ToonSeum Nemo Award goes to Dick Locher

ToonSeum's Nemo Award goes to Dick Locher

The ToonSeum, Pittsburgh's museum of cartoon art, is proud to
announce that cartoonist Dick Locher has been awarded the ToonSeum's
Nemo Award for outstanding contributions to the cartoon arts. The
presentation took place at Chicago's Comic Con and Entertainment Expo
(C2E2) on March 20, 2011. Rob Rogers, board president of the
ToonSeum, presented Locher with the Nemo Award.

"The ToonSeum is proud to recognize Dick Locher for his outstanding
contributions in the field of editorial cartooning, including the
Locher Award, created to identify and encourage young editorial
cartoonists," said Rogers as he handed Locher the trophy, "and for
his tireless and brilliant dedication to keeping the spirit of Dick
Tracy fresh and alive in the daily comics pages."

Locher, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the
Chicago Tribune and artist/writer for Dick Tracy, was a featured
panelist at the convention. The panel, called "Drawing Fire:
Editorial Cartooning in a Partisan Age," also featured Scott Stantis
of the Chicago Tribune, Bruce Plante of the Tulsa World and Rob
Rogers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Rogers also moderated the panel.

Dick Locher was born in Dubuque, Iowa in 1929. He studied art at the
University of Iowa and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. In 1957,
after a stint in the Air Force, Locher became the assistant to
Chester Gould, creator of Dick Tracy. He worked on the comic strip
until 1961 and then left to start his own commercial art business. In
1972, Gould recommended Locher for the editorial cartoonist position
at the Chicago Tribune. Despite having no experience in editorial
cartooning, Locher impressed the editors enough to land the job.

In 1983, the same year he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial
cartooning, Locher returned to the Dick Tracy comic strip, this time
working with his son, John. In 1986, at the age of 25, John died
suddenly. With help from his fellow cartoonists in the American
Association of Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC), Locher founded the John
Locher Memorial Award contest. This contest not only honors the
memory of Locher's son, but also helps discover and encourage
aspiring cartoonists. Since its inception, more than 25 outstanding
young cartoonists have won the competition. Most have gone on to
excel in their profession and one, Steve Breen, has won the Pulitzer
Prize twice.

In April 2010, the City of Naperville, Illinois, dedicated a 9-foot,
one-ton sculpture of Dick Tracy to honor Dick Locher for his many
contributions to Naperville and for being the creative force behind
the Dick Tracy strip for 35 years. In February 2011, Locher announced
his retirement from writing and drawing Dick Tracy.

Joe Wos, founder and executive director of the ToonSeum, describes
the Nemo Award as more than just a lifetime achievement award. "The
Nemo was created to recognize all aspects of a cartoonist's career,
not just the stack of originals, but also his or her devotion to and
celebration of the art form. Dick Locher has had an immense impact on
the field of cartooning and he deserves to be championed. We are
proud to honor him in this way."

This is the ToonSeum's third Nemo Award. Previous recipients have been
Morrie Turner, creator of Wee Pals, and Ron Frenz, legendary Marvel and
D.C. comic book artist.

An Evening with Trina Robbins

An Evening with Trina Robbins
Wednesday April 27, 2011 @ 7:30pm
Tickets $10 member, $20 non-member
(admission includes a signed limited edition print by Trina Robbins)
Limited seating advance purchase required www.robbins.eventbrite.com

Join the ToonSeum in welcoming acclaimed writer, artist and herstorian Trina Robbins as she discusses her career and the history of women in comics, including the latest ToonSeum exhibit, Brenda Starr: The Art of Dale Messick.
For over 30 years, Robbins has been writing comics and graphic novels, translating shojo manga, lecturing, and offering her unique and insightful criticism on comics and culture. Robbins became a key figure in the underground comix scene in the 1970's, publishing the all-women It Ain't Me, Babe and Wimmen's Comix magazines. Robbins has drawn Wonder Woman, published volumes of influential books and essays, and created the popular Go Girl! series with Anne Timmons.
Robbins, a long time fan of Dale Messick, considers the artist to be one of the most important cartoonists of the twentieth century. "Dale Messick's work is extremely significant to women cartoonists, and to women in general," Robbins has said. "Brenda Starr was incredibly popular and well drawn, yet Dale was not accepted in the male world of cartoonists. Both she and Brenda persevered."
Messick, who died in 2005 at the age of 98, wrote and drew Brenda Starr for over 40 years before handing the strip over to understudy Ramona Fradon with the insistence that the strip would continue to be produced exclusively by women.
This event will be the final chance to see the Brenda Starr: The Art of Dale Messick exhibit. Ms. Robbins will conclude the lecture with a Q&A and book signing.

Artists Help Japan Anime Screenings

Artists Help Japan Anime Screenings at The ToonSeum

Saturday, March 26th @ 2:00pm, 4:00pm, and 6:00pm

On March 11, an 8.9 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan, generating a massive tsunami with waves as high as 30 feet and resulting in floods, fires and thousands of people displaced, dead, and missing.

The Artists Help Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Fund is responding to the needs of survivors through short-term to long-term recovery projects undertaken by the affected communities. The fund is founded by Dice Tsutsumi, an art director at Pixar Animation Studios. Dice was also behind the 2008 Totoro Forest Project to help preserve Sayama Forest in Japan.

The ToonSeum of Pittsburgh is eager to show our solidarity with Artists Help Japan and with those afflicted by this horrible disaster. On Saturday, March 26th, the ToonSeum is sponsoring a day-long series of anime screenings from three of Japan's greatest contemporary animators to raise money for the relief effort. All admissions and donations collected on that date will go directly to Artists Help Japan.

The ToonSeum is encouraging patrons, members of the local arts community, and local businesses to join us in this fund-raising effort.
The following feature films will be screening:

2:00pm "Kiki's Delivery Service" (1989) Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece about teen witch finding her way in a new town. (G)Recommended all ages.

4:00pm "5 Centimeters Per Second" (2007) Makoto Shinkai's bittersweet romance follows two friends from childhood to adult. Full of lush animation and poignant storytelling, Shinkai has been widely praised as "The New Miyazaki." (PG) Recommended for 12 and up.

6:00pm " Millennium Actress" (2001) Master animator Satoshi Kon's sweeping tribute to Japanese film history tells the story of a reclusive elderly actress and the obsessive TV reporter eager to uncover her life behind the scenes. A sweeping blend of fantasy and history, Millennium Actress is one of the late director's most affecting works. (PG) Recommended for teens to adult.

Please show your support of the Japanese people and incredible artwork they have given to the world.
Donations may also be made through the ToonSeum.

Brenda Starr: Girl Reporter/Comic Legend March 11th through April 23rd

The ToonSeum is throwing a retirement party for Brenda Starr, the globe-trotting reporter and her celebrated comic-strip, ending its run after 70 years of publication. Brenda Starr: The Art of Dale Messick features rare pre-Brenda strips, vintage ads, and an intact storyline from the 1965-66 run of the strip.

Premiering in June of 1940, Brenda Starr, Reporter and her irrepressible creator Dale Messick were pioneers for women in two industries dominated by men: cartooning and newspaper reporting. After having several strips rejected, Dalia "Dale" Messick changed her name to Dale and pitched Brenda Starr to the Chicago Tribune. From there, Messick became one of the most popular and influential cartoonists in the world and an incidental feminist provocateur. Her strip presented a strong, intelligent, independent woman who lived for danger, breaking the hearts of men all over the world and always getting her story.
"The longevity of Brenda Starr is no surprise,"said ToonSeum Director Joe Wos."Messick was well ahead of her time. She created this incredible strip that incorporated elements of humor, soap-opera serials, and the action of a great adventure and detective comics. Men, women, and children all read Brenda Starr."
Brenda Starr: The Art of Dale Messick presents to audiences with a unique opportunity to see Messick's art up-close and personal. The exhibit presents pieces from the ToonSeum's permanent collection as well as incredible pieces from the collection of comics' matriarch and Brenda-expert Trina Robbins.
Robbins, who will host several events at the ToonSeum in late March, comments on the importance of Brenda Starr as a feminist milestone in American culture. "There had been plenty of women drawing comics over the years prior to Brenda, but they had stuck to subjects considered 'safe for women.' But Messick's work all features Depression era heroines born ahead of their time, working girls come to the big city to earn their living."

In honor of National Women's Month and the Brenda Starr exhibit, the ToonSeum will be presenting a host of lectures and screenings focused on women and female characters in comics, including Messick, Robbins, Mary Blair, and Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Exhibition made possible with support from the Grable Foundation and the Women and Girls Foundation.
Exhibition runs from March 11th through April 23rd.