Hot on the heels of his first graphic novel, House, Josh Simmons' Jessica Farm fuses serialized adventure, fantasy and psychological horror and stamps it with his signature macabre sensibility in his atmospheric new graphic novel. Like a Lynchian take on Alice in Wonderland, Jessica Farm opens with an exterior of what could be any Midwestern farmhouse: once inside, we track our titular heroine as she bounds out of bed on Christmas and goes about her morning routine, eventually breakfasting with her grandparents. The banality of the situation is subverted by a ratcheting sense of dread, however, as we discover that Jessica's increasingly nightmarish house is filled with creatures around every corner: some whimsical, some sexual, some despairing and some malevolent. Jessica Farm is an ambitious experiment in world-building: as conceived by Simmons, this book is the first volume of a life-spanning comics project in which he drew one page every month for the past seven years, starting in January 2000 — and will continue this project for 50 years in total, making up the story as he goes and releasing 96-page increments every 8 years until he amasses a 600-page body of work.
Front cover hand lettered and designed by Robert Crumb, plus five wonderful pages of sketchbook drawings inside! Back cover by Christoph Mueller, "My Angel of Sin"! The life of famous Beat underground poet, Diane Di Prima, drawn and written by Mary Fleener (with guest Harvey Pekar)! Poetry by Diane Di Prima! "Pat & Corky" fiction by J.R. Helton, Zippy the Pinhead and how Bill Griffith got his start! New artwork by Christoph Mueller (with guest Joe Coleman) and William Crook, Jr.! Jay Lynch & Ed Piskor's story about Lynch and Crumb going to visit Chester Gould! "In Praise of Goth Beauticians" by Andrei Codrescu and illustrated by Aaron Lange! Plus the long awaited next chapter to the Green Star by editor Everett Rand, also Frank Stack, Bruce Simon, Aaron Lange, letters from around the globe and more!!
In a mammoth interview, Marvel Zombies writer Robert Kirkman discusses everything from starting out as the publisher of Battle Pope to his work with Image and Marvel Comics. Plus: Kirkman-related essays by Michael Dean and Simon Abrams, and zombies, zombies, zombies!
The Arrival author Shaun Tan talks about the Australian comics scene, children’s books and the breakaway success of his immigrant-themed latest work.
Our comics section this issue features 100 consecutive strips from Ed Wheelan’s classic Minute Movies, plus a history of the strip by Jared Gardner.
Bob Levin looks at the life and work of Hustler Magazine’s most notorious cartoonist, “Chester the Molester” creator Dwaine Tinsley.
Historian R.C. Harvey recounts the history of the first daily comic strip, Mutt and Jeff, and its creator Bud Fisher.
Paul Kirchner remembers the late Charlton cartoonist Wayne Howard.
Alan David Doane offers a critique of the modern comics shop.
As always, we’ve got teasers from the new issue on the TCJ.com website, including extracts of our Robert Kirkman and Shaun Tan interviews, plus Michael Dean’s Marvel Zombies essay in its entirety! Boasting absolutely no zombie-variant covers whatsoever, The Comics Journal #289 will enlighten, entertain and irritate comics connoisseurs in all the ways you’ve come to know and love.
Have a look at (and inside) a real-life copy of the upcoming book Explainers - The Complete Village Voice Strips (1956-66) by Jules Feiffer. For a Flickr slideshow, click here, or to browse manually, click here. (And don't forget you can read the Introduction, and preview more strips, here; and registered users can download yet another preview excerpt here.)
Here's another daily photographic sneak peek at (and inside) an upcoming book that we recently received "in the flesh" at the office. Today it's the latest volume in Craig Yoe's wild-n-wacky Arf series of anthologies, Comic Arf. For a Flickr slideshow, click here (link fixed!), or to browse manually, click here.
The popularity of Castle Waiting continues to grow, and to help new fans catch up on the latest installments of Linda Medley's award-winning ongoing epic, we're pleased to offer the first ten issues of Volume II in one handy package at a significant savings over the combined cover price — over a dollar off each issue!
In these issues, a new chapter begins as the Castle welcomes some new guests, undergoes some renovations, and reveals more of its secrets. Secrets about the Castle's denizens are revealed as well, as we delve into the pasts of Lady Jain, Iron Henry, and Dr. Fell. Medley's sharp pen and even sharper storytelling create a delightfully adventurous universe.
A fable for modern times, Castle Waiting is a fairy tale that's not about rescuing the princess, saving the kingdom, or fighting the ultimate war between Good and Evil — but about being a hero in your own home. Linda Medley lavishly illustrates Castle Waiting in a classic visual style reminiscent of Arthur Rackham and William Heath Robinson. Blending elements from a variety of sources — fairy tales, folklore, nursery rhymes — Medley tells the story of the everyday lives of fantastic characters with humor, intelligence, and insight into human nature. Castle Waiting can be read on multiple levels and can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
This ultra-deluxe, hand-assembled edition of the Castle Waiting graphic novel includes the following:
• Full-color archival chapter-divider bookplates printed on acid- and lignin-free 50 lb. stock with pigmented inks; the adhesive is a permanent modified acrylic (no gooey rubber to gum up the works). Each plate measures 4" x 5". • Tipped-in front endpaper plate. • Gilded edge pages. • Tiny flat two-sided solid pewter charm added to the bound-in ribbon bookmark. Measures approximately 1/2" wide x 3/4" high. • Original dustjacket with brass protective corners. Reproduced from the vintage tooled-leather cover Linda's very own extra special personal copy wears. Printed in full-color on heavyweight glossy paper. • "Liberry Card" set of three cards: includes a Library Card, Borrow Slip, and Author Card in an acid-free pocket affixed into the book. All are printed both sides on acid-free cardstock and each card measures 2.75" x 5.5". The Library Card is reproduced from a Victorian (circa 1898) library card, and the signed Author Card is in the style of cabinet cards of the same era.
A fable for modern times, Castle Waiting is a fairy tale that's not about rescuing the princess, saving the kingdom, or fighting the ultimate war between Good and Evil — but about being a hero in your own home. In this issue: with nary a strip-mall in sight, the castle folk enjoy an evening of bowling and clothes shopping; and Jain learns some interesting details concerning lovable Doctor Fell's puzzling condition.
Time for another daily photographic sneak peek at an upcoming book that we recently received "in the flesh" at the office. Today it's the latest and final (for now) volume in our Love and Rockets Library reprint series, Amor Y Cohetes, collecting all the stand-alone non-continuity stuff from L&R Vol. 1. For a Flickr slideshow, click here, or to browse manually, click here.
Each day this week (except yesterday, when we didn't have time) we're bringing you a photographic sneak peek of a different upcoming book that we recently received "in the flesh" at the office. Today we've got Thomas Ott's new one The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8: for a Flickr slideshow, click here, or to browse manually, click here.
