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photo credit: K. Bidus Cheer up, good sir! This year, the International Society of Caricature Artists have named Drew Friedman as their Guest-of-Honor at this year's convention. And all I gotta say about that is, daaamn straight! The 2011 convention runs November 13th through 18th in St. Pete Beach, Florida, and unfortunately, it's only open to members of the ISCA, but if you happen to be one, you can look forward to what's sure to be a delightful keynote address from Drew! Congratulations, Drew!!! CORRECTION: Drew informs us that day passes to the convention are available to the general public!…

Book it to BookCourt this Wednesday, November 16 for a presentation with our own Leslie Stein! It's all part of the "Cousin Corinne's Live Comix Block" series, as MC'ed by Dean Haspiel.  Jennifer Hayden and George O'Connor are also on the bill this week. The fun starts at 7:00 PM, and later in the evening, she'll be signing copies of Eye of the Majestic Creature — so, head on over to BookCourt [ 163 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY ] this Wednesday!

You can all have Female Trouble this coming Friday, November 11th as our friends at Meltdown Comics kick off their latest exhibit, Pretty? Pretty? A Divine Art Show — a tribute to the one-and-only John Waters ingenue! That's a sneak peek of one of Johnny Ryan's pieces above,  and as he mentions on his blog, the other "is a 'mixed media' piece [he] can’t reveal just yet." (Mike Baehr to me, "I hope it's Johnny in drag!") The opening reception for Pretty? Pretty? A Divine Art Show is from 8:00 – 11:00 PM, featuring a live DJ, free booze, drag’s…

Seattle has always had a reputation for its strong underground comics scene, but dang it, how is it we haven't had our own small press show before? Well, that all changes this Saturday, November 12th as the Short Run Small Press Fest makes its debut at the Vera Project at Seattle Center, from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Fantagraphics won't have a table there ourselves, but many of our artists will be exhibiting, including Andrice Arp, Jim Blanchard, Jason T. Miles (with his distro Profanity Hill), Megan Kelso, Michael Dowers, Pat Moriarity, and Roberta Gregory. Afterwards, the Fantagraphics Bookstore &…

"HI, I'M ALFE. AND THIS IS MY ART SHOW." Hopefully you're already watching The Problem Solverz on Cartoon Network, and if you're not, then get on it. As previously reported on this here FLOG, it's the insane (emphasis on the word "insane") animated series from Ben Jones, featuring fellow Fantagraphics artists Jon Vermilyea and John Pham on staff. Our friends at Giant Robot will be hosting an art show featuring original artwork created in the style of the program and its characters, opening on Saturday, November 19th! Opening reception is from 6:30 – 10:00 pm at GR2 [2062 Sawtelle Blvd….

Discover the genius of famed music critic Paul Nelson in the very city whose scene he documented for years in Rolling Stone magazine. Author/editor Kevin Avery will appear at the Strand Bookstore in New York City tonight for a discussion and signing for Everything is an Afterthought: The Life & Writings of Paul Nelson. He will be joined on stage by Dave Marsh, a rock critic, historian, anti-censorship activist, talk show host and "Louie Louie" expert who has written more than 20 book about rock and popular music. Buy the book or a $10 Strand Gift Card in order to…

"Kevin Avery has done something heroic here. Avery has rescued the work and the passion, the life and the meaning of the great Paul Nelson. Nelson was a deep and beautiful writer, mysterious and painstaking and brilliant. Thanks to Avery and Everything Is an Afterthought, Paul Nelson's work finally has a home." – Cameron Crowe What happened to legendary music critic Paul Nelson? Fantagraphics Books Inc. invites you to find out as we present author/editor Kevin Avery on tour for the unique anthology-biography, Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson — a collection that's been called…

We're excited to announce that Dutch artist and designer Femke Hiemstra is returning to Seattle for a show at Roq La Rue, opening this Friday, November 11th! The show is entitled "The Timid Cabbage," and features a series of brand new drawings, including an illustration of a poem by Seattle's own Charles Krafft!  She will also be joined by artist Ryan Heshka. The reception runs from 6:00 – 9:00 PM, so drop by Roq La Rue [ 2312 2nd Avenue, Seattle ] and say hi to Femke for us!

Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation 2011 Poster Trailer from Eyeworks Festival on Vimeo. There's no sophomore slump for the Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation, co-organized by our own Lilli Carré! Although only in its second year, it's got another impressive line-up of experimental animation of all sorts: classic films, new works, and rare masterpieces, including a piece by another Fantagraphics artist, Nicolas Mahler. Chicagoans can SEE the Eyeworks Festival for themselves this Saturday, November 5th and Sunday November 6th, at the DePaul University [ CDM Theater, 247 S. State Street, lower level ].