A great vintage photo of Peter Bagge & an unknown co-conspirator perpetrating some street art, shared by Kaz on Pete's Facebook wall. Pete, you scofflaw!
* Other People's Publications ** Yeah, You Know Me.
It's sub-titled "A Love Story," but somehow Mister Wonderful still managed to depress the heck outta me. Such is the power of the one and only Daniel Clowes!
Mister Wonderful was originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine back in 2007-8, and it was such an exhilirating weekly ride, that I'm glad someone collected it into a nice little hardbound book, complete with extra bonus material.
If you didn't read the online strips a few years ago (I can't even imagine...), the "Mister Wonderful" in question is Marshall, an unemployed divorcé, who's been fixed up with Natalie, a woman with some romantic baggage of her own.
I don't wanna give away the ending for anyone who didn't read it on the NYT website (Really? You didn't?? Sorry, I just...), but somehow, the open-ended conclusion just left me feeling bummed out. I guess we're meant to feel hope for this budding couple, but c'mon... This is Dan Clowes we're talking about.
Mister Wonderful, and tons of other Clowes titles and accessories, are currently in stock at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, located 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. See you there!
Tim Hensley and Richard Sala are among the artists donating artwork to "Kenji's Light of Hope," an online art sale beginning today with 100% of the proceeds being donated to the Igari Music Therapy Research Center, supporting their mission to provide music therapy to individuals with developmental disabilities and the elderly in the quake-stricken area of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The sale "is dedicated to Kenji, a young man with Down syndrome, who is a keen percussionist at Igari MTRC. Kenji's home was badly flooded during the tsunami, and he was rescued with his family after 3 days. Let's ensure that he's able to play the sound block again on all the samba and Latin tunes that he loves!" Tim has donated original Wally Gropius artwork, and Richard has donated the print "Midnight" pictured above. Two great artists, one wonderful cause!
In recognition of yesterday's bunny-related holiday and creator Stan Sakai's recent Cultural Ambassador honor, we're offering Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition box set at a one-day discount of 25% off, today (April 25, 2011) only! If the Easter Bunny left some extra green in your basket you'll want to hop (yeah yeah) on this special deal!
• Review: "Stephen DeStefano is nominated for the 2011 Eisner Awards for his artwork on this book [Lucky in Love Book 1] and understandably so. [...] His style on this book works so well, the feel and mood of the 1940's is dutifully established. The exaggeration in his cartoony style on this book especially with the characters is both hilarious and beautiful. From the linework, to the panel and page design, DeStefano just did an amazing job. Simply beautiful work here. The kind of work that leaves you lingering over every little line or design." – P.D. Houston, Renderwrx Productions
• Plug: "After I read and loved Footnotes in Gaza, I had to get [Safe Area Gorazde: The Special Edition], right? It looks pretty flippin’ awesome, plus for this edition, there’s a lot of frontmatter by Sacco in which he discusses the circumstances in Bosnia in the early 1990s." – Greg Burgas, Comic Book Resources
• Plugs: "It’s an embarrassment of riches from the fine folks at Fantagraphics as they deliver not one, but two fantastic comic collections for aficionados to dive into. Not only do we get the 15th volume of The Complete Peanuts covering the years 1979-1980 and featuring an intro from Al Roker, but we also get the 5th volume of EC Segar’s Popeye, Wha’s A Jeep, which introduces us to the magical Jeep. Both volumes? Brilliant." – Ken Plume, FRED Entertainment
As we recently posted, Stan Sakai was honored with the 2011 Cultural Ambassador Award by the Japanese American National Museum last Saturday. Stan sent along these additional photos of him receiving the award trophy at the ceremony and the fancy award certificate. Hip hip hooray!
The 2013 Fantagraphics Ultimate Catalog of Comics is available now! Contact us to get your free copy, or download the PDF version (9 MB).
Preview upcoming releases in the Fantagraphics Spring/Summer 2013 Distributors Catalog. Read it here or download the PDF (26.8 MB). Note that all contents are subject to change.
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