Fantagraphics Blog janice headley

Wow! The Usagi Yojimbo exhibit just opened at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles this past weekend, and the rave reviews are already pouring in!  We got some great photos from our friends at Dark Horse that we just had to share… like THIS ONE: Why, that's no evil ronin! That's Sergio Aragonés! Gak, indeed! Our friends at Giant Robot were also on the scene! They posted some beautiful shots of the show on their website, including a loving tribute sketch from Stan Lee, ha!  Don't forget: Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo runs until October…

I can't think of a nicer way to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit than with this Usagi Yojimbo exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles!   The exhibit gets hoppin' this Saturday, July 9th, as the great Stan Sakai is in town to give a talk, a demonstration, and sign some books! In fact, the whole day is jam-packed with fun activities, including screenings of anime films from the '20s and '30s, origami workshops, and a cooking lesson on how to make a broccoli carrot slaw, sure to satisfy any samurai! Sakai-san explains himself, on his…

On Saturday, July 9th, the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery debuts our exhibit The Quiet Rrriot: Visual Artists from the Riot Grrrl Movement.  We're celebrating the long-awaited reissue of Megan Kelso's incredible collection Queen of the Black Black, and we're also featuring two of her contemporaries from the '90s Olympia-scene, Nikki McClure and Stella Marrs. Yesterday, we took a closer look at Stella's art, and today, we're gonna talk about Nikki! Nikki and Megan were in the same year at the infamous Evergreen State College, and you can see the Olympia-influence in both of their work.  Nikki's artwork graced the covers…

This coming Saturday, July 9th, the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery unveils our latest exhibit The Quiet Rrriot: Visual Artists from the Riot Grrrl Movement, celebrating the release of Megan Kelso's recently reissued Queen of the Black Black, and also spotlighting two other rad DIY ladies of the Northwest, Nikki McClure and Stella Marrs.   We all know how awesome Megan is, but lemme introduce you to how equally-cool Nikki and Stella are, starting with the mysterious Ms. Stella Marrs. Anyone who's stepped into a bookstore in the last thirty years has surely seen her distinctive postcards in a rack near the…

photo credit: vanigliavvelenata on Flickr "Revolution Girl Style Now!!!" Um… that's what I might've exclaimed when Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid told me that we'd be doing an exhibit on the "Riot Grrrl" scene of the '90s to celebrate the reissue of Megan Kelso's incredibly-important (in my humble opinion) collection of early work, Queen of the Black Black. Was I a riot grrrl? Er, not exactly. While the scene was emerging from Olympia, WA, I was a pre-teen, stuck in the boring suburbs of Fort Worth, TX. I had no scene, and I had nothing to rebel against, except maybe…

Fantagraphics Starts The Quiet Rrriot with Megan Kelso, Nikki McClure and Stella Marrs at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, July 9th  Riot grrrl is mainly remembered for the loud rock bands that grew out of it, but as much as it was a musical movement, it was a visual arts and literary movement, too. Drawings, photographs, collages, comics, essays, stories and manifestos poured out from girls all over the country in the early ‘90s in the form of self-published zines, mini-comics, handmade books, album art, and show posters. Girls who saw a show, found a flyer, or read the infamous…

I hope the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles has a lot of beer in stock, because Tony Millionaire will be in the house on Wednesday, June 29th! It's the debut of The Andrés Du Bouchet Center for the Performing Arts, a monthly comedy series hosted by comedian and Conan writer Andrés Du Bouchet, and curated by Adam Spiegelman and Fantagraphics friend Scott Jacobson. Starting this week, you can join them on the last Wednesday of every month for an evening of "artistic expression in a safe, supportive environment where people are drunk." Sounds perfect for Tony! Not only will Tony…

Move over, Peter, Bjorn & John!  Or, Peter, Paul & Mary, for that matter! Devin, Gary & Ross is the musical project of artists Devin Flynn, Ross Goldstein, and our very own, Gary Panter! They've been described as "Velvet Underground-era VU meets Alexander "Skip" Spence meets the equally LSD-infused solo output of Germany's Juergen Gleue, only WAY more deadpan." You can hear for yourself: their debut EP, Four Corners Bounce, is out now on the Arbitrary Signs label, and to celebrate, they're having a Record Release Party this Friday, June 24th at Desert Island in Brooklyn!  You wouldn't think it to…

HOW IS THIS EVENT NOT SOLD OUT ALREADY?!? Seriously, New York. You'd be a fool to miss this rare appearance from the legendary Lou Reed, this coming Monday, June 27th at The Strand. Lou will be reading from his book The Raven, a collaboration with Italian artist Lorenzo Mattotti — and if you ask me, it's a far more thrilling collaboration than that other one making the news right now! Ticket holders will receive a signed copy of The Raven, your choice of a famous standard-size Strand tote bag, and the opportunity to meet Lou Reed.  Price of the ticket?…