1814 Surrender of Alexandria, Amtrak across America, Page One-above the fold Cartoonist Profile, Letterer Appreciation Day, Cartoonists for ,la.
Prominent Alexandrians saw how British forces burned Washington, D.C. on Aug. 24, 1814.
Although the War of 1812 had started two years earlier, the war came home to residents of Alexandria in 1814, when our city was still part of the District of Columbia. Recognizing their dire circumstances, Alexandria’s leaders surrendered the town to British Commander Joseph Gordon’s forces on Aug. 29 on the condition that the British not destroy Alexandria.
Alexandria’s surrender without a shot being fired earned scorn, as you can see in the political cartoon by cartoonist William Charles.
The United States, much like today, was politically polarized, and Alexandria’s surrender and reputation as a Federalist Party stronghold earned scorn from prominent Democratic-Republican politicians, including Thomas Jefferson. The removal of Alexandria’s militia by Democratic-Republican Secretary of War James Monroe to help defend Washington meant that Alexandria could not protect itself.
However, the actions of Mayor Charles Simms and others saved the town from destruction.
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This summer, I was determined to take a train across the United States.
I started in Northern California, and over the course of 80 hours, 12 states and 3,397 miles, I meandered my way alongside deserts, forests, mountains, rivers; through coal plants, suburban backyards, vast cornfields, and the occasional Big American City — and ended in the very Biggest of them all, New York City.
Cartoonist Christine Mi illustrates her Amtrak trip across the U.S. for The Washington Post.
A sleeper car ticket across the country will set you back at least $1,000. And Amtrak’s labyrinthine dynamic pricing model can easily bump that up to a cool $2,000.
But on a warm day in June, I stepped onto the California Zephyr, one of Amtrak’s long-haul Superliners, and began my voyage east.
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Joe Wos, famed for Cartoon Academy and MazeToons, got a Page One, Above the Fold profile in his local newspaper, The Valley Mirror!
Unfortunately I can’t find the article online so we only have this screenshot from Joe’s Facebook page.
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Celebrating Letterer Appreciation Day with Stan Sakai
Eisner award-winning letterer Stan Sakai talks about his art for Letterer Appreciation Day.
Comic book lettering, like film editing, can be an invisible art that goes unnoticed and unappreciated. But a good letterer enhances a comic and one of the best is Stan Sakai. But he got into the profession by accident.
“Sergio Aragones heard that I was teaching calligraphy and said, ‘I’m just starting a comic book. Would you like to be the letterer?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I know how to do a letter.’ I figured, How hard can it be? I never lettered a comic book in my life,” Sakai recalled.
Beth Accomando for KPBS interviews Stan Sakai who for years lettered The Amazing Spider-Man comic strip.
Sakai explained “Once the copy is roughly lettered in, I make the guidelines for the lettering. This is what I use to make the guidelines — this is called the Ames Lettering Guide, and that gives me a guide on how big to make the lettering so that each line is very consistent. By roughing up the lettering, I can gage how long each line should be and then I can add the balloons.”
Sakai is one of the few people who still hand letters.
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Speaking of Sergio Aragonés…
A recent (the latest?) drawing by the famed cartoonist is one for Cartoonists For Kamala.
More information at their Instagram page. Submission Guidelines for Cartoonists for Kamala Fundraiser here.