This weekend kicks off the Foolscap convention, a small conference of fantasy and sci-fi enthusiasts in Redmond, WA. And joining them as a "Guest of Honor" is our own Jim Woodring!

You guys, this convention sounds amazing. Not only do you get to hobnob with fellow readers, writers, and artists, but they're kicking it off on Friday with a chocolate reception. Why don't all cons do that?

Join Jim on Saturday from 3:00 to 4:30 PM for the panel "Woodring on Woodring," and then on Sunday from 11:00 to 12:00 pm, he'll be on the panel for "Comics Without Captions," a discussion on wordless graphic novels. 

Foolscap runs from Friday, September 16th through Sunday, September 18th at the Redmond Marriott Town Center [7401 164th Avenue NE] in Redmond, Washington.  

Heads up! Jim Woodring has added "ten crisp, punchy and potent new Frank drawings in various sizes, strengths and wavelengths" (his words, not mine!) to the Comic Art Collective!

They're all magnificent and ridiculously-reasonably priced, so go get 'em! (The piece above, titled "Libra," sure would make a good birthday gift for this Libra right here, cough cough, hint hint...)

School is back in session! And this Thursday, September 15th, EMP curator/editor Jacob McMurray will "school" you all on the Seattle music scene, as documented in Taking Punk to the Masses: From Nowhere to Nevermind!

Join Jacob at the University Book Store in Seattle at 7:00 PM, as he discusses the "grunge" phenomenon... on the very street where a lot of those unwashed musicians first bumped into each other, perhaps reaching for a Mudhoney 7" at Cellophane Square at the exact same time?

Sub Pop poster, from the pages of Taking Punk to the Masses, featuring artwork by Peter Bagge AND one of my all-time favorite bands, Velocity Girl

The University Book Store is located at 4326 University Way, N.E. or "The Ave," as it is called 'round these parts. Flannel optional.

I was pretty excited to get to the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery this past Sunday and see the exhibit is now up for Drawing Power: An Exhibition of Cartoon Advertising!

Where the heck did editor Warren Bernard get all this cool stuff?! Well, we can ask him in person when he makes a special Seattle appearance on Saturday, September 24th at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery!

Make plans now to join us from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Warren will be giving a slideshow presentation and talk. 

And as an extra bonus, we'll be joined by artist Tom Neely, currently on tour for his incredible "painted novel," The Wolf.  I'll be dishing more about that on the Flog later...!

The Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival in Seattle has come and gone, and I'm still recovering from the three-day whirlwind of bands, comedians, and shishkaberries, but for those of you who weren't able to attend, I thought I'd share some snaps from the "Bumber By Number" exhibit, which ran during Bumbershoot weekend!

Curators Marlow Harris and Jo David gave vintage paint-by-number kits to local artists, who were encouraged to customize the works and "paint-outside-the-box," as it were. Here's Jim Blanchard's vibrant piece, which looks like it should be hung in a wood-paneled basement, or perhaps screened on the side of a van...

And here's Jim Woodring's morbid take on a winter scene... Damn, I love it.

You can see larger versions of these photos on the Fantagraphics Flickr page, and be sure to check out all our awesome photos and videos while you're there!

Earlier this month, the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery was thrilled to host a preview screening of the alt-comix documentary series "Hooked on Comix 3," spotlighting our very own Dame Darcy and Tony Millionaire! 

We were very fortunate to have directors David P. Moore and Audry Mandelbaum in attendance, and you can check out an interview David did with Dan Morrill of ComicsForge.com below (or on YouTube)! It's a great look around at our bookstore & gallery, and there's even a lo-fi preview of Tony's interview at the end:

Come visit the Fantagraphics Bookstore and get hooked on comix yourself! We're open daily from 11:30 to 8:00 PM, and open on Sundays until 5:00 PM. You can find us at 1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.) in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle.

Somewhere out there is an incredibly lucky lady named Susan who received a half-dozen of these one-of-a-kind hand-drawn t-shirts from Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez back in 1982! Gilbert's awesome wife Carol just shared these pics on the Love & Rockets Facebook Fan Page with the note: "I am amazed that she still has them." Whaaat?! I would've been amazed if she didn't!!!

Become a "fan" of the Love & Rockets Facebook Fan Page and see more of these incredible tees, and stay in the loop with The Hernandez Brothers, past and present!

We are so excited to announce this rare east coast appearance by Jaime Hernandez this Saturday, September 10th at Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn!

He'll be signing copies of Love & Rockets: New Stories, Vol. 4 -- quite possibly the most highly-anticipated comic book hitting stores this year! Bubbly (and non-alcoholic drinks) will be served at 8:00 PM, so get there and toast this incredible storyteller in person!

Bergen Street Comics is located at 470 Bergen Street in Brooklyn. Do NOT miss this!

Mome 22 is out this week!!! Have you received your copy in the mail yet? Or, have you hit your local comix shop to buy one?!

Well, Mome 22 features quite a few pieces from artists making their first (and last!) appearance in our now-retired anthology. And today, we'd like you to meet Nick Drnaso!

Nick's got a lot of wonderful pieces up on his website...

You can also read the first four pages of his 2010 comic It's A Wonderful Strife on his site... 

And you can see more of this piece in Mome 22!!! It's a humdinger of an issue, so go get one NOW!

Mome 22 has graduated, and is leaving home. I guess they all have to grow up sometimes.

As the swan song volume rolls out into stores and mailboxes, we're shining the spotlight on Mome newbies... who will now never appear in Mome again ever!

Today, we take a look at the work of Joseph Lambert... who was just recently nominated for two (TWO!) Ignatz awards!  One for Outstanding Artist, and one for Outstanding Anthology or Collection (for I Will Bite You! and Other Stories).  Find out at SPX if he wins 'em!

Here's a panel from a comic he'll have in the upcoming NoBrow 6. As Joseph notes on his blog, it may not be yellow in the final printing.

 And here's the original artwork...

...for his extraordinary piece in Mome! DAMN! I'm crazy about his lettering, it makes me think of Ray Fenwick.

By golly, get yourself Mome 22 if you haven't yet already!