• The Deconstructing Comics podcast talks about I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! by Fletcher Hanks

• Publishers Weekly's "Comics Week" newsletter reviews Sublife Vol. 1 by John Pham

• The Daily Cross Hatch posts the third and final part of their interview with Dash Shaw

• Roger Langridge presents some Spongebob Squarepants strips he drew for Nickelodeon magazine in the styles of Winsor McCay, George Herriman, Milton Caniff, Charles M. Schulz and others

• Dash Shaw and Tony Millionaire are amongst the the official selections from which the the Festival International de la BD Angouleme main prizes will be drawn from at January's festival. That is very cool.

• Joey Anuff has justified the Internet's existence.

• Charles Crumb, who passed away 14 years ago, is gone but not forgotten. 

• Rudy Ray Moore is not so far removed from the realm of this blog that it would be inappropriate to lament his passing here. R.I.P., R.R.M. A tip of the fur bucket to Rick Altergott and Jim Blanchard, who first introduced me to Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil's Son-In-Law.

• Dennis the Menace cartoonist Marcus Hamilton is a thankful man. 

• Bob Levin's blog is always worth reading. 

Shocktilyoudrop.com talks to Charles Burns about Black Hole, Fear of the Dark, and more. 

Thedailycrosshatch.com continues it's interview with Bottomless Belly Button creator Dash Shaw.

This Thursday night at MIT, comics critic (and Krazy & Ignatz contributing editor) Jeet Heer will moderate a talk about "Comics & Social Conflict" between King creator Ho Che Anderson and Diana Tamblyn. 

Finally, here's a bunch of beautiful recent illustrations by Jeremy Eaton, including one particularly near and dear to my heart. Jeremy also tells the story of a rather pathetic 24 hour comics session that I was privileged enough to participate in. 

Response to our free signed bookplate offer has been so great, we're replenishing our limited quantities when and where we can. We've just restocked Dash Shaw (shown above) and some Dan Clowes, and more are hopefully on the way soon. Click here for the full selection.

(Disclaimer: Signature plates are limited in quantity and available only while supplies last. In the event that we run out, signature plates will not be backordered. Bookplates are not available separately from their respective books and are only available to individual consumers.)

Flog!'s North Carolina Bureau Chief Rob Clough attended the opening of the Dash Shaw show at Duke this past Friday night and was kind enough to provide us with this exclusive report: 

Dash Shaw's show BOTTOMLESS at the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University debuted on Thursday, September 25th. The well-attended opening was a multi-media affair that was as much about process as it was about a final product. The way that curator Diego Cortez designed the show gave a unique glimpse into Shaw's method. By juxtaposing Shaw's original pencils against his color sheets on the walls of the exhibit, the viewer could see the way Shaw composes color for his pages is unusual. On display were pencils and color pages from his webcomic BodyWorld and MOME short stories "Train" and the upcoming "Satellite CMYK". That latter story may well be his best effort yet.

There were also some other unusual entries, like a drawing Shaw made of himself and Barack Obama as surfers.

[Read more...]

09.25.2008 
Bottomless: Dash Shaw Art Exhibition
Duke University, John Hope Franklin Center
2204 Erwin Road, Durham, NC 27708 
17:30-19:30

09.26.2008
Discussion between Dash Shaw & Gary Panter
Duke University, John Hope Franklin Center, Room 240
2204 Erwin Road, Durham, NC 27708 
12:00

Bottomless, an exhibition of original drawings, storyboards, color background overlays and a video animation by Dash Shaw will be on display at the John Hope Franklin Center, 2204 Erwin Road from Thursday, September 25 through October 31. The exhibition is curated by Diego Cortez.

The opening is September 25, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. At noon on Friday, September 26 in Franklin Center 240, Shaw will be joined by noted graphic artist Gary Panter, "Jimbo In Purgatory" cartoonist, and Shaw's former teacher at the School of the Visual Arts, who will discuss his work.
A 32-page zine from the show will be available from PictureBox Inc. 100 copies will be at the gallery space and a signed/numbered edition of 100 will be available later off of their website.

Then, if you're in D.C. for SPX and/or heading to NYC after SPX:

Mon Oct 06 5-7pm
George Washington University, Gelman Library
2130 H Street NW, Washington DC 20052
202.994.9508
Presentation and panel discussion
Jesse Reklaw, Dash Shaw, Trevor Alixopulos, and Ken Dahl

Wed Oct 08 7-9pm
Desert Island
540 Metropolitan, Brooklyn NY 11211
718.388.5087
Book signing and comics social
Jesse Reklaw, Trevor Alixopulos, Ken Dahl, and Dash Shaw

You know the show, you know Dash. Listen, already! (Image from Bodyworld.)

The First Post has a free 12-page excerpt up of THE BOTTOMLESS BELLY BUTTON by Dash Shaw. 

By the way, Fanta has just gone back to press on BBB, which we're thrilled about. I was thinking this morning that the two artists we've published of late with perhaps the most "heat" at the moment are Dash Shaw and Steve Ditko. Which then reminded me of Dash's unpublished Dr. Strange strip (see below), and inevitably led me to one conclusion: that really, Marvel Comics should give Dr. Strange to Fantagraphics. Marvel doesn't know what the fuck to do with him. Give him to us and we'll start an ongoing Dr. Strange anthology with new work by Los Bros, Dash Shaw, Daniel Clowes, Kim Deitch, and other longtime Ditko fans, and include reprints of the classic Ditko Strange as well. Joe Quesada, it is your moral duty to make this happen.