The Small Press Expo has an ad in the new issue of the D.C. Conspiracy's semi-annual comics newspaper Magic Bullet (#8), which hits the streets today. SPX notes a few of the special guests for its Sept. 13-14 show, including Jules Feiffer, Michael DeForge, Renee French, Tom Tomorrow, James Sturm, Lynda Barry and Box Brown (who did the art for the ad).

A revival of Jules Feiffer's dark play Little Murders opens tomorrow Friday January 13th (hmmm) and runs to Feb. 11 at Gunston Theatre Two, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington, 703-998-4555,
http://americancentury.org .

 

and here's the Post's favorable preview:

 

Death and mayhem: Gadzooks! In 'Little Murders,' making dark comedy of exaggerated violence [online title: "Backstage: Death and mayhem in 'Little Murders'"
By Jessica Goldstein
Washington Post (January 11 2012)
online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/backstage-death-and-mayhem-in-little-murders/2012/01/10/gIQAaMnMpP_story.html

 

Man about town photographer Bruce Guthrie has put his pictures of the Jules Feiffer reading online.

Tomorrow - I'm there. I've heard him read part of this before, and it's good. See one of the great cartoonists and read his memoir.

Here's the description from their website:


My Fellow Americans: 40 Years of Political Cartoons by Jules Feiffer

June 27–August 16

Pulitzer Prize–winning New York cartoonist, author, playwright, and artist, Jules Feiffer's political cartoons are sharp in their wit and piercing in their criticism. His cartoons ran for more than forty years in the Village Voice, and were syndicated nationally, and are a testament to his unique insight into the social and political upheavals around him. Their messages maintain their relevancy in contemporary society. In form, his cartoons are distinguished in their simplicity. His often text-heavy panels are balanced by simple, but whimsically drawn figures. While his punch lines are often caustic, he still frequently manages to imbue political figures with humanity.

Feiffer has received critical acclaim for his work in various media. He won an Academy Award in 1961 for his animated short Monroe and the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for editorial cartooning. He has also received Lifetime Achievement awards from both the Writer's Guild of America East and the National Cartoonist Society, as well as the Harold Washington Literary Award (2004) for his creative uses of the written word to address issues of contemporary life.

Visiting

Hours (Admission is free):
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Tue–Sun
And 1 hour before Katzen Events
Closed July 3–4

Location/Parking: See Katzen Visiting
Contact Us

Ph: 202-885-1300
Fax: 202-885-1140
E-mail: museum@american.edu

The Washington Examiner ran a brief review of Art Spiegelman's Breakdowns on page 35 - it's not online.

The NY Times reviewed two comics creator's works - Jules Feiffer's Explainers and the Hernandez Brothers' Love and Rockets.

The Wash Post has a minor Gaiman review.

I just finished transcribing Alan Fern's interview of Jules Feiffer at the Cosmos Club in Washington last year, on the occasion of the McGovern award. It will appear in the Fall 2008 issue of the International Journal of Comic Art. Subscribe now!

Here's a sample, with Feiffer talking about bringing his portfolio to show to Will Eisner and being told his art was no good:

...But I had long ago established a habit of responding to unpleasant truths by not hearing them, or changing the subject, and I sure as hell was not going to walk out of this meeting with Will Eisner, my hero, with my tail between my legs, being told I had no talent. This was not the way this was going to end, so I started improvising and the only thing I could think of talking about was him and his work. Now here was a guy who had revolutionized comic book art and he had three highly crafted professionals in the other room who didn’t give a damn about his work. Who thought he was kind of out of date, and didn’t know anything about his career, and then he met me and I had a whole dossier. I knew everything he ever had done. I could talk about it not just as a little boy, but as a knowledgeable fan. He had no choice but to hire me as a groupie.

[audience laughs]

As you can see from the above scans of the program, Jules Feiffer was awarded the Cosmos Club's McGovern award last night. Mr. Feiffer gave a short overview of his career in comics strips, read a few pages from a memoir that he's working on which sounds very interesting to me, had a short interview with moderator Alan Fern and then took a few questions. I'll post in more detail when I have a chance to decipher my notes, but it was a great pleasure to see him get this award for the humanities. I had the opportunity to sit with him and discuss old comic strips too as he finished his scotch and he talked about his old friends like Bill Mauldin and Milton Caniff. I'll update this post soon!