FLOG! Entries for Mike Baehr - May 2009

Mahler & Newgarden talk Funny

mike

At the Austrian Cultural Forum NYC, on Weds. June 3 at 6:30 PM (note that this overlaps with Jason's Low Moon signing at The Strand in NYC):

6:30 PM WHAT IS "FUNNY" ANYWAY?

A comics conversation with award-winning cartoonists Nicolas Mahler and Mark Newgarden.
Moderated by Mark David Nevins.

Join us for a lively and visually rich conversation with Nicolas Mahler and Mark Newgarden, in which we will explore how comics work, the marketplaces for graphic humor, where these cartoonists get their ideas, and, yes, the answer to the eternal question, "What is 'Funny'?"

ACFNY
Reservations required.

The Ephemerist has more details. (Via The Comics Reporter.)

Daily OCD: 5/28/09

mike

Once more, Online Commentary & Diversions goes on vacation tomorrow.

• Profile/Review: Cincinnati Magazine talks to C. Tyler about You'll Never Know Book 1: A Good and Decent Man, calling it "a dense, triangulated tale (war and madness; father/daughter coming-of-age; familial reconciliation) made accessible by Tyler’s detailed yet straightforward storytelling and impeccable renderings... Switching artistic styles to connote the passage of time, Tyler’s graphic narrative deftly moves between her childhood and her father’s war experiences, between dream sequences, real time, psychology, and family lore. The book transcends mere documentation; it is a valentine sealed in genealogy, footnoted in history."

• Interview: At SuicideGirls.com, Alex Dueben talks with Bob Fingerman about his latest projects, including Connective Tissue (and Bob slides in some great plugs for Peter Bagge's Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me and John Kerschbaum's Petey & Pussy)

• News: Here's an announcement about Mike Vosberg, the artist of our forthcoming RIP, M.D. series of kid-oriented graphic novels

Luba: Collectors Edition update

mike

If you're one of the first 10 people who ordered the exclusive Luba: Collectors Edition (signed, numbered, and sketched in by Gilbert Hernandez, with a special deluxe cloth binding), your copy is on its way to you this week. Gilbert is sending them back to us in batches of 10, so the next 10 orders will go out as soon as we get the next shipment from him. Only 30 copies exist and they are nearly all spoken for, so if you've been on the fence about ordering it, get off that fence and make your order now! It's the ultimate collectible for the elite Beto fan, available ONLY direct from Fantagraphics.

600-page black & white 7" x 10.25" hardcover • $100.00
SOLD OUT

Feiffer at Cinefamily in L.A. 6/21

mike

Appearance by Jules Feiffer 6/21! Poster by Johnny Ryan! So much great comedy I weep explosively for not living in L.A.! Info/tickets here. (Via event co-sponsor The Sound of Young America.)

Fantagraphics MoCCA 2009 Signing Schedule

mike

Start yer plannin'! These are all subject to last-minute change; we'll try to give advance notice of any changes if we can. We'll have more MoCCA-related announcements in the coming days so stay tuned.

FANTAGRAPHICS MoCCA SIGNINGS

SATURDAY SIGNINGS

11:00 am - Noon • Paul Hornschemeier, Dash Shaw & Derek Van Gieson (Mome - just added!) (Unfortunately Nate Neal, previously scheduled for this time, won't be able to make it to the Fest.)

Noon - 2:00 pm • Jason & Michael Kupperman

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm • Paul Karasik & Bob Fingerman

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm • Lilli Carré, Miss Lasko-Gross & Ted Stearn

4:00 - 5:00 pm • Arnold Roth & Al Jaffee

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm • John Kerschbaum & Dash Shaw

SATURDAY PANELS

3:00 pm - 3:50 pm  • AH, HUMBUG! Arnold Roth and Al Jaffee in conversation

4:00 pm - 4:50 pm  • Scandinavian Comics 101, With Steffen P. Maarup, Thomas Thorhauge and Ib Kjeldsmark (From Wonderland with Love)

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm  • Paul Karasik on the Twisted Genius of Fletcher Hanks

SUNDAY SIGNINGS

11 am - Noon • Steffen P. Maarup, Christoffer Zieler, Ib Kjeldsmark, Allan Haverholm, Thomas Thorhauge, Simon Bukhave and Søren Mosdal (From Wonderland with Love)

Noon - 1:00 pm • Paul Karasik, Sara Edward-Corbett (Mome) & Ted Stearn

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm • Dame Darcy & Dash Shaw

2:00 pm - 4:00 pm • Jason & Michael Kupperman

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm • Bob Fingerman, Paul Hornschemeier & Miss Lasko-Gross

SUNDAY PANELS

11 am - 11:50 am  • Kent Worcester and Tom Kaczynski in conversation

Noon - 1:00 pm  • The Astonishing SVA Roundtable with Dash Shaw

3:45 pm - 4:45 pm  • Gary Panter and Frank Santoro in conversation

WHAT:
 2009 MoCCA FESTIVAL

The 8th annual art festival celebrating comics and cartoon art.

WHEN:
 Saturday, June 6th and Sunday, JUNE 7th 
11:00am - 6:00pm each day

WHERE:
 The 69th Regiment Armory 
68 Lexington Avenue at Lexington Avenue at 25th Street 
New York City
By subway: 6 Train to 28th Street Station

Daily OCD: 5/27/09

mike

Your daily dose of Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Profile: The Oklahoma Gazette dedicates a cover feature (pictured above) to native son Boody Rogers, talking to Yoe, Nadel and Spiegelman about his work. Of our collection of his comics they say "Boody: The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers reprints 13 of Boody Rogers' comic-book stories between 1948 and 1950. Although they have fallen into the public domain, publisher Fantagraphics has restored the color and images to its typical standards of quality ... not to mention standards of unapologetic weirdness."

• Review: "...Terr'ble Thompson is... playful fun... [Gene] Deitch’s upbeat mangling of the English language and silly twists will keep readers of many ages entertained." - Michael C. Lorah, Newsarama

• Things to see: Bookforum commissions illustrations from such notables as Paul Hornschemeier, Tony Millionaire, Dash Shaw, Chris Ware and others for their "Fiction Forward" feature (there's a bunch of fiction excerpts to read, too)

• Things to see: Dick Cheney's gonna get that wascally new Pwesident. By Drew Friedman, for The New Republic

Webcomics update for 5/26/09

mike

Due to holidays, vacations and conventions, our webcomics posting schedule is a little goofed up these next few weeks; our apologies.

Blecky surfs the social networks in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan...

It's the big, shocking reveal in this week's installment of Steven Weissman's in-progress pages from "Blue Jay," an epic 51-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures....

And this week's Mon.-Fri. batch of Martin Kellerman's Rocky includes advice on dealing with a partner's intimacy-killing habits... and a birth!

Paul Karasik's gruesome babies

mike

Paul Karasik poses with his two "sons," the Fletcher Hanks collections I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! and what looks like an unbound proof of the forthcoming You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! (debuting at MoCCA 2009). Proud papa.

Daily OCD: 5/26/09

mike

Let's catch up on our Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "...Monologues [for Calculating the Density of Black Holes is] spare and scratchy where [Anders Nilsen's] other work was detailed; loose and spontaneous where his other work was considered; and funny where his other work was melancholy. It's interesting to see the many influences that inform Monologues; there's a bit of absurdists like Ionesco, elements of Tom Stoppard's wit and philosophical musings, stream of consciousness dada in the style of Tristan Tzara, and oblique New Yorker type gags with the scratchy looseness of James Thurber and Saul Steinberg." - Rob Clough

• Review: "...[O]nce again, I’m engaged in Blazing Combat. What a thrill! And the art!... Highly recommended. Don’t argue! Just buy it!" - David McDonnell, Starlog

• Review: "This collection of the 1965-66 Blazing Combat war comic magazine is a stellar publication... It's a master class on how to tell a short story, and I highly recommend checking it out." - Sandy Bilus, I Love Rob Liefeld

• Review: "Blazing Combat, a new hardcover collection from Fantagraphics, showcases some truly fantastic work from a multitude of comics greats... The collection itself is sharp as a tack... Fantagraphics really packages it nicely..." - Litany of Schist

• Review: "This omnibus of all 11 issues of Humbug is equal parts giddy genius and period piece. The satire is razor-sharp... [T]here are such subtleties here and such rapier wit that the line is clearly visible from the Algonquin Round Table to Kurtzman to Crumb to Ralph Bakshi to Mr. Show to The Colbert Report." - Byron Kerman, PLAYBACK:stl

• Review: "Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5... is really funny." - Tucker Stone, "Advanced Common Sense," comiXology (fast-forward to the "Speed Round")

• Review: "In his way, [Michael] Kupperman's just as concerned with making comics' formal aspects work for him as Chris Ware. In his way he's every bit as effective. Goddammit this book [Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5] is funny." - Sean T. Collins

• Review: "[Beasts! Book 1] is captivating, wistful, funny and truly extraordinary - a Bestiary of the traditionally fantastic for the dreary 21st century where imagination and wonder have been formularised as crypto-zoology... a vivid package of sheer fantasy and artistic excellence..." - Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

• Review: "Now, with Low Moon, [Jason] has clenched his fist around me and won’t let me go - this is easily my favorite of his works to date... Top to bottom, I enjoyed Low Moon very much... A worthy addition to one’s bookshelf." - Marc Mason, Comics Waiting Room

• Review: "[In Abandoned Cars] Tim Lane presents a personal study of what he calls 'The Great American Mythological Drama,' a fog of events / thoughts / dreams / disappointments in music / literature / North American life... Lane leads to something more introspective and extremely sad." - Churrasco la Naje (from Google translation)

• Review: "...[A]lmost nothing is casual in Bottomless Belly Button and almost nothing is superficial in its narrative structure, nor its authorial intentions... [Dash] Shaw's work delves into the interior of the personal relationships of its protagonists, but also in the basic foundations of linear narrative... Shaw transcends the sphere of intellectual narrative to enter the much more epidermal level of physical sensations... Dash Shaw has composed a monumental work, sometimes puzzling, sometimes bordering on melodrama, but always strong and brave, a work full of qualities and findings that will, we believe, be a reference for future comics. His experimentation, his daring and his solutions can't help but remind us of an equally ambitious and dense work, Jimmy Corrigan... Do not miss this." - Little Nemo's Kat (from Google translation)

• Plug: Jonathan Ross gives us ("the company that flies the flag for independent, ground-breaking comics"), and The Comics Journal ("the only widely read and serious publication of comic-book criticism"), a nice shout-out in The Times

• Interview: The Daily Cross Hatch continues their conversation with Michael Kupperman. Sample quote: "I think the artist I feel closest with is Tony Millionaire, because he really lives in those comics. He could never be anything else."

• Profile: The Beat spotlights Eleanor Davis as part of their survey of Russ Manning Award nominees

• Profile: Vice looks at another side of Jim Blanchard: curator of wacky/creepy/sleazy music compilations

• History: The Beat engages in a bit of "Comics Archaeology," discussing several releases from our past (and present: "...it must be said, of all the art comix anthologies, Mome is probably the most perfect distillation. Sometimes evolution works.")

• Things to see: These two sample pages really make me wish that Roger Langridge had landed the Wallace & Gromit gig

Dame Darcy has a busy June

mike

Not only will Dame Darcy be appearing at our table at MoCCA, she's got a group art show, a lecture, a doll-crafting workshop, and several musical performances (including on the vaunted WFMU) out on the East Coast (mostly NYC) all throughout the month of June. Check the Dame's blog for the full schedule.

Daily OCD: 5/21/09

mike

No Online Commentary & Diversions tomorrow if I can help it: I'm taking the day off!

• Awards: Congratulations to Mome contributor Eleanor Davis for being nominated for this year's Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer award (given out at the Eisner Awards ceremony at Comic Con International) for her excellent Toon Books release Stinky!

• Review: "The biggest surprise might be how good these stories are, even if they failed to take off in the way that, say, Superman did... [T]he Notes section at the end, written by editor Greg Sadowski, ...is truly fantastic... His studious efforts are worth the price of the book alone... These stories deserved another look and more attention. Sadowski has done an admirable job of making Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936–1941 not only reverent, but exciting and fun as well." - John Hogan, Graphic Novel Reporter

• Review: "I might say [Michael] Kupperman is one of the greatest satirists of our time, if I could figure out what he's satirizing. The basic facts: this collect[ion] of... Tales Designed to Thrizzle... featur[es] dozens of short pieces done on a chaotic array of subjects in so many styles much of it comes across as found art, and almost all of it's hilarious. Any attempt to summarize things like 'Mentally Ill Gangster Comics' or 'Crime Is Pushing the Limits' would miss the point completely. Except to say this is media culture put through the grinder. Top-notch." - Steven Grant, Comic Book Resources

• Interview: Ladies and gentlemen, the Inkstuds interview with Bob Fingerman

• Good news: The Comics Reporter reports that Amazing Facts... and Beyond! with Leon Beyond by Kevin Huizenga, Ted May & Dan Zettwoch will be returning to the pages of the weekly Riverfront Times

• Things to see (and buy): New Jim Flora print

Daily OCD: 5/20/09

mike

Today's hot batch of Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "...[T]he furtive griminess that Jason wrings from his stock character designs is impressive to behold... [Y]ou'll enjoy any number of his typical moments of storytelling grace..." - otherwise Tom Spurgeon is unfortunately somewhat sparing in praise for Jason's Low Moon at The Comics Reporter

• Review: "Miss [Lasko-Gross]' previous book, Escape from 'Special,' launched her fearless plan to produce an autobiographical trilogy. [A] Mess [of Everything] tackles the high-school years, which involve mean girls, mean boys and plenty of awkward social situations. Each anecdote is super-short with cringeworthy dialogue that you'll identify with and will remind you of how fortunate you are to have lived through that rough period." - Whitney Matheson, "Three Graphic Novels You Should Read Immediately," USA Today Pop Candy

• Review: "I’ve read some crazy comix, and while he won’t scare you under the sheets like S. Clay Wilson, [John] Kerschbaum can be as raw as R. Crumb, Peter Bagge, and [Johnny] Ryan, who may be his closest comix cousins... No fan of adult funny animal comics (like Fritz the Cat) will want to miss Petey & Pussy... Petey & Pussy is some funny shit." - Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin

• Interview: The Pull List podcast talks to Bob Fingerman about his latest releases, including Connective Tissue

• Plug: Jeet Heer gives a nice shout-out to Humbug ("amazing") in this interview on the topic of "Cartoon Conservativism" (worth reading in its own right) with Inside Higher Ed

• Plug: "I’m really looking forward to [You'll Never Know Book 1: A Good and Decent Man by C. Tyler]: a graphic memoir and family drama exploring the person we try to present to the world, and reality." - Corey Blake

• Plug: "Fantagraphics is shortly to publish a new edition of Prince Valiant, Hal Foster's legendary, Golden Age comic strip of knights, swashbuckling, romance and chivalry... Foster's artwork is amazing. Foster was an exceptional talent in an era of exceptional talents." - OK Erok

• Plug: "The fifth issue of Tales Designed to Thrizzle is in and it's even weirder than the last one. See aliens give a bloke sexy lady legs! Twain plus Einstein plus enraged badger! Hobo fashion! If you've not read any of Michael Kupperman's stuff before now's yer chance..." - Gosh! Comics

• Analysis: The following academic journal article contains discussion of Daniel Clowes and especially the Hernandez Brothers: "Artif[r]acture: Virulent Pictures, Graphic Narrative, and the Ideology of the Visual." Mosaic: Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 28.4 (December 1995): 79-109 by William A. Nericcio (link courtesy the author, via Facebook)

• Events: This Portland art show at Guapo Comics & Coffee features Andrice Arp and lots more local talent

• Things to see: Conan O'Brien by Drew Friedman, for the NY Observer. Freckles, liver spots; tomato, tomahto

• Things to see: Hairy Green Eyeball presents a Vaughn Bodé "Cheech Wizard" story

Paul Hornschemeier, screenprint, Desert Island

mike

Because paraphrasing takes time, here's the scoop ripped straight from Paul's blog, where you should go to see the print in higher-res:

Raising awareness one high five at a time: featuring the mouthless, deity-esque Huge Suit with Mister Hidden (who will join Huge Suit in the pages of the upcoming All and Sundry collection [which just went to the printer - Ed.]).

I'll be signing this print (and books) when I'm at Brooklyn's own Desert Island on June 5th, prior to joining the throngs of cartoon and comics enthusiasts at MoCCA. Desert Island has the print available for pre-order and has limited it to an edition of forty, so have at it.

Humbug art on the block

mike

Boing Boing reports that a fairly substantial collection of original art from Humbug is now up for auction. It's well worth checking out just for the images, even if you're not Uncle or Aunt Moneybags.

Of course, you can see more original Humbug art in our Flickr sets here and here.

(Thanks to Paul Hornschemeier for the tip.)

Video of Lasko-Gross & Bell at the Strand last night

mike

The ever-tech-savvy Strand Bookstore has posted video of last night's event with Miss Lasko-Gross and Gabrielle Bell. Just click the link in the embedded player below; if some time has passed and the link isn't on the main screen, click the "Highlights" tab and scroll for it there -- or just head over to the Strand website to watch.

[Embedded player removed because it was auto-playing a later live event. Please view the video at the link above.]

Update: The Strand also has signed editions of Miss's A Mess of Everything and Gabrielle's Cecil and Jordan in New York (D&Q) available for order.

Daily OCD: 5/19/09

mike

Online Commentary & Diversions of the day:

• News: Publishers Weekly has the scoop on RIP, MD, a new series of youth-oriented graphic novels we plan to start publishing next year in collaboration with animation studio Lincoln Butterfield

• Review: "[Miss] Lasko-Gross... us[es] a dark and biting humor that both self-deprecates and pokes fun at alterna-teens along the way... The art pulls everything together wonderfully, ...and each section receives a beautiful splash page or panel with an embedded title to welcome you into the vignette... Though Fantagraphics has billed A Mess of Everything as the second part of a trilogy, it stands well alone for new readers of Lasko-Gross’ work, like myself, who want to skip straight to the unique uneasiness of the teen problems we carry through adulthood. [Grade] 8/10" - Zane Austin Grant, PopMatters

• Review: "This lovingly restored collection of Humbug's five [sic - it's eleven] issues is accompanied by essays, interviews and annotations, providing a glimpse into what Mad had wrought." - Richard Pachter, The Miami Herald

• Plug: "Over the past year or so, I've become a fan of Michael Kupperman's comic Tales Designed to Thrizzle." - League of Melbotis

• Plug: Socio-political blog Third Rate in the Tropics, prefacing a video examining the Israeli/Palestinian divide, says "One of the best works I've ever come across on the topic is Palestine, a graphic novel by Joe Sacco."

Paul Hornschemeier Shows 'n Tells tomorrow night

mike

From Paul's blog, where there's more info:

Tomorrow night: if you're in the Chicago area come out for The Show 'n Tell Show, a rare chance for designers and artists to get together (in front of an audience) and talk about their processes, successes, and failures. I'll be one of those failures, mainly presenting an evolution of the dozens of stages a couple of my books (especially the covers) went through before reaching their final versions.

Daily OCD: Bonus Twitter Edition

mike

Here's a few days worth of buzz from Twitter... I don't know if I can make this a habit (and this might be borderline obnoxious), but we'll see:

BeaucoupKevin: Between you, me and the fencepost, if DC or Marvel reprinted their Golden Age material in the Fantagraphics' SUPERMEN! format, I'd not mind.

Triphibian: The Prince Valiant collection from Fantagraphics looks very, very sexy. http://www.fantagraphics.com/princevaliant

Omnivoracious: New Fantagraphics catalog in the mail (candy!). Most enticing: Al Columbia's first book (http://tinyurl.com/oku8ge), Comics Journal 300.

saratea: @valientthorr I'm still on my Little Lulu/Johnny Ryan/lotsa Fantagraphics/Top Shelf releases & I still pull out the occasional Thor #nojoke

MrGranger: I agree. RT @leaveittokaren: Reading: The Complete Peanuts vol. 11 1971-72 from @fantagraphics The series is fantastic!

brettwarnock: Wow!... Fantagraphics' Late 09 / Early 2010 schedule is crazy goodness. Hotwire # 3! Newave, prince Valiant, Ditko, Gahan Wilson, Tardi...

jwoliner: HEY Fantagraphics is releasing a collection of @MKupperman's awesome "Tales Designed To Thrizzle"!! Preorder here: http://tinyurl.com/qjkjwc

PaulTobin: Score! A friend just sent me the new Blazing Combat hc, and now the studio is absorbing its "full of awesome" flavor.

michaelthorner: @PaulTobin I was raving about Blazing Combat just a couple of weeks ago. @fantagraphics did a wonderful restoration job. More #AlexToth !

And this bit of business:

BRIANMBENDIS: Dark pet avengers just got the greenlight

JorgenBakken: @BRIANMBENDIS DP Avengers? From Fantagraphics, for sure.

Daily OCD: 5/18/09

mike

It's your Online Commentary & Diversions for the day:

• Review: "There is this old-fashioned comic feel that mixes so well with the overall theme and texture of this short. [In] Ganges #2... [Kevin] Huizenga's elegant neo-clear-line style brings a crispness and humor to these low-key slice-of-life stories, and the gray-blue duotone he has picked gives the art a new depth and complexity." - Hero Spy

• Plug: "I’m also trying Blazing Combat, the war comic collection from Fantagraphics. I don’t know much about the series, so this should expand my knowledge of a type of comic I’m not much familiar with." - Johanna Draper Carlson, Robot 6 "What Are You Reading?"

• Profile/Review: If it's Comics Should Be Good's "Comic Book Alphabet of Cool" and it's the letter K, it must be Michael Kupperman! Brian Cronin calls Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5 "one of his best issues yet!"

• Things to see: A nice big new batch of sketchbook comics & drawings from Anders Nilsen

• Things to see: Fan Steve Mandich posts his Tony Millionaire sketch & signature from our Bookstore event a couple of weeks ago (with a link to some photos)

• Things to see (and buy): A new Vice strip and art for sale from Johnny Ryan

• Things to see: 'Round the office

A picture is worth a Million(aire) words

mike

Somewhat belatedly, here are some photos from the Tony Millionaire exhibit opening and book signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery lo those 9 days ago. Click here for lots more, including images of all the artwork and a short video.

Uncle Gabby & Drinky Crow join Dan Pussey on the store window:

Outside, Jim Woodring and Ellen Forney have a chat:

The dapper Mr. Millionaire:

View of the exhibit:

Jam-packed with Maakies fans:

Dook dook dook!

Messrs. Bagge & Millionaire: