I just found out that the Third Floor (the event space in the Murrell building above Slim’s) is hosting another “In Good Company” food and literary event on Saturday night, June 11th. And to my geekish delight, this time it’s about “The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture.”

The second installment of Trey Graham’s cocktails-and-conversation series “In Good Company” combines food, drinks and discussion over interesting art, books and cuisine.

Trey joins author Glen Weldon, a contributor to NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, and who is described by The New York Times as a critic who "writes with humor and Day-Glo elan” about books, comic books and other essentials. Glen has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Slate, The Atlantic, The Village Voice, Story, McSweeney’s and more. His first book was Superman: The Unauthorized Biography.

Working with Slim's Diner Chef Chris Beasley, they’ve created a “bunch of Batman-inspired menu ideas” for a three-course dinner paying homage not just to the Caped Crusader but to some of the most distinctive characters ever arrayed against and alongside him.

"I've spent time as a theater critic, a science writer, an oral historian, a writing teacher, a bookstore clerk, a PR flack, a spectacularly inept marine biologist and a slightly better-than-ept competitive swimmer,” said Glen. “I’ve reviewed books and comic books for NPR.org rather a lot, and have appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Talk of the Nation, the PBS NewsHour, as well as the Slate Culture Gabfest, 99% Invisible, iFanboy, Comic Book Queers and the Nerdist Writer’s Panel. I’ve received an Amtrak Writers’ Residency, an NEA Arts Journalism Fellowship, a Ragdale Writing Fellowship and a PEW Fellowship in the Arts for Fiction.”

"Glen and I have known each other for a long time," Trey said to me, "And because I once recommended him as a critic at the City Paper I more or less take credit for his entire career as a public pseudointellectual, which I trust is how he sees it as well."

To which Glen replied, "I heartily endorse this statement or product." (Which I'll take out of context to mean he heartily endorses Petworth News!)

Bring your copy of The Caped Crusade if you haven't had it signed yet, or pick one up at the event. (Choose the book-inclusive option when you buy your ticket.)

They’re promising an evening that'll be one part author appearance, one part dinner party, and at least one part random nonsense.

A percentage of the proceeds from the evening will go to the Hero Initiative, the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic-book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdays' creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work.

WHEN
Saturday, June 11, 2016 from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM

WHERE
Third Floor - 4201 Georgia Ave NW

Get your tickets on EventBrite >

Related article:
- A creative culinary storytime, Southern style at the Third Floor (April 09, 2016)