Tag Archives: phoebe gloeckner

SPX announces the World Premiere of Married to Comics at the AFI Silver Theatre

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Small Press Expo has announced the sponsorship of the World Premiere of Married To Comics, which will be held at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center on Friday, September 8, at 7PM.

Married to Comics, by veteran documentarian John Kinhart, is the story of graphic novelist Carol Tyler and her husband, the ground-breaking and influential cartoonist Justin Green, who passed away last year.

The documentary offers a rare glimpse into the life and art of two giants of autobiographical comics, who are also married. Laying their personal lives to bare in comics, including the intimate details of their troubled marriage, the two of them pioneered and set the bar for one of comics’ most important genres.

There will be on-screen appearances by famed cartoonists Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Phoebe Gloeckner, and Denis Kitchen, along with many others.

Following the screening, there will be a conversation between Carol Tyler, John Kinhart and the esteemed publisher, Gary Groth of Fantagraphics, the publisher of Carol Tyler’s award winning graphic novels.

The screening of Married to Comics is part of SPX 2023, which will be held September 9-10, with events throughout the D.C. area in the days leading up to the show. More information on SPX 2023 can be found here.

Review: The Diary of a Teenage Girl

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THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL

As a father of teenage girls, I’m often at a loss to being empathetic to them at certain points of their lives. I’m the parent of the opposite sex and can only hope to connect to them in a way which is both meaningful and long-lasting. Their connection with their mother is a guiding light to what they can expect as they grow into womanhood. Despite this fact, my need to comprehend what their lives are, the struggles they deal with, and their hope and dreams, is central to my love for them.

When I was a teenager, I often tried to understand the opposite sex, whether it be how to get their attention or why I could not get the attention of the ones I did like. As I got older, I often found this to be a more difficult quandary to disentangle. Each woman I encountered were different from the other. The mystery remains to this day for me as the women I meet are just as enigmatic and my teenage daughters even more so. In Phoebe Gloeckner’s The Diary Of A Teenage Girl, the author gives readers a chronicle of how it was for one teenager and most assuredly for many young women.

We are taken to 1976 San Francisco, where we meet our protagonist, Minnie Goetze. It was a time when the counterculture went from flower power to the early inklings of punk rock. She’s a young woman whose sexual awakening leaves her confused, amazed, tantalized, and at every turn unsure of herself. She lacks the self-confidence most teenagers exhibit at some point. As her curiosity surrounding the act of sex becomes increasingly restless, her interest in her mother’s boyfriend, Monroe, becomes fevered. She eventually asks him to “ deflower” her, an act that she would repeat several times, and in some strange way, gives her agency over her sexuality, her need to be noticed, and to be loved. As she would ultimately move on from Monroe, but her promiscuity and her abuse of habitual substances spiral into one would see as a call for help as the two sins will lead her to some very harmful situations. Situations that she merely sees as rites of passage and as her mother discovers what her offspring encounters she is more paralyzed by what her daughter would think if she knew that her mother knew what was happening.

Overall, a tender, heartbreaking, and at times, cringe-worthy book that gives readers a raw unfettered look at the struggles of growing up as a teenage girl. The story by Gloeckner is honest, intense, and unflinching. The art by Gloeckner is unique and awe-inspiring. Altogether, a story that will affect each reader differently, but will ultimately have you root for Minnie.

Story: Phoebe Gloeckner Art: Phoebe Gloeckner
Story: 10 Art: 9.7 Overall: 9.7 Recommendation: Buy

Small Press Expo Announces Guests Brandon Graham and Phoebe Gloeckner

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spx-logo-240SPX has announced Brandon Graham and Phoebe Gloeckner as guests at SPX 2015. This is in addition to the previously announced guests to SPX’s 21st Birthday Party, Kate Beaton, Luke Pearson, Noelle Stevenson, Michael DeForge, Gemma Correll, Noah Van Sciver, Matt Bors, Lilli Carré, Theo Ellsworth, C. Spike Trotman, Jennifer Hayden, Stuart Immonen, Scott McCloud, Bill Griffith, Kathryn Immonen, Derf, Jessica Abel (Sat. Only) and Ted Rall, as well as international guests, Frederik Peeters, Dylan Horrocks, Brecht Vandenbroucke, Bendik Kaltenborn, Anna Ehrlemark and Joan Cornellà.

Previously announced special guest Raina Telgemeier will be unable to attend this years show.

From his beginnings as a graffiti artist in his hometown of Seattle to his recent run as writer on the Image comics series Prophet as well as creator of his own comics Multiple Warheads, King City, Elevator and Universe So Big, Brandon Graham has been a vocal and passionate proponent of independent comics. Mr. Graham will sign his books as a fundraiser for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Stop by the CBLDF table to buy his works, including his latest from Image Comics, 8House: Arclight #2, as well as issues #2 and #3 of the science fiction anthology series he co-edits with Emma Rios, Island.

Diary of a Teenage Girl, Phoebe Gloeckner’s semi-autobiographical graphic novel published in 2002, was released earlier this year as a critically acclaimed movie starring Kristen Wiig. Garnering a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Ms. Gloeckner co-wrote the screenplay to Diary that was a selection at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Influenced by the women’s comics anthology Twisted Sisters, Ms.Gloeckner work was published in such titles as Wimmen’s Comix, Young Lust and the Robert Crumb edited magazine, Weirdo. A compendium of all of her comics work to date, A Child’s Life and Other Stories, was published in 1998, generating significant controversy, with public schools and library systems banning the book due to its frank portrayal of sex and drug use. Ms. Gloeckner is a trained medical illustrator and is an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design. Ms. Gloeckner will also be signing her books at the CBLDF table.

SPX 2015 takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 19-20, and will have over 650 creators, 280 exhibitor tables and 22 programming slots to entertain, enlighten and introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics.

Small Press Expo (SPX) is the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels, and alternative political cartoons. SPX is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that brings together more than 600 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics, and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. The expo includes a series of panel discussions and interviews with this year’s guests. The Ignatz Award is a festival prize held every year at SPX recognizing outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning, with the winners chosen by attendees at the show.

As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program, which funds graphic novel purchases for public and academic libraries, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which protects the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals.

Movie Review: The Diary of a Teenage Girl

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teenagegirlposterBased on the autobiographic graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner, The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a brutally honest movie that shows that a film based on a comic can honor its source, but take itself seriously. The film may be the best movie based on a comic… ever.

Like most teenage girls, Minnie Goetze (Bel Powley) is longing for love, acceptance and a sense of purpose in the world. Minnie begins a complex love affair with her mother’s (Kristen Wiig) boyfriend, “the handsomest man in the world,” Monroe Rutherford (Alexander Skarsgård). What follows is a sharp, funny and provocative account of one girl’s sexual and artistic awakening, without judgment.

Going into the film I was aware of the topic at hand, but I was somehow still unprepared for the raw and honest portrayal I was about the witness. Running at 101 minutes, the film feels a little long at times, but that’s partially because I couldn’t figure out where it was going, how it was going to end. Unlike so many movies based on comics, there’s not some climactic showdown to signal the end. There’s showdowns, but in this case it’s of the emotional kind. When the 101 minutes were up, I felt like I had been punched in the gut… and immediately wanted to see the film again. Set in 1976 San Francisco, The Diary of a Teenage Girl is an amazing crossroads of the end of free love, feminism, punk rock and all contrasted with the trial of Patty Hearst. This is really a film you can dissect and talk about for hours on end.

At the center of it all is 15-year-old Minnie played by Bel Powley who is a star in the making. Whomever found her deserves a raise, as the film is completely on her shoulders. Her out there performance bares it all (literally) as she balances between being a child and her impending adulthood. She’s a fascinating mix of child/woman/id/manipulative/and feminist, all rolled into one. Hers is a coming of age story that is as poignant as it is unsettling.

Skarsgård and Wiig are amazing in their roles on Monroe and Charlotte. Both can easily be justified for best supporting actors and Wiig especially is more than just a comedic actress.

Writer/Director Marielle Heller has also done the impossible. While we should be scolding Monroe for taking advantage of young Minnie, Heller has somehow crafted a story where everything and everyone is in a bit of a gray area. Who’s to blame? Is it Minnie? Is it Monroe? Is it Minnie’s mother Charlotte? While the law is clear, everything else isn’t.

While I haven’t read the graphic novel it’s based on, I can’t say how closely the film lines up with the source material, but the film itself is beautifully adapted. The use of animation, as well as weaving in art at times reminds you of what it’s based off of. The film reminds me of American Splendor (also based on a comic) in many ways, except instead of a grouchy man it stars a very liberated woman.

Expect some nominations when award season comes around. The Diary of a Teenage Girl is my favorite film based on a comic, and also my favorite film of the year so far. You may think you’re prepared for the subject and film before you see it, you’re absolutely not prepared for how brutally honest and shocking it is. The film is fearless in so many ways, a coming of age story that’s unsettling and beautiful at the same time.

Overall Rating: 10