The Magik Show opens this Thursday (April 3) at the Pony Club Gallery in Portland, OR. This show is the first to be curated by Zack Soto and it's a pretty great line-up of mostly comics folks. "Stereotopfer" (his gocco prints above) has conveniently listed and linked all the artists on his Flickr page.

I found a few other pieces online: Mike Bertino, Calvin Wong, and Jason Miles.

#2 in a series. This is the most recent entry in my almost decade-old book, by Drew Friedman:

The first in series. I'm gonna post a page from my 'con' sketchbook approximately every day until I'm done (it'll take a few months). I hope this doesn't seem too self-serving, I'm really thinking some of you will enjoy these. And this way if my house ever burns down they will live on. Here's the very first, by Daniel Clowes:

(Click for larger image.)

From Irwin Chusid, Jim Flora archivist and editor of our Flora books:

Jim Flora Art LLC has released a limited-edition, archival-quality fine art print of an uncirculated 1963 Jim Flora tempera painting entitled Back to Bellefontaine. Flora was born in Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio, in 1914. He lived in the town until 1934, when he enrolled at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Only twenty-five (25) prints of Back to Bellefontaine were produced for this edition. Back to Bellefontaine has not previously been reproduced or published.

Some remembrances of the town by the artist are on the Jim Flora blog.

Portland's Grass Hut is expanding their space and celebrating with one helluva art show tonight. Souther Salazar 's piece above-- More info on their site.

While we were putting together his upcoming release, Pocket Full of Rain, Jason sent over this small swatch of lettering-- the title of a single page story in the book.

He has given his blessing to give away this tiny treasure to the first Flog reader to post in the comments board. I'm not going to get clever and ask you to answer any questions, just be a fan. Leave a contact email address and I'll write you.

Approx. 2.75" x 4" on what I'm sure is non-archival copy paper. Touched by Kim Thompson and myself only. Insurance value: $400,000.00.

From The Underground To The Basement:

Cartoons, Drawings & Signs by Justin Green

Who: Comic Underground Legend & Master Sign Painter, Justin Green

What:  From The Underground To The Basement:  Cartoons, Drawings & Signs

When:  Show opens with a reception Sat., March 8^th 6pm.  Closes Sat. April 12^th, 2008

Where:  Shake It Records, 4156 Hamilton Ave., Cinti., OH 45223  Ph: 513-591-0123

Why: Read below.

Opening Reception Saturday, March 8th 6 PM @ Shake It Records 4156 Hamilton Ave in Northside Cincinnati.

Shake It Records is hosting a rare art show with underground comic legend & master sign painter, Justin Green. Justin has been creating Shake It's signs in & outside of the store for the last 7 or so years. If you live anywhere near this, you're an idiot if you don't go. This is Justin Fucking Green, man.

Justin Green is one of the most prolific artists of the San Francisco Underground Cartooning movement, recognized as the originator of the autobiographical comic with the publication of "Binky Brown Meets The  Holy Virgin Mary," in 1972. This seminal work also anticipated the groundswell in literature about OCD by over two decades. Other artists, including Robert Crumb and Art Spiegelman, have cited Green as an influence. He contributed to scores of anthology titles, including two which are comprised entirely of his  own work: "Show + Tell" ('73) and "Sacred and Profane" ('75). A collection of his subsequent Binky work  was published in '95, "The Binky Brown Sampler."

From 1992 until the 2002 demise of Tower Records, Green did a monthly biographical comic strip in their PULSE! Magazine, titled "Musical Legends." They were compiled in a single volume and published in 2003. Since 1986, he has done a monthly comic for Signs of the Times, our nation's oldest trade magazine (published in Cincinnati), titled, "Justin Green's SIGN GAME." At 62, he is one of the youngest practitioners of traditional sign-painting. In addition to designing and and painting the Shake It sign, his work adorns the storefronts of several Cincinnati businesses, and he is also the designer of the official Hamilton County flag. He recently did an installation with the graffiti artist ESPO (Steven Powers) in Miami.

His work has been exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and he has appeared in such esteemed venues as The New Yorker Magazine, Print Magazine, The Sacramento Bee, the WVXU website  and lately, Cincinnati Magazine, yet he is still known primarily as "The Underground Artist," Justin Green.

The exhibition at Shake It Records in Cincinnati features original pages from private collections and works for sale; reproductions of published work; teaching materials from his forthcoming book, "The Dying Penman," and small scale signs. Several of his "Musical Legends" pages are on permanent display at the store. The show will run from Saturday March 8th thru Saturday, April 12^th.