In recent years, many artists at feature animation studios like Pixar, DreamWorks and Blue Sky have become involved in self-publishing art books and graphic novels. The Disney artists have remained noticeably absent from the scene…until now. A whole slew of Disney Feature story artists and directors are getting ready to release a fun-looking 72-page graphic novel anthology entitled Who is Rocket Johnson?, in which they answer the question posed by the book’s title. The book, limited to 1,000 copies, will debut in July at the San Diego Comic-Con and will sell exclusively at booth 2302.

Contributing artists are:
Steve Anderson
John Musker
Dean Wellins
Mike Gabriel
Kevin Deters
Paul Briggs
Tom Ellery
Sam Levine
Nathan Greno
Don Hall
Mark Kennedy
Aurian Redson
Daniel Chong
Tron Mai
Lawrence Gong
Joe Mateo
Michael LaBash
Chris Ure
Bruce Morris
Mark Walton

The book also features a painted cover by Paul Felix and pin-ups by Glen Keane, ChenYi Chang, Byron Howard and Arthur Adams. There’s a book blog at WhoIsRocketJohnson.com and an official announcement at the blog of Paul Briggs.

(via Blackwing Diaries)

GirlsDrawinGirls are having their Volume 2 premiere show at The Hive Gallery, 729 S. Spring Street, in Los Angeles on June 7th. I’ve been told some really cool bands will be playing that night - and lots of girl artists will be there. There’s also a preview of art for volume two, this time with a fairy tale theme. The Hive Gallery party starts at 8pm. The art show runs through June 28th. The new book comes out at the San Diego Comic-Con in July.

One more plug for the The 2nd annual Animation Book Look this afternoon in Sherman Oaks. The Creative Talent Network and Van Eaton Galleries are presenting this all day book signing event on Ventura Blvd. It’s free and open to the public from 1:00pm-6:00pm. Join me at the Van Eaton Gallery, 13613 Ventura Blvd., with Martha Sigall, Tom Sito, Rik Maki, Tony White, Willie Ito, Jim Smith, Amanda Visell, Stephen Silver, Maureen Furniss, Jon Gibson, Mike Kunkel and dozens more. For a complete list of authors and books visit the Book Look website or call Van Eaton Galleries at 818-788-2357.

I received the Fall/Winter 2008 Chronicle Books catalog yesterday, and there are a few animation-related books that should be of interest to Brew readers. The prelim cover to my book, the previously announced The Art of Pixar Short Films, is above. You can find out more about the book by clicking on this info sheet about the book. It’s slated now for a February 2009 release. Pre-order on Amazon.

I’ve also posted the info sheets below for two other cartoon entries from Chronicle (click for larger versions). Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts by Rob Smith is the first history of Lucas’s videogame division, which turned out classic games like The Secret of Monkey Island, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. It’s coming out in December 08. Also notable, Disney Feature Animation is releasing its first ‘art of’ book through Chronicle. You guessed it…it’s The Art of Bolt by Mark Cotta Vaz, scheduled for release this November.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update on my latest book Inside UPA but there’s a couple important reasons to write about it now. Firstly, of the fifty signed editions of the book, there are only six copies left. In other words, if you want a copy signed by the legendary likes of Millard Kaufman, Fred Crippen, Willis Pyle, Bob Dranko, Bob McIntosh, Erv Kaplan, Gene Deitch, Sam Clayberger, Dolores Cannata, Howard Beckerman, Joe Siracusa, David Weidman, Joe Messerli, Edna Jacobs, and Alan Zaslove, then now would be a good time to pick one up.

The other reason for mentioning the book is that Tee Bosustow, son of UPA co-founder Stephen Bosustow, will have the books available for sale this Saturday, May 17, at the Animation BookLook in LA. Only 1000 copies of this book were printed and I’d love to see them go into the hands of people who appreciate the accomplishments and legacy of the studio. Every sale also helps raise funds to help Tee continue his UPA research and film documentary efforts. If you want to enjoy a one-of-a-kind photographic tribute to animation’s greatest design-oriented studio, pick up a copy of Inside UPA from Tee this weekend or order one from the UPA website.

Illustrator Ben Butcher has done an interview with Grain Edit about his illustration process on Lots of Bots, a graphically-striking illustrated book being released this week as a tie-in for Pixar’s Wall-E.

Gary Panter (designer of Pee Wee’s Playhouse) has a new book from PictureBox Inc. Panter is doing a book tour this month that might be of interest to Cartoon Brew readers, including a show in Chicago where he’s introduced by Chris Ware and an LA signing introduced by Matt Groening.

Note these dates:
Saturday, May 10th, Gary Panter at PictureBox Departmental Store, 121 3rd St. in Brooklyn NY.

Saturday May 24th at 1 pm, introduced by Chris Ware at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL.

Tuesday May 27th, 2008 at 7:30 pm Lecture and Slideshow, at Skylight Books, introduced by Matt Groening, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA.

For a complete list of other appearences including San Francisco, Texas, New York, Mexico, click here.

(Thanks, Hiland Hall)

A new exhibit opening at the Met today, entitled “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy,” is dedicated to exploring the “symbolic and metaphorical associations between fashion and the superhero”:

Featuring movie costumes, avant-garde haute couture, and high-performance sportswear, it reveals how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body. Objects are organized thematically around particular superheroes, whose movie costumes and superpowers are catalysts for the discussion of key concepts of superheroism and their expression in fashion.

The exhibit is accompanied by a visually striking catalog designed by Abbott Miller. The Pentagram blog offers a preview of the book.

It’s been interesting to watch the convergence of fashion and comics over the past few years. While fashion designers are looking towards superhero comics for inspiration, comic artists and illustrators are jumping boldly into the world of fashion design, with notable examples including Paul Pope’s recent work for DKNY and James Jean’s designs for Prada.

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