I noted that now would be an excellent time to re-read Persepolis, with the crisis in Iran, and today artist-writer-filmmaker Marjane Satrapi is in the news:

Two Iranian filmmakers on Tuesday presented a document to Green Party MPs in the European parliament claiming to show that defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi had received over 19 million votes in the weekend election.

Marjane Satrapi, Iranian author and director and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an Iranian filmmaker and Mousavi spokesman, presented a document that they claimed had come from the Iranian electoral commission.

The document said liberal cleric and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi came second in the election with a total of 13.3 million votes, while president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came third with only 5.49 million votes.

Whether or not the document Satrapi presented was legitimate, this speaks to her commitment to her country and her willingness to speak out on her beliefs–characteristics that Persepolis readers will immediately recognize from the not-always-flattering self-portrait she drew in that book.

There’s something less self-indulgent about autobiography in comics–it’s often done in a defiantly unglamorous style, the writer-artist refusing to make her or himself prettier than they are, instead exaggerating their flaws, physical and emotional, with a cartoonist’s unflinching eye. Satrapi is willing to turn an equally unflinching eye on the countries she calls home, scrutinizing their flaws but retaining the love and loyalty.

People often complain about artists and other creative types getting too political, but it’s nearly impossible to be an artist and not deal in some way with the issues of the world, which often require a political stand. I don’t think it necessarily takes away from the work to know that the artist has views quite different from your own–I enjoy comics by several creators whom I know support ideals rather odious to me. More importantly, I think that the point of art is to comment on society, and if that means that artists occasionally feel compelled to speak out publicly about politics, that is not only their right, but perhaps even their responsibility.

TONIGHT: Kevin O’Neill at Forbidden Planet New York at 6:00. The artist behind The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, among many other books, will be appearing and signing books. Get in line!

Joelle Jones has some more of her gorgeous Endless drawings on her blog. Someone hire this girl to do a Delirium comic, stat. She also has a Blankets tribute and a gorgeous bit of Craig Thompson’s art as well.

Splash Page has more on Ryan Reynolds’ work on the upcoming Deadpool movie. Alas, no pictures…

You’ll probably want to skip straight to this one, because Warren Ellis has a color page from Planetary #27. Yes, it’s really going to happen.

Finally, I bring you a thought-provoking essay on the lack of black supervillains, at Comics Waiting Room. (via When Fangirls Attack)

Amber Benson, best known for her portrayal of Tara in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, will be signing copies of her new book “Death’s Daughter,” over at Challenger Comics + Conversation.

In addition to her signing this book, a limited edition “Death’s Daughter” art print will be available for purchase. Furthermore, 20 lucky readers who buy the book from Challengers before the event will be selected to meet with Benson after the signing!

The book, according to Amazon, follows Calliope Reaper-Jones, a mostly ordinary girl except for the fact her father is Death himself. When good old Pops gets kidnapped, its up to Calliope to take over the family business and thwart the hostile takeover of the Devil’s Protege.

The event will take place June 22 at 4:30 pm, and you can find out more about Challengers by clicking here.

Via Comics Worth Reading, apparently IGN is running a contest to win a trip to San Diego Comic Con to participate in an “Assignment.” Cool, right?

Unless you, like me, are a female over the age of 24. Though we too might like to meet District 9 director (and, um, Lord of the Rings director) Peter Jackson, we are apparently excluded. As Johanna notes, the rules of the contest state:

This sweepstakes is open only to males who are both legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and Washington D.C. and who are at least between 18-24 years of age as of July 23, 2009

I can almost understand trying to restrict the contest to younger people–almost. But why on earth would this contest be restricted only to “males”?

Like there aren’t enough men in the comics/film/sci-fi fields already, we need to make sure that only boys get to participate in these type of contests? Like comic conventions don’t have enough guys at them, you need to import extras?

You still have one more day to hit the coolest comics party out there.

I spent most of yesterday walking in circles til my feet hurt, trying to decide which fabulous people to give my few spare dollars to. Luckily, plenty of people had minicomics, postcards, and other fun bits and bobs so that I could fill my bag with swag from a good chunk of the people present instead of dropping a big pile of cash on one thing–not that I wasn’t tempted by a Becky Cloonan screenprint or any number of thick hardcover books.

This year I noted what seemed like a bigger webcomics presence, and spent some time chatting with the boys at the Zuda booth about formatting and process for comics on the Web. Still, nothing beats ink on paper handouts for getting immediate attention–I might mean to go check out webcomics, grab a business card, write down a link, but if you hand me something tangible, I’m going to read it.

My favorite thing about MoCCA is and continues to be the amount of women exhibitors and fans. I love regular comic cons, don’t get me wrong, but the vibe here is more girl-friendly, with plenty of women who are self-publishing or published by small presses and don’t get nearly the attention they deserve.

I grabbed some very interesting stuff, so over the next few days I’m going to devote some time to individual creators and the work that struck me.

If you went or are going today, share your thoughts. What did you love? What would you like to see more of? Did you discover something new that blew your mind?

My timing on moving to New York couldn’t be better: this week is the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival. I hit MoCCA last year and was overwhelmed with the amount of fabulous indie talent that I’d never heard of. Of course, there were also some recognizable names there, and according to this year’s roster, there will be plenty of cool people this time around as well.

Check out the program and the exhibitor list and order your tickets if you’re in the area–or keep an eye out here for some blogging from the fest.

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2009 Glyph Comics awards.

From the press release: The Glyph Comics Awards recognize the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color from the preceding calendar year. While it is not exclusive to black creators, it does strive to honor those who have made the greatest contributions to the comics medium in terms of both critical and commercial impact. By doing so, the goal is to encourage more diverse and high quality work across the board and to inspire new creators to add their voices to the field.

As Johanna noted, it is both a good and a bad thing for one comic, in this case Zuda’s Bayou, to sweep these awards. It’s great for a webcomic about to be released in print to be so acclaimed, but does it just point to a dearth of comics about nonwhite people?

G. Willow Wilson’s Vixen took Fan Favorite, Black Lightning from Final Crisis was chosen best male character, and Unknown Soldier #1 (which I just read this week and which will get its own post soon, I promise) won best cover. The Rising Star and Best Reprint were The Hole: Consumer Culture and Me and the Devil Blues V1, respectively, but Bayou took as many awards as the other books put together, winning Story of the Year, Best Writer, Best Artist, Best Female Character, and Best Comic Strip.

Clearly, I’ve been missing an excellent comic, so I’ll be sure to make up for it by picking up the print book when it comes out.

Caleb mentioned this before, but I thought I’d give it its own post. Floating World Comics held its Full of Pryde art exhibit on May 7, and now a bunch of the art is up on eBay. All proceeds go to the Oregon Hemophilia Treatment Center.

I love seeing a bunch of different artists reimagining the same character, and I can’t think of a better way to raise money for a good cause. Plus, I’ve loved Kitty Pryde since the X-Men animated series back in my childhood, and comic shop art shows are great fun. All the images are up on the blog and more photos from the exhibit available here.

(Art above, and h/t for the story Joelle Jones.)

(No relation. See the second e?)

From my inbox:

Award-winning cartoonist Al Jaffee is known for his innovative work in MAD Magazine. But before he created Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions and the Fold-In, he gave us “Tall Tales,” originally syndicated daily throughout the world by the New York Herald Tribune from 1957-63.  Come hear him discuss his book!

Sunday, May 3rd, 7:30
Congregation Beth Elohim
274 Garfield Place
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718)768-3814

What are you waiting for?

This Friday, April 17, Miss Lasko-Gross will be signing her new graphic novel, A Mess of Everything at the Rocketship store in Brooklyn. Kevin Colden will also be there, signing his Eisner-award nominated graphic novel, Fishtown.

Rocketship is located at 208 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY, and their parties are always excellent. Go forth and check it out.

So over on the main site we’ve got the Eisner award nominations, and my first thought was: wow, everyone else been reading totally different comics than I have.

On closer inspection, there’s plenty of stuff I’m reading–Fables, of course, in Best Continuing Series, and Hellboy. I was really thrilled to see Air get a nomination for Best New Series, as I think it’s excellent and underrated, and hope this will bring some new eyes to what G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker are doing with that book.

I loved Comic Book Tattoo, and was happy for that truly gorgeous book (whatever you think of Tori Amos–I love her, but you don’t have to to enjoy the comics), and Kevin Colden’s Fishtown (Best Reality-Based work) takes place in my Philly neighborhood, so I have to pull for it. Swallow Me Whole is a lovely, heartfelt little book that you all should read if you haven’t already, and Nate Powell richly deserves his nominations. I was also pleased to see Amy Reeder Hadley get an art nod (as well as Madame Xanadu’s Best New Series nom) because while the story in that book has yet to grab me, her art is breathtaking.

There’s plenty in here that was already on my list to check out, and now I have another reminder that I wanted to read Mariko and Jillian Tamaki’s Skim, Tamara Drew (by Posy Simmonds) and Alan’s War (by Emmanuel Guibert), and I’m totally checking out the “best digital comics” list.

BUT. (You knew that was coming, didn’t you?) There are two of the biggest glaring omissions I’ve ever seen. And if you’ve been reading my contributions to this site over the past year and a half, you know what they are. Yes, I’m talking about Local and Scalped.

I first learned the Eisners were out because Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly both mentioned on Twitter that they’d never win an Eisner if Local wasn’t good enough. While I heartily disagree with that point (both of them will go on to blow our minds even more in the coming years), I was shocked and went looking for the nomination list. I find it very hard to believe that there are five books better than Local. I’ve spilled so much metaphorical ink trying to tell all of you how wonderful this book is that I don’t know how many new ways to say “This is the best thing I’ve read since Sandman,” but, well, it is. Maybe it got shafted since it’s been around for a while? I seriously can’t figure it out. Maybe I can see passing up writer and artist nominations for Wood and Kelly (though really, I can’t), but this book means so much to me and to most everyone I’ve spoken to who’s read it, I can’t believe it isn’t at least on the list.

And Scalped? Um. Seriously. Once again, it’s hard to find new and better words for “Every month, I wait for Scalped week and then my friend and I excitedly text each other about how Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera have once again taken the series on a twist that we couldn’t possibly have predicted and yet now seems like the only thing that could’ve happened.”  Just yesterday I wrote:

Since I mentioned Scalped, how good was last week’s issue? Jason Aaron simply will not allow me to hate his characters. Each time I think I’ve found one I can despise, he cracks open their skull and lets me see inside and I find pieces of me staring me in the eye.

I’m sure there are other great books that didn’t make the list, or wholehearted defenses of the ones that did. I’m not saying the other books on the list aren’t great–the ones I’ve read certainly are, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading the ones that I haven’t already. But Local and Scalped are the kinds of books that are not only standouts in whatever year they came along, they’re standouts in my entire 14 years of comics-reading.

For our jet-setting readers, as well as those across the pond:

The Bristol International Comic Expo has announced their guest list, as well as a special one-day event: Small Press Expo 2009. The main expo will take place in the Ramada Plaza Hotel on May 9-10, while the Small Press Expo will take place at the Mercure Holland House Hotel. You learn more (and order tickets) by clicking here.

And now — THE GUEST LIST!

Kevin O’Neill (in association with Top Shelf and Knockabout)
Alan Davis (with exclusive new DR & Quinch print only available at the Expo)
Dave Gibbons
Mark Buckingham
John Charles
Mike Collins
Rob Williams & John Higgins (in association with Com.X)
Gary Frank
Ian Gibson
David Hine
Lee Garbett
John M Burns
Lee Bradley
John Watson
Ian Culbard
Phil Winslade
Hunt Emerson & Gilbert Shelton (in association with Knockabout)
Simon Bisley & Mike Ploog (in association with Reed Comics)
Charlie Adlard
Sean Phillips
James A. Hodgkins
Duncan Fegredo
Neil Edwards
Gary Spencer Millidge
Dylan Teague
Tim Pilcher
Joel Meadows
Shaky Kane
Boo Cook
Al Davison
Laurence Campbell
John McCrea
Dave Shelton
Martin Hayes
Jock
Asia Alfasi
Ian Sharman
Tony Lee
Ferg Handley
Peter Hogan
Steve Cook
Robert Deas
Kris Justice
Kat Nicholson
Liam Sharp
Dan Boultwood
Andie Tong
Emma Vieceli
Ian Edginton
Paul Grist
Graham Bleathman
Henry Flint
Lew Stringer
Lee Townsend
Andy Diggle
Siku
Roger Langridge
Jim Boswell
Gary Erskine
Bambos!
Jon Davis-Hunt
Cy Dethan
David Baillie
Kirsty Swan
Paul Gravett
Ilya
Stephen Baskerville
Jason Cardy
Emily Hare
Mike Carey

Plus SP Expo comics from:
Steve Tanner (Time Bomb)
Howard Hardiman (Cute But Sad)
David Goodman (Zip Gun)
John Anderson (Soaring Penguin)
Paul Rainey (There’s No Time Like The Present)
Tom McNally (Semiotic Cohesion)
Willie Lengers (Itch Publishing)
Tom Meddings (Unedible)
Will Morris-julien (Butternut)
Michael Burness (Unico Comics)
Stephen Paul Coffey (Best of What’s Left)
Luke Paton (The Adventures Of Kez And Luke)
Andrew Cheverton (Angry Candy)
Dan Barritt (Ragadabah)
Nic Wilkinson (Insomnia Publications)
Isaac E C Lenkiewicz (Duh Brain Comics)
Amsel Von Speckelsen (Underfire Comics)
Chris Denton (Massacre For Boys)
Chin-Hsuen Lee (Tpcat Comic)
Steve Tillotson (Banal Pig)
Geoffrey Banyard (Fetishman)
Richard Scott Butler (Cherubs Comics)
Sally Jane Thompson (IndieManga)
Mathew J Pallett (Stir Fried)
Samantha Borras (Inspired)
Chris Lynch (Monkeys With Machineguns)

For our readers in the Los Angeles area: the Hero Initiative, which works with struggling creators including Josh Medors, who we reported a few days back, has announced their schedule for Free Comic Book Day!

Free Comic Book Day this year is on May 2nd, just one day after the upcoming film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The Hero Initiative will be teaming up with other charities for L.A.’s Big Sunday event. Here’s the schedule:

- BOOM! Studios Editor in Chief and Kingdom Come/52/Superman: Birthright* scribe Mark Waid will be hitting Collector’s Paradise in Winnetka, starting at noon and running until 3pm. Other luminaries in attendance will be Marc Guggenheim (Amazing Spider-Man), Mike Kunkel (Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam), Joe Benitez (Titans), Jim Mahfood (Clerks), and J.T. Krul (Fathom).

- Meanwhile, mighty Meltdown Comics will be having an event with Tim Sale, artist for Heroes and Batman: The Long Halloween! Timing is still pending based on the Hero Initiative and Meltdown’s web site.

- And finally, the Hero Initiative has hinted to a “smorgasboard of fun” that will be taking place at 4 Color Fantasies out at Rancho Cucamonga. More details hopefully to come.

*Can you tell which series of his I like?

This is for all our Midwest readers, specifically those in the Windy City:

Challengers Comics in Chicago is having their one-year anniversary party this Saturday night! Starting at 5pm, the shop (located at 1845 N. Western Ave #2R) will have food, drink, and $1.00 back-issues.

“We didn’t want this to be our store and customers just shopped here,” said Challengers co-owner Patrick Brower in a press release.   “We wanted it to be the customers store and we just happen to work here.” W. Dal Bush, the other co-owner, added, “We wanted a store that brought a high level of professionalism to our retail industry.  Comic books are now in the mainstream. More Hollywood blockbusters than not are based off them. The New York Times now has a best selling graphic novel list.  We are proof that the family unfriendly, grimy disorganized stereotype of a comic shop is history.”

Comics and community always go well together, so if you’re in the area, I’d suggest you check it out!

Seattle readers, you’re in for a treat!

Love & Rockets co-creator Jaime Hernandez and Usagi Yojimbo’s Stan Sakai will be hitting the Fantagraphics Store in the Rainy City on April 4th!

The duo will be signing as well as showing off an exhibition of their work. In addition, special guest Paul Hornschemeier will be signing copies of his new hardcover, Mother Come Home.

The event will take place from 6-9pm and is free.

For all you guys out there in the Rainy City, we’ve got a treat for you!

Dame Darcy, cartoonist and mastermind of the Victorian horror romance Meat Cake, will be hitting the Fantagraphics Boomstore & Gallery from 6-9pm on Saturday, March 14th.

Darcy will perform vocals and banjo with her acoustic trio, and then sign copies of Meat Cake as well as her new graphic novel, Gasoline. In addition, there will be an exhibition of art from Harvey Kurtzman’s Humbug.

Lots of linky goodness for you today.

Kevin O’Neill talks League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Marshal Law, and many other things with The Times. That’s right, the NEW League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, coming your way in the not-so-distant future from Top Shelf. Keep an eye out for more on this…

More Twilight-related news (because I totally love it): Drew Barrymore may be in talks to direct the third Twilight film, Eclipse. Drew recently wrapped her directing debut, a film about roller derby (really!) starring Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde in X3).

More academia as well: do you write research papers on superheroes? There’s a call for papers for an interdisciplinary conference at the University of Oregon.

We invite 1-2 page proposals for 20-30 minute conference papers considering the implications of superhero fantasies for our understanding of such diverse topics as gender identity, queerness, theological yearning, and nationalist politics. We also welcome appreciative discussions of superhero comics as significant aesthetic achievements — particularly insofar as those discussions contribute to the ongoing project within contemporary Comics Studies, to map the unique conventions of the comic art form. Above all, we are interested in sophisticated, lucidly written analyses that utilize the conceptual tools and hermeneutic lenses of contemporary literary and cultural theory.

Molly Crabapple hipped me to Sketch Theatre, which is a super-cool site that sets high-speed video of artists at work to music. Molly is the featured artist right now. Also, you can check out her fashion week coverage at Coilhouse, if you’re into that sort of thing (which I so am).

Johanna at Comics Worth Reading previews Secret Identities: The Asian-American Superhero Anthology. Sounds like good stuff. Check it out.

Racialicious takes on Frank Miller and Zack Snyder’s 300.

The Guardian puts Sight and Sound’s top ten movies of all time to the Bechdel test.

Finally, via Daryl Cagle, a lament for another dead newspaper from my former (albeit briefly) hometown.

From the press release:

An Event for Scholars, Creators, and Fans

EAST LANSING, MI (February, 23 2009)- The Michigan State University Comics Forum is an annual event that brings together scholars, creators, and fans in order to explore and celebrate the medium of comics, graphic storytelling, and sequential art.  The Michigan State University Comics Forum 2009 is scheduled to take place March 27-28 on the campus of Michigan State University.

This year’s keynote address will be given by David Petersen, creator of the critically acclaimed Mouse Guard.  David Petersen won the 2007 Russ Manning Award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 2008, David won the Eisner Awards for Best Publication for Kids (Mouse Guard Fall 1152 & Winter 1152) and Best Graphic Album ? Reprint (Mouse Guard Fall 1152 Hardcover).

The event will also feature an Artist’s Alley as well as several panel discussions with academics studying comic books and professionals working in the comic book industry.

The Michigan State University Comics Forum is accepting entries for the 2009 Original Comics Collection.  Ten finalists will be chosen from among the entries, from which judges will choose a single winner who will receive a $150 award.  Entries will be judged based on their creativity, quality, and storytelling.  The work of all finalists will be displayed at the Michigan State University Comics Forum 2009, and be collected, archived, and preserved in the Comic Art Collection housed in Michigan State University?s Special Collections.  The Comic Art Collection holds over 200,000 items and is the primary library resource for the study of U.S. comic book publications.

For more information concerning The Michigan State University Comics Forum 2009, as well as submission guidelines for the 2009 Original Comics Collection, please visit http://www.comicsforum.msu.edu/.  You can also follow the The Michigan State University Comics Forum 2009 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/msucomicsforum.

Sounds kind of awesome, eh? I wish my university had a comics forum (though one of our professors does produce the International Journal of Comic Art).

For all you folks in Massachusetts, convention season can get kind of sad. New York has NYCC, Philly has a con, but what about Beantown? Well, if you’re willing to drive to Pioneer Valley in Western Mass., are you in for a treat!

While the creators call this more a gathering than a convention, webcomics creators such as Scott Kurtz, Steven Cloud, R. Stevens, and a whole lot more are going to be in attendance for the March 20-22 New England Webcomics Weekend. And it’s free! You can read more about it here.

The prize winners at the Angouleme International Comics Festival have been announced and are available on the site’s “Prize List” section.

The Fauve D’Or prize for best comic book went to Pinocchio. Many more books that I’m unfamiliar with won prizes, giving me a whole list of new books to try to check out. It’s a nice reminder that there are comics all over the world worth reading, though it makes me whimper that I don’t read more languages…