Everyone has seen the strange graphics that grace the covers of obscure albums while flipping through used record bins at garage sales, flea markets and records stores. Some of the weirdest are collected in COVER STORY Vol. 2: Odd, Obscure, and Outrageous Album Art published by Wax Poetics/powerHouse Books. Fantagraphics Bookstore, in association with Georgetown Records, celebrates the publication of this delightfully odd volume with a publication party this Saturday, August 14 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.

The party will feature a display of many of the most outrageous album covers from the book, as well as DJ sets of the actual recordings and a book signing by contributors Aja West and Cheeba. Come discover your own twelve-inch treasures in the record store's 50 cent bins, and peruse a mass of equally unusual comix from Fantagraphics Books.

This event coincides with the colorful Georgetown Art Attack with action throughout the historic neighborhood. Drive down in your vintage ride and join the "Slow Roll" hot rod cruise down Airport Way at 8:00 PM.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.) just minutes south of downtown Seattle. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: 206.658.0110.

Okay, you've already heard about our contest for this, and been informed about the Onion's recent interview with its director, but I just wanna testify and tell anyone who might be curious that they should go buy the new Criterion release of Terry Zwigoff's Crumb film already. I bought the Blu-Ray edition yesterday even though I think it's now the third iteration of the film that I've purchased; well worth it, though, because Criterion is the first to get it right. It's a handsome and thoughtful package, which includes a fascimile reproduction of Charles Crumb's (In)Famous Artists Test booklet, as well another booklet of 'liner notes'. And the DVD extras look fantastic: almost an hour of previously-unseen footage shot for the film, two Zwigoff commentaries (one new one conducted for this edition as well as the 2006 commentary he did with Roger Ebert for previous DVD editions), a new digital transfer of the film, etc. I'm already looking forward to picking up the Criterion edition of Zwigoff's first film, Louie Bluie, next.

Now if Criterion would just bring us Ghost World and Art School Confidential, we'd be in business...

Mark your calendar! 

FANTAGRAPHICS & DESERT ISLAND PRESENT:

AN EVENING WITH DREW FRIEDMAN AND HIS NEW BOOK,

TOO SOON?

Friday, Oct. 8th, 7-9PM

Desert Island, 540 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn, NY 

Featuring a Q&A with Drew Friedman, conducted by WFMU's Dave the Spazz! 

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "A refreshing counterpoint to the vampire meme... In true Jason form, Werewolves of Montpellier neatly packs a chockful of romance, recreational crime, and existential thrills in this full-color 48-pager." – Space 15 Twenty

• Review: "Norwegian cartoonist Jason's book The Last Musketeer is the kind of whimsy that's easy to do wrong and nearly impossible to get right, but Jason gets it very right indeed. ... It's a story that follows a dreamlike, comic logic, always silly and always fun, and every page has several large grins waiting to jump onto your face as you read." – Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

• Review: "It should go without saying that if you’re at all interested in women’s comics or manga, you should buy [A Drunken Dream and Other Stories]. But in all honesty, I think even if you just like comics and beautifully-told stories, this should be a part of your bookshelf. ... Hagio’s art is, of course, constantly gorgeous. ... Thorn’s translation definitely seems to be true to Hagio’s stories. He is obviously a great admirer of her and he does her justice. ... This is a beautiful book by an incredible creator. Whether or not you knew of Hagio before or this is going to be your introduction to her, it’s a book you need to have." – Eden Miller, Comicsgirl

• Review: "Underground comics were once the bastard stepchild of the industry. ... These days though they get their due as actual art, and their slouch towards respectability gets a big boost with Fantagraphics Books’ The Artist Himself: A Rand Holmes Retrospective. The collection combines a fascinating biography of Holmes... with chapters of his finest work... The Canadian rarely gets his due among comics aficionados, but The Artist Himself should go a long way toward putting this underground legend on the list of greats." – Alonso Duralde, Modern Tonic

• Review: At The Comics Journal, Bart Croonenborghs looks at the work of Olivier Schrauwen: "Here are some keywords though for the unintiated: Belgian, comic genius, graphical masterblender, darkly ironic, perfectionist."

• Profile: Santiago Garcia uses the release of The Search for Smilin' Ed by Kim Deitch as "an excuse to get an overview of the latest productions of this extraordinary author, who belongs to the first generation of the West Coast underground and has not stopped working from the 60s until now." (Translated from Spanish; via Bill Kartalopoulos)

• Interview: Larry Reid's appearance on The Marty Riemer Show podcast is now archived for your listening pleasure

• Commentary: The Hooded Utilitarian's critical roundtable on E.C. Segar's Popeye continues as Chris Mautner takes a tangential look at the topper strip Sappo

Stephen DeStefano and his collaborators in animation Miguel Martinez-Joffre & Carly Monardo have uploaded a better-quality version of the animated teaser trailer for Lucky in Love Book 1: A Poor Man's History, the forthcoming graphic novel by Stephen and writer George Chieffet. Enjoy!

Our own Larry Reid will be appearing on The Marty Riemer Show webcast/podcast (hosted by the former KMTT morning show host) tomorrow morning at 9:30 AM to talk about the big Bumbershoot comic art exhibit he's curating. Tune in! The other guest on the program: Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire. Larry moves in influential circles, y'all.

Periodic clips & strips (slightly off schedule) — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources:

• Johnny Ryan hits that cute/offensive sweet spot yet again with his jungle hero who is also a bunny (via Facebook)

• Jon Vermilyea's entry in David Ryan's Calvin & Hobbes-themed convention sketchbook

• 1990 sketchbook pages and a 1996 illustration by Jason 

• Drew Weing's Set to Sea page 121

• Richard Sala presents a selection of drawings from his book The Ghastly Ones

• The latest installment of Tim Lane's Belligerent Piano

• Gabrielle Bell continues her Comic-Con "comicumentary"

• From Mark Kalesniko, another version of "Tina in a Polka-Dot Dress"

• Noah Van Sciver is selling drawings to raise money for his West Coast tour with John Porcellino, including original Blammo pages or commissions like this Wookiee Wolverine

• This 10" record of Allen Ginsberg & Arthur Russell from Presspop features jacket artwork by Archer Prewitt 

• From Renee French: black mountain, hagelbarger, bed, daisyy, rock

• Steve Brodner on the Golden Ticket to bigotry

• Hans Rickheit's Ectopiary page 36

• A Ray Fenwick illustration for the Globe and Mail

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Sydney Opera House to see Gary Groth's presentation at the GRAPHIC festival this past weekend. According to various accounts on Twitter and from Bernard Caleo (whose sketch of Gary is below), Gary's talk was a highlight of the weekend. Photo above courtesy Karen Beilharz.

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Originally serialized in the late ‘90s, this cartwheeling shaggy-dog story begins, like a lot of metafiction, with the semblance of reality... But by the time a frog demon reanimates a 19th-century French peasant whose brains it has eaten, it’s fairly clear that Deitch is making stuff up. The fun of [The Search for Smilin' Ed] is the way it constantly darts back and forth across the line between genuine show-business lore (a favorite Deitch theme) and delirious whole-cloth invention. ... Deitch’s artwork... is... utterly confident, building on the stylistic gestures of both the underground-comics scene that launched his career and the classic animation that inspired his talking-animal characters." – Publishers Weekly

• Review: "Some of the best comics of the last couple of decades are Jim Woodring’s wordless Frank stories. Dreamlike, idyllic and mind bendingly horrific visions are rendered with immaculate penwork and pacing. This tidy, near 200 page collection of black and white stories [The Portable Frank] is sufficient to put a permanent dent in your brain pan." – M. Ace, Irregular Orbit

• Review: "Fantagraphics cycles back to the first three years of Herriman’s Sunday Krazy Kat strips [in Krazy & Ignatz 1916-1918]. I do enjoy these early years of the kat kronikles — a bit more lyrical, a bit more varied, a bit less centered on the kat/mouse/cop routine. Yes, you need it. Of course." – M. Ace, Irregular Orbit

• Interview: In virtue of the Criterion Collection release of Crumb on DVD and Blu-ray, The A.V. Club talks to director Terry Zwigoff: "And I said, 'What did you think of it?' And he said, 'It was mortifying.' I said, 'Is it a bad film?' And he said, 'No, but I’m looking at myself in a mirror, so what am I supposed to say? Is it good? Is it bad? I just don’t want to look at it.' Something like that."

• Interview: Kliph Nesteroff's conversation with Drew Friedman (previously transcribed at WFMU's Beware of the Blog) is now available as an audio download from the Inkstuds podcast

• Panel: The Comics Journal presents video of the "International Comics and Graphic Novels" panel at Comic-Con International last month, with Moto Hagio, Émile Bravo and others — part 1 is embedded above, with 4 additional parts at TCJ.com

• Commentary: Noah Berlatsky takes his whack at Popeye in the critical roundtable at The Hooded Utilitarian

We're teaming up with our pals at Seattle's venerable Scarecrow Video to give away Terry Zwigoff's classic documentary Crumb, new on DVD and Blu-Ray from the Criterion Collection, plus Zwigoff's debut film Louie Bluie, also new on Criterion DVD with cover artwork by Crumb! All you have to do is "like" this post on our Facebook page, or if you're not on Facebook, send an email to the friendly folks at Scarecrow; click here for all the details.

Plus! Stop by Scarecrow to pick up a coupon good for 20% off any purchase at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery that includes at least one Robert Crumb book, and at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery you can pick up a coupon for $2 off the Criterion Crumb DVD or Blu-Ray at Scarecrow. Feel the love!