Yes, some artists do still send in their original artwork for scanning — case in point, Leslie Stein, who shipped us her lovely pages for Eye of the Majestic Creature Vol. 2, all neatly organized in three portfolio binders which are safely ensconced in our flat files (nestled alongside those bundles of Barnaby clippings) awaiting their turn on the scanner. Looks like we're well on track for the book's scheduled release in August! Since critics (correctly) called Vol. 1 "a treat," "phenomenal," "great," "a joy from cover to cover," "irresistible," "a triumph," "such a pleasure" and "one of the best graphic novels of the year," it's safe to call this one "eagerly anticipated."

It was a problem-free evening at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery as Jim Woodring presented his brand-new book Problematic: Sketchbook Drawings 2004-2012 earlier this month!

One of the first people in line was this awesome little girl! Jim's wife Mary tells us: "That cute little girl, now 8, has been a fan since the age of 4. Her favorite book for a long time was Seeing Things." Smart girl!

Large-scale reprints of Jim's sketchbook drawings adorn our gallery wall...

... while the original Moleskines are in a case below, some featuring his amazing 3-D pop-outs!

Admittedly, I didn't take a ton of pictures that night since I was DJing before and after our Yo La Tengo debut, but as I was segueing into "This Here Giraffe" by the Flaming Lips, this woman walked in, dressed as a giraffe! Uncanny!

Jim's exhibit will continue to be on display at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery through Thursday, February 7th. Drop by to see it in person at 1201 S. Vale Street in Seattle's Georgetown district. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: (206) 658-0110.

If you live outside of the area, check out more photos on the Fantagraphics Flickr page, and get yourself a copy of Problematic: Sketchbook Drawings 2004-2012!

Thursday, January 24th

• Minneapolis, MN: Join Tom Kaczynski for the launch of Beta Testing the Apocalypse, with special guests Zak Sally and Derek Van Gieson, as well as Vincent Stall, Dan Wieken, and Peter Wartman! (more info)  

Friday, January 25th

• Paris, France: An exhibition of original artwork from Fuzz and Pluck makes its debut at the Librairie Les Super Héros, including a reception with Ted Stearn himself! (more info)  

• New York City, NY: And an exhibit of paintings by Gary Panter launches at the Fredericks & Freiser gallery in Chelsea. (more info)   

Saturday, January 26th

• Seattle, WA: The Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery proudly hosts the after-party for the Graphic Novel Panel 2013, featuring special guests Ellen Forney, Michel Gagné, and Jim Woodring, along with many more artists! (more info) 

THIS IS NOT A TEST: Tom Kaczynski presents the launch of his brave and brilliant collection Beta Testing the Apocalypse on Thursday, January 24th at Big Brain Comics in Minneapolis.

He will be joined by fellow Fantagraphics alumni Zak Sally and Derek Van Gieson, as well as Vincent Stall, Dan Wieken, and Peter Wartman.

Join them from 5:00 to 7:00 PM for this special celebration! Tom says a commemorative red ink will be used in authorizing your books. 

Big Brain Comics is located at 1027 Washington Avenue South. After the event, there will be mandatory fun at the Downtown Grumpy's.

Get ready for a truly Super Sunday as we welcome Portland artist Aron Nels Steinke to the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Sunday, February 3rd!

From 1:00 to 3:00 PM, he'll be signing copies of his brand-new collection Big Plans, a collection of his awesome autobiographical mini-comics series, now compiled in a fine 360-page volume by Portland's Bridge City Comics!

Laugh-out-loud funny, chilling, and meditative, Big Plans collects Aron Nels Steinke's most intimate and relatable stories. With a unique sense of timing, these are incredibly readable comics that are hard to put down.

... nothing to see here! Just a few hundred Barnaby clippings to scan for our second volume. Bless you, Jon Barli . 

The amazing Esther Pearl Watson will be among the hundreds of artists exhibiting at the L.A. Art Book Fair, opening Thursday, January 31st at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA!

Non-profit organization Printed Matter presents this unique event for artists' books, art catalogs, monographs, periodicals, and zines. There will be art installations, and even a "Zine World," a super-sized subsection of the L.A. Art Book Fair, featuring zinesters from home and abroad, together with three zine exhibitions.

Here's a sneak peek at some of the zines that Esther will be bringing:

(That Garbage zine is a collaboration with her also-awesome husband, artist Mark Todd!)

This event is free and open to the public, and runs through Sunday, February 3rd. The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is located at 152 North Central Avenue. 

Dash Shaw's animated music video for Sigur Ros entitled SERAPH is showing at Sundance this week. As part of the Film Festival Shorts, SERAPH is also promoted on the YouTube Screen Room Channel. Check out Shaw's animation and enjoy others like Catnip and What Do We Have in Our Pockets? Keep your eyes on the sky for a new Shaw animation coming soon along with his two new comics, New School and 3 New Stories.

 The chest rackiest cough of Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Review: Andy Shaw reviews Chris Wright's Blacklung on Grovel. "The characters have enormous depth, and the book explores interesting themes on the nature of violence. It’s particularly strong on class structure, exploring the different levels of what’s acceptable to different people in different walks of life…While extremely dark this is definitely one of the most sophisticated horror books I’ve read in some time."

• Review: Blacklung by Chris Wright makes another best of list on Comic Book Resources. Greg Burgas writes "Wright’s pirate comic is a strange animal – it’s extremely graphic, both violently and sexually, yet it’s a bizarre meditation on religion and good and evil, all with characters who don’t look quite human.… Blacklung is a comic that deserves a lot of thought, so you might as well read it and think about it!"

• Review: Page 45 looks at Problematic by Jim Woodring. And "whilst there is indeed the odd everyday observation, the vast majority of it is Frank-related musings, thumbnails and roughs," pens Jonathan Rigby.

• Review: Page 45 enjoys the newest Richard Sala book, Delphine. "Truly this is the stuff of nightmares: a frantic evocation of being lost, misled and out of your depth in surroundings which barely make sense – except when they do after which you dearly wish that they hadn’t," says Stephen L. Holland.

• Plug: Graham Chaffee's Good Dog was singled out on Wired to be one of THE books of 2013. "The world does not have nearly enough graphic novels told from the perspective of adorable dogs. Let alone graphic novels that have a good chance of making you feel delighted on one page, then maybe like you might cry a little bit on the next page…it has all the polish and purpose borne by most books put out by fancy-pants publisher Fantagraphics," writes Erik Henriksen.

• Review: Page 45 enjoys Castle Waiting Vol. 1 (softcover) by Linda Medley. "Life in these stories gently flows along at the same pace as the early Bone stories, and the timing is as perfect as Linda’s art is impeccable…From what appear to be stock fairy-tale archetypes, Medley creates life and energy," writes Tom Rosin.

• Review: Johanna Draper Carlson of Comic Worth Reading reads I Love Led Zeppelin after catching Ellen Forney fever with Marbles. "it’s an entertaining, spicy read. For me, it provided new context for the background behind her story, fleshing out a decadent life in strong, distinctive lines."

Coming back into print in a new softcover edition after being sold out for a few years, it's The Cat on a Hot Thin Groove, the super-snazzy collection of the great Gene Deitch's super-jazzy cartoons & illustrations for Record Changer magazine 1945-1951. All spiffed up from its original release 10 years ago and sporting a ginchy new cover design, this oversized art book is off to the printer for release later this Spring. If you dig mid-century art & design, this book is a must for your Noguchi coffee table! Why not pre-order your copy now?