FLOG! Entries for Mike Baehr - March 2008

Photos from Drew Friedman event in L.A.

mike

Our pal Pam Noles attended Drew Friedman's discussion and book signing for More Old Jewish Comedians at L.A.'s Skylight books (with guests Ben Schwartz and portrait subject Carl Ballantine) on Saturday and sent us a whole bunch of photos which we've loaded up on Flickr. Read Pam's account of the event here!

Flog! Photo Friday Finale!

mike

And now the pièce de résistance, found in Gary Groth's office:

Wait for it...

We shit you not.

Unseen Flora

mike

(Click for larger image.)

From Irwin Chusid, Jim Flora archivist and editor of our Flora books:

Jim Flora Art LLC has released a limited-edition, archival-quality fine art print of an uncirculated 1963 Jim Flora tempera painting entitled Back to Bellefontaine. Flora was born in Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio, in 1914. He lived in the town until 1934, when he enrolled at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Only twenty-five (25) prints of Back to Bellefontaine were produced for this edition. Back to Bellefontaine has not previously been reproduced or published.

Some remembrances of the town by the artist are on the Jim Flora blog.

Chocolate Cheeks for 3/28/07

mike

A quick break from "Flog! Photo Friday" for a new installment of Steven Weissman's "Chocolate Cheeks"! In this week's strip: Pullapart Boy's instigatin'. (Remember, you must be registered and logged in to read.)

Photos + MP3, Frye Art Museum Crumb Comics Forum

mike

More Flog! Photo Friday, this time with audio! Last night at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, moderator Gary Groth was joined by Peter Bagge, Ellen Forney, and Jim Woodring for a lively discussion about Robert Crumb and a range of related topics. More photos can be seen on Flickr, in regular and slideshow styles.

Plus! Download the complete audio of this event (24.5 MB MP3). It's a bit low-fi, but mostly intelligible. (We are still working on bringing you a full-fledged podcast... stay tuned for that.) We've also archived this feature on our website at this page.

Stack O'Xaime

mike

Flog! Photo Friday continues with the complete stack of Jaime Hernandez's original artwork for his 50-page story in Love and Rockets: New Stories #1, the first issue of the new, annual incarnation of Love and Rockets, which will debut in July at ComiCon in San Diego:

Friedman exhibit opening photos

mike

It's Photo Friday on Flog! First, "The Fun Never Stops!" with Drew Friedman at our storefront last night. Below, the exhibit pre-opening:

Below, the crowd gathers. That's Drew second from left.

Extreme close-up!

Lots more photos in our Flickr stream, in regular and fancy slideshow formats.

Don't forget, Drew appears at Skylight Books in L.A. tomorrow with guests Ben Schwartz and comedian Andy Kindler. Details here.

Members Preview: Explainers

mike

This week's free preview is a downloadable 25-page excerpt from Explainers: The Complete Village Voice Strips (1956-66), the first volume in a major archival project collecting the entirety of Jules Feiffer's strip for the venerable New York City weekly paper. These previews are exclusive to registered Fantagraphics.com users, so sign up and/or sign in to view. As a reminder, Gary Groth's Introduction to the book is reprinted here on the Fantagraphics website (with a slideshow of 11 strips selected by Groth) and can be read by the general public, no registration required.

A parenthetical aside on the panel above: I was startled by Feiffer's use of "omigod" in this strip dated January 2, 1957 — decades before the word was popularized by the whole "Valley Girl" fad of the 1980s.

(As a reminder, 20/20 Club members receive these previews two weeks before we post them on the website, just one of many great reasons to join up...)

Now in stock: Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco (New Softcover Printing)

mike

Safe Area Gorazde (New Printing)
By Joe Sacco

Praised by The New York Times, Brill's Content and Publisher's Weekly, Safe Area Gorazde is the long-awaited and highly sought after 240-page look at war in the former Yugoslavia. Sacco (the critically-acclaimed author of Palestine) spent five months in Bosnia in 1996, immersing himself in the human side of life during wartime, researching stories that are rarely found in conventional news coverage. The book focuses on the Muslim-held enclave of Gorazde, which was besieged by Bosnian Serbs during the war. Sacco lived for a month in Gorazde, entering before the Muslims trapped inside had access to the outside world, electricity or running water. Safe Area Gorazde is Sacco's magnum opus and with it he is poised too become one of America's most noted journalists. The book features an introduction by Christopher Hitchens, political columnist for The Nation and Vanity Fair.

The new Seventh softcover printing (2008) features an all-new cover design by Adam Grano.

240-page black & white 7" x 10" softcover $19.95
Add to Cart • Read More...

Now in stock: The Kat Who Walked in Beauty by George Herriman (2nd Printing)

mike

The Kat Who Walked in Beauty (2nd Printing)
By George Herriman

Presenting a unique, stand-alone companion to our Krazy & Ignatz series. The Kat Who Walked In Beauty collects many rare and unique dailies from the 1910s and 1920s. Though many readers are aware of Herriman's dynamic Sunday pages, few know that during 1920, in what must have been an editorially unrestrictive period for Herriman, he drew some of the most graphic and brilliantly conceived daily strips ever created; they look like "mini-Sunday" strips. This nine-month stretch of dailies, never-before-reprinted, is among the treasures included in this collection. The collection includes many other Herriman gems, including the very first stand-alone Krazy & Ignatz strips from 1911, and the illustrations from Herriman"s Krazy Kat Jazz pantomime/ballet, performed to captivated New York audiences in 1922. This book fills in several gaps in the daily strip history, reproduced at close to their original size.

The new 2nd printing features an orange spine and interior spot color; we also still have limited quantities of the first printing, with a green spine and interior spot color. Please indicate your choice when ordering.

114-page black & white 15" x 11" hardcover $29.95
Add to Cart • Read More...

Now in stock: Hall of Best Knowledge by Ray Fenwick

mike

Hall of Best Knowledge
By Ray Fenwick

Ray Fenwick has pioneered his own medium of storytelling, one best described as "typographical comics." Hall of Best Knowledge is presented as a handsome, personal journal written by an unnamed voice, referred to only as "The Author." Little is known about him; he makes occasional, derogatory references to a twin brother and younger sibling, but reveals little else. He clearly fashions himself a genius, writing with a faux-aristocratic air, and it is presumably his belief in his own genius that leads him to want to share his knowledge with the world. Each page features information such as "It hardly needs mentioning that riding a pony is no intellectual triumph.... If riding a pony is so fantastic, why have I never read of any renowned pony-riding genius? It is because such a person does not exist, making it a foolish waste of time unworthy of attention." These pearls of wisdom are lettered in an elegant, almost obsessive fashion, entirely hand-crafted and bedecked with Ionic columns and fleurs-de-lis.

It becomes obvious to the reader early on that all is not as it seems; only at the end does the picture become completely clear. The ensuing journey is a riotous tour through the narrator's ego and id, and the humor builds accordingly as he is revealed to be not nearly as smart—or sophisticated—as he thinks.

Hall of Best Knowledge is part graphic novel, part art object, part satire, part puzzle. The slow unfolding of the author and his story builds humor with each page, creating a peculiar examination of the idea of genius and the problems that arise in the search and transmission of knowledge.

HOBK is an elegantly designed and packaged book, presented as a found journal, with a belly band and other production/design touches to further solidify and give form to the concept of the book.

168-page black & white 7" x 7" softcover $19.99
Add to Cart • Read More...

Now in stock: The Complete Peanuts 1967-1968 (Vol. 9)

mike

The Complete Peanuts 1967-1968 (Vol. 9)
By Charles M. Schulz

NOTE: BECAUSE OF OUR CONTRACT WITH THE LICENSOR THESE BOOKS CANNOT BE SOLD OUTSIDE OF NORTH AMERICA. IF YOU RESIDE ANYWHERE OTHER THAN THE U.S. OR CANADA PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO ORDER THEM FROM OUR WEBSITE; YOUR ORDER WILL NOT BE PROCESSED.

JOHN WATERS TALKS CHARLIE BROWN AS THE '60S WIND DOWN.

As we rush toward the end of Peanuts' second full decade, Snoopy finds himself almost completely engrossed in his persona as the World War I Flying Ace — to the point where he goes to camp with Charlie Brown and maintains his persona throughout the entire two-week period (much to Peppermint Patty's bafflement).

Still, Snoopy looms large, so this volume (a particularly Snoopy-heavy one) sees him arm-wrestling Lucy as the "Masked Marvel" and then taking off for Petaluma for the national arm-wrestling championship; impersonating a vulture and a "Cheshire Beagle"; enjoying golf and hockey; attempting a jaunt to France for an ice-skating championship; running for office on the "Paw" ticket; being traded to Peppermint Patty's baseball team, then un-traded and installed as team manager by a guilt-ridden Charlie Brown; as well as dealing with the return of his original owner, Lila. If you're surprised by that last one, imagine how Charlie Brown feels...

Lila makes only a brief appearance (as does José Peterson, a short-lived — and short — star member of Charlie Brown's baseball team), but this volume sees the appearance of what would be Schulz's most controversial major character: Franklin. (Yes, in 1968 the introduction of a Black character caused a stir.)

Peppermint Patty, working toward her ascendancy as one of the major Peanuts players in the 1970s and 1980s, also has several major turns, including a storyline in which she’s the tent monitor for three little girls (who call her "Sir" — a joke Schulz would pick up later with Peppermint Patty's friend Marcie).

Stories involving other characters include a sequence in which Linus's flippant comment to his Gramma that he'll kick his blanket habit when she kicks her smoking habit backfires; Lucy bullies Linus, pesters Schroeder, and organizes a "crab-in"; plus Charlie Brown copes with Valentine's Day depression, the Little Red-Haired Girl, the increasingly malevolent kite-eating tree, and baseball losses. In other words: Vintage Peanuts!

344-page black & white 8.5" x 7" hardcover $28.99
Add to Cart [NORTH AMERICA ONLY] • Read More...

R. Crumb(s)

mike

Found via our pals at Atomic Books. The series also includes Peppermint Patty among many others.

Now in stock: Willie & Joe: The WWII Years

mike

Willie & Joe: The WWII Years
By Bill Mauldin; edited by Todd DePastino

"The real war," said Walt Whitman, "will never get in the books." During World War II, the closest most Americans ever came to the "real war" was through the cartoons of Bill Mauldin, the most beloved enlisted man in the U.S. Army.

Here, for the first time, Fantagraphics Books brings together Mauldin's complete works from 1940 through the end of the war. This collection of over 600 cartoons, most never before reprinted, is more than the record of a great artist: it is an essential chronicle of America's citizen-soldiers from peace through war to victory.

Bill Mauldin knew war because he was in it. He had created his characters, Willie and Joe, at age 18, before Pearl Harbor, while training with the 45th Infantry Division and cartooning part-time for the camp newspaper. His brilliant send-ups of officers were pure infantry, and the men loved it.

After wading ashore with his division on the first of its four beach invasions in July 1943, Mauldin and his men changed — and Mauldin's cartoons changed accordingly. Months of miserable weather, bad food, and tedium interrupted by the terror of intense bombing and artillery fire took its toll. By the year's end, virtually every man in Mauldin's original rifle company was killed, wounded, or captured.

The wrinkles in Willie and Joe's uniforms deepened, the bristle on their faces grew, and the eyes — "too old for those young bodies," as Mauldin put it — betrayed a weariness that would remain the entire war. With their heavy brush lines, detailed battlescapes, and pidgin of army slang and slum dialect, Mauldin's cartoons and captions recreated on paper the fully realized world of the American combat soldier. Their dark, often insubordinate humor sparked controversy among army brass and incensed General George S. Patton, Jr.

This is the first of several volumes publishing the best of Bill Mauldin's single panel strips from 1940 to 1991 (when he stopped drawing). His Willie & Joe cartoons are presented in a deluxe, beautifully designed two-volume slipcased edition of over 600 pages. The series is edited by Todd DePastino, whose Mauldin scholarship is on full display in a biography of the artist released in February 2008 from W.W. Norton. Willie & Joe contains an introduction and running commentary by DePastino, providing context for the drawings, pertinent biographical details of Mauldin's life, and occasional background on specific cartoons (such as the ones that made Patton howl).

600-page b&w/color 7" x 9" two-volume slipcased hardcover set $65.00
Add to Cart • Read More...

King in Spain

mike

An exhibit of Ho Che Anderson's original artwork from King, running through the end of this week at Sala de Exposiciones CAM de Alicante in Alicante, Spain, re-opens in Valencia, Spain on April 7 at Aula CAM de Valencia La Llotgeta. More information here (en Español).

Modern Cartoonist is back

mike

We temporarily removed Dan Clowes's "Modern Cartoonist" essay from the website in order to bring it to you in its full, hand-lettered, illustrated splendor. Now it's back!

Love and Rockets 1st Editions on sale!

mike

Our warehouse manager wants to get rid of the last remaining copies of the first editions of Love and Rockets Book 3: Las Mujeres Perdidas and Love & Rockets X (L&R Book 10), so we've marked 'em down to 50% off the cover price! Get 'em before they're gone.

Chocolate Cheeks for 3/21/08

mike

A new Friday brings a new installment of Steven Weissman's "Chocolate Cheeks"! In this week's strip: cake and new perspective. (Remember, you must be registered and logged in to read.)

MOME Interview 6: Tim Hensley

mike

The latest artist to speak out in our ongoing series of Mome interview web reprints is Tim Hensley, in a discussion with Gary Groth conducted in September 2006 and originally printed in Mome Vol. 6; read it in its entirety right here. Previously: Paul Hornschemeier, Gabrielle Bell, Kurt Wolfgang, Jonathan Bennett and Andrice Arp. Next up: Anders Nilsen.

Ellen Forney, transit artist

mike

Seattle residents can look forward to some public art by Ellen Forney. Sez Ellen:

I'll be doing the public art for the Sound Transit tunnel from the west entrance by SCCC under Broadway, to the station. Yay! I'm not sure what art I'm going to do yet (Big Fuckin' Hands or naked ladies might not pass through the committee processes) but I'll come up with something with my signature feel-good flair. (Here is a "sample of my public work," courtesy of Photoshop.)

(Via Slog.)