Seattle's most festive monthly cultural encounter continues on April 11 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack features unexpected visual and performing arts presentations throughout the historic neighborhood. The public is invited to explore this charming, creative cultural enclave, which has been repeatedly selected by area publications as the city's most vibrant community.

Among the highlights of the April 11 Art Attack: Full Throttle Bottles hosts an exhibition of "Satan's Birdcages" by Richard Lemmert; Simultaneous painting exhibitions by Cheri O'Brien at Georgetown Tile Works and the adjacent, recently-relocated Dog Dream boutique; Photographer Bill Hughlett at the Equinox studios; Handcrafted glass bead jewelry by Elaine Alhadeff at the Brewery studio complex; An exhibition of original comics art by heralded cartoonists Jaime Hernandez and Stan Sakai at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery; fine dining, exotic shopping, and endless entertainment at Georgetown's wonderful cafes, shops and nightclubs.

Also on April 11, the Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack welcomes the annual Honk Fest West featuring a lively array of unorthodox marching bands from 5 states and Canada. Over 20 bands will perform at Calamity Jane's, Smarty Pants, The Stables, Squid & Ink, in the streets and elsewhere. Don't miss this delightfully raucous event.

The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack is a monthly promotion of the Georgetown Merchants' Association. For more information contact GMA chair Kathy Nyland or Art Attack coordinator Larry Reid. Or visit: www.georgetownartattck.com.

I stumbled across a copy of Jeff Levine's old Destroy All Comics zine from 1996 and was re-reading a classic interview with Drawn & Quarterly Publisher Chris Oliveros, which contained the following exchange that was interesting to me insofar as it underscored just how much has changed in the world of comics in a little over a decade: 

Q: Do you think it's possible that there could be more work in the future where the artist could sit and draw for two years, and release the entire story, or do you think just the way the industry is set up, and with history on the side of the periodical nature of comics...

Oliveros: I think the periodical approach is a good thing. In order for comics to be released in book form, where an author would take two or three or five years to complete this novel, the medium would have to attain this sort of popularity you have in general fiction, where you have fifty or a hundred thousand readers, and your best-sellers have five hundred thousand readers, where because you have this guaranteed income, you can get this advance from a publisher of, I don't know fifty or one hundred thousand dollars, and then you can afford to work on just your own project for a couple years. That obviously will never come to be in comics, so I think, for better or worse we're left with this set-up we have here, where the work is gradually being serialized, which in turn allows the author to collect a royalty on those issues. Without that, comics just wouldn't exist. Whether you like it or not, it allows these works to exist, and it allows the author to make some kind of living while the story is being produced. 

Mind you, I would have agreed entirely with Oliveros at the time. And in a lot of ways, I think it still underscores a fundamental challenge facing publishers vis a vis the increasing inevitability of graphic novels supplanting periodicals as the chosen format.  

... I've ever read to a Fantagraphics submission:

My name is [*], and I'm a long haul truck driver. I gave college a try several years ago, and when I started, I bought me a laptop computer. 

The whole letter is almost as good, and I can't help but read it in Sam Elliott's voice.  

* Name omitted to protect the innocent 

This preliminary sketch for the cover of Mome Vol. 17 can be found on Flickr. Sez Nate: "Even though the image says vol. 16, Fantagraphics says that it must be used (if it is) for vol. 17...the story in that volume will connect to the cover image."

The nominees for the 2009 Eisner Awards have been announced and we are pleased to report that our publications have received 7 nominations in various categories. To celebrate, for a limited time we're offering 15% off nominated titles -- click here to browse and buy! And the nominees are:

Best Short Story
• "Glenn Ganges in 'Pulverize,'" by Kevin Huizenga, in Ganges #2

Best Humor Publication
• Petey & Pussy by John Kerschbaum

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
• Explainers by Jules Feiffer
• Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
• The Last Musketeer by Jason

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
• The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, Michael Dean, and Kristy Valenti

Best Publication Design
• Willie & Joe: The WWII Years, designed by Jacob Covey

• Review: The Chicago Tribune on Monologues for Calculating the Density of Black Holes by Anders Nilsen: "The loneliness comes off the page in waves, trailed by dark humor... Nilsen's work may have a minimalist look, but he's exploring the biggest issues around. And you can't stop turning the pages."

• Review: Brix Picks' Book of the Week is The Chuckling Whatsit by Richard Sala, which they say "is one of those books that I revisit regularly because it's just so fun to read."

• Review: Bookopolis gives Unlovable Vol. 1 by Esther Pearl Watson 4.5 stars: "This book is so much fun - it kept me laughing for hours. Not only is the dialogue hilarious but the drawings themselves are really hysterical."

• Review: The Walrus, running down all of this year's Doug Wright Awards nominees, looks at Hall of Best Knowledge by Ray Fenwick: "...Fenwick’s skill with design renders the handwritten words adaptable and full of stubborn character, turning them into a cocky little world of their own."

• List: Cartoon Flophouse names "My Holy Trinity of Humor Comics," including E.C. Segar's Popeye ("brilliant... I love the rhythms of Segar's strips, the repetition from strip to strip, and the way Popeye evolved into a lead character") and Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper ("in his 'Powerhouse Pepper' strips, Wolverton demonstrated some of the best character designs in comics. And the whole rhyme-scheme dialogue is insane. There's a really good Fantagraphics book that collects all the Powerhouse strips" -- and it's half off, we might add)

• List: The Examiner's "essential comic book geek's guide to women and dating and sharing the love" shares the following advice: "If you've got a girlfriend or potential love interest, show her why comics are wonderful. Show her... Ghost World by Daniel Clowes, Black Hole by Charles Burns..."

• Preview: Dave's Comics looks at the recent flurry of Paul Hornschemeier material

• Preview: Holy Heroes on our solicitation for The Wolverton Bible: "Now this is exciting... as someone who's a fan of the weird, the religious, and the weird religious, [this book] is more than welcome news."

• Reportage: Paul Karasik goes to Italy, hangs out with Paul Auster, writes a hilarious blog post about it

• Things to see: I think this might be an outtake (in rough form) from Steven Weissman's "Blue Jay"

Go check out an exclusive 6-page excerpt featuring the ever-lovable Venus from our forthcoming Luba omnibus hardcover by Gilbert hernandez at ICv2!

Al Jaffee and Arnold Roth will appear live today at 2:00EST on Blog Talk Radio's Mr. Media Show to talk about the amazing new HUMBUG collection. If you're dying to ask Mr. Jaffee or Mr. Roth a question, you can call in and do so at (646) 595-3135. How many opportunities do you get to talk to living legends like these guys? 

By the way, that's Jaffee, the late Will Elder, and Arnold Roth above (left to right). What a great picture...

Esther Pearl Watson's UNLOVABLE has been picked up by Urban Outfitters and is being tested in ten stores nationally. If you haven't seen Unlovable yet and live near one of these locations, well, go buy it already and help us help Esther conquer the world!

628 Broadway, New York, NY
3111 M St., N.W., Washington, DC
374 Ave. of Americas, New York, NY
1507 5th Avenue Seattle, WA
5331 East Mockingbird Lane, S.190 Dallas, TX
7861 Tysons Corner Center, N-15-U McLean, VA
2590 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA
624 State St. Santa Barbara, CA
7135 E. Camelback Rd., #150 Scottsdale, AZ
3000 184 St. S.W., Alderwood Mall #810 Lynnwood, WA

• Review: Comics Waiting Room on Ho! The Morally Questionable Cartoons of Ivan Brunetti: "...[I]f the material printed Ho! had been created in, say, Soviet Russia, Ivan would be the biggest star in the gulag. As it is, he’s one of the most twisted and funny motherfuckers putting pen to paper right in the U.S. of A. And I’m damned proud he’s one of us... Brunetti’s latest work is as strong as ever, and maybe even sicker. He’s an amazing cartoonist, and I respect his work immensely, even when some of it makes me queasy… especially if it makes me laugh then feel queasy."

• Review: Make It So Marketing's Comics And Pop Culture Blog finds A Mess of Everything by Miss Lasko-Gross to be "an interesting read, and the art style that Miss Lasko-Gross uses is one that actually grabs me the more I read into the graphic novel... I look forward to the third volume being published..."

• Reviews: The "What Are You Reading?" column at Robot 6 includes Tom Bondurant on Gilbert Hernandez's Heartbreak Soup ("At first I was afraid that Beto was introducing so many characters I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them, but the deeper I go into the book the better he manages everyone. The writing reminds me of Will Eisner’s slice-of-life stuff from his later career..."), Tim O'Shea on The Complete Peanuts 1969-1970 ("The intro by Mo Willems is great insight into what appealed to many about the series..."), Chris Mautner on A Mess of Everything by Miss Lasko-Gross ("[It] shows a good deal of progression [from Escape from "Special"], both in terms of storytelling and artistry"), and Jeff Lester on The Comics Journal Library Vol. 6: The Writers ("for which a more accurate title might have been 'Gary Groth Browbeats Bewildered Comics Writers'")

• Preview: Urban Aesthete looks at the forthcoming Abstract Comics anthology

• Profile: The Stranger says some nice stuff about Jaime Hernandez, Stan Sakai and Paul Hornschemeier in advance of their visit here this past weekend

• Profile: The Seattle Weekly, previewing Jaime's visit to Seattle, nicely describes Love and Rockets: "It’s a mutable universe that skips between characters at older and younger stages of life, where buxom pro wrestling queens, spaceship mechanics, and touring hardcore bands buoyantly intersect. No one stays lost for long; no grievance goes unforgotten; and deep-fried jungle slugs forever remain a delicacy."

• Interview: Bookslut has a great Q&A with Jules Feiffer. I didn't know that Tarantino had cribbed some dialogue from Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes

• Interview: The Daily Cross Hatch concludes their 3-part chat with Arnold Roth. Great anecdotes ahoy!

• Things to see: A semi-animated gag cartoon by Kurt Wolfgang

• Things to see: new sketchbook pages from Anders Nilsen. Also: Anders Nilsen exhibit in Chicago April 18-May 3 and new minicomic