The second book of Dan DeCarlo's pin-up work is heading to book stores. Like the previous volume, the material all comes from DeCarlo's work for the third-rate humor magazines of "a simpler time" (read: chauvanist gags that could conceivably be trumped by any six year old).
DeCarlo was a master and it's difficult to deny the adolescent joy of seeing page after page of Riverdale's nightlife, with statuesque Bettys inviting men up to their room, gal pals chatting away in their lingerie, and Veronica-esque strippers grinding in a burlesque show. Alex Chun has loaded the book up with several dozen originals and includes another 150+ pages of spot-colored magazine page reproductions. PLUS: The great Jaime Hernandez wrote an introduction accompanied by a pin-up of his DeCarlo-influenced character Vivian "Frogmouth." AND: Stan Lee wrote a cover blurb! Stan was The Man who hired DeCarlo for the pin-up magazine work. He also wrote any number of the book's gags. The, uh, better ones I'm sure...
Long ago I posted about the book Cult Fiction put out by the folks at the Hayward Gallery in the UK. It became available in the U.S. this fall and the response has been great-- Read about it HERE and, with more interior scans at Book-by-Its-Cover.
Featured artists: Laylah Ali, Glen Baxter, Stéphane Blanquet, Daniel Clowes, Liz Craft, R. Crumb, Adam Dant, Julie Doucet, Debbie Drechsler, Marcel Dzama, Melinda Gebbie, Kerstin Kartscher, Mark Kalesniko, Killoffer, Chad McCail, Paul McDevitt, Kerry James Marshall, Travis Millard, Yosh*tomo Nara, Kim L. Pace, Harvey Pekar, Raymond Pettibon, Olivia Plender, Jon Pylypchuk, James Pyman, Joe Sacco, Chris Shepherd, David Shrigley, Posy Simmonds, Richard Slee, Carol Swain.
It's a busy weekend in Seattle for a change. Saturday is not only the anniversary of our storefront operation but a big day for two Nonprofit Fanta Friends. 826 Seattle is also celebrating a birthday and Eric Reynolds highly endorses the Salon of Shame, which will be happening from 3-4 pm. And The Vera Project presents their annual craft bazaar and the Bring It, Screen It event.
Robert Burden does large portraits of his childhood toys, then frames them atop the paintings, which gives you some idea of the enormous scale of his work.
Bob Burden draws Flaming Carrot and writes Gumby comics.
The photo above was leaked onto the internet earlier this week and my sources have confirmed that it shows Paige Braddock, Creative Director for the Peanuts Empire (and creator of the Jane's World comicstrip), brutally reprimanding a colleague, Justin Thompson, who mentioned "The G Word" during a Peanuts meeting.
Joshua "Brainiac" Glenn listed our book BEASTS! in his Boston Globe gift guide and then brought it to my attention that there is currently only one copy available on Amazon at regular price-- and one used for $72. Not wanting to see people needlessly waste their money I figured I'd announce that we are, indeed, coming out with a paperback edition next year. It won't be as fancy as the current edition but it will contain all the same great artwork. I don't foresee changing anything about the contents, although it will likely have a new cover design. Of course, if you read Chinese you may want to pick up the foreign edition that is being printed very soon.
Also, if you read the "BEASTS!" blog I set up a while back then you already know that I've decided to continue the anthology into a second volume with all new art and all new cryptids. And you've seen Jaime Hernandez's piece for it.
Texans can buy Tony Millionaire a drink or have him sign your books this Saturday, December 1st, from 3 to 6 pm. (Austin Books & Comics, 5002 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, TX 78751.) And, yes, his Drinky Crow Show is in the works with new characters being developed and churned out of the Transylvanian Animation Factory as I type.
The insurance company was a bit put off by the condition of the offices here at Fantagraphics so we've been cleaning up. In the process this placemat sketch from R. Crumb was discovered. I've included a detail of, yes, Robert Crumb's drawing of a Pokemon (presumably one in the possession of Gary's son, Conrad).
As the designer of Paul Karasik's "I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets" I can tell you that there were dozens of directions considered for this cover design. I share Karasik's reverence for Fletcher Hanks and this final, spare white cover design [above, left] resulted from our joint response to how Hanks' work is most succinctly communicated. At the core his style is awkward but unmistakable and carries with it a baron, iconic force. His superheroes are omnipotent and dramatically unpredictable/unknowable.
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