FLOG! Entries - April 2008

Members Preview: The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8

mike

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.

(As a reminder, 20/20 Club members receive these previews two weeks before we post them on the website, just one of many great reasons to join up...)

Jordan Crane, Shag & Bagge at Fantagraphics Bookstore in May!

LarryR

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

Download the press release: Microsoft Word (34.5 KB)

J. Otto at Grass Hut.

covey

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

Theme sketchbook update

mike

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.

Emerald City Blowout + Jordan Crane Art Show!

Eric

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.

Stuart Kolakovic's Never Been

covey

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.

Sketchbook #30

Eric

Courtesy Ariel Bordeaux:

Slate on Bill Mauldin

mike

In your second of two links lifted from today's ¡Journalista!, Slate has a slideshow feature on Willie & Joe cartoonist Bill Mauldin.

Debbie Drechsler interview

mike

In your first of two links lifted from today's ¡Journalista!, pop culture blogger Tim O'Shea talks to Debbie Drechsler about Daddy's Girl.

Woodring's Beast

Eric

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:

Now available: Mome Vol. 1-10 Mega-Bundle

mike

Mome Vol. 1-10 Mega-Bundle
By various artists; edited by Gary Groth and Eric Reynolds

If you're interested in what's "happening" and "now" in comics, there's one place to turn: Mome, our quarterly anthology of the best in contemporary, cutting-edge cartooning. With so many volumes in print, it can be difficult to know where to start... so we've made it easy for you by offering Volumes 1-10 in one convenient package at nearly 1/3 OFF the combined cover prices! Don't miss out on this incredible deal.

Collectively, these 10 volumes of Mome present work from over two dozen of comics' finest talents, including its brightest young stars, as well as a few seasoned veterans (in approximate order of appearance): John Pham, Paul Hornschemeier, Anders Nilsen, Jeffrey Brown, David Heatley, Andrice Arp, Kurt Wolfgang, Gabrielle Bell, Jonathan Bennett, Martin Cendreda, Sophie Crumb, David B., R. Kikuo Johnson, Zak Sally, Robert Goodin, Lewis Trondheim, Al Columbia, Eleanor Davis, Tom Kaczynski, Ray Fenwick, Joe Kimball, Émile Bravo, Mike Scheer, Jim Woodring, Dash Shaw and John Hankiewicz. And to cap it all off, each volume features an in-depth interview with one of the contributors, conducted by Gary Groth. Whew!

Ten color/b&w 7" x 9" softcovers, approx. 1,200 pages total • $99.99
Update: SOLD OUT

Now available: The Complete Love and Rockets Library Vol. 1

mike

The Complete Love and Rockets Library Vol. 1
By Los Bros. Hernandez

Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2007, Love and Rockets was finally released in its most accessible form yet: As a series of compact, thick, affordable, mass-market volumes that present the whole story, originally serialized in Love and Rockets Vol. 1 from 1982 to 1996, in perfect chronological order. Now that the series is complete, we are pleased to offer all seven volumes — nearly 2,000 pages of incredible comics — for a special package price.

Seven black & white 7.5" x 9.25" softcovers, 1,944 pages total • $84.99
Add to Cart • Read More...

Los Angeles Cartoonist's Cat Bird Up For Adoption

covey

Nothing directly to do with comics but Steven Weissman writes on his Flickr page: "We rescued this kitten out of a bird's nest in one of our cypress trees this weekend. We're taking care of it for now, but if anyone wants her, please let us know. She's cute, sleeping through the night and maybe 3-4 weeks old."

Are you going to pass up the opportunity to adopt a cat who thinks it's a bird??

Now in stock: Amor Y Cohetes

mike

Amor Y Cohetes - A Love and Rockets Book
By Los Bros. Hernandez

To a very great extent, Love and Rockets is synonymous with Hoppers’ Maggie & Hopey and Palomar’s Luba & Carmen & Heraclio & Tonantzin... but there was always more to L&R than that. Amor Y Cohetes finally collects together in one convenient package all the non-Maggie and non-Palomar stories by all three Hernandez Brothers from that classic first, 50-issue Love and Rockets series — a dizzying array of styles and approaches that re-confirms these groundbreaking cartoonists’ place in the history of comics.

The book leads off with Gilbert’s original 40-page sci-fi epic “BEM” from 1981’s very first issue of Love and Rockets, featuring a very different Luba and a much looser, Heavy Metal- and Marvel Comics-inspired way of storytelling.

Other stories include Jaime’s charming “Rocky and Fumble” series starring a planet-hopping girl and her robot; stunning one-shots such as Gilbert’s Frida Kahlo biography “Frida” and his shocking autobiographical fantasia “My Love Book”; Mario’s genre thrillers which take place “Somewhere in California”; Gilbert’s brutally dystopian “Errata Stigmata” stories; the playful “Hernandez Satyricon,” with Gilbert drawing Jaime’s characters, and “War Paint,” with Jaime trying out Palomar; Gilbert’s light-hearted “Music for Monsters” starring Bang and Inez; and even a fantastical “non-continuity” Maggie and Hopey story “Easter Hunt” by Jaime that didn’t fit into the other books.

Amor Y Cohetes, the seventh (and concluding, for now) volume in the new “Complete Love and Rockets” series of compact, affordable paperbacks, shows a very different side of Los Bros Hernandez.

280-page black & white 7.5" x 9.25" softcover • $16.99
Add to Cart • Read More...

Now in stock: Mome Vol. 11 - Summer 2008

mike

Mome Vol. 11 - Summer 2008
By various artists; edited by Gary Groth and Eric Reynolds

Vol. 11 of our acclaimed anthology series welcomes Killoffer, the acclaimed French cartoonist whose work has previously only been seen in the acclaimed collection 176 Apparitions of Killoffer. Killoffer delivers a new 12-page comic as well as front and back covers. MOME also features returning regulars Al Columbia, Kurt Wolfgang, Ray Fenwick, Eleanor Davis, Dash Shaw, John Hankiewicz, Emile Bravo, Andrice Arp, Tom Kaczynski, and Paul Hornschemeier. Plus, newcomers Conor O'Keefe and Nate Neal, as well as an interview with Ray Fenwick by Gary Groth.

120-page color/b&w 7" x 9" softcover • $14.99
Add to Cart • Read More...

Bookslut interviews Josh Simmons

Eric

Bookslut has a new interview with Josh Simmons up this morning, talking long-term about Jessica Farm.

The Bleckerellificator

Eric

Waste some time here.

Flora's Incredible Flutist

mike

News from Jim Flora archivist Irwin Chusid:

The Incredible Flutist is an uncirculated 1953-54 record cover painting by Flora that was intended for a 7-inch RCA Victor EP. Jim Flora Art LLC is offering a limited edition fine art print.

According to a purchase order discovered in the Flora archives, the work was commissioned by RCA in late 1953, but there's no indication it was finished, accepted, or used on a commercially released EP. This painting has not previously been published or offered in any form. An alternate version appeared in the book The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora.

Only 20 numbered prints of this work have been produced. Following the sale of two launch prints, edition prints are available for sale at JimFlora.com.

Stumptown 2008 images

mike

Fantagraphics was in full effect at the 2008 Stumptown Comics Fest. Your humble reporter was only there for Saturday of the two-day event, but had a smashing time (and went 200% over budget buying comics, art & t-shirts — yikes). Here's a brief video clip of our table:

Pals and table-mates J.R. Williams and Jim Blanchard:

Andrice Arp signs issues of Mome at the Fantagraphics table:

Georgene and Robert Goodin:

Mome contributor Tom Kaczynski:

For the full set of photos on Flickr, click here. Stay tuned for new sketchbook scans.

Spanish MOME

Eric

Ediciones La Cupula of Barcelona has just published the second issue of their spanish-language edition of MOME. It's pretty unusual for an anthology to get translated into foreign editions, so I just had to Flog these: