Category Archives: comics creator

Status Report for Sunday, 29 March 2020

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Hello! If you’re just joining us because you saw us in The Boston Globe or digboston, we’d like to WELCOME you our little corner of comic book chaos! Special note for regulars: There are NO NEW COMICS THIS WEEK. Sorry.

Since this got kinda long, I added NUMBERS! There are SIX topics in this status report. [EDIT: 5:30pm, updated the time of the class from 11am to 1pm.]

1. Jason Wiser will be running his Intro to Comix Creation ONLINE class for kids AGAIN next week, Monday, 6 April 2020 through Friday, 10 April 2020 from 1-2pm. He’s also considering a next level class!

  • Intro to Comix Creation
  • For ages 8+
  • $50 per household – NOT per child! If you have one child or seven, it’s still $50!
  • Monday, 4/6 through Friday, 4/10 at 1pm
  • All your child needs is a pencil and paper!
  • Please provide your email address (for the URL to connect you and your child to the class; no special software is needed) as well as the first name(s) and the age(s) of your child (or children)
  • You’ll receive the link by 12:30pm on Monday, before class starts

Payment can be made via PayPal to blanton7772000@yahoo.com (but please DO NOT email that address; please DO put your email address and the names/ages of your child/children in the “Add a note” section) or on the phone with a credit card (our number is 617-492-6763). Since we’re not in the shop on a regular basis during the current stay-at-home order, if you need to do a credit card transaction, email us at millionyearpicnic@yahoo.com or leave us a voice message with your phone number and a good time to call so that Tony Davis, owner of the MYP, can call you back. (I promise, we’re working on an e-commerce solution.) DO NOT EMAIL US YOUR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION.

We will cap this class at 50 students, so act fast! Registration ENDS on SATURDAY, 4 April 2020!

ABOUT THE TEACHER:
Jason Wiser is a Harvard Instructor of Comics, Animation, and Game Development. His comics work has been published in the Boston Globe, his animation has appeared on the Disney TV show “Greek” and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and his published games include the award-winning cooperative card game for kids “Monsters in the Elevator” (www.YayaPlay.com/MITE).

PLEASE SHARE THIS AROUND! Even if you don’t have kids, your friends might be interested! Jason is kindly letting us keep the proceeds of this venture to raise money for the shop while we’re all practicing social distancing.

2. In addition to the classes, Tony is delivering comics to Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Arlington, and Belmont with a minimum purchase of $15. He’s going farther afield for larger orders. We’re also packing comics to ship via USPS to remote locations! Unfortunately, we’ve had to discontinue curbside pickup for the time being.

3. If you want to support us, you can buy a gift certificate via our PayPal using blanton7772000@yahoo.com (again, DO NOT EMAIL that address; you will not get a response). Just put the details in the note section PayPal provides. You have THREE options: (1) we can mail out gift certificates via the United States Postal Service, (2) we can hold them at the shop until we’re open again, or (3) we can put them in with an order of comics/graphic novels and deliver them to your house… let us know your preference in the note.

4. If you’re looking for prose books, we may be able to order them as well since we have access to a couple of distributors that are still open who do both graphic novels and prose books.

5. GREAT NEWS! OUR VOICEMAIL IS FIXED! You can leave us voice messages! We’ll even listen to them!

6. For more up-to-the-minute news and status reports, follow us on the various social media platforms, especially our main Instagram account (mostly Tony) and Twitter (mostly Kelly):

Main Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/myp_comics/

Back issues only Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/mypcomicsonline/

Our Twitter account: https://twitter.com/myp_comics/

Our Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/mypcomics/

Our Etsy account (also for back issues): https://www.etsy.com/shop/MillionYearPicnicMA

Join the MYP email list: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/millionyearpicnic

Thank you so much for all of your support! We really appreciate how much people are reaching out and helping us! Stay safe and healthy!

Intro to Comix Creation ONLINE class for kids!

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A young person helps Jason design Traffic Man, a superhero!

Hey friends with kids! We have a SPECIAL OFFER for you!

Since many of us are stuck at home, a friend of the Million Year Picnic — Harvard Instructor Jason Wiser — has offered to teach a class online, Intro to Comix Creation, to kids 8 and older. This would be a one-week class, running from Monday, 23 March 2020 through Friday, 27 March 2020, live at 11am and going for an hour each day. Each lesson will be recorded so that if you are not available for the live version, you or your child can watch it later that day. But note that Jason has already lined up a teaching assistant to help him respond to questions in real time. He’s also hoping to organize the students into small chat groups with kids of the same age (Note this is why we are asking for the names and ages of the children enrolled.)

– Intro to Comix Creation
– $50 per household (five 1-hour classes)
– Monday, 3/23 through Friday, 3/27 at 11am
– Please provide your email address (for the URL to connect you and your child to the class; no special software is needed; you’ll receive the link about a half-hour before class starts at 11am) as well as the first name(s) and the age(s) of your child (or children)

Payment can be made in person at the Million Year Picnic (99 Mt. Auburn Street in Cambridge), on the phone with a credit card (617-492-6763), or via PayPal to blanton7772000@yahoo.com (but please don’t email that address; put your email and the names/ages of your child/children in the “Add a note” section).

We will cap this class at 50 students, so act fast! Registration ENDS on SATURDAY, 21 March 2020!

ABOUT THE TEACHER:
Jason Wiser is a Harvard Instructor of Comics, Animation, and Game Development. His comics work has been published in the Boston Globe, his animation has appeared on the Disney TV show “Greek” and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and his published games include the award-winning cooperative card game for kids “Monsters in the Elevator” (www.YayaPlay.com/MITE).

PLEASE SHARE THIS AROUND! Even if you don’t have kids, your friends might be interested! Jason is kindly letting us keep the proceeds of this venture to raise money for the shop while we’re all practicing social distancing.

Thank you,
The MYP Crew
99 MT Auburn ST (downstairs)
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-492-6763
millionyearpicnic@yahoo.com
https://www.themillionyearpicnic.com/

Lillian Melcher Signing Sunday 14 April 2019

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Lillian Melcher Signing
Sunday, 4/14, 12-2pm
At the Million Year Picnic, 99 MT Auburn ST, Cambridge, MA 02138

Picture of Lillian Melcher

Lillian Melcher is an illustrator living and working in Boston, MA. Her first book The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt, written by Andrea Wulf, is a graphic work of non-fiction exploring the early life of naturalist Alexander Von Humboldt and his contributions to environmentalism. Lillian graduated in 2016 from Parsons School of Design with a degree in illustration. She has been honored with the SCBWI Student Illustrator Scholarship for her picture book portfolio. Her website is http://www.lillianmelcher.com/

Cover image for The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt written by Andrea Wulf and illustrated by Lillian Melcher

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery, but his most revolutionary idea was a radical vision of nature as a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone. His theories and ideas were profoundly influenced by a five-year exploration of South America. Now Andrea Wulf partners with artist Lillian Melcher to bring this daring expedition to life, complete with excerpts from Humboldt’s own diaries, atlases, and publications. She gives us an intimate portrait of the man who predicted human-induced climate change, fashioned poetic narrative out of scientific observation, and influenced iconic figures such as Simón Bolívar, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, and John Muir. This gorgeous account of the expedition not only shows how Humboldt honed his groundbreaking understanding of the natural world but also illuminates the man and his passions.

Image of the name Lillian Melcher

Author Talk Back Series featuring Vita Ayala

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The Author Talk Back Series featuring Vita Ayala is this Thursday, September 6, 2018, 5:00-8:30 PM at the Isabella Stewart Museum! And it’s FREE!

Vita Ayala
Thu, September 6, 2018
5:00 PM – 8:30 PM EDT
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
25 Evans Way
Boston, MA 02115

Description

Join Finesse Lit for our first Author Talk Back featuring comic book writer Vita Ayala!

Vita Ayala is a queer Afro-Latinx writer out of New York City, where they live with their wife and cat sons. They have written for DC, Dark Horse, Image, Marvel, and Valiant Comics, and have creator owned work through Black Mask Studios (THE WILDS) and Vault Comics (SUBMERGED). They’re non-stop, like Hamilton!

Event is free. Check in table opens at 5pm, the talk kicks off around 6pm. Please arrive on time — space is limited!

For more information on parking and directions, go here.

NOTE: The Million Year Picnic is not affiliated with this event. We just think Vita’s cool.

Spring Comics Workshop

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SPRING COMICS WORKSHOP

Free! For kids & teens!

Saturday, 13 May 2017, from 1-3pm at the Cambridge Public Library (449 Broadway)

Sponsored by US! (The MYP), The Boston Comics Roundtable, and the Cambridge Public Library