Last Fall, Megan Kelso gave a presentation at Seattle's Richard Hugo House. As she describes it, "It's about a lot of stuff -- reading Moby Dick, my midlife crisis, financial woe and the creative process."

If you missed it, or if you loved it so much you want to see it again, you'll have your chance this coming Wednesday, May 16th as part of a local poetry series called "Breadline" hosted at Vermillion Gallery [ 1508 11th Ave, Seattle ]. This free, all-ages event kicks off at 7:00 PM!

Get "ruined" ...and on a Monday night, no less!

It's time for another launch in our 12 Beers of the Apocalypse series, a collaboration with our friends at the Elysian Brewing Company. Join us on Monday, May 21st, and try "Ruin," a Rosemary Agave IPA, available on draft, and in exclusive 22 oz. bottles with labels featuring the artwork of the great Charles Burns from his weirdly apocalyptic Black Hole series.

The official tapping begins at 6:00 PM, followed by a survival demo by Bryan at 7:30 PM, with "apocalyptic amusements" until 9:00 PM. Come by and collect the next stamp in your Apocalypse Beer Survival Guide. Fill your book with survival item stamps at our Apocalypse events throughout the year for an outstanding experience at our final End of the World Celebration on 12.20.12! 

So, come survive the rapture with us at Elysian Brewing Company, located at 1221 E. Pike Street in Seattle! As always: the end is BEER!

In this short video, Jim Woodring reveals the 27-foot mural he painted in Facebook’s Seattle offices a couple of weeks ago (with assistance from his son Max). No, he was not paid in stock.

Harold and Maude FINALLY on Criterion AND with cover art by Jordan Crane? Somebody pinch me! (And then gimme 30 bucks so I can run out and buy it when it's released next month.)

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "In Athos in America , the ideas behind the first three stories are so clever and punchy that they carry the rest of the anthology. Furthermore, the stories are constructed such that, due to their structure alone, any further padding would be impossible. In many ways, Athos In America feels like the artist looking back at his body of work to date... Despite his style, Jason is quite effective in modulating emotion from story to story, going from gags to violence to tragedy, sometimes all in the same story. Jason is in total control of all aspects of his storytelling, and, even after a decade straight of ambitious publishing, it seems as if he’s just getting warmed up." – Rob Clough, The Comics Journal

• Review: "Isle of 100,000 Graves was even better than I expected, and that’s saying a lot about a pirate comic by one of my favorite cartoonists. I’ve only ever read Jason’s short story collections before now, so this was my first introduction to his long-form work. It’s funny, adventurous, and totally had me rooting for wily little Gwenny and her unlucky pirate companion as they searched for Gwenny’s missing dad in an island school for executioners." – Michael May, Robot 6

• Review: At The Comics Journal it's Tucker Stone on Love and Rockets Vol. I No. 2: "There’s so much to love in here, and Gary Groth’s overly excited, Gaddis-quoting essay really sets a wonderful tone. This thing stinks of comics, it’s wet and messy."

• Links: Love & Maggie have another roundup of items of Love and Rockets interest from around the web

Congrats to Ellen Forney, shortlisted for The 2012 Stranger Genius Award for Literature! Ellen's worked with us (and The Stranger) for years and even though we're not putting out her next book, the graphic memoir Marbles, we're all looking forward to it eagerly! You may recall Jim Woodring won this prize a couple of years ago — kudos to The Stranger's critics for continuing to recognize comics with their Literature award. (Photo for The Stranger by Kelly O.)

Some 16 to 17 years ago, I formed a vague friendship with a young writer named Joshua Glenn under the most tenuous of possible ways for sincere friendship to incubate: between the professional relationship of writer (him) and publicist (me). I have enjoyed Josh's vision and intellect and from the first issue of his zine, HERMENAUT (one of the unequivocally great periodicals of the 1990s), and thru his more recent endeavors, like the website HILOBROW . Through some minor miracle, we've managed throughout the years to have some reason, however ambiguous at times, to stay in touch.

And now! Full circle! It's 2012, and our friendship risks being crushed by the burden of professionalism yet again: this time as publisher / author. (And you thought the writer/publicist relationship was dicey!)

See, Josh and his brilliant co-conspirator, Rob Walker, have created this book called SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS. And we are publishing it. And it is wonderful! And I am proud! And the first advance copies have just arrived!

Seriously, putting this book together with Josh and Rob and Jacob Covey was one of my favorite book experiences ever, and now it exists! And it is BEAUTIFUL! This is the part of publishing that never gets old. I insist that when you see it in a bookstore, you pick it up. Feel it. Fondle it. Flip thru it. It begs to be fetishized. It doesn't feel like a normal book. You'll see, you'll see... It feels more... significant. 

Come to Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery this Saturday, May 12 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM and discover emerging artists associated with Zack Soto’s Portland-based publishing house Study Group. Enjoy an exhibition of original art, prints and book works by an array of independent cartoonists that represent some of the best in the small press movement.

Join Zack Soto, T. Edward Bak, Ian MacEwan, Kazimir Strzepek, and other exhibiting artists at this festive art opening. This event coincides with the colorful Georgetown Art Attack featuring visual and performing arts presentations throughout the historic arts community.

Fantagraphics Bookstore is located at 1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.) only minutes from downtown Seattle. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone 206.658.0110. See you all soon.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "This series of short comic book tales is sure to offend the weak at heart and easily excitable. As with some of the best horror, The Furry Trap curb-stomps all expectations, zigs when zags are expected, and taps into areas some are just too uncomfortable to talk about.... There’s some sick shit happening in this hardcover and if you’re brave enough, you’ll crack The Furry Trap open and enjoy the stories free of restraint and convention, yet teeming with unbridled creativity and absolute insanity." – Mark L. Miller, Ain't It Cool News

• Review: "Without the rich cultural heritage of African-Americans, life in the U.S. would resemble Rachel Carson's Silent Spring: A dead zone, the silence broken now and again by the hissing of lawn sprinklers and whirring air conditioning units. Such are the thoughts inspired by Listen, Whitey: The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 by Pat Thomas.... The revolution seemed imminent because the portents were everywhere one turned in those years, and Thomas seems to have captured every single one of the portents in his explosive book. He allows us to see and hear the oppressed flexing muscles and tossing anger directly into the faces of their perceived oppressors.... It's the best of both worlds, a coffee table book with real scholarly heft." – Alan Bisbort, CT.com

• Review: "...I do not believe the details of the demise of the spiky-haired girl’s parents were ever revealed, but it would be uncharitable to assume the spunky, independent girl murdered them in their sleep.... Despite its homogenization, Bushmiller produced a funny and often clever gag strip.... Nancy was good enough to keep our elders laughing through the Great Depression and World War II. Nancy is certainly good enough to keep us laughing through the 2012 elections." – Mike Gold, ComicMix

• Preview: At The Beat, a 6-page sneak peek from Joe Daly’s Dungeon Quest Book 3, with Jessica Lee saying: “If you’re a fan of over-the-top action, heavy stoner humor, and quirky characters in the wildest of settings, now is your chance to catch up on Dungeon Quest. South African cartoonist Joe Daly ’s newest installment Dungeon Quest Book Three is proving to be the most epic of the series thus far.”

• Plug: At 20minutos.es, Ánxel Grove looks ahead to Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons: "That O'Connor is one of the best American storytellers of the twentieth century and that her stories are a must for anyone who enjoys good literature is already known. That she also was an excellent draftsman, writer and creator of cartoons was a secret known only to specialists in her work or dedicated fans." (Translated from Spanish)

Join author Monte Schulz for a signing of The Big Town, on Tuesday, May 10th at Tsunami Books in Eugene, OR! 

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.

The signing begins at 7:00 PM!  Tsunami Books is located at 2585 Willamette Street.