Ooh, this is "Sleep Heap," a lovely new print by Lilli Carré for sale now at Tiny Showcase, benefitting Doctors Without Borders. They go fast! (Via Lilli's blog)

Legendary Master of Macabre Cartoonist Gahan Wilson Appears at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, February 13! 

February 2, 2010 - Seattle, WA. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to host a rare appearance by the incomparable Gahan Wilson. Best known for his grotesque gag cartoons commenting on contemporary culture, the revered artist commemorates the publication of GAHAN WILSON: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons with an exhibition of original art and book signing on Saturday, December 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.

Gahan Wilson's singular aesthetic with decidedly low brow sensibilities has roots in his adolescent exposure to lurid horror comic books and pulp magazines. ''I was a creepy little kid," Wilson recalls. "I did the whole comic book thing, and then I discovered Weird Tales — instantly homed right in on that around high school, and just loved it." His early illustrations found their way to the pages of the pulps and were later published in prestigious periodicals like Collier's, The New Yorker, and Playboy.

His delightfully demented sense of humor is celebrated in GAHAN WILSON: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons, an exquisite 3-volume slipcase edition from Fantagraphics Books that includes over 1,000 comics and illustrations by the acknowledged master of the macabre as well as all of Wilson's prose fiction in Playboy. Don't miss this rare opportunity to meet an American original, one week short of his 80th birthday.

Also on display on February 13 for one night only is a recently completed sculpted portrait of comix legend R. Crumb by Seattle artist Michael Leavitt (pictured below). Commissioned for a private out-of-state collection, this will provide the only opportunity to view the fully articulated wood carved figure — the latest addition to Leavitt's ongoing "Art Army" series.

The reception on Saturday February 13 coincides with the colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack featuring visual and performing arts presentations throughout the neighborhood, just in time for Valentine's Day. What better place for art mavens of all ages to observe this romantic occasion than in the enchanting industrial arts quarter of Georgetown.

Listing Information:

Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons

Saturday, February 13, 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery

1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.) Seattle, WA
Phone 206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 - 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM.

ALSO: Be sure to tune in to KUOW 94.9's "Weekday" show from 9AM to 10AM,  on Friday, Feb. 12th, when Gahan will be talking to host Steve Scher about the event and his legendary career.

Your periodic roundup of visual stimuli, still in its embryonic stages:

• Stephen DeStefano shares some concepts and developmental sketches for his forthcoming Fantagraphics graphic novel Lucky in Love

• Two Cups by John Hankiewicz

• Charlie Yup and pals from Jim Flora's rarest children's book (about which more info at the link)

• The Humanzee by Olivier Schrauwen

• Steve Brodner draws Howard Zinn in this video... straight to marker, no pencils, while talking... amazing (more on Zinn on Steve's blog)

• Don't forget Renee French posts new art every day

Online Commentary & Diversions have seen their shadow:

• List: Our pal Bully the Little Stuffed Bull has started his annual Fun Fifty countdown. In the first installment, coming in at #46, Blazing Combat: "War, huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'... aside from bringing us this gorgeous archive edition of a classic comic every war comics fan oughta have in their library."

• Review: "Back in the days of Factsheet Five, I used to order tons of minicomix. Most were mediocre, but a few were terrifically good and that made it worth the risk to send in the fifty cents or so that they cost. ... Fantagraphics just released a massively thick (900 pages!) anthology of minicomix called Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s , and it's a treat." – Mark Frauenfelder, Boing Boing

• Review: "In Strange Suspense, Ditko already shines as a masterful designer of sinister mansions, ornate gateways and demonic doors and furnishings... And finally, there’s no mistaking those trademark Ditko faces, leering with evil or sweating and wide-eyed with terror, often lit or looking up from below. ... It is a pleasure to follow Ditko’s youthful artistic progression and there is a noticeable refining and streamlining of his drawing, going for greater clarity and impact. ... These morality fables are seldom subtle or surprising... but it’s Ditko’s artistry that elevates these mostly standard comic book nasties. ...[T]he $39.99 ticket is good value, and this is a weighty, hard-packed, deluxe package..." – Paul Gravett

• Review: "Successful art engenders powerful emotion in its observers. How do I know that Al Columbia's Pim & Francie is an amazing work of art? Because it seriously made me feel ill. Uncomfortable. It made me question my sense of aesthetics; played havoc with my expectations. It's unquestionably an amazing book. ... Rating: 8/10" – Jeremy Nisen, Under the Radar

• Plug: Boing Boing's David Pescovitz previews Esther Pearl Watson's upcoming painting exhibit and says "Unlovable is a terrific comic"

• Commentary: At The Daily Cross Hatch, Box Brown reproduces the epochal letters page from Ivan Brunetti's Schizo #2 (reprinted in Misery Loves Comedy) as part of a new column on cartoonists' letters to cartoonists

The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack celebrates is second anniversary on February 13, just in time for Valentine's Day. What better place for art mavens of all ages to observe this romantic occasion than in the enchanting industrial arts quarter of Georgetown? In the short span of two years the Georgetown Art Attack has gained a reputation as one of the region's most provocative and colorful cultural outings. The public is invited to experience the excitement on Saturday, February 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM as dozens of nightclubs, cafes and creative enterprises present a vast array of visual and performing arts.

Among the highlights: "Show Some Heart" by Georgetown artist and blacksmith Lisa Geertsen at FRIDA & Georgetown Tile Works; Pop art pet paintings by Shai Steiner at A Dog's Dream; make your own shrinky art with Shrinkmaster Malice together with paintings by Kris Kirwan and Michelle Robles at ProletariArt in the old Rainier Bottling Plant; new works by M. C. Corley and wine charms by Erika Tedin, as well as a huge assortment of fine wines and boutique beers at Full Throttle Bottles; paintings and prints by Mark Tedin, Kyle Abernethy and Julie Baroh at KrabJab Studio; legendary macabre cartoonist Gahan Wilson celebrates 50 years of Playboy cartoons at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery with the debut of a monumental new sculpture by Michael Leavitt; Annalisa Cristine Barelli's "Into the Dream" at the captivating Engine Room at Georgetown Studios; open house tours with Georgetown Atelier School of Drawing and Painting founder Tenaya Sims; informal music jam with guest musicians at Georgetown Music; diverse dining and drinking at Calamity Jane's, Jules Maes Saloon, Georgetown Liquor Company, 9 Lb. Hammer, Smarty Pants; Stellars Pizza & Ale; All City Coffee; Squid & Ink; Via Tribunali and more.

The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack is a monthly promotion of the Georgetown Merchants' Association. For more information contact Art Attack coordinator Larry Reid. For map see: www.georgetownartattack.com.

High Soft Lisp (Love and Rockets Book 25)
By Gilbert Hernandez

144-page black & white 6.5" x 9.75" softcover • $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-318-7

Ships in March 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

“Five six. Hundred twenty-eight pounds. Forty-three twenty-two thirty-six. High soft lisp. Genius level I.Q.” That’s how motivational speaker Mark Herrera sums up Rosalba “Fritz” Martinez, bombshell, former punkette, former psychiatrist, “Z” movie star — in this supremely sexy, constantly surprising graphic novel.

And Herrera should know, being only one of many to fall under Fritz’s “lithping” spell — others including slobbish rocker Scott “The Hog” and high school nerd turned obsessive bodybuilder Enrique Escobar (and that’s just her husbands).

Hernandez has taken this suite of stories (including the 48-page graphic novelette “High Soft Lisp”), originally serialized in Luba's Comics and Stories and the second volume of Love and Rockets, and fleshed them out with a dozen brand new pages, creating an original and inventive (and very steamy) volume that, through its connections to his main character Luba (Fritz is Luba’s half sister, and characters from the Luba stories pop up here), works both as a standalone graphic novel and a further exploration of Hernandez’s rich world.

Unsure how to build your Love and Rockets collection? See our handy guide on How to Read Love and Rockets.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 11-page PDF excerpt (762 KB).

Video & Photo Slideshow Preview (view in new window):

Penny Century: A Love and Rockets Book (Love and Rockets Library Part 5)
By Jaime Hernandez

240-page black & white 7.5" x 9.25" softcover • $18.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-342-2

Ships in: March 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

Picking up right after Perla La Loca, the third volume of the definitive “Maggie” series repackaging, this compilation of stories from Jaime Hernandez’s solo comic Penny Century and his subsequent return to Love and Rockets (Volume II) charts the further lives of his beloved “Locas.”

But first... wrestling! Penny Century starts off with a blast with “Whoa, Nellie!,” a unique graphic novelette in which Maggie, who has settled in with her pro-wrestler aunt for a while, experiences that wild and woolly world first-hand.

Then it’s back to chills and spills with the old cast of Hopey, Ray Dominguez, and Izzy Ortiz — including Maggie’s romantic dream fantasia “The Race” and the definitive Ray story, “Everybody Loves Me, Baby.”

Penny Century also features two major “flashback” stories: “Bay of Threes” finally reveals the full back story behind Beatriz “Penny Century” Garcia, Maggie’s long-time, bleached-blonde bombshell friend (who gives this volume its name and can be seen as a super-villainess in the first two issues of Love and Rockets: New Stories), while “Home School” is one of Hernandez’s popular looks at his characters’ lives from when they were little kids, drawn in an adorable simplified Dennis the Menace type style. This volume also includes the Maggie & Hopey Color Fun one-shot, reproduced here in glorious black and white.

Unsure how to build your Love and Rockets collection? See our handy guide on How to Read Love and Rockets.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 14-page PDF excerpt (823 KB).

Video & Photo Slideshow Preview (view in new window):

Hey look, some photos of the Newave! exhibit opening and book launch party last Saturday at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, nicked without permission from our pal (and Newave! contributor) J.R. Williams's Facebook page. We'll bring you more pics if/when they surface (got some? let us know!). Above, David Lasky and someone unidentified...

J.R. & Newave! editor Michael Dowers:

Mini comix pioneer Steve Willis & J.R.:

Peter & Joanne Bagge:

That's the coolest subject heading I've ever typed. Esther Pearl Watson's paintings of UFOs (and other subjects) will be on exhibit at Webb Gallery in Waxahatchie, TX, opening Friday, Feb. 12 with a reception at 7 PM. Did you know Texas has a history of UFO lore?

In the spirit of "show don't tell" (and making my workday ever more complicated), I've decided to break the "Things to see" category (comprising artwork and other visual goodies from the Fantagraphics roster of artists) from our Daily OCD posts out into their own posts, with images. Links will take you to original sources where full/larger images can be seen. These posts may not be daily depending on what's out there — for now they may be somewhat irregular until I figure out a good rhythm. Enough of my yammerin'...

• This blog by Tony Groutsis features illustrations by Gabrielle Bell mostly, plus Tom Kaczynski and other names the diligent comics reader might recognize

• Speaking of Gabrielle, here's her new strip "New York"

• On What Things Do, Part 2 of Chapter 2 of the story Jordan Crane started in Uptight #3 (got that?)

• Babati by Olivier Schrauwen

• File name: GirlKnifeWoods.jpg, by Josh Simmons

• Four sketchbook spreads from Anders Nilsen

• New drawings and more new drawings from Derek Van Gieson

• Mark Newgarden talks about his recent hamburger mural at Comics Comics