The Taking Punk to the Masses Northwest tour wraps up this Thursday, September 22nd at the University Book Store in Tacoma... a city where apparently this happened:

From the pages of Taking Punk to the Masses

Holy crap, do they mean shoegazer band Lush? With Nirvana? For $5? Less if you brought canned foods?

This is the kind-of amazing paraphernalia of the grunge-era that you can only find in Taking Punk to the Masses: From Nowhere to Nevermind! Join EMP Senior Curator/editor Jacob McMurray at 5:30 PM for a reading and discussion.

The University Bookstore is located at 1754 Pacific Ave in Tacoma. Somebody, ask him about that Nirvana show.

I can't remember when I first heard the "Shut Up, Little Man" tapes, but it was almost certainly a cartoonist who introduced me to them, specifically either J.R. Williams, Jim Blanchard or Peter Bagge, all of whom were connoisseurs of the "prank call" genre and sated my growing appetite for same in the early 1990s by making me mix tapes (including the also-essential "Tube Bar" recordings that catapulted "Red the Bartender" into infamy as the inspiration for The Simpsons' Moe Szyslak). The "Shut Up Little Man" tapes weren't phone pranks, per se; they were better! Two hateful drunks chewing each other new assholes, over and over again, in such eloquently vicious fashion! Little could these two awful men know how their vitriol was bringing others together. It seemed like every alternative cartoonist in America had heard these tapes by the early 1990s, so it seems only fitting that Dan Clowes and Ivan Brunetti would be amongst those featured in a forthcoming documentary on the great Peter and Raymond. I can't wait to see this. [CBR video link]

(click to enlarge)

We are in the final stages of assembling this mammoth collection of Bill Griffith's non-syndicated-Zippy work (i.e. from undergrounds and alternative comics), and we cannot for the life of us figure out where the story "Toadette Dignity" might have appeared (see above for the first of two pages). Bill finished it in 1975 with the intent of publishing it in Arcade but it did not in fact appear in Arcade. Bill is sure it got published somewhere eventually but has no idea where that might be.

First person to correctly identify where it was published gets a copy of Lost and Found when it is released, signed by Griffy!

Are we having sourcing yet?

Email us your answer; be sure to put "Attn: Jason Miles - Bill Griffith Source" in the subject line.

UPDATE: We have an answer and a winner! The story appeared in Apple Pie #5. Thanks everyone for your quick responses!

Our own Ian Burns has joined me in the exclusive "Theme Sketchbook of Frank Oz Puppet Characters Club" with his own super-impressive book of Animal from The Muppet Show (my personal second-favorite member of The Electric Mayhem, after Zoot), which is giving my Yoda collection a serious run for its money. Here are some Fantagraphics-relevant entries as posted by Ian on the Versus the Moon blog (where he posts 2 new ones a week, so keep checking back):

Gahan Wilson

Gilbert Hernandez

Jim Rugg

Johnny Ryan

Peter Bagge

Jim Woodring

Megan Kelso

The list of nominees continues to grow for American Library Association/Young Adult Library Services Association "2012 Great Graphic Novels for Teens" list. Joining the already-announced Wandering Son Vol. 1 among the nominees are:

21: The Story of Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago

Yeah! by Peter Bagge & Gilbert Hernandez

Isle of 100,000 Graves by Jason & Fabien Vehlmann

Nominees will continue to accumulate throughout the year, and will be winnowed down to the final list to be announced by the ALA in January.

Philip Nel, co-editor of our forthcoming collections of Crockett Johnson's Barnaby, has revealed details about the first volume of the series (coming in June 2012) by posting the relevant pages from our Spring-Summer 2012 catalog on his blog. (Note that the cover design shown is not Daniel Clowes's actual design for the book.)

We're still planning on revealing more info about our complete Spring/Summer 2012 lineup in the near future — stay tuned!

Some original Gil Jordan (Gil Jourdan) pages by Maurice Tillieux are currently on exhibit at the Maison de la Bande Dessinée in Brussels — Wim Lockefeer has a report and more photos at the Forbidden Planet International Blog Log. These originals are impeccable and Tillieux's artwork is beautiful in black & white.

This is the artwork Jordan Crane has donated to The Divine Invasion, the ongoing efforts to defray the late Dylan Williams's medical expenses through the sale of original art, much of which with a Philip K. Dick theme. It's looking at you, it can read your mind. You have less than a day to cast your bid.

• Paul Hornschemeier's rendition of the Ice King, from Zack Smith's enviable collection of Adventure Time-themed sketches

• Paul Hornschemeier is beginning to post teasers of his forthcoming Forlorn Funnies #1 along with the sketches at his The Daily Forlorn blog

• This drawing by Steven Weissman appears to be related to the current Barack Hussein Obama strip; plus his latest "I, Anonymous" spot

• Celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day with Dame Darcy as she pays tribute to Adam Ant x 2 (plus Darryl Hannah in Splash) — this and more in her new blog update

• Sketches and illustrations by Max at his El Hombre Duerme, el Fantasma No blog

• The Creature (which you can buy) and a few sneak peeks at The Hidden on Richard Sala's Tumblr blog

• From Leslie Stein, an excerpt from the forthcoming Eye of the Majestic Creature #7

• "Gravity," a new painting by Malachi Ward

• Renee French zooms in on the gross part of a box of fruit; also we all feel like this sometimes

• From Steve Brodner: Ron Paul, Sen. Joe Manshin, Troy Davis (above; all with relevant info & commentary)

• Sketchbook stories by Anders Nilsen

• The Lovely Sparrows CD cover illustration by Derek Van Gieson (click to see wraparound)

Plus:

• Matthias Lehmann's sketches and notes for a new comics project

• Character designs by Bob Fingerman for a series of post-apocalyptic YA novels he's working on 

• An illustration for Bloomberg View by Victor Kerlow

• More mythological drawings by correspondence-course teacher Frank Santoro

• Sketchbook strips by Marco Corona at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• Wild-n-woolly sketchbook drawings by John Cuneo

• A portrait sketch by Mark Kalesniko

• Recent storyboard work by Stephen DeStefano

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "As journalist Avery documents in this cohesive biography-cum-first anthology of the onetime Rolling Stone record review editor’s oeuvre [Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson], Nelson was a gifted early practitioner of new journalism and, though a child of the Sixties folk and rock counterculture, one of its most vocal critics.... Reading his inconceivably insightful profiles of Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Warren Zevon, and Rod Stewart helps make sense of a needlessly guilt- and disappointment-laden life — here was a ­hyper-romantic Midwesterner by birth but a New Yorker by necessity who thought he could transcend mundane cruelties by dedicating himself to the popular arts. Seamlessly incorporating the perspectives of Nick Tosches, Robert Christgau, and Jann Wenner, Avery has crafted both a cautionary tale and a celebration of a noir-influenced writer who deserves a place alongside Lester Bangs for his ability to live, always, in the music. Devotees of folk, establishment rock ’n’ roll, and pulp fiction will rue not having discovered Nelson sooner." – Heather ­McCormack, Library Journal (Starred Review)

• Review: "[Richard Sala's] latest appetising shocker The Hidden returns to the seamy, scary underbelly of un-life with an enigmatic quest tale... Clever, compelling and staggeringly engaging, this fabulous full-colour hardback is a wonderfully nostalgic escape hatch back to those days when unruly children scared themselves silly under the bedcovers at night and will therefore make an ideal gift for the big kid in your life — whether he/she’s just you, imaginary or even relatively real." – Win Wiacek, Now Read This

• Review: "I had the opportunity to do a Q&A panel with Johnny Ryan at SPX last weekend. One of the more interesting parts of discussion was when Ryan said how each volume of Prison Pit had to have a different vibe or theme so that the different books didn’t feel interchangable. That’s certainly true in volume three, as we see the inclusion of a new character, who, while just as violent and vicious as CF, is completely different in attitude and demeanor. Plus, he has one of the most amazing (and utterly grotesque) resurrection scenes I’ve ever seen. There’s also a neat little bit toward the end where it seems like Ryan is heavily drawing upon the Fort Thunder crowd, particularly Mat Brinkman. All in all, it’s another excellent volume." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

• Review: "This [fourth] volume [of Prince Valiant] covers the most of the WWII years, 1943-44, when the paper shortage was at its highest. As Brian Kane notes in the introduction, this meant creator Hal Foster had to format the strip so parts could be cut for papers that had been forced to shrink their page count.... Still, while no doubt hampered by this new situation, it did nothing to harm his storytelling skills, and Valiant remains a hugely enjoyable action strip, as Valiant battles a variety of ne’r do wells on a quest to find his true love, Aleta." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

• Review: "I’ve talked at length before about how good the Mome anthology has been, and while I’m sad to see it come to a close, it’s nice to see it end on such a high note. Seriously, this is the best volume of Mome yet, with standout contributions by Chuck Forsman, Eleanor Davis, Laura Park, Dash Shaw, Jesse Moynihan and Sara Edward-Corbett. But really, there’s not a bad story in this entire book. It might seem weird recommending the last book of a series, but if you gotta only read one of these things, this would be the one." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

• Plugs: "Last weekend, I was at Small Press Expo... and went on a blind spree at Fantagraphics with Four Color Fear, an Alex Toth collection, some books by Jordan Crane and an impulsively bought Jacques Tardi book because CBLDF’s Alex Cox told me I needed it." [Good ol' Alex – Ed.] – Kevin Colden, Robot 6

• Interview (Audio): Drew Friedman is the guest on last Friday's edition of The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC, talking about his new book Even More Old Jewish Comedians (stream audio and see a slideshow of images from the book at the link)

• Interview: Brian Heater's conversation with Drew Friedman at The Daily Cross Hatch continues: "But a couple of guys claimed that I didn’t get their names right, like Don Rickles. His PR guy contacted us and said, 'he’s really angry. His name is not Archibald, it’s Donald Rickles.' So, we said in the second book 'Don Rickles says his name is not Archibald, so that will be corrected in a future volume.' Sid Caesar was annoyed. He called Fantagraphics and started yelling at Kim Thompson, because he claimed his name is not Isaac. He was on the phone with him for half an hour. He was doing Jewish schtick and German dialect. Kim was amazed."

• Profile: At Under the Midnight Sun, Adnan Mahmutovic surveys the work of Joe Sacco

• Links: Another comprehensive round of Hernandez Bros.-related links from Love & Maggie