Fantagraphics Blog janice headley

* Other People's Publications** Yeah, You Know Me. While we eagerly await the release of Saint Cole next month, Seattleites and travelers can stop by the Fantagraphics Bookstore to pick up Noah Van Sciver's collection Youth Is Wasted, out last year via AdHouse Books! Youth Is Wasted compiles several short stories from Van Sciver, some that appeared in his self-published comic book series Blammo, and some published elsewhere, like our very own Mome anthology.  Van Sciver's amazing piece 1999 is reprinted here, which first appeared as a mini-comic from Retrofit: I remember reading it on the plane on the way…

James McNew, Bill Frisell, and Jim Woodring!!! Seriously, what more do I need to say? I've written before about the creative synergy between our dear Uncle Jim and McNew and his band, Yo La Tengo. They've collaborated before on everything from CD illustrations to tattoos to plastic figurines of the band… yet, somehow, they had never collaborated ON STAGE. This Sunday, October 5th, this monstruous injustice will be put to rest at Seattle's Town Hall.  McNew will be joined by legendary jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, who collaborated with Woodring himself on the (now sold out) 2002 "children's" book, Trosper.  Together,…

It's that time of year again: the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is taking the show on the road to beautiful Anacortes, WA for the 4th Annual Anacortes Unknown Music Series, co-organized by Northwest comic artist Geneviève Castrée. On Saturday, July 19th and Sunday, July 20th, we'll be on-site during the festival's Small Press Book Fair, carrying a handful of our titles alongside some of the self-published mini-comix and zines that we carry at the store. And this year, The Unknown welcomes special guest Anders Nilsen! Anders will be making a couple of special appearances. Join him on Friday evening, July…

The 2014 Olympia Comics Festival will take place Saturday, June 7th at our state capitol, with events held at The Capitol Theater, The Olympia Center, and Danger Room Comics. And this year's guests of honor are none other than our own Charles Burns and Jesse Reklaw! It'll be a homecoming for Charles Burns, who went to college at Olympia's Evergreen State College in the mid '70s (along with Lynda Barry and Matt Groening, be still my heart). Stop by his table and have him sign your old copies of Black Hole, inspired by the eerieness of the Pacific Northwest! And…

From Seattle to Scandinavia — Peter Bagge will be a featured guest at the 2014 Oslo Comics Expo! This June 12th-14th, get ready to say "velkommen" to Pete at the Schous Plass — all the fun goes down in the Deichmanske Library at Grünerløkka. (Not only are there fantastic comics and guests, but there's also a bar on the second floor!) Pete will be signing his latest collection, Buddy Buys a Dump, which contains the last nine issues of Hate Annual and completes the current story arc with a new twenty-page conclusion. You won't want to miss this rare appearance…

The acclaimed exhibit Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes continues its travels across the country with a stay at the Wexner Center for the Arts, opening Saturday, May 17th! And Dan himself will be there to kick off the show, in conversation with comics scholar Hillary Chute, starting at 7:00 PM in the Mershon Auditorium!  This special event is FREE thanks to Art Museum Day, a nationwide initiative of the Association of Art Museum Directors. Not only will Dan discuss his extensive bibliography, but he'll provide some insight into the accompanying exhibit Eye of the Cartoonist: Daniel Clowes’s Selections…

TCAF'ers! On Thursday, May 8th, noted herstorian Trina Robbins presents the lecture The Brinkley Girls, World War I and American Patriotism in Women’s Comics at Ryerson University! For anyone who hasn't checked out Trina's Eisner AND Harvey Award-nominated collection, The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley's Cartoons 1913-1940, cartoonist Nell Brinkley had a fascinating career spanning four decades, where she shrewdly used her work to encode political messages, sympathizing with working women and making a series about First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. (Trina gave a talk about Nell Brinkley at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery back in 2011, and it…

We're thrilled to see Robert Pollard is still at it! We don't mean his band, Guided By Voices — the indie rock veterans released seven albums just last year, and have at least five new releases planned for 2014… No, we're thrilled to see that among touring and recording, he's still making his gorgeous collage-based artwork, as featured in our 2008 collection Town of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery of Robert Pollard! A few of his pieces are being featured in the exhibit, Chimerical, now on view at the Modified Arts gallery in Phoenix, Arizona — this group art show is…

This Thursday, April 24th, the Society of Illustrators will host an evening so fun you're sure to plotz! Get off your tuches and catch the panel discussion From the Borscht Belt to Seinfeld: The Evolution of Jewish American Comedy, and learn more about how Jewish humor grew out of Yiddish culture, defined New York City's character in the early 20th century, and filtered into our American culture, literature, art, film and television from the 1950's to the present. The event runs from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Panelists include our own Drew Friedman, who will be joined by Edward Portnoy, Ph.D,…

Headin' to the Asbury Park Comicon this coming Saturday, April 12th and Sunday, April 13th? As we mentioned back in March, our own Peter Bagge, Bob Fingerman, Charles Forsman, and Miss Lasko-Gross will be special guests this year! And we're also happy to share that Miss will be part of a special edition of R. Sikoryak's celebrated Carousel series! Get ready for laughs on Saturday, April 12th at 5:00 PM. Miss will be reading alongside Dean Haspiel, Danny Hellman, Seth Kushner & Christa Cassano, Kriota Willberg, and, of course, host R. Sikoryak! Carousel will be held in the Berkeley Oceanfront…