Earlier this month, the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, NY kicked off their exhibit, LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel, an "examination of the use of sequential art as a significant form of visual communication, placing specific emphasis on the art of the contemporary graphic novel."

The exhibit features more than 200 original art works, including paintings, drawings, storyboards, and more, including work from our own Mark Kalesniko's Mail Order Bride!

And on Thursday, March 22, they'll be screening the film version of the Daniel Clowes classic Ghost World in the museum auditorium, at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM.

LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel runs through Sunday, April 29th. This exhibit is open to the public. Students with valid ID get reduced admission. Children age 6 and under are admitted for free. The Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute campus is located at 310 Genesee Street in Utica, New York.

Tuesday, March 13th

• Leuven, Belgium:  It's your last chance to check out the amazing Charles Burns exhibit at the Museum M Leuven, featuring more than 200 works, including original comic pages from Black Hole, as well as sketches and illustrations for magazines and books, his photographs. Can't make it to Belgium before Tuesday? See below or click here to watch video of Mr. Burns himself walking through the exhibit! (more info)

Thursday, March 15th

• Los Angeles, CA:  Join Joyce Farmer at the Los Angeles Public Library for the panel "From the Outside Looking In: Writers Finding Their Place in Los Angeles." Los Angeles Times book critic David L. Ulin will be moderating the discussion with Joyce and fellow L.A.-based writers Bernard Cooper, Lynell George, Marisela Norte, and Michael Tolkin. (more info)

Jaime Hernandez is hard at work inking his pages for Love and Rockets: New Stories #5 (coming this September). Instagram photo via Jaime’s partner Meg.

Playing a little loosey goosey with our schedule but still bringing you the new Nicolas Mahler Angelman page and another classic Up All Night strip from Michael Kupperman's vaults:

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Angelman by Nicolas Mahler (view at original size):

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

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Perhaps confusion is the probable reaction upon finding the complete works of a great cartoonist taking up such a small package, but the likely thought after finishing Is That All There Is? is absentmindedly wondering why there haven’t been more like Swarte, cartoonists who said their bit in no more than a few pages at a time. And of course, there have been. But... Swarte stands alone as the one who pulled off an entire fantastic career in something the length of a film screenplay or a longer novella. This book is a document of a true original’s contribution to comics, one that well outweighs its fifteen ounces and outstrips its 144 pages. Yes, that’s all there is, and it’s all you could possibly need." – Matt Seneca, The Comics Journal

• Plug: Librairie D&Q's 211 Bernard blog gives a nice spotlight to Diane Noomin's Glitz-2-Go

Visitors to the Real Comet Press Retrospective at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday will be among the first people on the planet to sample the latest Charles Burns-themed beer from Elysian Brewing. The 3rd installment of the 12 Beers of the Apocalypse, offically released on March 21, is a green cardamom ale called Fallout. That's appropriate becuase DJ Russ Fallout will be spinning art damaged punk platters from the 80s in honor of the heyday of Real Comet Press.

We have an amazing array of wonderful artworks, iconic graphics, rare books and long out-of-print comix by the many gifted authors, artists, critics, and cartoonists that helped lay the foundation for Seattle's later ascendence to the forefront of global pop culture. Real Comet Press publisher Cathy Hillenbrand is a goddam civic treasure. Join hosts Michale Dougan, Art Chantry, and Ruth Hayes as we show our appreciation for Cathy's countless contributions to the cultural climate of the region. 

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship to our mail-order customers:

Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron (8th Printing)
by Daniel Clowes

144-page black & white 7.5" x 11" softcover • $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-56097-116-0

See Previews / Order Now

Like a Velvet Glove... collects all 10 chapters of Eightball's terrifying and fascinating journey into madness that makes Twin Peaks look like Teletubbies. As Clay Loudermilk attempts to unravel the mysteries behind a snuff film, he finds himself involved with an increasingly bizarre cast of characters, including a pair of sadistic cops who carve a strange symbol into the heel of Clay's foot; a horny over-the-hill suburban woman whose sexual encounter with a mysterious water creature produced a grotesquely misshapen, but no less horny, mutant daughter; a dog with no orifices whatsoever (it has to be fed by injection); two ominous victims of extremely bad hair implants; a charismatic Manson-like cult leader who plans to kidnap a famous advice columnist and many more! This edition has a brand new cover, new title and end pages — PLUS — Clowes being the perfectionist that he is, there are tweaked and re-drawn panels that really make this a transcendent piece of storytelling art!

"Stunning, eerie, hilarious and surreal." – Spin

"Essential." – I-D

"Brilliant." – Village Voice

"Must be seen to be believed." – The Washington Post

"Incoherent, but engrossing." – World Art

"A genre-defining masterwork." – Bookforum

"A solid contender for best graphic novel of all time." – Giant

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• History: If you'd like to know more about the late Dale Yarger's tenure as Fantagraphics Art Director, this tribute by another erstwhile Fanta staffer Robert Boyd is a great place to start

• Review: "Bill Griffith, the one prominent figure of underground comix to reach the daily comic page mainstream, has delivered again with a phone book-sized volume both odd and pleasing.... Griffith, with his Zippy the Pinhead cartoon, which has been carried in dozens of daily newspapers since 1984, has had numerous reprint books, but none so exhaustive as Lost and Found. Day by day, week by week, year by year, Zippy reveals the oddness of post-modernity and opens up a large view of civilization both berserk and humorous, when viewed from what has been called 'the Zen of stupidity.' Nor has any previous collection contained such a substantial memoir as the artist’s introduction to this volume, 'Inside the Box.' Not even Griffophiles (or is it Zippophiles?) like this reviewer knew most of the details offered here..." – Paul Buhle, The Jewish Daily Forward

• Review: "...It is splendid news that a book compilation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's romance comics has appeared. Young Romance: The Best of Simon & Kirby's Romance Comics is both significant for its content and memorable for its quality of production." – Santiago García, Mandorla (translated from Spanish)

• Profile: Jim Woodring's in Homer, Alaska again for another residency at the Bunnell Street Arts Center; Michael Armstrong at HomerNews.com finds out what Jim's up to up there: "Sit down before him, and he might draw you. Hang with him, and he'll talk about art and cartooning. Walk around town on a nice day, and you can join him on an sketch tour, looking for cool things to draw."

While I personally wish we were putting out Gabrielle Bell's forthcoming collection The Voyeurs, I also couldn't be happier that it's coming out from her fellow Mome contributor Tom Kaczynski's Uncivilized Books. Get a closer look at the announcement on Gabrielle's blog.

We like the way the Cottesloe Theatre (the smallest of the 3 stages in London's National Theatre) labels their rechargable batteries with the names of Love and Rockets, Hate, Angry Youth Comix and Ghost World characters. Instagram photo (via Twitter) by Mike Winship, who informs us "Sadly, Maggie & Luba have been lost to the great battery dump in the sky*... (*ground)."