This is what you should do. Make art. good

… and other words of advice from artists to graduates

Excerpts from actual commencement addresses (attributed) to a few new offerings from NCS members

Practice, practice, practice. It’s hard to get worse at something if you practice. But talent is not enough. Talent is not creativity, just as a seed is not a crop. You have to till the soil, plant the seed, work it, water it, harvest it. Creativity is hard work.

Doug Marlette Durham Academy Commencement, 2005

Life is like the Star Wars movies. Some of it is great, some of it sucks, but you have no choice but to sit through all of it. Very similar to the commencement speech you are listening to right now.

Learn to type with both thumbs.

Jim Borgman

If you’re going into a career in the arts... marry rich. And if he’s taken, get a teaching degree.

Stephanie Piro

Hank Azaria in the voice of The Simpson’s Comic Book Guy, Tufts University Commencement, 2016

Meet your heroes. Introduce yourself. Surprisingly, few of them are assholes. Most are actually wonderful, and insist that you call them Sparky.

Jeff Smith

The Center for Cartoon Studies Commencement, 2009

A camera in a phone? In a wrist watch? In a shoe? Well, that’s OK for recording specific details. Better yet, observe reality and sketch the world around you. You’ll develop an intimate connection with what you see. To create action in a figure, don’t start with the head. First establish the direction and angle of the torso—then attach head and limbs. You’ll be surprised how simple it is to set your characters in motion and bring flexibility to your drawings.

Howard Beckerman

We came here to learn. We came here because we are curious, special people. We came here because we care about what our environment can look and behave like. We came here to make everything better.

Lalo Alcaraz

UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design Commencement, 2015

Life is a fleeting, transitory stage which is too short to waste on work that isn’t one’s best. We all know where we’re going, so just enjoy the ride.

Bill Holbrook

I graduated from art school in 1977, and I think that is now far enough away that I really don’t have any words of advice.

Roz Chast

Lesley

Mark Parisi

University Keynote Address, 2010

I wish that you all find love, and kindness rules your heart. I wish that lunch came with this invitation to speak.

Rick Stromoski Suffield

(Conn.) High School Graduation Address, 2006

My Alma mater describes me as a distinguished alumnus. That just means I’m currently employed. As you stand on the threshold of your promising young future, remember; the intensive Liberal Arts education you’ve received, steeped in the trivium an quadrivium of the Humanities, offers the student the unique opportunity to go forth into the world and drive for Uber. And to this day, thanks to my student loans, I’m STILL working my way through college. So, my best advice to the graduating class of 2017 is...uh, excuse me, do you mind looking up from your phones?

John Reiner

Jazz musician Thelonious Monk gave the following guidance to his band: "Don't play everything… let some things go by. What you don’t play can be more important than what you do."

As a cartoonist, I try to follow Monk’s example by removing unnecessary elements from my art and writing, although I usually end up overdoing things. His advice applies to every creative endeavor. Don't be afraid to leave out some ingredients.

Wayno

It wouldn’t be a commencement address without some more advice, so here it comes. These are Englehart’s rules.

1. You want to stay married for life? Get married at 80.

John Lasseter

Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation

Defy your own group. Rebel against yourself. Knock down your walls and get out of your own way.

Cathy Guisewite Class of ’72, University of Michigan Commencement,

1974

2. Do not live where there is a bridge between you and your job. Sooner or later, it will have to be painted and they’ll shut it down to one lane, and it will be a traffic nightmare for years.

3. Remember, you can make money and make a difference.

4. Read, Vote. Raise Hell!

Bob Englehart

Central Connecticut State University Commencement, 2006

If there was a class on shortcuts for a successful career nobody told me about it.

Jared Lee

Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do. Make good art.

Neil Gaiman The University of the

Marcus Hamilton

Arts Keynote Address, 2012

If you’re creative, follow your dream and give it your all. If you’re into science and technology, choose an area with a potential that excites you and stay with it. If your intelligence level isn’t high and your morality is lower yet, your success in politics is guaranteed.

Nick Meglin

My suggestion is, for those of you who don’t know what you want to be, try to write down the things you love. They may be stupid things — I love watching movies, I love drinking beer, I love whatever. But write these things down. Then try to, for six or seven months, try to get a job in those things you love. It doesn’t have to be beer and movies, but try to make it. All of the people who are getting honorary degrees, the thing we all have together is we love what we do. We love what we do.

Mike Peters Washington University Commencement, 2012

“Kids today! Why, when I was his age I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up!”

Whatever you majored in and however much you love it, keep an open mind. Some of the best and most exciting careers might not have been invented yet.

Don Orehek

The mail keeps me going, makes me blush, keeps me honest, makes me smarter, puffs me up, brings me down to size and scares the bejesus out of me. Come to think of it, my first piece of advice to you should be this: Choose a career where you get lots of fan mail and a certain amount of hate mail.

Jef Mallett University of Michigan–Flint Commencement, 2005

Bill Watterson Class of 1980, Kenyon College Commencement, 1990

Listen to yourself. You might hear things you don’t like. But find out who you are, and who you are not. Realize that you are not necessarily who society or parents or teachers or siblings or Oprah or Rachael Maddox or Rush Limbaugh or Martha Stewart or Joe Biden want you to be. Listen to find out who you are and not who they want you to be.

Liza Donnelly University of Connecticut Graduate School Commencement, 2014

I believe that art can promote the best in mankind. It can raise us to our higher consciousness. It inspires and transcends. It comes from a deeper place, from stillness, from love. It helps bring that mindset into this world. As artists and human beings, we need to manifest this in our work and in our lives. Art is magic, and one of its most magical powers is to heal. I think that’s why we are here.

Patrick McDonnell

My principal exhortation to you today is to go forth and raise hell. Surprise yourselves. Surprise your parents. Surprise the world.

Garry Trudeau Trinity College Com-

mencement, 2003

I used to think talent was what got your foot in the door and made you successful, but that’s only part of it. You’ve got the talent part; now you’ve got to show the world your attitude and drive.

Marshall Ramsey Mississippi School of the Arts Commencement, 2016

You have just spent the last 16 or so years learning how to take tests. Tomorrow you will begin your education in life.

No matter if you are a cartoonist, writer, performer, butcher, baker or candlestick maker — observe everything. Observe life. Observe people. Always ask questions, of anything and everything and everybody. But also, listen. Don’t just hear, you must listen. And then, and only then, do you sincerely learn. Through your entire education, all you really learned was how to take tests. Now, set your sights on learning about life, the life that engulfs the world you inhabit, your family. Learn about things you don’t understand, but learn more about things you think you DO understand

Tim Oliphant

I hope you all go out there and tell complicated nuanced stories in a beautiful way about this world. But the trick is to do that and not lose your passion. One is by waiting til the last minute to do things so you end up on stage without an ending to your talk.

Just say no to Karaoke with cartoonists and, of course, drugs.

Rich Diesslin

Allison Bechdel

The Center for Cartoon Studies Commencement, 2008

The

Center For Cartoon Studies Commencement, 2007

It’s not about accumulating the most stuff; it’s about leaving your mark and deciding what that mark is going to be. It’s about growing and learning because that never stops. You’re in trouble when it does stop. So leaving your mark, making a difference, making life matter, however you say it — it’s never too early to think about what you want to leave behind.

Mark Fiore Colorado College Commencement, 2015

Connecticut

Maria Scrivan maria@mariascrivan.com

On March 9, the NCS Connecticut Chapter presented Brian Walker with the “Legend Award” for his outstanding work in professional cartooning and in the cartooning community. It was presented with a heartfelt and hilarious dedication from Chance Browne, who co-founded the award with Brian in 1994. We had more than 50 people at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center in Stamford, Conn. that included NCS members from the Connecticut, New York and Long Island chapters. A special thank you to King Features for their generous contribution to the event, and to Ed Steckley for creating a fantastic caricature of Brian.

Brian has a diverse background in professional cartooning and cartoon scholarship. He is a founder and former director of the Museum of Cartoon Art, where he worked from 1974 to 1992. Since 1984, he has been part of the creative team that produces the comic strips, Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois. He has written, edited or contributed to 40 books on cartoon art, including the definitive history, The Comics – The Complete Collection, as well as numerous exhibition catalogues and magazine articles. He taught a course in cartoon history at the School of Visual Arts from 1995 to 1996. He has served as curator for 70 cartoon exhibitions including three major retrospectives. He was editor-in-chief of Collectors’ Showcase magazine from 1997 to 2000 and Chairman of the Connecticut Chapter from 1993 to 2015.

In 1993, at the Reuben Awards Weekend in Scottsdale, Arizona, NCS President Bruce Beattie encouraged Brian to start a regional chapter. The first meeting of the Connecticut

Chapter was held at the Silvermine Guild Arts Center on Nov. 23, 1993. More than 80 people attended a cocktail party and buffet in a gallery filled with Christmas artwork and craft items.

The following year, Brian and Chance were trying to figure out how to get the popular cartoonist and toastmaster Stan Drake to attend a meeting. At that time, Stan was illustrating Blondie and had an unconventional schedule. He would stay up all night drawing and then hit his favorite watering hole, Glynn’s in Westport, for lunch. By ing profession for a lifetime and were rarely recognized for their achievements. Between 1995 and 2016, there were 20 more “Legend Award” recipients: Bob Gustafson, Curt Swan, Bill Yates, Gill Fox, John Cullen Murphy, Jud Hurd, Roy Doty, Dick Hodgins, Mel Casson, Jerry Dumas, Mort Walker, William F. Brown, Tony DiPreta, Orlando Busino, Leonard Starr, Frank Bolle, George Wildman, Frank McLaughlin, Bob Englehart and Ray Billingsley. What started out as a clever ploy to get Stan to show up for a dinner turned into a meaningful and long-lasting tradition.

Great Lakes

Polly Keener pollytoon@aol.com early evening, when the Chapter meetings were held, Stan was sound asleep. Chance suggested that Stan be honored with an award, which would force him to come and accept it. They ended up calling it the “Legend Award,” and the plan worked.

On Oct. 12, 1994, 80 guests attended a gathering at the Redding Road House, where the private dining room was decorated with 22 portraits of cartoonists painted by Stan in the 1970s. He regaled the audience with some of his “golden oldie” jokes and was presented with the “Legend Award” plaque, as well as a large board of drawings from the artists in attendance. The next day, Stan was so pleased he decided to donate the majority of his portraits to the International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton, Florida.

The event was such a success that Brian and Chance decided to continue to give out the “Legend Award” on an annual basis. Many of the Connecticut Chapter members were veterans who had worked in the cartoon-

Members of the Great Lakes Chapter gathered on March 4 in Akron, Ohio at the Keener home to help judge four Reuben Silver Award categories. There were lots of cartoons to view, but color coordinating entry folders and ballots made it relatively organized. GLC’ers Chip Bok, Craig Boldman, Ed Black, Polly Keener, Earl Musick, Don Peoples, John Steventon and Mark Szorady were judges, and family members Anitha Steventon, John and Anitha’s two daughters, Ed Black’s son Danny, Bob Keener, and newlyweds Whitney Keener Dronzek and John Dronzek joined us for lunch and fun door prizes. Happily, the northeast Ohio weather cooperated, too, and didn’t clobber us with a snowstorm.

We were sorry to miss several folks, including Jerry and Gerri Dowling, who recently lost their daughter, Shannon after her ten-year illness. Jerry is also battling a severe leg infection, cellulitis. We hope he is recovering by the time you read this.

When the next Reuben Journal comes out for Reuben Weekend, please enjoy the Great Lakes Chapter page ad, a group effort by Duane Abel, Ed Black, Jenny Campbell, Dave Coverly, Polly Keener, Jeff Knurek, Terri Libenson, Don Peoples, Jason Platt, Chip Sansom, and John Steventon.

NCS members living in an area served by a regional chapter should contact the chairman, or contact national representative Ed Steckley at 413-478-4314. Chairmen, please send news, photos, artwork and information about your chapter to The Cartoon!st, in care of Frank Pauer, 53 Beverly Place, Dayton, OH 45419, or fpauer1@udayton.edu. Deadline for the next issue is June 11.

Jim Benton writes that he has a book coming out in May from Andrews McMeel called Quite a Mountain , a fable told with large cartoon illustrations. Jim will be showing at the International Licensing Show in Las Vegas as well as speaking and signing at the ALA show in Chicago in June.

New GLC member Nate Fakes has a recent book of cat cartoons called Laser Pointers, Hairballs, and Other Cat Stuff . The book is available on Amazon. Additionally, Nate had a recent book-and-bottle signing in Centerville, Ohio. He creates wine labels for the brand “Cellar Another.”

Ron Hill, who does many editorial cartoons, and is in constant demand for caricatures, has created a design and illustraton partnership with two other creators, James O’Hare and Jaime Lombardo. They have a cool studio in the Cleveland University Circle area. One of Ron’s regular assignments is cartoon commentary for Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, published bi-monthly in their online magazine “Beyond.” Ron says he draws his art on an iPad Pro and is “the first truly all digital art [he has] ever done, but since it’s a digital publication, it’s better to work that way from the beginning.” Good advice from an artist who always knows what he’s talking about.

A chapter friend, Cheryl Ranyak, creator of “Ralph The Turtle” cartoons, writes that for the past five years, she has drawn the cartoon featured on a T-shirt she designs yearly for the Cleveland Clinic’s “Team Mellen,” that participates in the annual MS Walleye Fishing Tournament. This year, the event is held on June 7.

On Aug. 19, members of the Great Lakes Chapter will participate in the panel “Superman, Super Heroes and Cartoon Illustration” at the historic main Cleveland Public Library. The library has acquired a big new collection of Superman memorabilia that will be displayed on three floors of the building. Very likely, we’ll have a GLC reception or lunch in conjunction with the panel, which is open to the public. If you are coming to northeast Ohio in August, please join us.

Southeastern John Sheppard sheart@aol.com

Former syndicated comic strip artist and Mort Walker team alumni Johnny Sajem held an estate sale at his home in the

Washington, D.C.

Carolyn Belefski

cartooncarolyn@hotmail.com

In late March, NCS DC chapter members and friends gathered at Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse for a NCS comedy evening to see San Francisco Bay Area-based Mike Capozzola perform his “Evil Cyborg Sea Monsters” live multimedia nerd comedy event. In the photo at right, are Mike Capozzola, Lauren Jaslow, Chris Ingram, Joe Carabeo, Carolyn Belefski and Mike Rhode.

On April 11, chapter members and the Illustrators Club of DC took a joint field trip to view the Kelly Collection of American Illustration, a private collection dedicated to the Golden Age of American Illustration from 1890-1935. We dined on pizza for lunch and then Warren Bernard, a comics-focused writer collection we northern Atlanta suburbs a few weeks ago. He is downsizing and purchasing a smaller home in north Georgia with his daughter. There were literally hundreds of original strips (daily and Sunday) from Seaweed, The Evermores and Winston . I was lucky to get four strips — a few hours after I left someone came in and bought every piece of original art availa ble!

The Memphis group (MidSouth Cartoonists Association — MSCA) is making a conscious effort to use the local convention scene t o bring people to us. There was a panel on the MSCA presence and history at MidSouthCon36 recently, bringing some folks up to speed on our nearly 30 year history. Greg Cravens was on the panel and described the connections between the MSCA, the SouthEast Chapter, and the NCS. They have also arranged to do a cartooning and caricature class at the next Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention in November.

The SECNCS table at Heroes Convention in Charlotte, June 16-18, welcomes NCS members to come by the table for a break. If they would like to have a turn at the table to sign autographs or do more, contact James “Doodle” Lyle at Doodle@JamesLyle.net.

Southern California/ Los Angeles

Matt Diffee

mattdiffee@gmail.com

Report by Chad Frye

The ol’ Hey Ho Hey gang in Los Angeles has been having a delightful spring. All the late winter rains have caused a “super bloom” phenomena to happen to our valleys of wildflowers.

Also brightly blooming have been our recent meeting guest speakers, such as animation executive producer Tom Warburton who came to give us a sneak peek at his revival of Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies that will invade your television sets next winter. Also, the great and powerful Jeff Keane shared with us some of the strange and delightful reader feedback he receives for his work on The Family Circus

We are particularly proud of one of our local colleagues, Marla Frazee, whose children’s book The Boss Baby was turned into a hit feature film of the same name by Dreamworks Animation — and dominated the box office for its first two weeks! Dreamworks graciously hosted the NCS LA for a screening of The Boss Baby in March on their beautiful campus, and our Marla participated in a Q&A with some of Dream - works’ creative executives.

Tom and Marie Stemmle, Hy’s friend Cary Matzkin, and Chapter Chair Dan Nakrosis. Dan ordered a uniquely crafted birthday cake for this very special event: white butter cream frosting with the design of an Ames Guide on top. Why?

Well, among the dozen celebrants toasting Hy at this happy event were four of his former students from The Kubert School of Cartoon and Design: Nakrosis, Fields, Branch and Wecht. Hy’s major teaching subject at the school was — and still is — lettering! So, it was both funny and very apropos! Hy has taught at the Kubert School since its inception in 1976.

Lots of exciting things keep happening in our group with more on the way! If you can’t make it to one of our events, hopefully we’ll see all of you at the Reubens! We’ll be the ones wearing plaid. Hey Ho Hey!

New Jersey

Some of the presents Hy received included original cartoon art, cartoon books, and a booklet of emails from cartoonists who couldn’t be at the party, but who wanted to send special wishes and regards. In addition, many chose to send Hy birthday greetings directly to his home. The surprise highlight of the party was Hy’s gifting a very special memento. All attendees received an original and personally inscribed Sunday page of the classic strip he drew for many years (written by King Features icon Bob Dunn), Little Iodine

Above, a dinner crowd gathers to celebrate the birthday boy, Hy Eisman (front left). Bottom, chapter judges in Piscataway included (clockwise from upper left) Chapter Chair Dan Nakrosis, Ken Branch, Don Wimmer, Tom Stemmle and Laurie Triefeldt.

A very generous and thoughtful present, indeed!

It was a very memorable and so welldeserved night of fun and festivity for such a modest gentleman who seems ageless, exudes class, and is one of the great masters of the genre of cartoon art! Happy Birthday, Hy — we wish you many, many more!

Dan

Nakrosis Report

by Tom Stemmle

Two major events in March for our chapter were our NCS Judging for Silver Reuben nominees and a 90th birthday party celebration for the great Hy Eisman.

On March 5, we held the NJ Chapter judging at the Piscataway home of Tom and Marie Stemmle. Following the hard work of choosing top potential winners in the four categories of panel, strip, editorial and magazine gag cartoons, we tackled the hard job of chowing down on a delicious multi-entree buffet. NCS NJ Members at the judging were Laurie Triefeldt, Chapter Chair Dan Nakrosis, Ken Branch, Don Wimmer and Tom Stemmle.

On March 30, we held a 90th birthday celebration for Popeye and The Katzenjammer Kids cartoonist, Hy Eisman, at The Glen Rock Inn, located in beautifully quaint Glen Rock, the town in which Hy resides. Helping with the evening celebration were chapter members and friends V.G. Myers, Gary Fields, Ken Branch, Marc McKenzie, Doug Goudsward, Jay Wecht, Dom Wimmer,

Florida

Mark

Simon

marksimonbooks@yahoo.com

Spring has been unseasonably cool in Florida ... and speaking of cool things (you like how I did that?), chapter members met up at an editorial cartoonist presentation at the Orlando Public Library. Glenn “Marty” Stein, editorial and strip cartoonist and former NCS member gave a presentation on how a self-described Gringo ended up being the pre-eminent editorial cartoonist for Hispanic newspapers in the United States. Even though none of us could read Spanish, Marty’s work translated the meaning for us.

Attending Marty’s presentation was Chapter Chair Mark Simon and Chapter members Mike Osbun and Nathan Archer.

After the presentation our Chapter invited Marty and his family out to lunch. Even though our first choice was a closed pizza parlor, we eventually found a pizza place willing to serve us. We were joined by Osbun’s wife and Marty’s daughter and brother.

Long Island

Adrian Sinnott 631-547-0778

Our February Berndt Toast went out to James Stevenson, the wonderful children’s book illustrator/author and longtime New Yorker cartoonist. James’ work has influenced many in the Gang. With more than 100 children’s books to his credit, it’s really difficult to choose just one favorite.

When you invite cartoonists to an event, you can usually expect them to be late. After dealing with make-or-break deadlines, everything else in a cartoonist’s life rarely follows normal time keeping. Our lunches prove this as even the chapter chair has trouble arriving on time. Andy Eng came out prepared to mark time with the Gang. He had superhero themed watches for everyone to help the Gang start a precedent and appear at future lunches on time. I’ll need one for each arm.

February also saw us gather at the “Castle,” Bunny Hoest’s lovely home on the north shore of Long Island to do our bit and review submissions for the Reuben division awards. Arnie Levin, Joe Giella, Sandy Kossin, Bunny, Ray Alma and I sat down to a great spread put on by Bunny to build our stamina to make it through all the wonderful work. A really tough job to narrow down submissions when you’re dealing with the calibre of the work these awards attract.

At our March lunch we raised a toast to the prolific New Yorker cartoonist, Jack Ziegler (with more than 1,600 cartoons) and a second toast to comic book illustrator and

Pittsburgh Wayno

studio@wayno.com co-creator of Swamp Thing, Bernie Wrightson. Then we had the sad task of raising one to the BTG’s own Jan Marino. Jan was a young adult author and wife of cartoonist Len Marino. Jan was fondly remembered in the Gang. She and Len were fixtures at every lunch until their move to Denver. Jan’s books, including EightyEight Steps to September: A Novel, have met with both critical and popular acclaim.

Top, The Berndt Toast Gang get some timely reminders from Andy Eng at their February meeting. Above, chapter judges at Bunny Hoest’s home included Adrian Sinnott, Bunny, Ray Alma, Arnie Levin, Joe Giella and Sandy Kossin.

Jan and Len had accompanied me to the Rathdrum International Cartoon Festival in Ireland in 1997. On that trip we were all invited to go to Áras an Uachtaráin (the Irish equivalent of the White House) and meet the President of Ireland, Mary Robinson. While being given a tour by her military attaché, the officer explained that Ireland has a parliamentary government but the president still has some powers. One of those is to choose seven individuals from the country to sit on a board with her and review decisions of the Supreme Court. If they disagree with a decision it gets sent back for additional review. When he mentioned the members of the board, including a well-known Irish woman racing driver, Len said, ”She used to drive on my all-women racing team!”

Arnie Levin’s friend and avid Frankenstein collector Ronald MacCloskey joined us for lunch. Ron came out to speak to the Gang about his traveling exhibit of Frankenstein art. We also discussed a possible future exhibit on Long Island featuring some of the Gang’s “Frankenstein’s Monster” creations.

And Ray Alma has been busy helping out with our favorite charity, the Ink Well Foundation. Ray along with Lisa LaBracio, Elana Amity, Joyce Pedretti, Sergei Aniskov, Pedro Delgado, Elizabeth Winter, Peter de Sève, and event director Franz Palomares drew for the kids at Gilda’s Club NYC — and then he joined up with

The Pittsburgh Chapter flew the NCS flag at PIX, The Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo in April. PIX is a free event, featuring several workshops and lectures, along with a full day of exhibiting, with more than 60 creators offering books, zines, posters, stickers, art objects and more. Howard Bender, Vince Dorse, Dave Klug, Teresa Roberts Logan, and Wayno spread the word about NCS, the special membership rate for cartoonists under age 28, and especially the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship.

Our favorite “customer” was a rather agitated fellow who ran around to everyone’s table, asking for “free stuff.” After scooping up our giveaways, he scooted over to the next table to collect more booty, but not before telling us, “I love to support local artists!”

PIX is presented by the ToonSeum, Pittsburgh’s museum of comic and cartoon art. Executive Director John F. Kelly worked with PIX guest artist and speaker Carol Tyler (A Soldier’s Heart, You’ll Never Know), who created a special poster for PIX in honor of underground cartoonist and historian Jay Lynch, who died in early March. A limited-edition four-color silkscreen print, signed by Carol, was sold at PIX, with proceeds to benefit the NCS Foundation in support of cartoonists and their families in times of need. Those who couldn’t attend PIX can order the poster through the ToonSeum’s Etsy shop: https://www.etsy. com/listing/506735712/underground-cartoonist-legend-jay-lynch.

Above right, ToonSeum Director John F. Kelly, with PIX speakers Carol Tyler and Ed Piskor. Right, NCS members at the PIX table were Vince Dorse, Howard Bender, Teresa Roberts Logan, Wayno and Dave Klug.

Upstate New York

Scott Jensen jensencreative@ stny.rr.com

Caption: Several bright and sturdy Upstate NY

Chapter members traveled to Auburn on March 4 for another boisterous meeting. Shown are, from left, Jason Yungbluth, Scott Jensen, Frank Mariani and Randy Elliott.

Also, participating in the Chapter Silver Reubens jury were Graham Nolan, Ron Ferdinand and Bill Abbott.

Ed Steckley, Stefano Imbert, Maria Scrivan, Todd Broder, Elana Amity, Scott Brundage, and event director Jane Archer to help the kids at Bellevue Hospital make movable self-portraits. Thanks, Ray!

Northwest

Dan McConnell appleandy@msn.com

The Greater Northwest Chapter of the NCS had an impromptu meeting at WEN-CON, Wenatchee’s first Comics and Pop Culture Convention. Located in central Washington, WEN-CON was held on Saturday, April 8, and featured guest stars, vendors, artists, games, panel discussions, prizes, cosplay and more.

NCS members T. Lewis, Mark Monlux and Dan McConnell attended the event. They had a brief get-together before and after the Con and discussed current projects, and possible future collaborative projects. T. Lewis continues with his syndicated strip Over the Hedge, and recently attended a Furry Con (he’ll have to tell you more about that). Mark Monlux is hard at work on a deck of B-Movie monster cards, a Kickstarter project which aligns with his continuing online work as the Comic Critic, in which he synopses the story-line of obscure- and not-so-obscure movies in nine panels. Dan McConnell is working on an anthology project with writer Nick Nomad (mysterious pen name) and a usual gang of idiots, including Jack Pittman, Todd Clark and Rich Powell. The nusual idiots Greg Cravens and Dan McConnell are working on the Casebook of Dr. Dorkle, which brings together a diverse band of odd superheroes and their nemeses in a rollicking parody of superhero comics. Aaron McConnell was represented at WEN-CON by his Comic Book Story of Beer book, which has been doing a brisk business of sales at all the Cons, including one recently in Portland and Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con.

There was a motion to adjourn our meeting made by Mark Monlux; Dan McConnell seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously by all in attendance.

Philadelphia

Dave Blazek looseparts@verizon.net

Philly NCS decided not to wait for Reuben Weekend and held an impromptu nomination celebration in Center City Philadelphia. With five nominations from the chapter — including Mark Tatulli for Cartoonist of the Year — there was much to celebrate.

Chicago

T. Brian Kelly ragstandman@msn.com

Richard Pietrzyk tries to interest a couple of colorful Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo cosplay attendees with the prospect of joining the NCS Chicago chapter.

Attendees included Nick Galifianakis, Mark Tatulli, Dave Blazek, Terry Laban, Debby Schafer and Tom Stiglich. The early part of the evening was highlighted by an appearance from Signe Wilkinson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist from The Philadelphia Inquirer. The latter part included much talk about book illustration, Greek history, graphic novels, newspaper reproduction, seders, cartooning lore, Stiglich’s weird jump shot, baseball, Bombay gin and beer.

Seventeen cartoonists went to the Worcester Art Museum to see the Ed Emberley retrospective, “KAHBAHBLOOOM: The Art and Storytelling of Ed Emberley.”

The exhibit was the first comprehensive retrospective for the artist, among the most prolific and respected illustrators of children’s literature of the last 60 years. Author of books such as the Caldecott Honored One Wide River To Cross (1965) and the Caldecott Medal-winning Drummer Hoff (1967), Emberley also developed one of the bestselling series of teaching books for young artists, beginning with Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals (1970).

Ed joined us with his wife Barbara and daughter Rebecca. Ed's learn to draw books were seminal for so many of us — it was the first drawing book I ever bought. —Hilary Price