Portland's already a bit of a cartoon utopia, so it's only right to bring the lovely Ron Rege, Jr. to town for a celebration of his magnum opus, The Cartoon Utopia!
Join him this Friday, December 14th at Floating World Comics for this very special signing from 5:00 to 7:00 PM.
In The Cartoon Utopia, “Utopians” of the future world are attempting to send messages through consciousness, outside of the constricts of time as we understand it. These messages appear in the form of art, music and storytelling, three of the very things that Ron will be bringing to the Rose City. After his signing, you can catch Ron on drums with his band, Lavender Diamond, at the Doug Fir Lounge!
Floating World Comics is located at 400 NW Couch St. in the the heart of the Pearl District.
Shout it out! Last month, Northwesterners got the chance to experience The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008 in person, and it was indeed, a hoot and a holler! (That's editor Nico Vassilakis leading the call, and Fantagraphics co-founder Mike Catron helping out in the background!)
A fleet of poets descended upon the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, November 24th, and throughout the evening, they performed small batches of readings.
Contributor Gustave Morin traveled all the way from somewhere in Southern Ontario -- "Let's just say, Detroit," he told us -- for his performance.
Another Canadian, poet Donato Mancini, braved the border crossing for a reading with us. He had a very touching moment when he was flipping through the book to find his piece, and just exclaimed, awestruck, "I still can't believe this thing exists!"
In between the batches of readings, we were fortunate to have musical performances from Lori Goldston (former Nirvana and Earth cellist, and recent Stranger “Genius Award” recipient) with former Black Cat Orchestra band mate Kyle Hanson.
Sadly, this evening was also a farewell party for Nico, a longtime co-worker of ours, who is moving to New York with his new bride. This shot is blurry, but I love the proud round of applause he's getting from Gary Groth here. We'll miss you, Nico!!!
Warehouse hero Ajax Wood prepares to bitchslap the young Conrad Groth. Just kidding, I have no idea what is going on. You can see more photos from the opening reception at the Fantagraphics Flickr.
Thank you to all the poets for participating in this very special weekend for a very special book!
Our exhibit of prints from the anthology will continue to be on display at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery through tomorrow Thursday, December 6th, and are for sale for the ridiculously low price of $25 each. Drop by to see them at 1201 S. Vale Street in Seattle's Georgetown district. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: (206) 658-0110.
Who knows what the devil will wear to the opening reception for Dutch artist Femke Hiemstra's latest exhibit at Roq La Rue, this Friday, December 7th!
"Let the Devil Wear Black" is a collection of meticulously tight, jewel-like mixed media paintings and exquisitely-rendered black and white drawings, homes to a dark fairytale land where inanimate objects come to life and frolic with animal neighbors. The painting below is titled "OMG," for very, very obvious reasons!
Femke will be joined by artist Ryan Heshka, cover artist for Blab #18! His own collection "Disasterama" debuts that night, as well.
Both artists will be in attendance for the opening reception from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, and they'll also be joining us at theFantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, December 8th for our 6th anniversary celebration with Jaime&Gilbert Hernandez, and musical guest Geneviève Castrée!
Roq La Rue is located at 2312 2nd Avenue in Seattle's tricky-to-park Belltown neighborhood, so get there early!
He'll be screening his 2003 film Bad Santa, but he'll also be doing a Q&A afterwards where you can ask him about his work on Ghost World or Crumb. Fantagraphics will be on site with copies of his screenplay for you to get signed!
Central Cinema is located at 1411 21 Avenue, in Seattle's Central District neighborhood at 21st Avenue and E. Union street. Look for the Neon Marquee!
The Giant Robot Post-It Show 8 runs from December 8th through 16th at GR2 [ 2062 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, CA ] with an opening reception event on Saturday, December 8th from 6:00 - 10:00 PM. Come prepared to "cash-and-carry"!
Viva Las Vegas! 2012 ain't over yet, and we're not done celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Love and Rockets!
Join Jaime&Gilbert Hernandez in Sin City on Saturday, December 1st at Alternate Reality Comics. The signing runs from 3:00 to 6:00 PM, and don't take a gamble and get there late -- they'll have a special, limited edition commemorative print for sale for only $15.00! (Limited to only 75 copies!)
As if that weren't inticing enough, all Love and Rockets comics and graphic novels will be 20% off! Complete your collections! Buy holiday gifts for your stupid friends who don't already own these landmark comics!
Complimentary beverages and snacks will be served. Alternate Reality Comics is located at 4110 S. Maryland Pkwy. #8, at the Maryland Pkwy & Flamingo intersection, behind Long John Silver's, arrr.
Turkey smurkey. It's a holiday weekend -- put down that comic book, get off the couch, and come buy more comic books!
Thursday, November 22nd
• Salvador, Brazil: Max launched his retrospective exhibition, Panóptica, at the Instituto Cervantes de Salvador! Check out the FLOG for pics and reports from previous stops on this exhibit's tour! (more info)
• Seattle, WA: Join us at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery for the book release party for The Last Vispo Anthology, edited by Northwest literary artists Nico Vassilakis and Crag Hill. Their work will be feted with an exhibition, readings, and a musical performance from Lori Goldston (former Nirvana and Earth cellist, and recent Stranger “Genius Award” recipient) performing with former Black Cat Orchestra bandmate Kyle Hanson. (more info)
• Vancouver, BC: And the celebration continues for The Last Vispo Anthology at the STAG (Strathcona Art Gallery) Library with unscheduled pop-up readings and performances by: Jim Andrews (Vancouver), Judith Copithorne (Vancouver), Crag Hill (Idaho), Donato Mancini (Vancouver), Gustave Morin (Windsor), Michael V. Smith (Kelowna), Nico Vassilakis (Seattle) and possibly more! (more info)
If you missed our opening reception, then dang it, you missed a truly awesome time. The great Jim Woodring was droppin' some science, although Marketing Director Mike Baehr seems dubious. Local cartoonist Tim Miller pledged his undying love to Noah. (Just kidding about all of that; I have no idea what was going on...)
I also have no idea what's going on in this awesome photo Lasky took of me, Mike, and local cartoonist (and Short Run Small Press Fest organizer) Kelly Froh. But it makes me laugh.
[ Check out more of David's photos at his Flickr page here! ]
David and Noah's exhibit of original artwork will be on display through this Friday, November 23rd, so stop by -- you'll be thankful you did! We even still have a few signed copies left of each title.
Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street in Seattle's Georgetown district. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. CLOSED on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, but OPEN AS HELL on Friday, November 23rd. Phone: (206) 658-0110.
