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By now the legend of the Art in Time L.A. event at Cinefamily has probably not reached you. Basically, thanks to Cinefamily and Sammy Harkham, I gathered a pantheon of great cartoonists under one roof for an early evening gab fest and book signing. Johnny Ryan interviewed Lawrence (Real Deal) Hubbard; I interviewed John Thompson, Sharon Rudahl and Barbara “Willy” Mendes, and Jaime Hernandez screened the fabulous A Letter to Three Wives, after which Sammy briefly interviewed him. Books were signed, beer was consumed, and after all that I ate an enormous corned beef sandwich at Cantor’s. But! It was not without its moments, best of which was a fairly intense exchange between Hubbard and Mendes. Anyhow, lucky for you, dear readers, I recorded the whole thing the first two panels in a single take. There’s a brief dead zone between the Hubbard/Ryan panel and the Art in Time panel, but let it roll. It’s worth it. The recording picks up with Johnny introducing Lawrence. Enjoy.

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Kill your morning by listening to an interview over at Inkstuds. Listen to me rant on about Art in Time and other matters of the heart. Robin is always a fine host.

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Here I am in Switzerland lecturing about Art in Time. Are you tired of hearing about Art in Time yet? I’m flogging it hard. Anyhow, listen below to hear me flail about as a I try to explain things to foreigners! Allow the intro music to vibe with you, man.

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Also! Yet another book release event: Come join me at Desert Island in Brooklyn on Friday, May 21st, 7 – 9 pm.

Desert Island
540 Metropolitan ave
Brooklyn NY 11211
(718) 388-5087

I will be signing books and the esteemed critic Richard Gehr will be grilling me about all things Art In Time! All of this beginning at 7 pm.

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Well, a little bit of news and some bragging.

First of all, please join me and Chip Kidd at The Strand (NYC) on Wednesday, May 12 at 7 pm for a lively discussion, slide show and signing for Art in Time.

And, I’ve received some very nice reviews from Entertainment Weekly (A-!), The Onion A.V. Club, and The Jewish Daily Forward, and have managed not to embarrass myself too badly in an interview with Publishers Weekly.

Ok, now go about your business. But don’t forget to come to The Strand!

UPDATE 5/15/10: New interview at Robot 6, where I really gab “deep nerd” with Chris Mautner, and book excerpts at the LA Times.

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Dash and I will be rolling into Toronto’s TCAF this weekend, May 8 and 9, with a full slate of programming and, natch, a full assortment of PictureBox books covering two tables. I’ll also be signing and selling Art in Time for all you history buffs out there. Come by the booth, go see Dash at his signings, and come see us both jabber on about comics.

Spotlight: Dan Nadel’s Art in Time
Saturday, May 8th, 10:30 – 11:15am, Learning Center 1

Publisher and comics historian Dan Nadel will discuss and show images from his new book, Art in Time, while addressing how comics history gets constructed and how the theme of adventure in comics has expanded and contracted over the years. Artists discussed will include H.G. Peter, Willy Mendes, Sharon Rudahl, Jack Kirby, Bill Everett.

-Spotlight: Paul Pope and Dash Shaw
Saturday May 8th, 12:00-1:00pm, The Pilot

TCAF Featured Guests Paul Pope and Dash Shaw are two of the most exciting creators in comics, mixing their influences and innovations to create groundbreaking work. Now Inkstuds Radio/Podcast host Robin McConnell will moderate a conversation between these two creators about the role that influences play in creating comics, ranging from traditional comics to film and music and from classical to contemporary works. This also includes a discussion of education, some key points in creating your own vision in comics, and an examination of how to make influences work and finding out where they lead you.

-Indie Comics Japan: Manga Outside the Mainstream
Saturday, May 8th, 1:45 – 2:45pm, Learning Center 1

Comics from Japan are called “manga”, and the very word inspires a very particular idea of style and presentation in the minds of many readers. But manga is just the Japanese word for comics, and the styles, presentations, and ideas contained within that medium are as interesting and diverse as the sorts of comics being produced in Europe or North America. Join publisher Dan Nadel of PictureBox Inc., translator/production coordinator Ryan Sands, Fanfare/Ponent-Mon and manga.about.com representative Deb Aoki, translator Jocelyene Allen, and moderator Christopher Butcher to discuss the many treasures manga has to offer North American readers!
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Here I am, back in beautiful Lucerne for Fumetto. The sun is shining, the sandwiches are fried and the beer is delightful. Oh yes, and there are comics, too! Many, many, many comics. Also, one Ben Jones. I’m here for my and Paul Gravett’s Jack Kirby show and Ben is here for the Ben show. There are various shows coming to life, including artists like Brecht Evans and Thomas Ott, whose life-size anatomical scratchboard (!) images are stunning and horrifying. It’s all pretty fun. The whole schlemiel opens on May 1. If you’re anywhere near Switzerland I must insist that you attend. If nothing else to take in some damn fine Kirby art. We have close to 200 pages (including all but two pages of Fantastic Four 54) and the site of all them has turned even me, cynical, grumpy, altogether jaded me, into a quivering lump of a fanboy. Gravett and I keep nudging each other like, “Can you believe this shit?” Anyhow, here are some pictures…

And this is all before we’ve even hung the show. Sorry to brag. It’s just too much fun. More tomorrow, including some Ben Jones candids, more gushing and more Kirby!

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Click on this glowing word and make the images on your computer screen magically rearrange themselves into a Newsarama interview with Dan. It regards his amazing new book, Art in Time, and in it, he says things like this:

[Bill] Everett, to me, is the great heir to Alex Raymond on Flash Gordon, or someone like Virgil Finlay. His work has a wonderful sense of passion to it. He was a true auteur – he wrote, drew, lettered, did everything.

And this:

["Crystal Night"] was introduced to me by my friend Matthew Thurber, who’s an artist. I kind of fell in love with it as a feminist take on Philip K. Dick, and I love the drawing as well. There’s a kind of unsung drawing style that artists like Justin Green and Sharon Rudahl and Frank Stack have that’s kind of figure-based and open.

Hmm, sounds interesting…