FLOG! Entries tagged 'Sammy Harkham'

This Week in Fantagraphics Events: 10/15-10/22

janice

Thursday, October 18th

• Chicago, IL: Cartoonist and comics scholar Ivan Brunetti will discuss his work, both in and out of the classroom, followed by a Q&A, at EnergyBBDO offices. This event is free and open to the public! (more info)

Friday, October 19th

• Portland, OR: Today kicks off the three-day event The Projects: International Festival of Experimental Comics and Narrative Arts, featuring Fantagraphics artists Frank Santoro, Sammy Harkham, Jason T. Miles, among many others! (more info)

Saturday, October 20th

• Seattle, WA: Join us at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery for a signing with Charles Burns, Gabrielle Bell and Tom Kaczynski from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Charles will be debuting The Hive, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2010’s sensational dreamscape, X’ed Out. (more info)

• Seattle, WA: Jaap Blonk, revered Dutch voice virtuoso and contributor to The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008, presents a full live show with visuals at the Northwest Film Forum on Capitol Hill at 5:00 PM! (more info)

• Portland, OR: Workshops, panels, and more will continue to happen at The Projects: International Festival of Experimental Comics and Narrative Arts! (more info)

Sunday, October 21st

• Seattle, WA: Join Charles Burns at the Elysian Brewing Company for the monthly unveiling of the latest flavor in their "12 Beers of the Apocalypse" series, "Omen"! (more info)

• Portland, OR: Today's your last day to check out The Projects: International Festival of Experimental Comics and Narrative Arts! (more info)

Monday, October 22nd

• Seattle, WA: The Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to co-present "Building Comix with Charles Burns and Chris Ware" at Town Hall. The modest $5.00 admission fee can be redeemed on the purchase of any book at the signing following the presentation. (more info)

Fantagraphics at the 2012 Small Press Expo: Panels!

janice

Here at Fantagraphics, we're gearing up for one of our biggest SPX'es ever, taking place on September 15th & 16th in Bethesda, MD! We'll be rolling out our list of debuts and our signing schedule soon, but while you wait, why not memorize this schedule of panels at the 2012 Small Press Expo?

Saturday, September 15th

• 12:00 pm // Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby and the American Clear Line School [Brookside Conference Room] In a canny mix of fantasy and satire, amplified by the clean minimalism of Crockett Johnson’s line, Barnaby (1942-1952) expanded our sense of what comics can do. Though it never had a mass following, this tale of a five-year-old boy and his endearing con-artist of a fairy godfather influenced many. To mark the launch of The Complete Barnaby, Dan Clowes, Mark Newgarden, Chris Ware, and the book’s two co-editors — Fantagraphics’ Eric Reynolds and Crockett Johnson biographer Philip Nel — discuss the wit, the art, and the genius of Barnaby.

• 12:30 pm // Jaime Hernandez: The Love Bunglers [White Flint Auditorium] Jaime Hernandez and his brothers launched the alternative comics era with their epoch-defining series Love and Rockets. From 1981 to the present, Hernandez has produced a singular body of work tracing the life of Maggie Chascarillo and her vast network of friends, family, neighbors, rivals and lovers. In recent years, Jaime has, again, broken new ground with brilliant comics novellas that remain accessible to new readers while building upon years of narrative to invest his stories with a profound emotionality. He will discuss his work with artist Frank Santoro.

• 2:30 pm // Gilbert Hernandez: Love From the Shadows [White Flint Auditorium] Gilbert Hernandez and his brothers launched the alternative comics era with their epoch-defining series Love and Rockets. Gilbert first made his mark with his Palomar stories, an intergenerational saga detailing life and love in a fictional Central American town. But a parallel strand of Gilbert’s restless oeuvre has since taken center stage in new graphic novels and stories that combine formal play with genre experimentation to open another window into the workings of the human heart. Gilbert will discuss his work with critic Sean T. Collins.

• 4:00 pm // Mark Newgarden Presents: Cartoonists and Comics On Camera, Reel One: 1916-1945 [Brookside Conference Room] A once-in-a-lifetime presentation of rare footage featuring 20th century comics greats and some unusual animated adaptations of their work, curated by Mark Newgarden from his personal collection of rare 35mm film. See Rube Goldberg, Otto Soglow, Chester Gould, Frank King, Harold Gray, Hal Foster (and many more) at the drawing board! See Jefferson “Gags And Gals” Machamer act! Plus Krazy Kat and many more surprises!

• 4:30 pm // Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist [White Flint Auditorium] Daniel Clowes first gained fame with his iconic comic book series Eightball and graphic novel Ghost World, which he co-adapted into a film of the same name. In recent books, including The Death-Ray and Wilson, his unique visual-narrative voice expertly manipulates the position of the reader to get more deeply under the skins of his sharply rendered characters. Recently the subject of a major retrospective exhibit and monograph, Clowes will discuss his work with Alvin Buenaventura, editor of The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist, and scholar Ken Parille.

• 6:00 pm // Sammy Harkham Q+A [Brookside Conference Room] Sammy Harkham has left a lasting impression on the comics field as editor of Kramers Ergot, the irregular avant-garde comics anthology series that represents, for many, a carefully articulated statement about the art form today. Harkham is also an engaged cartoonist, mindful of comics’ legacy while telling intimate stories that resonate with contemporary concerns. Several of his stories are collected in his new book, Everything Together. Harkham will discuss his work with Picturebox publisher and Comics Journal co-editor Dan Nadel.

Sunday, September 16th

• 1:00 pm // Mark Newgarden Presents: Cartoonists and Comics On Camera, Reel Two: 1932-1965 [Brookside Conference Room] A once-in-a-lifetime presentation of rare footage featuring 20th century comics greats and some unusual animated adaptations of their work, curated by Mark Newgarden from his personal collection of rare 35mm film. See Al Capp, Bill Holman (and many more) at the drawing board! See a drawing lesson from Fred C. Cooper! Plus Popeye, Nancy, Jacky’s Diary and many more surprises!

• 2:30 pm // Life After Alternative Comics [White Flint Auditorium] In the years after underground comix, the medium’s flag of ambition was carried by so-called “alternative comics:” nonconformist work in conventional formats that occupied marginal space in comics speciality shops. Alternative comics found common cause with other subcultural movements—before internet culture and the bookstore economy permanently changed comics’ formats and context. Dan Clowes, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez and Adrian Tomine will discuss the changes they have seen in a conversation moderated by Bill Kartalopoulos.

• 3:00 pm // Drawing Energy [Brookside Conference Room] What does it mean to invest a feeling of energy, of activity, of physical or emotional intensity in a drawing? How does the process and mindset of the artist at work relate to—or differ from—the visceral feeling the reader is intended to experience from the published image? Artist Jim Rugg will discuss these issues and other questions of drawing process with Michael DeForge (Lose), Theo Ellsworth (Capacity), Hellen Jo (Jin and Jam), and Katie Skelly (Nurse Nurse).

• 3:30 pm // Perverse Comics Form: Challenging Comics’ Conventions [White Flint Auditorium] Comics’ traditional forms have been inventively engaged by countless artists towards unique expressive purposes. And yet, even skillful manipulations of the comics form often carry with them conventions forged over decades, often within a commercial context. This panel will discuss radically different approaches to comics form and their relationship to broader artistic practices. Bill Kartalopoulos will lead a conversation with artists Warren Craghead (How to Be Everywhere), Renée French (H Day), and Keith Mayerson (Horror Hospital Unplugged).

Did you memorize them? Good! We'll quiz you at the Fantagraphics table at SPX 2012! See you there!

Down with OPP*: Kramers Ergot #8

janice

* Other People's Publications
** Yeah, You Know Me.

Hey, it's the very first 2012 edition of "Down With OPP," our occasional column where we spotlight books from other publishers that you can find at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle! And I was thrilled to get to the store this past weekend to find the latest volume of the celebrated Kramers Ergot anthology, from our friends at PictureBox.

It's chock-full of Fantagraphics artists: It opens with a great "Jimbo" strip from Gary Panter. There's also a wonderfully-drawn one-page gag from Tim Hensley. Kevin Huizenga re-draws a sci-fi story originally written decades ago by Bill Molno and Sal Trapani. And Frank Santoro & Dash Shaw turn in a beautiful collaboration on, well, catching pedophiles.

Gabrielle Bell has one of my favorite stories, and I admit, I get so used to reading her autobiographical strips, that with this one, I had a moment of, "You and your Dad did what?!"

Reading Johnny Ryan's story, I found myself thinking, "This might be the most romantic thing he's ever written," but then I ended up nearly laughing out loud by the end. It complements Sammy Harkham's marital comic, in a weird way.

I couldn't help reading the comic from Ben Jones in an "Alfe" voice, and the dialogue is so hilariously quotable, I just wanted to post random lines from it on Twitter.

And there's still more I haven't even mentioned, like the glossy full-color photography, the 70's Penthouse reprints, and the intro from Ian Svenonius, who will forever be to me "The Sassiest Boy in America."

Get a copy for yourself at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, located at 1201 S. Vale Street in Seattle's Georgetown district. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: (206) 658-0110.

Fantagraphics at the 2011 Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival

janice

For the first time ever, Fantagraphics will be exhibiting at the Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival! Come visit us this Saturday, December 3rd from 12:00 - 9:00 PM for a wealth of debuts, artist appearances, and the great Gary Groth manning the table!

Gary will be joined by a truly all-star cast of artists for our first BCGF:

1PM: Josh Simmons
2PM: Kim Deitch
3PM: Dash Shaw
5PM: Jack Davis
6PM: Michael Kupperman
7PM: Al Columbia

And even more of our artists will be exhibiting at the show, including Gabrielle Bell, Ben Catmull, Charles Forsman, Drew Friedman, Sammy Harkham, Tom Kaczynski, John Kerschbaum, Victor Kerlow, Joseph Lambert, Mark Newgarden, Jesse Moynihan, Gary Panter, Zak Sally, Leslie Stein, and Jon Vermilyea... PHEW! Pick up their books from our table, and then seek these artists out at their own!

Bring a big bag, because you'll also wanna pick up our excellent debuts at the festival!

• Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture by Jack Davis
• 500 Portraits by Tony Millionaire

• Action! Mystery! Thrills! Great Comic Book Covers 1936-1945 edited by Greg Sadowski
• Jason Conquers America by Jason

Where can you find all this awesome? Fantagraphics will be in the downstairs section at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church [ 275 North 8th Street ], at tables 31 & 32:

And finally, make sure you don't miss our artists in these panels! These will all take place at Union Pool [ 484 Union Avenue # A ], and the panels are free and open to the public:

1:30 PM // JACK DAVIS Q+A

Legendary cartoonist Jack Davis made his mark producing horror and war stories for EC Comics, before finding his métier in satire as one of the original (and longest running) artists for MAD Magazine. As a prolific illustrator, Davis defined the caricatural style of the 1960s and 1970s—and beyond. In this rare public appearance, Davis will discuss his career with Fantagraphics co-publisher Gary Groth and illustrator Drew Friedman.

[ Jack Davis fans, please note: he will also be appearing on Friday, December 2nd at the opening of his exhibit at the Scott Eder Gallery! Don't miss it! ]

2:30 PM // GESTURAL AESTHETICS

As comics have evolved beyond their commercial roots toward more individualistic modes of expression, they have been infused with new influences from other fields of art including printmaking, collage and painting. Additionally, new printing technologies have permitted the reproduction of artwork that more closely shows the work of an artist’s hand. Austin English, Dunja Jankovic and Frank Santoro will discuss new aesthetics in comics with moderator Bill Kartalopoulos.

6:00 PM // THE LANGUAGE IN COMICS

The recent embrace of graphic novels by the publishing industry has led to misguided attempts to evaluate comics according to the standards and conventions of literary fiction. The writing in comics occupies a more peculiar place, with its own constraints and opportunities. John Porcellino, Gabrielle Bell, and David Sandlin will discuss the particular demands of writing within a visually-driven form in this conversation moderated by novelist Myla Goldberg.

So, get ready! And we'll see you in Brooklyn this Saturday!

Harkham and Oldham Go to Town

janice

Two bearded artists with "ham" in their last names have teamed up for this latest release on Drag City Records!

Under his Bonnie 'Prince' Billy nom de plume, Will Oldham has a brand-new album out now featuring cover art by the one-and-only Sammy Harkham. Why, I think it might be time for another edition of Under the Covers with Fantagraphics...

Things to See: 9/7/11 Roundup

mike

Lots and lots of images to share, and lots and lots of overflow spilling over into links:

• We linked to this a while back in Daily OCD, but the interview with Lilli Carré at art:21 includes the first glimpse of her sketchbook I've ever seen (along with other art) and daaaang; Lilli also drew Groo the Wanderer for Matthew J. Brady 's theme sketchbook (there's a good one by Jeremy Tinder too) AND did this illustraton for The New York Times AND this amazing letterpress print

• Is Barack Obama losing his indie cred? Drew Friedman shares his illustration for the New York Observer about the President falling out of favor with the hipster demographic, and...

• Aww, Drew Friedman's portrait of his dad Bruce Jay Friedman for Tablet; Drew also presents an awesome gallery of Plop! covers by Basil Wolverton and Wally Wood at his blog

• Some Jaime Hernandez record-cover art I hadn't seen before, for the band The Shame Idols (via Love & Maggie)

• This one makes Janice very happy: Jason draws Robert Smith of The Cure — plus film reviews and various other commentary at his Cats Without Dogs blog

• Johnny Ryan draws some of his favorite bullies for Vice and shares some recent commissions on his Flickr page: Gremlin/robot orgy, Star Wars 4-way and fuckball

• Wowee-wow, lookit these vintage Sesame Street illustrations by Jack Davis that were posted by Leif Peng at his Today's Inspiration blog (via Drawn)

• Dig this nifty nutty video that Michael Kupperman made for no particular reason; then when you're done, watch this psychedelic one

• Gary Panter sending this box of dog biscuits to a dog named Gary Panter is probably about the cutest thing you'll read all day

• I think Steven Weissman loses this sketchbook battle with his son Charles — that and his weekly "I, Anonymous" spots and more at his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• Writer Dan Sinker shares the evolution of Paul Hornschemeier's cover illustration for The F***ing Epic Twitter Quest of @MayorEmanuel — via Paul's blog, where Paul also shares a website header illustration and accompanying interview; also, about umpteen new entries on his daily sketch blog The Daily Forlorn

• Eleanor Davis illustrates for The New York Times and for Rattler magazine

• Richard Sala presents the original, unretouched artwork for his Kramer's Ergot 7 strip, likewise for a Peculia story, plus some words on "Invisible Hands" — plus a whole lot more on his Tumblr blog

• The first page of a feature graphic story Tim Lane is doing for the Riverfront Times, to appear later this month, plus some of Tim's sketches for the story

• Lorenzo Mattotti previews 3 upcoming publishing projects: a graphic adaptation of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and a collection of Venice landscapes; and a collaboration with Art Spiegelman for an upcoming September 11-themed collection from Casterman

• Sergio Ponchione teases his Prof. Hackensack strip and illustrations in the new Linus as well as some recent illustrations of classical composers

• Laura Park's strip for this month's issue of The Believer, plus a Picasso-esque sketch (and, if you look around, lots of photos of her adorable new puppy)

• Speaking of Laura Park, Derek Van Gieson did this little jam strip with her on a recent visit to Chicago, where they and others also took part in a little Trubble Club action; more from Derek at his These Days I Remain blog

• Stephen DeStefano illustrated this poster for a new Washington, DC staging of Lithuanian Sweetheart, a play written by his Lucky in Love collaborator George Chieffet; also, an album cover illustration, Popeye playing hockey, Popeye playing soccer

• Louis C.K. fan art on Josh Simmons & Wendy Chin's Quackers blog (I'm not sure who did it — I'm guessing Wendy... and if you don't watch Louie you should) — meanwhile Josh has a couple new doodles on his The Furry Trap blog

• I was going post Renee French's portrait of the Crimson Bolt (Rainn Wilson's character from the movie Super) but I decided to go with this more mysterious, less link-baity piece instead

• Sammy Harkham's 2009 portrait of singer-songwriter Will Oldham for Colors magazine

• From Steve Brodner: Warren Buffett for Harper's (above); the SE; Planet of the Apes for The New Yorker; Rome sketchbook; Keystone XL pipeline protestors; and feral CEOs

• Sketchbook pages and more sketchbook pages by Anders Nilsen

• Glimpses of 11 binders worth of storyboards for Dash Shaw's The Ruined Cast

• Views of some rather astonishing cut-out dioramas made by Hans Rickheit for a recent art show

Additionally:

• Colleen Frakes shares some birthday sketch comics done for her by Mome contributors Joe Lambert and Chuck Forsman

• A drawing by Matthias Lehmann for an upcoming book from Le Dernier Cri

• Recent drawings by Andrei Molotiu

• The latest creations and updates from Dame Darcy at her blog

• Frank Santoro is selling his sketches of "black & white boom" cover art, along with the original comics, to help keep him in cash while he works on his new comic — there's a new mythology piece on his Tumblr too

• A bunch of new sketches by Marco Corona at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• From Jim Blanchard, a rollerderby poster and a painting of Tura Satana

• Bird sketches with field notes by Debbie Drechsler

• A performance poster illustrated by Nate Neal

• An image-packed update on various works in progress from Noah Van Sciver

• Roger Langridge sketches Popeye vs. Bluto

Fantagraphics at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference

janice

The Santa Barbara Writers Conference kicked off this past weekend and runs until Thursday, June 23rd.

And on Tuesday, June 21st, join Gary Groth at 4:00 pm for a special Graphic Novel Panel! He'll be joined by a powerhouse line-up of Joyce Farmer, Tim Hensley, and Sammy Harkham.

The Santa Barbara Writers Conference is held at the Hotel Mar Monte [1111 East Cabrillo Boulevard, Santa Barbara, CA], which is an actual hotel, and not the fancy name for Monte Schulz's house.

Things to See: 6/13/11 Roundup

mike

• Surely you're already following Jason's Cats Without Dogs blog where he posts artwork old and new (like his 1989 Elvis Costello illustration above), as well as concise and often very funny film reviews; now he's also posting his juvenilia at The Old Cat and the Dog where you can see his teenage takes on the Punisher, Lucky Luke, the Silver Surfer, Spidey etc.

• Richard Sala gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the cover artwork for The Grave Robber's Daughter and posts a bunch of fantastic full-color concept art for as-yet unrealized story ideas

• Leslie Stein presents a short sequence from the upcoming Eye of the Majestic Creature #6 (our book collects #1-4) and another short sequence from something-or-other

• Sergio Ponchione spotlights his contributions to the new issue of Linus

• For reasons she can't explain, Laura Park drew this self-portrait modeled after the "black dahlia" autopsy photo

• Some recent updates of sketchbook and other drawings by Sophie Crumb at her blog

• Steve Brodner presents his cover illustration for the new issue of the National Journal (with his studies for the caricatures)

• Sammy Harkham uploaded some mostly-new stuff to his Flickr page , including the original uncropped art from the Crickets #4 cover

And more Things to See from the past week:

• Steven Weissman's latest "I, Anonymous" spot on his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• Daily drawings by Paul Hornschemeier at The Daily Forlorn

• All the latest artwork and news from Dame Darcy in her new blog update

• New drawings from Renee French on her blog

• A new sketchbook strip and more collaborations with Sonnenzimmer from Anders Nilsen

• Oh god, more sketches of medical deformities by Hans Rickheit

• New drawings and watercolors by Derek Van Gieson

• Recent illustrations by Ray Fenwick on his Flickr page

Things to See: 6/6/11 Roundup

mike

It's been a while since I had a chance to do one of these...

• Jim Woodring's Frank and associates in a piece inspired by Giorgione's painting The Tempest (via Facebook - full size)

• Tony Millionaire did this illustration for the Three Guys and a Twelve-Pack podcast; also, an old strip for Screw (I think)

• This hilarious portrait by Cathy Malkasian is available as a print — you gotta go check it out just for the title and description, which are also hilarious

• A beautiful movie poster illustration and some musician portraits by Matthias Lehmann

• Richard Sala traces the evolution of the cover art for Mad Night

• Lilli Carré shares her Newcity cover illo and also her NYT Op-Ed illo

• Noah Van Sciver started a new sketch blog on Tumblr called Infortunate

• While recently in Chicago, Josh Simmons got his pals Anders Nilsen and Jeffrey Brown to draw some Quackers; Anders also has a bunch of new self-portraits and has put out an expanded fold-out edition of his Kramer's Ergot 7 strip

• Amazing stuff from Renee French on her blog and her new Posterous thing

• At What Things Do, Kevin Huizenga's Cartoon Polymaths strip "The Body of Work," and a couple of classic strips at his Fight or Run blog

• Also at What Things Do, two new installments of Jordan Crane's "Keeping Two"

• I think this weird piece by Steven Weissman relates to Barack Hussein Obama; also his latest "I, Anonymous" spots on his Chewing Gum in Church blog

And more Things to See from the past... jeez, 3 weeks:

• More recent sketchbook drawings by Andrei Molotiu

• At Jason's Cats Without Dogs blog, sketches, old strips and the last of his series of posts on his cartooning heroes

• New prints and an artist's book by John Hankiewicz at his Clip Joint blog

• Buy Dame Darcy's mermaid print to help send her to the annual Mermaid Parade on her 40th birthday! She's also now an ordained Wiccan minister! Good luck and congrats! All this and more in her latest blog update

• Drew Friedman rounds up his various album cover illustrations and collects a whole bunch of TV Guide covers by Jack Davis

• Recent charcoal portraits of Oliver Reed & John Coltrane by Jim Blanchard

• Sketches by Mark Kalesniko for his new graphic novel Freeway at his blog

• I believe this strip by Sergio Ponchione has to do with Italian politics

• Laura Park's been busy moving

• Recent drawings by Sammy Harkham on his Flickr page

• Portraits, sketches, illustrations and more by Steve Brodner

• Hans Rickheit keeps posting those old medical deformity sketches on his blog

• Derek Van Gieson made a hilarious-looking board game

• Some marks and text by Tom Kaczynski

Now you can buy those Cinefamily posters you've always coveted

mike

Comics fans, film aficionados, lovers of merch, rejoice! The Cinefamily in L.A. often has posters for their film programming illustrated by top-notch cartoonists (thanks to the involvement of Sammy Harkham) and now they're all available for purchase online. Clockwise from top left: Slacker by Gabrielle Bell, "Leprethon" by Johnny Ryan, Cassavetes by John Pham, and Dennis Hopper by Anders Nilsen. Below, Yasujiro Ozu by Chris Ware. You can also buy t-shirts with the sharp Cinefamily logo designed by Jordan Crane.

Back in stock: Crickets #3 by Sammy Harkham

mike

We have obtained the last remaining available copies of the new self-published issue of Sammy Harkham's great comic book series Crickets and are once again offering them for mailorder!

Crickets #3
by Sammy Harkham

48-page duotone 8.5" x 11" comic book • $8.00

Order Now!

Crickets #3 dedicates the bulk of its oversized pages to the first part of a new story, "Blood of the Virgin," which tracks the upside down world of exploitation movie making in Los Angeles in the early seventies through the eyes of an ambitious young film editor who catches a big break. Rounding at the issue are handful of short strips, letters and gags featuring Franz Kafka, boxing, Yale University, and pregnant wives. Crickets Lives!

Things to See: 4/4/11 Roundup

mike

• Check out Mack White's illustrations for Michael del Ray's book Long Term Parking

• Monster Brains presents "Momster" by Ted Jouflas from Weirdo #26 (1989)

• "Ghost Dream," a sketchbook comic by Drew Weing

• From Lilli Carré, a short animated film, a poster for an event she'll be at, and a teaser of her work in the new Smoke Signal

• Leslie Stein gives this peek at artwork from the 6th issue of Eye of the Majestic Creature

• Panels for the next installment of "Nothing Eve" for Mome by Kurt Wolfgang at New Bodega

• Also working away on a new Mome story: Laura Park

• And yet more Mome previewing: new pages from "Wild Man" by T. Edward Bak

• Messages from Killoffer at Lewis Trondheim's Les petits riens blog

• Shirley from the TV show Community by Josh Simmons

• Renee French custom-painted this Dylan Sprouse vinyl figure; plus the usual drawings etc. at her blog; plus we like this photo on Sprouse's website for obvious reasons

• Sammy Harkham on Flickr

• A panel by Carol Tyler; also check out a photo of her drawing desk

And more Things to See from the past week:

• Illustrations, sketches and film reviews by Jason at his Cats Without Dogs blog

• Steven Weissman's latest "I, Anonymous" spot and sketching on his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• Drawings & diagrams from Frank Santoro

• Puppets in progress by Marco Corona

• Another possible puppet or other figurine in progress in some mysterious photos from Paul Hornschemeier

• Vintage Jim Flora artwork and illustrations at the Jim Flora blog

• Sketches by Mark Kalesniko for his new graphic novel Freeway at his blog

• "The Strangest Story You Ever Heard in Your Life" continues at Splog!, the Sergio Ponchione Lost Objects Gallery blog, plus an illustration at Mondobliquo

• Daily storyboards & production art from Dash Shaw at The Ruined Cast blog

• Watercolor panel process by Derek Van Gieson

• Daily sketches by Tom Kaczynski at his Transatlantis blog

Weekend Webcomics for 3/18/11: Kupperman, Weissman & more

mike

We're very excited to begin presenting Michael Kupperman's Up All Night, printed weekly in the Washington City Paper and presented online exclusively here at Fantagraphics.com! The strip joins our regular weekly feature by Steven Weissman (G'n'R's back!) and our usual links to other strips from around the web:

---

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

"Chinese Chicken Salad Democracy" by Steven Weissman (view at original size):

---

And elsewhere:

Amazing Facts... and Beyond! with Leon Beyond by guest artist Sammy Harkham:

Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit:

Lucky by Gabrielle Bell:

Maakies by Tony Millionaire:

Mugwhump the Great by Roger Langridge (at Act-i-vate):

Things to See: Megan Kelso, more at Arthur

mike

Arthur have been posting comics that ran in the pages of their magazine in the mid-aughts (during the Jordan Crane/Sammy Harkham and Tom Devlin reigns over their comics section), including "Split Rock, Montana" by Megan Kelso (who's signing with us on Sunday at Emerald City ComiCon, ahem) and a ton of other great, unmissable stuff. Seriously.

Whatta rogues gallery

mike

L to R: Johnny Ryan, Jaime Hernandez, Ron Regé Jr., Jordan Crane, Sammy Harkham, Frank Santoro. This photo from Frank's impressive recounting of his visit to L.A. at Comics Comics has been making the rounds a bit, for obvious reasons. One of those "good thing a meteor didn't hit at that moment" moments. (Also pretty much a sausage fest, huh?)

How to get Crickets #3

mike

We have very quickly sold out of our limited supply of Sammy Harkham's self-published Crickets #3, but there are still copies to be had out there. We're distributing it to comic shops through Diamond, so your local shop may still have it in stock, and if not, they can can order it for you. If you still want to mail-order it, it's available from Family Los Angeles.

Now in stock / New Comics Day 12/29/10: Crickets #3 by Sammy Harkham

mike

We are pleased to be distributing the new self-published issue of Sammy Harkham's great comic book series Crickets to comics specialty shops, scheduled to arrive today!

We have a very limited number of copies available for order through our website for those of you who don't have a shop in your local area. (While we don't necessarily want to discourage you from ordering it from us, we do encorage you to obtain it from your local shop if at all possible.) We will also have a handful of copies available at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery starting tomorrow.

Crickets #3
by Sammy Harkham

48-page duotone 8.5" x 11" comic book • $8.00

Bloggers say:

"Being the latest comic book release by Sammy Harkham, now self-publisher of an oversized 48-page showcase for self-contained material, some of it published online by Vice. The showpiece is 'Blood of the Virgin,' a fascinating stretch of time from the life of a 1970s exploitation movie studio functionary, constantly seeing his desires swapped out like spicy footage cut from one picture for the benefit of another. Smartly detailed, keenly observed lit comics stuff. Note that the serial from issues #1 and #2 does not continue. I reviewed it here..." – Joe McCulloch, Comics Comics

"As somebody who's been known to call things 'Crickets' myself, I am extra-fond of Sammy Harkham's extra-intermittent anthology for all things Sammy Harkham-related." – Douglas Wolk, Comics Alliance

"I picked up a copy of this at the Brooklyn show but if you weren’t there, then the third issue of Sammy Harkham’s Crickets is easily the pick of the week, at least as far as I’m concerned. Harkham has seemingly abandoned, at least for now, his tale of wandering golems and invulnerable men for two self-contained pieces, each with a decided literary bent (the first one is rather cheekily titled 'The New Yorker.'). Both tales show a slight movement towards more introspective, character building work, with the second tale 'Blood of the Virgin,' offering a nice homage of sorts to the late 1960s and early ’70s era of Roger Corman-style cheapie b-films, or at least how they were produced. Definitely one of the nicer surprises at the Brooklyn show this month and highly recommended." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

Hey, Smoke Signal #7 is out!

mike

What th'...? I just found out via the great Dan Zettwoch's blog that the new issue of Desert Island's essential broadsheet comics anthology Smoke Signal is out! Above, the stunning cover by Jordan Crane; the full contributors list isn't posted yet but it includes "new work by Charles Burns, Sammy Harkham, Edie Fake, Tim Hensley, Dan Zettwoch, Michael DeForge, Tim Lane, and tons more!" You can pick up a free copy at Desert Island in Brooklyn or buy it online here. Gimme!

UPDATE: Gabe from Desert Island points out the full contributor list on Facebook — thanks Gabe!

We Are Family

janice

Look, I can't lie: the first time I visited Los Angeles, I psyched myself out with mental images of women with crazy plastic surgery, carrying little chihuahua dogs in purses that cost more than my car. But, normal people who did not O.D. on re-reruns of "Beverly Hills, 90210" know that L.A. actually has an amazing culture of wonderful un-Botox®'d artists. And acclaimed indie director Lance Bangs captured that scene in his 2009 documentary Family Portrait, a film centered around the great Family Bookstore, and the people behind the counter, like Sammy Harkham and David Kramer. Sure, you can watch the entire documentary online, or if you're lucky enough to live in Portland, you can head over to the Whitsell Auditorium at the Portland Art Museum this coming Sunday, September 26th at 7:00 pm, as Bangs himself will screen the film, along with three others that have nothing to do with comic books.

The Best American Comics Criticism Discussion - audio download

mike

Via The Comics Journal:

On May 27, 2010, editor Ben Schwartz and contributors R. Fiore (The Comics Journal, tcj.com), Brian Doherty (Reason), Sammy Harkham (Kramers Ergot) and Joe Matt (Spent) discussed the book The Best American Comics Criticism. This recording is courtesy of Skylight Books.