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APPEARING AT WONDERCON this Saturday!

Darrin Bell to appear at Wondercon this Saturday
Darrin Bell to appear at Wondercon this Saturday
Keith Knight and I will be signing our new books at table AA28 in the “Artists Alley” section of Wondercon in SF this Saturday. We’ll also speak during the following panel discussion (description from the Wondercon site). If you’re going or you want to invite others, please RSVP at the Facebook event page:

COLORING OUTSIDE THE LINES: BLACK CARTOONISTS AS SOCIAL COMMENTATORS

Featuring artists from the upcoming San Francisco art exhibit by the same name, nationally syndicated cartoonists Darrin Bell (Candorville, Rudy Park), Keith Knight (award-winning K Chronicles, (th)ink, The Knight Life), and Kheven LaGrone (curator of Coloring Outside the Lines) discuss their art. Animated shorts by nationally syndicated cartoonist Jerry Craft (Mama’s Boyz) will also be screened. Moderated by Thomas Robert Simpson (founder and artistic director of the AfroSolo Arts Festival). Room 236/238

Appearing on comics panel this Tuesday in LA

I’m cross-posting this from the Candorville Facebook group (if you’re not already a fan, go there and become a fan already or I’ll have to give you the swine flu):

I’m a late addition to a cartoonists’ panel this Tuesday in LA’s Echo Park. It’s part of 826LA’s adult writing seminar series. I agreed to do it before I looked at the names of the other panelists, which was probably wise. I’ll explain:

I learned to write by reading comic books back in the early ’80s. Every report I would go on to turn in in school – whether it was about George Washington Carver or cell mitosis – would have a beginning, a middle and an end. A hero and a villain. A “B story.” An unexpected death (either literal or figurative) to raise the stakes at the beginning of Act Three. Enemies closing in and all seeming lost. A triumphant resurrection of either the deceased or his cause. Victory, pyrrhic or decisive. A final image that bookended and reversed the opening image. My teachers never knew why they loved my writing so much, but I always knew why I would get nothing but A’s and B’s even when I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about: Everything I turned in was structured exactly like a comic book story. Teachers are just people, and all people love stories.

new_graphic_novel1785To me, the masters of the craft were Chris Claremont (X-Men), Marv Wolfman (The New Teen Titans), and a couple new guys, Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. I took the name of the evil multinational corporation (Trigon Corp) that’s trying to buy Lemont’s newspaper straight from Wolfman’s seminal New Teen Titans saga. Several of Candorville’s villains have been patterned at least a little on Wolfman’s Trigon.

So, who are the other cartoonists on this panel? The brilliant Lalo Alcaraz (La Cucaracha) and Jaime Hernandez (Love & Rockets), and MARV f-ing WOLFMAN! Man, when that guy speaks I’ll probably want to run around to the other side of the table, pull up a folding chair and take notes.

Tickets are still available at the 826LA website.

“Stephanie Miller Show” goes slumming with Candorville’s Darrin Bell

For some unknown reason, Elayne Boosler, guest hosting the Stephanie Miller Show on Jones Radio Network (& aired on many Air America affiliates), decided to spend a few minutes interviewing yours truly this morning. I didn’t post about this beforehand or tell friends or family because it would scare the hell out of me knowing that people were actually listening to me live. “They” say most Americans fear public speaking more than they fear death, and for a cartoonist who’s used to spending his days alone, half-naked in a tiny studio with only his characters to keep him company, death would be #3. #2 would be having to wear pants.Still, I sit for interviews whenever I’m asked because, hell, this is a dream come true for me — creating cartoons that strangers (who don’t owe me anything) spend a few precious, irretrievable seconds out of their days to read — and when someone asks me to talk about that on the radio or TV or a panel discussion, it’s a reminder that it’s actually happening, that that little kid who “wasted time” drawing Optimus Prime and Snoopy in his textbooks actually became what he wanted to be.Here’s the interview. Behind this buffer of time, it isn’t so scary. From today’s Stephanie Miller Show:

Appearance: Schulz Museum, October 21, 1p.m.

As part of the Schulz Museum‘s celebration of the 40th anniversary of “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown,” they’re hosting a panel featuring myself and three other cartoonists, all discussing how Peanuts influenced our work and the industry. The other talking heads will be Keith Knight (of “K Chronicles” fame), Paige Braddock (Jane’s World) and Michael Jantze (The Norm). Afterward we’ll be hanging around to sign books and talk with visitors.Schedule of Events for October 21, 2006•12noon – Showing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (in Museum’s Theatre)•1pm – Panel discussion about the impact of Schulz’s work (in Theatre). Panel includes Paige Braddock, Michael Jantze, Darrin Bell, and Keith Knight•2-3pm – Cartoonists sign books and talk with visitors (in Great Hall)•3-4pm – Producer Lee Mendelson speaks about making It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and He’s a Bully, Charlie Brown (in Theatre) and then sign books (in Great Hall)•4pm – Can Charlie Brown match wits with the Bully? Find out at the preview showing of Charles Schulz’s last animated special, He’s a Bully, Charlie Brown (in Theatre).Museum hours and directions!

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