FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS & JIM HANLEY’S UNIVERSE PRESENT
THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO: SAT., JUNE 7

Fantagraphics Books and Jim Hanley’s Universe are proud to present a very special event on the evening of Saturday, June 7, to coincide with Fantagraphics’ appearance at the 2008 MoCCA Arts Festival.

Join noted Steve Ditko scholar BLAKE BELL for the world premiere of his eagerly-anticipated book, STRANGE & STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO, along with an exclusive screening of Jonathan Ross’s acclaimed BBC documentary, “IN SEARCH OF STEVE DITKO.” Bell will also give a powerpoint presentation and talk on Ditko’s work and career and answer questions from the audience.

Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko is the first critical retrospective of Steve Ditko, the co-creator and original artist of the Amazing Spider-Man. The book explodes many of the myths of Ditko’s career, and presents reams of rare and unpublished Ditko artwork. All at once, the book functions as a biography of the artist and an examination of his work (spotlighting over 300 images) with commentary on what makes Ditko one of history’s greatest sequential storytellers. Following the June 7 premiere, the book will be widely available in stores later in the month.

TITLE INFORMATION:
Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko
By Blake Bell
$39.99 Hardcover • 220 pages, full-color, 9" x 12"
ISBN 978-1-56097-921-0
PUBLICATION DATE: June 2008

LISTING INFORMATION:
WHO: Noted Steve Ditko expert BLAKE BELL
WHAT: The World Premiere of STRANGE & STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO
WHERE: Jim Hanley’s Universe
4 West 33rd, NYC (off Fifth Ave, opposite Empire State Bldg.)
WHEN: Saturday, June 7, 8PM

2008 is the year when Steve Ditko fans the world over will have the opportunity to celebrate the artist’s 50-plus year career with this definitive volume from Blake Bell and Fantagraphics Books. And it all starts June 7 in Ditko’s hometown of New York City.

For additional information, contact Eric Reynolds.

FANTAGRAPHICS & FROG HOLLOW BOOKS PRESENT:

Halifax's RAY FENWICK celebrates the release of HALL OF BEST KNOWLEDGE on MAY 14!

WHO: RAY FENWICK
WHAT: HALL OF BEST KNOWLEDGE release party & author signing
WHERE: EYELEVEL GALLERY, 2063 Gottingen Street, Halifax
WHEN: Wednesday, MAY 14, 7PM

In this exciting debut graphic novel, Ray Fenwick has pioneered his own medium of storytelling, one best described as "typographical comics." [See this excellent National Post feature on Fenwick from last month for more info.] HOBK is presented as a handsome, found journal written by an unnamed voice, referred to only as "The Author." Little is known about him. He clearly fashions himself a genius, writing with a faux-aristocratic air. Each page features pearls of "wisdom," lettered in an elegant, almost obsessive fashion, bedecked with Ionic columns and fleurs-de-lis. Only at the end does The Author's true story become clear. The ensuing journey is a riotous tour through the narrator's ego and id, part graphic novel, part art object, part satire, and part puzzle, all elegantly designed and printed.

RAY FENWICK is an artist, illustrator and typographic thing-maker living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A former improv comedian and theater school dropout, he now occupies himself making drawings, comics and patterns for people like Blue Q, CMT, Nickelodeon, Urban Outfitters, and others. He contributes regularly to the comics anthology, MOME.

"Fenwick has taken a high-brow route to the art of comedy. Hall of Best Knowledge is several things rolled into one: a bizarre self-help book; an eccentric college text; a guide to life from the unlikeliest of guides. It's hard to categorize (typographical novel? graphic metafiction?), even harder to explain." - Mark Medley, National Post

PUB. DATE: MAY 14, 2008 • 168 pp. • ISBN 978-1-56097-910-4 • $19.99

THREE BRILLIANT ART STARS SHINE ON CONSECUTIVE SATURDAYS IN MAY AT FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKSTORE & GALLERY!

Jordan Crane on May 10, Peter Bagge on May 17, and SHAG on May 24

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery springs into action in May with a succession of events featuring three of the country’s most celebrated cartoonists and remarkable illustrators. The public of all ages is invited to join us in an exciting series of exhibitions featuring Jordan Crane on May 10, Peter Bagge on May 17, and SHAG on May 24.

Los Angles artist Jordan Crane’s evocative and bittersweet meditations on the human condition in comics and illustration have gained him an enthusiastic following among art aficionados of all ages. His economical narrative observations have been published by Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books, including two issues of the comic book series Uptight, and graphic novels The Last Lonely Saturday and The Clouds Above, recently issued in trade paperback. His exhibition opening Saturday, May 10 includes exquisite limited edition prints and original artwork from his comics. The reception, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, serves as the after-party for exhibitors and guests of the Emerald City Comicon, where Crane is among the featured artists. The opening also coincides with the lively Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack, featuring art, music and more at over 30 locations throughout the enchanting Georgetown neighborhood.

Seattle’s Peter Bagge is one of the most accomplished and admired cartoonists in the world. On Saturday, May 17 from 6:00 – 9:00 PM, Fantagraphics Bookstore will host the launch party for a line of skateboards and related product produced by Seattle-based Manik Skateboards. On display will be the debut of skateboard decks drawn from the pages of his landmark comic HATE. Bagge’s grunge-era imagery is ideally suited to the skateboarding subculture. At once hilarious and poignant, Bagge’s work of this era went beyond satire, and helped fashion both the attitudes and aesthetics of Seattle’s only significant indigenous youth movement. In the opinion of Fantagraphics Books’ resident curator Larry Reid, “Peter Bagge’s HATE is the most fully conceived and executed comic book series ever published.” These delightful boards remain as funny and compelling as his comics of the 1990s.

SHAG (Josh Agle), of Santa Ana, CA, is the Andy Warhol of the new millennium. His distinctive artwork is characterized by a deceptively simple fluid line quality and contemporary interpretations of mid-century Americana. His work is simultaneously fresh and familiar, drawing on oddities of American popular culture both past and present. SHAG’s imagery resonates with audiences worldwide, and over the course of the last decade he has become a cottage industry – certainly one of the most prolific and successful artists working today. For good reason. The exhibition opening and book signing on Saturday, May 24 from 6:00 – 9:00 PM will feature work from his new book, SHAG: A to Z, published by Fantagraphics Books, natch. The book is comprised of 26 original paintings corresponding to the letters of the alphabet. Each piece is accompanied by a short verse extolling the pleasures of a hedonistic lifestyle and the virtues of overindulgence. Join us in welcoming this extraordinary artist.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street in Seattle’s Georgetown district. Open daily, 11:30 – 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: 206.658.0110. A selection of imagery in a variety of formats is available for publication. For additional information, please contact Larry Reid.

LISTING INFORMATION

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery

Jordan Crane
Book signing and art show
Saturday, May 10, 6:00 – 9:00 PM
(Emerald City Comicon after-party)
Exhibition continues through May 21

Peter Bagge
Manik Skateboard launch party
Saturday, May 17, 6:00 – 9:00 PM

SHAG: A to Z
Book signing and art show
Saturday, May 24, 6:00 – 9:00 PM
Exhibition continues through June 25

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street. (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 98108
206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 – 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM

“STRANGE & STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO” to debut at the MOCCA Art Festival (June 7/8th).

Fantagraphics Books is proud to announce that Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko – the first critical retrospective of Steve Ditko, the co-creator and original artist of the Amazing Spider-Man – will make its much-anticipated debut on Saturday June 7th, 2008 at the MoCCA Comics Art Festival. The author, Blake Bell, will be on hand both days at MoCCA to sign copies of the book and will debut his slide show presentation on Ditko’s work as part of the festival’s programming. As well, a bookstore signing event at Jim Hanley’s Universe will take place during the festival weekend.

In addition to updates, teasers, and media news on Bell’s Steve Ditko web site at www.ditko.comics.org, readers will be able to keep abreast of updates on the book’s Facebook and MySpace pages, as well as multiple radio and print appearances. For example, Wizard magazine will be running a 6-page feature, excerpting from the Amazing Spider-Man chapter, in its July issue – out in early June). Also, beginning tomorrow, the book’s Introduction will be posted on www.fantagraphics.com, with an additional excerpt being made available to Fantagraphics’ 20/20 Club members.

Available in comic-book stores nation-wide in mid-June, and in mainstream book stores in early July, the book will explode many of the myths of Ditko’s career, as well as present reams of rare and unpublished Ditko artwork. All at once, the book functions as a biography of the artist, and an examination of his work (spotlighting over 300 images) with commentary on what makes Ditko one of history’s greatest sequential storytellers from the author and some of comics most skilled and articulate comic creators.

2008 will mark the year when Steve Ditko fans the world over will have the opportunity to celebrate the artist’s 50-plus year career with this definitive volume from Blake Bell and Fantagraphics Books. A selection of images in a variety of formats is available for publication. For additional information, contact Eric Reynolds.

TITLE INFORMATION:
Strange & Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko
By Blake Bell
$39.99 Hardcover
220 pages, full-color, 9” x 12”
Diamond order code: MAR08 3707
ISBN 978-1-56097-921-0
PUBLICATION DATE: June 2008