Fantagraphics Blog janice headley

Well, a black eye you'll want, anyway! It's Black Eye 1: Graphic Transmissions to Cause Ocular Hypertension, a new anthology featuring many Fantagraphics artists packed in those pages, including Al Columbia, Robert Goodin, Glenn Head, Michael Kupperman, Mark Newgarden, and Jon Vermilyea. (You may remember Black Eye as the anthology that got confiscated on the way to TCAF…) Ivan Brunetti, Lilli Carré, and Paul Hornschemeier are also featured in this collection, and they'll be signing (along with Paul Nudd and Onsmith) this coming Friday, June 24th at Quimby’s Bookstore [1854 W. North Ave, Chicago]. The metaphorical punches start flying at…

The Santa Barbara Writers Conference kicked off this past weekend and runs until Thursday, June 23rd. And on Tuesday, June 21st, join Gary Groth at 4:00 pm for a special Graphic Novel Panel! He'll be joined by a powerhouse line-up of Joyce Farmer, Tim Hensley, and Sammy Harkham. The Santa Barbara Writers Conference is held at the Hotel Mar Monte [1111 East Cabrillo Boulevard, Santa Barbara, CA], which is an actual hotel, and not the fancy name for Monte Schulz's house.

Delve into the peculiar mysteries of the Unifactor as Seattle artist Jim Woodring unveils the secrets behind his brand new graphic novel Congress of the Animals, released this month by Fantagraphics Books Inc. Congress of the Animals is the highly-anticipated follow-up to last year’s Weathercraft, and in 2010, Woodring was awarded the Stranger Genius Award for literature. Join us at the Elliott Bay Book Company at 7:00 pm on Thursday, June 30th as Woodring himself takes us page by page through his latest creation, with explanations and anecdotes on his first full-length graphic novel to star his signature character, Frank….

* Other People's Publications** Yeah, You Know Me. Is it a cheat to spotlight Life with Mr. Dangerous by Paul Hornschemeier? I mean, technically, the book was released last month by Random House/Villard, but we did serialize it first in Mome. Obviously, I think it still counts, as there's something different about reading Life with Mr. Dangerous collected in this stylish hard-bound edition. Without the stops-and-starts of serialization, I found myself far more immersed in the world of Amy Breis, a lonely 26-year-old stuck in a dead-end job, living alone with her cat, and obsessed with the TV show "Mr….

I've just been loving all these Fantagraphics fashion posts I'm getting to write lately!  Keep it up, designers!!! First up is this incredible pair of rare Roberto Clemente sneakers! Whoa. Here's the auction listing for 'em, and at that price, you better not be wearing them on the field! [ Thanks to Anonymous Works for the tip! ] Curious about that first pair, I dug around a little online, and came across these beauts, and some more information. Apparently, back in the 1970's, Clemente lent his name to this brand of Super Pro sneakers, sold exclusively in his homeland of…

Things are gettin' trippy over at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art as they recently kicked off a set of tandem exhibits,  “Us Versus Them” and “Masters of Collective Reality,” curated by Phoenix-based artist Jon Haddock.  And Haddock's clearly got good taste as the "Masters of Collective Reality" exhibit will feature work from such artists as Rory Hayes, Joe Sacco, Basil Wolverton, and Jim Woodring, whose piece is show above! Both exhibits run through October 2nd at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art [7374 East Second Street, Scottsdale, AZ].

Those of you in Austin, Texas have a little less than a week left to check out As Above So Below: The Art of the Secret Society at the esteemed Domy Books!  The exhibit features Masonic lodge art, and other fraternal art and artifacts, and it also happens to feature this piece: …which might look familiar if you've picked up a copy of Catalog No. 439: Burlesque Paraphernalia and Side Degree Specialties and Costumes! According to the notes, it's some kind-of initiation device created in 1922… Yeah. I don't even want to know. Texans have until Thursday, June 9th to…

Class is back in session with Professor DeStefano! As you may already know, our award-nominated Lucky In Love artist Stephen DeStefano also has quite the background in animation, working on such favorites as The Ren & Stimpy Show, Earthworm Jim, and The Venture Brothers (a personal obsession for me and Mike). There is a reason he is regarded in the industry as "The Guru of Storyboarding"! And New Yorkers are in luck, as his popular MoCCA class "How to Do Storyboards for Animation" is back and expanded to four sessions, happening every Monday this month from 6:30 to 9:00 pm!…

Want. WANT. WantWantWantWantWant. Are you kidding me?!  One of the few things I love as much as comics is fashion, so a dress featuring a print designed by artist Ray Fenwick is almost too much for me to handle.  Titled "Toothpick Swarm," this cotton jersey dress from Threadless.com features Fenwick's immediately-identifiable illustration work in a bold tomato-red print.  And fellas, Fenwick has you covered, too, with the "S.S. Aimless" tee, also available through Threadless.com.  Um… I kinda want this, too. Of course, if you'd rather read it than wear it, just click here to get your copy of Mascots, if…