* Other People's Publications
** Yeah, You Know Me. 

One of the things I like about this writing this column is getting the chance to spotlight some great titles that Fantagraphics didn't publish ourselves.  But, I'm especially thrilled when I get to present books that are self-published, like this week's spotlighted comic, Thunder in the Building #2!  

Admittedly, I wasn't familiar with local artist Margaret Ashford-Trotter until we started carrying her latest comic, that she published herself with funds from the Xeric Foundation. 

Her drawing style reminds me a little of Adrian Tomine, and the storyline was certainly gripping, revolving around a romantic break-up and the terrible secret that becomes revealed in the aftermath... See? You're intrigued, right?  It's an impressive early effort from a talented local artist, and I'm already looking forward to seeing what Ashford-Trotter publishes next!

Thunder in the Building #2, and many other local self-published comics,  are currently in stock at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, located 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.  See you soon!  

We're especially knocked out by Giant Robot's upcoming group exhibition, Power Punch, curated by Fantagraphics' artist Esther Pearl Watson, along with Mark Todd!

Esther and Mark gave all the artists identical 8" X 8" panels to work on, and starting Saturday, April 2nd, you can see what fellow Fantagraphics artists Johnny Ryan, Jeremy Tinder and Jon Vermilyea did with theirs.

Actually, we've got a sneak peek from Johnny right here:

"Hey, Lep! Fuck you, lucky charms!"

Power Punch opens Saturday, April 2nd at GRSF [618 Shrader Street, San Francisco] with a reception from 6:30 - 10:00 pm. The show runs until April 24th.

It feels kinda wrong that I'm writing about this, and not our resident Star Wars expert, but anyway...

Comedian Jackie Kashian is the overlord of The Dork Forest, a podcast about comic books, movies, music, and more, that she's been doing for five years now.

And this Sunday, March 27th, she'll be recording an episode at The Vera Project with special guest Peter Bagge, featuring music from his delightful pop-combo Can You Imagine?.

Also on the bill is Eisner Award-winning writer Ed Brubaker, Star Wars collector extraordinaire Gus Lopez, and comedians Paul Merrill and Kermet Apio. Tickets are $8, and you can get 'em online here.

Merci beaucoup! Thank you to everyone who attended the opening of our latest exhibit on Jacques Tardi, "Better Tardi Than Never: How France's Greatest Living Cartoonist Took a Mere 32 Years to Break Through to American Audiences." It was especially wonderful to see our friends from the Alliance Française de Seattle.

Not only did we present the world debut of Tardi's fifth book, the epic "icepunk" tale The Arctic Marauder, but we were fortunate to have Fantagraphics co-publisher, editor, and Tardi translator Kim Thompson on hand for the always-informative and often-hilarious presentation "You Don't Know Jacques. Tardi: 20 Books in 20 Minutes." And you can know Jacques yourself, by watching the entire 45-minute talk below (or on the YouTube page)!

And while supplies last, you can get yourself your very own build-it-yourself Tardi diorama free with a purchase of $100 or more at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Kim put this one together himself that Saturday afternoon!

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 98108 206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 - 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM

This weekend, our friends at Giant Robot kick off a very important exhibit to raise money for the devastation in Japan. Funds will be donated to UNICEF, to help children impacted by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

There are so many wonderful, generous artists involved in this show, including Fantagraphics' own Andrice Arp, Renee French, and Esther Pearl Watson.

And not only will Giant Robot donate proceeds from the sale of artwork, they'll also be donating:

1. Proceeds from the sale of water bottles featuring labels created by artists and signed by celebrities.

2. Fifty percent of proceeds from Giant Robot’s small restaurant, gr/eats, on Saturday, March 19.

3. A percentage of all sales at Giant Robot, GR2, and GRSF during the weekend of March 18-20.

4. Raffles for donated merchandise including designer- and artist-signed items, GR gear, horseback rides, and other items.

5. Cash donations accepted for UNICEF.

On top of all that, Intertrend Communications has pledged to match the first $10,000 raised by proceeds and donations through Giant Robot. 

Seriously... please help Giant Robot reach this goal, and help the children impacted by this terrible catastrophe. Opening reception is this Saturday, March 19, from 6:30 - 10:00 pm at GR2 [2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA], and the show runs until April 13th.

As previously reported, Fantagraphics is gearing up for the 2011 MoCCA Fest in New York City, April 9-10!

And not only will we be joined by Peter Bagge, Michael Kupperman, Ted Stearn, Leslie Stein, Stephen DeStefano, and Gahan Wilson, but we just added Kim Deitch, Drew Friedman, Mark Newgarden, Nate Neal, Derek Van Gieson, and Sara Edward-Corbett to our signing roster, too!

More details (along with a signing schedule) to follow soon!  See you there!

No, really.  He does.

Join Kim on Wednesday, March 23rd at 7:00 pm, as he presents a screening of the 1963 Jean-Luc Godard masterpiece, Contempt, at Seattle's Central Cinema.

As he explains, the screening is "Part of their regular 'let a prominent Seattleite choose their favorite movie and talk it up' feature. If you've never seen Godard's Contempt, it is well worth seeing in a theatrical setting (in this case projecting from a Blu-Ray disc, which is the next best thing to a actual film), so grab your chance. If you've seen it, you probably know that it's always worth re-visiting, especially on a larger screen."

Central Cinema is located in Seattle's Central District neighborhood at 21st Avenue and E. Union Street. Tickets are available at the door, or online here. 

Us neither! But you've only got a couple more days to check out the "Lovesick" exhibit from Seattle's own Bureau of Drawers cartoonist collective.  If you haven't had a chance to see this collection of original art, handmade books and prints, get yrself down to the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery tout de suite!

(Mais oui! 'Cause Larry's gonna start installing our Tardi exhibit next!)

And THANK YOU to everyone who made it out to our opening night on Valentine's Day weekend!  It was, indeed, lovely to see everyone out, supporting our local comic scene, and show-goers were serenaded by Bureau of Drawers members Dennis Driscoll and Sean Robinson of Landlord's Daughter.  We've got video from each performance below:

More pics await you on our Flickr set!