Tag: Peter Kuper

Picture + Panel | Peter Kuper + Allison Conway share the buzz on insects

We continue our interview series in advance of a live question-and-answer session between the two creators in Boston next week.

Whether you find bugs to be fascinating or just creepy, you’ll likely enjoy today’s Q&A with Peter Kuper and Allison Conway. We continue our new interview series in conjunction with the Boston Comic Arts Foundation as the creators of Insectopolis and A Pillbug Story talk about their big love for some of the world’s smallest creatures

Picture + Panel is a monthly conversation series that brings fantastic graphic novel creators to the Boston area. Each conversation explores a specific topic, ranging from the fun and exciting to the strange or serious — like demon possession or monsters. Produced in partnership by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, Porter Square Books and the Boston Figurative Arts Center, Picture + Panel provides thought-provoking discussions for the unique form of expression that is the comics medium.

On June 2 at 7 p.m. Eastern, Kuper and Conway will be at the Boston Figurative Arts Center in Somerville, Massachusetts for a discussion on all things bug-related with Whit Farnum from the Farrell Lab at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. You can find more details on the event’s website.

Big thanks as always to Gina Gagliano and Jason Viola, who organize the monthly series in Boston and brought this Q&A series to Smash Pages!

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Sunday Comics | Joe Sacco’s ‘The War on Gaza’

Check out recent online comics by Joe Latham, Jordan Bolton, Tonci Zonjic and more.

Here’s a round up of some of the best and most interesting comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

One of cartoonist Joe Sacco’s earliest works was Palestine, a nonfiction graphic novel about the two months he spent in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the early 1990s. During that time, he interviewed hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis about their daily lives and the ongoing plight of the Palestinians.

The current conflict between Israel and Hamas has brought renewed interest in Palestine and Sacco’s work in general, and as a result, his publisher has announced not only a reissue of the original graphic novel, but also a series of webcomics that are currently running on The Comics Journal website.

“The demand for Palestine has skyrocketed following the horrific events of Oct. 7 and Israel’s brutal response, indicating a yearning for understanding from readers all over the world,” said Gary Groth, president and co-founder of Fantagraphics. “We hope that the reissue of Palestine and the new series of graphic commentary ‘The War on Gaza’ will help awaken the world to the plight of the Palestinian people and illuminate the political context of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Sadly, as Amira Hass makes clear in her new Afterword, Joe Sacco’s deeply empathetic account of the Gazan people is even more relevant today than at any time since its original publication.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Ethan Heitner

Heitner discusses co-editing this year’s volume of ‘World War 3 Illustrated,’ this year’s contributions, working with cover artist José Muñoz and more.

Ethan Heitner may not be the most well-known contributor to World War 3 Illustrated, but he’s co-edited this year’s volume of the long-running anthology with co-founders Peter Kuper and Seth Tobocman.

World War 3 Illustrated is one of the best comics anthologies of recent decades and the new volume, which has the theme “The World We Are Fighting For,” is more evidence of the artistic scope and skill of the publication, but also of the depth and power of the work. It shows how important and powerful political comics can be. The best work is not about what happened yesterday but has history and perspective, and offers ways to think about the past, present, and the future in new ways.

It’s a great project and Heitner was kind enough to answer questions about the book and the process of assembling it, and his own work.

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MAD Memories: Talking ‘Spy vs. Spy’ with Peter Kuper & John Ficarra

As MAD Magazine closes its doors, we flash back to 2013, when Peter Kuper had just taken over ‘Spy vs, Spy.’

The internet is reverberating this week with the sad news of the changes coming for MAD Magazine. I’m one of the mourners; when I was growing up, we always had MAD in the house, and I’m one of those people who got more pop culture knowledge from the movie and TV satires than from actual movies and TV.

When I saw the news, I remembered an interview I did with Peter Kuper and then MAD editor John Ficarra back in 2013, when Kuper took over the venerable Spy vs. Spy feature. As sometimes happens, the interview slid to the bottom of the pile and never got published. Until now.

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Pastis wins the Reuben; ‘Kafkaesque,’ ‘Vampironica’ win NCS division awards

Winners of the annual awards presented by the National Cartoonists Society given out this weekend in Huntington Beach.

The National Cartoonists Society announced the winners of the annual Reuben Award and other divisional awards this weekend during NCS Fest in Huntington Beach, California.

After 11 nominations,Pearls Before Swine creator Stephan Pastis took home the Reuben Award, beating out Lynda Barry, Hilary Price, Brain Basset and Mark Tatulli for the honor.

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