• Seattle, WA: It's your last chance to see our exhibit The Horror: from the EC Comics Libraryat the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery! I wrote myself a note about this in my calendar that just read "The Horror Ends," which cracked up my friend who saw it out of this context. (more info)
Thursday, November 1st
• Seattle, WA: Our own Jason T. Miles is just one of many awesome local artists in the show Handbound: Exploring the Process of Short Run Small Press Fest Exhibitors at SOIL Gallery. This group show explores the creative process of exhibiting book artists through a combination of original art, sketches, ephemera and books. It's high-brow, low-brow and everything in between. Reception is from 5:00-8:00 PM, and the show runs through December 1st. (more info)
• Seattle, WA: A plethora of Fantagraphics artists and friends will be exhibiting at the 2nd Annual Short Run Small Press Fest at the Vera Project at Seattle Center. This event is FREE, open to the public, and is completely awesome. (more info)
• Athens, GA: Head back to the Georgia Museum of Art today as Patrick Dean, curator of the exhibit “Beyond the Bulldog: Jack Davis,” and a cartoonist himself who sits on the board of the Jack Davis Foundation, will give a talk from 3:00 to 4:00 PM with a reception to follow. (more info)
Find your roomiest tote bag, and stop by the bank for dollar bills... It's time for the 2nd Annual Short Run Small Press Festthis Saturday, November 3rd at the Vera Project in Seattle Center!
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!
Thank you to everyone who came by our booth this past weekend at APE: the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco, CA! Look at how happy you made our Marketing Director, Mike Baehr! We hope we were able to make you guys happy, too, with all our amazing debuts and wonderful guests.
Our good pal Daniel Clowes made an unofficial appearance, and braved the crowds for a visit with The Hernandez Bros! I think that lady to the right just realized who cut in front of her in line...
Jim Woodring delighted fans with sketches of his iconic characters, and he somehow did it with just a cheapie ballpoint pen! (His usual drawing pen decided to give up the ghost right before signings began.)
The great Mark Kalesniko was all-smiles as he signed copies of his books for fans! Mark also brought both an electronic slideshow and some originals, which was a wonderful lesson in cartooning for everyone who stopped by.
It's the unstoppable Justin Hall, moderating the Queer Cartoonists Panel before his No Straight Lines signing with us! That man is a trooper, I'm tellin' ya.
And we were lucky to steal the always-busy Shannon Wheeler away from his own booth for a couple of signings of Oil & Water!
Our all-star line-up kept us hoppin', but I did manage to sneak away a few times for some shoppin' and some photos of our Fantagraphics friends!
It's an annual tradition to sit side-by-side with our good buddies (and fellow Northwesterners) Jim Blanchard & J.R. Williams!
We didn't manage to snap a pic of the elusive Tim Hensley, but he was at APE, debuting his Ticket Stub collection with Rina Ayuyang's Yam Books! And, good lord, can I tell you people, it is a thing of freakin' beauty. Get one, seriously.
Speaking of elusive, the rumors were true: Zak Sally did make an unexpected secret appearance at the show! He snuck away before I could take a photo, though!
While I visited with Fanta-friends Tom Neely and Emily Nilsson of Sparkplug Comics, Mike had to contend with that line you see in the upper-righthand corner of this pic for the Love and Rockets signing! Yikes, sorry, Mike!
A quick run back to our own booth, and I was able to catch the adorable Brett Warnock of Top Shelf kanoodling with Rich Koslowski across the aisle!!!
Going through our photos, I was surprised that neither Mike nor I snapped any pictures of my birthday-buddy Tom Devlin of Drawn & Quarterly. (We both turned a year older on Saturday of the show.) But his v-neck sweater really did look great with the collared-shirt. Happy birthday, dear Tom!
Yay, that was fun! Let's do it again next year, San Francisco!
• 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)
• 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)
Waffle days are BACK at Fantagraphics thanks to a hearty group of staffers: Stephanie, Jacq, Kristy, Steph O. and Jen. The waffles proceeded, of course, a staff meeting because we like our sweet AND sour here.
Featuring delicious chicken and some heart-shaped vegan waffles, we chowed down with the regular condiments too like Nutella, peanut butter, fruit, whipped cream and good ol' Vermont maple syrup. Ian nibbles in anticipation of that perfect golden brown waffle.
Emory and Tony talk turkey (bacon).
Grillmasters Jen and Jacq.
Interns were not locked in the basement as per our usual when free food is around so they frolicked wielding doughy forks and wearing happy grins. WAFFLES ARE BACK.
(Beautiful waffle pic by Steph Haynes. There is no grunge appropriate Instagram filter, yet.)
We're proud to announce the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery Fall Schedule! Come find out why New York Magazine listed us in their Urbanist's Guide to Seattle! See why the Seattle Weekly named us Seattle's Best Comic Book Store, adding "it's a gallery, bookshop, and thriving arts community all in one." But, hopefully, you know how great we are already, so just c'mon out and buy some books!
• Saturday, September 8th:GARY PANTERDal Tokyo exhibition and book signing. Exhibition continues through October 10.
• Saturday, October 13th: THE HORROR: EC Comics Library exhibition with music performance by MOLLY NILSSON. Exhibition continues through October 31.
• Friday, November 2nd:NOAH VAN SCIVERThe Hypo with DAVID LASKY The Carter Family exhibition and book signing. Exhibition continues through November 22.
• Saturday, November 10th:ELLEN FORNEYMarbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me presentation and book signing at Microsoft Auditorium, Seattle Public Library.
• Saturday, November 24th: NICO VASSILAKIS The Last Vispo Anthology exhibition, book signing and performances. Exhibition continues through December 6.
• Saturday, December 8th: Spectacular 6th Anniversary Celebration with very special guests, including musical guest GENEVIÈVE CASTRÉE.
You won't want to miss a minute of the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery Fall Schedule! We're located at 1201 S. Vale Street at Airport Way South. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM.
No, actually, I have to say it was the BEST SDCC EVER! And here's a buncha reasons why:
• In honor of Eisner-winner Tom Spurgeon, I'm gonna write this FLOG post in bullet point, Comics Reporter-style. As our own Steven Weissmansaid on Twitter, Tom was everyone's Comic-Con crush this year. Getting to hang out with him was definitely one of my highlights, and I was delighted to hear stories of the olden days of Fantagraphics, sigh. God, we're so boring and nice now.
• Speaking of Tom, his brother Whit wins for "Best T-Shirt of Comic-Con": an Ivan Brunetti-illustrated tee for the band... Sex Fist. Yup.
• Although, on the way to dinner Saturday night, someone stopped me to tell me my Eightball tee was the "Best T-Shirt of Comic-Con," and yeah, I kinda love my Eightball tee. It was an honor to wear some of Dale Yarger's old Fantagraphics t-shirts from the '90s to the convention.
• It's always a thrill when Matt Groening comes by to visit, but especially this year, 'cause we got to geek out over the new Gary Panter book Dal Tokyo together! Matt even shared a few secrets from when he and Panter worked at the L.A. Weekly together, oooh!!!
• After five long years of attending Comic-Con, Mike and I finally managed to make it to a Venture Brothers panel! That has nothing to do with anything, but our own Stephen DeStefano used to do storyboards for them, so there's your "comix tie-in."
• I always love getting to visit with all our guest artists, but especially Miss Natalia Hernandez, who shares my love of Giant Robot, nail polish, Chi's Sweet Home, and more. I'm thinkin' next year, I'm organizing a SDCC manicure outing for us.
• Speaking of Giant Robot, somehow I managed to karaoke with Martin & Greg Wong 'til 3:00 AM and not lose my voice. [ Photo by one of my bestest friends, Susie Ghahremani. Comic-Con would not have been as awesome without her. <3 ]
• THANK YOU to the customer who kindly gave me a Snickers bar on the last day of the show! Yes, you were right, I did need it!
• And on that note, at the risk of sounding corny, I have to say, one of my show highlights is always getting to meet you, our customers, our readers, our mutual fans. Look, I'm just a comic nerd like the rest of you. If you wanna geek out over Sublife and Thrizzle or whatever, come find me. You're all so nice, and smart, and fun to talk to, and you make going to shows my favorite part of working at Fantagraphics.
• My one bummer of SDCC was that it was the last one for Drawn & Quarterly's Jessica Campbell, who I will miss terribly! I thought we were gonna grow old together, side by side in Aisle 1700 of the San Diego Convention Hall, but sadly, she is moving on to saner things. Good-bye, my dear Jessica. You and I will make it to Tijuana someday. [ Photo of me, Jessica, and James Kochalka swiped from the D&Q blog; snapped by the lovely Peggy Burns ]
• And finally, a special shout-out to my partner-in-crime, Mike Baehr. Somehow, you make late nights unpacking, and then later re-packing, books fun. <3
Diana Schutz of Dark Horse visits with Mario & Gilbert while Jaime keeps his nose to the grindstone. Citizen Rex sequel, anyone?
Steven Weissman & Jon Vermilyea compare notes on strap-fondling techniques. Hey, there's Zack Carlson partially visible over Steven's shoulder — a special shout-out to Zack for his good spirit and volunteerism this week. (Zack also made one of the most amazing Comic-Con purchases I've ever heard about: a 1964 Chevrolet Corvair.)
Young Romance is a real page-turner, as editor Michel Gagné demonstrates.
Eric and Tom Spurgeon yak it up while D&Q's Tom Devlin ponders the unspeakable and Janice looks on.
Scott McCloud looks happy to have found some (mc)clouds in Johnny Gruelle's Mr. Twee Deedle (shut up, I'm tired).
Comic-Con Sundays are always too hectic for much picture-taking:
Old friend Roger Langridge popped by and sketched the Great Gonzo for Clem Reynolds, to papa Eric's delight.
Gilbert & Jaime discuss their escape.
And it's over!!! Our leftovers (and some stuff making its way to Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery) donned their finest fetish wear for the trip back to Seattle.
Thanks to the thousands of folks who visited our booth this year (especially those who spent their money in it), Comic-Con staff & volunteers, our wonderful artists, our kick-ass staff, all of our pals & colleagues... another humdinger of a year! I'm off for a week of R&R so I'll catch you all next week.
• Los Angeles, CA: Check out the opening of "Freak Scene," featuring Johnny Ryan, Mome-vet Jim Rugg, and our very own Jason T. Miles! This collection of underground comix opens at Synchronicity Space [ 713 N. Heliotrope ] (more info)
