FLOG! Entries tagged 'Mark Kalesniko'

All the Monkey Business from APE 2012!

janice

Thank you to everyone who came by our booth this past weekend at APE: the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco, CA! Look at how happy you made our Marketing Director, Mike Baehr! We hope we were able to make you guys happy, too, with all our amazing debuts and wonderful guests.

Our good pal Daniel Clowes made an unofficial appearance, and braved the crowds for a visit with The Hernandez Bros! I think that lady to the right just realized who cut in front of her in line...

Jim Woodring delighted fans with sketches of his iconic characters, and he somehow did it with just a cheapie ballpoint pen! (His usual drawing pen decided to give up the ghost right before signings began.)

The great Mark Kalesniko was all-smiles as he signed copies of his books for fans! Mark also brought both an electronic slideshow and some originals, which was a wonderful lesson in cartooning for everyone who stopped by.

photo credit: Ted Abenheim from Prism Comics!

It's the unstoppable Justin Hall, moderating the Queer Cartoonists Panel before his No Straight Lines signing with us! That man is a trooper, I'm tellin' ya.

And we were lucky to steal the always-busy Shannon Wheeler away from his own booth for a couple of signings of Oil & Water!

Our all-star line-up kept us hoppin', but I did manage to sneak away a few times for some shoppin' and some photos of our Fantagraphics friends!

It's an annual tradition to sit side-by-side with our good buddies (and fellow Northwesterners) Jim Blanchard & J.R. Williams!

Wake up, Gabrielle!!! Oh, well, I'll let her rest up for her signing with Tom Kaczynski (and Charles Burns, not at APE) this coming Saturday, October 20th at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery...

Here's Mome-veteran Jon Vermilyea, with his incredible prints and zines. He told us he was planning to hit the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, so make sure to visit his table, New Yorkers!

Here's fellow Mome-vet Malachi Ward in a rare quiet moment at his booth -- we were excited to get the latest volume of Expansions from him!

We had a quick visit with No Straight Lines-contributor Ed Luce, merchandising mad genius!

We didn't manage to snap a pic of the elusive Tim Hensley, but he was at APE, debuting his Ticket Stub collection with Rina Ayuyang's Yam Books! And, good lord, can I tell you people, it is a thing of freakin' beauty. Get one, seriously.

Speaking of elusive, the rumors were true: Zak Sally did make an unexpected secret appearance at the show! He snuck away before I could take a photo, though!

While I visited with Fanta-friends Tom Neely and Emily Nilsson of Sparkplug Comics, Mike had to contend with that line you see in the upper-righthand corner of this pic for the Love and Rockets signing! Yikes, sorry, Mike!

A quick run back to our own booth, and I was able to catch the adorable Brett Warnock of Top Shelf kanoodling with Rich Koslowski across the aisle!!!

Going through our photos, I was surprised that neither Mike nor I snapped any pictures of my birthday-buddy Tom Devlin of Drawn & Quarterly. (We both turned a year older on Saturday of the show.) But his v-neck sweater really did look great with the collared-shirt. Happy birthday, dear Tom!

Yay, that was fun! Let's do it again next year, San Francisco!

Fantagraphics at the 2012 Alternative Press Expo!

janice

We're going ape-shit for APE: the Alternative Press Expo! Join us this Saturday, October 13th and Sunday, October 14th at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco, CA!

As we reported back in February, we're bringing special guests Jaime, Gilbert and Mario Hernandez, continuing their Love and Rockets 30th Anniversary Tour, and the one and only Jim Woodring!

Well, we're also excited to announce that we'll be joined by Mark Kalesniko, Justin Hall, and Shannon Wheeler! Come meet these fine gentlemen of cartooning!

Saturday, October 13th
12:00-1:30 PM     Mark Kalesniko
12:00 - 1:00 PM   Shannon Wheeler
1:30 - 3:30 PM    Jim Woodring
3:30 - 5:30 PM    Gilbert Hernandez // Jaime Hernandez // Mario Hernandez
5:30 - 6:30 PM    Justin Hall // Mark Kalesniko

Sunday, October 14th
12:00-1:00 PM    Justin Hall // Mark Kalesniko
1:00 - 2:30 PM    Gilbert Hernandez // Jaime Hernandez // Mario Hernandez
2:30 - 3:30 PM    Jim Woodring // Shannon Wheeler
4:00 - 5:00 PM    Gilbert Hernandez // Jaime Hernandez // Mario Hernandez
5:00 - 6:00 PM    Jim Woodring // Mark Kalesniko

We'll also be carrying the following fine debuts:

• The Lost Art of Ah Pook Is Here: Images from the Graphic Novel by Malcolm McNeill
• Observed While Falling: Bill Burroughs, Ah Pook, and Me by Malcolm McNeill
• Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman

• The Cartoon Utopia by Ron Rege, Jr.
• The Hypo by Noah Van Sciver
• Is That All There Is? by Joost Swarte [softcover & hardcover 2nd edition debut]
• Love and Rockets: New Stories #5 by Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez

• Ralph Azham Vol. 1: Why Would You Lie to Someone You Love? by Lewis Trondheim
• Tales Designed to Thrizzle #8 by Michael Kupperman
• Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 4: House of the Seven Haunts by Floyd Gottfredson
• You'll Never Know Book 3: Soldier's Heart by C. Tyler
• Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me: Robert Crumb Letters 1958-1977 by Robert Crumb; edited by Ilse Thompson

And don't miss these excellent panels, featuring our great Fantagraphics artists:

Saturday, October 13th

• 2:45 PM // Queer Cartoonists Panel: LGBT comics, with a storied history of over four decades, have never been more vibrant. A true renaissance of queer stories is taking place, as they begin to take their rightful place in the comics world and fans increasingly demand more material that speaks to them and represents the genuine diversity in which we all live. It's all happening at the ninth annual APE Queer Cartoonists Panel, with talented, fabulous, and uppity panelists Tara Madison Avery (Dirtheads, Gooch), Tony Breed (Finn and Charlie Are Hitched), Dylan Edwards (Transposes), Steve MacIsaac (Shirtlifter), and Leia Weathington (The Legend of Bold Riley), with moderator Justin Hall (No Straight Lines, Glamazonia). On top of all that, at the end of the panel the recipient of the Prism Comics Queer Press Grant 2012 will be announced.

• 4:45 PM // Using Childhood Experiences to Create Adult Stories: The experiences from our youth are often those that have the biggest impact on the adults we grow up to be, but how do we share those stories with others? Miriam Libicki (jobnik!), Jim Woodring (Jim, Weathercraft), Kraig Rasmussen (monkeygong.com), and Derek Kirk Kim (Tune, Same Difference) explain how they molded their childhood memories into stories aimed at adults. Moderated by the Cartoon Art Museum's Andrew Farago.

• 5:45 PM // Spotlight on the Hernandez Brothers: 30 Years of Love and Rockets: The creators of the acclaimed Love and Rockets discuss the trials, tribulations, and joy that go into writing and drawing a series for over 30 years! Jaime, Gilbert and Mario Hernandez, talk to Andrew Farago (Cartoon Art Museum) about their three decades on one of comics' most popular and acclaimed indie series.

Sunday, October 14th

• 2:30 PM // "Gigantes" Walk Among Us!: Almost 100 years of cartooning takes the stage as APE special guests Jaime, Gilbert and Mario Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame join legendary MAD cartoonist Sergio Aragonés to discuss how their Latino/Hispanic experiences contributed to their amazing comic art. Join moderator Ricardo Padilla (Latino Comics Expo) as we celebrate these unique creators of this American artform.

• 3:45 PM // Spotlight on Jim Woodring: APE special guest Jim Woodring, the creator of the wordless Frank comics, waxes eloquent about his influences, motivations, and career experiences in "Please Stand By," a 45-minute narrated slide and video presentation followed by a 15-minute Q&A session. Topics include Woodring's animation studio work with Jack Kirby and Gil Kane, and the cartoon that irreversibly changed his life. If you have ever wondered what drives his enigmatic work, this is your chance to get the inside dope.

Marketing Director Mike Baehr and I can't wait to see you! Just swing by our usual spot at APE, tables 112-115! (Right by our good friends Jim Blanchard and J.R. Williams at table 116!)

Presenting Mark Kalesniko's 'Tarantula'!

mike

We are excited to present an all-new, all-original 40 page comic by Mark Kalesniko for FREE, exclusively here on the Fantagraphics website! "Tarantula" is a hair-raising, funny, exciting, creepy-crawly tale which pits Mark's protagonist Alex against an unwelcome 8-legged home invader. Enjoy this fun and fast-moving tale right here!

Fantagraphics at San Diego Comic-Con 2012: Friday fun

mike

Fell a little behind on my photo blogging but here are some sights from the floor at Comic-Con International yesterday:

Sweet Maggie ink! Jaime was impressed with this one (as were we all).

The line for the Gilbert Shelton & Dave McKean signing stretched all the way around the booth.

Dave McKean and his cool watch (and hey, it's Anthony Vukojevich, Mome vet Rob Goodin and Tom Neely in the background).

The dapper Mr. Shelton (and those guys again).

Monte Schulz dropped by to chat with Gary.

The No Straight Lines signing with Ed Luce, editor Justin Hall, Dylan Edwards and Trina Robbins.

Somebody brought an old Who's Who in the DC Universe for Trina to sign the page with her Cheetah illustration. That lady's done it all!

Another DC character also made an appearance at the No Straight Lines signing. (At least I think that's Poison Ivy.)

Matt Groening showed off his pal Gary Panter's Dal Tokyo while Akbar & Jeff walked past in the background. Matt recounted for us how he helped save the strip from being dumped at the L.A. Weekly back in the 1980s by arguing that it's one of the greatest works of art of the 20th century.

Eric shows off Johnny Gruelle's Mr. Twee Deedle to Matt, who was particularly taken with Gruelle's "birds-eye view" strips in the book and walked away with it under his arm.

Shannon Wheeler was signing Oil and Water before he even had a chance to sit down.

Shannon joined Mark Kalesniko at the signing table.

Our homie John Roderick dropped by and picked up Significant Objects and the new softcover edition of Joost Swarte's Is That All There Is?, confessing that he'd love to have Swarte do the cover art for his next album.

By the way, my co-workers have photos & tales of their own that they'll be posting when they get back to the office... RIGHT GUYS?

Fantagraphics at San Diego Comic-Con 2012: The Signings!

janice

We're thrilled to announce the Fantagraphics signing schedule for San Diego Comic-Con 2012!

We're also extra-excited to announce our first-ever Preview Night signing!!! That's right! Last year, we met a lot of customers who lamented that they were only able to score a pass for Preview Night and they were missing out on all the signings. So, we've got the great Gilbert Hernandez, Mario Hernandez, and Gilbert's talented daughter Natalia signing at our booth that evening! You complained; we listened! Yeah, don't get too used to that.

And in honor of our Love & Rockets 30th Anniversary Celebration, we're doubling up on our daily signings with The Bros to make sure everyone gets a chance to get their books signed! (And, Mr. Johnny Ryan will be signing at our booth on Saturday!)

Wednesday, July 11th:
7:00 - 8:00 PM Gilbert + Natalia Hernandez / Mario Hernandez

Thursday, July 12th:
12:00 - 2:00 PM   Gilbert + Natalia Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
2:00 - 3:00 PM   Esther Pearl Watson / Trina Robbins
3:30 - 5:30 PM    Gilbert + Natalia Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez

Friday, July 13th:
10:30 - 12:00 PM    Gilbert + Natalia Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
12:00 - 1:30 PM    Dave McKean
12:00 - 2:00 PM   Gilbert Shelton
2:00 - 3:30 PM     Gilbert + Natalia Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
3:30 - 5:30 PM    Justin Hall / Trina Robbins / No Straight Lines special guests
5:30 - 6:30 PM   Mark Kalesniko / Shannon Wheeler

Saturday, July 14th:
11:00 - 12:30 PM    Gilbert + Natalia Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
12:30 - 2:30 PM       Johnny Ryan / Steven Weissman
3:00 - 5:00 PM    Gilbert + Natalia Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
5:00 - 6:00 PM        Mark Kalesniko / Michel Gagné

Sunday, July 15th:
10:30 - 11:30 AM Mark Kalesniko / Michel Gagné
11:30 - 1:30 PM Gilbert + Natalia Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez

Daily OCD: 5/17/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: At Library Journal, Martha Cornog names "26 Graphic Novels for Pride Month 2012," including The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio...

"This book is considered a pioneering example of shonen-ai (boys’ love), often referred to as yaoi in the United States. In a German boarding school, young Thomas Werner kills himself because of unrequited love for a schoolmate, who is in fact in love with Thomas, but secretly. Unpacking the emotional threads among the boys and their fellows leads to a sophisticated and beautifully drawn melodrama."

...No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics...

"Herewith a color and black-and-white sampler from a less-recognized underground of gay comics from the past four decades, including Bechdel and Cruse, Europe’s Ralf Koenig, and 2011 ALA keynote speaker Dan Savage (Savage Love; The Kid; It Gets Better). Fantagraphics promises 'smart, funny, and profound' — and uncensored."

...and Wandering Son Vol. 3 by Shimura Takako:

"A serious yet sweet fifth-grade drama about several boys and girls who want to change their gender. Unlike many manga involving boy/girl reversals, this one does not play gender issues for laughs, even if gentle comedy enters the picture along with serious emotional drama."

• Review: "The seventeenth volume of this great series from Fantagraphics [The Compete Peanuts] is just as delightful as all the rest. Yes, the ink line of Charles Schulz is a little wobbly at times, but his humor is just as sharp as ever.... I’ve said it before, but if you want reading material that will make you smile and laugh it’s hard to beat this series. And I’m continuing to admire the subtle and classy cover designs by Seth. Highly recommended." – Todd Klein

• Interview: At The Art Newspaper, Sarah Douglas chats with Robert Crumb about his museum retrospective show in Paris: "The contemporary fine art world has never particularly interested me. They started to embrace me and have big fancy gallery shows and museum shows. I’m one of the few cartoonists who mainly work for print who is now finding their way into the fine art world, and it’s the choice of the fine art world; it’s not my choice. I haven’t consciously promoted myself in that world."

• Commentary: At The Comics Journal, R. Fiore uses Mark Kalesniko's graphic novel Freeway as a springboard to discuss the history of American animation: "The eponymous metaphor of Mark Kalesniko’s Freeway is almost too easy: A transportation network that once granted free and effortless mobility that’s become a morass of stagnation and frustration to symbolize an animation business that promised personal expression amid camaraderie but delivers forced mediocrity in an atmosphere of Machiavellian backbiting. Condemned to a purgatorial traffic jam, Kalesniko’s dog-headed alter ego Alex grinds his teeth to reminiscences about his thwarted career, potentially idyllic but presently in-law plagued romance, and his abortive first expedition into Los Angeles, intermixed with idealized visions of animation’s golden age and premonitions of [SPOILER REDACTED – Ed.]."

• Commentary: "I’d love to see Locas become a well-made animated television series, because I feel like Jaime Hernandez’ work deserves the widest-possible audience. But is such an idea messing with a classic that doesn’t need such 'help'?" – Graeme McMillan, Spinoff Online

Freeway by Mark Kalesniko named Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize honor book

mike

Hot on the heels of its Eisner Award nomination for "Best Graphic Album – New," Mark Kalesniko's beautiful, ambitious and complex book Freeway has been named an honor book (i.e. runner-up) for the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize by a jury representing the Pennsylvania Center for the Book at Penn State University.

From the judges' comments:

"Kalesniko's vivid existentialist drama of the dog and his artistic dream reassuringly demonstrates that in comics, at least, creativity and originality continue to flourish and (with this honor award) receive their rightful recognition." – Susan Squier

"With allusions to the history of the classic studio animation, the use of anthropomorphism and a great relationship story, Freeway is a fantastic graphic novel." – John Secreto

"How do we get to where we want to be — in the workplace, in love, in life, on LA's tangle of freeways? Kalesniko's dog-faced protagonist lives and imagines dozens of possibilities for us in this melange, which offers both a staccato pace and a gentle lyricism. How ironic that the pursuit of happiness turns out to be something of a demolition derby." – Henry Pisciotta

"Every nomination list needs one book that pays homage to the 1960s Existentialist movement.... The art work is perfect for this tale of hopeless desperation and despair. It's great to see this theme again." – Glenn Masuchika

Congratulations Mark! We're also pleased that Paul Hornschemeier's Life with Mr. Dangerous, originally serialized in Mome, has received the same honor this year, which last year was bestowed upon Drew Weing's Set to Sea.

2012 Eisner Award nominees!

mike

The list of nominees for the 2012 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards was announced yesterday and we are pleased to report that our artists and publications received a total of 10 nominations in 8 categories:

Ganges #4 by Kevin Huizenga:

• Best Single Issue

Freeway by Mark Kalesniko:

• Best Graphic Album – New

Prince Valiant Vol. 3: 1941-1942 and Vol. 4: 1943-1944 by Hal Foster, edited by Kim Thompson:

• Best Archival Collection/Project – Strips

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 1: Race to Death Valley & Vol. 2: Trapped on Treasure Island (also available in the Vols. 1-2 Box Set) by Floyd Gottfredson, edited by David Gerstein & Gary Groth:

• Best Archival Collection/Project – Strips

Isle of 100,000 Graves by Jason & Fabien Vehlmann:

• Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot by Jacques Tardi & Jean-Patrick Manchette:

• Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Wandering Son Vol. 1 by Shimura Takako:

• Best U.S. Edition of International Material – Asia

Congress of the Animals by Jim Woodring:

• Best Writer/Artist — Jim Woodring (Jim is also nominated for Best Short Story for "Harvest of Fear" in The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror #17 from Bongo)

The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, and The Comics Journal website, www.tcj.com, edited by Timothy Hodler and Dan Nadel:

• Best Comics-Related Journalism

Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising 1870s-1940s, edited by Rick Marschall and Warren Bernard:

• Best Comics-Related Book

As announced in January, Bill Blackbeard (responsible for the Krazy & Ignatz series and so much more), Mort Meskin, Trina Robbins (underground legend and, for us, editor of The Brinkley Girls), and Gilbert Shelton (underground legend and contributor to Mome) are among the nominees for induction into the Eisner Hall of Fame.

An additional shout-out to Fantagraphics contributors, alumni and friends who received nominations for work with other publishers, including Stan Sakai, Ed Brubaker, Émile Bravo, Geoffrey Hayes, Roger Langridge, Anders Nilsen, Daniel Clowes, Al Jaffee, Rick Geary, Tom Orzechowski (who lettered Oil and Water), Ivan Brunetti, Eric Skillman (designer of The Comics Journal #301), and anyone I may have overlooked. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Winners will be announced at a ceremony on Friday, July 13, 2012 at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Browse and order all of our 2012 nominated titles here, and see here for links to past years' award honorees.

Clowes & Kalesniko Featured in LitGraphic Exhibition!

janice

Earlier this month, the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, NY kicked off their exhibit, LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel, an "examination of the use of sequential art as a significant form of visual communication, placing specific emphasis on the art of the contemporary graphic novel."

The exhibit features more than 200 original art works, including paintings, drawings, storyboards, and more, including work from our own Mark Kalesniko's Mail Order Bride!

And on Thursday, March 22, they'll be screening the film version of the Daniel Clowes classic Ghost World in the museum auditorium, at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM.

LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel runs through Sunday, April 29th. This exhibit is open to the public. Students with valid ID get reduced admission. Children age 6 and under are admitted for free. The Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute campus is located at 310 Genesee Street in Utica, New York.

Daily OCD: 2/13/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Critic Rob Clough names his Top Fifteen Comic Books of 2011 on his High-Low blog, including Love & Rockets: New Stories #4 at #1...

"Gilbert's stories are typically excellent in this issue, as he manages a certain luridness in one story that brings sexuality to the fore, and goes the other direction in a more oblique, subtle story. Of course, the story that got everyone buzzing was the second half of Jaime's "The Love Bunglers", which is an ending for this thirty-year cycle of stories--and one where Jaime sticks the landing with authority."

...Ganges #4 by Kevin Huizenga at #4...

"Huizenga's work is restrained and even playful in its approach but wildly ambitious in terms of its content, and he continues to successfully mine work left untouched by other cartoonists."

...Hate Annual #9 by Peter Bagge at #8...

"This was Bagge's first feature-length Buddy Bradley story in years, and it's a doozy. Buddy, Lisa and young Harold visit Lisa's parents in a story called 'Hell,' and Bagge truly pulls out all the stops in depicting extreme familial weirdness. His dialogue is as sharp as ever, his line is quite lively and his uncanny ability to depict the creeping weirdness of suburbia is even more disturbing than in the initial run of New Jersey stories in Hate."

...and Tales Designed to Thrizzle #7 by Michael Kupperman at #11:

"Kupperman's 'Quincy, M.E.' story in this issue is a tour-de-force of twisting narrative structures and just plain crazy silliness. Kupperman's art has become increasingly bland as his aesthetic references have changed from 1920s comic strips to 1950s comic books, forcing the reader to perform double-takes at the crazy juxtapositions he creates. If his comics aren't as visually exhausting and exciting as they once were, he still provides an avalanche of ideas and jokes for the reader to sort through."

• Review: "Norwegian cartoonist Jason has returned with more full-color stories populated by lonely, and at times sociopathic, anthropomorphic characters. Cats, dogs, and ducks steal, fight, murder, and drink themselves into oblivion. Although brimming with black humor, the tales are far from ridiculous; the disjunction between the cute creatures and their actions often serves to highlight the despair inherent in their lives. Text is light, as the images drive the narratives. In these spare, mute panels, infused with flat oranges, greens, and browns, small movements covey great meaning and emotion.... Visually exciting, at times hilarious and at times devastating, Athos in America will only add to Jason’s well-deserved reputation as a star of the graphic novel world." – Publishers Weekly

• Review: "This volume [Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives Vol. 1] provides an illuminating look at the artist’s numerous attempts at catching Sub-Marineresque lightning in a bottle for a second time, a task that mostly eluded him. The comics studios of the golden age were product mills that threw any idea against the wall in hope it would stick, and Everett did much the same. Forgotten sci-fi and superhero creations, as well as forays into westerns, historical retellings, and crime comics, populate this loaded volume, which reads like it fell straight out of some four-color twilight zone." – Publishers Weekly

• Review: "Over 150 pages of reprints, a brilliant back-of-the-book by Benson running 26 pages, and an introduction by my old buddy, cartoonist/historian Jay Lynch..., this book is a welcome addition to any comics library.... [I]f nothing else, The Sincerest Form of Parody saves you a lot of time separating the wheat from the chaff. But in and of itself, it is a very worthy book – entertaining on his own, and critical from a historical point of view. You should check this one out..." – Mike Gold, ComicMix

• Review: "[Jordan] Crane’s comic, The Last Lonely Saturday, explores the trials and release of life after loss. Crane’s story beautifully follows a husband’s weekly ritual to pay respect to his wife. In no more than a few pages, Crane retells the husband and wife’s entire history. From the comic’s meticulous book design, with its quaint size and the rounded, hand-lettered type in the first pages, readers can expect the story to be heart-warming. But Crane pulls at readers’ heartstrings with surprising grace. While the story is rooted in the traditional American cliché of lovers reunited in the afterlife, the story is told deftly." – Juan Fernandez, The Tartan (via Robot 6)

• Review: "[Freeway] captures the frustration of being stuck in traffic, particularly the array of images (violent and otherwise) that traffic brings to my mind (even better than Falling Down). Like me, Alex also relieves his frustrations with a lot of swearing." – Gene Ambaum, The Unshelved Book Club

• Plug: "I ran into animator Michel Gagné at the Annie Awards last week (where he picked up an Annie for Best Video Game, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet) and asked him about his next project. Turns out Gagne had been toiling on a labor of love (literally) that has just gone on sale this week.... That book, Young Romance: the Best of Simon & Kirby’s Romance Comics, is not the usual thing we endorse here at Cartoon Brew – but as a life-long Jack Kirby fan and oddball comic book buff, this project is right up my alley.... I’ve ordered my copy and highly recommend it, sight unseen. Thanks, Michel!" – Jerry Beck, Cartoon Brew

• Plug: "Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created Captain America but they literally created the romance comic genre. The pages [of Young Romance] were packed with dialogue and dramatic art as women fought for love." – Will Harris, KOMO News

• Plug: Anime News Network picks up the news of Wandering Son Vol. 1's inclusion on the ALA GLBT Round Table's Rainbow List, pointing out that it's the first manga ever to make the list

• History: At The New York Times Local East Village Blog, Kim Deitch writes about The East Village Other's Joel Fabrikant

Daily OCD: 2/8/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "And now, Fantagraphics has packaged some of the best movie parodies in this ripely-colored book [The Sincerest Form of Parody]. But these aren't Mad comics. They're the imitators which popped up on newsstands in the 1950s -- comic books like Whack, Nuts!, Crazy, Bughouse and Unsane.... Most of the comics in the pages of this book are understandably dated for today's web-weaned generation who may have never heard of I, Jury ('My Gun Is the Jury by Melvie Splane'), What's My Line? ('What's My Crime?'), or Come Back, Little Sheba ('Come Back Bathsheba'), but that doesn't drain these parodies of their punch." – David Abrams, The Quivering Pen

• Plug: "Most of the 21 stories in this great new book collection [Young Romance] haven't been compiled before, and if you're not familiar with them, you're in for thrill after melodramatic thrill. My favorite: 'Norma, Queen of the Hot Dogs.'" – Michael Galucci, Cleveland Scene

• Interview: Mark Kalesniko talks about his latest graphic novel Freeway at the FLIP animation blog; that site's Steve Moore says "Mark Kalesniko’s graphic novel Freeway is a truly brilliant, hilarious look at the hunched and goofy lifestyle in our industry's ground zero. His humor is wickedly honest, his storytelling unflinching."

Daily OCD: 12/29/11

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 is ComicsAlliance's Best Comic of 2011, with Jason Michelitch saying "The final 15 pages of 'The Love Bunglers' isn't just the end of a great new issue of a Bros. Hernanadez comic book. It isn't just the sixth part of a fantastic serialized graphic novel that's run since last year. It is the culmination of nearly thirty years worth of nuance, gesture, shading, pacing and dialogue — of angst, mania, fear, friendship, anger, and love. It is the finale to an epic of human scale feeling and drama. It is heart-stopping."

• List: Matthew Price of The Oklahoman names Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 the Best Graphic Novel of 2011: "The Brothers Hernandez are some of the best cartoonists in comics' history, and Jamie Hernandez has one of the high points of his career in Vol. 4 of 'New Stories.'... Gilbert's visceral tale satirizes a societal obsession with vampires by showing their messy, unforgiving side."

• List: The A.V. Club's Noel Murray names The Best Comics of 2011: Graphic Novels & Art Comics in several subcategories. In Original Graphic Novels Mark Kalesniko's Freeway comes in at #4...

"Kalesniko’s animation-influenced style makes Freeway a fluid read, as he emphasizes motion, in striking compositions that guide the eye across the page smoothly. The plot moves just as freely, as Kalesniko renders both the exterior and interior spaces of his protagonist with a mix of loving care and impassioned disgust."

...and Joyce Farmer's Special Exits is at #5...

"Farmer jumps between matter-of-fact details and amusing anecdotes about the grind of end-of-life care, while turning the book into a celebration of two people: her father, a cheerful man so determined not to complain that he let serious health problems slide for months; and her stepmother, a steadfast woman whose pragmatism warred with her vanity. The book depicts old age as a wild, lurching ride: from medical crises to euphoric nostalgia to an eerie calm as the end draws near."

...the Top Three New Issues includes Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 at #1...

"Anyone who’s alive in the world should be moved by this story’s depiction of life as a series of accidents, miscommunications, and embarrassments, which sometimes work out okay regardless. 'The Love Bunglers' is rich with hidden meanings, complicated ideas and superior artistry."

...and Kevin Huizenga's Ganges #4 in the #2 spot...

"The fourth issue of Kevin Huizenga’s Ganges continues the artist’s increasingly masterful hybrid of direct storytelling and experimental abstraction... The story suits Huizenga’s style, because he can both document the familiar minutiae of daily life and the sense of unreality that takes hold whenever someone is up half the night. Huizenga works in visual motifs of endlessly branching possibilities and spiraling shapes, showing how becoming 'lost in thought' can be terrifying."

...and the Top Five Archival Collections are topped by Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks...

"...Lost in the Andes encourages both fannish and intellectual approaches to the material. There are scholarly analyses and bibliographies, but also more than 200 pages of some of the best-written comics ever published, full of square eggs, rubber bricks, golden Christmas trees, and races around the world."

...with Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Vol. 1 - Through the Wild Blue Wonder by Walt Kelly in the 2nd spot...

"The early Pogos aren’t as topical as what would come later, when Kelly would become a hero to the counterculture for taking on McCarthyism and promoting ecology. Mostly, these strips establish the world of the Okefenokee Swamp and the animals who dwell there, with Pogo the possum standing as the calm center of a cast that includes the dim Albert Alligator, the not-as-bright-as-he-thinks Howland Owl and the misanthropic, hilariously humorless Porkypine."

...and Bill Mauldin's Willie & Joe: Back Home at #3:

"The cartoons in Willie & Joe: Back Home capture Mauldin at a low ebb personally, but ferociously inspired professionally. Over the objections of his editors, Mauldin drew cartoons about estranged wives, limited employment opportunities, heartless fatcats, and an America more petty, materialistic, and xenophobic than the one they’d left behind... Today they’re a blistering reminder that life after WWII wasn’t all suburban bliss and baby boom."

• List: On the Westfield Comics Blog Roger Ash names his Best of 2011, with his Top 5 Books/Collections including Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Vol. 1 - Through the Wild Blue Wonder by Walt Kelly ranked at #3...

"This is not a book to be read quickly, but slowly and savored. Pogo is widely regarded as one of the greatest comic strips ever and this first volume amply shows why."

...and Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson at #2:

"The highlight of the volumes are the strips themselves which are a lot of fun and show an adventurous side to Mickey that may come as a surprise to those who only know the modern Mickey. It’s also fun watching Gottfredson develop as an artist and storyteller as the strips progress. In addition to the comics there are essays examining the stories, the creators involved (the comics were often inked and scripted by others), and the characters themselves. This series is a long overdue look at one of comics legendary creators and their work."

• Reviews: VICE's Nick Gazin looks at Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture...

"...[T]his book is so great and contains all the things you would want from a career retrospective from Jack Davis. Jack Davis is one of America's great illustrators whose career started in the late 1930s and continues to this day. That's fucking insane to think about.... Like I said, this book delivers the goods in a big way. It's 13 inches tall so you can really sink your eyeballs' teeth into the images."

...and Tales Designed to Thrizzle #7 by Michael Kupperman:

"This issue of Tales Designed to Thrizzle starts out with stories based around the idea that bathtubs are evil or haunted, possibly based on childhood fears of getting sucked down the drain or something. Doesn't matter, it's hilarious even if it's based in absurdity. After that there are comics with funny dialogue about Quincy and St. Peter and Reservior Dogs II that all keep referencing back to the previous comics and have a dreamy feel, but if your dreams were hilarious.... A bunch of stuff is thrown your way in this issue and when it's over you think, 'I liked that. I feel satisfied. Mmm-MM!'"

• Review: "[Wandering Son] has a very well-thought, carefully paced narrative that allows us to explore what goes on inside each character’s head and to watch them develop as people. It’s much more a quiet slice of life affair than it is an over-the-top comedy and/or drama, which might be something you’d expect from a manga featuring cross-dressing... [T]his hardcover book... represents a sophisticated side of literary manga. Translated with rare skill and sensitivity by veteran translator and comics scholar Matt Thorn, much of the story’s original flavour remains intact. Shimura Takako’s gender-bending story has a very quiet, introspective touch to it, and her artwork – with its clean lines, minimal backgrounds and sparse dialogue – beautifully reflects this." – Sean A. Noordin, The Star (Malaysia)

• Review (Video): Dave Ferraro & Patrick Markfort of the Comics-and-More Podcast look at Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Vol. 1 - Through the Wild Blue Wonder by Walt Kelly (two-part video at the link)

• Review: "Fantagraphics here in the states once again has begun to unearth [Tardi's] body of work into the North American light, the first volume of The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec being another fine edition produced in the best quality possible.... Does it sound a little crazy, imaginative, and probably addicting to read? Yes, yes it is. Which is why you need to read this series." – Drew McCabe, Comic Attack

• Plugs: Librairie Drawn & Quarterly's 211 Bernard blog spotlights Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture and Tony Millionaire's 500 Portraits

• Plug: "You can’t start the new year without the end of times. Sala’s new book [The Hidden] features his recognizable palette and quirky, gothic font in an adult tale... The post-apocalyptic tale starts with a man waking up to find that everything has gone wrong; sorta a Rip Van Screwed. Great for those who enjoy zombie movies and dystopian books like 1984 or The Hunger Games." – Jen Vaughn, CCS Schulz Library Blog

• Plug: Publishers Weekly spotlights our upcoming Tony Millionaire book signing and art show opening in their Comics Events listings

Kalesniko and Kupperman at the 2011 Miami Book Fair This Weekend

janice

Hey Miami! Spend the weekend with two of our favorite artists with the initials "MK" as Mark Kalesniko and Michael Kupperman head to the 2011 Miami Book Fair!

Saturday, November 19th at 3:30 PM

Lives Real and Imagined: Michael Kupperman on Mark Twain's Autobiography: 1910-2010; Jim Ottaviani on Feynman and Ray Fawkes on One Soul

Sunday, November 20th at 4:00 PM

Comics and Autobiography: Mark Kalesniko on Freeway, Jason Shiga on Empire State: A Love Story (or Not); Jennifer Hayden on Underwire. Moderated by John Hogan, editor, Graphic Novel Reporter

Both panels take place at the Prometeo Theatre (Building 1, 1st Floor, Room 1101), and the whole Miami Book Fair takes place at the Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami. The whole weekend is jam-packed with literary good times, so don't miss it!

Weekend Webcomics for 11/11/11: Kalesniko, Kupperman & more

mike

Steven Weissman is taking the week off, but we have Mark Kalesniko's Veterans Day comic (more about which here) to take up the slack, our weekly Kupperman, and links to other strips from around the web:

---

"Uncle Bob" by Mark Kalesniko:

Up All Night by Michael Kupperman (view at original size):

And elsewhere:

The All-New Cartoon Boy Adventure Hour by John Kerschbaum at ACT-I-VATE:

Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane:

Forming by Jesse Moynihan:

Humblug by Arnold Roth (3 new strips this week):

Maakies by Tony Millionaire:

Les Petits Riens by Lewis Trondheim (scroll down at the link for one more update):

What's in the Backpack by Victor Kerlow:

Veterans Day comic: Uncle Bob by Mark Kalesniko

mike

In commemoration of Veterans Day we present "Uncle Bob," a two-page story by Mark Kalesniko, which is loosely based on a relative of Mark's who fought in World War II. It originally appeared in the out-of-print 2003 Comics Journal Special Edition. Thank you to Mark for allowing us to host it. Read it here.

Daily OCD: 10/13/11

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Rendered in a simply stunning panorama of glowing visual passion and precision, Prince Valiant is a non-stop rollercoaster of stirring action, exotic adventure and grand romance; blending human-scaled fantasy with dry wit and broad humour with shatteringly dark violence. Beautiful, captivating and utterly awe-inspiring the strip is a World Classic of fiction and something no fan can afford to miss. If you have never experienced the intoxicating grandeur of Foster’s magnum opus these magnificent, lavishly substantial deluxe editions are the best way possible to do so and will be your gateway to an eye-opening world of wonder and imagination." – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

• Review (Audio): The hosts of the Comic Book of the Month Podcast discuss Mark Kalesniko's Freeway in their new Alternative Press Expo wrap-up episode

Fantagraphics at APE 2011!

janice

We've got a gorilla-sized weekend coming up at APE: the Alternative Press Expo in beautiful San Francisco, CA! Come see us on Saturday, October 1st and Sunday, October 2nd at the Concourse Exhibition Center, and be among the first to get your mitts on these hot numbers:

• Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks
• Pogo, Vol. 1 of the Complete Syndicated Comic Strips: "Through the Wild Blue Wonder" by Walt Kelly
• Oil & Water written by Steve Duin; art by Shannon Wheeler

[ WE TOLD YOU SO!!! ]

• Nuts by Gahan Wilson
• The Frank Book [New Hardcover Ed.] by Jim Woodring
• The Cabbie: Vol. 1 by Martí

• Ganges 4 by Kevin Huizenga
• Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, Vol. 2: Trapped on Treasure Island by Floyd Gottfredson
• Prince Valiant, Vol. 4: 1943-1944 by Hal Foster

Oh, you want a comic signed by an awesome artist, do you?

Saturday, October 1st
12-1 PM           Jesse Moynihan
12-1 PM           Malachi Ward
1-3 PM              Mark Kalesniko
2-3 PM           Shannon Wheeler
3-5 PM           Leslie Stein
5-6 PM           Esther Pearl Watson
5-6 PM           John Pham

Sunday, October 2nd
12-1 PM            Mark Kalesniko
12-1 PM            Malachi Ward
1-3 PM              Leslie Stein
2-3 PM           Shannon Wheeler
3-4 PM           Esther Pearl Watson
3-4 PM           Jesse Moynihan

You can find us in our usual spot at tables 112-115. (Right by our good friends Jim Blanchard and J.R. Williams at table 116!)

[ Please note: this is a chopped-up map, just to give you an idea where you can find us! The Concourse Exhibition Center is too wide to fit on the FLOG, so check out a PDF map here. ]

And panels! Boy, do we have panels!

Saturday, October 1st

2:00 PM // The Comix Claptrap . . . LIVE!
Co-hosts Rina Ayuyang and Thien Pham record an episode of their enlightening, riotous, and controversial podcast, The Comix Claptrap LIVE at APE! For four seasons, Rina and Thien have interviewed comics artists in the indie comics scene about their work, creative processes, and experiences in the industry. Each show has included New Comics Wednesday beat reportage from fellow cartoonist Josh Frankel, and new favorite segment, The Comix Cranktrap, where they crank-call a well-known cartoonist listed in their Rolodex. Also featured on the panel: Mike Dawson, Scott Campbell, Levon Jihanian, and Esther Pearl Watson. This panel promises to be total mayhem!

3:00 PM // A Discussion with Daniel Clowes and Adrian Tomine
Critically acclaimed, award-winning, bestselling cartoonists -- and APE special guests -- Daniel Clowes (The Death-Ray, Ghost World, Wilson) and Adrian Tomine (Optic Nerve, Shortcomings) are both professional peers and friends, having met over a decade ago when both lived in the East Bay. TheComicsJournal.com editor and PictureBox publisher Dan Nadel talks to the two artists about their work, their friendship, and the comics medium.

4:00 PM // Spotlight on Shannon Wheeler
From stapling 21,000 minicomics, to shooting comic books with a .22, to creating operas, to publishing cartoons with The New Yorker, APE special guest Shannon Wheeler must be drinking too much coffee, man. Recently, his collection of rejected cartoons I Thought You Would Be Funnier won the Eisner Award for Best Humor Publication. Wheeler and his trusty sidekick BOOM! Studios marketing director Chip Mosher talk about the best ammunition to use on a comic, Japanese bootleg shirts, and drawing dead granddads in fishnet stockings with swastika panties. Shannon Wheeler once also created Too Much Coffee Man, so they'll probably talk about that, too.

6:00 PM // Drawing Inspiration: The Secrets of Comics Creativity
Ever wonder where your favorite author or artist gets his or her inspiration? Now you can find out as moderator Charles Brownstein (executive director, CBLDF) joins APE special guests Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant!), Craig Thompson (Habibi), Matthew Thurber (1-800 MICE), and Shannon Wheeler (Oil and Water), plus Tom Neely (The Wolf) for an in-depth discussion of what gets their creative juices flowing and the secrets of what inspires them.

Sunday, October 2nd

12:00 PM // Indie Cartoonist Survival Guide: Part 3
Cartoonist Keith Knight moderates this panel (in its third appearance at APE), featuring a lineup of successful independent creators who share their stories, methods, techniques, trials, and tribulations concerning making a living as a so-called Indie Cartoonist. Shannon Wheeler (I Thought You Would Be Funnier), Dan Cooney (Dan Cooney Art), Andy Ristaino (Adventure Time), and Rebecca Sugar (Pug Davis) all chime in.

The great Eric Reynolds will be manning the table, so come by and come buy! We'll see you at APE!

Daily OCD: 9/23/11

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "David B.'s newest, The Armed Garden and Other Stories, finds the creator turning his gifts to the world of historical legend. The subject may be different but the artist's mysterious and melancholy style saturates every panel; what's more, the three graphic novellas collected in The Armed Garden provide him with plenty of opportunities to draw the epic battle scenes he so loves.... The Armed Garden and Other Stories is the witty, finely executed work of an artist uniquely capable of capturing both the fervid ecstasy of belief and the dull, heartsick ache left behind once it cools." – Glen Weldon, NPR.org

• Review: "In Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010, Adult Swim contributor and comics creator Michael Kupperman (Snake 'n' Bacon) reworks [Hal] Holbrook's Twain as a Zelig-like immortal cruising through a century of life after his 1910 death.... Some of the tales are hilarious koans of absurdist comedy — Twain as the unknown fourth astronaut on the Apollo 11 mission is fabulous. Although it sometimes has the feel of a Saturday Night Live skit stretched into a feature film — perfect in small doses but unsustainable over a longer haul — the premise is too good to abandon." –Andy Lewis, The Hollywood Reporter (reviewing the book in tandem with Holbrook's memoir Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain)

• Review: "Kupperman is a comedic genius. Filled with deliberately odd syntax, wizards, snarky dialog, vampires, outer space adventures, car UFO chasing, and nearly every significant event of the past one hundred years Mark Twain’s Autobiography [1910-2010] is easily the funniest thing that I have read in a very, very long time. Come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever read anything funnier. Nearly every page had me rolling. It wasn’t just a chuckle or even a hearty guffaw, either. It was maniacal hysterical, snorting, crying, temporarily not breathing, and contorting my body into uncomfortable shapes type of laughing. It’s that goddamn funny. So funny, in fact, that I would be entirely satisfied if Kupperman went ahead and decided to write the biographies of everyone else, ever." – Zack Kruse, A Little Nonsense

• Review: "Love And Rockets: New Stories Vol. 4 contains the conclusion to the recent run of 'The Love Bunglers' stories — again with a heartbreaking digression into the past.... This is incandescent work. At this point, Jaime Hernandez draws comics better than maybe anyone's ever drawn comics. The story is beautifully paced, there are at least two stop and stare sequences in there..., the characters are warm and human and funny, one of the subplots addresses with significant insight and potency Jaime's long-time fascination with the power of memory in providing life with meaning and the ending made me choke up both as a moment with resonance across decades of comics but also for the thematic twist it provides on something we've seen in the last few appearances of Jaime's best character... I don't know that it's something you can pick up out of the blue, but my God, what a remarkable comic. I'm so grateful to have read it." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

• Review: "Congress of the Animals might be my least favorite Woodring book, but it’s still overall strong and compelling. I love the fact that Woodring has made a huge, fundamental change to the world of Frank, and that in doing so it still feels like an old familiar friend. I’m not sure just anyone could have pulled this off so late in the game, but with Woodring it feels like a natural extension of everything we’ve seen up until now. There’s no other comics quite like Woodring’s out there, and I’m forever thankful that we get these amazing, disturbing, wonderful creations from him. After all, a 'merely good' comic from Woodring is still better than most other comics out there." – Greg McElhatton, Read About Comics

• Interview: If you read one interview with Johnny Ryan, make it Jesse Pearson's epic, revealing talk with Johnny at The Comics Journal: "When I was first doing book one of Prison Pit, I felt like even though it was about monster men and fighting and all that shit, it was revealing more about myself than any of my earlier works. I removed a lot of that aggressive humor that was working as my armor."

• Interview: Panel Bound's Matthew Manarino talks to Freeway creator Mark Kalesniko: "I like doing comics, as you saw in Freeway, I like doing some comics with detail, I like to go in and show people a world and paint it and draw it. With Freeway I can take you to downtown Los Angeles and really give you a tour.... With Freeway and even Mail Order Bride I wanted to give you something where it’s not a crude drawing but give you a layout so you really feel like you're there. There is also a joy with that kind of work were you can come back to it over and over again and always find something new." (Mark's advice for submitting work to publishers is great, by the way.)

• Feature: In "Graphic Medicine" at Comics Forum, M.K. Czerwiek (RN) spotlights Joyce Farmer's Special Exits in an article on comics dealing with hospice care issues

Hey, Remember Comic-Con 2011?

kimt

Somewhat belatedly, a portfolio of candid photographs by roving
photojournalist Lynn Emmert. Captions by her husband (me).

Now that is one fine lookin' booth.

And then I woke up in a cold sweat, as the memories came flooding back.

Kim Thompson and Frank Stack, separated at birth.

Natalia Hernandez, more adorable than three Zooey Deschanels, next to one of her daddy's comics.

Speaking of whom... Partying like it's 1982 (San Diego Comic-Con premiere of Love and Rockets #1, if you'll recall).

It's always sad to see older cartoonists who have become so jaded they can't muster up any enthusiasm when meeting their fans.

Mark Kalesniko, happy to be finally off the FREEWAY (notice clever integration of book title into caption). Also visible, right to left, paying customer, Conrad Groth, Mike Baehr, Eric Buckler, Gilbert Hernandez.

"Well, hello there, do you come here often?" Frank Stack hits on Joyce Farmer by (almost literally) showing her his etchings.

21 author Wilfred Santiago (rockin' the indoor sunglasses) and Sanlida Cheng.

Eisners, man!

Sometimes in the middle of a convention I like to shave my beard down to a goatee and pretend I'm someone famous.

Eric Buckler, Conrad Groth, and Kristy Valenti, workin' the booth.

Did we mention?... Two Eisners for IT WAS THE WAR OF THE TRENCHES! Janice Headley displays.

And it's not a San Diego convention without Stan and Sharon Sakai!

And in case you missed it...

Things to See: 9/19/11 Roundup

mike

• Paul Hornschemeier's rendition of the Ice King, from Zack Smith's enviable collection of Adventure Time-themed sketches

• Paul Hornschemeier is beginning to post teasers of his forthcoming Forlorn Funnies #1 along with the sketches at his The Daily Forlorn blog

• This drawing by Steven Weissman appears to be related to the current Barack Hussein Obama strip; plus his latest "I, Anonymous" spot

• Celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day with Dame Darcy as she pays tribute to Adam Ant x 2 (plus Darryl Hannah in Splash) — this and more in her new blog update

• Sketches and illustrations by Max at his El Hombre Duerme, el Fantasma No blog

• The Creature (which you can buy) and a few sneak peeks at The Hidden on Richard Sala's Tumblr blog

• From Leslie Stein, an excerpt from the forthcoming Eye of the Majestic Creature #7

• "Gravity," a new painting by Malachi Ward

• Renee French zooms in on the gross part of a box of fruit; also we all feel like this sometimes

• From Steve Brodner: Ron Paul, Sen. Joe Manshin, Troy Davis (above; all with relevant info & commentary)

• Sketchbook stories by Anders Nilsen

• The Lovely Sparrows CD cover illustration by Derek Van Gieson (click to see wraparound)

Plus:

• Matthias Lehmann's sketches and notes for a new comics project

• Character designs by Bob Fingerman for a series of post-apocalyptic YA novels he's working on

• An illustration for Bloomberg View by Victor Kerlow

• More mythological drawings by correspondence-course teacher Frank Santoro

• Sketchbook strips by Marco Corona at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• Wild-n-woolly sketchbook drawings by John Cuneo

• A portrait sketch by Mark Kalesniko

• Recent storyboard work by Stephen DeStefano