 18 2017, p. C3.
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/rep-john-lewis-i-hope-my-book-inspires-people-to-speak-up-and-speak-out/2017/01/17/27737b2e-dc51-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html

The Post's Tyrus Wong obituary

is actually the LA Times, but is worth reading.

Tyrus Wong, long overlooked animator of 'Bambi,' dies at 106 [in print as Tyrus Wong, 106; Artist brought a poetic quality to Disney's 'Bambi']

/ Los Angeles Times
Washington Post January 15 2017, p. C8.
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tyrus-wong-long-overlooked-animator-of-bambi-dies-at-106/2017/01/06/284c69d2-d393-11e6-945a-76f69a399dd5_story.html

Another Resist! interview

Remember the newspaper will be distributed locally beginning on Friday.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Francoise Mouly and Nadja Spiegelman RESIST!

By
January 13, 2017
http://cbldf.org/2017/01/exclusive-interview-francoise-mouly-and-nadja-spiegelman-resist/

Big Planet Comics 40% off hardcovers sale starts today

and continues for a week.


Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Teresa Logan makes her Resist! drawing available as a poster for Women's march

COLONIAL COMICS: NEW ENGLAND, 1750-1775 out today


Jason Rodriguez said on Facebook today (and he's quoted w/ permission):

Hello everyone! Today is the official release date of COLONIAL COMICS: NEW ENGLAND, 1750-1775. It's a beautiful book that I'm very proud of, and all of the creators involved have done a truly wonderful job bringing to life underrepresented stories from the period.

It's a really great book. A timely book. In an era of division and protest, it's nice to be able to draw parallels to a time when we came together as a series of colonies to form a new country. We didn't have all the answers then, and we have made a lot of mistakes since, but the COLONIAL COMICS series likes to celebrate the people and stories who were largely lost to our American narrative so that they can be celebrated as the heroes (and villains, in some instances) that they were.

Over on the FaceBook page I've already shared previews from 10 of the stories, including stories about Nathan Hale's college days, young Benjamin Franklin, Crispus Attucks and Newton Prince, Colonial-era counterfeiters, Molly Ockett, the New England triangle trade, the Stamp Act riots, and Mercy Otis Warren.

I'll continue to post previews through Monday, as the stories get closer to the American Revolution and feature tales of grave robbers, the tea trade, civil disobedience, and a shot heard around the world.

Please feel free to share the FaceBook page (we're approaching 500 likes!), or any individual posts on the page. Tell your local bookstore to order a copy (we're published through Fulcrum Books and distributed through IPG), or order/share the book through Amazon.

Thank you all for your continued support. And don't forget to check out the first volume in the series, COLONIAL COMICS: NEW ENGLAND, 1620-1750

March sells out after Trump Twitter attack on Rep. Lewis

Rep. John Lewis's books sell out following Donald Trump's attacks


Washington Post's The Fix blog January 15
2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/15/rep-john-lewiss-books-sell-out-following-donald-trumps-attacks/

Resist! political cartoon newspaper coming to Arlington

Resist! and Magic Bullet in
Arlington's Central Library lobby



On Friday, January 20th, the Resist! political cartoon newspaper will be available at One More Page Books of Arlington, VA, Busboys and Poets of Shirlington, and in the lobby of the Central Library. The paper will also be handed out by volunteers at the L'Enfant and Federal Center SW subway stops during the Women's March.
 
And for one week, the Little Free Library of Alcova Heights, Arlington, VA on 7th Street will be solely carrying it too.















Monday, January 16, 2017

Axtell solo show: Jan. 25-March 13

Local comics artist Jason Axtell has a solo show opening Jan. 25 through March 13 at the Art Institute of Washington in Arlington, Va. According to his Facebook post, "'Comics: The Profound, Cool and Quirky' will showcase the artwork I completed for Colonial Comics: New England 1750-1775 (JUST RELEASED!!!) as well as the upcoming ReDistricted, as well as a few other shorts, not to mention the variety of techniques I work in." 
Opening reception is January 25 in the Gallery on the ground floor.

New 'ReDistricted' comic: 'The Pearl'

There's a new installment of ReDistrictedComics.com, a story by local comics writer Michael Cowgill and Ohio artist Michael Neno called "The Pearl." (Colors by me.)




Sunday, January 15, 2017

March vols 1-3 become top-seller on Amazon

Amazon sells out of Rep. John Lewis' biography after Trump attacks him

Laurel Raymond

Of Trees and Beasts

by Steve Loya




Yesterday, Kris and I went to see the movie A Monster Calls in the theaters. Words can't really describe this sad and beautiful film, but I felt a real connection to it, as did Kris. It might have had to do with the monster and trees - two things I love, especially when combined, as well as the story, not to mention the strong emphasis on the power of art and imagination. The acting and the visuals were incredible as well, and I'm hoping for a Blu-Ray release of this gem, if not on DVD at least. I dug into my Splotch Monster archives for two (of many) Splotch Monster/tree mash-ups from recent years, that reminded of the wonderful giant tree beast in the movie. Below is a trailer for the film. A Monster Calls is one of those truly special works of cinematic art that only come around every once in a while, and I recommend seeing it to anyone who appreciates good film.   -Steve

Claassen's Dirtfarm returns to City Paper

For the first time in months, Ben Claassen III's Dirtfarm comic is in the Washington City Paper with a parody of Goodnight Moon, centered around the Trump election.

Q&A with Chris Scott


The blog Paper Droids: Geek Culture for Women has a Q&A with local comic artist Chris Scott on his recent art book Two Ton Rock God. It is currently sold out but Chris tells us he plans to have more copies sometime in mid-February. He notes that there also should be a second volume this summer.

Image courtesy of Chris Scott

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Andrew Cohen's studio

Last night I dropped by the O Street studio of Andrew Cohen, editor of the comics newspaper Magic Bullet, to pick up bundles of the newest edition that hits the streets in time for the inauguration. I also enjoy seeing where the creators works.