If you’re passionate about comix, there’s no place like Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery to celebrate Valentine’s Day. We’ve got “50 Years of Playboy Cartoons” with Gahan Wilson. Meet the living legend from 6:00 to 9:00 PM this Saturday, February 13 for a book signing and reception for his exhibition of original drawings and prints.  

To commemorate the occasion we’re offering a bookstore-only 20% discount on the exquisite 3-volume slipcase edition of GAHAN WILSON: 50 YEARS OF PLAYBOY CARTOONS and an even more generous offer on the limited deluxe edition. Look for specials on other alluring comics and graphic novels. You’ll find affordable gifts to please anyone. 

And if you love R. Crumb, you’ll have your only chance to view Michael Leavitt’s spectacular articulated Crumb sculpture on Saturday before it departs to a private, out-of-state collection. Fantagraphics Bookstore stocks the region’s largest selection of lovely Crumb books.  

Join us on Saturday in Seattle’s enchanting Georgetown arts community for this memorable evening event. It coincides with the Georgetown Art Attack featuring visual and performing arts presentations throughout the neighborhood, as well as a diverse array of dining and drinking establishments.  

Richard Krauss of Midnight Fiction has an excellent writeup and photos (such as the one of Al Greenier above) from the scene the Jan. 30 Newave! book launch and exhibit opening at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery.

We missed this when we first ran our story about Michael Leavitt's fully-articulated hand-carved sculpture of R. Crumb (on exhibit one day only at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Feb. 13), but Comics Alliance caught it when they picked up our post. (YouTube link)

Amid all the well-deserved praise directed at R. Crumb's Book of Genesis, I was reminded of another often-overlooked Crumb masterpiece. As Fantagraphics newly minted 4th printing of Kafka reaches bookstore shelves, it seems like a good moment to reflect on the amazing achievement of Crumb and author David Zane Mairowitz.

Entering college I was assigned The Trial for freshman lit. I just wasn't ready for it. I wasn't a total dunce, but there were so many alluring diversions (i. e. booze and babes.) Thus began, and ended, my brief exposure to the works of Franz Kafka.

Only decades later did I deign to revisit the legacy of this literary genius. And it took a Crumb comic book to get me there. Crumb's renderings are at once precise and passionate. The narrative seamlessly weaves Kafka's biography into his self-reflective stories. A delightfully entertaining treatment of Kafka's daunting discourse. Now I can use the cliché "Kafkaesque" at cocktail parties and have some clue.

If you don't already own a copy of this essential book, be sure to pick one up next time you visit Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. (Might I suggest this Saturday for the Steven Weissman book signing, or the following Saturday at the Gahan Wilson reception.) If you can't join us here, do yourself a huge favor and order a copy now. Your life will be fuller for it.

Hey Seattle, come get this week's issue of The Stranger signed by cover artist (and weekly "I, Anonymous" illustrator) Steven Weissman when he's in town signing his new book Chocolate Cheeks at our flagship bookstore on Saturday! (Dear Steven: that cover image would make an awesome poster.)

Legendary Master of Macabre Cartoonist Gahan Wilson Appears at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, February 13! 

February 2, 2010 - Seattle, WA. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to host a rare appearance by the incomparable Gahan Wilson. Best known for his grotesque gag cartoons commenting on contemporary culture, the revered artist commemorates the publication of GAHAN WILSON: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons with an exhibition of original art and book signing on Saturday, December 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.

Gahan Wilson's singular aesthetic with decidedly low brow sensibilities has roots in his adolescent exposure to lurid horror comic books and pulp magazines. ''I was a creepy little kid," Wilson recalls. "I did the whole comic book thing, and then I discovered Weird Tales — instantly homed right in on that around high school, and just loved it." His early illustrations found their way to the pages of the pulps and were later published in prestigious periodicals like Collier's, The New Yorker, and Playboy.

His delightfully demented sense of humor is celebrated in GAHAN WILSON: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons, an exquisite 3-volume slipcase edition from Fantagraphics Books that includes over 1,000 comics and illustrations by the acknowledged master of the macabre as well as all of Wilson's prose fiction in Playboy. Don't miss this rare opportunity to meet an American original, one week short of his 80th birthday.

Also on display on February 13 for one night only is a recently completed sculpted portrait of comix legend R. Crumb by Seattle artist Michael Leavitt (pictured below). Commissioned for a private out-of-state collection, this will provide the only opportunity to view the fully articulated wood carved figure — the latest addition to Leavitt's ongoing "Art Army" series.

The reception on Saturday February 13 coincides with the colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack featuring visual and performing arts presentations throughout the neighborhood, just in time for Valentine's Day. What better place for art mavens of all ages to observe this romantic occasion than in the enchanting industrial arts quarter of Georgetown.

Listing Information:

Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons

Saturday, February 13, 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery

1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.) Seattle, WA
Phone 206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 - 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM.

ALSO: Be sure to tune in to KUOW 94.9's "Weekday" show from 9AM to 10AM,  on Friday, Feb. 12th, when Gahan will be talking to host Steve Scher about the event and his legendary career.

The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack celebrates is second anniversary on February 13, just in time for Valentine's Day. What better place for art mavens of all ages to observe this romantic occasion than in the enchanting industrial arts quarter of Georgetown? In the short span of two years the Georgetown Art Attack has gained a reputation as one of the region's most provocative and colorful cultural outings. The public is invited to experience the excitement on Saturday, February 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM as dozens of nightclubs, cafes and creative enterprises present a vast array of visual and performing arts.

Among the highlights: "Show Some Heart" by Georgetown artist and blacksmith Lisa Geertsen at FRIDA & Georgetown Tile Works; Pop art pet paintings by Shai Steiner at A Dog's Dream; make your own shrinky art with Shrinkmaster Malice together with paintings by Kris Kirwan and Michelle Robles at ProletariArt in the old Rainier Bottling Plant; new works by M. C. Corley and wine charms by Erika Tedin, as well as a huge assortment of fine wines and boutique beers at Full Throttle Bottles; paintings and prints by Mark Tedin, Kyle Abernethy and Julie Baroh at KrabJab Studio; legendary macabre cartoonist Gahan Wilson celebrates 50 years of Playboy cartoons at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery with the debut of a monumental new sculpture by Michael Leavitt; Annalisa Cristine Barelli's "Into the Dream" at the captivating Engine Room at Georgetown Studios; open house tours with Georgetown Atelier School of Drawing and Painting founder Tenaya Sims; informal music jam with guest musicians at Georgetown Music; diverse dining and drinking at Calamity Jane's, Jules Maes Saloon, Georgetown Liquor Company, 9 Lb. Hammer, Smarty Pants; Stellars Pizza & Ale; All City Coffee; Squid & Ink; Via Tribunali and more.

The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack is a monthly promotion of the Georgetown Merchants' Association. For more information contact Art Attack coordinator Larry Reid. For map see: www.georgetownartattack.com.

Hey look, some photos of the Newave! exhibit opening and book launch party last Saturday at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, nicked without permission from our pal (and Newave! contributor) J.R. Williams's Facebook page. We'll bring you more pics if/when they surface (got some? let us know!). Above, David Lasky and someone unidentified...

J.R. & Newave! editor Michael Dowers:

Mini comix pioneer Steve Willis & J.R.:

Peter & Joanne Bagge:

The Seattle Public Library's popular "Comixtravaganza" celebration concludes this Saturday, January 30. The Rem Koolhaas-designed central branch hosts a comics creating workshop with Fantagraphics friends Greg Stump and David Lasky at 1:00 PM, followed by a career-spanning media presentation by alternative comics titan Peter Bagge at 3:00 PM. Later that evening Lasky and Bagge will be featured guests at the fabulous book launch party for NEWAVE! The Underground Mini Comics of the 1980s at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Admission is free to all events.

If you live in the Northwest, you won't want to miss these wildly entertaining spectacles.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to host an exhibition and publication party for NEWAVE! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s on Saturday, January 30 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. This event promises to be both entertaining and enlightening. The public is invited to join us for this festive reunion of influential independent cartoonists.

Self published mini comics in the 1970s and 1980s were the direct descendants of the Underground Comix movement of the 1960s hippie era. Early practitioners photocopied, stapled and distributed their miniature zines at comic book conventions and emerging comic book specialty shops. The immediacy and independence of these publications gave rise to today's popular alternative comics movement.

Mini comics creator Michael Dowers, former publisher of Starhead Comix and editor at Fantagraphics Books, compiled this impressive anthology. Included are interviews and commentary by the artists as well as the rare mini comics themselves.

The exhibition will feature original art and graphics by underground mini comix pioneers Jaimie Alder, Jim Blanchard, Wayne Gibson, David Lasky, Wayno, J.R. Williams, Steve Willis, Dennis Worden, and XNO. NEWAVE editor Michael Dowers will produce and distribute a mini comic on site. A comix jam by contributing artists will be accompanied by music from local indie rock band "iji."

Don't miss this splendid occasion on Saturday, January 30. Fantagraphics Bookstore is located at 1201 S. Vale Street at Airport Way in the heart of Georgetown.

Listing Information

NEWAVE! Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s exhibition and publication party.

Featuring Jaimie Alder, Jim Blanchard, Wayne Gibson, David Lasky, Wayno, Steve Willis, Dennis Worden, XNO. Mini comic demonstration and giveaway by Michael Dowers. Music by iji.

Saturday, January 30, 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 - 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM.