The Conrad Groth sketchbook is a mammoth thing: at least 12" square with thick glossy art stock and maybe a couple hundred pages to be filled. Fantagraphics Founder, Gary Groth, gets the best cartoonists in the world to do sketches for his young son and it is AMAZING. I can't imagine the pressure of sketching in it. There's no B-Team in this thing. And nobody who sees it can stop turning the pages to see what's next.
As Gary is preparing to leave for SPX, he brought in the book, bound for the hands of Gahan Wilson so I took these quick and shoddy iPhone pics of the Kane and Crumb pages, which I particularly like because of the personal relationships Gary had/has with these titans.
Richard Sala has a great new post up on his blog talking about his process for creating the interior art for his recently completed Ignatz miniseries Delphine, including why he painted it in blue tones rather than the sepia tones it was printed in. Fascinating stuff!
• Reviews: "Locas ll collects a huge amount of comics featuring a more mature Maggie, finding and losing romance with people like Ray (one part Chandler victim, another part mod hobo), 'Frogmouth' (painfully sexy but achingly annoying), and reunions with Hopey and others in a strange relational ballet set in SW America. It’s a weird, flat plain of bizarre sex and twisted circumstance that would be the first collection of comics I would recommend for any adult wanting to get a handle on the aesthetics of the art form since it became culturally relevant to do so.... Meanwhile, Fantagraphics has also just put out a new issue of the Comics Journal #299, which has an incredible narrative by lawyer-outsider art-underground advocate Bob Levin... Levin is the writer of several books on the struggle of comics and the counter-culture and transgressive fringes, and because of him #299 of TCJ is THE book about comic art to buy this year.... Mome... is the current multi-artist series that has critics in the comics world and outside of it regularly amped.... The last few issues of Mome have really hit a hot-run of quality, and though some stories are more straightforward and others are expressionistic, all the art is always sweet." - Chris Estey, KEXP
• Review: "Comics journalism is mostly an oxymoron, but The Comics Journal, on the eve of its 300th issue, is a scholarly, intellectual publication.... [F]or intelligent discussion of current and past graphic storytelling and its creators (the current issue features an incredible story of an ahead-of-its-time genre-spanning anthology from the seventies that was never published), this is indeed an oasis of comics journalism." - Richard Pachter, The Miami Herald
• Review: "...[A]wesome to behold.... When life and love, of a sort, finally do reassert themselves at [The Squirrel Machine]'s end, it's horrifying and drawn in a fashion that makes it look less like a natural thing and more like a terrible apparition, or a special effect." - Sean T. Collins
Here's more info on the "46 Million" art auction benefitting health care reform we mentioned yesterday, from the instigator of the whole shebang, Anders Nilsen. Above, Dan Clowes's contribution (no bids yet?!). Spread the word.
Inimitable Cartoonist and Fine Human Being Anders Nilsen has pulled together some great artwork for an even greater cause: health care reform. The participating artists are:
The proceeds will go to Democracy for America Now, a national advocacy group running television ads to push the Public Option in democratic swing districts and offering support to congressional members who take a stand for the policy.
Another great day at the office yesterday as Jim Woodring stopped by to drop off this stack of original pages for his 2010 graphic novel Weathercraft. It's the middle third, plus a little more -- Jim has a little over 20 pages to go. Unanimous reaction among Fanta staff: awed speechlessness.
...when FedEx drops off a big stack of Gilbert Hernandez artwork. Behold, the entirety of his next book, the "Fritz film adaptation" The Troublemakers. Drawn at size. Amazing. Our production maestro Paul Baresh will be scanning this tonight. Probably a late Fall/early Winter release. Cover painting by Rick Altergott.
Mome contributor and all-around wonderful cartoonist Laura Park is currently soliciting commissions. Send some monetary love, get some delightful art. Ah, commerce!
For a limited time (the next 17-18 days or so), Paul Hornschemeier is accepting commissions to draw anything from your fevered imagination. I've seen him draw a cubist Smurf -- the sky's the limit here, folks. Fully rendered, $50 B&W, $100 color. Details and purchasing info right here (or just talk to him at the MoCCA Fest).
Boing Boing reports that a fairly substantial collection of original art from Humbug is now up for auction. It's well worth checking out just for the images, even if you're not Uncle or Aunt Moneybags.
Of course, you can see more original Humbug art in our Flickr sets here and here.
