Two panels from VAULT OF EVIL #9 (1973, Marvel): 

Happy Memorial Day everyone. Here's two sketchbooks to help make up for my less than daily posting the last couple weeks, courtesy Megan Kelso and Brian Ralph:

Opening June 7 at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, a Steve Brodner solo exhibit titled "Raw Nerve." See a preview here. (Via Steve's "Person of the day" blog.)

Here's the past week's worth of blogospheric activity that we've found:

• Occasional Superheroine says Kevin Huizenga's Ganges #2 is "a must-have"

• Sequart on Ganges #2 and Matt Broersma's Insomnia #3

• The Star Clipper Blog on The Living and the Dead by Jason

• I Against Comics and the North Coast Journal on The Education of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez

• Chris Beckett profiles our Mome anthology series and interviews co-editor Gary Groth

It's time for your weekly installment of Steven Weissman's "Chocolate Cheeks"! Ribs says this week's strip is "totally gangster style!" (Remember, you must be registered and logged in to read.)

Fantagraphics & Rocketship present:

Join the acclaimed European master cartoonist JASON for a pre-MoCCA kickoff party, art show, and world premiere of his new book, POCKET FULL OF RAIN.

WHO: JASON
WHAT: Opening reception, book signing and MoCCA pre-party
WHERE: Rocketship
208 Smith St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 • 718.797.1348
WHEN: Friday, June 6, 8PM

Join cartoonist JASON for a rare North American exhibition of original art and the world premiere of his new collection, POCKET FULL OF RAIN.

One of the most acclaimed cartoonists of the last decade, Jason is a multiple Harvey and Eisner Award-winner whose work Publisher's Weekly describes as "Cross Ingmar Bergman with Walt Kelly and Raymond Carver and you may have some idea of what Norwegian cartoonist Jason's work is like... one of the medium's finest storytellers.

National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie says, "Jason's work is poetry. Beautiful and frightening. Redemptive and hopeless. He is the Kafka and Keats of the comic world."

JASON was born on the 16th of August 1965 in Molde, Norway. His acclaimed Eurpoean comic book series, MJAU MJAU, first gained him international recognition, including an appearance in the French publisher L'Association's epochal COMIX 2000 project, and publishers from other countries began picking up his work, including Fantagraphics in the U.S.

Jason's graphic novels include the autobiographical HEY, WAIT, the classic murder mystery THE IRON WAGON, the two-color Frankenstein parody YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE, and the full-color thrillers WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?, THE LEFT BANK GANG, I KILLED ADOLF HITLER, as well as THE LIVING AND THE DEAD and most recently, the swashbuckling sci-fi comedy THE LAST MUSKETEER.

Rocketship will premiere Jason's latest English-language book, POCKET FULL OF RAIN, collecting a selection of his earlier work, including the graphic novel "Lomma" and several early short stories.

New Yorkers will recognize Jason from his prestigious "Funny Pages" slot in the NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY MAGAZINE, which has been serializing his chess western "Low Moon" since early this year.

After sojourns in Denmark, Belgium, and several cities in the U.S., the peripatetic cartoonist currently makes his home in Montpellier, France. In addition to the Rocketship event, Jason will be appearing Saturday and Sunday at the MoCCA Arts Festival at the Puck Building in Mnahattan's Lower East Side.

The reception for the artist will begin at Rocketship on Friday, June 6 at 8:00PM. Admission is free to the public of all ages. MoCCA attendees and exhibitors will also be able to pick up their badges at the event as well.  

Courtesy Ron Rege, Jr.:

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS & JIM HANLEY'S UNIVERSE PRESENT:

SATURDAY, JUNE 7, 8PM (after MoCCA)

Fantagraphics Books and Jim Hanley's Universe are proud to present a very special event on the evening of Saturday, June 7, to coincide with Fantagraphics' appearance at the 2008 MoCCA Arts Festival.

Join noted Steve Ditko scholar BLAKE BELL for the world premiere of his eagerly-anticipated book, STRANGE & STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO, along with an exclusive screening of Jonathan Ross's acclaimed BBC documentary, "IN SEARCH OF STEVE DITKO." Bell will also give a powerpoint presentation and talk on Ditko's work and career and answer questions from the audience.

Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko is the first critical retrospective of Steve Ditko, the co-creator and original artist of the Amazing Spider-Man. The book explodes many of the myths of Ditko's career, and presents reams of rare and unpublished Ditko artwork. All at once, the book functions as a biography of the artist and an examination of his work (spotlighting over 300 images) with commentary on what makes Ditko one of history's greatest sequential storytellers. Following the June 7 premiere, the book will be widely available in stores later in the month.

TITLE INFORMATION:
Strange & Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko
By Blake Bell
$39.99 Hardcover
220 pages, full-color, 9" x 12"
ISBN 978-1-56097-921-0
PUBLICATION DATE: June 2008

LISTING INFORMATION:
WHO: Noted Steve Ditko expert BLAKE BELL
WHAT: The World Premiere of STRANGE &
STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO
WHEN: Saturday, June 7, 8PM
WHERE: Jim Hanley's Universe
4 West 33rd, NYC (off Fifth Ave, opposite Empire State Bldg.)

2008 is the year when Steve Ditko fans the world over will have the opportunity to celebrate the artist's 50-plus year career with this definitive volume from Blake Bell and Fantagraphics Books. And it all starts June 7 in Ditko's hometown of New York City.

... to Large-Hearted Boy.