FLOG! Entries - July 2011

Weekend Webcomics for 7/30/11: Kupperman, Weissman & more

mike

Our weekly strips from Kupperman & Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web. Running a bit late this week due to your humble compiler being a bit under the weather.

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

Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (view at original size):

And elsewhere:

Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane:

Cochlea & Eustachia by Hans Rickheit:

Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit:

Humblug by Arnold Roth (6 new udpates!):

Keeping Two by Jordan Crane:

Lucky by Gabrielle Bell (daily diary strips all throughout July!):

Maakies by Tony Millionaire:

Truth Serum by Jon Adams:

Daily OCD: 7/29/11

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Commentary: We're pleased (really) to see Adult Video News picking up on our announcement of The Complete ZAP Comix, despite some glaring fact-checking errors in their report (see if you can spot 'em!)

• Review: "The coolest reprints of the year have hit the shelves as Fantagraphics tears it up by releasing Floyd Gottfredson’s run on the comic strip Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse. To start with, this is a great edition of the material. It looks great, the black and white art is classically bold and pops right off the pages at you, and it’s over 200 pages and bound in a nice hardcover. Readers of this column and site know I can be a little judgmental about the quality of reprints, but there is no need for frowns here as they have done an A+ job. They even packaged it with essays on the strip and artists, and even gave us Mickey’s jungle adventure which ran in the strip before Gottfredson stepped aboard.... Each stroke of ink is perfect under Gottfredson’s direction, and the best years of the comic strip result entirely from the genius of his that lies in these pages." – Drew McCabe, ComicAttack.net

• Plug: "An icon in the animation world, Gottfredson is accredited with making the Mickey strip into a masterpiece, and an imaginative series that is still greatly sought-after by comic fans and collectors.... While the first volume will include some of the series’ more rough and experimental ideas that came before the characters had really found their proper place, this seems like a worthwhile purchase for the traditional Mickey-lover. After all, there is something to be said for the origins of Mr. Mouse and his incredible transformation over the years." – Amanda Correia, The Disney Blog

• Review: "Weathercraft feels like a day-in-the-life story. It’s a weird and wild one, but you don’t have to know anything going on, you just experience it. ...Weathercraft has an arc and a story and all that, but it’s probably not exactly what you’d think if you’re more used to traditional comics. Still, it’s a great piece of fiction to pick up and really experience..." – T.J. Dietsch, United Monkee (via Sean T. Collins)

Lineup for our first EC book Corpse on the Imjin revealed

mike

We just announced our EC Comics Library series less than a week ago and already we're full steam ahead on the books: Straight from editor Gary Groth, here is the lineup of stories for the first book in the series, Corpse on the Imjin and Other Stories, collecting the war stories written by Harvey Kurtzman and drawn by Kurtzman and others:

Drawn by Kurtzman:

November - December 1950 - Two-Fisted Tales #18 - Conquest

January - February 1951 - Two-Fisted Tales #19 - Jivaro Death!

March - April 1951 - Two-Fisted Tales #20 - Pirate Gold!

September 1951 - Frontline Combat #2 - Contact!

September - October 1951 - Two-Fisted Tales #23 - Kill!

November 1951 - Frontline Combat #3 - Prisoner of War!

November - December - Two-Fisted Tales #24 - Rubble!

January -February 1952 - Frontline Combat #4 - Air Burst!

January - February 1952 - Two-Fisted Tales #25 - Corpse on the Imjin!

April 1952 - Frontline Combat #5 - Big ‘If'!

Drawn by others (note that stories may not appear in the order listed here):

November - December 1950 - Two-Fisted Tales #18 - Hong Kong Intrigue! (Feldstein)

January - February 1951 - Two-Fisted Tales #19 - Flight from Danger! (Craig)

July - August 1951 - Frontline Combat #1 - Marines Retreat! (Severin & Kurtzman)

July - August 1951 - Frontline Combat #1 - O.P.! (Heath)

September - October 1952 - Frontline Combat #8 - Thunderjet! (Toth)

September - October 1952 - Two-Fisted Tales #29 - Fire Mission! (Berg)

November - December 1952 - Two-Fisted Tales #30 - Wake! (Colan)

March - April 1953 - Frontline Combat #11 - Rough Riders! (Estrada)

March - April 1953 - Two-Fisted Tales #32 - Lost Battalion! (Craig)

March - April 1953 - Two-Fisted Tales #32 - Tide! (Kubert)

May - June 1953 - Frontline Combat #12 - F-86 Sabre Jet! (Toth)

May - June 1953 - Two-Fisted Tales #33 - Pearl Divers! (Kubert)

October 1953 - Frontline Combat #14 - Bonhomme Richard! (Kubert)

October 1953 - Two-Fisted Tales #35 - Memphis! (Crandall)

January 1954 - Two-Fisted Tales #36 - Battle! (Crandall)

February - March 1955 - Two-Fisted Tales #41 - Mau Mau! (Krigstein)

+ 23 Kurtzman covers!

Comic Book Art Show with Hans Rickheit

janice

No, really. That's what the event is called: Comic Book Art Show.

The brand-new art space GAS (Greenfield Art Salon) is opening their doors with a debut show that calls it like IT IS! Comic Book Art Show will feature complete comics from the Massachusetts-based art collective known as Mysterious Transmissions, featuring our own mysterious Fantagraphics artist Hans Rickheit.

As GAS explains, "the show will consist of a number of short comic book stories from each artist, presented in their entirety and intended for reading on the gallery walls." See? Comic. Book. Art. Show.

The show opens on Friday, August 5th at 7:30 PM at GAS [ 207 Main St, Greenfield MA ]. With a killer debut show like this, we're excited to see what future events will be held there!

Daily OCD: 7/28/11

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "...I’ll admit it: I did not expect to read a Frank book whose final panel made me go 'Awwww!' ...[T]he journey [in Congress of the Animals] takes Frank so far afield that at some point (probably when he gets lost at sea and washes up on some distant shore) he ends up outside the Unifactor’s confines. New information can now enter his world... And at that point all hell breaks loose…which in a Frank comic is to say it doesn’t break loose at all." – Sean T. Collins, Attentiondeficitdisorderly

• Review: "I don't think I'll ever stop marveling at the amazing artwork [Woodring] fills his books with. It contains some of the most solid and tangible representations of fantastical objects and events I've ever seen, along with a deeply unsettling atmosphere, something that either creeps me out or turns my stomach to look at it. There's something about the plantlike growths on animal creatures, the gaping orifices, and the plentiful eyeballs that, while obviously unnatural, goes a step further into a visceral gut-punch, somehow keying into a subconscious urge to look away. This aspect of the work has been present in other Frank stories I've seen, but Woodring seems to crank it up to near-unbearable levels [in Congress of the Animals]..." – Matthew J. Brady, Warren Peace Sings the Blues

• Review: "I recently read the first volume of Jules Feiffer's collected Village Voice comic strips [Explainers], from the 1950s and early 1960s. Reading ten years' worth of weekly strips in a few days probably wasn't the best idea, but I was still amazed at how well Feiffer's early work has aged. Not just the stuff about relationships, but the stuff about politics still works. I guess that's not surprising, since relationships and politics haven't changed much in fifty years." – This Is So Gay

• Scene: Comic Book Resources' Sonia Harris recaps the Love and Rockets anniversary panel at Comic-Con, and in plugging the article (and commenting on Gilbert's revelations) at CBR's Robot 6 Sean T. Collins calls it "pure L&R-nerd heaven for a whole bunch of reasons," which is 100% accurate

• Scene: Corey Blake gives a first-person account of Cannibal Fuckface's appearance at our Comic-Con booth during Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit signing

• Interview: Bust Magazine's Erina Davidson has a Q&A session with Megan Kelso: "I try not to fall into the trap of thinking something is interesting simply because 'it happened to ME.' Personal memories and experiences are wonderful catalysts, and I think essential to making work seem believable and relatable, but they are rarely enough. One needs also to do some embroidery."

• Interview (Audio): Our Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds appeared on Ed Wenck's program on Indianapolis news radio station WIBC to talk about our forthcoming EC Comics and ZAP Comix reprint projects — listen to the segment here

EC & ZAP announcements & reax

mike

Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter had first crack at reporting on our EC Comics Library series and talked to our chief and editor of the series, Gary Groth: "The intention, says the publisher, is to present the material to a new generation that may not have been exposed to the EC Comics except in fits and starts, and to better underline specific artistic achievements of creators like Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood and Bernard Krigstein.... 'I'm leaning toward treating each individual book as an individual book, customized to the individual artist,' Groth stated. 'I want to get away from treating EC Comics as this kind of cultist monolith. I want the stories to stand on their own.'" Be sure to read the whole thing for many more details.

Meanwhile, over at Robot 6 Chris Mautner broke the news about The Complete ZAP Comix and posted an exclusive Q&A with Gary Groth: "We’re going to reproduce it in a facsimile form, the book will have the covers interspersed throughout, so it will be each issue of the comic chronologically published in the same format as the comic itself, but simply in book form. We’re going to be printing it a little larger than the comic, I don’t know the exact dimensions. It will be oversize, a little larger than the comic itself. The covers will be reproduced in full color, as they were in the original comics." Head over there for the full scoop.

Here's a roundup of more reaction to both announcements from around the web:

Boing Boing's David Pescovitz: "First published in 1968, Zap Comix is considered to be the freaky forefather of the underground comix movement that still thrives today. Created by R. Crumb, the Zap #1 solely featured his work with subsequent issues introducing such groundbreaking artists as S. Clay Wilson, Robert Williams, Gilbert Shelton, Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso, Paul Mavrides, and 'Spain' Rodriguez. Today, Fantagraphics Books keeps the Zap spirit alive and so I was thrilled to learn that they’ve just announced the forthcoming publication of The Complete Zap Comix. The 800 page, two-volume, slipcased, hardcover set will hit stores in Fall 2012."

The A.V. Club's Noel Murray: "Continuing Fantagraphics’ master plan to separate comics fans from their life savings, the company announced two new archival projects at Comic-Con last week... Both the Zap book and the EC series are due to arrive in 2012, joining Fantagraphics’ other archival lines — like the series collecting the newspaper strips Peanuts, Popeye, Krazy Kat, Mickey Mouse, and soon Pogo and Nancy — as well as the ongoing work of such modern masters as Peter Bagge, Jason and Los Bros Hernandez. So… all the more reason for congress to work together to avert a catastrophic meltdown of the global economy, yes?"

Sean T. Collins at Attentiondeficitdisorderly: "I’m excited about this [EC] project, not just because with Peanuts and Mickey Mouse and the Disney Ducks and Popeye and Krazy Kat and so on Fantagraphics has established itself as the best publisher of archival material, but because their approach here sounds like it’ll be more along the lines of what they’ve done for Jacques Tardi recently, or even the Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez Love and Rockets digests. They’re very good at that sort of thing, too."

Collins also reports for Robot 6: "What sets the Fantagraphics reprint project apart is that individual creators’ work will be culled from the series in which it appeared and presented in a series of black-and-white solo spotlight volumes."

Comic Book Resources' Augie de Blieck: "Fantagraphics has picked up the license to reprint EC Comics. These will be black and white editions, most interestingly broken up by creator. Some of the purists may sputter at that, but I think it's a smart thing. Anthologies don't sell well in this market, even as reprints. I think targeting specific creators in an industry filled with fans who follow creators is the best way to maximize the license."

Chris Marshall at Collected Comics Library: "Well here’s some news we’ve been waiting for a long time.... I admit that I’m a little disappointed that the color Gemstone [EC Archives] books won’t be finished, but I’m confident that Fantagraphics will to a wonderful job and I’ll be sure to collect them."

Esther Pearl Watson Presents Lady Comix Art

janice

One of the many awesome things about San Diego Comic-Con was getting to chat with pioneer of female comic art, Joyce Farmer, and current champion of the ladies, Esther Pearl Watson. We talked about how it wasn't always so easy to be a woman in the comics world. So, a show like this, spotlighting the latest wave of amazing women artists, just makes me really, really happy.

Lady Comix Art opens this Saturday, July 30th at the Webb Gallery in Waxahachie, TX. Curated by our own Esther Pearl Watson, the show features fellow female Fantagraphics artists like Dame Darcy and Gabrielle Bell, among an awesome line-up of ladies. The opening night soiree runs from 7:00 - 11:00 PM.

The Webb Gallery is located at 209 West Frankin Street in Waxahachie, TX, and the show runs through September 18th. And here's a print I spotted (and snapped a pic of!) at Esther's booth at SDCC that seems particularly appropriate for the show:

Bringing Black Eyes to Brooklyn

janice

As we've mentioned before on the FLOG, there's a new anthology out now on Rotland Press packing a serious punch of Fantagraphics artists: Black Eye 1: Graphic Transmissions to Cause Ocular Hypertension. Included in this collection is work from Al Columbia, Robert Goodin, Glenn Head, Michael Kupperman, Mark Newgarden, and Jon Vermilyea.

Brooklynites can get their own black eye -- I mean, Black Eye -- by heading over to Desert Island on Thursday, August 4th, where our own Michael Kupperman, Glenn Head, and Mark Newgarden will be signing along with many other artists!

You can put up your fists starting at 7:00 PM at Desert Island in Williamsburg [540 Metropolitan Ave].

Things to See (and Buy): Drew Friedman's Will Elder portrait

mike

The latest print available from Drew Friedman's online Fine Art concern is this magnificent portrait of one of Drew's artistic heroes and a subject near and dear to our own hearts: Will Elder, the Mad Playboy of Art himself. Drew depicts Villy in his studio, brushes at the ready. These suckers are limited-edition, signed by Drew and perhaps will provide you with your own artistic inspiration.

The Men Who Grew Their Beards

janice

Artist Johnny Ryan

Marketing Director Mike Baehr

Artist Tom Neely

In a hilarious concept devised by fellow Mome artist Robert Goodin, Fantagraphics artists, employees and friends celebrated the SDCC debut of Belgian cartoonist Olivier Schrauwen’s first American book The Man Who Grew His Beard by adding their own chins to the cover! (But, hey, where's Rob's beard in all of this?)

Daily OCD: 7/27/11

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Macherot’s animals are cute and full of character, from the porcupine sheriff to the cigar-smoking, shop-keeping bird. Visually they resemble Walt Kelly’s Pogo, with backgrounds that will look familiar to anybody who ever watched The Smurfs cartoon.... There might be more slapstick than the average post-elementary school reader can appreciate, but the adorable art, amiable characters, and a thrilling late-story air battle will keep you interested until the end. Best of all are the brief glimpses at domestic country mouse mundanity, like Sibyl-Anne’s love for baking pies and the aside where she and Boomer talk about how nice a certain table and its parasol are." – Garrett Martin, Paste

• Review: "This series [Wandering Son] is beautiful, perfectly capturing that time at the age of 10 or 11 where naivety and confusion meet in the formative years of your young identity. Where androgyny is a fine thing, defined by its ambiguity and as distinct as any sex." – Tom Rosin, Page 45

• Review: "The Willie and Joe cartoons and characters are some of the most enduring and honest symbols of all military history.... Alternating trenchant cynicism, moral outrage, gallows humour, absurdist observation, shared miseries, staggering sentimentality and the total shock and awe of still being alive every morning, this cartoon catalogue of the Last Just War [Willie & Joe: The WWII Years] is a truly breathtaking collection that no fan, art-lover, historian or humanitarian can afford to miss. …And it will make you cry and laugh out loud too." – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

• Review: "...[Willie & Joe: Back Home] features some of the most powerful assaults on the appalling edifice of post-war America ever seen. The artist’s castigating observations on how a society treats returning soldiers are as pertinent now as they ever were; the pressures on families and children even more so; whilst his exposure of armchair strategists, politicians and businessmen seeking to exploit wars for gain and how quickly allies can become enemies are tragically more relevant than any rational person could wish. ...[W]e have here a magnificent example of passion and creativity used as a weapon of social change and a work of art every citizen should be exposed to, because these are aspects of humanity that we seem unable to outgrow." – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

• Review: "Visually, Tyler's style is unique in the comics world.... The scrapbook design of [You'll Never Know, Book 2: Collateral Damage] is just one of many remarkable decorative touches she adds. Color is tremendously important both in a narrative sense (identifying key times and characters) and an emotional sense (modulating feelings felt on a page in an expressive style). The complexity of her page design (changing formats on an almost page-to-page basis) is brought to earth by the simplicity of her character design. The result is what feels like an ornate, powerful and cohesive sketchbook/journal.... Most impressively, Tyler manages to bring a static kind of craft (a sketchbook) to life with panels that crackle with energy and movement. There are no easy outs or answers in Tyler's attempts to create, maintain and understand connections with her loved ones..." – Rob Clough, High-Low

• Essay: The Comics Reporter's Tom Spurgeon on Jaime Hernandez's The Death of Speedy, written for Team Cul de Sac's Favorites zine: "Hernandez's evocation of that fragile period between school and adulthood, that extended moment where every single lustful entanglement, unwise friendship, afternoon spent drinking outside, nighttime spent cruising are acts of life-affirming rebellion, is as lovely and generous and kind as anything ever depicted in the comics form."

• Commentary: "It could be seen as frustrating that I've still got five years to wait to complete the Peanuts collection, ...but in some ways it's nice. If they came out more quickly, there would be more of a feeling of urgency about ploughing through the strips, whereas I'm able to take a more leisurely approach, reading bits here and there. After all, they were only really meant to be read once a day. I don't buy many books these days, preferring to download them to my Kindle, but these books are definitely going to be a part of my life for as long as they'll last (or as long as I'll last, whichever comes first) and I do look forward to seeing 50 years of Schulz magic lined up on my shelves. I just need to work out where I'll put them all... Such is the life of a completist!" – James Ellaby, Lullabies from a Giant Golden Radio

• Analysis: At Robot 6, Matt Seneca examines a page from Ganges #2: "Kevin Huizenga is one of the cartoonists whose work addresses comics’ conflict between the abstract and the literal most frequently and interestingly. Huizenga’s attempts at using comics to mimic the visual effect of video games are especially notable: rather than creating the simulacrum of reality that the vast majority of comics do, what is brought forth instead is a simulacrum of a simulacrum, a copy of a copy, something already abstract abstracted further, its ties to reality stressed and stretched about as close to the breaking point as they can go."

• Interview: The Daily Cross Hatch's Brian Heater wraps up his 4-part conversation with Mome editor Eric Reynolds: "I think Mome actually got better as I actively stopped worrying about who the readership might be, and actively indulged my own interests.... I think that began to happen as early as the fifth or sixth issue. And I think, by the end of it — you can point to a lot of things that we probably would have leaned against publishing at the beginning."

• Profiles: Following the news that the Xeric Foundation is discontinuing its publishing grants, the writers of Robot 6 spotlight some of their favorite past grant recipients, including Megan Kelso and John Kerschbaum

• Awards: The Oregonian's Steve Duin congratulates his Oil & Water collaborator Shannon Wheeler on Wheeler's Eisner Award win last weekend

New Comics Day 7/27/11: Gil Jordan, Sibyl-Anne, The Raven

mike

This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about them (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability.

Gil Jordan, Private Detective: Murder by High Tide
by M. Tillieux

96-page full-color 8.5" x 11.25" hardcover • $18.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-451-1

Sibyl-Anne Vs. Ratticus
by R. Macherot

64-page full-color 8.5" x 11.25" hardcover • $16.95
ISBN: 978-1-60699-452-8

"Fantagraphics is bringing some acclaimed Post-Herge all-ages comics to American audiences, and this week sees two of them coming to stores that people should be watching for: Gil Jordan, Private Eye: Murder by High Tide by M. Tillieux, a funny fast-paced detective story, and Sibyl Anne vs. Ratticus by R. Macherot, featuring a mouse in a story that's described as a Pixar version of Wind in the Willows." – Dave Ferraro, Comics-and-More

"Fantagraphics also presently has an initiative to translate post-Tintin Franco-Belgian comics for English-speaking audiences, so they're releasing Maurice Tillieux's crime cartoon Gil Jordan, Private Detective: Murder by High Tide." – Cyriaque Lamar, io9

"I love learning about classic Eurocomics, so my next purchase would be one of two new books from Fantagraphics: either Gil Jordan: Murder by High Tide ($18.99) or Sibyl-Anne Vs. Ratticus ($16.99). I know nothing about either book or the creators (M. Tillieux and R. Macherot, respectively) and am eager to be schooled." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

The Raven
by Lou Reed and Lorenzo Mattotti

166-page full-color 9" x 9" hardcover • $22.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-444-3

"...Lou Reed (of all people) releases his interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven with Italian cartoonist Lorenzo Mattotti." – Cyriaque Lamar, io9

"There’s a interesting looking collaboration between Lou Reed and Mattotti on Poe’s The Raven..." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

At The Comics Journal it's Joe McCulloch's...

"CONFLICT OF INTEREST RESERVOIR: Europeans draw the comics. The Raven sees Lorenzo Mattotti interpret Lou Reed’s channeling of Poe; $22.99. Gil Jordan, Private Detective: Murder by High Tide collects a pair of classic Belgian albums by Maurice Tillieux; $18.99. And Sibyl-Anne Vs. Ratticus similarly presents work by Raymond Macherot; $16.99."

Daily OCD: 7/26/11

mike

We'll be catching up on the past week's Online Commentary & Diversions over the next several days.

• Review: "Fantagraphics Books, which has previously done such an amazing job of collecting other classic comic strips like Prince Valiant and Peanuts , once again hits it out of the park with this collection [Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 1].... From the beautifully reproduced strips to the densely packed ancillary features, this must be the book that editors David Gerstein and Fantagraphics’ co-founder Gary Groth wanted for years for their own libraries. Their enthusiasm shows in the wonderfully designed package. This book is highly recommended for any Disney fan and fans of America's rich comic strip history." – Rich Clabaugh, Christian Science Monitor

• Review: "Murder by High Tide introduces Maurice Tillieux’s private detective Gil Jordan to America, collecting two 1950s stories from an acclaimed series that has never before been translated into English. Tillieux isn’t quite Hergé, but he’s adept at writing and drawing suspenseful detective stories with brief flurries of action. ...Tillieux’s plotting and deft hand at action, figures, and environments make Murder by High Tide a thrilling read." – Garrett Martin, Paste

• Review: "...Fantagraphics is always a good place to start if you’re worried about trying something new. The venerable comics publisher is a stamp of quality, a guarantee that the vetting process has been serious and that, at very least, the book you hold in your hands will have been beautifully printed. Wandering Son [Vol.] 1 bears all that out.... It’s a lovely, tactile-y rich object, but it’s also a sweet book in terms of content. ...[T]he characters are pleasant to spend time with, the art is emotive and expressive (embarrassment comes up a lot), and there is a gentleness to the whole project that is welcome." – Hillary Brown, Paste

• Review: "...Shimura Takako's Wandering Son, with its direct treatment of transgenderism, feels simultaneously natural and singular in the world of manga.... The true distinction of Wandering Son is not its subject matter so much as Shimura Takako's quiet and sensitive handling of it. Fifth grade is a difficult time and age for any author to handle well, and throwing transgenderism into the mix merely adds to the challenge. By keeping the story's focus on the intensely personal thoughts, experiences, and emotions of the characters, Shimura avoids both heavy-handed preachiness and overly melodramatic scenes, keeping the tone of the story sympathetic and realistic and — most importantly — a story." – Caleb Dunaway, Otaku USA

• Review: "...Fantagraphics' edition is beautifully presented as a full-sized hardcover with excellent print and paper quality. The volume is just as lovely to behold as it is to read.... Instead of following a strictly linear narrative, Wandering Son provides a somewhat fragmented view. To me, it seems more like a collection of memories, glimpses of important and influential moments in the characters' lives. Though told chronologically, the story has an impressionistic quality to it. Wandering Son is lovely and quiet with tremendous emotional depth.... I was very pleased with the first volume of Wandering Son and greatly look forward to the release of the second volume." – Ash Brown, Experiments in Manga

• Review: "Brought straight to your chamber door from the ever-awesome Fantagraphics, we finally have The Raven graphic novel. Personally commissioned by Reed, legendary illustrator Lorenzo Mattotti (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stigmata) has sketched some remarkably vivid scenes for what amounts to the definitive bard of Baltimore project from New York City’s own poet laureate.... Hardcovered, with a jacket by Grammy-nominated designer Jesse LeDoux, the whole presentation is indeed first-class." – Logan K. Young, Paste

• Review: "...Taking Punk to the Masses: From Nowhere to Nevermind... is a dense tome... packed with beautiful photos of EMP’s vast collection of instruments, posters and flyers and assorted rock and punk memorabilia, with commentary and excerpts from the oral history project, featuring testimonials from people like Greg Ginn and J Mascis and Grant Hart and Novoselic, on facing pages. The effect is that of taking a guided tour through the museum, exhibit by exhibit, with headphones on.... There’s an awful lot to look at here, and the book stands up to repeated readings.... Taking Punk to the Masses is a definite keeper for anyone who loves the bands of the Pacific Northwest or the history of rock in America." – John G. Nettles, Flagpole

• Review: "Simply put, if you’ve enjoyed any of Alex Chun and Jacob Covey’s series of glamour-girl cartoon retrospectives they’ve assembled for Fantagraphics over the years, you’ll want — if not need — their latest, The Pin-Up Art of Humorama.... As with Chun and Covey’s previous collaborations, the captions to the cartoons rarely matter — sometimes, they don’t even match what’s depicted. All that matters is the art, full of lovely, curvy, super-sexy women whose bra sizes run deep into the alphabet. It may not come in a brown paper wrapper, but yeah, this book’s hot. It spills over with an abundance of retro tease to please." — Rod Lott, Bookgasm

• Reviews: At his High-Low blog, Rob Clough looks at several of our translated volumes of the work of Jacques Tardi: "Tardi is an interesting figure because he felt comfortable writing mainstream material like detective stories, mysteries, fantasy and even science-fiction (though usually of a period nature; The Arctic Marauder, for example is a steampunk book) as well as more experimental and mature fare. No matter what the subject, his books always have a density and meatiness to them that rewards multiple readings. I'll briefly examine each book roughly in order of narrative complexity."

• Plug: Library Journal's Martha Cornog spotlights Diane Noomin's Glitz-2-Go in the latest Graphic Novels Prepub Alert: "Retro-glamgirl DiDi Glitz, Noomin's signature character, originally appeared in the women's comics anthology Twisted Sisters and other collections. Hypno Magazine described her as a 'shamelessly campy, mai-tai-swilling swinger with a voracious appetite for polyester, poodles, and doomed relationships.' Also, 'hysterically funny.' This volume collects nearly 40 years of Noomin comics. Catch this transcript of a Noomin presentation about her work, with sample strips, some NSFW."

• Plug: I was very excited to present Leonard Maltin with a copy of Drew Friedman's brand new book at Comic-Con, and today Maltin writes on his Movie Crazy blog "Fantagraphics Books had just received its first copies of Drew Friedman’s latest opus, Even More Old Jewish Comedians, which in the 'real world' is still a pre-order item."

• Interview: Jaime Hernandez reveals what kind of music he listens to while he's working in a survey on the topic by the Village Voice's R.C. Baker: "When told that one artist interviewed didn't want a fondness for a particularly 'retarded' pop song revealed, he cracks up. 'They don't want you to know they have a heart,' he says. 'I was never afraid to show mine — I put it out there in the comic every time.'"

• Interview (Video): Lee Keeler of Classy Hands has an on-camera chat with Paul Hornschemeier

• Scene: From Whitney Matheson's rundown of "50 Things I Learned at Comic-Con" at USA Today Pop Candy: "23. Johnny Ryan aims to scare us all. One of the most frightening moments on the convention floor came when a bloody, shirtless man walked up to the Fantagraphics booth and started screaming. Turns out he was portraying a character in Ryan's Prison Pit."

Congratulations to our 2011 Inkpot Winners

janice

Well, well, we've got some real humble artists here at Fantagraphics!

This past weekend at the San Diego Comic-Con, Inkpot Awards were received by our artists Joyce Farmer, Frank Stack, and editor Bill Schelly! But no one brought their award back to the booth! So, instead you get this absolutely charming photo of Joyce and Frank.

Congratulations to all of you! So well deserved!

Anders Nilsen Answers Big Questions at Fantagraphics Bookstore this Saturday

LarryR

Join us this Saturday, July 30 at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle to meet exceptional cartoonist Anders Nilsen. Anders will be in town promoting his new book Big Questions, an anthology of the popular series collected by our Canadian colleagues at Drawn & Quarterly. This 600-page, 15-year project displays the development of the artist's delicate rendering technique and idiosyncratic narrative approach to comix.

The festivities begin at 6:00 PM. Nilsen will give a slide presentation, answer big questions from the audience, and sign books. We expect he'll arrive with an assortment of self-published rarities, so plan to arrive early. Fantagraphics Bookstore is located at 1201 S. Vale Street in the heart of Seattle's historic Georgetown arts community. Phone 206.658.0110. See you soon.

Fantagraphics Books to Publish the EC Comics Library

groth

Fantagraphics Books President and Co-Publisher Gary Groth announced today at Comic-Con International that it has entered into a publishing agreement with William M. Gaines Agent, Inc. to publish the EC Comics Library, beginning in Summer 2012. The announcement teams two of the most storied comics publishers in history and aims to reintroduce the timeless work of EC to contemporary readers.

Fantagraphics will re-package the EC Comics (with the exception of MAD, which is now owned by DC Comics/Time Warner) in a series of handsome hardcovers devoted to specific artists and writers. While virtually all previous EC collections have been published by comic book title, Fantagraphics will collect the comics by artist, allowing fans to finally own single-volume tomes collecting the work of their favorite creators.

“It pleases me greatly to be in partnership with such an influential company as Fantagraphics,” said Cathy Gaines Mifsud, President of William M. Gaines Agent, Inc. “It’s a pleasure to be working with a company that shares similar values, yet retains unique and distinct creativity. I trust them fully to carry on the iconic EC brand.”

Entertaining Comics may have been the greatest mainstream publisher in comics history, with an attention to quality and consistency that has never been rivaled. Under the stewardship of William Gaines (who took over the company from his father, Max Gaines, in 1947), EC’s “New Trend” line employed a Murderer’s Row of writers and artists including Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, Jack Davis, Johnny Craig, Al Feldstein, Reed Crandall, Will Elder, Frank Frazetta, Graham Ingels, Jack Kamen, Bernard Krigstein, John Severin, Al Williamson, Joe Orlando, and many others.

“EC was the most consistently literate and quality-minded publisher in the history of mainstream comics,” said Groth. “Editors Al Feldstein and Harvey Kurtzman were aware that comics was an artistic medium in a way that few editors did, and publisher Bill Gaines was unique in taking a hands-on approach to his comics line, choosing his editors wisely, giving them such editorial freedom and latitude, and taking such personal pride — and responsibility — in his comics. This was simply unheard of in mainstream comics; if more publishers had had Gaines’ integrity, the history of comics would’ve been vastly different.”

Like most of its contemporaries, EC specialized in genre fiction, specifically horror, crime, science-fiction, war, and satire, with several titles that seeped into the public consciousness long after their demise, including Tales from the Crypt, Two-Fisted Tales, Weird Science, and of course MAD. Unlike most of its contemporaries, Gaines and his staff took great pride in crafting socially aware works that transcended their genres. “At a time when comics were consid- ered sub-literate junk by the reading public, Gaines and the EC creators were impressing people like Ray Bradbury with the aesthetic possibilities of the medium. That was no mean feat,” Groth added.

The first four books in the series will be:

• “Corpse on the Imjin” and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzman. This will reprint all the war stories Kurtzman wrote and drew himself in Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, including all 23 of his covers — each a masterpiece in its own right. This volume will also include all the war stories that Kurtzman wrote and laid out but were drawn by artists who weren’t regularly featured in his war books: Gene Colan, Joe Kubert, Alex Toth, Dave Berg, Ric Estrada, Russ Heath, and others. (The regulars were Jack Davis, John Severin, Wally Wood, and George Evans, each of whom will later be the subject of their own war comics collections). Kurtzman’s war comics are still considered to be the gold standard for the genre, with a devotion not only to historical accuracy but also to resisting any impulse to glamorize wartime; a WWII veteran himself, Kurtzman’s humanistic approach was in stark contrast to the simp- leminded, jingoistic efforts of EC’s rival publishers, and paved the way for other popular media to depict the true face of war.

• “Came the Dawn” and Other Stories by Wally Wood: Though often remembered for his science-fiction work, Wood’s heavy, noirish brushstrokes were perfectly suited for EC’s rough-hewn suspense stories in (the appropriately titled) Shock SuspenStories and this volume will collect them all for the first time.

• Jack Davis’s horror stories (exact title t.b.a.): Jack Davis’s gift for caricature has made him an icon in the advertis- ing world and helped define MAD magazine, but he was also one of the most versatile cartoonists of his generation; after “Ghastly” Graham Ingels, Davis was EC’s most prolific horror artist, appearing in all three of EC’s horror titles — Haunt of Fear, Vault of Horror, and Crypt of Terror. This will collect the entirety of Davis’s horror work, all of which was written by Al Feldstein.

• Al Williamson’s science-fiction stories (exact title t.b.a.): EC published two SF comics — Weird Fantasy and Weird Science — and Williamson was one of the stars, with an illustrative style that carried on the tradition of the great adventure comic strips like Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon. This volume will compile all 174 pages of Williamson’s SF stories.

“EC featured many of the best artists working at the time — innovators like Kurtzman, Bernie Krigstein, and Johnny Craig, illustrators like Al Williamson and Jack Kamen, and renaissance cartoonists like Wally Wood, Will Elder, and Jack Davis,” said Groth. “Many of these artists did the best work of their careers for EC, and that is directly attributable to the creative environment Gaines created.”

Fantagraphics will be publishing four EC collections a year, beginning in Summer 2012.

“Came the Dawn” and Other Stories
By: Wally Wood, Al Feldstein, et al.
Release Date: July 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60699-546-4
Black & White • Hardcover • 7” x 10”

“Corpse on the Imjin” and Other Stories
By: Harvey Kurtzman et al.
Release Date: July 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60699-545-7
Black & White / Color • Hardcover • 7” x 10”

Fantagraphics to Publish The Complete ZAP� Comix

Eric

Fantagraphics Books President and Co-Publisher Gary Groth announced today at Comic-Con International that the Seattle-based publisher has entered into an agreement to publish The Complete ZAP Comix in Fall of 2012.

ZAP remains the best-known and most influential underground comic of all-time, and in many ways is Ground Zero for the entire field of underground, alternative, literary and art comics that exists today. Created by Robert Crumb, it was one of the defining events in the counterculture of the 1960s and singlehandedly launched the “underground comix” era.

“ZAP took comics from children to adults, crushing The Comics Code Authority in the process,” proclaimed ZAP artist Victor Moscoso.

The Complete ZAP Comix will be published as a two-volume, slipcased hardcover set, printed slightly larger than the original comics, and shot from the original negatives to the comic books, ensuring the finest reproduction ever seen of the material. It will also include the rarely-seen ZAM, a one-shot mini-comic/jam spinoff of ZAP from 1974, as well as other supplementary features, interviews with the artists, and other surprises.

“ZAP may be the most significant series in the history of American comics,” said Fantagraphics President and Co-Publisher Gary Groth. “Its cultural preeminence is the result of artistic merit, not collectibility or economics and that sets it apart from most comics series that have achieved this level of public awareness or notoriety. The artists that Crumb invited into ZAP each proved to be a stylistic virtuoso with a unique point of view and an uncompromising vision. ZAP was the vanguard of a movement that segued into the alternative comics of the ’80s and the graphic novels of the ’00s. We couldn’t be prouder to collect this landmark series in its entirety in a beautifully packaged two-volume set.”

Originally printed by Beat writer Charles Plymell in an edition of around 3,500 copies, ZAP #1 was the first title published by the late Don Donahue under the Apex Novelties imprint, and was infamously sold on the streets of Haight-Ashbury out of a baby stroller pushed by Crumb’s ex-wife, Dana. Over time, the series’ 16 issues have sold millions of copies.

Although R. Crumb had initially created ZAP as a showcase for his own work, the success of the first issue led him to open up the pages of subsequent issues to several other artists. He invited his peers S. Clay Wilson, Robert Williams, “Spain” Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, Victor Moscoso and Rick Griffin to join him, effectively creating an artists’ collective that has remained mostly constant in the subsequent decades; when Rick Griffin died in 1991, the artist Paul Mavrides was invited to join the group.

“Fantagraphics’ The Complete ZAP Comix, as designed by Victor Moscoso, will be a classy item for the bookshelves of underground comics fans — those who can afford it, that is,” said ZAP artist Gilbert Shelton. “I imagine most of the original readers wish they still had their copy of the first edition of ZAP #1, which sells for over ten thousand dollars now, if in perfect condition. But part of the secret of the success of underground comix was that they were cheaply produced and turned yellow and fell apart quickly, and also that they were borrowed and never returned by one’s friends, thereby forcing you to buy another copy. This will not happen with the new collected edition, which will be produced under the most rigorous of quality control.”

“Much as the effect EC’s MAD had on the mid-20th Century, ZAP was equally influential and disruptive to cultural mores at the end of the 20th Century, but without the hindrance of the old comic book code that cramped graphic novel expression for 40 years,” said ZAP artist Robert Williams. “I’m very pleased that Fantagraphics will release this long-awaited compendium of ZAP Comix.”

“When Robert Crumb started ZAP in 1968, no one had any idea that it would still be alive 45 years later,” Shelton added. “This exercise in anarchy — there were never any rules, restrictions, or editorial policy — is still the flagship of the underground comics movement. I tried, and failed, to get my fellow ZAPsters to correct their spelling errors, but they would not be subjected to such editorial tyranny. I also wanted to let other artists into the group, but it was decided to restrict the number of contributors to seven. So be it. Spell free or die, I now say.”

Fantagraphics will be publishing the The Complete ZAP Comix in Fall of 2012.

The Complete ZAP Comix
By: R. Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Robert Williams, Spain Rodriguez,
Gilbert Shelton, Victor Moscoso, Rick Griffin, & Paul Mavrides
Release Date: Fall 2012
Page Count: 800 PP
Black & White • Two-Volume, Slipcased Hardcover Set

ZAP is a registered trademark of Zap Comix.

It Was the Win of the Tardi

janice

Last night, we were honored to receive the 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for "Best Reality-Based Work" and "Best U.S. Edition of International Material" for It Was the War of the Trenches by Jacques Tardi! It's a privilege to be able to bring Tardi's work to U.S. readers.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

Weekend Webcomics for 7/22/11: new strips from Kupperman & Weissman

mike

Our weekly strips from Kupperman & Weissman. Our links to other strips from around the web will return next week (Comic-Con, you know).

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

Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (view at original size):

SDCC: Now With Even MORE Artists!

janice

Thanks to everyone who came out for our first day of signings at the San Diego Comic-Con! And, guess what? We've just added THREE more artists to our already action-packed schedule!

On Saturday, we'll be joined by Zack Carlson from 3:00 to 4:00 PM, and he'll be signing copies of the epic tome he co-edited, Destroy All Movies!!!: The Complete Guide to Punks on Film. Stop by and try to stump him on punk movie trivia... YOU WILL NOT WIN!

Also on Saturday, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM, we'll be joined by Roger May, one of the contributors to our underground comix collection, Newave! He'll be joining two of the greats of the underground scene, Joyce Farmer and Frank Stack -- It's sure to be a fascinating hour!

And finally, we welcome special guest Martin Olson, author of the encyclopedic satire Encyclopedia of Hell (Feral House), a book that features illustrations by our very own hell-raiser, Tony Millionaire!! Martin will be signing on Friday, July 22nd from 5:00 to 6:00 PM.

So, to recap, here's our signing schedule for the rest of the weekend at Booth #1718! Come by and say hello!

Friday, July 22nd:
11:00 - 12:00 PM    Joyce Farmer / Bill Schelly / Tim Hensley
12:00 - 1:00 PM   Floyd Norman / Wilfred Santiago / Frank Stack
1:00 - 3:00 PM    Gilbert Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
3:00 - 4:00 PM    Paul Hornschemeier / Anders Nilsen / Esther Pearl Watson
4:00 - 5:00 PM   Mark Kalesniko / John Pham / Malachi Ward
5:00 - 7:00 PM   Johnny Ryan
5:00 - 6:00 PM   Jon Vermilyea / Martin Olson
6:00 - 7:00 PM   Robert Goodin

Saturday, July 23rd:
12:00 - 1:00 PM        Wilfred Santiago / Bill Schelly
1:00 - 2:00 PM        Joyce Farmer / Frank Stack / Roger May
2:00 - 4:00 PM        Paul Hornschemeier / Johnny Ryan
3:00 - 4:00 PM        Esther Pearl Watson / Zack Carlson
4:00 - 5:00 PM        Mark Kalesniko
4:00 - 6:00 PM        Gilbert Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
6:00 - 7:00 PM        Robert Goodin / Jon Vermilyea / Malachi Ward

Sunday, July 24th:
11:00 - 12:00 PM   Joyce Farmer / Jon Vermilyea / Esther Pearl Watson
12:00 - 1:00 PM    Mark Kalesniko / Frank Stack
1:00 - 3:00 PM    Gilbert Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez