BEHIND THE EIGHTBALL – DANIEL CLOWES AT FANATGRAPHICS BOOKSTORE & GALLERY IN SEATTLE ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 29!

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery proudly presents the return of Daniel Clowes on August 29. His appearance marks the premiere of Ghost World: Special Edition. The second in a series of deluxe publications from Fantagraphics Books, this edition of the phenomenal graphic novel includes special features available for the first time. Ghost World first appeared in Clowes’ award-winning Eightball comic book series, and the 2001 feature film, directed by Terry Zwigoff, earned the pair an Academy Award™ nomination for Best Screenplay adaptation. This critically acclaimed movie starring Scarlett Johansson, Thora Birch, Steve Buscemi, and the late Brad Renfro, served as the inspiration for Diablo Cody’s Oscar™ winning screenplay Juno. Clowes and Zwigoff collaborated again in 2006, adapting the comedy Art School Confidential which first appeared in Eightball #7.

Clowes’ wicked sense of irony and incisive commentary on contemporary pop culture has earned him a following that transcends the comics medium. From his earliest efforts with the 6-issue film noir-like comic book series Lloyd Llewellyn (first published by Fantagraphics Books in 1986), through his influential Eightball series (currently in its 23rd installment), and his most recent graphic novel Mr. Wonderful (serialized earlier this year by the New York Times Magazine), Clowes has perfected his craft in an unparalleled fashion. His unique narrative style is perfectly suited to his expressive graphic sensibilities.

The reception will feature an exhibition of Clowes’ meticulously rendered original graphics related to the book, as well as a brief discussion of the artist's cinematic approach to cartooning moderated by Fantagraphics Books co-publisher Gary Groth. Admission is free, as always. Please join us on August 29, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM to welcome this extraordinary artist.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale St. in the heart of Seattle’s historic Georgetown arts community. Open daily, 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sunday until 5:00 PM. Phone: 206.658.0110. A selection of images in a variety of formats is available for publication. For additional information contact Fantagraphics' Eric Reynolds.

Listing Information

DANIEL CLOWES
Ghost World: The Special Edition
Artist reception and book signing Friday, August 29, 6:00 – 9:00 PM
Art exhibition August 29 – October 7, 2008

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street, Seattle
206.658.0110 www.fantagraphics.com
Open daily 11:30 – 8:00 PM. Sundays until 5:00 PM.

(Can't make it to the exhibit? Click here to find out how you can still win a copy of the limited-edition silkscreen show poster.)

ZAK SALLY TOURS WEST COAST W/ BOOKS, GUITARS, ART & NATE DENVER

Zak Sally (the cartoonist behind Recidivist, Sammy the Mouse, and the guy behind La Mano books) and Nate Denver (of Nate Denver's Neck, Total Shutdown, and the amazing Wait, You're Not A Centaur book/CD) are going to hop in a car together with a couple guitars and boxes of fresh books, then drive like hell up the west coast, stopping only to PLAY SONGS AND SELL BOOKS TO THOSE OF YOU WHO LIVE IN L.A, SAN FRANCISCO, OLYMPIA, PORTLAND, AND SEATTLE.

THAT'S RIGHT: Zak will be attending the San Diego Comic Con (from Friday the 25th through Sunday the 27th of July), signing fresh-off-the-boat-from-Singapore copies of Sammy the Mouse #2 at the Fantagraphics Books booth. He'll also be selling La Mano books there and with his pals at Sparkplug Comics' table as well.

Following Comic-Con, Sally and Denver will begin the aforementioned tour:

• Monday, July 28: Secret Headquarters, 3817 W. Sunset Blvd, LOS ANGELES, CA.
• Tuesday, July 29: Needles and Pens, 3253 16th st, SAN FRANCISCO, CA.
• Thursday, July 31st: The Pony Club, 625 NW Everett St. #105, PORTLAND, OR.
• Friday, August 1: Danger Room Comics, Columbia and Fourth, OLYMPIA, WA.
• Saturday, August 2: The Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, 1201 South Vale St (at Airport Way S.), SEATTLE, WA.

Each event will open doors at approximately 6:00PM, followed by solo musical performances by Sally and Denver beginning around 7:00PM, and ending with the artists signing books and answering questions from fans until everyone is satisfied.

Sally’s complete line of Fantagraphics and La Mano releases will be available along the way, as well as assorted posters, CDs, and other detritus.

Sick of hearing youself lament the good old days, when everything wasn't so boring and lame? Well Sally and Denver are coming to your town, so shut up and SHOW UP! It's going to be a blast. No sound system, no microphones, no nothin’; just like Pa Ingalls did it.

Zak Sally is an artist and musician hailing from Minneapolis, MN. He was in the band LOW for many years and though he isn't anymore, he has recently completed his first “solo” record, playing all the instruments and singing songs like this:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/51018-new-music-zak-sally-formerly-of-low-my-secret-world-mp3-stream

Nate has put out bunches of great records (both solo and with numerous other groups), and you can and should check them out at www.natedenver.com.

A selection of images in a variety of formats (and ratings) is available for publication. For additional information contact Eric Reynolds at Fantagraphics.

AUGUST GETS HOT AT FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKSTORE & GALLERY WITH ZAK SALLY, DAVID B., AND DANIEL CLOWES!

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery welcomes three compelling cartoonists in August with appearances by artist/musician Zak Sally on August 2, French cartoonist David B. on August 15, and the incomparable Daniel Clowes on August 29. These talented artists further enhance the growing perception of Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery as one of our region’s most colorful and diverse cultural assets.

Zak Sally, a notorious Minneapolis-based musician and cartoonist will perform music and sign books on Saturday, August 2 from 6:00 - 9:00 PM. A veteran of celebrated alternative rock band Low (recently featured at the Sub Pop 20 shindig), Sally is the creator of acclaimed comics Recidivist and Sammy the Mouse, as well as publisher of independent La Mano books. Sally’s work also appears regularly in Fantagraphics Books' highly regarded MOME anthology. This event will feature the debut of the second issue of his Sammy the Mouse comic book published on Fantagraphics Books' international Ignatz imprint. Sally will perform music with his associate Nate Denver and special guests. Denver is author of the amazing Wait, You're Not a Centaur book/CD, and performs with Nate Denver's Neck and Total Shutdown. The event will also offer the public an opportunity to preview the first U. S. exhibition of original art by French cartoonist David B.

Best known by his pseudonym David B., Peirre-François Beauchard is one of the prominent artists of the bande dessinée, a genre whose style and standing he has greatly advanced. The exhibition “My Story, My Stories” includes original art from his critically acclaimed comic memoir “l’Ascension du Haut Mal” (published in English as Epileptic), contributions to Fantagraphics Books’ MOME anthology, works from his Ignatz series Babel, and many pieces previously unpublished in the U. S. This exquisite exhibition runs from August 2 through August 25, 2008. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery will host a reception for this exceptional artist on Friday, August 15 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. This event is associated with "La Semaine de la Bande Dessinée - A Week Celebrating the French Graphic Novel," supported by Fantagraphics Books, the 4Culture King County Lodging Tax, the Alliance Française of Seattle and the Cultural Development Fund of the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA.

On Friday, August 29, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery proudly presents the return of Daniel Clowes. His appearance marks the premiere of Ghost World: The Special Edition. The second in a series of deluxe publications from Fantagraphics Books, this edition of the phenomenal graphic novel includes special features available for the first time. Ghost World first appeared in Clowes’ award-winning Eightball comic book series, and the feature film, directed by Terry Zwigoff, earned the pair an Academy Award™ nomination for Best Screenplay adaptation. This event will feature an exhibition of Clowes’ meticulously rendered original graphics related to the book, as well as a brief discussion of the artists’ cinematic approach to cartooning. Please join us on August 29, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM welcome this extraordinary artist.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S, Vale St. in the heart of Seattle’s historic Georgetown arts community. Open daily, 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sunday until 5:00 PM. Phone: 206.658.0110. A selection of images in a variety of formats is available for publication. For additional information contact Eric Reynolds at Fantagraphics.

Listing Information

ZAK SALLY
Book signing and music performance
Saturday, August 2, 6:00 - 9:00 PM

DAVID B.
My Story, My Stories
Artist reception and book signing Friday, August 15, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Art exhibition August 2 - August 25, 2008

DANIEL CLOWES
Ghost World: The Special Edition
Artist reception and book signing Friday, August 29, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Art exhibition August 29 - October 7, 2008

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street, Seattle
206.658.0110 www.fantagraphics.com
Open daily 11:30 - 8:00 PM. Sundays until 5:00 PM.

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS & MERGE RECORDS PRESENT:
TOWN OF MIRRORS: A Robert Pollard Book Release Party and Art Exhibition

at the MERGE RECORDS HQ
Friday, August 15, 6PM

DURHAM, N.C. — The Merge Records HQ will be hosting Dayton, Ohio’s Robert Pollard on Aug. 15th for Town of Mirrors, an art exhibition and book release party celebrating the release of Town of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery of Robert Pollard, to be published in August by Seattle’s Fantagraphics Books. Town of Mirrors will be the inaugural art show in Merge’s downtown Durham office as part of Durham’s Third Friday, a monthly downtown arts and culture “crawl.”

The forthcoming Town of Mirrors coffee table art book will premiere at the event, with many of the actual collages from the collection hanging in the show alongside several new works. The Reassembled Art of Robert Pollard collects the very best of Pollard’s visual art and lyrics/poetry from his storied career. Featuring over 180 of Pollard’s favorite collages, hand-picked by the artist, as well as over a dozen new collages produced exclusively for this book, Town of Mirrors is the first comprehensive collection of Pollard’s visual art ever released. Original artwork and copies of the book will be available for purchase.

Listing info:

WHO: Robert Pollard
WHAT: Town of Mirrors Book Release Party & Art Exhibition
WHEN: Friday, August 15th @ 6pm
WHERE: Merge Records HQ, 409 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham, NC

Robert Pollard is the Dayton, Ohio singer-songwriter, who was the leader and creative force behind the legendary rock group Guided by Voices, one of the most influential bands of its generation (SPIN magazine recently named Pollard one of “The Top 50 Rock & Roll Front Men of All-Time”). Town of Mirrors is his first book.

In addition to being a revered songwriter and recording artist, Pollard is a gifted and prolific visual artist, working mostly in the medium of collage. His work has been exhibited at Michael Imperioli’s Studio Dante in New York and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. He has created the covers to almost every Guided By Voices record and countless other Pollard-related releases.

Robert Pollard released four records on Merge, the most recent of which, Coast to Coast Carpet of Love and Standard Gargoyle Decisions, were released in October 2007. Mr. Pollard most recently released Robert Pollard is Off to Business on his own Guided By Voices, Inc. label. He was a fourth grade schoolteacher until 1994, when Guided by Voices first broke into the national consciousness with the release of the album Bee Thousand. With over 900 songs registered to his name with BMI, Pollard is among the most prolific and acclaimed songwriters of his time.

Town of Mirrors is published by Seattle’s Fantagraphics Books, best known as North America’s premiere publisher of graphic novels and comic strips.

Please send press inquiries regarding this event to Christina Rentz at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and for more information about Town of Mirrors, contact Eric Reynolds at Fantagraphics. A selection of digital imagery is available.

Book info:

Town of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery of Robert Pollard
By Robert Pollard
Introduction by Rick Moody
$29.99 Hardcover
Music / Art
144 pages, full-color, 10” x 10”
ISBN 978-1-56097-924-1
PUBLICATION DATE: Aug. 15, 2008

“The visual art of Robert Pollard is uncanny, moving, strange, and it summons a dark melancholy at the same time; an austere beauty is forged in what is degraded and worthless in the image repertoire of culture itself.” – RICK MOODY, from his introduction