Trina Robbins's Blog, page 5

FEAR OF BLOGGING IS GOING PLACES!

 

My fortune cookie says, "You will travel and have exciting adventures," and that sounds good to me! Spring is the start of convention season, and April and May will find me all over the map:

April 1st – 3rd is Wondercon, right here in San Francisco, my own backyard. Look for my table, come by and say hello. And while you're saying hello, check out my new books:

Number 2 in my 3-book graphic novel series, The Chicagoland Detective Agency, is out, and this one is called "The Maltese Mummy." It's all about talking dogs, haiku-spouting girls, computer whiz boys, and — duh! — mummies. I'll have copies at my table, and I think you'll like them.

Also: what happens when twelve talented women (including yours truly) write original short stories in which they create their own superheroines? The result is "Chicks in Capes," which will make its debut at Wondercon. I'm enjoying reading the entire book, and I'm very happy with my own contribution, "Innanna: Witchwoman," which, she said modestly, is my idea of what Wonder Woman should be, but isn't.

When something I've written comes out and I read it in print for the first time, if I'm really happy with it, my first reaction is always, Did I really write that? And then I go to the computer and check, and sonofagun, I did write it!

Back to Trina's Springtime Travels:

On April 27th I'll be in Pittsburgh, at Toonseum, where I've contributed some previously unpublished strips by Dale Messick to their exhibit, which consists of a year's worth of Brenda Starr original strips. Dale, as you may know, was born Dalia, but when she found that editors, instead of accepting her strips, were asking her out to lunch, she opted to change her name to a sexually ambiguous Dale. I'll be giving a slideshow and talk about Dale — and if you come, please come with questions, because I always have answers, and I love to talk. More info at Toonseum.org.May 7th will find me at the Pagan Festival in Berkeley — yes, I have other interests besides comics, and one of the is The Goddess! The Pagan Festival and parade is held every year at Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park – 2151 Martin Luther King Jr.

Way, 94704, at Center Street Next to Farmers Market (And I love that Farmer's Market — I always pick up a good lunch there). You'll find me at the Author's Circle with some of my books of pagan interest like "Eternally Bad: Goddesses with Attitude" and my kids' book about the queen of California, "Califia". (Betcha didn't know that California was named after a beautiful amazon queen!)

Finally, on May 21st and 22nd, I'll be in St. Paul, Minnesota, at SpringCon 2011, at the Grandstand on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. I'll be giving a repeat of my Wondercon presentation, for those who didn't see it on April 3rd (which is basically everyone who doesn't live in California). There's a great lineup of guests, including Silver Age cartoonist Elizabeth Berube, one of the last women to draw mainstream comics during the Great Women Cartoonist Mainstream Comics Drought that lasted from the 1960s until the 21st century. I've always loved her style and I'm dying to meet her! More info here: www.midwestcomicbook.com

　

FEAR OF BLOGGING SAYS GOODBYE…

…to the lovely Anne Francis, who left us on Sunday, January 2, 2011. You may remember Anne from the sci-fi classic film Forbidden Planet, but to me she was and will always be Honey West, the dashing and glamorous first woman private eye on television. It seems like once every few decades, an actress so personifies the part she plays that she IS that character. It happened in the 1950s, when Irish McCalla WAS Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, in 1970, when Lynda Carter personified Wonder Woman for a new feminist generation, and in 1965, when Anne Francis WAS Honey West. The TV series was based on a series of detective books by the husband and wife team, G.G. Fickling, but you can't read the books without seeing Anne Francis with her blonde flip and her adorable beauty mark. In 2010 I was delighted to pay tribute to my hero by scripting a 2 part Honey West comic book published by Moonstone press and gorgeously illustrated by Cynthia Martin. Look for another 2 parter by me in the future.

And here's a link to my writing on Anne Francis and Honey West: http://www.popeater.com/2011/01/04/an...

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME…

…Since Fear of Blogging downloaded a blog, so here are some past pictures and some past news:

Hey, it was Christmas last month and here I am with Santa Claus at my neighborhood farmer's market! My first photo ever with the bearded gent, because growing up Jewish, we didn't have Christmas and we didn't have Santa. I was the only kid in my very Catholic class who didn't believe in him. That's right, no tree, no presents. You can't imagine how I envied the other kids!

We lived across the street from my primary school, on the second floor, so from certain school windows you could look into our front room, where we had a humongous potted orange tree that my father would bring down into the sunny backyard for the Summer and nearly kill himself lugging back up in the Fall. One day in November I pointed out our window to a classmate, and she saw the big green tree and said, "Oh, you have your Christmas tree up already!" How I longed to pretend it really WAS our Christmas tree, because then I would belong, I would be One Of Them! But honest me had to admit it was just our orange tree. So here I am with Santa, making up for my deprived childhood.

FURTHER BACK…

In November, the Hotel Whitcomb put up a permanent exhibit on their mezzanine floor featuring historic images of San Francisco's grand theatrical and musical past. On the walls are vintage photos from the Fillmore jazz scene, the old movie palace, the Fox Theater, and — Forbidden City, the Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs! The gala opening of the exhibit was November 5th, 2010, and it was a glittering occasion indeed, attended by superstar nightclub entertainers of the past like Mia Tai Sing, who came all the way from Hawaii, and Coby Yee, whose costumes were on display. In the sepia photo, to my left is the lovely Joanne Tan, who put the exhibit together. Thank you, Joanne! (To my right is her friend, whose name, alas, I didn't get) In the color photo, that's the aforementioned Coby Yee, Queen of the Forbidden City, in the center, next to retired nightclub dancer Arlene Dark, sister of Tony Wing, one of the greatest tap dancers of the 20th century, and my tap teacher in the 1980s. I guess you know who is the happy redhead on Coby's right. The Hotel Whitcomb is one of San Francisco's historic hotels, and after the Great Quake of 1906, it served as a temporary City hall, when the old City Hall lay in ruins.  And even if you missed the glittering gala opening of the exhibit, you can still see it on the hotel mezzanine at 1231 Market Street.

WHAT'S NEXT?

If you live in the Sacramento area, I'll be guest at a convention there in March, and in April, look for me at San Francisco's own Wondercon. And in May, Saint Paul, Minnesota! More on all those cons later.

　

FEAR OF BLOGGING RETURNS FROM ENGLAND…

FEAR OF BLOGGING RETURNS FROM ENGLAND…

All in one piece, but without my camera, which I lost on the London Tube on my last day!

Luckily, so you won't think I made the whole thing up, kind friends have sent photos. But no photos, alas, of Oxford, so you'll have to take my word for it when I say that I and my good friend and traveling companion, Jean Frederickson, costumer to the stars, stayed at medieval Trinity College and ate in oak-paneled dining rooms that reminded me of the Hogwart's dining room in the Harry Potter movies, with ornately framed oil paintings of ancient dons frowning down at us. Oh, and had lunch in the very pub where Inspector Morse and Lewis ate and drank on the British TV series!

In London, we stayed with sister writer and lovely hostess Rachella Sinclair, now of London, late of San Francisco, and general world citizen. She took us around London on a tour of sights we'd not seen before, like the remains of the original wall! (and that's Jean and me at a portion of the marvelous crumbling wall, and in an ancient herb garden within the walls.) It was easy, in such surroundings, to fantasize that one still lived in the middle ages, until one suddenly remembered the Black Death and decided it was better to live in the 21st Century.

As evening approached, we walked across the Millennium bridge, and here we are on a bench by the side of the Thames gazing at the lights of old London town. As you can see by the way we're dressed, the weather was balmy and beautiful.

And the evening before, I had presented my Powerpoint talk and slideshow on why male comics historians ignore women cartoonists (but I don't!) for a great group called "Laydeez Do Comics," which is for (duh!) women who do comics. We could definitely use an American version of this group!

To cap off a splendid evening among women cartoonists (and friendly guys!), who should show up but sister pioneer cartoonist Shelby Sampson, one of the founding mothers of Wimmen's Comix, on a London stopover of her own round-the-world tour. Here are Shelby and me, flanked by artists Nicola Streeter (left) and Sarah Lightman (right). Nicola and Sarah are the two women responsible for Laydeez do Comics, and Sarah (along with Michael Kaminer) is curator of the exhibit "Graphic Details," which opened at the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum on October 1st (see below).

TRINA'S OCTOBER LIBRARY AND MUSEUM TOUR!

South San Francisco Main Library

: October 12, 6:30 P.M. So you want to be a Graphic Novelist San Bruno Library

: October 26, 7:00 P.M. So you want to be a Graphic Novelist Millbrae Library

: October 13, 3:00 P.M. So you want to be a Graphic Novelist Belmont Library

: October 13, 7:00 P.M. From Girls to GrrrlzIf you're in any of the above locations, come by and say hello!

And on Thursday, October 21, 2010, 7:00-8:30 P.M.:

Cartoon Art Museum Event:

$5 Suggested donation

San Francisco, CA: Please join the Cartoon Art Museum on Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 7:00pm for a very special opportunity to meet and hear some of the artists from its latest exhibition, Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women. Several of the exhibition's featured artists will discuss their comics and the exhibition's transition from a newspaper article to a world-touring show. The discussion will be chaired by Dr. Laurence Roth, Associate Professor of English at Jewish Susquehanna University. A booksigning will immediately follow the discussion.

Following the Cartoon Art Museum's presentation, an after-party will be held at San Francisco's famed 111 Minna Gallery. Please visit http://www.111minnagallery.com for details.

Special guests include:

World Famous Herstorian Trina Robbins (The Brinkley Girls)

Comic Artist Sharon Rudahl (A Dangerous Woman)

Comic Artist Vanessa Davis (Make Me A Woman)

and Graphic Details Curators Michael Kaminer and Sarah Lightman

If you can't get to the panel, come any other day to see the Graphic Details Exhibit through January!

And here's a link to the exhibit: http://cartoonart.org/2010/08/graphic...

　

SAVE THE DATES: TRINA'S SEPTEMBER WORLD TOUR!

On Monday, September 13: Oxford, England! I'll be speaking at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford

Title of the seminar: Mothers, Daughters, and the Feminine/Feminist

Here's the link: http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/mmc/inter....

And on Tuesday, September 21, 6:30 PM, in London, at the Rag Factory, 16-18 Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ, I'll be presenting my Powerpoint show and talk, HERE ARE THE GREAT WOMEN COMIC ARTISTS, then signing books. And here's that l...

Fear of Blogging returns from Comicon

…Without an Eisner Award. But they keep saying that just to have been nominated is an honor, so I'll dry my eyes and accept that. Anyway, there's still the Harveys! I've been nominated for a Harvey Award for my book, "The Brinkley Girls," so keep your fingers crossed for me.

But Comicon is about more than awards. For me, it was about seeing old friends who I get to see once a year, if that, like Carol Tyler (Check out her wonderful new graphic novel, just published by Fantagraphics!), and...

Fear of Blogging Goes to Comicon

…And lives to tell the tale. While in San Diego, I visited an old friend. Paul Williams, who published the very first serious rock magazine (as opposed to the silly teen fan mags like Tiger Beat), Crawdaddy!, had a bad bike accident several years back, and suffered some serious brain damage. While at first he made a spectacular recovery, and it looked as though he'd be alright, he had a relapse, and is now in a special care home in Encinitas, a short ride from San Diego on the Coaster, a...

FEAR OF BLOGGING IS ON A WALL!

Images from "Forbidden City: the Golden Age of San Francisco's Chinatown," are on a wall at #30 Wentworth Alley in Chinatown, in a mural called "If these walls could talk'" painted by the talented Robert Minervini! (robertminervini.com) There on the wall is Coby Yee, the last owner of the Forbidden City nightclub, along with the fabulous Grant Avenue Follies ladies, Pat Chin, Isabel Louie, Ivy Tam and Cynthia Yee. There even is the beautious Cheri, fan dancer at the Lion's den. If you have a...

SAVE THE DAY!

SAVE THE DAY!

Thursday, June 24th, 6:30 P.m., is when I give my Forbidden City presentation at the Asian Art Museum. It's free with admission to the museum, and guess what? Thursday nights, museum admission is only $5! I'll speak, the fantabulous Grant Avenue Follies will dance, and books will be sold and signed. If you haven't yet seen the museum's great Shanghai show, come early to take in the exhibit. This presentation is being given with the San Francisco Art Deco Society, so as they say: ...

WHY FEAR OF BLOGGING ISN'T ON LINKEDIN…

Or Facebook or MySpace or Twitter:

Well yeah, first of all, there's the amount of time it takes — I mean, don't people have a life anymore? — but the main reason I'm not hooked up to anything except plain old email and this website is PASSWORDS. I HATE passwords! Why do I need passwords for everything, anyway? Am I afraid the Russians are gonna steal my graphic novel secrets? And some sites actually recommend that you CHANGE your password every few months. Are they kidding? I keep forgetting m...

FEAR OF BLOGGING GOES TO THE LIBRARY…

…And so should you, to see the exhibit on their 6th floor for my book, "Forbidden City: the Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs." It's a smaller show than the one that was at the Old Mint, but it's free, and it's up for 3 months.Don't forget that I'll be reading from and signing copies of my book, and the fabulous Grant Avenue Follies will be performing, all on May 12th!