FLOG! Entries - February 2012

Will the real Crustache please stand up?

mike

When I stumbled across "Crustache: The Mustache Sandwich Cutter by Fred & Friends" I immediately emailed Steven Weissman to contact his lawyer. He thinks it's cool though so he's letting it slide.

First Look: Popeye Vol. 6

mike

Delivered this morning: advance copies of Popeye Vol. 6: "Me Li'l Swee'Pea" — the final volume of our complete E.C. Segar Popeye collections. We're excited but also a little sad that the series is coming to an end. Stay tuned for more updates and more/better photos & previews, as always.

Daily OCD: 2/29/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Besides a particularly gleeful dark humour, this collection of short stories by Norweigan artist Jason [Athos in America] is tied together by a certain obsession with Hollywood genres: science-fiction and crime are the main targets, and Jason infuses them with both a slightly tweaked pathos and a taste for melancholy macabre. His drawing style is sparse and uncluttered, but that works something like keeping an even tone during a dry remark: his punchlines and gut-punches are that much sharper for having played it cool. All of these stories have an underlying sadness — something that seems to stem from the bleak futility of all our existence — but the best has to be 'Tom Waits on the Moon,' four seemingly unconnected vignettes that ruminate on various relationship troubles before tying up in [a] surprising and funny end. That’s not to discount any of these, though: this is just fantastic stuff for sad bastards and the people who love them." – David Berry, National Post

• Review: "I’m going to go out on a limb and assume anyone reading a review of comics is aware enough of Walt Kelly’s landmark Pogo series that they don’t need much in the way of description, but suffice to say that any strip artist worth their salt has taken serious cues from Kelly’s rich dialogue, playful illustration and at-times fierce politics. This first edition, which features for the first time full-colour Sunday strips, definitely leans towards the sweeter side, but there’s simply no denying Kelly’s mastery: he evokes full characters with nothing but a few choice words, and the sprightliness of his visual style is all fun here, laying the groundwork for what would become profoundly subversive later. The included essays, as is usually the case for Fantagraphics reissues, absolutely nail the context and import of the strip, too. I just don’t think you can say you love comics and not have this around." – David Berry, National Post

• Review: "[Action! Mystery! Thrills! Comic Book Covers of the Golden Age] is a fucking mind blower for me since it's just full-size reproductions of cover art of the most important comic book issues you never saw, printed on glossy paper with information about what makes them so special on the back.... The brain of the casual art looker or person who thinks comics are a genre and not a medium will look at this stuff and try to make it ironic or perverse. To appreciate the work in this book you have to turn off those parts of your cynicism and open whatever part of yourself receives beauty. America's golden-age comic books are some of the greatest art our country has produced." – Nick Gazin, VICE

• Interview: At Examiner.com, part 2 of Gillian Gaar's Q&A with Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 author Pat Thomas focuses on the accompanying soundtrack album

Listen, Los Angeles! Pat Thomas at BookSoup!

janice

Our friends at BookSoup may be speechless, but our editor/curator Pat Thomas is not! And you can listen up on Wednesday, April 4th, as he gives a presentation on the "considerably grand" new book, Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975!

He'll be giving an in-depth look at this fascinating collection from 7:00 to 8:30 PM, and lemme tell ya, Pat's presentations are fascinating, and you will not want to miss it!

BookSoup is located at 8818 Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood, CA.

Leap Day Sale! 29% Off Everything!

mike

Take the plunge! What better way to spend your quadrennial extra day by loading up on comics! Today only (February 29, 2012), take 29% off every item in your order (including already-discounted items) by using the coupon code LEAPDAY at checkout on our website. (Or, just mention this offer if ordering by phone — 1-800-657-1100 or 206-524-1967 outside the U.S., 9 AM to 5 PM. Sorry, sale not in effect at Fantagraphics Bookstore.) Jump for joy and spread the word! Shop shop shop!

Daily OCD: 2/28/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Awards: Jaime Hernandez's Speedy Ortiz dør (the Danish edition of The Death of Speedy from Aben Maler) was named winner of the Ping Prisen for "Best International Comic in Danish"

• List: YALSA's blog The Hub spotlights their previously-announced Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten 2012: "Shimura Takako’s Wandering Son Volume 1 rounds out the Top Ten list for 2012 with a sensitive look at two fifth grade students struggling with gender identity: Shuichi Natori is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino Takatsuki is a girl who wants to be a boy. This is a complex and sensitive subject, but Takako handles it very gently, allowing the story to unfold in a way that is not only natural but sympathetic. Takako’s artwork is spare and evocative, supporting the story but never getting in the way of its telling. This one is for teens who like contemporary stories about real world problems."

• List: At LitReactor, Kelly Thompson runs down 10 Graphic Novels for the Literary Minded, with Castle Waiting Vol. 1 by Linda Medley recommended "for fans of fantasy": "Castle Waiting, a brutally funny book with a giant heart, has a new spin on fairy tales with a feminist bent that will draw you in and keep you reading from page one.... Medley’s world is expertly crafted and completely believable, while her black and white artwork is clean and highly detailed with an emphasis on character design and acting."

• Interview: At SF Weekly, J Poet talks to Pat Thomas about Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975: "As you can see from the scope of the book, there were hundreds of recordings connected to the Black Power movement. At Fred Hampton's funeral, they blasted The Supremes' 'Someday We'll Be Together' from loudspeakers. Huey Newton loved Bob Dylan's line, 'Something's happening and you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?' The movement was inspired by music and the movement inspired many people, especially jazz musicians, to refocus their sound and energy."

• Plug: Check out Ernest Hardy's review of the Listen, Whitey! companion album on Pop & Hiss: The L.A. Times Music Blog, which includes a mention of the book

• Plug: Denise Sullivan also digs into the Listen, Whitey! album at Blurt

• Roundtable (Audio): On the Inkstuds radio programme guests Joe McCulloch, Matt Seneca and Tucker Stone and host Robin McConnell discuss recent comics including Is That All There Is? by Joost Swarte and The Cabbie Vol. 1 by Martí as well as George Herriman's Krazy Kat

• Review: "Buddy Does Seattle collects the first 15 issues of Hate, in which the protagonist has relocated to the Pacific Northwest and become the consummate slacker.... First published when Seattle was exploding in popularity due to the rise of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and various grunge bands, Hate offered a decidedly un-romanticized take on a particular time and place. ...Bagge's artwork took the public's perception of '90s youth as angry and volatile and pushed it to hysterical levels. Heavily influenced by late-'60s counterculture cartoonists like Crumb, Bagge's drawings are fluid and grimy-looking, with frequent use of exaggerated facial expressions helping to cultivate an atmosphere of chaos. As a work of cultural commentary it's brash and invigorating, and remains so years later." – Phil Guie, Critical Mob

• Interview: Nick Thorburn's tour with his band Islands brings him to Seattle next week and the Seattle Weekly's Dave Lake asks him about his connections to the city: "...I had a comic strip in the last couple issues of Mome, which is a Fantagraphics anthology, which is a Seattle-based comics publisher. I love Fantagraphics. I got a check from them recently for being in those comics and it would have made the 13-year-old me die with joy, seeing a check with my name on it from Fantagraphics. That's beyond my wildest teenage fantasy."

Celebrate Seminal Seattle Publisher Real Comet Press on March 10!

LarryR

“From Comix to Critiques” was the focus of seminal Seattle publisher Real Comet Press. Founded in 1981 by arts activist Cathy Hillenbrand, then owner the Comet Tavern, this prescient enterprise published an amazing array of books that foreshadowed Seattle’s ascendance to the forefront of international pop culture. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery celebrates the legacy of Cathy Hillenbrand with “Real Comet Press: A Retrospective” opening Saturday, March 10, continuing through April 10, 2012. This exhibition features art, graphics and book works by regional artists nurtured by Real Comet Press including Lynda Barry, Michael Dougan, Art Chantry, and Ruth Hayes, among others.

As owner of the Comet Tavern in the late 70s, Hillenbrand became an advocate for Seattle’s avant garde artists. In 1980, Lynda Barry won a contest to design the Comet’s matchbook cover, beginning a long association with the young Capitol Hill cartoonist. A year later, Hillenbrand published the text to “Propagandists Lament,” a performance work by Seattle artist Annie Grosshans. She soon sold the tavern to devote full time to publishing. Real Comet Press went on to publish four books by Lynda Barry — Girls + Boys, Big Ideas, The Good Times Are Killing Me, and Naked Ladies, Naked Ladies, Naked Ladies — as well as East Texas by Michael Dougan, Instant Litter by Art Chantry, and a series of animated flipbooks by Ruth Hayes. In addition, Real Comet Press published catalogues, criticism, and feminist theory by artists, curators and critics such as Lucy Lippard, Jo Spence, Douglas Kahn, Rini Templeton, Ernst Friedrich, James Turrell, and countless others. Many of Hillenbrand’s books and memorable marketing materials were designed the brilliant graphic artists associated with The Rocket magazine.

Join us on Saturday, March 10 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM to fete the former publisher. Real Comet alumni Hayes, Dougan and Chantry will host the celebration, which includes an exhibition of art, books and ephemera from the Real Comet archives. A limited number of out-of-print Real Comet Press titles will be available for sale (including the iconic Lynda Barry poster “Poodle with a Mohawk”). This reception coincides with the colorful Georgetown Art Attack featuring arts presentations throughout the historic neighborhood.

On Saturday, March 24 at 6:00 PM Fantagraphics Bookstore presents Susan Kirtley, author of Lynda Barry: Girlhood Through the Looking Glass from University of Mississippi Press, in conversation with Cathy Hillenbrand. This enlightening discussion will be followed by an informal reception and book signing.

On Friday, March 30 at 6:00 PM, Hillenbrand joins cartoonists Ellen Forney and Jim Woodring, and Fantagraphics associate publisher Eric Reynolds on the panel discussion “Northwest Noir: Seattle’s Legacy of Counterculture Comix” moderated by Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid at Emerald City Comicon at the Washington State Convention Center.

Listing Information

REAL COMET PRESS: A RETROSPECTIVE
Art, comix, and books from the seminal Seattle publisher.

Opening reception Saturday, March 10, 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Hosted by Art Chantry, Michael Dougan, and Ruth Hayes

Exhibition continues through April 10, 2012

Saturday, March 24, 6:00 PM
Susan E. Kirtley, author of Lynda Barry: Girlhood Through the Looking Glass
In conversation with Real Comet Press publisher Cathy Hillenbrand

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S,)
Seattle, WA 98108 206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 – 8:00 PM, Sunday until 5:00 PM

Daily OCD: 2/27/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Interview: Our own Eric Buckler talks to Wilfred Santiago at our own The Comics Journal: "Unlike working with someone else’s script, there’s no linear method when I work on my own. That is to say I write while I ‘toon, and I ‘toon while I write. So the most important step is editing–what’s left on the page before going to the printer and into the sweaty hands of readers. I do believe writing has improved my cartooning. I don’t think it’s an accident that some of the best cartoonists are writers. I’m not putting myself in that group but I strive for it."

• Review: "This is a wonderful collection of golden age material from Bill Everett, all never before reprinted.... For fans of golden age material or Bill Everett Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives, Vol. 1 is a must have look at early comics from lesser known publishers... At $40 it’s an investment into rarely seen material." – Scott VanderPloeg, Comic Book Daily

• Review: At Danish comics website Nummer9, Nikolaj Mangurten Rubin looks at Kolor Klimax: Nordic Comics Now, calling it "A many-headed troll monster of a book" and giving it a 4 out of 5 rating

• Review: "Not many music writers warrant a biography. Lester Bangs was one. Maybe Tosches or Kent. But Everything Is an Afterthought, by Kevin Avery, is a singular piece of work, a hybrid bio and anthology. Nelson was the Orson Welles of rock letterdom, a man whose profiles of Springsteen and Zevon were masterpieces of the form. A slow stone-cutter of a writer, a cinephile and a noir buff (and an inveterate deadline-misser), he shot himself in the foot many times, but Avery’s book makes the reader misty-eyed for a time when music journalism was populated by hard-nosed evangelists, not suck-ups or career snarks." – Peter Murphy, "Blog of Revelations," Hot Press

• Review: As part of ComicsAlliance's series focusing on sex in comics, Douglas Wolk looks at Gilbert Hernandez's Birdland: "Birdland has been out of print for a while, which is a pity. It's witty, eccentric, bursting with joy, and utterly, cheerfully smutty.... And the whole thing is drawn in a style that's the erotic equivalent of Jack Kirby's fight scenes: grounded in the way actual bodies interact, but pumped up to an imaginative intensity way beyond anything the naked eye has ever seen. On top of that, Birdland is funny -- not corny-funny or nudge/wink-funny, but absurd and sly, with a terrific sense for what can make the overfamiliar language of pornography fresh again."

• Plug: "I’ve been waiting for No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics since I first heard about it last summer.... I can’t wait!" – Daniela Capistrano, Daniela's Lair

Video: Joe Sacco's Portland library presentation

mike

Writers Talking: Joe Sacco on Feb. 18, 2012 from Multnomah County Library on Vimeo.

If you weren't one of the lucky Portlanders who was able to attend Joe Sacco's talk at the Multnomah County Library main branch on Feb. 18 (or if you were and you would like to relive it), the library has now posted video of the entire presentation and Q&A session online (hat tip: Forbidden Planet International).

This Week in Fantagraphics Events: 2/27-3/5

janice

Holy crap, it's a busy week!

Tuesday, February 28th

• New York, NY: It's that time again... time for another edition of The Crime Stoppers Club with Michael Kupperman and co-host Kate Beaton! This week, they welcome Adam Conover, Julia Segal, Aaron Diaz, and Chris Hastings. This free event starts at 7:00 PM at Luca Lounge. (more info)

Wednesday, February 29th

• Toronto, ON: Join editor Blake Bell and our friends at The Beguiling for the launch party of Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives Vol. 1 at The Central. Blake will present a slideshow, titled "Bill Everett and Steve Ditko: Before the Sub-Mariner and Spider-Man" -- featuring a sneak peek at Blake's other upcoming collection, Mysterious Traveler: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 3, out in the Spring. (more info)

Thursday, March 1st

• Seattle, WA: Editor/curator Pat Thomas will give an in-depth 90-minute presentation on Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 at the historic Washington Hall! Tickets are going quick! (more info)

Saturday, March 3rd

• Hartford, CT: Underground comix legend Bill Griffith will be celebrating the release of the much-anticipated collection Lost and Found: Comics 1969-2003! The fun starts at 3:00 PM at Real Art Ways. (more info)

• Kansas City, MO: It's your last chance to see the exhibit on underground comix legend Frank Stack, titled: Good Thing I Used a Pseudonym: Work From a Three-Part Career: Frank Stack as Painter, Connoisseur, and Incognito as Graphic Novelist Foolbert Sturgeon. (more info)

Monday, March 5th

• New York City, NY: Groundbreaking artist Diane Noomin will be making a rare appearance to celebrate the release of her first-ever collection Glitz-2-Go at the Yeshiva University Museum! This event is part of the Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women exhibit currently running through April. Diane will be introduced by Dan Friedman, the Arts & Culture Editor of the Jewish Daily Forward. (more info)

Daily OCD Extra: Pat Thomas & Listen, Whitey! media domination

mike

Pat Thomas has been all over the television and radio dial talking about Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975. He was host Nancy Guppy's guest on Friday's episode of Art Zone on the Seattle Channel — the segment begins at the 8:00 mark in the video embedded above or available here [Edit: link updated to jump directly to the segment].

Florangela Davila of NPR station KPLU talked to Pat this morning; streaming audio and a recap of the segment are available here.

Pat's appearance last Wednesday on WNYC's Soundcheck is embedded below and archived here.

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Pat's guest spot on The Roadhouse with Greg Vandy on KEXP last Wednesday is available in the KEXP Streaming Archive through Wednesday of next week.

And if you prefer your interviews in good old text format Gillian Gaar has a Q&A with Pat at Examiner.com.

Meanwhile, the print press has been rolling in — here's a tremendous review by Mark Anthony Neal in the current issue of SPIN (click image to enlarge):

Ian Abarahams gives the book a 4-star review in Record Collector magazine:

Jon "Mojo" Mills reviews the book and album for Shindig!:

Another 4-star review, from Lois Wilson in Mojo magazine:

Zak Sally Signing and Art Show in Chicago!

janice

Zak Silly // photo credit: Jason T. Miles

Celebrate Sammy with Zak Sally in Chicago!

As we've reported on the FLOG, Zak has just released Sammy the Mouse Vol. 1, a self-published, self-printed collection of the first three issues of his Eisner-nominated Ignatz series. It is a handcrafted thing of beauty, and you can behold it yourself on Friday, March 23rd at Quimby's [ 1854 W. North Ave. ] at 7:00 PM.

Zak will be joined by John Porcellino and Dale Flattum, making this an event you surely cannot miss!

And then on Saturday, March 24th, this trio of talented men will be at Johalla Projects [ 1821 W. Hubbard St, Suite 110 ], for the opening reception of "Physical Evidence," a show of their comics, printmaking, zines and more!

Chicago comics fans are in for a wonderful weekend! Don't miss it!

Weekend Webcomics for 2/24/12

mike

We've got our new Nicolas Mahler Angelman page for you! And in lieu of a new Up All Night strip Michael Kupperman has provided a classic from his vaults.

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Angelman by Nicolas Mahler (view at original size):

Up All Night by Michael Kupperman (view at original size):

Daily OCD: 2/24/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Some of the most interesting travel books happen by accident. If Alexander Theroux’s wife had not gone to Estonia on a Fulbright Scholarship, it is unlikely that he would have spent an extended period in the tiny Baltic republic, an experience that impelled him to write this book [Estonia: A Ramble Through the Periphery].... Despite all [his] genuine delight in the quaint, not merely linguistic but extending also to Estonian architecture, what Mr. Theroux mostly shows us about the country and its people is exasperation, irritation, furious rage. To say that it — and they — get on his nerves is the mildest of understatements. He takes endless potshots at their food, admittedly an easy target, but by the time you get near the end of the book and find a section titled 'What did I hate about Estonia,' it’s no surprise." – Martin Rubin, The Washington Times

• Plug: "The premise of Pat Thomas's handsome book [Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975] is that this was an era in which revolutionaries such as Bobby Seale and Angela Davis were treated as pop cultural icons, while musicians became revolutionaries – meaning Gil Scott-Heron, the Last Poets, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and more." – Caspar Llewellyn Smith, The Guardian

Order Bushmiller's Nancy, get Brunetti's Nancy free!

mike

Oh hey! We (I) forgot to tell you when we (I) posted the previews to Nancy Is Happy: Complete Dailies 1943-1945 by Ernie Bushmiller: when you order that book from us, you'll get The Nancy Auditions V.1, one of our FREE bonus FBI•MINI comics, containing Ivan Brunetti's legendary tryout strips when he auditioned (unsuccessfully) to take over the strip! Ivan made his best, sincere go of it in perfect Bushmiller style and this is the first "official" release of these strips!

Nancy Is Happy: Complete Dailies 1943-1945 by Ernie Bushmiller - Previews, Pre-Order

mike

Nancy Is Happy: Complete Dailies 1943-1945
by Ernie Bushmiller

336-page black & white 8.5" x 8.5" flexibound softcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-360-6

Ships in: March 2012 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

Order this book and receive this FBI�MINI comic shown at left as a FREE bonus! Click here for details. Limit one per customer while supplies last.

A funny thing happened on the way to comic-strip immortality.

For many years, Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy, with its odd-looking, squat heroine, nearly abstract art, and often super-corny gags, was perceived as the stodgiest, squarest comic strip in the world. Popular with newspaper read- ers, true — but definitely not a strip embraced by comic-strip connoisseurs, like Krazy Kat, Dick Tracy or Terry and the Pirates.

But then those connoisseurs took a closer look, and began to realize that Bushmiller’s art approached its own kind of cartoon perfection, and those corny gags often achieved a striking zen quality. In its own way, it turned out Nancy was in fact the most iconic comic strip of all. (The American Heritage Dictionary actually uses a Nancy strip to illustrate its entry on “comic strip.”)

Charter members of the Nancy revival include Art Spiegelman, who published Mark Newgarden’s famous “Love’s Savage Fury” (featuring Nancy and Bazooka Joe) in an early issue of RAW; Fletcher Hanks anthologist Paul Karasik; Zippy the Pinhead creator Bill Griffith; underground publisher Denis Kitchen, who released several volumes of Nancy collections in the 1980s; Understanding Comics’ Scott McCloud, who created the “Five-Card Nancy” card game; Joe Brainard, who produced an entire Nancy Book of paintings in 2008; and Andy Warhol, who produced a painting based on Nancy.

Beginning in the Winter of 2011, fans will be dancing with joy as Fantagraphics unveils an ongoing Nancy reprint project. Each volume will contain a whopping full three years of daily Nancy strips (a Sunday Nancy project looms in the future), collected in a fat, square (what else, for the “squarest” strip in the world?) package designed by Jacob (Popeye, Beasts!, Willie and Joe) Covey.

This first volume will collect every daily strip from 1943 to 1945. (Fantagraphics will eventually release Nancy’s first five years, 1938-1942, but given the scarcity of archival material for these years we are giving ourselves some extra time to collate it all.)

This first Nancy volume will feature an introduction by another stellar Bushmiller fan, Daniel Clowes (from whose collection most of the strips in this volume were scanned), a biography of the artist, and much more.

Download and read a 20-page PDF excerpt (2.2 MB).

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

Daily OCD: 2/23/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Interview: The Believer presents the fourth and concluding part of Ross Simonini's 2008 interview with Jim Woodring (which can be read in its entirety here): "I don’t believe in art like I used to. I believe in something beyond it, something that contains art and everything else. But I just don’t quite have the nerve to chuck drawing and painting. Part of it is that I enjoy IT too much, and part is that I don’t have the courage to renounce the world. I don’t want to move out of this nice neighborhood so that I can live in a shed and devote myself to meditating and touching something I can’t feel. I’m addicted to the fun of playing in the world."

• Review: "Fantagraphics is giving us another opportunity to revisit R. Crumb's iconic character in a hardcover edition of his collected adventures, called The Life and Death of Fritz the Cat.... Despite Fritz's demise 40 years ago, these stories maintain their wit, satirical edge, and their ability to offend and shock. The earlier stories are funny and bizarre..., and the later ones are funny and angry... Even the final story can be viewed as funny in an extraordinarily dark context, although it helps to be aware of Crumb's intentions. To read 'Fritz the Cat, Superstar' first, or without knowledge of Crumb, would feel a lot like confronting a knife-wielding lunatic in a dark alley.... Fantagraphics' new hardcover edition of the Fritz portfolio is unburdened by editorial commentary or contextual material of any kind. This encourages readers to experience the comics as if for the first time -- and find that the acid in Crumb's humor still stings." – Casey Burchby, SF Weekly

• Review: "Just released by Fantagraphics, [Action! Mystery! Thrills!] is one the best books yet done on Golden Age Comics! Sadowski is by far my favorite editor of compilations/retrospectives on comic book art!... A fascinating and important look at an exceptional period of American art! My highest recommendation to anyone interested in 20th Century illustration and of course the comics!" – Golden Age Comic Book Stories (via The Comics Reporter)

• Review: "[Athos in America]'s the usual collection of laconic oddness and outright weirdness.... Yes, it would be fair to say if you're looking for examples of dark humour in comics, Jason probably would be a very good place to start." – Jonathan Rigby, Page 45

• Review: "Mixing illustrated text pieces with short comic strips, Kupperman uses [an] oddball conceit [in Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010] to deliver a wacky, adventure-filled romp that sends you laughing your way through the twentieth century.... The thick, precise lines of Kupperman’s drawing style bring a much needed dead-pan expression to a book that might otherwise feel out of control. The text pieces are often well-used, giving Kupperman more room to play with Twain’s voice and toss in frequent verbal puns." – Matthew L. Moffett, No Flying No Tights

• Plug: "A pop art masterpiece! If you liked Little Annie Fanny then you will like [The Adventures of Jodelle]. I think this is going to be great. And, for reference, Peellaert did the cover to Bowie’s Diamond Dogs so he knows what he’s doing." – Lee, Comics And...Other Imaginary Tales

The Complete Peanuts 1983-1984 (Vol. 17) by Charles M. Schulz - Previews

mike

The Complete Peanuts 1983-1984 (Vol. 17)
by Charles M. Schulz
Introduction by Leonard Maltin

344-page black & white 8.5" x 7" hardcover • $28.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-523-5

Ships in: March 2012 (subject to change)

As Peanuts reaches the mid-1980s, Charles Schulz is still creating and playing with new characters, and in this volume Snoopy’s deadpan, droopy-mustached brother Spike takes center stage: Surrounded by coyotes in the desert where he lives and who are attacking him with rubber bands, he sends a frantic message to Snoopy who launches an expedition to save him. Then, he makes the long trek back to Snoopy’s neck of the woods accompanied by his only friend (a cactus, of course)… and throughout the rest of the book, pops up in hilarious, Waiting for Godot-style vignettes set in his native Needles.

In romantic news, the Peppermint Patty-Marcie-Charlie Brown love triangle of overlapping unrequited love heats up (well, kind of), while Linus continues to vociferously deny that he is Sally’s “Sweet Babboo”; of course, Lucy’s unsuccessful pursuit of Schroeder remains unabated. Also, a romance blossoms between two of Snoopy’s “Beagle Scout” birds. (We will pass over Spike’s brief attraction to one of the coyotes.)

In what is probably his most baroque and hilarious baseball-involved humiliation yet, Charlie Brown agrees to join Peppermint Patty’s team the “Pelicans” only to discover that he’s wanted not as a player but as a mascot… Linus gives up his security blanket and forms a support group for other kids who are trying to do the same… and Peppermint Patty manages to be held back in school (leaving a “Snoring Ghost” to take her place in the rest of the class that has advanced) and yet get to go on a European trip with her dad, sending back periodic dispatches from the road. All this plus appearances from Franklin, Rerun, and the rest of the gang in these strips from a period of Peanuts that’s far less well-known than the endlessly-collected 1960s and 1970s eras…

Download and read a 17-page PDF excerpt (3.1 MB) with all the strips from January 1983.

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

Daily OCD: 2/22/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Feature: The Stranger's Dave Segal talks to Pat Thomas about the creation of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 and says of the book, "Listen, Whitey! presents Black Power's volatile ups and downs with stunning imagery. Designed by Fantagraphics' Jacob Covey, the copiously illustrated Listen, Whitey! is a joy to behold as well as to read.... Ultimately, Thomas captures the revolutionary spirit of myriad vital strands of the movement and stokes your desire to hear these recordings."

• Review: "...Action! Mystery! Thrills! Comic Book Covers of the Golden Age 1933-1945 [is] wonderful. ...Sadowski offers up an incredibly diverse gallery of forgotten superheroes, pistol-toting gangsters, cartoonish Nazis, and talking animals. Each cover has been painstakingly restored to pristine condition, and is presented in full color on glossy paper. It’s as close to browsing the comics rack of a World War II-era drugstore as most of us will ever get.... Sadowski... is one of the most adept chroniclers of comic-book history working today. He offers succinct but informative notes on each cover, but his most notable achievement in this volume is his selection of covers. The notes are helpful and fun, but it’s the progression of images itself that is the most telling.... At a perfectly reasonable $29.99, it’s a must for any comic-book fan’s library." – April Snellings, Knoxville Metro Pulse

• Review: "Set to Sea is a book to read and contemplate on, a book to look at and think about, a book to read slowly and then to read again. It's a lovely graphic novel from a creator I hope to see a lot more from as the years go on, and I hope his own busy life affords him enough leisure and time to continue to make gemlike, poetic stories like this one." – Andrew Wheeler, The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

• Analysis: Buz Sawyer administers a spanking (and a beatdown) and Robot 6’s Matt Seneca analyzes the action in an October 1944 Roy Crane strip

Half price H.O.P.P.E.R.S.

mike

Folks have been clamoring for The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S., the second trade paperback collection of Jaime Hernandez 's complete "Locas" stories from Love and Rockets Vol. 1, which is out of print (for now). We have a load of slightly damaged copies sitting in storage, so we're now making them available for our mailorder customers at half cover price! These aren't too torn up — just some light dings and scuffs from transit, storage and handling — so if you're not too concerned with the condition of the book and just want a readable copy, and/or you love bargains, it's your lucky day!