FLOG! Entries tagged 'Chris Ware'

Cheers to the Year 2012

LarryR

We'd like to thank everyone involved in making 2012 a spectacular success at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Gifted artists, authors, musicians, and curators coalesced to create a stimulating cultural atmosphere at the space.

Thanks to artists Peter Bagge, Gabrielle Bell, Jeffrey Brown, Nathan Bulmer, Charles Burns, Art Chantry, Jack Davis, Michael Dougan, Ellen Forney, Camille Rose Garcia, Ruth Hayes, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Tom Kaczynski, David Lasky, Tony Millionaire, Gary Panter, Joe Sacco, Noah Van Sciver, Chris Ware, and Jim Woodring; authors Jim Demonakos, Susan Kirtley, Mark Long, Pat Thomas, and Nico Vassilakos; musicians Geneviève Castrée, Zachary David, Dennis Driscoll, Lori Goldston, Kyle Hanson, and Molly Nilsson; guest curators J. Michael Catron, Max Clotfelter, Michel Gagne, Ben Horak, Cathy Hillenbrand, Tim Miller, Kristy Valenti, and Jen Vaughn; bookstore interns Lillian Beatty and Lillian Morloch; bookstore staff Janice Headley and Russ Battaglia, as well as our retail partners at Georgetown Records.

Most of all we want to thank you - our wonderful patrons - for your enthusiasm and support over the past six years. Cheers!

Crockett Johnson's BARNABY: 1st Look

Eric

Earlier this month we wrapped up what has been my favorite project I've ever worked on. I've been pretty lucky to work on some amazing books by many of my favorite cartoonists, but this... this is something else. This is Crockett Johnson's BARNABY . This has been my #1 dream project for well over a decade, and it's now real.

Which is all to say, I'm genuinely thrilled to be the first one to present this sneak peek at Vol. 1.

If you're unfamiliar with BARNABY, let me allow Chris Ware to set the stage. This is from his introduction to Vol. 1:

"I never thought I'd see this day, but the book you hold is, well... the last great comic strip. Yes, there are dozens of other strips worth rereading, but none are this Great; this is great like Beethoven, or Steinbeck, or Picasso. This is so great it lives in its own timeless bubble of oddness and truth..." — Chris Ware

BARNABY is the long-lost comic strip masterpiece by Crockett Johnson, legendary children's book author (Harold and the Purple Crayon) and illustrator (Ruth Krauss' The Carrot Seed).

Featuring the misadventures of five-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his cigar-chomping, bumbling con-artist of a Fairy Godfather, J.J. O'Malley, BARNABY deftly balanced fantasy, humor, politics and elegant cartooning in a strip that captured the imaginations of kids and intelligent adults alike, including Dorothy Parker, Charles Schulz, W.C. Fields, Gardner Rea and Milton Caniff. We will be collecting in five volumes the entire, original ten-year run from 1942-1952.

Speaking of BARNABY superfans, our books are being designed by Daniel Clowes, which would sound more inspired if he weren't really the only man ever considered for the job. Dan is the person who first introduced me to the work of Johnson over 15 years ago, and I know this series means as much to him as anyone. I couldn't be happier with his designs. You've seen Dan's final cover for Vol. 1 above. Here's Dan's initial thumbnail rough from his sketchboook earlier this year; as you can see, he pretty much nailed it on the first take:

Here's a similar peek at one of Dan's initial "storyboards" for the book, this time for the opening spread of Jeet Heer's introductory essay:

... and here's the final, more-or-less identical final version, executed by our own esteemed Tony Ong and Clowes:

Dan makes things easy.

Here's a teaser of the entire jacket:

I can't end this post without mentioning my series co-editor, Philip Nel. Phil knows more about Crockett Johnson than anyone. Period. If you like Barnaby, please read Nel's definitive bio: Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children's Literature from the University Press of Mississippi.

In addition to his invaluable help behind-the-scenes, Phil has provided two indispensible resources for our first volume: a comprehensive biographical essay on Johnson focusing on the creation of Barnaby, as well as "The Elves, Leprechauns, Gnomes, and Little Men's Chowder and Marching Society: A Handy Pocket Guide," a stunningly comprehensive glossary to everything referenced in BARNABY. He'll even explicate formulas like this:

Anyway, there's much more to be had in this first volume, but I'm honestly reluctant to tip our hand too much. I can't wait for people to see this book. Featuring the first two calendar years of the strip, 1942-1943, you're in for a dense, rewarding treat. Look for it in stores by late-March or early-April (we'll update you as we go).

And once you finish Vol. 1, look for Vol. 2* in Spring 2014:

* This one's just a mockup and by no means final.

Daily OCD 11/29/12

TheJenVaughn

The first snowflake of Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Review: Publishers Weekly enjoys Naked Cartoonists, edited by Gary Groth. "The litmus test for any collective work based on the idea of one page per artist is whether the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. . . [Naked Cartoonists] no trouble achieving that goal. . . Dan Piraro (Bizarro) deserves kudos for his strategically-located likeness of Garfield . . ."

• Plug: Elliot Bay Book Company shows off a copy of Naked Cartoonists from their store and Dave states, "Hilarious. Scary. Weird. And just plain bawdy. If this is wrong, I don’t want to be right."

• Review: Print Magazine (issue 66.3 June 2012) gingerly flips through the pages of Naked Cartoonists. "Does your Sunday morning routine consis of reading The Wizard of Id and thinking, Gosh, I wish it had more nudity? Then Fantagraphics Books has just the thing for you." While out-and-about obscenity is rare, "there are moments of genuine creepiness, as when Jeff Keane, heir to The Family Circus, drops trou along side his fictional self, Jeffy."

• Review: Speaking of nudish things, Slate takes the time to slog through Prison Pit 4 by Johnny Ryan. Noah Bertlasky states, "For those who find filthy, blotchy tactile ink clots, überviolence, or body horror even remotely appealing, you need to buy this and its predecessors immediately."

• Review (audio): The boys on the block (Comics Books are Burning in Hell) review violent comics so naturally Blacklung by Chris Wright is included. The book affected the reviewers since it's "basically Chris Wright drawing terrifying shit" and Wright's drawing style falls in between "Old newspaper comics, like E.C. Segar's Popeye and Roy Crane's Wash Tubbs and Usagi Yojimbo [by Stan Sakai]."

• Review: New York Journal of Books looks at Walt Disney's Donald Duck: A Christmas for Shacktown by Carl Barks. Mark Squirek writes, "What he was really doing was showing us the absurdity of human behavior. . . This is a book that can be enjoyed by everyone from six to eighty. . . This is classic art and storytelling from a master of the form. Carl Barks ranks right up there with Jack Kirby and Will Eisner. If you love the frustrated, quacking, crazed Donald from the cartoons of the forties, you have to read A Christmas for Shacktown."

• Review: The Christian Science Monitor unwraps Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking by Charles M. Schulz. Rich Clablaugh takes another sip of cider and says, "The design of the book is marvelous, thick off-white stock printed in two colors – red and green of course. . .Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking is sure to bring a warm smile to readers young and old. A yearly reading of this little gem can in itself become a new tradition for the Christmas season."

• Review: Westfield Blog looks at archival prints from Fantagraphics. Roger Ash recounts, "Popeye, Pogo, Charlie Brown, Mickey Mouse, and many other classic comic strip characters live on at Fantagraphics in outstanding collections. If you aren't reading any of these, you should be."

• Review: Forbidden Planet International writes about Rich Tommaso's graphic novel, The Cavalier Mr. Thompson. "What the Cavalier does very well is encompass the zeitgeist of an era and people vividly. . . or the most part you’re happy to be led through the rooms and ravines, over train tracks and down corridors as a gentle narration of tales from times gone by ensconces you comfortingly," says Zainab.

• Review: Glen Weldon writes a large article in the New York Times Book Review on our newest anthology on queer comics. "With No Straight Lines [editor Justin Hall] has produced a useful, combative and frequently moving chronicle of a culture in perpetual transition; to read it is to watch as an insular demimonde transforms itself, in painful fits and joyful starts, and steps out into a wider monde."

• Review: Graphixia looks at Jacques Tardi's It Was the War of the Trenches. Scott Marsden states, "Seeing Tardi’s portrayal of the horrors of trench warfare and his vision of the random senselessness and brutality that accompanies it reminds us to reflect on our (mis)conceptions of history, drawing attention to the fractal realities that are embedded in events that have been experienced internationally. . . it feels far closer to reality than the propagandized historical materials offered by the typical academic publishing industry. . ."

• Review: Rob Clough reposts his review of our Hotwire anthology, this time on High Low. "A book for those who read Ghost World or American Splendor and [want] to know where to go next."

• Review: Chris Ware is profiled on the NY Review of Books on Jimmy Corrigan through Building Stories.

Fantagraphics Artists at the Miami Book Fair This Weekend!

janice

Party in the city where the heat is on.
All night on the beach til the break of dawn
Welcome to Miami (bienvenido a Miami)

Ain't no party like a Miami Book Fair International party, which kicked off this past Sunday, November 11th. Yes, they party all week long when it comes to books! And, things get even hotter this weekend as our Fantagraphics artists take the scene for the Graphic Novel programming!

Saturday, November 17th

2:30 PM // Graphic Lives: Aline Crumb, Drawn Together: The Collected Works of Aline & R. Crumb, in conversation with scholar, Hillary Chute, author of Graphic Women
3:30 PM // On Comics: A Conversation: Charles Burns on The Hive, Chip Kidd on Batman: Death By Design and Chris Ware on Building Stories Sunday, November 18th 1:00 PM // Comics and Social Change: with Marjorie Liu, Dan Parent, Ellen Forney, Stephanie McMillan, and Riva Hocherman. Moderated by DC Comics/Vertigo editor Joan Hilty.
2:30 PM // Graphic Novels: Noah Van Sciver on The Hypo: A Graphic Portrait of the Melancholic Young Lincoln and Russ Kick on The Graphic Canon

Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival Photo Report

TheJenVaughn

Last Saturday, Fantagraphics had the privilege to table at Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival . Our crackin’ new titles included Beta Testing the Apocalypse by Tom Kaczyinski and Spacehawk by Basil Wolverton. Both of which sold out along with Heads or Tails by Lilli Carré and a few older titles. Here is the sexy part of our table.

This is what our table looked like for most of the day. It was very busy, just like SPX so we barely left the table for pictures, let alone peeing or eating (one of those could solve the other, you decide the order).

Here Tom Kaczynski sits, happy that his book Beta Testing the Apocalypse sold out (his personal copy out for perusal) as Gary Panter signs and sells out of Dal Tokyo as well.

WHOA, did you just catch a glimpse of an advance copy of Moto Hagio's The Heart of Thomas in that bottom right corner (pictured above)?! Cartoonist Jose-Luis Olivares and a calvacade of others flipped through the 500+ page masterpiece, ready to read it as soon as it was available for purchase.

The enigmatic and rarely-seen Josh Simmons appeared out of a subway mist much to his fans appreciation. Many fans stopped by to crack wise with the dark master while he signed The Furry Trap, including fellow cartoonists Dean Haspiel, Joe Infurnari and Nick Abadzis.

The intensity in this guy's face as he hands Gary Panter his copy of Dal Tokyo cannot be beat.

Intern Anna and I were watching said Panter fan to make sure he never put on THAT murder face, you know, that one Josh Simmons draws a lot:

Olivier Schrauwen stopped by as well to sign The Man Who Grew His Beard but left his pencil case full of pens so thank you for the gift (ha ha, don’t worry we’ll take care of them).

Karen Green, librarian at Columbia University, could not stop looking at Mattotti’s The Crackle of the Frost, I was afraid she’d get a ticket for harassment.

Writer and CBR reporter, Alex Dueben, grabs one of the last copies of Heads or Tails.

Art Spiegelman blew smoke quaintly into my face and Josh Simmons’ on the search for Lilli Carré, whom he couldn’t get enough of. That empty space on the wooden table between them is where her giant stack of Heads or Tails was before it sold out.

Chris Ware came to see how the show was going for Fantagraphics and to escape the hotbox upstairs. We gabbed about the printmaking department at the University of Texas, our shared alma mater, and Civil War reenactment. I think I spot a Nate Doyle to the left of him too.

We caught up with future Fantagraphics creator and Oily Comics entrepreneur Charles Forsman pictured here with brother Tobey and cartoonist Melissa Mendes hanging out at Bergen Street Comics.

As the hands of the humid clock ticked past 7, we thanked our lucky stars for being a part of Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival. Here is Josh Simmons, intern Anna Pederson and me ready for some yum-yums wrapped in bacon.

Brooklyn, Gabe, Dan and Bill: thank you all so much for your gorgeous hospitality and smiles. Thank you, Robin McConnell for providing some photos. See you all next year!

Fantagraphics at the 2012 Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival!

janice

Hurricanes can't stop comics! Visit Fantagraphics at the Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival this Saturday, November 10th from 12:00 - 7:00 PM! Our lovely Marketing, PR and Outreach Fiend Jen Vaughn will be bringing you the fun!

SIGNINGS:
12:30-2:30 PM      Josh Simmons
1:30-2:30 PM        Olivier Schrauwen
2:30-3:30 PM        Tom Kaczynski / Gary Panter
3:30-4:30 PM        Charles Burns / Olivier Schrauwen

And though they won't be at our table, you can also seek out signings from Lilli Carré, Jordan Crane, John Pham, Tim Hensley, Gabrielle Bell, Charles Forsman, Jon Vermilyea, and more!

UPDATE 11/7: We're sorry to report that Charles Burns will be unable to join us at BCGF after all. Hang on to your copies of Black Hole for any upcoming signing instead!

You'll find us in the downstairs section of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church [ 275 North 8th Street ], at tables 33 & 34:

PROGRAMMING:
These will all take place at The Knitting Factory [ 361 Metropolitan Avenue ], and the panels are free and open to the public:

11:00 AM // The Architecture of Comics: Ware, McGuire & Spiegelman: Comics are more than illustrated literature: they are the poetic application of structure to visual art. Their distinct modes of operation permit unique ways of exploring perception and expressing meaning. Richard McGuire, author of the seminal short comics story “Here,” Art Spiegelman, author of the modern classic Maus and works including In the Shadow of No Towers, and Chris Ware, author of Building Stories and Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth will consider the architecture of comics in conversation with Bill Kartalopoulos.

12:30 PM // Shape, Line and Color: Blexbolex, Carré & Schrauwen: Comics have traditionally been bounded by a visual approach that privileges a linear, outline-based approach to art that can survive historically poor methods of reproduction. As technology has developed and as comics have gained from contact with other areas of art, contemporary cartoonists have increasingly embraced a greater variety of approaches to producing narrative graphics. Bill Kartalopoulos will discuss developing aesthetics with Blexbolex (Seasons, No Man’s Land), Lilli Carré (Heads or Tails) and Olivier Schrauwen (The Man Who Grew His Beard).

4:30 PM // The Narrative Collage: Burns, Hensley & Ricard: The mainstream publishing industry has often imposed the standards of conventional literary fiction on the comics form, suppressing comics’ essential status as an assemblage of potentially—and productively—discordant fragments. Charles Burns (Black Hole, The Hive), Anouk Ricard (Anna and Froga) and Tim Hensley (Wally Gropius, Ticket Stub) will discuss the possibilities and pleasures of crafting narratives that capitalize on the collage-like qualities of the comics form—in matters of structure, style and format—in a conversation moderated by Tom Spurgeon.

So, pull on your galoshes and we'll see you there!

This Week in Fantagraphics Events: 10/22-10/29

janice

Monday, October 22nd

• Seattle, WA: The Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to co-present "Building Comix with Charles Burns and Chris Ware" at Town Hall. The modest $5.00 admission fee can be redeemed on the purchase of any book at the signing following the presentation. (more info)

Tuesday, October 23rd

• Eugene, OR: The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR is hosting the exhibit GOOD GRIEF! Original Art from 50 Years of Charles M. Schulz's PEANUTS, and curator Ben Saunders will interview Jan Eliot about her experiences with Charles Schulz and her own career as the artist of the nationally successful newspaper strip "Stone Soup." (more info)

• Portland, OR: Editors Nico Vassilakis & Crag Hill will be joined by contributor James Yeary to perform a collage of excerpts of essays from The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008 at Gallery 214 on the campus of the Pacific Northwest College of Art. (more info)

Friday, October 26th

• Portland, OR: It's your last day to check out pages of The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008 on display at Gallery 214 on the campus of the Pacific Northwest College of Art. (more info)

• Seattle, WA: Jaap Blonk, revered Dutch voice virtuoso and contributor to The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008, will be performing at the Chapel Performance Space, as part of the annual Earshot Jazz Festival. (more info)

Saturday, October 27th

• Minneapolis, MN: Visual poet John M. Bennett is bringing The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008 to the Cheap Theatre at the Black Forest Inn for an afternoon of avant poems, group sounds, collaborations, and more. (more info)

• Chicago, IL: See Lilli Carré at the annual Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation. For more Fanta-fantasticness, this year's programs were designed by Ivan Brunetti! (more info)

Sunday, October 28th

• Los Angeles, CA: Both Steven Weissman and Ron Regé Jr. will be signing and reading from their brand-new books, Barack Hussein Obama and The Cartoon Utopia, at Skylight Books. Mind-blowing! (more info)

• Chicago, IL: It's your last day to catch Lilli Carré at the annual Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation! (more info)

Fantagraphics Bookstore Presents Charles Burns, Chris Ware, Gabrielle Bell & Tom Kaczynski ...

LarryR

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to welcome two titans of alternative comix, Chris Ware and Charles Burns, as well as emerging artists Gabrielle Bell and Tom Kaczynki in a lively series of events this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. This’ll be a blast!

Burns, Bell, and Kaczynski will sign books at Fantagraphics Bookstore, 1201 S. Vale Street, on Saturday, October 20 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. This event coincides with Elysian Brewing's "Great Pumpkin Brew Festival" featuring dozens of pumpkin beers from regional boutique breweries, just up the street at Elysian's Georgetown bottling facility. We'll be serving complimentary samples of the Black Hole-inspired "12 Beers of the Apocalypse," including "Blight" pumpkin ale and a preview tasting of "Omen," not released to the public until the following day. (Burns will appear briefly a block away at Full Throttle Bottles at 5:30 to sign "Apocalypse" bottles to go.) Guests at the bookstore will be the first in the country to receive free copies of our Basil Wolverton Spacehawk sampler to go with other seasonal Halloween treats.

Burns will appear at Elysian Brewing Co. Capitol Hill location, 1221 E. Pike Street, on Sunday, October 21 from noon to 3:00 PM for the tapping party for "Omen" Belgian Raspberry Stout, number 10 in the "12 Beers of the Apocalypse" series. Hang out with the artist in a casual atmosphere in the heart of Seattle’s colorful Pike/Pine corridor.

On Monday, October 22 listen to Burns on Seattle’s NPR affiliate KUOW-FM at 10:00 AM. Then plan to attend "Building Comix with Chris Ware and Charles Burns" at Town Hall, 1119 8th Avenue, at 7:30 PM. Tickets are only $5 and the admission price can be applied to the purchase of any book at the signing following the talk. Ware will discuss his monumental new work Building Stories, and Burns will present The Hive, his anxiously anticipated sequel to X’ed Out. (You can catch the last presidential debate from 6:00 to 7:30 at the Pub at Town Hall for free prior to the event.)

Daily OCD 10/18/2012

TheJenVaughn

The blackest ink in the pot of Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Review: AV Club shows presidential love for Barack Hussein Obama and The Hypo. Noel Murray on Steven Weissman's book: "For the most part Barack Hussein Obama is just wild fun, built around the notion that a president can be easily reduced to his public image—and that we, the people, have the right to manipulate that image for our own delight." And Murray on The Hypo: "[Noah Van Sciver renders] an American icon as a lumpen everyman, fighting through the same fog that many people find themselves in—even if few of those ordinary folks wind up in the Oval Office."

• Review: Publishers Weekly picks The Hypo by Noah Van Sciver as one of the best new books of the month. "Van Sciver’s psychologically astute examination of what might be termed Abraham Lincoln’s “lost years” (1837–1842) is as gripping and persuasive as the best historical fiction. . . .A thoroughly engaging graphic novel that seamlessly balances investigation and imagination."

• Review: Paste Magazine reviews Steven Weissman's newest book and Hillary Brown gives it a 8.1 (outta 10). "With its gold foil stamp and red, white and blue partial jacket, Barack Hussein Obama could well be a semi-official graphic rendering of a presidency. . . If this book is a portrait of anything, it shows the grind and the way that hope and idealism erodes when faced with the everyday, and that is valuable"

•Review: La Tempestad on Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman. Rough translation states "Through these pages, Weissman satirizes and creates a parallel reality of based on the stewards of American power."

• Review: MetroPulse enjoys reading Ralph Azham Vol. 1 "Why Would You Do That To Someone You Love " by Lewis Trondheim. Matthew Everett states "There’s action, drama, pratfalls, bad-ass mercenaries, and a last-panel surprise that promises future volumes will head off in entirely unexpected directions. . . Ralph Azham is off to a near-perfect start. It’s a quietly marvelous addition to the English-language catalog of a working world master. Get it while you can."

• Review: The Quietus peeks at Dal Tokyo by Gary Panter. Mat Colegate can barely contain himself: "Panter is probably one of the single most influential underground American cartoonists of all time, a kind of Ramones to Robert Crumb’s Jefferson Airplane, which makes his relative unknown status a bit baffling. A cartoonists’ cartoonist, maybe?. . . The man’s inks are practically sentient, devouring white space like it was candy floss as his crude likenesses become imbued with a very deliberate purpose, that of guiding the reader through Panter’s personal inferno: the urban Twentieth Century."

• Review: The Quietus continues comic coverage on Joe Daly's Dungeon Quest: Book Three. Mat Colgate states,"Dear J.R.R. certainly never had one of his characters wank off a gnome, did he? Indeed Dungeon Quest’s good natured, silly humour gives it much of its character and combines with Daly’s beautiful Charles Burns-esque artwork to make the book much more than the sum of its parts. It feels like a real labour of love and when you read it you’ll see why. Nerdgasm guaranteed. I’m in love with this comic."

• Review: Unshelved looked at Dungeon Quest: Book Three by Joe Daly. Gene Ambaum writes "I never know where this weird, Dungeons & Dragons-ish adventure will take me next. . . Every dungeon should have a vending machine [a la Dungeon Quest]! Makes more sense than turning a corner and finding an elf with a fully-stocked shop where there’s little to no foot traffic."

• Review: The Quietus focuses New York Mon Amour by Jacques Tardi. Mat Colgate states"Using only black, white and red, Tardi illustrates a seedy, roach-infested New York that’s utterly plausible. You can practically smell the trash on the sidewalks as you follow the hapless narrator’s spiral into madness and murder. . . .if you know anyone looking to take the plunge into comics, someone who’s interested in what the medium can do and the fascinating ways it can do it, then point them in this books’ direction."

• Review: BUTT Magazine sinks its teeth into No Straight Lines, edited by Justin Hall. "Justin’s 328-page anthology is a very thorough introduction to the world of GLBT comics. His knowledge on the subject is pretty extensive, probably because he’s been a fan of the medium since he was a kid. Justin tells me that’s how he learned to read. . . In fact, the entire collection features a healthy dose of realism from a genre usually characterized by fantasy."

• Interview: Brandon Soderberg of The Comics Journal interviews the elusive Josh Simmons on The Furry Trap and his recent short film, The Leader, plus horror in all aspects: "Often, the best horror is about losing. And maybe struggling to keep a shred of dignity while you do. But often, you don’t even get that. Sometimes, you get your throat cut while a clown is pulling your pants down. It’s not enough that you’re getting murdered, you’re being humiliated at the same time!" Simmons eloquently states.

• Review: Los Angeles Review of Books ponders Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power by Pat Thomas. Rickey Vincent says,"The book is meticulously detailed, reflecting Thomas’s skills as a researcher (and record producer), yet conversational in tone, balancing the voice of a rock critic with the heft of a historian. . .The book remains consistent with its vision, and Thomas delivers black power with authority."

• Commentary: SFWeekly talks about Love and Rockets' art show at the Cartoon Art Museum, Chris Hall explains "If Love and Rockets brought one innovation to the comics field, it could be its lack of misogyny. . . Love and Rockets has, from the beginning, been praised for consistently depicting strong, complex women characters."

• Commentary: Jordan Hurder posted some APE coverage on the Hernandez Brothers and our company: "Fantagraphics crushed this show. It helps that they had Los Bros celebrating 30 years of Love and Rockets and Jim Woodring was already there as a special guest, but there was a consistent buzz around their table, and there were lines for pretty much every signing they had."

• Commentary: Jaime, Gilbert and Mario Hernandez appeared at APE much to JK Parkin of Robot 6 's delight. "All three Hernandez Brothers were at the show, and when they hit the Fantagraphics table the crowds surrounded them."

• Interview: The Comics Reporter links to some great vids from SPX interviews with Jaime Hernandez, Gilbert Hernandez and Daniel Clowes.

• Review: Simcoe looks at Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man by Carl Barks. Glenn Perrett says, "The stories are entertaining and the illustrations are excellent with a wonderful use of colour. . . Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man will appeal to young and old."

• Review: Pat Afforo looks at Stigmata by Lorenzo Mattotti and Claudio Piersanti. "If anyone has not read it you are definitely in for a ride and it is not a smooth one at the very least. This book covers a lot of different topics: religion, redemption, reincarnation, sin, good vs. evil, and above all love."

• Review: AV Club has high hopes for Rich Tommaso and his future books starring The Cavalier Mr. Thompson. Noel Murray posits,"Tommaso’s talented enough that The Cavalier Mr. Thompson might one day be seen as the lurching beginning to something truly great. . ."

•Interview: The Guardian asks Chris Ware some questions. In answer to Rosanna Greenstreet's question 'Which living person do you most admire and why?' Ware answers,"For intellect: Art Spiegelman. For art: Robert Crumb. For poetry and vision: Gary Panter. For decency: Barack Obama. For genuine goodness: Charles Burns. For genius: Charlie Kaufman. For soulfulness and love: Lynda Barry. For words: Zadie Smith. For unique life's work and superhuman effort expended: Ira Glass, Dave Eggers."

This Week in Fantagraphics Events: 10/15-10/22

janice

Thursday, October 18th

• Chicago, IL: Cartoonist and comics scholar Ivan Brunetti will discuss his work, both in and out of the classroom, followed by a Q&A, at EnergyBBDO offices. This event is free and open to the public! (more info)

Friday, October 19th

• Portland, OR: Today kicks off the three-day event The Projects: International Festival of Experimental Comics and Narrative Arts, featuring Fantagraphics artists Frank Santoro, Sammy Harkham, Jason T. Miles, among many others! (more info)

Saturday, October 20th

• Seattle, WA: Join us at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery for a signing with Charles Burns, Gabrielle Bell and Tom Kaczynski from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Charles will be debuting The Hive, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2010’s sensational dreamscape, X’ed Out. (more info)

• Seattle, WA: Jaap Blonk, revered Dutch voice virtuoso and contributor to The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008, presents a full live show with visuals at the Northwest Film Forum on Capitol Hill at 5:00 PM! (more info)

• Portland, OR: Workshops, panels, and more will continue to happen at The Projects: International Festival of Experimental Comics and Narrative Arts! (more info)

Sunday, October 21st

• Seattle, WA: Join Charles Burns at the Elysian Brewing Company for the monthly unveiling of the latest flavor in their "12 Beers of the Apocalypse" series, "Omen"! (more info)

• Portland, OR: Today's your last day to check out The Projects: International Festival of Experimental Comics and Narrative Arts! (more info)

Monday, October 22nd

Daily OCD 10/10/12

TheJenVaughn

The Cleanest Mug in the Kitchen of Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Review: Booklist reviews the Mysterious Traveler: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 3, by Steve Ditko and edited by Blake Bell. Gordon Flagg notes these horror stories feature "Ditko’s distinctly off-kilter drawings and boldly potent composition" and the "meticulous restoration means that the stories look far better here than they did upon their original appearances."

• Review: Booklist enjoys Mort Meskin's Out of the Shadows, edited by Steven Brower. "Meskin’s powerful compositions add a fitting dynamism to superhero tales featuring the Black Terror and Fighting Yank. His bold use of shadows and other solid black areas impart a moody atmosphere to horror and crime stories, and even the romance and sci-fi pieces included here benefit from his economic illustration style and attractive page designs," writes Gordon Flagg.

• Review: Black Gate picks up Linda Medley's Castle Waiting: Volume 2 for a good read. John O'Neill stated, "it retold the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty (sort of), as seen by an odd cast of mostly minor characters. It was well written and beautiful, feminine in perspective and mood, incredibly slow-paced, and wholly original. I loved it."

• Interview: Gary Panter spent a whole hour talking to Benjamen Walker on the Too Much Information show at WFMU about life, Dal Tokyo, the evolving medium of comics and more.

• Interview: New Statesman interviews Chris Ware on Building Stories, Jimmy Corrigan and the time inbetween books. "Kim Thompson at Fantagraphics was really willing to experiment [with format]; I remember how much he and I sweated the idea of putting out a comic book that was just 1/2" shorter than the standard format in 1993."

Daily OCD 10/9/12

TheJenVaughn

The freshiest, just cleaned kitten of Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Plug: TIME Magazine talks about You'll Never Know Book Three: Soldier's Heart by C. Tyler. "The book is as much about empty spaces--in history and on the page--as it is about the details she can fill in." See it in print next week!

• Review: Dal Tokyo by Gary Panter is listed in The Times of UK as one of the essential books for Chris Ware. Ware says "Gary Panter is the William Blake of comics; a true poet who sees and feels what the rest of us can't, and he's done more to expand the power of drawing in the medium thatn probably anyone else alive." Original article here.

• Interview: Cartoonist and creator of Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth Chris Ware is interviewed by Phawker by Rita Book.

• Commentary: ArtVoice visits the Spain Rodriguez retrospective at the Burchfield Penney Center in Buffalo, NY. Jack Foran says,"Rodriguez was a kind of incorrigible rebellious type. . . when abstract expressionism with its two-dimensionality principle was dogma—he was into three-dimensionality, in spades—and his blue-collar employment in Buffalo area manufactories, where the curriculum was the much more interesting subject to him of simmering socioeconomic class warfare."

• Review: Rob Clough of High-Low reposted his Seqart post on Megan Kelso and The Squirrel Mother. Cough states, "What makes Kelso one of my favorite artists is her total devotion to the medium and a constant desire to improve. . . Kelso's art is all about the narrative. Every word and every line advances the story; there are no extraneous pyrotechnics. Indeed, Kelso's line is more elegant than spectacular."

• Review: Publishers Weekly enjoys Love and Rockets New Stories #5. "In the 30 years they’ve been writing and drawing Love and Rockets, Los Bros Hernandez have created wonderfully complex story lines and characters. . . This web of superior magical-realistic storytelling involves readers in the perplexed yearnings of a huge cast of unforgettable characters unaware of their own capacity for general self-delusion and occasional self-discovery."

• Commentary: Hannah Means-Shannon contines her SPX coverage with more on the Bros on The Beat. On the "Life After Alternative Comics" panel, Jaime Hernandez and Daniel Clowes spoke about the past and present of their comics-making environment. "Dan Clowes addressed the 'wasteland' of comics in the early 1980’s and the origin of his LLOYD LLEWELLYN series and the strange, often intriguing piles of fan mail he received from readers and prison inmates."

• Interview: Also on Phawker is an interview of Charles Burns, creator of Black Hole. He weaves stories by "paying close attention to the way my brain functions. I sit and write every day and it amazes me how often I repeat myself – come up with the same “brilliant” solution to a plot thread only to discover notes from years earlier where I’ve already clearly laid out the same ideas."

Psychedelic Bricks

LarryR

The Psychedelic Furs dropped by Fantagraphics Bookstore on Saturday to stock up on records and comix ahead of their set at the Showbox. It was amusing to hear Chicago-born saxophonist Mars Williams, a Krazy Kat enthusiast, attempt to explain the decidedly American brickbat humor of the strip to his British bandmates. Mars graciously agreed to a photo op next to Krazy Kat book designer and fellow Chicagoan Chris Ware's Building Stories display. Thanks to the band for putting us on the guest list. Fun show (below).

Daily OCD 10/8/12

TheJenVaughn

The weekend's newest Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Plug: The best footnote IN THE WORLD? appeared on Grantland's excerpt of Marvel Comics: The Untold Story written by Sean Howe. It refers to Marvel's idea of hiring Gary Groth. . . Look for footnote 7.

•Review: Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit: Book 4 is reviewed on Nick Gazin's Comic Book Love in #73 and Mr. Ryan himself is interviewed. . . via text. "There's no point in trying to explain Prison Pit. You can only experience it to understand it. Start buy buying all of them at once if you haven't yet. . . It wears its intentional stupidness and violence on its sleeve while also showing off Johnny Ryan's sophisticated sense of composition and black and white ink prettiness."

• Review: Comics Bulletin likes Rich Tommaso's The Cavalier Mr. Thompson. Nick Hanover says, "Tommaso's distinctly minimalist, animation-influenced style adds another seemingly disparate element that actually serves to enliven the material all the more, finding some sweet spot between the Coen Brothers and Popeye." • Plug: Comics Alliance lists their favorite covers of the month and include Rich Tommaso's The Cavalier Mr. Thompson. Andrew Wheeler says,"I'm drawn to the graphic simplicity of this cover. It plays with scale, line and color in creative ways, and the composition pulls it all together."

• Plug: The Dollar Bin podcast mentions dear friend Rich Tommaso and The Cavalier Mr. Thompson at the beginning of the show.

• Review: Rick Klaw at RevolutionSF flips through Dungeon Quest 3 by Joe Daly ". . .rousing adventure and ass-kicking action — all staged in front of fantastic backdrops replete with strange vegetation, ancient ruins and steampunk imagery."

• Commentary: The Beat reports on an SPX panel with Daniel Clowes and his editors, Alvin Beaunaventura and Ken Parille, for The Daniel Clowes Reader. Hannah Means-Shannon states,"Clowes, who appeared energetic and amused by such a large crowd commented that working on the retrospective book with Buenaventura was a welcome thing because he’s 'lonely and working all the time'so it was 'fun to have someone to hang out with'. . . Little details provided by Buenaventura and Clowes about the research process set the scene for comedy, including Buenaventura rifling through Clowes’ closets constantly and 'measuring his art' while Clowes wondered what dirty laundry the writer might dig up that he had forgotten about."

• Review: The School Library Journal is nuts (or ducks?) for Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor, Old Man by Carl Barks. Peter Gutierrez says, "The brilliant storytelling, easy-to-read lettering, and compelling themes hidden just under the breezy exteriors are just a few of the reasons why I wish every classroom library at elementary had a volume of Barks on hand."

• Review: Rob Clough of High-Low picks up The Squirrel Machine, which is being reprinted in soft cover next spring, by the creeptacular Hans Rickheit. "Rickheit's stories tend to take place in a more upscale, reserved and even Victorian setting, which befits his delicate, sensitive line. . . Rickheit strikes at the heart of what it means to be human: connecting with other emotionally and physically, seeking to express oneself through art, investigating the world around us--in other words, to be emotionally and intellectually curious."

• Review: Chad Parenteau reviews Hans Rickheit's newer Folly on We Got Issues. "Rickheit clearly wrestles with the meaning and purpose of his work with every page he creates, as other artists do. Hans might be consider rude for speaking so out loud about it if more people hung around long enough to listen. Me, I’m so ensconced in his Underbrain, I’m taking notes."

• Review: Comic Impact soaks up The Crackle of the Frost by Jorge Zentner and Lorenzo Mattotti. John Mueller states, "Frost is a sharply written book that takes the reader deeper into a character’s psyche more than any other comic in recent memory. Still, as well-written as the book is, what will undoubtedly get people to pick it up is the sensational art by the acclaimed Mattotti. . . the styles of the art can jump from impressionism to expressionism, symbolism to Hopper-esque realism often within the space of just two panels."

• Review: Bookgasm reviews The Crackle of the Frost by Jorge Zentner and Lorenzo Mattotti. JT Lindroos thinks,"THE CRACKLE OF THE FROST is realistic in a manner very few graphic novels are, pinpointing a phantasmagorical and poetic vision of human relationship in its naturally nonlinear movement. It’s also a perfect example of a work that might appeal to someone not customarily interested in comics"

• Interview: The Chicago Tribune talks to Chris Ware about life, comics and Peanuts. "When he was a child, Ware connected deeply with Charlie Brown, he said. He remembers connecting so deeply that he sent Charlie Brown a valentine." Fitting that Fantagraphics has published work by both.

• Plug: Speaking of Charlie Brown, Robot 6 is excited about the printing of a Charles Schulz rarity in our Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking.

photo credit: Patrick Rosenkranz

• Review (audio): The boys on the Comic Books are Burning in Hell podcast talk about nothing other than Jaime Hernandez, Gilbert Hernandez and a litthe something called Love and Rockets. Enjoy!

• Commentary: Hannah Means on The Beat comments on the SPX Ignatz Awards. "The presence of the Hernandez brothers at SPX this year brought a great deal of energy, and often hilarity, and the Ignatz awards were no exception."

• Commentary: Hannah Means covered the Brooklyn Book Festival on The Beat including the 'Sex and Comics' panel that included Gilbert Hernandez. She describes, "Hernandez was asked whether he has used sex in his works as a plot device, but countered this possibility rather precisely by explaining the undesirable tendency of depictions of sex to slow down plot movements rather than usher them along." • Interview (audio): Sean T. Collins interviewed Gilbert Hernandez recently at SPX. Check out the full interview today.

• Interview: Vince Brusio caught up with Jaime Hernandez on the Northeast Coast Tour and interviewed him for PREVIEWSworld. • Plug: On Forbidden Planet's Desert Island series, Gary Northfield said he could not live without Buddy Does Seattle by Peter Bagge and I Shall Destroy All Civilized Planets by Fletcher Hanks, edited by Paul Karasik. "This guy knew exactly what he was doing; his panels are graphically stunning, boldly drawn in full manipulation of the crude 4 colour printing processes being used to churn out the pulpy monthly comics. Monthly adventure comic books were in their infancy and finding their feet and Hanks was ploughing his own crazy, psychopathic path" meanwhile "Peter Bagge’s deranged, yet no doubt closely auto-biographical soap opera is an expert lesson in slice of life story-telling and comic book narrative."

Building Stories Building...

LarryR

Check out Chris Ware's monumental new work Building Stories, now available at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. And don't miss his joint appearance with Northwest legend Charles Burns on Monday, October 22 at 7:30 PM at Town Hall in Seattle. Be sure to "Like" Fantagraphics Bookstore on Facebook to keep up on all the comix action.

Daily OCD 9/27/12

TheJenVaughn

The saltiest sounds of the ocean's Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Interview: Dubbing them "The Four Horseman of AltComix" Sean T. Collins interviews Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, Chris Ware and Dan Clowes all in one go on Rolling Stone. What a beautiful meetup of minds. Ware says, "Well, there are better cartoonists now than there ever have been. I firmly believe that. There's some amazing work being done." While Gilbert laments the change in alt comics, "That's what was missing from alternative comics after us: The art got less and less good."

• Interview (video): George O'Connor with co-host Natalie Kim recap SPX on InkedTV, including an interview with Gilbert Hernandez, and George shows off his Love and Rockets shirt.

• Plug: Dan Clowes is interviewed on what inspires him by the NY Times : "I didn’t really listen to the Kinks growing up at all — I was just vaguely aware of them, like everybody else — so when I was in my mid-20s I bought a couple of their records, just on a whim, and got sort of obsessed with them."

• Review: Comics Alliance reviews Lorenzo Mattotti's newest collaboration The Crackle of the Frost with Jorge Zentner. Sarah Horrocks points out,". . . what you're looking at in The Crackle of the Frost is a largely amazing new Mattotti release for North American audiences, with fantastic art that has to be seen to be believed. It is a work that is better than most of what you can get on the stands on any given Wednesday. But it's also a book that is hurt by how achingly close it gets to its own perfection."

• Review: InkedTV reviews Joe Daly's Dungeon Quest Volumes 1-3 on their new video reviews featuring Natalie Kim and George O'Connor. "You will never find a book or a series of books that is so genetalia-obssessed as this book." Take a gander at our back catalog and you might find more.

• Plug: The Comics Journal lets Philip Nel tell a bit of the tale before the legend of Crockett Johnson, from his biography on the man called Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss. Fans have their eyes on the horizon for Johnson's Barnaby, edited by Nel and Eric Reynolds. Nel writes, "But before Barnaby, there was Crockett Johnson. And before Crockett Johnson, there was David Johnson Leisk."

• Plug: The Casual Optimist looks at the most memorable covers of the last four years and Jacob Covey's primo designed Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes is included.

• Review: Broken Frontier covers King of the Flies by Mezzo and Pirus. "King Of The Flies by Mezzo & Pirus is one hell of a hardcore comic. It is noir on acid, dark and unrelenting. It is one of the most thorough examinations of the cimmerian darkness the human species can dwell on and it will hit you square in the chest." But what about Book 2? "King Of The Flies 2 : Origin Of The World is maybe even better than its original and though it bears the number 2 it can just as well be read on its own."

• Plug (roadtrip): John Porcellino details the roadtrip to SPX with The Hypo's Noah Van Sciver. They stop by another Fantagraphics artist's home, Tim Lane, and ohh-n-ahh over our twice-sold-out book, Four Color Fear.

Fantagraphics Bookstore Presents Charles Burns, Chris Ware, Gabrielle Bell, Tom Kaczynski, and more!

LarryR

Fantagraphics Bookstore Presents Contemporary Cartoonists Charles Burns, Chris Ware, Gabrielle Bell, Tom Kaczynski, and more! (Really.)

Fantagraphics Bookstore is pleased to present two of America’s most celebrated cartoonists, Charles Burns and Chris Ware, together with emerging artists Gabrielle Bell and Tom Kaczynski on October 20 – 22. Burns, Bell and Kaczynski appear on Saturday, October 20 at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, followed by Burns and Ware at Town Hall on Monday, October 22 at 7:30 PM.

Seattle native Charles Burns will appear at Fantagraphics Bookstore to sign his new book, The Hive, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2010’s sensational dreamscape, X’ed Out. Burns’ gripping graphic novel, Black Hole, is set in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood and was serialized by Fantagraphics Books. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of the alternative comix movement. Black Hole inspired Seattle-based Elysian Brewing Company’s monthly "12 Beers of the Apocalypse" series — the latest being "Blight Pumpkin Ale." This event coincides with Elysian’s popular Great Pumpkin Brew Festival at their nearby Georgetown bottling plant, featuring dozens of seasonal pumpkin beers from regional boutique breweries. (Burns will attend the tapping party for the new "Omen" flavor of the "12 Beers of the Apocalypse" at the Elysian Brewing Company’s Capitol Hill location on Sunday, October 21 from noon to 3:00 PM.)

Burns will be joined at the bookstore on Saturday, October 20 by talented young artist Gabrielle Bell presenting her new work The Voyeurs, published on cartoonist Tom Kaczynski’s Uncivilized Books imprint. Kaczynski will also be present with a preview of his dystopian graphic novel Beta Testing the Apocalypse, coming soon from Fantagraphics Books. These two emerging artists will also have an array of small press publications and prints available.

On Monday, October 22 Fantagraphics Bookstore is pleased to co-present "Building Comix with Charles Burns and Chris Ware" at Town Hall. Based in Chicago, Ware is among the most influential cartoonists of his generation. His graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth was serialized by Fantagraphics Books in Acme Novelty Library and brought Ware international acclaim. His complex design sensibilities set new standards for the medium. His latest book is the monumental box set Building Stories, containing 14 diverse works. Together, they demonstrate the artist’s affinity for existential narratives driven by architecture in meticulous, multi-dimensional compositions. Charles Burns and Chris Ware promise to provide an entertaining and enlightening evening. The modest $5.00 admission fee can be redeemed on the purchase of any book at the signing following the presentation. (Due to a scheduling conflict, a previously announced appearance by book designer Chip Kidd had to be cancelled.)

Listing information:

Charles Burns, Gabrielle Bell, and Tom Kaczynski book signing and reception.
Saturday, October 20, 6:00 to 8:00 PM.
Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery.
1201 S. Vale Street. Seattle.
206.658.0110
www.fantagraphics.com

12 Beers of the Apocalypse tapping party with Charles Burns.
Sunday, October 21, noon to 3:00 PM.
Elysian Brewing Company.
1221 E. Pike Street. Seattle.
206.860.1920
www.elysianbrewing.com

Building Comix with Charles Burns and Chris Ware presentation and book signing.
Monday, October 22, 7:30 PM.
Town Hall.
1119 8th Avenue. Seattle.
206.652.4255
www.townhallseattle.org

Building Comix with Chris Ware, Charles Burns and Chip Kidd

LarryR

Reserve your tickets on-line now for "Building Comix" with Chris Ware, Charles Burns, and Chip Kidd at Town Hall in Seattle on Monday, October 22, co-sponsored by Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Only $5! This modest admission fee can be redeemed on the purchase of any book by these amazing artists at the signing following the presentations. (One discount per customer.) It promises to be an entertaining and enlightening discussion with three of the most compelling figures in contemporary comix.

His Excellency, Mr. Burns

LarryR

Excellent! Mr. Charles Burns will be at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, October 20. Doh! Not that Charles Burns. Or are they one in the same? Cartoonist Charles Burns was an Evergreen State College classmate of Simpsons creator Matt Groening, after all.

And on Monday, October 22 Mr. Burns will be joined by Bart and Homer...ay, caramba! We mean Charles Burns will appear at 7:30 with incomparable cartoonist Chris Ware and book designer Chip Kidd at Town Hall, 1119 8th Avenue in Seattle. Cowabunga!

"Like" Fantagraphics Bookstore on Facebook for the latest information on events, new arrivals, specials, and more!

Fantagraphics at the 2012 Small Press Expo: Panels!

janice

Here at Fantagraphics, we're gearing up for one of our biggest SPX'es ever, taking place on September 15th & 16th in Bethesda, MD! We'll be rolling out our list of debuts and our signing schedule soon, but while you wait, why not memorize this schedule of panels at the 2012 Small Press Expo?

Saturday, September 15th

• 12:00 pm // Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby and the American Clear Line School [Brookside Conference Room] In a canny mix of fantasy and satire, amplified by the clean minimalism of Crockett Johnson’s line, Barnaby (1942-1952) expanded our sense of what comics can do. Though it never had a mass following, this tale of a five-year-old boy and his endearing con-artist of a fairy godfather influenced many. To mark the launch of The Complete Barnaby, Dan Clowes, Mark Newgarden, Chris Ware, and the book’s two co-editors — Fantagraphics’ Eric Reynolds and Crockett Johnson biographer Philip Nel — discuss the wit, the art, and the genius of Barnaby.

• 12:30 pm // Jaime Hernandez: The Love Bunglers [White Flint Auditorium] Jaime Hernandez and his brothers launched the alternative comics era with their epoch-defining series Love and Rockets. From 1981 to the present, Hernandez has produced a singular body of work tracing the life of Maggie Chascarillo and her vast network of friends, family, neighbors, rivals and lovers. In recent years, Jaime has, again, broken new ground with brilliant comics novellas that remain accessible to new readers while building upon years of narrative to invest his stories with a profound emotionality. He will discuss his work with artist Frank Santoro.

• 2:30 pm // Gilbert Hernandez: Love From the Shadows [White Flint Auditorium] Gilbert Hernandez and his brothers launched the alternative comics era with their epoch-defining series Love and Rockets. Gilbert first made his mark with his Palomar stories, an intergenerational saga detailing life and love in a fictional Central American town. But a parallel strand of Gilbert’s restless oeuvre has since taken center stage in new graphic novels and stories that combine formal play with genre experimentation to open another window into the workings of the human heart. Gilbert will discuss his work with critic Sean T. Collins.

• 4:00 pm // Mark Newgarden Presents: Cartoonists and Comics On Camera, Reel One: 1916-1945 [Brookside Conference Room] A once-in-a-lifetime presentation of rare footage featuring 20th century comics greats and some unusual animated adaptations of their work, curated by Mark Newgarden from his personal collection of rare 35mm film. See Rube Goldberg, Otto Soglow, Chester Gould, Frank King, Harold Gray, Hal Foster (and many more) at the drawing board! See Jefferson “Gags And Gals” Machamer act! Plus Krazy Kat and many more surprises!

• 4:30 pm // Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist [White Flint Auditorium] Daniel Clowes first gained fame with his iconic comic book series Eightball and graphic novel Ghost World, which he co-adapted into a film of the same name. In recent books, including The Death-Ray and Wilson, his unique visual-narrative voice expertly manipulates the position of the reader to get more deeply under the skins of his sharply rendered characters. Recently the subject of a major retrospective exhibit and monograph, Clowes will discuss his work with Alvin Buenaventura, editor of The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist, and scholar Ken Parille.

• 6:00 pm // Sammy Harkham Q+A [Brookside Conference Room] Sammy Harkham has left a lasting impression on the comics field as editor of Kramers Ergot, the irregular avant-garde comics anthology series that represents, for many, a carefully articulated statement about the art form today. Harkham is also an engaged cartoonist, mindful of comics’ legacy while telling intimate stories that resonate with contemporary concerns. Several of his stories are collected in his new book, Everything Together. Harkham will discuss his work with Picturebox publisher and Comics Journal co-editor Dan Nadel.

Sunday, September 16th

• 1:00 pm // Mark Newgarden Presents: Cartoonists and Comics On Camera, Reel Two: 1932-1965 [Brookside Conference Room] A once-in-a-lifetime presentation of rare footage featuring 20th century comics greats and some unusual animated adaptations of their work, curated by Mark Newgarden from his personal collection of rare 35mm film. See Al Capp, Bill Holman (and many more) at the drawing board! See a drawing lesson from Fred C. Cooper! Plus Popeye, Nancy, Jacky’s Diary and many more surprises!

• 2:30 pm // Life After Alternative Comics [White Flint Auditorium] In the years after underground comix, the medium’s flag of ambition was carried by so-called “alternative comics:” nonconformist work in conventional formats that occupied marginal space in comics speciality shops. Alternative comics found common cause with other subcultural movements—before internet culture and the bookstore economy permanently changed comics’ formats and context. Dan Clowes, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez and Adrian Tomine will discuss the changes they have seen in a conversation moderated by Bill Kartalopoulos.

• 3:00 pm // Drawing Energy [Brookside Conference Room] What does it mean to invest a feeling of energy, of activity, of physical or emotional intensity in a drawing? How does the process and mindset of the artist at work relate to—or differ from—the visceral feeling the reader is intended to experience from the published image? Artist Jim Rugg will discuss these issues and other questions of drawing process with Michael DeForge (Lose), Theo Ellsworth (Capacity), Hellen Jo (Jin and Jam), and Katie Skelly (Nurse Nurse).

• 3:30 pm // Perverse Comics Form: Challenging Comics’ Conventions [White Flint Auditorium] Comics’ traditional forms have been inventively engaged by countless artists towards unique expressive purposes. And yet, even skillful manipulations of the comics form often carry with them conventions forged over decades, often within a commercial context. This panel will discuss radically different approaches to comics form and their relationship to broader artistic practices. Bill Kartalopoulos will lead a conversation with artists Warren Craghead (How to Be Everywhere), Renée French (H Day), and Keith Mayerson (Horror Hospital Unplugged).

Did you memorize them? Good! We'll quiz you at the Fantagraphics table at SPX 2012! See you there!