Check out my Neno-curated Comic Mad Twitter list, recently featured on Listorious, The Definitive List of Who Matters on Twitter: http://listorious.com/nenoff/comic-madComic Mad is comprised of 239 (so far) comic creators, fans and publishers.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Comic Mad Twitter List on Listorious
Check out my Neno-curated Comic Mad Twitter list, recently featured on Listorious, The Definitive List of Who Matters on Twitter: http://listorious.com/nenoff/comic-madComic Mad is comprised of 239 (so far) comic creators, fans and publishers.
Monday, March 29, 2010
On Display in "Stories in Four Colors" Exhibit
Two panels from the story "A Greater Honor", from the mystery anthology, Murder By Crowquill, edited by Joe Zabel.The story is based on a tale from Herodotus' Histories and transplanted to a '50s noir milieu.
The original page these panels are from is displaying in the Stories in Four Colors: Cartoon Art in Ohio exhibit at The Works, in Newark, Ohio, through May 8th.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Cartoon Art in Ohio Photo Gallery
The grand opening of Stories in Four Colors: Cartoon Art in Ohio, at The Works in Newark, Ohio, was a success! A packed house, lots of cool art to look at, informative displays spotlighting Ohio cartoonists (written by curator Russell Merritt), a gorgeous building, reporters, and cartoonists and patrons mixing (not a common event!).Thanks to Mr. Merritt for his vision in seeing this project through and to The Works for sponsoring the show, which continues through May 8th.
Click here for my photo gallery of the evening: http://www.nenoworld.com/Cartoon_Art_in_Four_Colors.html
Click here for The Newark Advocate's news article about the show: http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20100327/NEWS01/3270316/1002/rss01
Click here for The Newark Advocate's photo gallery of the reception:
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=BF&Dato=20100326&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=3260803&Ref=PH
Click here for The Works' site: http://www.attheworks.org/
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Ohio Cartoonist Exhibit at The Works
Public reception: Friday, March 26th, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.This exhibit will include works by nationally published artists Andy Bennett, Michael Neno, Max Ink, David Mack, Scott D. M. Simmons, Matt Wyatt, Ray Tomczak, Jonathon Riddle and Russell Merritt.
In addition to contemporary works, historical pieces and information on Ohio's role in the history of comics and cartooning, works from the Columbus comic writers and artists group Sunday Comix will also be featured in the exhibit.
Gallery hours:
Tues. - Sat. 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
The Works Gallery, 55 S. 1st Street, Newark, Ohio
740-349-9277
www.attheworks.org
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Signifiers #1 Now Being Sold at Moore Comics!
Signed copies of The Signifiers #1, my cosmic new comic book series, are now in stock at Moore Comics, in Westerville, OH.Located at 5505 Westerville Road (behind Collision One and next to Star Base Columbus), Moore Comics features the largest selection of Gold & Silver Age comics in Central Ohio, with a free subscription service with no minimum number of titles to buy, plus 20% off new comics, magazines and graphic novels for pull customers.
Check out their website here: http://moorecomics.net/default.aspx
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Mesh...Revealed!
Four more panels of the pulp/noir graphic novel, The Mesh, have just been posted.Check it out: http://www.nenoworld.com/TheMeshPanel75.html
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Groovalicious Signifiers Drawing
Thelma and Splash send warm greetings in this drawing by friend and fab cartoonist Joe Zierman. I love it!!
For more info on The Signifiers, check this out: http://www.nenoworld.com/NewSigPage1.html
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Signifiers Interview on Avoid the Future
Avoid the Future, a blog about comic books both independent and international,has just posted an interview with me that covers a lot of ground, thanks to blogger Martin Steenton's interesting questions.Avoid the Future also features previews, reviews and more interviews, with cartoonists from a wide range of disciplines. Recent postings have included reportage on the 2010 Angoulême International Comics Festival and coverage of the UK Small Press scene. Avoid the Future is well worth bookmarking and reading on a regular basis.
You can read my interview here: http://avoidthefuture.blogspot.com/2010/03/interview-michael-neno-creator-of.html#more
And check out the blog as a whole here: http://avoidthefuture.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Indie Ohio Stores Selling The Signifiers #1!
Signed copies of The Signifiers #1 are now available at the following friendly Ohio stores:City Books, 6150 East Main Street, Columbus, Ohio 43213. 614-759-7323
Moore Comics, 5505 Westerville Rd., Westerville, Ohio 43081. 614-901-3963
Comics and Friends, 7850 Mentor Ave, Suite 1054, Mentor, OH 44060 http://www.comicsandfriends.com/
Copies are also still available at:
Packrat Comics, 3864 Lattimer Street, Hilliard, Ohio 43026. 614-527-8450. www.packratcomics.com
The Laughing Ogre, 4258 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43214. 614-267-6473. www.laughingogrecomics.com
Maia's Book and Misc., 4662 Indianola Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43214. http://www.maiasbooks.com/
Lost Weekend Records, 2960 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43202. 614-268-8423.www.lostweekendrecords.com
Ace in the Hole Music Exchange, 1153 Kenny Centre Mall, Columbus, OH 43220. 614-457-5666. www.aceintheholemusic.com
Please support these fine, independent stores and buy some other books and records there while you're at it!
More store listings soon!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Webcomics Panel Scheduled for SPACE
SPACE guests and attendees take note: I'll be taking part in a panel on webcomics hosted by Lora Innes (The Dreamer) at this year's show. Also on the panel will be: Tom Dellaringa (Marooned), Ryan Dow (Introspective Comics) and Alex Heberling (Garanos).
Date and time to be announced.
Check out the panelists' work!
Lora Innes' The Dreamer: http://thedreamercomic.com/
Tom Dellaringa' s Marooned site: http://www.maroonedcomic.com
Ryan Dow's Introspective Comics: http://www.ryandow.com
Alex Heberling's Garanos strip: http://garanos.com
And, check out the SPACE site for mucho more details: http://www.backporchcomics.com/space.htm
Friday, March 5, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Long Hair Music: A Whorf Brothers Retrospective
Photos from my current exhibit at Wild Goose Creative: Long Hair Music, Classical Music’s Response to the Counter-Culture. The exhibit showcases classical lp covers from the late '60s and early '70s designed to appeal to the burgeoning youth market, with an emphasis on the covers designed by Peter and Christopher Whorf for the Westminster Gold label.The Columbus Dispatch recently published an article about the show:
Long Hair Music: Classical Music's Response to the Counter-Culture continues through March 28 at Wild Goose Creative, 2491 Summit St., Columbus, Ohio. Hours: 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and most evenings. For times, call 614-859-9453.
Wild Goose Creative is a non-profit, multi-discipinary arts company which exists to support, encourage, and promote all forms of art and artists in Columbus, Ohio.
Here are my program notes for the show, printed as a free vistor booklet:
In 1984, I took a bus to the corner of Main St. and Hamilton Rd. and traded in my last S&H Green Stamp books at Harts' Department store (now an abandoned building). In return for the stamps I chose Prince's Purple Rain soundtrack and a classical recording on the Westminster Gold label: Prokofiev's opera, Story of a Real Man (an excellent recording, by the way).
This visit to Harts' was the end of an era in several ways: it was the last time I would trade in Green Stamps for merchandise, the last Westminster Gold record I would buy new off the shelf and, coincidentally, Story of a Real Man was the last cover designed by the Whorf brothers which Westminster Gold released.
From 1970 to 1975, Peter and Christopher Whorf designed over 200 covers for the Westminster Gold line of classical music. You'll see a fourth of those covers in this show. The covers they designed are audacious, funny, compelling, controversial, clever, conceptual and, sometimes, inscrutable.
The Whorf brothers came to ABC, the then-owner of the Westminster label, from the world of pop music. Peter Whorf had designed the famous Whipped Cream and Other Delights cover by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Christopher Whorf would team with Warner Bros. art director Ed Thrasher to design a Grammy-winning album for rock group Mason Proffit (Christopher also art directed the John Lennon/Yoko Ono Double Fantasy album and designed Isaac Hayes' Hot Buttered Soul cover).
For ABC's Westminster Gold line, the Whorf brothers joined the list of other labels attempting to cater to the counter culture and youth market. The Whorf brothers' beat the others at their own game, though; they designed eye-catching and provocative covers with visual puns, a small dose of nudity (particularly for Wagner covers) and a cohesive, stark, "art-happening" visual aesthetic that made the Westminster line unique on the record stands.
These covers were ubiquitous at one time. They retailed for a cheaper price than better quality classical recordings, but they seem to have sold well for many years, even after the line was discontinued. These covers have not been reissued and can only be found in used record stores, thrift shops and garage sales (i.e. where the good stuff is).
Exhibited alongside the Whorf brother's covers are ten examples of other label's attempts at capturing the youth market for their classical music. Of particular interest is the Orphic Egg series produced by London records.The liner notes for Orphic Egg records were written by current rock critics and the Mahler's Head cover displayed is a Westminster Gold knock-off, from the beige/gray background to the odd (creepy) sculpture.
Another cover displayed that is delightfully of its era is the gatefold Mahler Symphony #1. With its foggy atmosphere and heavily painted hippy/gypsies, it recalls the cover of Black Sabbath's first album - probably not what was in Erich Leinsdorf's mind when he conducted this piece!
The marketing behind these covers was calculated and cynical, to be sure, but many of the art directors, and the Whorf brothers in particular, took the task as a challenge and created covers that can still surprise and entertain nearly 40 years later.
- Michael Neno, February, 2010
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