Seattle's own alternative comics pioneers Fantagraphics are bringing their award-winning wares to the 9th Annual Emerald City Comic-Con, March 4th - 6th, 2011 at the Washington State Convention Center. Tickets for the Emerald City Comic-Con are available at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Georgetown.

Visit our table at space #808 and check out new titles, such as Twilight of the Assholes: Cartoons & Essays 2005-2009, FUC_ __U, _SS __LE: Blecky Yuckerella Vol. 4, The Strange Case of Edward Gorey, King of the Flies Vol. 2: The Origin of the World, Stigmata, Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2, Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition, Special Exits, Little Maakies on the Prairie, Prince Valiant Vol. 3 and Popeye Vol. 5.

Special guests include:

Peter Bagge, the funniest cartoonist of his generation. Bagge is probably best known for the 1990s comic book series Hate, which followed the exploits of the slacker ne'er-do-well Buddy Bradley. Bagge will be signing copies of the latest Hate Annual #8, and additional works, such as Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me and Other Astute Observations, on Saturday, March 5th from 10:00 am to Noon.

Jacques Boyreau, editor and cultural historian of the book Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box, a celebration of some of the most louche, decadent, minimo-pervo artwork to ever grace a VHS box. Boyreau will be signing, and showing footage from Portable Grindhouse films, at our table on Friday, March 4th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.

Megan Kelso, Ignatz Award-winning artist who has returned to Seattle after a period in New York, where she published a weekly comic strip in The New York Times magazine. Kelso will be signing copies of her acclaimed novel Artichoke Tales, and other titles, on Sunday, March 6th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.

Fantagraphics & Top Shelf Presents: Con Artists, the Emerald City Comic-Con After-Party

Fantagraphics Books Inc. teams up with fellow indie-comic publishers Top Shelf Productions for an Emerald City Comic-Con after-party on Saturday, March 5th at the Jewel Box Theater at the Rendezvous.

Performers include:
Can You Imagine?: featuring Peter Bagge, and legendary local producer/musician Steve Fisk
The Rheas: fronted by Eric Reynolds, Associate Publisher at Fantagraphics
Matthew Southworth: frontman for The Capillaries, and co-creator of the comic Stumptown

DJ'ing between sets will be DJ Janice, aka Janice Headley, Events Coordinator/Publicist for Fantagraphics (and Programming Assistant at Seattle radio station KEXP).

Con Artists: Emerald City Comic-Con Afterparty
Sponsored by Fantagraphics Books & Top Shelf Productions
Saturday, March 5th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Jewel Box Theater at The Rendezvous
2322 2nd Avenue in Belltown
Admission $5 (General Public)
FREE with Emerald City Comic-Con badge
21 and over with ID

Emerald City Comic-Con
March 4th - 6th, 2011
Washington State Convention Center
http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/
Friday: 2:00pm - 8:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 7:00pm
Sunday: 10:00am - 5:00pm

• http://www.fantagraphics.com
• http://www.fantagraphics.com/peterbagge
• http://www.fantagraphics.com/megankelso
• http://www.fantagraphics.com/portablegrindhouse

SEATTLE, WA, FEB. 2, 2011 --- This March, Fantagraphics Books will publish The Last Rose of Summer, a novel by Monte Schulz. To support the release, the author will tour several cities on the West Coast in late-February and March:

Sat., Feb. 26, 4PM • Tecolote Book Shop, Santa Barbara, CA
Tues., March 1, 7:30PM • Warwick's Books, La Jolla, CA
Thurs., March 3, 6:30PM • Bay Books, Coronado, CA
Fri., March 4, 6PM • Latitude 33 Bookshop, Laguna Beach, CA
Sun., March 6, 5PM • Skylight Books, Los Angeles, CA
Wed., March 23, 7PM • Tsunami Books, Eugene, OR
Sat., March 26, 1PM • The Bookseller, Grass Valley, CA

"Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, a veritable time-machine that whirled me through time to the dirty back roads of the American midwest in the year before the Depression. ... Did I mention how good the writing is? The writing is excellent... a masterpiece of setting and storytelling..." - Cory Doctorow, BOINGBOING

With the Great Depression looming and about to define America's next decade, three strong-minded women related by marriage form an uneasy household in the summer of 1929. Forced by her husband Harry to uproot their two small children from Illinois and take up residence in East Texas, Marie Hennesey struggles to find a place not only within her mother-in-law's home but in a Southern town whose troubling unfamiliarities compound her marital woes and homesickness.

Maude Hennesey has little patience for Marie and her children, and even less for her own pretty but petulant daughter, Rachel, who fights and flirts with a dashing pilot from New Orleans. Colliding issues of faith and sexual mores, racial proprieties and class distinctions, fuel a constant bickering through the narrow corridors of the house, all three women heedless of the love that has brought them together. Maude seems cold and distant except toward the ladies of her club; Rachel's affection for her doting aviator rises and falls capriciously; and Marie seeks to understand an absent husband, while deciding how to receive her employer's slow seduction.

As summer wears on, the conflicts among these women are exacerbated by a child murder that sends shockwaves of fear and mistrust throughout the community, particularly between the town's white residents and a black shantytown across the river. An ever-increasing sense of dread culminates in the arrival of a terrible storm whose aftermath reveals poignant and unexpected truths about these three women living at a time when America was poised on the brink of economic catastrophe.

In The Last Rose of Summer, Monte Schulz has created a story about three women and their interior and exterior lives, each of whom symbolize quintessential American notions of family, love and community. In so doing, he reminds us all where we come from and how we got here. With an elegiac voice that evokes an era in its final bloom, and a thoughtful rendering of the public and private contentions that ruled the day, The Last Rose of Summer becomes an instant American classic.

Monte Schulz published his first novel, Down By The River, in 1990, and spent the next twelve years writing a tapestry of the Jazz Age, of which The Last Rose of Summer and 2009's This Side of Jordan are two of three parts. He received his M.A. in American Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he continues to reside. He is the eldest son of Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts).

Update: Due to conflicting travel schedules, the appearance of Monte Schulz with Gary Groth at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle on March 19 has been postponed indefinitely. Watch this space for information on rescheduling.

Fantagraphics Bookstore is pleased to present Aaron Renier in conversation with Jason Shiga on Wednesday, February 23 at 6:30 PM. Renier will discuss his new graphic novel, The Unsinkable Walker Bean, on the acclaimed First Second imprint. His previous book, Spiral Bound (Top Shelf, 2005), was widely heralded as a book that appealed to sophisticated readers of all ages.

Oakland artist Jason Shiga's award-winning books also attract an all ages readership. In addition to self-published comics, his work has appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly. Shiga's next effort, Empire State, is due later this year from Abrams Comicarts. A limited number of uncorrected proofs of this new graphic novel will be distributed free of charge.

Renier will give a slide presentation followed by a discussion with Shiga on their unique approach to creating comics. A book signing and reception will follow. Admission is free and open to the public.

This event marks the first in a series of "Comix Talks" at Fantagraphics Bookstore featuring discussions with writers, artists, and editors of diverse comics from the Northwest and beyond.

Listing Information:

Fantagraphics Bookstore presents the first in a series of "Comix Talks"

Aaron Renier in conversation with Jason Shiga

Wednesday, February 23, 6:30 PM

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

Aaron Renier and Jason Shiga appear on Wednesday, February 23.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery loves local comix! Saturday, February 12 features the opening of "Lovesick," an exhibition of emerging and established artists from the Bureau of Drawers cartoonist collective. The show includes original art, handmade books and prints by 16 Seattle comix artists and illustrators. Exhibiting artists will be present for a festive reception at Fantagraphics Bookstore on Saturday, February 12 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM — just in time for Valentine's.

The Bureau of Drawers formed in 2010 as an alliance of independent local alternative cartoonists. They meet weekly for an informal salon at Café Racer in Ravenna and have participated in high profile events at the Seattle Art Museum, Bumbershoot, and Urban Light Studios. The group includes accomplished cartoonists like David Lasky, Tom Dougherty and Scott Faulkner as well as promising young talent like Nikki Burch and Marc Palm. Other participating artists include Breanne Boland, Billis Helg, Tyler Hill, Calamity Jon Morris, Sean Robinson, Mark Stockbridge, Ed Trumbule, Adam Watson, Dalton Webb, and Stevie VanBronkhorst. Expect an eclectic mix of topical works on the loose theme of unrequited love.

This event coincides with the 3rd anniversary edition of the colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack featuring adventurous — and amorous — visual and performing arts events throughout the historic neighborhood. For more information and a participant map visit: www.georgetownartattack.com. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.) just minutes south of downtown Seattle. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone 206.658.0110.

On Wednesday, February 23 at 6:30 PM, Fantagraphics Bookstore is pleased to present Aaron Renier in conversation with Jason Shiga. Renier will present his new graphic novel, The Unsinkable Walker Bean, on the acclaimed First Second imprint. Renier's previous book, Spiral Bound (Top Shelf, 2005), was widely heralded as a book that appealed to sophisticated readers of all ages. Jason Shiga's award-winning books also attract an all ages readership. In addition to self-published comics, his work has appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly. His next effort, Empire State, is due later this year from Abrams. Renier and Shiga will discuss their unique approach to creating comics, followed by a signing and reception. This event marks the first in a series of "Comics Talks" at Fantagraphics Bookstore featuring discussions with writers, artists, and editors of diverse comics from the Northwest and beyond.

Listing Information:

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery and Bureau of Drawers Present

LOVESICK

Illustration and comix art by: Breanne Boland, Nikki Burch, Tom Dougherty, Scott Faulkner, Billis Helg, Tyler Hill, David Lasky, Calamity Jon Morris, Marc Palm, Sean Robinson, Mark Stockbridge, Ed Trumbule, Adam Watson, Dalton Webb, Stevie VanBronkhorst

Opening reception Saturday, February 12, 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Exhibition continues through March 9, 2011

Fantagraphics Book Club Presents the first in a series of "Comix Talks"

Aaron Renier in conversation with Jason Shiga

Wednesday, February 23, 6:30 PM

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