This week's free preview is a downloadable 20-page excerpt from The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8, the upcoming book from Swiss horror master Thomas Ott -- his first full-length graphic novel. These previews are exclusive to registered Fantagraphics.com users, so sign up and/or sign in to view.

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

Bwana Spoons' Grass Hut announcement says it perfectly:

"He has made many of us want to use computers, books and art to bring more good into the world. We here at Grass Hut are living proof of his positive influence on the world. It is with total gut-wrenching, tear-jerking honor that we host this show."

New Artwork by J.Otto Seibold
Opens May 2nd runs through June 1st
Grass Hut Gallery
811 e. burnside
Portland Oregon

The Yoda theme sketchbook I started last year at SDCC (riding Jacob's Ninja Turtle coattails) got 14 great new entries at Stumptown this past weekend. Here's Tom Kaczynski's contribution (completed graciously in the closing minutes on Saturday):

And Scott C's:

To see all the new ones, hit here.

If you're coming to Seattle next weekend for the Emerald City Con, here's your don't miss event for Saturday night (May 10), happening at our bookstore and gallery. Jordan Crane will be exhibiting (and selling) original art from Uptight and The Clouds Above as well as offering his gorgeous prints for sale, including at least one or two especially new for the show. Oh, and we'll have beer, some good tunes, and a great neighborhood close to the convention to spend a Saturday night in. It's perfect. 

Finally a web comic that's actually made for the web... or one unruly book. By Stuart Kolakovic of the UK.

UPDATE: Stuart writes "Funny you should call it a web comic- it honestly never even crossed my mind- Never Been was originally printed as a massive, almost 10 meter long mural which wound its way around a gallery wall. The gallery had low ceilings and beam supports jutting out all over the place, hence the funny winding shape. I've never actually read a "web" comic. Comics are all about paper in my book!"

But I persist in saying it's one of the most succesful web comics I've seen, actually making use of the parameters of web technology and viewer interaction rather than just using the web in lieu of print production.

Still, I'd rather view it as a mural. Must have been a beauty.

Courtesy Ariel Bordeaux:

Here's a detail of a detail that Jim Woodring posted on his blog of his contribution to Jacob Covey's forthcoming second Beasts! book. Whoa: