FLOG! Entries for Mike Baehr - January 2010

Webcomics update for 1/29/10

mike

Friday nite webcomics party... new weekly strips for you...

The last of three sequential bar gags in this week's The House of No by Derek Van Gieson...

...your situation may be desperate, little guy, but that's probably not a good idea in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan....

...and unless I'm mistaken this is Michelle's first appearance in Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman.

Daily OCD: 1/29/10

mike

Not many Online Commentary & Diversions links today but they're high-powered:

• List: Matthew J. Brady posts his top-20 Best Comics of 2009, with You'll Never Know, Book 1: A Good and Decent Man by C. Tyler at #10 ("It's an artful mix, matching a biographer's insight for detail with beautifully-flowing art and real emotions. If the next two volumes are this good, Tyler's work will be a modern classic, one for others to study for years.") and Low Moon by Jason at #8 ("It's funny, poignant, and, as always, full of insight about humanity, even though everyone is a strange animal creature. There can never be enough Jason.")

• Interview: Newsarama's Michael C. Lorah chats with Jason about his upcoming collection Almost Silent: "I'm grateful the books seem to have found an audience and are selling. It's not something I take for granted. There are better European cartoonits than me who have had problems finding an audience in America. I don't have a website or a blog so I don't have that much contact with readers except at signings and conventions. It's always good for the ego when some pretty girl says she's a fan."

• Tribute: In the Sun-Journal, Andy Rooney remembers his friend Bill Mauldin: "He was one of the great cartoonists who has ever been — in and out of the Army. I’ve looked at hundreds of cartoons he drew in my Stars and Stripes files, and he was a genius. His cartoons are still funny and perceptive." (via Journalista)

• Things to see: An Ellen Forney strip translated into Czech

Johnny Ryan's New Character Parade #4

mike

The new issue of Johnny's self-published series is now available from his online shop!

R.I.P. J.D., from Drew Friedman

mike

Drew Friedman pays tribute to the late J.D. Salinger by presenting his classic strip (co-written with K. Bidus) "Guilty Pleasures of Literary Greats" (which we've previously featured for its documentation of the Vladimir Nabokov/Hank Ketcham connection). Even if you've seen this strip before, it's worth a re-visit, and Drew outlines some of Salinger's other pop-culture obsessions to boot.

Sneak Peek: Robert Goodin in future Mome

mike

Robert Goodin gives us a lovely two-page glimpse of "The Spiritual Crisis of Carl Jung," a 24-page story to appear in Mome Vol. 19 or 20, later this year.

Daily OCD: 1/28/10

mike

A variety of Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: The Comics Journal's R.C. Harvey names Sam's Strip ("because its spoof of comic strip cartooning is a joy to behold and because it has been so long awaited") and Humbug ("because, like Sam’s Strip, we’ve waited so long for a reappearance and because of the exquisite care Fantagraphics took in making the copies of the magazine’s pages as exact as possible") as two of the Best Reprints of 2009

• Review: "...[T]he handful of short stories [in The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D.] represent great leaps in, or at the very least previously unseen examples of, [Shaw's] innovative approach to comics coloring, as well as some inventive storytelling techniques." – Christopher Allen, Comic Book Galaxy

• Analysis: At PopMatters, Oliver Ho explores the resonances between Gipi's Wish You Were Here #2: They Found the Car and the classic noir film Out of the Past: "It’s as though the story is trying to invert noir’s cliches. For example, Gipi avoids flashbacks, where Out of the Past is built on them. In this respect, the comic feels like a distilled, even-harder-boiled noir story."

• Links: Love & Maggie concludes their exhaustive, annotated breakdown of the contents of The Comics Journal #38

• Changes: Best of luck to frequent OCD link-ee Heidi MacDonald as The Beat leaves the PW umbrella and goes solo

• Things to see: More kids-book illustrations by Richard Sala

• Things to see: I can certainly understand why Kevin Huizenga did this particular piece of fan art

• Things to see: Mark Newgarden would gladly paint a mural for you Tuesday for a hamburger to-day (via The Comics Reporter)

Warehouse finds back in stock!

mike

During our recent inventory count at our storied and labyrinthine warehouse, we discovered additional copies of several items thought to be sold out and unavailable for weeks, months — or years! Grab these gems while you can before they run out again — quantities are limited!

The Bill Sienkiewicz Sketchbook
Introduction by Alan Moore!

The Comics Journal Special Edition - Summer 2002
The premiere second issue of the "supersized" Comics Journals, with a great Woodring interview and cover.

The Complete E.C. Segar Popeye Vol. 9: 1934-1935 (Hardcover)
Our original Popeye reprint series from the 1980s. Handsome clothbound volume.

Dead End
Out of print European album-sized collection of T. Ott stories.

Haw!
Awful Brunetti gags; has been re-collected in Ho! but this original version is awful cute.

The Evolution & History of Moosekind
By Bob Foster. Like Larry Gonick but with moose. From the pages of Marvel's old Crazy magazine. Funny!

International Bob
A hard to find collection of Terry (Cud) LaBan's alternative-comics work.

The Island of Dr. Moral
Brilliant weirdness from the brilliant Jeremy Eaton.

Junkwaffel Vol. 2
Classic Vaughn Bodé material.

Love and Rockets: Short Stories
Just $5.48 (half cover price), a great entry point to Jaime's early Locas!

Love and Rockets Book 7: The Death of Speedy (Hardcover)
Includes some of everyone's favorite Jaime "Locas" stories. Now half off the cover price!

Muzzlers, Guzzlers and Good Yeggs
Last few copies of this great Joe Coleman book collected from BLAB!

The Reaper of Love and Other Stories
A 1988 reprint of classic Berni Wrightson material from 1968-1971! Out of print for years!

A Shroud for Waldo
Graphic novel length "Waldo" story by Kim Deitch.

King of the Flies desktop wallpaper

mike

When I was taking photos for our preview of King of the Flies Vol. 1: Hallorave by Mezzo & Pirus, I observed that the endpapers might make a nifty desktop background. One request to the art department later, and presto! (Note that this image is Not Safe For Most Workplaces due to partial nudity.)

Just click on the size that matches your monitor resolution and the image will open in a new window; if you're on a PC, right-click the image and select "Set As Background"; if you're on a Mac, control+click and select "Set As Desktop Background." (We don't know what the procedure is for iPhones, but if you have one, you probably do, right?) For lots more wallpaper selections, find recent ones here and older ones here.

800 x 600 | 1024 x 768 | 1152 x 864 | 1280 x 960 | 1280 x 800 | 1280 x 720 | iPhone

Daily OCD: 1/27/10

mike

Online Commentary & Diversions for today:

• Plug: Chris Mautner of Robot 6 declares Hotwire Comics Vol. 3 his Pick of the Week: "Here's another hefty sampling of edgy, in-your-face alternative comics, edited by Glenn Head, who provides the cover as well as a couple of interior stories as well. This volume boasts a rather impressive A-list of contributors, including Mary Fleener, Michael Kupperman, R. Sikoryak, Mack White, Johnny Ryan and more. The Sikoryak story in particular — a mash-up between Dennis the Menace and Hamlet — is worth checking out, as is the great, surreal tale from White. If nothing else, I'm grateful to Head for giving folks like White a place to get their comics published, as they're the kind of artists we don't seem to see enough of these days."

• Plug: Marc Arsenault at Wow Cool hypes Hotwire Comics Vol. 3

• Plug: "The third volume of Fantagraphics’ Harvey and Eisner nominated Hotwire has arrived and it looks great. ... The Complete Dennis the Menace 1961 - 1962 by Hank Ketcham. Read it." – Gosh! Comics Blog

• Elsewhere: Irwin Chusid reports the good news that Jim Flora's children's books will start coming back into print with new editions from Brooklyn-based indie press Enchanted Lion Books

• Things to see: At What Things Do, part 3 of Steven Weissman's "This Already Happened"

First Look (for real this time): Tales Designed to Thrizzle #6

mike

Squint no more! (Plus I got the issue number right this time.) The new issue of Tales Designed to Thrizzle comes out in May!

UPDATE: Michael Kupperman lets us know that this is not the finished version, so some changes may be made between now and when it goes to press.

New Comics Day 1/27/10

mike

Scheduled to arrive at enlightened comic shops across the land tomorrow:

Hotwire Comics Vol. 3
By various artists; edited by Glenn Head

The Comics Reporter says: "A boon for fans of a certain kind of energetic, restless, profane comic book making — for the rest of us it's an exquisitely curated, controlled visit to that particular comics world." Jog calls it "a distinctly old-fashioned scattershot alternative comics production" and "a louder, more comedic, more visually-driven" sibling to Mome.

We have previews-a-plenty both here on our site and on the official Hotwire website; check them out while you're contacting your local shop to confirm availability.

Daily OCD: 1/26/10

mike

Another short Online Commentary & Diversions update:

• Feature: Publishers Weekly spotlights King: The Special Edition. Calvin Reid talks to King creator Ho Che Anderson and Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth about the development of the book

• Review: "Whatever the case, [The Squirrel Machine] is a compelling, fascinating journey through an often creepy and always striking world, one that's regularly quite hilarious... What can one make of that sort of thing? You might be able to attempt an interpretation, one that will be just as valid as any, but it's just as legitimate to go along for the ride and see where Rickheit takes you. It won't be where you expect, that's for sure." – Matthew J. Brady

• Things to see: "Pecker Eggs" by Johnny Ryan

• Things to see: It's been a while since the last time we had new sketchbook pages from Anders Nilsen

Bill Everett book breakdown

mike

Blake Bell is plowing ahead with his forthcoming, highly-anticipated book Fire & Water: Bill Everett, The Sub-Mariner, and the Birth of Marvel Comics (preliminary cover art shown above subject to change), and you can track his progress on his Bill Everett Facebook page. In this update, he outlines the contents of each chapter and gives a general idea of what to expect in the book, which is on track for a September release.

First Look (sort of, maybe): Tales Designed to Thrizzle #6

mike

Michael Kupperman is featured on Desktops of the Stars — look closely for what appears to be a teeny tiny icon of what might possibly be the cover to Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5 of course I meant #6 (enlarged above).

Tim Lane teaser

mike

Tim Lane's posted another page from his next book, Folktales, on his blog. That's a heck of a splash page — click through for the whole thing.

Daily OCD: 1/25/10

mike

A bit late with the Online Commentary & Diversions today due to being a touch under the weather:

• Review: "OK, [Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons] is very expensive, but Wilson's a lot cheaper than Zoloft. Some people fly their inner freak flags as a sign of liberation. This strange dude isn't sure there's another type of flag out there. In his world, there's always something over the horizon ready to eat you, blow you up or turn you into a homicidal maniac. Sounds a lot like life." – Laurel Maury, San Francisco Chronicle

• Review: "...[An] exemplary republishing of Wilson’s Playboy cartoons... One of the many nice features of the new Fantagraphics book is that it is chronological and dated, so we can see Wilson responding to the changing social and political landscapes. ... As a physical object Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons cannot be praised highly enough. ...[L]ooking at Wilson’s work at length, eating it up with my eyes, I came to love his work. He is, in fact, a master. ...[F]or all their morbidity and ghoulishness, Wilson’s cartoons affirm the value of cherishing life. As inhuman as his characters often are, Wilson is a deeply humane cartoonist." – Jeet Heer, Comics Comics

• Review: "Published soon after the conflict that it documents, Safe Area Goradze is an intense reading experience and an active call for the condemnation of tribal and international leaders who put politics ahead of humanity." – Suzette Chan, Sequential Tart

• Review: "There’s a remarkably spare and lean quality to the plot and characterization cooked up by Jean-Patrick Manchette’s West Coast Blues. ... It’s a story that’s both grim and strangely detached (or at least restrained), eschewing the sort of cliches that an American might expect from a crime story. ... If the text felt a bit detached, then Jacques Tardi added muscle, bone and fat to it with his delightfully chunky line. ... It’s the first quotidian crime story that I’ve ever read, and Tardi’s commitment to the depiction of the everyday and the way nightmares crashed into daily life are what made this book work so well." – Rob Clough, The Comics Journal (warning: spoilers)

• Feature: Comic Book Resources' Brian Cronin spotlights Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle as part of "A Year of Cool Comics": "Tales Designed to Thrizzle is one of those books where you might really need to see it to believe it. Michael Kupperman delivers thirty-odd pages of the most delightfully absurd ideas that you can imagine, to the point where I don't know if simply describing the comic would do it justice... I, for one, think it's one of the very best comics currently made."

• Interview: Graphic Novel Reporter's John Hogan has a Q&A about Sublife with John Pham: "I hope to have established a sort of model for the upcoming issues with Volumes 1 and 2. So basically, continuing serializations of either Sycamore St. or Deep Space, accompanied by various, shorter strips where I can experiment and joke around."

• Things to see/Bookmark: STL Drawing Club, for fan art and sketchbookery by Huizenga, May, Zettwoch, and several others

• Things to see: "California" by Gabrielle Bell

• Things to see: Page 8 of Hans Rickheit's Ectopiary, plus a poster for an amazing 2003 exhibit of comic art

• Things to see: A new comic in Finnish and a sexy animated drawing by Lilli Carré

• Things to see: Michael Kupperman says "Another week, another illustration for The New Yorker" (the article's pretty funny too)

• Whoa, Nellie: The Beat spots a similarity. Of course, it's not an uncommon one

Sand & Fury: A Scream Queen Adventure by Ho Che Anderson - Previews, Pre-Order

mike

Sand & Fury: A Scream Queen Adventure
By Ho Che Anderson

144-page two-color 7.5" x 9" softcover • $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-321-7

Ships in February 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

Sand & Fury is a story of blood, of sex, of death — of sound and retribution. It opens as a girl by the side of a desert road accepts a ride from a stranger. How could she know that behind that wheel sits the angel of death?

Of course, even the angel of death once had a life. During that life, death was a successful business woman, with a great career and an even greater future. It’s true she could be a little cavalier with her innate gifts; she had, after all, broken the heart of everyone who had ever loved her.

And then, one day, the monster entered the woman’s life and changed everything forever.

Inspired by the work of filmmakers like David Lynch and Dario Argento and cartoonists like Richard Sala and Charles Burns, a spiritual cousin to Roman Polanski’s Repulsion and The Tenant, Sand & Fury is at once an homage to those classic horror sources and a contemporary romantic thriller, drawn in a stark, chiseled, expressionistic line that evokes modern attitudes and classic terror at the unknown and unknowable.

Download an EXCLUSIVE PDF excerpt containing the first 10 pages of the story (1.9 MB).

"In Sand & Fury, Ho Che Anderson has done what I would have previously regarded as impossible. He’s found the illegitimate child of Faulkner and Lovecraft buried alive in a paranoiac’s terrified vision of the desert of the American Southwest... in a grave uncovered by the shriek of his own degenerate perversion of a banshee, for fuck’s sake." – Howard Chaykin

"Anderson’s blocky figures and Expressionistic use of caricature are augmented by processed period photography, an approach that calls to mind the minimalist abstractions of Frank Miller. The characters are frequently depicted in high-contrast shadow, wherein features become flattened and skin colour is often difficult to determine. The resulting aesthetic is striking and symbolic." — The Guardian

Video & Photo Slideshow Preview (view in new window):

King of the Flies Vol. 1: Hallorave by Mezzo & Pirus - Previews, Pre-Order

mike

King of the Flies Vol. 1: Hallorave
By Mezzo & Pirus

64-page full-color 9" x 12.5" hardcover • $18.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-320-0

Ships in February 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

Set in a suburb that is both nowhere and everywhere, King of the Flies is a glorious bastard, combining the intricacy and subtlety of the best European graphic novels with a hyperdetailed, controlled noir style derived from the finest American cartoonists.

Mezzo and Pirus, previously best known in Europe for a series of cynical, brutal gangster stories, have abandoned their guns and gals for this cycle of suburban stories, but in King of the Flies the violence has just (for the most part) been interiorized.

King of the Flies first appears to be a series of unrelated short stories, each starring (and narrated by) a different protagonist, but it soon becomes obvious that these seemingly disparate episodes weave together to form a single complex narrative, with events that are only glimpsed (or even referred to) revisited from different perspectives — revolving around Eric, a ne’er-do-well, drug-taking teenager at war with his stepfather and, apparently, the whole world. (He is the titular King.)

King of the Flies is designed as a trilogy of albums, which will combine to form a single graphic novel of stunning intricacy and intensity. (Vol. 2, “The Origin of the World,” will be released by Fantagraphics in Fall/Winter 2010.)

Download an EXCLUSIVE 7-page PDF excerpt containing the entire first chapter (3.1 MB).

Video & Photo Slideshow Preview (view in new window):

Webcomics update for 1/22/10

mike

Oops, your Friday webcomics update slipped into early Saturday...

Your second of three bar gags in a row in this week's The House of No by Derek Van Gieson...

...Blecky lays down the law in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan....

...and is it just me or does Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman just keep getting better and better?

Daily OCD: 1/22/10

mike

A quick Online Commentary & Diversions update to close out the week:

• List: Popmatters names Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box one of The Best of Books 2009: Non-Fiction: "This awesome picture book... [is] filled with a delightfully odd array of vintage video covers... VHS cassettes may be treated like toxic waste in the age of the Blu-ray, but Portable Grindhouse offers that micro minority who still remain faithful to their trusty VCR a long overdue reprieve." – Ronald Hart

• Review: "Half the fun of [The Troublemakers] is trying to figure out just who is getting conned the worst? I zipped through this fun read, filled with backstabbing, double-crosses, and the spectacular art of Gilbert Hernandez. There is enough sex, violence, and treachery for any fan of pulp fiction. ... This offshoot of the Love and Rockets series is too much fun to miss." – Joseph Jay Franco, Bookrastination

• Plug: The Geeks of Doom flip through January's issue of Previews: "The next item I’ll definitely be picking up is It Was the War in the Trenches [by Jacques Tardi] from Fantagraphics. You know how I said before that I’m a fan of military history; well this book will scratch that same itch. This book takes a look at World War I from the eyes of the soldiers in the trenches. I’m very excited to read this one."

• Profile: Meathaus spotlights the work of Ray Fenwick

• Things to see: This is cute, though I'm not sure whether Sparky would approve (via Boing Boing)