It's the World Series of special editions! For the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con, artist Wilfred Santiago has designed a very special custom version of 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente. This exquisite edition boasts so many special features, and it's limited to THREE copies. That's it. No more. And it's ONLY available at the Fantagraphics Booth #1718 at Comic-Con!
Wilfred Santiago will be signing at the Fantagraphics Booth #1718 from noon until 1:00 PM on Friday, July 22nd and Saturday, July 23rd. Don't miss your chance to meet this great artist, and check out this glorious piece of art!
Fantagraphics is puttin' the "comics" back in Comic-Con as we head to San Diego this week with a slew of scintillating signings, almost two-dozen dynamite debuts, and a collection of comics sure to please any comics fan... and fill those enormous free tote bags they give away at the door.
All the action awaits you at our usual spot, Booth #1718!
And don't miss our amazing PANELS! I won't get into all the details, because Mike did so earlier here on the FLOG, so click on the date to see our previously posted full rundown on each panel!
Friday, July 22nd: • 10:30-11:30 Comics Arts Conference Session #5: Critical Approaches to Comics: An Introduction to Theories and Methods— Matthew J. Smith and Randy Duncan with panelist, Andrei Molotiu. [Room 26AB] • 1:00-2:00 Comics Arts Conference Session #6: Wordless Comicswith Andrei Molotiu. [Room 26AB] • 12:00-1:00 CBLDF Master Session 3: Jaime Hernandez [Room 30CDE] • 1:00-2:00 Publishing Queer: Producing LGBT Comics and Graphic Novels with moderator Justin Hall [Room 9] • 1:00-2:30 The Golden Age of the Fanzine moderated by Bill Schelly. [Room 24ABC] • 10:30-11:30 Cartoon Network Comedy: Regular Show/The Problem Solverz and More! The Problem Solverz talent includes Ben Jones, John Pham, and Jon Vermilyea. [Room 6A]
Saturday, July 23rd: • 10:00-11:30 50 Years of Comic Fandom: The Founders with Bill Schelly [Room 24ABC] • 11:30-12:30 Bill Blackbeard: The Man Who Saved Comics with Trina Robbins [Room 24ABC] • 12:30-1:30 Fantagraphics 35th Anniversary [Room 24ABC] • 1:00-2:00 Spotlight on Anders Nilsen [Room 4] • 2:30-3:30 The Art of the Graphic Novel with Joyce Farmer (Special Exits, A Memoir) [Room 24ABC]
PHEW! And, can you believe it? This is only the beginning! Stay tuned to the Fantagraphics FLOG, Twitter and Facebook for important (we mean it!) Comic-Con announcements all week long!
Throughout his career, Lyonel Feiningerhad one foot in fine art, as a leading figure of German expressionism and the Bauhaus. But, as we all know, he had his other foot planted in the world of comics, with his ground-breaking strips in the Chicago Sunday Tribune, The Kin-Der-Kids and Wee Willie Winkie's World.
This summer, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City celebrates Feininger with his very first major show in the states in forty-five years! Lyonel Feininger: At the Edge of the World will showcase not only his historic strips, but his paintings, photography, and even a series of miniature hand-carved wooden figures and buildings he created, known as City at the Edge of the World.
On Wednesday, July 20th, The Whitney spotlights some recent artists who also intersect fine art and comics: Gary Panter, Chris Ware , and Art Spiegelman! Join them at 7 PM for the panel The Fine Art of Comics,moderated by John Carlin.
You might even win tickets to the event if you follow The Whitney Museum on Twitter at @whitneymuseum! At 2 PM ET, they'll tweet a trivia question, and the winner gets tickets to the panel, and a copy of Feininger's complete comics collection The Comic Strip Art of Lyonel Feininger!
The exhibit gets hoppin' this Saturday, July 9th, as the great Stan Sakai is in town to give a talk, a demonstration, and sign some books!
In fact, the whole day is jam-packed with fun activities, including screenings of anime films from the '20s and '30s, origami workshops, and a cooking lesson on how to make a broccoli carrot slaw, sure to satisfy any samurai!
I have been in a lot of exhibits, but this one will be the most comprehensive. It will not only display a lot of art in all phases of production, but also merchandising such as UY toys, pajamas, and statues. There will even be a section of Usagi art by other creators such as Frank Miller and even Stan Lee. A mini-documentary will be shown in the theater, with interviews with friends such as Sergio Aragones, Scott Shaw, Stan Lee, Geoff Darrow, and others.
The exhibit runs 'til October 30th, but the opening day is FREE and open to the public, so why wait!
Nikki and Megan were in the same year at the infamous Evergreen State College, and you can see the Olympia-influence in both of their work. Nikki's artwork graced the covers of releases from local labels K Records, Kill Rock Stars, and Yo Yo Recordings. She even did set design for the rock opera "The Tranfused." The program credits read like a Who's-Who of Oly artists:
Click here for a larger version on our Flickr page
By the way, look who played the role of "Corpse XY"!
Click here for a larger version on our Flickr page
Nikki also produced zines in the '90s, such as Super Secret and The Great Chicken Escape.
You can get a better sense of Nikki's signature style in The Great Chicken Escape: intricate scenes that she depicts using an X-acto knife and black and white paper. Her images capture the beauty of Northwest nature, in painstakingly-crafted silhouettes.
Nowadays, her work adorns journals and calendars, t-shirts and tote bags. But you can see where it all began this Saturday at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery! We'll have some of Nikki's originals on display, alongside originals from Megan and Stella. Plus, Megan and Nikki will give a brief talk at 7:00 pm, discussing the lasting legacy of Riot Grrrls, before their signing!
The Quiet Rrriot: Visual Artists from the Riot Grrrl movement by Megan Kelso, Nikki McClure, Stella Marrs
Opening Saturday, July 9th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM Artists talk with Megan Kelso and Nikki McClure at 7:00 PM, followed by a book signing. Exhibition continues through August 31, 2011
Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery 1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.) Seattle, WA 98108 206.658.0110 Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM This event is free and all ages
We all know how awesome Megan is, but lemme introduce you to how equally-cool Nikki and Stella are, starting with the mysterious Ms. Stella Marrs.
Anyone who's stepped into a bookstore in the last thirty years has surely seen her distinctive postcards in a rack near the registers: kitschy vintage images transposed with sharp, smart phrases. In a rare interview with Fanta-friend Everett True, Stella explains, "Why postcards?"
After college, I made hundreds of different paintings, products, and events. I never put my name on anything during that period. I preferred to think of it all as some sort of warm-up exercise for what I was really going to do. I finally settled on using my name on the back of postcards because I realized I better accept this medium by the default since I could afford to start manufacturing it. It could be educational, and I could travel and sell it on public transportation, because it was small and I didn't have a car.
Stella's work pre-dates the Riot Grrrl-era, but her bold feminist statements were echoed in the music, comics and zines coming out of her Olympia, WA neighborhood during the '90s.
In that aforementioned interview, Stella also states: If girls could just make things and see themselves reflected in what they made, and then trade it for money, that could be a window to empowerment about alternatives for economic survival. Because if you get to live outside the normal system, you just might have a chance for a different vision, which could mean ultimately an alternative voice.
An old Stella Marrs mail order catalog, from the Megan Kelso collection.
We celebrate that unique vision and alternative voice this Saturday at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery with original artwork on display from Stella, as well as Megan and Nikki!
The Quiet Rrriot: Visual Artists from the Riot Grrrl movement by Megan Kelso, Nikki McClure, Stella Marrs
Opening Saturday, July 9th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM Artists talk with Megan Kelso and Nikki McClure at 7:00 PM, followed by a book signing. Exhibition continues through August 31, 2011
Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery 1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.) Seattle, WA 98108 206.658.0110 Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM This event is free and all ages
Um... that's what I might've exclaimed when Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid told me that we'd be doing an exhibit on the "Riot Grrrl" scene of the '90s to celebrate the reissue of Megan Kelso'sincredibly-important (in my humble opinion) collection of early work, Queen of the Black Black.
Was I a riot grrrl? Er, not exactly. While the scene was emerging from Olympia, WA, I was a pre-teen, stuck in the boring suburbs of Fort Worth, TX. I had no scene, and I had nothing to rebel against, except maybe curfew and school dress codes. But I did happen to have a subscription to Sassy Magazine...
If you're too young to remember Sassy Magazine, I'm afraid I can't provide you with a current cultural comparison, because nowadays there isn't a publication like it around. (Hell, nowadays, magazines themselves hardly exist, but I digress...) But, let's just say it was the "alternative" to teen girl magazines at the time. The first issue I ever bought came with an R.E.M. flexi-disc attached to the front, a cover of Syd Barrett's "Dark Globe." Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth penned an advice column one month. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love were cover stars another month.
Anyway, Sassy Magazine had a column titled “Zine of the Month," and I became absolutely mesmerized by zines and the concept of self-publishing. In a bold, ballsy act of naive confidence, I had somehow already landed myself a job writing about music for our local newspaper by the age of 14. But with zines, I can say anything I want? Hell yeah! Wait, I mean... fuck yeah! That's more like it! I started stuffing Hello Kitty envelopes with well-concealed cash, ordering zines every month.
From the introduction of Bikini Kill issue two: "And sometimes this is all very hard cuz this world doesn't teach us how to be truly cool to each other and so we have to teach each other." What outcast adolescent girl wouldn't be drawn to the Riot Grrrl movement and its message of female empowerment? Even decades later, I still feel moved by those words.
In 1996, I had started my own zine, copacetic -- yes, intentionally lowercased, and yes, named after the first Velocity Girl album, released on Sub Pop Records in '93 (although not "grunge" nor "riot grrrl"-ish). Sadly, by the mid-'90s, it felt like the Riot Grrrl scene had quietly disappeared, even though its influence on me hadn't.
So, as you might imagine, I'm really excited that we'll be celebrating the work of three artists from that scene this Saturday, July 9th: the girlish and commanding comics of Megan Kelso; the sly, stylized postcard art of Stella Marrs; and the beautiful and reflective silhouettes of Nikki McClure's work. See you there!
The Quiet Rrriot: Visual Artists from the Riot Grrrl movement by Megan Kelso, Nikki McClure, Stella Marrs
Opening Saturday, July 9th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM Artists talk with Megan Kelso and Nikki McClure at 7:00 PM, followed by a book signing. Exhibition continues through August 31, 2011
Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery 1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.) Seattle, WA 98108 206.658.0110 Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM This event is free and all ages
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