Pat Thomas, author of our Fall 2011 book Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975, will be on Hollow Earth Radio's Central Sounds program tonight at 10 PM Pacific to play and discuss various songs featured in the book. If that sounds interesting to you at all, you will not want to miss it. See how to tune in to the online stream here.

The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack encourages adventurous Northwest art mavens to encounter the colorful creativity of one of our region's most seductive urban environments. On the second Saturday of each month, Georgetown's resident artists and surrounding businesses welcome the public to explore this enchanting industrial arts corridor.

Among the highlights of the April 9 installment: An improvisational music performance by accomplished experimental sound artist Rob Angus at Georgetown Records; "Assemblages: Form and Fragments" by collage artist Ken Torres at All City Coffee; the Nautilus presents "Wasteland," a collaborative show by Corey Urlacher and Kat Houseman including
live music and belly dancing; abstract paintings by Katrina Wolfe at Calamity Jane's; scenic photographs of Japan by Richard Walker at Vecta Photo with proceeds from sales benefiting the International Red Cross for relief efforts in Japan; resident artists Michael Hoppe, Mark Tedin, Julie Baroh, and Kyle Abernathy at Krab Jab Studios; the Georgetown Trailer Park Mall celebrates spring with assorted jackrabbit shenanigans, colorful treats and "Symbols of Synthesis" by featured artist Rose Jarvey in the Lula B canned ham trailer; a continuing exhibition of famed French cartoonist Jacques Tardi at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery; the Stables hosts a group show of Seattle artists curated by Twilight Artist Collective including Curtis Ashby (CASH), Jenna Colby, Twozdai Hulse, Xavier Lopez, ninjagrl, Rick Simpson and Linus Von Moos; and the casual cacophony that characterizes the creative Georgetown community.

The Georgetown Art Attack is a monthly production of the Georgetown Merchants Association (www.georgetownmerchants.org.) A downloadable map of participants can be found at www.georgetownartattack.com.

Ever since Book 1 of Prison Pit came out in 2009 I've had a question for Johnny Ryan and I finally asked him over email yesterday:

Q: Is there any chance we'll ever see a Prison Pit prequel where we see what CF did to get thrown into the pit and how he was captured?

A: No, I don't think so. You can probably already tell it was something pretty heinous. That's all you really need to know.

Well there you have it.

The infamous Strand Bookstore in New York City is known for its "18 miles of books," and on Friday, April 8th, they're devoting at least one of those miles to Strandicon, a celebration of comics!

The Strand will be hosting an afternoon of special appearances (including a 6:00 pm appearance by Dash Shaw), and the evening concludes with a celebration of The Comics Journal, featuring a panel with editors Tim Hodler and Dan Nadel, along with founding editor Gary Groth and longtime cartoonist and TCJ interviewee Kim Deitch.

So, if you live in New York, or if you'll be town for MoCCA, join us at 7:00 pm for what's sure to be a spirited discussion! (Strandicon will take place in the Comics & Graphic Novels Department of the Strand, on the Second Floor at 828 Broadway / 12th Street.)

Peter Does New York!

Comics legend Peter Bagge returns to his east coast roots with a release party at Desert Island on Friday, April 8th, signings at MoCCA that weekend, AND the opening of a new exhibit at the esteemed Scott Eder Gallery!

This exciting exhibition will feature published drawings and works on paper from all phases of Peter's long career in alternative comix and non-commercial illustration, including his album and CD art.

Join us on Saturday, April 9th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.  (If you can't make the opening reception, you have until May 5th to view the show!) The Scott Eder Gallery is located at 18 Bridge St. #2-I, Brooklyn.

Celebrate Hate with the legendary Peter Bagge on Friday, April 8th at Desert Island in Brooklyn, NY! 

We'll be debuting the latest adventures of Buddy, Lisa, and Harold in Hate Annual #9, AND we'll have hot-off-the-presses copies of the teengirl-sensation Yeah! for Peter to sign for you. Plus, Desert Island will have a stunning seven-color screenprint designed by Peter that you won't want to miss!

And as a special bonus, Peter will be joined by one of our newest artists, Leslie Stein! Pete sez: “Leslie Stein’s comics inhabit a charming and semi-autobiographical (in the most ‘semi’ sense of the word) yet surreal, insular world where her best friend and closest confidant is an acoustic guitar. What’s not to relate to?”

Find out what Pete means with the release of Leslie's first-ever book, Eye of the Majestic Creature, and get your copy signed on Friday night!

The release party runs from 7:00 to 10:00 pm at Desert Island, located at 540 Metropolitan Ave in the lovely Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. See you there!

Take a Joke: Vol. 3 of the Collected Angry Youth Comix
by Johnny Ryan

128-page black & white/color 7" x 10" softcover • $18.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-464-1

Ships in: May 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

Johnny Ryan’s transgressive masterpiece Prison Pit has been the talk of altcomics circles since its debut in the summer of 2009. But before Prison Pit, Ryan garnered a considerable following via his one-man humor anthology (which doubled as a one-man War Against Political Correctness), Angry Youth Comix. Take a Joke collects many of the best stories from this inimitable series as well as many strips created for the wildly-popular Vice magazine, to which Ryan has contributed for years.

Unlike Ryan’s previous collections, which focused on very short stories, Take a Joke spotlights several of the artist’s longest humor pieces to date, notably: “Graveyard Goofs,” in which Ryan’s hapless antiheroes Sinus O’Gynus and Loady McGee exhume the corpse of the recently-deceased Santa Claus as part of a Top Secret experiment, fantasize an orgy with a collection of anthropomorphic condiment bottles (resulting in an unwanted pregnancy), and end up in Hell; “Boobs Pooter’s Jokepocalypse,” starring a coprophiliac version of Godzilla who destroys the world with hilarious jokes and crazy pranks; and “The World’s Funniest Joke,” a 24-page masterpiece that makes The Aristocrats look like a Nora Ephron film.

All this plus Cheesburg Chase, Omletta DuPont, "The Day The New Yorker Came to Town," and a handy index to help you find things like "ass angels," "s'mores crucifix" and "Yeti-tit earmuffs."

Download an EXCLUSIVE 14-page PDF excerpt (1.9 MB) including the Table of Contents.

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

Exclusive Savings: Order all 3 Angry Youth Comix collections together, including What're You Lookin' At?!, Johnny Ryan's XXX Scumbag Party, and Take a Joke, and save 20% off the combined cover prices!

The Mighty Marvel Marketing Machine has provided Comics Alliance with a whole slew of Strange Tales II artwork in various states of process from the likes of Jaime Hernandez, Paul Hornschemeier, Frank Santoro and Ivan Brunetti. It is truly a bounty to behold.

After previous mentions in this space — see previous posts for additional blogger-blurbs — and possible early appearances at some comic shops, the following titles are on the official Diamond Comics Distributors shipping list for this week. Please check with your local shop to confirm availability. (Ordering in advance is always a good idea, too.) Previews and more info about each book, as always, at the links below:

21: The Story of Roberto Clemente
by Wilfred Santiago

200-page two-color 6.25" x 8" hardcover • $22.99
ISBN: 978-1-56097-892-3

"Wilfred Santiago's beautiful, intricately-told biography of the Pittsburgh Pirates icon manages to come out just in time for major league baseball's opening day. I think this is a work that people can return to a few times, meaning that if it's a novelty gift for someone -- something you buy for a baseball fan in your life that may not read a lot of comics, say -- it represents an enormous amount of value for that kind of book." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"All I know about baseball is that there are some bases and a ball, but from this PDF preview it looks like one of those books that fools you into thinking you like a sport when you clearly don’t, just because it’s presented so beautifully... Wilfred Santiago’s... art is amazingly expressive. Looks like a good’un." – Gosh! Comics

"Then there’s 21, the new biography of baseball player Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago, which looks pretty fantastic..." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"Just in time for opening day, it's Wilfred Santiago's beautiful biography of baseball legend, Roberto Clemente." – Benn Ray (Atomic Books), Largehearted Boy

"21 is an @meltdowncomics Pick of The Week!" — photo

The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980 (Vol. 15)
by Charles M. Schulz

Introduction by Al Roker; designed by Seth

344-page black & white 8.5" x 7" hardcover • $28.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-438-2

"One thing that may be lost as we pore over this volume and the next few looking for a shift in tone or approach is that these books are deeply pleasurable and Schulz became in the golden afternoon of his career a highly confident and supremely reliable cartoonist." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"...that Complete Peanuts Vol. 15 looks pretty spiffy as well..." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

R.I.P.: Best of 1985-2004
by Thomas Ott

192-page black & white 6.25" x 10" hardcover • $28.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-417-7

"This is one strong week for compelling comics visual makers! Bart Beaty reviewed the L'Association version of this book here." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"If you like murder, terror, mutilation, crime, nuclear annihilation, and the idea of a suicidal clown sticking a gun in his mouth, this is the very fellow for you." – Gosh! Comics

"...RIP collects the best stories by German horror artist Thomas Ott..." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

Mome Vol. 21 - Winter 2011
by various artists; edited by Eric Reynolds

"It's been a while since the book was previewed, but I remember the Sara Edward-Corbett cover-featured work being particularly strong, and I'm a fiend for what Josh Simmons is doing right now." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"… I’d have to make some tough decisions this week. Do I spend my initial $15 on the latest volume of Mome or on [other titles]...?" – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

And as usual, Joe McCulloch at TCJ.com:

"CONFLICT OF INTEREST RESERVOIR: Okay, a lot of this might have shown up in earlier weeks, but Diamond says it’s now. R.I.P.: Best of 1985-2004 collects works by Thomas Ott, reviewed by Sean T. Collins at this site here; $28.99. 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente is a new sporting biography by Wilfred Santiago; $22.99. The Complete Peanuts Vol. 15: 1979-1980 is a collection of superhero comics by Todd McFarlane, introduction by Al Roker; $28.99. And MOME Vol. 21 complies artists summarized by the link, although I’d be particular interested in new stand-alone Josh Simmons and a piece by Sergio Ponchione; $14.99."

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Technically (or so says Fantagraphics!) [Toys in the Basement] is a children's book. A children's book by way of your worst adult nightmare. Seriously if there's a child out there who could read this all the way through without pissing his pants, I would like to meet that child and lock him up before he does the rest of society some harm. Because this 'children's' book is twisted. And that's why I enjoyed it so much." – P.D. Houston, Renderwrx Productions

• Review: "...[Unlovable] is crushingly funny and achingly sad. [...] Drawn in a two colour, faux-grotesque manner (you can call it intentionally primitive and ugly if you want) the page by page snapshots of a social hurricane building to disaster is absolutely captivating. [...] Both these big little hardbacks... comprise a delightful and genuinely moving exploration of something eternal... and like those other imaginary diarists Nigel Molesworth, Bridget Jones and Adrian Mole Tammy Pierce’s ruminations and recordings have something ineffable yet concrete to contribute to the Wisdom of the Ages. Modern and Post-Ironic, Unlovable is unmissable; and now that the entire sorry saga is available in this superb and substantial collectors boxed set, you have the perfect opportunity to discover the how and why of girls and possibly learn something to change your life." – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!