FLOG! Entries - March 2012

Always buckle up

mike

I'd like to take a rare personal moment here on Flog for a public service announcement: I walked away from this with a few minor scrapes and bruises yesterday. The other guy's OK too. Wear your seatbelts, folks.

This is also to explain why we've been relatively quiet the last couple of days as I've been taking some time off and to let you know we might miss posting some news and announcements in our usual timely-ish fashion for a little while as I try to catch up.

Jim Woodring Talks Emerald City Comicon on KUOW This Friday!

janice

Jim Woodring and Larry Reid (in the Love & Rockets t-shirt), with Mike Dean from The Comics Journal

Woodring hits the airwaves this Friday, March 30th on Seattle NPR station KUOW 94.9 FM!

Jim will be joined by Larry Reid, curator and manager of the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, for a chat about this weekend's Emerald City Comicon, and specifically our panel, "Northwest Noir: Seattle's Legacy of Counterculture Comix." What's the panel about? Why, I'm glad you asked:

In the mid-seventies a trio of gifted cartoonists emerged from The Evergreen State College in Olympia: Seattle's Lynda Barry and Charles Burns, and Matt Groening from Portland. Their influence helped attract a new generation of cartoonists that fashioned a new comix movement. Among them; Jim Woodring, Joe Sacco, and Peter Bagge. Coupled with this new comix movement was the creation of prominent publisher Fantagraphics Books. The global popularity of the Grunge movement elevated alternative comix to unprecedented heights and firmly established the region as the center of this new form. By the dawn of the millennia, Seattle and Portland boasted no fewer than 6 alternative comix publishing houses. Learn more about the connection between the Northwest and "Alternative" comics in this lively panel Q&A. Panelist include cartoonists Jim Woodring and Ellen Forney, Real Comet Press publisher Cathy Hillenbrand, and Fantagraphics Books associate publisher Eric Reynolds. Moderated by Larry Reid of Fantagraphics Bookstore.

Tune in this Friday morning at 9:00 AM PT to hear more about it from Jim and Larry themselves! And then join us at the panel at 6:00 PM in Room 3AB at the Emerald City Comicon!

Can't make it to Comicon, but still wanna hang out with Jim and Larry? Guess what! If you're 21 or older, you can attend our FREE Emerald City Comicon Pinball Party on Saturday, March 31st at Shorty's Pinball Emporium [ 2222 2nd Avenue ]! There are prizes galore, including the grand prize of a colorful Jim Woodring-designed back glass from the forthcoming Frank pinball machine. Click here for all the details!

Monte Schulz Book Tour for The Big Town!

janice

Author Monte Schulz will be bringing his captivating novel of the Jazz Age to the West Coast this Spring!

The Big Town is the story of a failed businessman whose dreams of prosperity hinge on the secret proposition of a millionaire industrialist and a dangerous relationship he finds with a poor orphan girl chasing love in the great American metropolis.

Come meet this engaging storyteller and get your copy of the book signed!

April 3rd
Chaucer’s Books
3321 State Street
Santa Barbara CA 93105

April 4th
Skylight Books
1818 North Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027

April 10th
Modern Times Bookstore Collective
2919 24th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

April 11th
Copperfields
775 Village Court
Santa Rosa, CA 95405

April 12th
BookPassage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925

May 10th
Tsunami Books
2585 Willamette Street
Eugene, OR 97405

The Big Town by Monte Schulz - Now in Stock

mike

Now in stock in our warehouse and ready to ship to our mail-order customers:

The Big Town
by Monte Schulz

440-page hardcover • $29.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-503-7

See Previews / Order Now

A novel of the Jazz Age, The Big Town is the story of a failed businessman whose dreams of prosperity hinge on the secret proposition of a millionaire industrialist and a dangerous relationship he finds with a poor orphan girl chasing love in the great American metropolis.

Harry Hennesey’s hopes of success, both in his household and the world, have driven him to sell his home in an Illinois small town and take his chances in the big city. He rents a room in a run-down hotel. He deals in wholesale items scavenged from yard sales and close-outs. One night at a movie theater downtown, he meets a teenage flapper named Pearl who latches onto him and won’t let go. For several years now, Harry has threatened his marriage and self-esteem with innumerable infidelities. Now he finds himself falling in love with a girl less than half his age. But that’s not all.

Charles A. Follette, chairman of the board of the American Prometheus Corporation, comes to him with a slick proposition: find Follette’s missing niece, and the road to riches shall be his. Soon, though, Harry discovers a darker secret to the identity of the missing niece and what lies behind the urgency for her detection. It’s this revelation that leads him to a closer examination of what it means to the life he’s known since the birth of his children and that life he believes awaits him if he can only reach the top of the ladder.

Harry’s story in The Big Town is set against a fantastic backdrop of an archetypal 1920s American big city. We see speakeasies, sanitariums, skyscrapers, and a glittering Gatsby-like party high atop the metropolis. Lost in his own moral confusions, we watch Harry try to reform his young lover and uncover the secret of her own past in a small canal town miles beyond a city where gangsters murder ordinary citizens and everyone seems to have a get-rich scheme as the Roaring ’20s come to a thunderous close. The Big Town evokes a lost era through language and flamboyant characters reminiscent of Fitzgerald, Dos Passos, Ring Lardner, etc. Yet it’s also eerily relevant to our own time with its study of the role of business, crime, morality, and love in our lives.

Advance Praise for The Big Town:

"Monte Schulz's The Big Town exposes decadence, wealth and consumption in Jazz Age America as spiritual myopia — where desperate, haunting characters hinge their lives on impossible dreams. This lyrical, gripping novel is as close to 1920s America as it gets, and penned with such frightening realism that the chaos of a bygone era erupts from its pages." – Simon Van Booy, award-winning author of Everything Beautiful Began After

"Bold and stirring, The Big Town is a big walk through the dark side of Jazz Age America, a place where temptation and violence were only a breath away. A finely-textured tale of moral ambiguity told with gripping realism that richly evokes the sights and sounds of an era defined by gangsters and Gatsby." — Persia Walker, author of Black Orchid Blues

New Comics Day 3/28/12: The Sincerest Form of Parody, Cinema Panopticum

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.

The Sincerest Form of Parody: The Best 1950s MAD-Inspired Satirical Comics
by various artists; edited by John Benson

192-page full-color 7.25" x 10.25" softcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-511-2

"Before there were knockoffs of MAD-the-magazine like Cracked and Crazy... there were a whole lot of knockoffs of MAD-the-comic-book, like Whack, Nuts, Eh, Unsane... This John Benson-edited anthology collects work from a bunch of them." – Douglas Wolk, ComicsAlliance

"On the historical side, Fantagraphics brings us The Sincerest Form of Parody: The Best 1950s MAD Inspired Satirical Comics ($24.99). KC’s working on a review that we’ll have for you shortly [since posted here – Ed.]." – Joanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading

"I was well aware of the number of imitators that attempted to capitalize on Kurtzman and company’s success early on, but didin’t know much more than that. Were any of these comics any good? Hopefully this book will let me know." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"Editor John Benson follows up 2010′s excellent Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s [John Benson provided editorial consultation and contributed to the back matter for Four Color Fear, but the book was edited by Greg Sadowski – Ed.] with The Sincerest Form of Parody: The Best 1950s MAD-Inspired Satirical Comics, culling choice bits from humor magazines by Atlas, Charlton, Harvey and the like; $24.99." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

"The success of MAD Magazine lead to a number of 1950s knock-offs. This book collects some of the of the finest examples of non-MAD parody comics, featuring work by Jack Davis, Will Elder, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, Bill Everett, Bob Powell, and many more. Portzebie!" – Benn Ray (Atomic Books), Largehearted Boy

Cinema Panopticum (Softcover Ed.)
by Thomas Ott

104-page black & white 6.5" x 9.25" softcover • $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-485-6

"And readers that missed out on Thomas Ott’s 2005 collection of wordless works can now enjoy a softcover edition of Cinema Panopticum; $16.99." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

"Love reading comics but find all the words a drag? Then Thomas Ott's wordless, gorgeous and haunting scratchboard horror stories are just the thing for you." – Benn Ray (Atomic Books), Largehearted Boy

"I assume this is a new edition of the Thomas Ott, in which case I already have it. If you don't, those books tend to hold up really well over time." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

Daily OCD: 3/27/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: Pitchfork gives the Listen, Whitey! companion album an 8.0, with Stephen M. Deusner writing "Perhaps the most powerful aspect of Listen, Whitey! The Sound of Black Power 1967-1974 -- the album and the book, both representing many years' research by historian Pat Thomas -- is how they portray a music in flux: Artists such as the Watts Prophets, the Original Last Poets, Shahid Quintet, and Marlena Shaw were only just realizing the potential for cross-genre synthesis and for radical political statement through music.... Thomas is interested in depicting Black Power music at street level rather than playlisting the most popular songs of the era. ...[B]y focusing on the range of music inspired by this movement, Listen, Whitey! allows so much of the confusion, outrage, anger, emotion, humor, and even optimism of this music to resonate anew."

• Review: "I had always meant to read Love and Rockets, but it might be possible that I've given myself a gift by waiting until I'm at this point in my life. My reading now, in my 40s might be more nuanced, and less surface than having read them 20 years ago. I'm going to recommend the series. There is an element of sexuality, but not sexism. And there's an element of Bohemianism as well. However, I guess Love and Rockets is like a complicated wine: what you taste at first isn't the taste that lingers as you look a little closer." – Catherine Schaff-Stump, Writer Tamago

• Analysis: More from The Hooded Utilitarian's critical roundtable on Jaime Hernandez, with Jenny Gonzalez-Blitz discussing her personal history with the Locas stories

Prince Valiant, Love and Rockets tributes wanted for Comic-Con Souvenir Book

Eric

San Diego Comic-Con is celebrating the 75th anniversary of Prince Valiant and the 30th anniversary of Love and Rockets. They're looking for quality tribute art and articles that are suitable for all ages for their Souvenir Book. Submission guidelines can be found at http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_souvenir_book.php. The deadline for submissions is April 20.

Announcing Peter Bagge at Stumptown 2012!

janice

Fantagraphics is thrilled to announce that Peter Bagge will be a special guest at the 9th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland!

Join us on Saturday, April 29th and Sunday, April 30th at the Oregon Convention Center [ 777 NE ML King Blvd. ]. Tickets are on sale now, so don't miss out! And stay tuned to the FLOG for more details about our Stumptown weekend.

Jacques Boyreau Brings Black Terminator to Seattle!

janice

Fantagraphics editor Jacques Boyreau presents the perfect "Sci-Fi Cheap Date" this Friday, March 30th at the Northwest Film Forum, in celebration of the 10th Annual Emerald City Comicon!

Jacques, along with fellow curators Tim Colley and Darren Aboulafia, have concocted a SuperTrash mix of sci-fi-fantasy trailers, blistering 80s metal and provocative situations, including a meditation upon fire itself. This 90-minute program will delight nerds of all genders and possibly be worthy of taking notes. Trailers include Space Amoeba, Funky Forest: The First Contact, Xtro 2, Dark Breed, Screamers, Super Inframan and Alien Intruder. Plus, it's your chance to meet Black Terminator! Prepare to have your mind blown starting at 11:00 PM at the Northwest Film Forum [ 1515 12th Ave in the Capitol Hill neighborhood ].

You can also meet Mr. Boyreau and Mr. Black Terminator at the Fantagraphics booth at the Emerald City Comicon on Sunday, April 1st from 2:00 to 4:00 PM! Come by, and get your copy of Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box signed!

Daniel Clowes at Meltdown in Los Angeles!

janice

Watch Daniel Clowes meltdown at Meltdown in Los Angeles! (Just kidding; we're sure he'll be fine!)

Join Dan on Thursday, April 5th for this very special celebration of his new collection The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist, from Abrams ComicArts. The evening will be hosted by Blair Butler (of G4's Fresh Ink), and there will be an interview conducted by Mark Frauenfelder of BoingBoing, followed by a Q&A!

The event starts at 8:00 PM, but get there early! If you purchase one copy of the new book from Meltdown, you'll be granted two tickets to this event. An extra ticket can then be purchased for $10. But you can't buy individual tickets, so bring a buddy and join the fun at Meltdown Comics [ 7522 Sunset Blvd ].

inside back cover of Ghost World: Special Edition by Daniel Clowes

And at 6:00 PM, it's the First Annual "Enid Coleslaw" Meet-Up at Nerdmelt [ also 7522 Sunset Blvd ], the "nerdy little comedy theater that is the marriage between Nerdist Industries and Meltdown Comics."

Nerdmelt is inviting everyone to "wear your glasses, your favorite Enid looks, and your best bored expression" for an Enid Coleslaw cosplay night. Seeing as how a lot of my friends look like Enid no matter what, I wonder how many ladies are gonna wander on to that scene unsuspectingly!

There will be photo-ops, and a screening of the film version of Ghost World to get everyone pumped up for Dan's arrival. So, get ready for a Clowes Celebration in L.A.!

The Sincerest Form of Parody: The Best 1950s MAD-Inspired Satirical Comics - Previews, Now in Stock

mike

Now available for immediate shipment from our mail-order department:

The Sincerest Form of Parody: The Best 1950s MAD-Inspired Satirical Comics
by various artists; edited by John Benson

192-page full-color 7.25" x 10.25" softcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-511-2

See Previews / Order Now

"What, me imitated?"

When MAD became a surprise hit as a comic book in 1953 (after the early issues lost money!) other comics publishers were quick to jump onto the bandwagon, eventually bringing out a dozen imitations with titles like FLIP, WHACK, NUTS, CRAZY, WILD, RIOT, EH, UNSANE, BUGHOUSE, and GET LOST. The Sincerest Form of Parody collects the best and the funniest material from these comics, including parodies of movies (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, From Here To Eternity), TV shows (What's My Line, The Late Show), comic strips (Little Orphan Annie, Rex Morgan), novels (I, the Jury), plays (Come Back, Little Sheba), advertisements (Rheingold Beer, Charles Atlas), classic literature ("The Lady or the Tiger"), and history (Pancho Villa). Some didn't even try for parody, but instead published odd, goofy, off-the-wall stories.

These earnest copiers of MAD realized that Will Elder's cluttered "chicken fat" art was a good part of MAD’s success, and these pages are densely packed with all sorts of outlandish and bizarre gags that make for hours of amusing reading. The "parody comics" are uniquely "'50s," catching the popular culture zeitgeist through a dual lens: not only reflecting fifties culture through parody but also being themselves typical examples of that culture (in a way that Harvey Kurtzman’s MAD was not).

This unprecedented volume collects over 30 of the best of these crazy, undisciplined stories, all reprinted from the original comics in full color. Editor John Benson (who wrote the annotations for the first complete MAD reprints, and interviewed MAD editor Harvey Kurtzman in depth several times over the years) also provides expert, profusely illustrated commentary and background, including comparisons of how different companies parodied the same subject.

Artists represented include Jack Davis, Will Elder, Norman Maurer, Carl Hubbell, William Overgard, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, Bill Everett, Al Hartley, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, Hy Fleischman, Jay Disbrow, Howard Nostrand, and Bob Powell.

Casual comics readers are probably familiar with the later satirical magazines that continued to be published in the '60s and '70s, such as Cracked and Sick, but the comics collected in this volume were imitations of the MAD comic book, not the magazine, and virtually unknown among all but the most die-hard collectors. For the first time, Fantagraphics is collecting the best of these comics in a single, outrageously funny volume.

Download and read a 14-page PDF excerpt (6.1 MB) which includes the Table of Contents.

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

Daily OCD: 3/23-3/26/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Plugs: Cynthia Clark Harvey of the Phoenix New Times looks at "Noteworthy Graphic Novels by Women," including C. Tyler's You'll Never Know — "The first two installments of Tyler's wonderful trilogy, a memoir about her father's WWII soldiering and its effects on her family, were on best and award lists. I liked Book 1 and loved Book 2, leaving me on tenterhooks for Book 3..." — and Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons — "...as I look at O'Connor's early cartoons, I'm sure I'll be thinking: What if she were working today? What if she'd been able to fully express her literary vision with her first love, comics? What if Flannery O'Connor wrote Wise Blood as a graphic novel? Imagine that."

• Review: VICE's Nick Gazin looks at some of his favorite strips from The Complete Peanuts 1983-1984: "There's this one where Schroeder actually tries to communicate his understanding of beauty to Lucy. Of course Lucy doesn't really care about his inner world, she's just a groupie and wants the idea of Schroeder. It answers the question of what would happen if Schroeder actually gave Lucy the time of day. This is a moment where it seems like Sparky is really opening up to us about his own personal ways of relating to women, falling in love with distant princesses. It also harkens back to that scene in Citizen Kane when a guy mentions that he never forgot a beautiful girl he saw crossing the street decades earlier."

• Plug: "The Complete Peanuts 1983-1984 – holy cow, we’re purt’near the home stretch on the Peanuts reprint books…we’re what, eight, nine books away from the end? It hardly seems possible." – Mike Sterling, Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin

• Review: "Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 1 by Robert Crumb — This is a newly revamped edition of the inaugural volume, featuring some new, (I’m assuming) just discovered art... The real discovery here is the Jim and Mabel story, as Crumb is able to wring an amazing amount of depth and characterization from this seemingly simple story of a surly twenty-something woman bringing lunch to the elementary school kid who’s got a crush on her. As raw and awkward as it is at times it’s also rather poignant and shows how skilled he was at an early age." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

• Review (Audio): Calgary, AB comic shop Phoenix Comics has a podcast and Jason's Athos in America is discussed on the latest episode

• Review (Audio): Washington, DC (and environs) comic shop Big Planet Comics also has a podcast and call Kolor Klimax: Nordic Comics Now "one of the best anthologies I've ever read" on the Feb. 24, 2012 episode (review starts at 35:40; thanks to KK editor Matthias Wivel for the info)

• Review (Audio): And on the March 23 episode of the Big Planet Comics podcast the hosts discuss Nancy Is Happy: Complete Dailies 1943-1945: "Talk about a beautiful book... it's laugh out loud funny..."

• Plug: "Having read and reread and rereread the previous Nancy strip collections and nearly committing all their contents to memory, having some new (relatively speaking) material to enjoy really is a treat." – Mike Sterling, Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin

• Book Reports: For a fresh critical perspective, check out the student reviews of many graphic novels published by us and others collected at the Graphic Novels Reading Rainbow blog (and the accompanying photos and illustrations can be a hoot too)

• Analysis: More from The Hooded Utilitarian's critical roundtable on Jaime Hernandez, with Richard Cook discussing the lesbian relationships in the Locas stories

• Interview: The debut issue of Christopher Irving's new comics magazine The Drawn Word includes an interview with John Kerschbaum; the magazine is a buck to download on Graphicly

Daniel Clowes Interview at Kadist in San Francisco!

janice

We're excited to announce the great Daniel Clowes will be the special guest at the Kadist Art Foundation this Wednesday, March 28th!

Join Dan at 6:00 PM as he is interviewed by Rene de Guzman, Senior Curator of Art at the Oakland Museum of California. Don't miss the chance to hear them talk about Dan's career, as well as his upcoming exhibition opening at OMCA on April 14.

The Kadist Art Foundation is located at 3295 20th Street in San Francisco.

This Week in Fantagraphics Events: 3/26-4/2

janice

Monday, March 26th

• Columbus, OH: Paul Hornschemeier will be leading an adult writing workshop for the graphic novel at Thurber House. (more info)

• Tokyo, Japan: The group show Three Sides Chicago: Squares, Squirrels & Dots opens at the at Shibuya Parco B1F LIBRO, featuring the work of Archer Prewitt, alongside Sam Prekop and Eric Claridge. (more info)

• Northridge, CA: Gilbert, Jaime, & Mario Hernandez will be speaking to Professor Charles Hatfield's class on Monday, March 26th at the California State University, Northridge (in greater Los Angeles). This event is open to the public, not just students! (more info)

Tuesday, March 27th

• New York, NY: Get ready for another editior of The Crime Stoppers Club with Michael Kupperman and co-host Kate Beaton! This month, they welcome Dave Hill, Victor Vardnado, Domitille Collardey, Jim Torok, and Corey Pandolphfor a night of laughter and imagery. This free event starts at 7:00 PM at Luca Lounge. (more info)

Wednesday, March 28th

• Columbus, OH: Paul Hornschemeier will be leading a young writer's studio at Thurber House. (more info)

• San Francisco, CA: Daniel Clowes will be interviewed by Rene de Guzman, Senior Curator of Art at the Oakland Museum of California, at the Kadist Art Foundation! More details coming to the FLOG very soon!

Thursday, March 29th

• New York, NY: Kim Deitch will be on a panel discussing comic and graphic arts biographies for the 4th Annual Leon Levy Conference! (more info)

Friday, March 30th

• Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics kicks off the weekend at the 10th Annual Emerald City Comicon! Meet Ellen Forney at 5:00 PM and Jim Woodring at 7:00 PM. Both artists will be part of our 6:00 PM panel "Northwest Noir: Seattle's Legacy of Counterculture Comix," with Real Comet Press publisher Cathy Hillenbrand, and Fantagraphics Books associate publisher Eric Reynolds. Moderated by Larry Reid of Fantagraphics Bookstore. (more info)

Saturday, March 31st

• Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics continues our appearance at the Emerald City Comicon at Booth 704 with special guests: Bill Schelly (editor of The Art of Joe Kubert) at 11:00 AM, Michel Gagné (editor of Young Romance: The Best of Simon & Kirby's Romance Comics) at 2:00 PM, and Jim Woodring at 5:00 PM. (more info)

• Seattle, WA: Camille Rose Garcia will be signing her latest at Roq La Rue in the Belltown neighborhood. (more info)

• Seattle, WA: Join Fantagraphics for the Emerald City Comicon Pinball Party at Shorty's, with your host Jim Woodring! Free fun for all comix and pinball enthusiasts over the age of 21! (more info)

• Columbus, OH: Otterbein professor of philosophy Andrew Mills will speak about Paul Hornschemeier's work in a philosophical context at this free event at the Columbus Museum of Art. (more info)

Sunday, April 1st

• Seattle, WA: It's your last day to visit us at the Emerald City Comicon! Stop by our booth between 2:00 to 3:30 PM to meet Jacques Boyreau, editor of Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box! (more info)

Larry Reid's Other Obsession at the Wright Exhibition Space!

janice

photo credit: Grant M. Haller/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Everyone knows about the insane art and comix collection of our own local legend Larry Reid, curator and manager of the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery.

But do you know about his other secret obsession? ... I'll give you a clue. It rhymes with "nascar," and, um, it's NASCAR.

The Wright Exhibition Space in Seattle has blown Larry's cover with their latest exhibition Collecting: Art is a Slippery Slope, a look at what art collectors, dealers, and artists themselves collect when they're not collecting, y'know, art. Everything from folding chairs to mixers are on display alongside Larry's auto-racing lunchboxes and model kits.

The Wright Exhibition Space is located at 407 Dexter Avenue North in Seattle. The exhibit runs through May 26th, and is free.

And it's free to visit Larry at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, located at 1201 S. Vale Street in Seattle's Georgetown district. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: (206) 658-0110.

Kim Deitch at the 4th Annual Leon Levy Conference!

janice

This year's theme for the 4th Annual Leon Levy Conference is "Varieties of Biography," and who better to discuss comic and graphic arts biographies than our own Kim Deitch?

Kim will be on a panel alongside Matt Madden, Miriam Katin, Lauren Redniss, and Ariel Schrag this Thursday, March 29th at 3:00 PM! Join them at Elebash Recital Hall at the CUNY Graduate Center [ 365 Fifth Avenue, New York City ].

There's panels going all day long, and they're all free and open to the public! Reservations are not required, and seating is first come, first served.

Archer Prewitt Art Shows in Japan!

janice

OhmyGOD. Our friends at PressPop have curated the show of my comic/music/critter-lovin' dreams!!!

Three Sides Chicago: Squares, Squirrels & Dots spotlights the work of Archer Prewitt, alongside Sam Prekop and Eric Claridge, who also happen to be his bandmates in The Sea & Cake.

The Tokyo exhibit opens today (Monday, March 26th) in Tokyo at Shibuya Parco B1F LIBRO, and when the show closes on April 8th, all three gentlemen (pun not intended) will be at the store for a signing!

And then on April 4th, a simultaneous show will open at the Trancepop Gallery in Kyoto featuring different artwork from the Tokyo show! Archer, Eric & Sam will be there for the opening reception for a signing, as well. The exhibit will run in Kyoto until April 22nd.

Hmm, how about a Seattle show?? Whaddaya say, Presspop?!

New Comics Day 3/21/12

mike

Sorry this slipped through the cracks last week, everyone!

Last Wednesday's comic shop shipment included 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.

Nancy Is Happy: Complete Dailies 1943-1945
by Ernie Bushmiller
introduction by Daniel Clowes

336-page black & white 8.5" x 8.5" flexibound softcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-360-6

"This is lovely material, lovingly presented, as satisfying a production-style execution of a strip collection as I've seen in a long while. And that's not exactly a category light on well-executed books." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"A big fat square brick of Ernie Bushmiller's poker-faced masterwork. Fantagraphics has had this on the schedule for eons; good to see it finally coming out!" – Douglas Wolk, ComicsAlliance

"I’ve never really delved into Ernie Bushmiller’s iconic creation before but I know there are plenty of folk who consider it a near-Zen masterpiece and I’m curious as to the effect sitting down with a sizable block of Nancy strips will have on me. Perhaps my third inner eye will finally open!" – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"If you didn’t see it last week, gird your loins for Nancy Is Happy: Complete Dailies 1943-1945, presenting the Ernie Bushmiller classic from materials scanned mainly from the collection of Dan Clowes, who provides an introduction..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

"The new @fantagraphics Nancy collection is so goddamn funny I can barely handle it." – Secret Headquarters

"There are other new comics out today, too, I guess, but I don’t know why they bothered." – Mike Sterling

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

"...the best of the stand-alone new indy/alt printings..." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

Down with OPP*: Snow White

janice

* Other People's Publications
** Yeah, You Know Me.

Once Upon A Time... the FLOG kicked off an occasional column titled "Down With OPP," where we spotlighted books from other publishers that you can find at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle. And this week, we're looking at The Brothers Grimm's Snow White, as illustrated by our own Camille Rose Garcia, out now on Harper Design, an imprint of HarperCollins.

I love the way Camille captures the classic story with her whimsical watercolor illustrations! The colors are vibrantly reproduced on glossy pages in this petite hard-bound book, with some fanciful font treatments narrating the story. You can watch video of Camille working on the book here.

Camille will be celebrating the release of Snow White with a signing at Roq La Rue here in Seattle this Saturday, March 31st. And then join us down the street at Shorty's [ 2222 2nd Avenue ] for the Emerald City Comicon Pinball Party! Camille will be a special guest, and a signed copy of her wonderful Fantagraphics title, The Magic Bottle, will be just one of our many excellent prizes!

And find your "happily ever after" at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, located at 1201 S. Vale Street in Seattle's Georgetown district. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: (206) 658-0110.

Things to See (and Buy): Dave Cooper's print for Paris

mike

"forty dave cooper characters for Paris, 2011"
Serigraph Print, edition of 85
19.5 x 27.5″
Rivoli paper, acid free, 280 gr. 1 colour
$78

More info, close-up and signing pics, and a link to buy are all on Dave's blog. Suh-weet.