The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, CA has proudly hosted the exhibit Love and Rockets: A 30th Anniversary Celebration since last October. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and they're saying good-bye with the legendary Mario Hernandez himself!

Join Mario on Thursday, March 7th from 7:00-9:00 PM as he discusses his contributions to the groundbreaking comic book series. Learn about the formative years of Los Bros Hernandez as Mario goes behind the scenes of Love and Rockets, one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed indie comics of all time.

This event is free and open to the public. Guests who donate $10 or more to the Cartoon Art Museum will receive an exclusive Love and Rockets 30th anniversary print. The Cartoon Art Museum is located at 655 Mission Street. 

Last weekend, it was a sexytime, indeed, at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery as we launched our latest exhibit for Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur!

Editor Jacques Boyreau joined us from Portland to sign this impressive collection of vintage porn posters from the '70s! Reprints of those posters adorn our gallery wall, including such titles as New Wave Hookers and Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle!

Our musical guest for the night was Olympia, WA-based artist Poppet, aka Molly Rainey, whose orchestrated electro-loop-pop had everyone dancing...

... including Poppet herself!

Georgetown's Little Black Devil Burlesque babes dropped by to deliver kisses -- Hershey's Chocolate ones, that is! As you can see, Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur is not only the finest collection of vintage porn posters ever, it also makes a nice serving tray!

Thank you to everyone who came out for this sexy time to celebrate Sexytime!  Sexytime will continue to be on display at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery through Wednesday, March 6th. Drop by to see it in person 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. 

Or if you live outside of Seattle, you can check out more photos from our opening reception on the Fantagraphics Flickr!

Candy hearts? Flowers? Bleh.

Let's face it, nothing says "I love you" like a Jim Blanchard t-shirt, and lucky for us, he's just launched a new design on Redbubble.com! Available in a multitude of colors and sizes, and on hoodies, girlie tees, baseball jerseys, and more. 

So, this Valentine's Day, show someone you care with a psychedelic skull.

Brooklyn, prepare to be thrizzled by the divine Michael Kupperman at the Greenlight Bookstore on Thursday, February 21st!

This free wine-addled event launches at 7:00 PM. Greenlight Bookstore is located at 686 Fulton St (at South Portland) in Brooklyn. 

Friday, February 15th

•  Seattle, WA:  Comics collective Intruder will be launching the fifth volume of their quarterly newspaper at Cairo, featuring a cover by our very own Tony Ong, with comics inside by staffer Jason T. Miles, freelancer David Lasky, and former staffer Alexa Koenings! (more info)

Saturday, February 16th

•  Los Angeles, CA:  Catch a comics reading with Esther Pearl Watson at the L.A. Zine Fest Reading and Rock Spectacular at Footsies! (more info)

•  Nelsonville, OH:  It's your last chance to view prints from The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008 at the Nelsonville Public Library! Pay your fines while you're there! (more info)

Sunday, February 17th

•  Portland, OR:  It's your last day to view the touring exhibit Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women at the Oregon Jewish Museum! This exhibition of original drawings, full comic books, and graphic novels will present the powerful work of eighteen artists whose intimate, confessional work has influenced the world of comics over the last four decades -- including our own Miss Lasko-Gross, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Trina Robbins, and Diane Noomin! (more info)

•  Los Angeles, CA:  Jordan Crane, Esther Pearl Watson, and Mome veterans Jon Vermilyea and Malachi Ward will be exhibiting at the L.A. Zine Fest at the Ukrainian Cultural Center! (more info)

Seattle simply can't get enough of Ellen Forney, and we want more, more, MORE!  On Wednesday, February 27th, we will get what we want: an evening of music inspired by her 2007 collection Lust: Kinky Online Personal Ads from Seattle's The Stranger, presented by our friends at the Bushwick Book Club and the Richard Hugo House!

The evening features a talk from Ellen herself, and then local musicians will perform original material inspired by the book!  Come hear new songs from Levi Fuller, Robert Heyer, Karen Lindenberg, Darren Loucas, Kimo Muraki, Aaron Starkey, Mike Votava, Tekla Waterfield, Wes Weddell, and more.

The Fantagraphics Bookstore staff will be on site with copies of Lust and other tantalizing titles from Ms. Forney for you to get signed.

Doors and bar at 7:00 PM. Showtime at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $10 pre-sale and $15 at the door. The Richard Hugo House is located at 1634 11th Avenue in Seattle.  

Wednesday, February 6th

•  Moscow, ID:  Co-editor Crag Hill will be signing The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008 at Bookpeople of Moscow! (more info)

Thursday, February 7th

•  Seattle, WA:  It's your last chance to check out our exhibit for Jim Woodring's Problematic: Sketchbook Drawings 2004-2012 at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery! (more info)

Friday, February 8th-10th

•  New Dehli, India: Fantagraphics heads to the 3rd Annual Comic Con India at the Dilli Haat open-air plaza! (more info)

Saturday, February 9th

•  Seattle, WA:  The  Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery examines the aesthetics of erotic movie posters with an exhibit for Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur! Editor Jacques Boyreau will be available to sign copies of the oversize, hardbound book. Musical entertainment will be provided by Molly Rainey with her post-apocalyptic pop act Poppet. (more info)

The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008 features 148 contributors from 23 countries on five continents, and six of those contributors happen to be from Ohio: John M. Bennett, C. Mehrl Bennett, John Byrum, endwar, Bill Howe, Joel Lipman, and Reid Wood!

The Nelsonville Public Library recently launched an exhibition of 27 prints from Last Vispo! The exhibit was arranged locally by Athens visual poet endwar (Andrew Russ), who has been writing visual poetry since 1990 and publishing some via his IZEN imprint. The exhibit also includes seven large prints of minimalist visual poems originally created for exhibits at Neopolis Gallery in Cleveland from 2003-2005, some poetry in sculpture form created over the last five years, and a few other items.

The exhibit will be on display through Saturday, February 16th.  The Nelsonville Public Library is located at 95 W Washington Street.

Lotsa Fantagraphics luminaries will be at the upcoming L.A. Zine Fest on Sunday, February 17th!

From 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, stop by tables manned by Jordan Crane, Esther Pearl Watson, and Mome veterans Jon Vermilyea and Malachi Ward.

The L.A. Zine Fest will be held at the Ukrainian Cultural Center at 4315 Melrose Avenue. 

And the night before, Saturday, February 16th, catch Esther Pearl Watson doing a comics reading at the L.A. Zine Fest Reading and Rock Spectacular at Footsies [ 2640 N Figueroa Street ]!

H/T to Kelly Froh of Short Run Seattle for bringing this to my attention!

Thursday, January 31st

•  Los Angeles, CA:  Do not miss Scrapbooks, Army Surplus, Comics and Other Stuff: A Conversation with Graphic Storyteller C. Tyler at the University of Southern California as C. Tyler makes a rare West Coast appearance to discuss You'll Never Know: A Graphic Memoir! Reservations are recommended, so click here to RSVP! (more info)

•  Los Angeles, CA: And you lucky Californians can also visit Esther Pearl Watson at the L.A. Art Book Fair, opening Thursday night and running through Sunday, February 3rd. (more info)

 • Seattle, WA:  The Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery presents a truly Super Sunday with Portland cartoonist Aron Nels Steinke, who will be signing and discussing his autobiographical mini-comics collection, Big Plans! (more info)