The hits keep coming to our signature Seattle showroom as Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery heats up with enough amazing art, crazy comix, and amusing music to keep everyone entertained.  

Saturday, April 10 features music by our resident warehouse composers Martin Bland, Tom Price and friends in the dissonant Zinjanthropus, joined by the audio assault of Ajax in Ardent Vein. Outside, our annual Spring Cleaning Sidewalk Sale will be accompanied by the sounds of 20 eccentric marching bands from across the country in Honk Fest West. Defies description. Really. Don’t miss it. Oh yes, it’s also the infamous Georgetown Art Attack.

On Saturday evening, April 17 we host a major book bash with Peter Bagge and James Sturm. Bagge will sign copies of the anxiously awaited HATE ANNUAL #8. The evening will also feature the world premiere of Peter’s graphic novel OTHER LIVES from Vertigo. James Sturm will give a brief presentation on co-founding of Seattle’s alternative weekly The Stranger and the Center for Cartoon Studies before signing copies of MARKET DAY, his first graphic novel in ten years. Bonus: neighboring Georgetown Records celebrates national Record Store Day.

All day Saturday, May 1 is Free Comic Book Day! Don’t miss your chance to get a FREE preview of Jim Woodring’s forthcoming graphic novel WEATHERCRAFT. We’ll also be handing out a John Stanley sampler from Drawn & Quarterly along with other goodies.

If that’s not enough, on Saturday, May 8 we proudly present TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE art exhibition and book signing by Michael Kupperman. A new issue of his popular comic will make its debut at the event. And it’s the Georgetown Super 8 Film Festival and Art Attack.

Yes, it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. We’re open every day at 1201 S. Vale St, just minutes south of downtown Seattle. Phone 206.658.0110.

The wildly entertaining Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack gets rowdy on April 10 with the inclusion of Honk Fest West. In addition to countless art exhibitions, open art studios, performances, workshops and demonstrations, the Art Attack welcomes more than 20 eccentric marching bands from all over the country. The cacophonous Honk Fest West features free performances at several locations throughout the historic industrial arts quarter.  

The diverse Art Attack programming on April 10 includes: Arun Sharma’s "(de)composition" autobiographical sculpture and film installations at Georgetown Arts and Cultural Center; open salons at Equinox Studios including a blacksmithing demonstration by Lisa Geertsen and studio sale at Firelight Forge; Dano Quinn at Full Throttle Bottles creating custom switch plate covers out of tall boy beer cans on site; “Home,” a themed exhibition of children’s photography at proletariArt; "Fly by Night," new mixed media works by Joe Wackerman at FRIDA/Georgetown Tile Works; “High Soft Lisp” comics exhibition by Gilbert Hernandez with experimental music by Zinjanthropus and Ardent Vein at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery and Georgetown Records; a student show at the new Miller School of Art; “Circus Art” from members of the Twilight Artist Collective at the Stables; Angielena Chamberlain’s large oil paintings at All City Coffee with a miniature scale version of the exhibition on buttons at the adjacent Button Makers storefront; Honk Fest West performances at the Mix, Georgetown Music Store and other locations.  

The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack is a monthly production of the Georgetown Merchants Association. For more information and a map visit: www.georgetownartattack.com. For additional information on Honk Fest West see: http://honkfestwest.com.

Northwest fans of fine art and low brow culture alike are in for a treat this Saturday, March 13. Get your geek on at the Emerald City Comicon, and visit the Fantagraphics booth for a look at a carload of brand new books. Meet stellar cartoonists including legendary Love and Rockets co-creator Gilbert Hernandez.

Take a break from the convention madness to greet the lovely and talented Los Angeles artist Camille Rose Garcia at Roq la Rue Gallery. She'll be signing her timely new book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and ever-popular The Magic Bottle from Fantagraphics Books this Saturday afternoon.

Then head down to Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery from 6:00 to 9:00 PM for an adult beverage at the opening of Gilbert's HIGH SOFT LISP exhibition and book launch event that serves as the after-party for the Emerald City Comicon. Expect cameos from visiting pros, exquisite art, and DJ Russ Fallout spinning classic punk platters. See you this weekend.

The colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack enters its third year resolved to draw attention to the historic industrial arts district in an effort to generate public sentiment towards preservation of this enchanting civic asset. As many of Seattle's formerly artist-friendly neighborhoods fell victim to frenzied gentrification over the past decade, Georgetown remains the last bastion of a cohesive creative community in the city. We believe activities like the monthly Art Attack will advance our preservation efforts.

Among the highlights of the March 13 Art Attack: The grand opening of the Miller School of Art with a show of student work, painting demonstrations and more; "Circus Series" at Bella Vitale Studio featuring original paintings, prints, textile designs and punk pock dog clothing by Angielena Chamberlain; "Into the Briny Deep", new paintings by Mary Louise Silva at Frida / Georgetown Tile Works; "High Soft Lisp" art exhibition and book signing by influential Los Angeles cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery; "Wackalope: The Paintings of Dan'l Linehan" at Helmet Head, where the lovely staff will be applying make-up and styling hair for Art Attack patrons; the Helle salon opens their spacious new facility and the Mix re-opens its recently remodeled nightclub; Mark Tedin, Kyle Abernethy and Julie Baroh at KrabJab Studios; Georgetown Atelier open studio tours with founder Mark Tedin; and the usual mayhem and merriment we've come to associate with this diverse and festive cultural event.

The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack is a monthly promotion of the Georgetown Merchants' Association. For additional information and a map of participants visit: www.georgetownartattack.com.

To commemorate the book launch party for HIGH SOFT LISP at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, March 13, we've issued a stunning 3-color silkscreen print. Limited to a signed edition of no more than 100 copies, this substantial artwork will be available for the insanely affordable price of only $20, exclusively from Fantagraphics Bookstore and at the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle on March 13 and 14.

Recall a similar print for the Bros. joint appearance at our bookstore in 2008 sold out almost immediately. Don't miss the chance to add this piece to your art collection. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale St. in Seattle's historic Georgetown arts community. Open every day 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00. Phone 206.658.0110.

Residents of the Northwest will want to visit Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery before next Wednesday, March 10 for a final look at Gahan Wilson's art exhibition. A half-dozen exquisite original paintings are complemented by 10 delightful new prints from the master of the macabre.

As an incentive, Fantagraphics is offering a bookstore-only discount on both the normal and special editions of the 3-volume, embossed slipcase set GAHAN WILSON: 50 YEARS OF PLAYBOY CARTOONS. Through the end of the show, the normal edition is $25 off and the special edition is $50 off cover price! And while supplies last, each purchase will include a signed silkscreen Gahan Wilson print.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street in the heart of the Georgetown arts community, only minutes south of downtown Seattle. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00. Phone 206.658.0110. See you all soon.

(Ed. note: Above, Gahan Wilson makes the acquaintance of Michael Leavitt's action-figure sculpture of R. Crumb. Have a look at this and more recently-posted photos of the exhibit opening from Flickr user and friend of Fantagraphics Bookstore Jo David.)

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of original artwork and book signing by celebrated cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez on Saturday, March 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Gilbert will be Fantagraphics guest at the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle on March 13 and 14. The reception at Fantagraphics Bookstore serves as the official after-party for the convention, so expect to see a wide array of comic book professionals in attendance.

Together with his brother Jaime, Gilbert Hernandez revitalized the moribund comics medium nearly 30 years ago with the inspiring series LOVE AND ROCKETS. Los Bros. Hernandez created socially relevant stories illustrated with stunning artwork that would influence generations of cartoonists that followed. Their work reflected America's emerging multicultural social environment and restive youth culture in an accessible manner that attracted a diverse and devoted readership. Their stories continues to resonate and the Love and Rockets franchise remains a signature of Fantagraphics Books.

The exhibition and book signing celebrates publication of LOVE AND ROCKETS BOOK 25: HIGH SOFT LISP. The book follows Rosalba "Fritz" Martinez — bombshell, former punkette, former psychiatrist, "Z" movie star — in this supremely sexy, constantly surprising graphic novel. Hernandez has taken a suite of stories originally serialized in Luba's Comics and Stories and the second volume of Love and Rockets, and fleshed them out with new pages, creating an original and inventive story that, through its connections to his main character Luba, works both as a standalone graphic novel and a further exploration of his rich, fictional world. Longtime fans and new readers alike will delight in this superbly rendered tale.

This event coincides with the colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack featuring visual and performing arts presentations throughout the historic neighborhood. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street, at Airport Way S. only minutes sought of downtown Seattle. Open every day. Admission is always free.

Listing Information:

Gilbert Hernandez: HIGH SOFT LISP

Book Signing and Art Exhibition

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

Exhibition continues through May 5, 2010

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.). Seattle, WA 98108. (206) 658-0110
Open daily 11:30 - 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM