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!

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

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.  

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!

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.!

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.

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)   

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.

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.

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?!