SDCC 09: ABRAMS and Abrams ComicArts to Have Strong Presence at San Diego Comic-Con

Posted: Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Posted By: Kevin Powers

ABRAMS and Abrams ComicArts to Have Strong Presence at San Diego Comic-Con

This year ABRAMS will have a strong presence once again at San Diego Comic-Con, just one year after launching the new Abrams ComicArts imprint. Critically acclaimed books such as Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle’s The Art of Harvey Kurtzman, Craig Yoe’s Secret Identity, Denis Kitchen and James Danky’s Underground Classics, and Brian Fies’s Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? have made this year a resounding success. ABRAMS continues to support its growth in the medium of comic arts.



Still to come this fall on the Abrams ComicArts list are The TOON Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics, by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly; Manga Kamishibai, by Eric P. Nash; Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness, by Reinhard Kleist; Dread & Superficiality: Woody Allen as Comic Strip, by Stuart Hample; and, just in time for the release of the Astro Boy movie, The Art of Osamu Tezuka, by Helen McCarthy. Other ABRAMS books of interest are: The Art of James Cameron’s Avatar, Alan Moore’s 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom, Star Wars 1,000 Collectibles, by Stephen J. Sansweet, and Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett. These upcoming books will be represented at the ABRAMS booth (#1216).



Abrams ComicArts will host several in-booth signings, and has organized panels for this year’s show. Check the attached schedules for dates and times of signings with Denis Kitchen, James Danky, Lela Lee, Craig Yoe, and Brom. The ComicArts panels will cover the topics of Underground Comix and Harvey Kurtzman/MAD Magazine. Additionally, Craig Yoe will be on a panel about “The (Strange) State of Siegel and Shuster Scholarship” and Abrams ComicArts Executive Editor Charles Kochman will moderate a panel on Will Eisner’s New York.



Each day the ComicArts booth will raffle off one copy of Alan Moore’s new book, 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom, due out this fall. This illustrated volume is a look at erotic art through the ages. Other raffles and give-aways include Diary of a Wimpy Kid bookmarks, The TOON Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics posters, Manga Kamishibai jacket posters, galleys for Michael Buckley’s NERDS, a raffle for a signed Boilerplate print, and more.



# # #





Abrams ComicArts Booth Signings

booth #1216



Friday, July 24



11-12:00 Denis Kitchen

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman



2-3:00 Brom

The Devil’s Rose



3-4:00 Craig Yoe

Secret Identity



Saturday, July 25



11-12:00 Craig Yoe

Secret Identity



3-4:00 Denis Kitchen and James Danky

Underground Classics

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman



4-5:00 Lela Lee

Angry Little Girls

Angry Little Girls in Love



Sunday, July 26



11-12:00 Denis Kitchen and James Danky

Underground Classics

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman



# # #



Abrams ComicArts Panels



Friday, JULY 24



4:30-5:30

Underground Comix
ROOM 10

Moderator: Denis Kitchen—Cartoonist, editor,

publisher, coauthor of Underground Classics (Abrams

ComicArts)

Participants: James Danky—Comics scholar and coauthor of

Underground Classics (Abrams ComicArts)

Trina Robbins—Comix artist

William Stout—Comix artist



Panel Description:

Comix were underground comic books that reflected a generation’s dissatisfaction with the government, cultural “norms,” and the status quo. The late 1960s saw the emergence of these underground comix, a new wave of humorous, counterculture-inspired comic books that dealt with social and political subjects like sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll, and war protest. While the works of members of the movement such as Robert Crumb and Art Spiegelman are well known, the art of many of their comix-era contemporaries, including Gilbert Shelton, Trina Robbins, Justin Green, Kim Dietch, and S. Clay Wilson, remains unacknowledged.



Moderated by Denis Kitchen [coauthor of Underground Classics (Abrams ComicArts); cartoonist; editor; publisher], who was present at the birth of the underground comix movement, the Underground Comix panel discussion will engage expert James Danky (coauthor of Underground Classics), Trina Robbins (a rare female artist in the comix world), and comix artist William Stout in a conversation about the history and significance of this extremely prolific and often overlooked period in comics history.





Saturday, JULY 25



1:00-2:00

Will Eisner’s New York

Room 8

Moderator: Charles Kochman—Executive editor Abrams ComicArts

Participants: Paul Levitz—President and publisher, DC Comics

Diana Schutz—Executive editor, Dark Horse Comics

Denis Kitchen—Will Eisner’s publisher, agent, and long-

time friend

Carl Gropper—Will Eisner’s nephew and manager of Will

Eisner Studios

Panel Description:

Did you know that New York City played a central role in much of Will Eisner's writing and artwork? Learn about the lifelong relationship between Will Eisner and New York City from Charles Kochman (executive editor, Abrams ComicArts), Paul Levitz (president and publisher, DC Comics), Diana Schutz (executive editor, Dark Horse Comics), Dennis Kitchen (Will Eisner's publisher, agent, and longtime friend), and Carl Gropper (Will Eisner's nephew and manager of Will Eisner Studios).

1:00-2:30

Comics Arts Conference Session #11: The (Strange) State of Siegel and Shuster Scholarship

Room 30AB

Moderator: Brad Ricca—Case Western Reserve University

Participants: Craig Yoe—Author of Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman Co-Creator Joe Shuster (Abrams ComicArts)

Lauren Agostino—Independent scholar

Panel Description:
Brad Ricca (Case Western Reserve University), director of Last Son, a scholarly documentary on Siegel and Shuster that is showing in the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival on Saturday, moderates this conversational panel featuring Craig Yoe (Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman Co-Creator Joe Shuster) and Lauren Agostino, an independent scholar, who will share letters connected to the 1947 lawsuit and portions of the original Superboy script that completely upset a lot of myths about who created Superboy.

6:00-7:00

Harvey Kurtzman/MAD Magazine
ROOM 3

Moderator: Mark Evanier—Comics historian and author of MAD Art

Participants: Denis Kitchen—Cartoonist, editor, publisher, author of

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The MAD Genius of Comics

(Abrams ComicArts)

Nellie Kurtzman—Daughter of Harvey Kurtzman

Paul Levitz—President and publisher of DC Comics/MAD
Charles Kochman—Executive editor of Abrams ComicArts

William Stout—Artist, contributor to “Little Annie Fanny”
w/Kurtzman

Panel Description:
The creator of MAD and Playboy’s “Little Annie Fanny,” Harvey Kurtzman was called “one of the most important figures in postwar America” by the New York Times. Kurtzman discovered Robert Crumb and gave Gloria Steinem her first job in publishing. Terry Gilliam started at Kurtzman’s side, met an unknown John Cleese in the process, and the genesis of Monty Python took place. Art Speigelman has said that he owes his career to Kurtzman. And Kurtzman is one of Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner’s favorite artists. Kurtzman was an astonishingly talented and influential artist, writer, editor, and satirist without whom treasures such as Saturday Night Live, Airplane!, and The Simpsons may never have been conceived.

The Harvey Kurtzman/MAD panel promises to be a lively discussion about the life and work of Harvey Kurtzman, “The MAD Genius of Comics,” lead by comics historian Mark Evanier and featuring Kurtzman’s daughter, Nellie; the author of the just released The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The MAD Genius of Comics, Denis Kitchen; Paul Levitz (President and publisher of DC Comics/MAD); William Stout (a colleague of Kurtzman who worked on “Little Annie Fanny”), and Charles Kochman (Executive editor of Abrams ComicArts and The Art of Harvey Kurtzman, and former editor of MAD Books).

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