FLOG! Entries tagged 'Newave'

Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s on comiXology

TheJenVaughn

Bringing you the absolute best in alternative comics, Fantagraphics and comiXology have released Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s for your digital reading delight. Edited by Michael Dowers, Newave! is a gigantic collection of the best small press cartoonists to emerge after the first generation of underground cartoonists (such as R. Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, and Art Spiegelman) paved the way. These cartoonists, inspired by the freewheeling creative energy of the underground comix movement, began drawing and printing their own comix seen here.

This gigantor collection has 856 pages of comics by your favorite artists of today and yesterday for only $19.99. Get Newave! on comiXology and settle in for the night, hell, make it the whole weekend!

"...[A] fascinating treasure trove of an anthology... In addition to work by greats like Artie Romero, Rick Geary, and Mary Fleener, and 50 or so others, [Newave!] serves as the history of a movement." -- Publishers Weekly

"Back in the days of Factsheet Five, I used to order tons of minicomix. Most were mediocre, but a few were terrifically good and that made it worth the risk to send in the fifty cents or so that they cost. ... Fantagraphics just released a massively thick (900 pages!) anthology of minicomix called Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s, and it's a treat." – Mark Frauenfelder, Boing Boing

Run, Don't Walk, to the 2012 Short Run Small Press Fest!

janice

Find your roomiest tote bag, and stop by the bank for dollar bills... It's time for the 2nd Annual Short Run Small Press Fest this Saturday, November 3rd at the Vera Project in Seattle Center!

Since Short Run is a celebration of small press, Fantagraphics won't be there ourselves, but many of our artists will have tables, including Andrice Arp, Peter Bagge, Jim Blanchard, Jason T. Miles (with his distro Profanity Hill), Michael Dowers, Pat Moriarity, and Noah Van Sciver.

Short Run runs (heh) from 10:30 AM - 5:30 PM. A little advice, if I may: get there early! There is so much to do and see at Short Run, and this year's fest is even bigger, if you can believe it!

There's nearly 100 small press exhibitors offering their comics, zines, and art books, from $.50 to $50.00! Plus, enjoy local animation screening all day, featuring Seattle Experimental Animation Team (SEAT), Reel Grrls, and other independent filmmakers. Exhibitors will be showing off all the ways they blend genres, such as advice expert Nicole Georges, writer/professional barber Zach Mandeville who will be giving free haircuts, and puppet master Erin Tanner. You can participate in live silk-screening where you can screen print a comic drawn by local artists or print one of our designs onto clothes you bring yourself. And like last year, there will be another decadent bake sale with donated goodies from Macrina Bakery, Grand Central Bakery, The Bang Bang Cafe, Stumptown Coffee, and our exhibitors and supporters!

So, run, run, run to Short Run Small Press Fest this Saturday! The Vera Project is located on the corner of Warren & Republican Ave N, next to the Key Arena in Seattle Center. See you there!

Daily OCD: 1/18/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review (Audio): On the latest episode of the Give Me Comics or Give Me Death! podcast, hosts Michael Bradbury and Lee Scott [SP?] discuss Jason Conquers America

• Review: "[Newave: The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s] was a treasure to find for me, because I got to read some of the stuff I was reading in the Chicago burbs being all 'punk rock' and 'rebel rebel.' You have to live it to understand it, and while I’ll look at 1960’s underground comics as a history tour, this comic brought back live living memories of awesome underage shows, best friends forever, hard dancing, stage diving, and all the other fun things that these comics represented to us. Rating this an enthusiastic five of five, it holds a place of honor on my book shelf, and oh you betcha, I’m reading this to my grand children. You need to go buy this one, because it is totally special." – Dan Morrill, Comics Forge

• Review: "This anthology [God's Bosom and Other Stories] is an interesting take on early American history and Texas.... Overall, this was a bizarrely wonderful journey through some of the things I missed because I was essentially a very small child during the time, and I doubt anyone would really have brought a four year old to a free love in concert in a park that goes horribly wrong.... I am rating this comic book five of five stars, because it is extraordinarily well done, and is an interesting and approachable way of getting a look at early underground comic books. This one is well worth owning, and loving in your physical comic book collection." – Dan Morrill, Comics Forge

• Interview (Audio): Zak Sally is host Mike Dawson's guest on the new episode of The Comics Journal's "TCJ Talkies" podcast

The Long & Short of the Short Run Small Press Fest

janice

Seattle has always had a reputation for its strong underground comics scene, but dang it, how is it we haven't had our own small press show before?

Well, that all changes this Saturday, November 12th as the Short Run Small Press Fest makes its debut at the Vera Project at Seattle Center, from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Fantagraphics won't have a table there ourselves, but many of our artists will be exhibiting, including Andrice Arp, Jim Blanchard, Jason T. Miles (with his distro Profanity Hill), Megan Kelso, Michael Dowers, Pat Moriarity, and Roberta Gregory.

Afterwards, the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is thrilled to present the Short Run After Party and Art Show from 6:00 - 9:00 PM, featuring original comix art, illustrations and self-published books. Entertainment will be provided by DJ/musician "Brainfruit."

As we were preparing for the art show, I thought it'd be fun to chat with the organizers of Short Run -- that would be, Martine Workman , Kelly Froh,  Jenny Gialenes,  Eroyn Franklin -- about the inaugural event:

So, how did the idea of Short Run come together?

Martine: I've been going to comics events since 2004, even though I don't really make comics. I always wanted to attend an event that welcomed all sorts of makers and small publishers of comics, writing, poetry, zines, and artist books. Last year Eroyn saw my work and contacted me out of the blue since we were both publishing our own books in Seattle. Our friendship grew out of conversations about self publishing, art, craftsmanship, and wanting to create a community for ourselves. Around this time, Profanity Hill was up and running for a bit, and it was exciting and surprising to see so much local work being made. After talking to my pal Jenny, who works in literary event promotion and moonlights as a zinester, it seemed possible to bring the self publishers of our region together by organizing a small press fest! She came up with the name -- which I love! -- and agreed to help coordinate the event. Kelly, a true blue mini-comix maker and fantastic organizer, joined us soon after and rounded out the group. We've had a lot of fun and I feel really lucky we work so well together as a team.

Jenny: The first night Martine and I spoke about Short Run, we were talking about the need for this kind of event - I had just come back from SF Zine Fest and felt like I found my mission in life. There was this sense of community there that I had only seen small glimpses of in Seattle.

What do you see as the main focus of Short Run?

Eroyn: Short Run hopes to extend Seattle's exposure to the small press world that exists within and around it. We want to expand the audience for small press work and let artists engage directly with the people who like what they do. Short Run will build on the small press community that we do have and foster communication between artists who work in different mediums and styles. As a group we don't commit to any particular medium or aesthetic -- we are not a comic-con or a craft fair or a zine festival but we encompass aspects of all of these because we think they can all be engaging.

How do you define what is "small press" to you?

Kelly: Small press, in regards to what you will see at Short Run, are hand-made, self-published, “short run” art books, comics, zines, and literary works. You’re going to see a lot of work that has been photocopied, screen-printed, side-stitched, glued, covered in gold leaf, stencil-cut, and folded in ways you can’t conceive of! Many of the artists and writers have had one or more of their books “professionally” published, or hope to some day, but Short Run’s heart is the home made.

Even though Fantagraphics won't have a table, several of our artists will be in attendance... like Megan Kelso! How did you get Megan involved?

Kelly: We are honored to say that Megan contacted us! In fact, when we received her email, we knew we were on the right track, and it gave us confidence. Megan might be a published cartoonist, but she has a career history built on DIY, Riot Grrls and self-published zines and minis. Her zine collection that was on display at Fantagraphics a few months ago was inspiring.

Speaking of Fantagraphics artists, also exhibiting will be Michael Dowers, editor of Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s... Do you think underground mini-comix are making a resurgence?

Kelly: We are totally excited that Michael Dowers will be at Short Run! We don’t think mini-comix ever went away, but the people creating them scattered and many new comic artists were not aware of any kind of “scene”. Seattle does not have a Fallout Comix anymore, or a Confounded Books, or even a Pilot Books. Besides a few dusty spin racks, there is no physical hub for selling and sharing mini-comics. There are lone creators and drawing groups all over Seattle that meet on different nights in difference places, and mini-comics are being made.

Eroyn: The capability to self publish is more attainable than ever and people are definitely taking advantage of new technologies and affordable printing to produce great work.

Kelly: The problem is that once they’re made, they’re usually not going very far out into the world. Larry Reid is bringing in an assortment of minis at Fantagraphics, and there is a small press section at Elliot Bay Books but for the most part, you are on your own to market your mini-comic if you make one.

Eroyn: Along with these stores and a few independent distros like Jason T. Miles’ Profanity Hill, we hope to help foster underground press in Seattle.

And, finally, what sort of future do you guys envision for Short Run? Do you hope to keep it small and local? Or will it eventually be the Seattle-version of an APE or Stumptown?

Jenny: I would like to see Short Run grow into itself organically. Big is not necessarily better - unless there is a solid community there providing the support. It's the difference between a stadium concert and going to see a local band at your favorite club - both have equal measure, they are just two very different experiences.

Kelly: It was our experiences at these larger festivals that helped us to decide what we did and didn’t want to be. We want to always be free to the public, and we want to always have low cost tables. Being local was really important to us as well, and one aim of Short Run was to draw out first-time tablers and try to reach people who had maybe shied away from other larger conventions. Looking over our exhibitor list, you will see that we have a lot of exhibitors from Portland. We can learn a lot from the comics community that they have built but Seattle has its own history of alternative cartoonists, and we need to grow from there. Short Run not only has a few of these “legends” of small press in attendance, but we have a ton of more obscure artists and writers, not only from comics, but from zines, animation, and the literary world. It’s a great showcase of artists and writers and we are really excited to share Short Run with Seattle!

The Short Run Small Press Fest is this Saturday, November 12th at the Vera Project [ Warren & Republican Ave N ], and the Art Show & After Party is from 6-9 PM at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery [ 1201 South Vale Street ]. See you there!

SDCC: Now With Even MORE Artists!

janice

Thanks to everyone who came out for our first day of signings at the San Diego Comic-Con! And, guess what? We've just added THREE more artists to our already action-packed schedule!

On Saturday, we'll be joined by Zack Carlson from 3:00 to 4:00 PM, and he'll be signing copies of the epic tome he co-edited, Destroy All Movies!!!: The Complete Guide to Punks on Film. Stop by and try to stump him on punk movie trivia... YOU WILL NOT WIN!

Also on Saturday, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM, we'll be joined by Roger May, one of the contributors to our underground comix collection, Newave! He'll be joining two of the greats of the underground scene, Joyce Farmer and Frank Stack -- It's sure to be a fascinating hour!

And finally, we welcome special guest Martin Olson, author of the encyclopedic satire Encyclopedia of Hell (Feral House), a book that features illustrations by our very own hell-raiser, Tony Millionaire!! Martin will be signing on Friday, July 22nd from 5:00 to 6:00 PM.

So, to recap, here's our signing schedule for the rest of the weekend at Booth #1718! Come by and say hello!

Friday, July 22nd:
11:00 - 12:00 PM    Joyce Farmer / Bill Schelly / Tim Hensley
12:00 - 1:00 PM   Floyd Norman / Wilfred Santiago / Frank Stack
1:00 - 3:00 PM    Gilbert Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
3:00 - 4:00 PM    Paul Hornschemeier / Anders Nilsen / Esther Pearl Watson
4:00 - 5:00 PM   Mark Kalesniko / John Pham / Malachi Ward
5:00 - 7:00 PM   Johnny Ryan
5:00 - 6:00 PM   Jon Vermilyea / Martin Olson
6:00 - 7:00 PM   Robert Goodin

Saturday, July 23rd:
12:00 - 1:00 PM        Wilfred Santiago / Bill Schelly
1:00 - 2:00 PM        Joyce Farmer / Frank Stack / Roger May
2:00 - 4:00 PM        Paul Hornschemeier / Johnny Ryan
3:00 - 4:00 PM        Esther Pearl Watson / Zack Carlson
4:00 - 5:00 PM        Mark Kalesniko
4:00 - 6:00 PM        Gilbert Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
6:00 - 7:00 PM        Robert Goodin / Jon Vermilyea / Malachi Ward

Sunday, July 24th:
11:00 - 12:00 PM   Joyce Farmer / Jon Vermilyea / Esther Pearl Watson
12:00 - 1:00 PM    Mark Kalesniko / Frank Stack
1:00 - 3:00 PM    Gilbert Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez

Follow-up to Newave seeking submissions

mike

For those wondering whether there would be a follow-up to our well-received 2010 anthology Newave! The Underground Mini-Comix of the 1980s, good news! Editor Michael Dowers is now seeking submissions for two more volumes with a wider chronological reach. Here's the announcement, as posted at the mini-comics community site Poopsheet Foundation:

This series will cover mini comics from the dawn of time (early 70's) to the present. Since Newave has already been covered, the main focus will be on the 1990's to the present although earlier minis will be covered too. The books will be the same size (only more like 700 pages each) but will only reproduce mini comics that are 5 1/2 X 4 1/4 or smaller just like the Newave book. The two volumes are to be simply titled "Treasury of Mini Comics" Volumes one & two.

I am looking for contributors. I am looking for the best of the best. Any creator can send me their mini comics, disks, or photocopies to be considered for publication for this project. Or email me and send low-res jpegs to: brownfieldpress@hotmail.com.

Please send titles to: Michael Dowers, 361 E. Birnie Slough Rd., Cathlamet, WA 98612.

If they want their material returned it is important to enclose return postage. Any mini comics that are kept will be placed in the Fantagraphics collection after the books are published. Also anybody sending actual mini comics will receive comics in trade from Brownfield press.

Daily OCD: 4/7/11

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Former Haligonian and Coast contributor Ray Fenwick’s latest book [Mascots] extends the work that he began in this city: typography-heavy painting on found book covers. The books’ loose cloth weave is clearly visible through the paintings, and even though Fenwick’s lettering skills should be studied by scientists, there’s a refreshing sense of the typographer’s hand and thought. Using the traditional idea of mascots as symbolic figures, Fenwick’s collected creatures, characters, mantras and messages, some of which are connected through broken narratives, and others just appear like a slap to the head. Not for those with an aversion to weirdos or absurdity, Fenwick is hands-down one of the most clever contemporary artists and illustrators working in Canada." – Sue Carter Flinn, The Coast

• Review: "Kalesniko is a deft, widescreen storyteller... The final chapters [of Freeway] are paced like an action film, drawing Alex ever closer to his destination/destiny, and Kalesniko does skillfully edit his storytelling at a breathless clip. But the conclusion raises more questions than it answers..." – Brian Winkeler, Bookgasm

• Review: "There’s no doubt that Schulz lost his way in the 80s. But his strip was always about losing its way. As he grew doddering and inconsistent, he moved closer to the doddering inconsistency at the core of his art. The pleasures in this volume [The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980] are fewer, but, for fans at least, when they come they have a special bonk." – Noah Berlatsky, Splice Today

• Review: "Another hardboiled French thriller which violently riffs on the energy of New Wave cinema, Hitchcock and classic James Bond. ...[West Coast Blues] is a bit like The Bourne Identity, except on a lower budget and without anyone half as organised as the CIA involved. The captions are a bit wordy, as you’d expect with something adapted from a novel, but thankfully it’s in black and white — the constant spray of blood and bone fragments might be a bit off-putting otherwise." – Grant Buist, The Name of This Cartoon Is Brunswick

• Plug: The Huffington Post's Michael Glitz gives us a nice shout-out in his review of the Dennis the Menace tv-show DVD set: "Fans of the comic should definitely check out Hank Ketcham's collected works, lovingly presented by Fantagraphics. The jokes are just as familiar but his draftsmanship lifts it to high art."

• Profile: The Hartford Advocate's Christopher Arnott talks to Allan Greenier and Tom Hosier, creator of "The Purple Warp" minicomic included in Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s, saying of the book "Newave!, which has the same small size, but hundreds more pages than the miniature comics it celebrates, is a handy overview of this largely overlooked subgenre," and getting a frank account of the book's success from our own Eric Reynolds

Daily OCD: 12/30/10

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: At Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker names The 10 Best Graphic Novels and Comics of 2010, including:

"Ostensibly Japanese comics aimed at the adolescent-girl market, these so-called Ten Stories of the Human Heart are lush mixtures of dreamlike imagery and realistic depictions of young people’s yearnings, hopes, reveries, and fears. Gathering representative work from four decades of publication, A Drunken Dream [and Other Stories] exerts a hypnotic pull on the reader, Moto Hagio knows both her commercial audience and her ideal audience — which is to say, the world."

"A long-form narrative about the decline of her parents’ health, Special Exits avoids cheap pity and piousness by doing what any good art should: focusing on specifics — the ways in which Farmer’s parents slide into old age and ill health; the care they require and receive. That this is also a portrait of a strong marriage is an added benefit. Frank, never shying away from the awkward indignities of aging, Special Exits illuminates two lives, as well as that of the author’s."

• List: Comic Book Resources ranks Love and Rockets: New Stories #3 in the 7th spot on their Ten Best Comics of 2010:

"The best volume since Los Bros went with this yearly anthology, New Stories #3 has exemplary work from both, but Jamie's story of the young Hoppers is one of his best comics ever." – Timothy Callahan

"Love and Rockets properly hits its stride and the two brothers use their unique approach to do something quite insane. Surrealism and realism in equal doses." – Sonia Harris

"This year, I read nearly every comic ever created by Los Bros Hernandez; what a pleasure to discover at the end of my immersion that their two most recent comics are also two of their best, and thus two of the best comics by anyone. Gilbert and Jaime both tear furiously into love and sex; what they find inside is ugly; what they do with it is beautiful. I'll never forget that panel." – Sean T. Collins

• Review: "Is there a comic that's run longer than Love and Rockets and maintained the same level of quality? ...[T]his year's annual is as good or better than anything Los Bros. have yet produced. It starts off with a strange sci-fi story — fans will recognize this as one of Rosalba 'Fritz' Martinez's many B-movies, but you don't have to be in on the gag to find Gilbert's story weird and funny and disturbing. Jaime's contribution to the volume is a story about would-be couple Maggie and Ray having a first date, with an interstitial tale about Maggie's childhood that sheds heartbreaking light on her relationship with her brother. ...Los Bros. are plain-spoken and sympathetic, finding pathos in even the grimiest character." – Sam Thielman, Newsday

• List: Josh Blair of Candy or Medicine names Newave: The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s one of the Top Ten Mini Comics of 2010: "Ok, ok, I realize this isn't actually a mini-comic, rather than a gigantic collection of mini-comics, but it's definitely a book worth owning."

• List: Brian Cronin of CBR's Comics Should Be Good chooses Tales Designed to Thrizzle #6 as the first entry on his Top Ten Comic of 2010 countdown: "Another hilarious issue by Michael Kupperman."

• Interview: At The Comics Journal, part 2 of Chris Mautner's Q&A with Mome editor Eric Reynolds (part 1): "I’m not a real ballbuster when it comes to deadlines from issue to issue, so I’ll invite people to contribute and they’ll take their time, whether they hit the next issue or the following issue. They’re just juggling all these things, and it happens to come together every issue."

• Analysis: At Cinematical, John Gholson examines the role of Dash Shaw's comic artwork in John Cameron Mitchell's new film Rabbit Hole

Daily OCD: 12/3/10

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Cathy Malkasian's Temperance is one of Largehearted Boy's Favorite Graphic Novels of 2010: "I have been creating a list of my favorite graphic novels of all time, and as the list grows smaller, one title remains near the top of the pile. Cathy Malkasian's debut, Percy Gloom, skillfully told (and illustrated) its story, and wholly transported the reader into an alternative world. Malkasian is back with another stellar graphic novel, Temperance, a dark and literate dystopian fable centered on themes of violence and control."

• Review: "...Joyce Farmer... in the ’70s contributed to the feminist anthology Wimmen’s Comix and helped create a notorious series about women’s sexuality whose title can’t be reproduced here. She’s kept a fairly low profile since then, but her new book, Special Exits, is forceful, unsparing and equally concerned, in its way, with saying the unsayable. [...] Farmer’s tone recalls her underground days and suits the gently rambling narrative. [...] She renders her wobbly, minutely textured characters with wit and tough affection, and her habit of looking for the darkly funny side of everything keeps the book from getting too bleak." – Douglas Wolk, The New York Times Sunday Book Review

• Profile: Cindy Frazier of the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot talks to Joyce Farmer and her early publishing partner Lyn Chevli: "'So I put a sign in the window saying, "Artist Wanted,"' Chevli said. Farmer, who worked at a bail bonds office next door, responded. The rest is comic book history, as the pair became pioneer women comic book publishers."

• Profile: Jennifer Erickson of the Laguna Beach Independent talks to Joyce Farmer: "While she honed very useful skills of observation at art school, 'reading about Socrates was life changing,' said Farmer, struck by inequities of contemporary society that echo ancient times. 'I wanted to do things to improve our culture – make the world a better place,' she said."

• Review: "Norwegian cartoonist Jason is a genius, full-stop, and that statement is undeniable by anyone who has even a passing knowledge of his work. ....What I Did... practically sell[s] itself, but those still in doubt can be assured that, apart from it being an excellent deal, the quality of the work within this book is impeccable. [...] Each story on its own is unquestionably superb, and readers will delight in the moods Jason evokes and the artistic techniques he employs. Together the stories in What I Did are sterling examples of Jason’s fantastic skill as both an illustrator and a storyteller that are well worth the purchase in spite of their vast differences in tone, style, and content." – Steve Higgins, PLAYBACK:stl

• Review: "Well, no children are brutally murdered in this one, so thank heaven for small favors! Of the Fritz B-movie books so far... [The Troublemakers] is the most straightforwardly a product of genre. Grifters and gunplay, seductions and quadruple-crosses, all that stuff. [...] And there’s magic, too, but like everything else it’s just used to fuck other people over." – Sean T. Collins, Attentiondeficitdisorderly

• Review: "The chief surprise with Newave! is the vitality and merit it sustains throughout its length and not so much in its content, although there is a lot of content … well over 70 complete minis from the day. This is altogether riveting stuff, a host of guerilla comics from so many different hands offering an astonishing variety of visual experiences." – Rich Kreiner, The Comics Journal

• Plug: "Compiled... to catalog the sometimes glorious, sometimes ignominious, always entertaining history of punks-on-film, this anthology [Destroy All Movies!!!] features over 1,100 mohawked rockers, funky new-wavers, and down-and-out weirdos..." – Thrillist

• Plug: "Fantagraphics have done an amazing job putting together this huge slab of Stan Sakai's samurai epic [Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition]. Over a thousand pages in a gorgeous slipcased two-volume set that may be overkill, but isn't that what the holidays are about?" – "Lydia Park," The Rack

• Coming Attractions: Greek site Comicdom reports on the triumphant return of The Comics Journal with issue #301 (coming in February 2011)

• Coming Attractions: Bleeding Cool reports on our Spring 2011 publication of Jim Woodring's Congress of the Animals and also reports on our Summer 2011 publication of Dave McKean's Celluloid

Special Newave offer from J.R. Williams

mike

While supplies last get a copy of Newave: The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s FREE from contributing artist J.R. Williams with an original art purchase of fifty dollars (or more) from his Comic Art Collective page. Whatta deal! More details here.

Daily OCD: 8/2/10

mike

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "By the 1980s, however, the anti-establishment sensibility of the underground comix had been replaced by a faith in just 'do-it-yourself' — making your own 'zines,' and that sense of independence is what [editor Michael] Dowers praises [in Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s]." – George Elliott Clarke, The Chronicle Herald

• Review: "...Jim Woodring's Weathercraft creates a fantastic alternative universe. ...Woodring constructs a nightmarish tale in which Manhog falls victim to the villainous depredations of the all-too-aptly named Whim and the spells of the witchy pair Betty and Veronica. Those unfamiliar with the Woodring dreamscape may want to pick up The Frank Book collection as a primer, but the stand-alone Weathercraft requires no real prep work — just an openness to disturbing, id-derived imagery." – Cliff Froehlich, St. Louis Post-Dipatch

• Review: "Although King of the Flies... is anchored in a sharply delineated but deliberately generic suburbia, the book plunges us into an often violent, always profane environment that recalls David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Using multiple narrators, the book is an intricately constructed series of interlocking short stories that acidly etch a disquieting portrait of modern alienation and unease." – Cliff Froehlich, St. Louis Post-Dipatch

• Review: "French master Tardi gives an infantry-level view of World War I's meat-grinder carnage in grim vignettes that primarily keep tight, telling focus on the stories of individual soldiers. ...[It Was the War of the Trenches] deserves a place on the top shelf of graphic lit." – Cliff Froehlich, St. Louis Post-Dipatch

• Review: "Reading Jacques Tardi's It Was the War of the Trenches, I realized just how short most American war comics fall in portraying the reality and horror of war. ... Tardi brings every ounce of his talent to the task of trying to articulate the sheer horror of this war. And while he doesn't flinch once, neither does he resort to trite 'war is bad' or 'good versus evil' oversimplifications. He merely puts you directly in the soldiers' viewpoint and then tries to relate their experiences to you. ... It's a raw, uncompromising, devastating book, and, I'm kind of sad to say, unlike anything that's been published on these shores." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

• Review: "...[O]ne of comics' purest entertainments... Combining cartoony figure drawing and considerable humor with rousing adventure, Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune: The Complete Sunday Newspaper Strips, Vol. 1 exceeds even Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones films in exuberant action and breathless pace." – Cliff Froehlich, St. Louis Post-Dipatch

• Review: "...St. Louisan Tim Lane's Abandoned Cars, one of 2008's essential comics, has recently been reissued in paperback with two variant covers that vividly recall the lurid pulps of the 1930s." – Cliff Froehlich, St. Louis Post-Dipatch

• Review: "It can sometimes be hard to get a grip on what Jason is going for in his stories, since even when he approaches a familiar subject, he takes a strange angle and dwells on the types of moments that wouldn’t normally receive focus in these sorts of tales. Werewolves of Montpellier goes even further afield... Leave it to Jason to dwell on the awkwardness of the 29 non-full-moon days of the month in which the werewolf has to pass as a normal human." – Matthew J. Brady, Indie Pulp

• Review: "What I think is most interesting about [The Best American Comics Criticism] is that in his choices of pieces, [editor] Schwartz is laying out a theory of lit comics. It's a theory that rings very true to me. Part of this theory goes that as literary comics grew, they made necessary a reevaluation and relearning of certain classic comics." – Robert Boyd, The Great God Pan Is Dead (via The Comics Reporter)

• Profile: Steve Duin of The Oregonian talks to Patrick Rosenkranz about assembling The Artist Himself: A Rand Holmes Retrospective: "With rare access to Holmes' journals and sketchbooks, Rosenkranz succeeds in giving readers access to the cartoonist that Holmes denied his closest friends. And he succeeds because of a compulsion, born 45 years ago, to understand the world in which these artists moved 'and how what happened in their lives affected their work.'"

• Interview: Listen as Chris Rosa of Meltdown Comics talks to Blake Bell about his book Fire & Water: Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner and the Birth of Marvel Comics on the convention center floor at Comic-Con in this episode of the Meltcast podcast

• Interview: A 1992 Q&A with Jim Woodring, dug out of the archives by Chris Reilly and presented at TCJ.com's Guttergeek blog

• Links: Another Love and Rockets link-stravaganza from the fine folks at Love & Maggie

• Comic-Con: At About.com: Manga, Deb Aoki gives a quick report from the Moto Hagio Spotlight Panel at Comic-Con 2010, with a promise of more to come: "...Hagio-sensei charmed the audience with her self-effacing wit and matter-of-fact responses to questions..."

Daily OCD: 7/16/10

mike

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "...[T]he newer crop of contributors [in Mome Vols. 17, 18 & 19 is] a rough and tumble bunch who are bringing some fierce and hard-edged work to the table. ...[T]he balance is definitely in favor of the strong stuff, because it is strong stuff — well drawn in a variety of styles, and potentially troubling without cloaking itself in shopworn tropes. ... Once again, you're getting your bang for your buck." – Sean T. Collins, Attentiondeficitdisorderly

• Review: "And when you’re drawn into the world [of It Was the War of the Trenches] it’s hard not to rhapsodize about the drawing itself – Tardi’s gaze may be level, but his lines are sure and lush. His gentle contour line drawings are almost delicate, but then he fills them with a gray tone, or attaches them to nearly psychedelic intestines. It’s art that comes over you and stays with you – nicely offsetting an otherwise icy stare. ...Tardi seems a master, and this work a rare and intensely humane book." – Dan Nadel, Comics Comics

• Review: "Sequence by sequence and page by page, the re-readability of [Jason's] stories and scenes consistently offer more densely fulfilling reads than any three or four new $4 books... This particular story [Werewolves of Montpellier] ends in a graceful, yet awkwardly suspenseful and open-ended manner, but as with Jason books I’ve encountered before, this landing contributes to the matter-of-fact delivery he often employs in making you feel like you’re witnessing a story sliced out of a larger saga." – Brian Warmoth

• Review: "Those inclined to look for meaning could make a good case for this... as a story about people assuming false identities through a mix of circumstance and personal choice, but what Jason’s comics literally mean matters less than the pleasure of their deadpan humor and unexpected twists: His work has been building a whole habitat of crooks, monsters, and adventurers, just so he can explore their minor personal problems. Werewolves of Montpelier establishes yet another inviting corner of Jasonworld. [Grade] B+" – The A.V. Club

• Review: "...[T]he first 11 issues of [Dame Darcy's] sporadically released pamphlet Meat Cake — collected by Fantagraphics in a new trade-paperback edition — comprise some of the best alt-comics of the past 20 years. ...Darcy’s scratchy, fine-lined, loosely intricate artwork owes a slight debt to Edward Gorey, Victorian illustration, and the more demented wing of the E.C. roster (particularly Graham Ingels), but the dreamy vision and gleefully morbid sensibility are all her. Overall, Meat Cake’s dalliance with folklore, horror, camp, and transcendent bits of autobiography pack more of a poetic punch than the title is generally given credit for… [Grade] A-" – The A.V. Club

• Review: "Newave! is an astonishing collection of minicomics from the ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s... This book puts the lie to the notion that underground cartooning was fallow during this period; indeed, all it did was really go underground. ... Newave! gains momentum as it proceeds, an impressive feat for a 900-page anthology. ... The back half of Newave! features nary a dud. ... In an era when some cartoonists are learning how to create minicomics as part of a formal art education, Newave! should be a crucial text." – Rob Clough, The Comics Journal

• Review: "Out since last Halloween, this handsome collection of early 1980s exploitation VHS box art [Portable Grindhouse] is shaped like one of those old oversized clamshell cases. The all-color book collects the front and backs of many memorable cassette releases of that bygone era and will send you back to the days prowling dusty mom-and-pop video stores for you schlock fix. ... You won’t learn anything about the movies, but who needs that when the rest of the book is such a nostalgic gas?" – Tony Timpone, Fangoria

Daily OCD: 5/12/10

mike

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: The Alita Comics blog praises Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s as a "quasi-encyclopedic compilation of the genre... with thuggish humor in abundance, sex, parody, joints, experimentation, obscenity, violence, aliens, punk, grotesque creatures and several Martians" (translated from Spanish)

Daily OCD: 4/30/10

mike

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "The latest (13th) volume of Fantagraphics Books The Complete Peanuts: 1975 - 1976 is a delightful visit with that 'round headed kid' and his friends. ... The cartoons Schulz produced in 1975 and 1976 feature more lighthearted and sillier touches than usual; we are even privy to the thoughts of inanimate objects such as the school building and the pitcher’s mound. Some highlights include Charlie Brown meeting his idol, Joe Shlabotnik; sister Sally’s trials in the classroom; Peppermint Patty enrolling in a private school (not knowing it’s a dog obedience school); and the gang’s continuing efforts to play a baseball game. ... Fantagraphics has won numerous awards for this series and they deserve them all for creating such a wonderful archive of this American treasure. This series is a must have for any Peanuts fan and can be enjoyed by the whole family. I wouldn’t miss a volume." – Rich Clabaugh, The Christian Science Monitor

• Review: Avoid the Future compiles parts 41-50 of their Twitter mini-reviews of the contents of Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s: "Continue on for Krazy Kat tributes, adolescent scarification, penis missiles, comics in the dark and a double helping of Mary Fleener."

• Review: "Despite a slow start through [You Are There] grows in absurd outcomes of the last chapters, and the script of Forest serves as a humorous critique the excessive attachment to material things of people. Jacques Tardi draws so realistic objects and scenes while portraying the characters so cartoonish and fun. This combination of caricature and realism, though not anything groundbreaking, is executed with great talent by Tardi." – Gustavo Guimarães, Top Comics (forgive the slightly awkward autotranslation)

• Plugs: At Robot 6 Chris Mautner takes you to "Comics College" and schools you on the comics oeuvre of the prolific Lewis Trondheim, saying "both Harum Scarum and The Hoodoodad remain supremely entertaining tales featuring McConey, Trondheim's shy, nonplussed, anthropomorphic rabbit and his friends," and saying of The Nimrod "It's a great hodge-podge of some classic Trondheim material... including autobio stories, McConey tales and the great wordless piece, Diablotus (found in issue #2). The back issues are available at dirt cheap prices too."

• Reviewer: Your must-read of the day: Guest writer C. Tyler reviews her husband Justin Green's seminal comic Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary for Comic Book Galaxy

• Interview: Talking to Allen Brooks at DCist, Daniel Clowes explains the influence of The Complete Peanuts on his new graphic novel Wilson: "So I thought, what if you took that conceit of these kind of daily moments, daily jokes or just kind of emotional moments and put them together in a sequence that actually had a narrative implied. As you say, in-between the strips, that's where the story's told."

Things to see: 4/29/10

mike

Daily clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources:

• A heck of a Seattle Weekly illustration by Jeremy Eaton

• Here's a color test for that series of School Spirits Stinckers that Steven Weissman's been working on (and here's another one — I like the green one better)

• Dame Darcy has info on framed original art, a bunch of new handmade dolls (we saw them at Stumptown; they're gorge), new purses and more on her blog

• Some great-looking digital prints of illustrations by Newave! artist Wayno are now available from Rockpop Gallery

• It's this week's Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane

• ...and this week's "I, Anonymous" spot by Steven Weissman

• ...and this week's Maakies by Tony Millionaire

• ...and this week's new Forlorn Funnies t-shirt (featuring artwork from All and Sundry) from Paul Hornschemeier (buy)

• Steve Brodner's pointed portrait of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer

Things to see: 4/28/10

mike

Daily clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources:

• At What Things Do, the concluding half of Jaime Hernandez's amazing "The Ghoul Man"

• Newave! editor Michael Dowers has been working on a Tarot deck — here's the 6 of Wands, as posted on Facebook

• Matthias Lehmann emerges to reveal some recent illustration and comics work

• Looks like Frank Santoro's working out some Cold Heat layouts

• Paul Hornschemeier Kroffts it up at Covered (and comments on his blog)

• Anders Nilsen gets biblical on us

• "The Rite of Spring" by Jim Flora on the cover of the March 1944 issue of Coda

• Mike Sterling catches Snoopy making a grammatical error in The Complete Peanuts 1973-1974

• Two new Geek Love illustrations by Laura Park for Picture Book Report — the other one's even more NSFW than this one

• Lloyd Blankfein introduces you to his little friend, courtesy of Steve Brodner

• Derek Van Gieson is busy

• This week's Truth Serum by Jon Adams

Daily OCD: 4/13/10

mike

Online Commentary & Diversions — catching up from MoCCA weekend, with more catch-up tomorrow:

• Award: Congratulations to David Sandlin for receiving a 2010-2011 fellowship from the New York Public Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. "The fellowship lasts from September to May. Each fellow gets an office in the library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, full access to the library’s research collections, and a stipend, which last year was $60,000," reports Kate Taylor of The New York Times. Not too shabby!

• Review: "Few people alive today are old enough to remember World War I, and as it recedes into the past, the 'war to end all wars' becomes more abstract. But French cartoonist Jacques Tardi's graphic novel, It Was The War of the Trenches..., brings the Great War to life in all its mud- and blood-soaked misery. Without a trace of sentimentality, Tardi's richly detailed and grimly rendered vignettes depict the horror, illness, cruel manipulations, and stupidity of this giant black spot in human history." – Mark Frauenfelder, Boing Boing

• Review: "Long-lost astronauts, homicidal bloggers, baseball legends and wayward skaters all find a home in John Pham’s captivating comic series Sublife. With only two issues on the street, Sublife has already established an achingly familiar universe in all of its disparate ongoing narratives. Deftly juggling the melancholy of Adrian Tomine’s Optic Nerve with some Cormac McCarthy-inspired apocalyptic action and plenty of skillfully subdued deadpan humor, Pham proves himself a master of multifarious emotions and artist stylings." – We Love You So

• Review: "While I enjoyed Sakai's artwork in the first volume, this second trade collection is even stronger. ... I'm so glad I'm finally sitting down and reading this series, and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. Usagi Yojimbo is a great addition to the canon of samurai stories, and is definitely highly recommended for anyone who is a fan of wandering ronin or just good storytelling." – Rob McMonigal, Panel Patter

• Review: "Culture Corner remains a curiosity in comic book history, rarely remembered, rarely seen, but Basil Wolverton’s status as an important figure in humor cartooning is unimpeachable. Thus, anybody wanting to understand the development of the medium and the evolution of comedy cartooning should pick up Culture Corner to see how Wolverton began the road to comic book legend. Most of the strips have never been seen by today’s readers, and the sheer number of unpublished penciled sketches makes this book a true rarity and a must-have." – Michael C. Lorah, Newsarama

• Review: "I can honestly say that the further we dive into the murky depths of Newave!, the better it gets. Hot on the heels of all the anarchic fun of the first thirty mini comics, come ten more that show, in various ways, a little extra sophistication in content or execution." – Avoid the Future continues their mini-reviews of the contents of Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s; this is from part 4, and I think we may have missed linking to part 2 and part 3

• Plugs: Rick Klaw, a.k.a. The Geek Curmudgeon, on It Was the War of the Trenches: "Considering this book's reputation and the fact that the previous two Tardi reprints from Fantagraphics both made their way into my top five books of 2009 listing, I'm eager to read this one"; Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s: "An impressive collection with an abundance of Texas contributors!"; and King of the Flies Vol. 1: Hallorave: "I'll admit to ignorance regarding this graphic novel and its creators. But with an intriguing story description, beautiful art, and Fantagraphics' extraordinary track record of offering quality works, I'm looking forward to diving into this one."

• Plug: At IdeaFixa, Claudio Yuge says that reading Love and Rockets "was one of the best things I ever did in life and I recommend it for anyone who likes comics and graphic arts in general." (translated from Portuguese)

• Commentary: Comic Book Galaxy's Christopher Allen & Alan David Doane comment on this year's Eisner nominees, of which we have several; there's too much for me to quote from here

• Interview: Comic Book Resources' Shaun Manning talks to Jim Woodring about Weathercraft: "In a lot of ways, Manhog is the most interesting character in the Unifactor. He has the most potential for change and the widest range of dramatic possibilities. Besides, it's fun to put him in awful circumstances and watch him suffer. There's something about a big fat guy screaming in terror that's just naturally funny. Oliver Hardy got a lot of mileage out of that formula."

• Interview: The Inkstuds radio programme talks with Mome contributor (and, now, kids-comics superstar) Eleanor Davis

Daily OCD: 4/6/10

mike

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "The... leaps in chronology and POV can be jarring for those not familiar with Hernandez's episodic style..., but [High Soft Lisp's] offbeat humor and manic sexual energy make the adjustment more than worthwhile. Fritz's hypersexuality, bizarre fetishes, rampant vanity, and burgeoning alcoholism provide many of the volume's finest comic moments, but the ample sex on view is rarely sexy. Rather, the characters' libidinous pursuits are tied into an affecting strain of loneliness and regret that pervades even the most outlandish panels. Add to that Hernandez's characteristically thick, expressive line and character design that owes an acknowledged debt to Archie comics, and the result is a charmingly incongruous, occasionally titillating collision of poignancy and pulp." – Publishers Weekly

• Interview: Publishers Weekly manga editor Kai Ming Cha talks to our new manga editor, Matt Thorn, about our new manga line and manga publishing in general: "I love manga, but I know the sales in the first years of the century were fueled to a large extent by fad and the whole 'Cool Japan' thing. Fads are nothing to build a real industry on. Just look at the comics bubble of the late eighties and early nineties. People have told me I'm jumping on the bandwagon too late. On the contrary, I think the time is ripe to build a new, reliable market that doesn't depend on trends."

• Commentary: Something Deeper: Anime, Manga and Comics also discusses the "new manga publisher on the block"

• Interview: At The Daily Cross Hatch, the second half of Brian Heater's conversation with Newave! editor Michael Dowers touches on webcomics, Factsheet Five, the Seattle Star, and the joy of getting envelopes with $150 cash in the mail

Daily OCD: 4/1/10

mike

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "There are two types of war stories: war as the great human drama, man accomplishing amazing feats in the most horrible of circumstances, or war as the great human tragedy, the ultimate loss of life without any rhyme or reason. Tardi’s book fits very firmly into the latter category. ... Ink-soaked and gory, Tardi’s detailed renderings drive home the grotesquery of the war and the ordeal of the young men fighting in it. ...It Was the War of the Trenches creates an aura of loss, regret and terror." – Michael C. Lorah, Newsarama

• Interview: Listen to the Inkstuds roundtable on Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s with editor Michael Dowers and artists Mary Fleener, Wayno, and Colin Upton — I haven't tuned in myself yet but apparently there's dirt on the early days of Fantagraphics

• Panel: In the second part of The Comics Journal's presentation of a never-before-published panel discussion between Charles Burns, Chip Kidd, Seth and Chris Ware, moderated by Jeet Heer, that occurred October 29, 2005 at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto, Canada, discussion turns to Peanuts and Krazy Kat

• Appreciation: "There are lots of things to love about [Steven] Weissman: his art (from the kids-who-look-like-middle-aged-people of his early work, to the light, beautiful strokes that characterize his later stuff), his nuanced understanding of what it's actually like to be a kid, his intransigent weirdness. But the thing I've really been digging about him lately is the strangeness of his sound effects." – Ben Owen, Parabasis

• Photo of the week: Now that's some shelf porn

Daily OCD: 3/31/10

mike

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "The quality of [Gilbert] Hernandez's cartooning is unassailable. Part of the reason [High Soft Lisp] is so hard to quantify is his uncanny ability to shift focus on a moment's notice, effortlessly jumping from one character to another, suggesting whole thought processes and histories with just a handful of images." – Jason Michelitch, Comics Alliance

• Review: "The sort of horror Columbia presents in Pim & Francie works even better without the trappings of recitation and the cause and effect on which they depend. This sort of dread-inducing fright functions without regard to the recognizable comforts of logic and the niceties of narration. This is visceral, elemental terror that generally festers below — or alongside invisibly — human reckoning. ... Frontwards, backways, sneak-a-peek sideways, it all packs a monumentally disturbing wallop." – Rich Kreiner, "Yearlong Best of the Year," The Comics Journal

• Plugs: The Gosh! Comics Blog highlights recent arrivals Penny Century by Jaime Hernandez ("This volume picks up right after Perla La Loca left off, beginning with the now out-of-print graphic novel Whoa Nellie! which is probably the best female wrestling comic in town") and It Was the War of the Trenches by Jacques Tardi ("Since only a fraction of Trenches was ever available to us English-speaking folk it’s a nice to see the whole lot of it in one place.")

• Panel: The Comics Journal presents the first part (of three) of a never-before-published panel discussion between Charles Burns , Chip Kidd, Seth and Chris Ware, moderated by Jeet Heer, that occurred October 29, 2005 at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto, Canada

• Interview: The Daily Cross Hatch 's Brian Heater, who says "Released late last month, Fantagraphics’ massive collection, Newave, has already made a strong case for its place on 2010’s list of most essential reissues," talks to the book's editor Michael Dowers: "I’ve always been into art and stuff, so I thought that [minicomics] would be fun to do. I used to do paintings, I did a bunch of wood carving, I built a few stringed instruments. I was always doing things with my hands. It wasn’t until I discovered minicomics that it just all came together. I never dreamed that, 30 years later, I would be writing a book about this stuff."