Fantagraphics Blog Larry Reid

  Don't miss the October 13 installment of the Georgetown Art Attack in Seattle's spookiest neighborhood. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery will host "The Horror: Selections From the EC Comics Library" featuring a free concert by Berlin-based recording artist Molly Nilsson. Maybe we can convince her to perform her hit song "Hey Moon!" Bonus: Visitors to this store event will be among the first in the country to receive a complimentary copy of our sensational EC reprint Jack Davis's Tales from the Crypt. Boo!

  Excellent! Mr. Charles Burns will be at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, October 20. Doh! Not that Charles Burns. Or are they one in the same? Cartoonist Charles Burns was an Evergreen State College classmate of Simpsons creator Matt Groening, after all.   And on Monday, October 22 Mr. Burns will be joined by Bart and Homer…ay, caramba! We mean Charles Burns will appear at 7:30 with incomparable cartoonist Chris Ware and book designer Chip Kidd at Town Hall, 1119 8th Avenue in Seattle. Cowabunga! "Like" Fantagraphics Bookstore on Facebook for the latest information on events, new arrivals, specials, and more!

Fantagraphics lost our dear friend and creative colleague Heather Hughes yesterday following a courageous battle with cancer. Heather played the role of Babs Bradley in a one act play of Peter Bagge's story "You're Not the Boss of Me" directed by Steven Jesse Bernstein at the opening of the "Misfit Lit" comix art exhibition at CoCA in Seattle in 1991. She later performed at Fantagraphics Bookstore with her saucy musical comedy group the Fraus for the 2008 opening of Alex Chun's pin-up exhibition. We'll remember her fondly for this appearance with Bridget Fonda in Cameron Crowe's 1992 feature film Singles….

Saturday, October 20 is an embarrassment of riches at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. We'll have the incomparable Charles Burns signing copies of The Hive — his long-awaited sequel to X'ed Out.  Joining Burns will be the lovely and talented Gabrielle Bell with her new book, The Voyeurs, on Tom Kaczynski's Uncivilized Books imprint. Tom will also be present. Bonus: This event coincides with Elysian Brewing's Great Pumpkin Brew Festival at their nearby Georgetown bottling plant, featuring dozens of seasonal pumpkin beers from regional boutique breweries. Store patrons can also sample the latest Black Hole-inspired 12 Beers of the Apocalypse and…

  Many of you were first exposed to Gary Panter through his early "Jimbo" comix in Slash and RAW magazines. Or maybe through his brilliant work as set designer for Pee Wee's Playhouse. Old school Seattle residents recall his ubiquitous posters for the Screamers, plastered all over town by the late punk performance artist Tomato du Plenty. An industrial-strength adhesive allowed this alluring image to remain visible for the better part of a decade, becoming one of the enduring motifs of the Northwest punk school. Panter's comix appeared prominently in the seminal Seattle music magazine The Rocket. (Coincidentally, he later married former…

Our friend Matt Silvie dropped by Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday to present our "Best Comic Store" award from the Seattle Weekly. He was soon followed by Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn. I enlisted Matt to take this snapshot. (Hizzoner flanked by me and Martin Imbach of Georgetown Records.) McGinn was enamored of our gorgeous Johnny Gruelle collection, astutely observing the work had a "dark quality." Always nice to see the mayor, who has become a frequent visitor to our colorful Georgetown arts community.

Seeing Enid and Rebecca on the cover of the current issue of Juxtapoz art journal reminded me of a similar feature I wrote on Daniel Clowes in the same publication in March of 2001. The Ghost World film was about to be released. Clowes was thrilled at the artistic freedom he and filmmaker Terry Zwigoff enjoyed. "We're below the radar at MGM," he observed. I was unfamiliar with young Scarlett Johansson, describing her as "a former child actress who played opposite Robert Redford in The Horse Whisperer."  Who would've guessed that Clowes and Ghost World would go on to have such a profound effect…

The Fantagraphics family is saddened by the loss of Australian musician Eric "Ren" Reynolds. Former bandmate of current Fantagraphics sales manager Martin Bland (Lubricated Goat) and former warehouse worker Mark Arm (Bloodloss), Reynolds was a longtime Seattle resident. Known affectionately as "Ren," [and commonly as Renestair E.J., Martin informs us – Ed.] we trust people won't be alarmed by his sharing the name of our very-much-alive associate publisher Eric Reynolds. "Ren" was a funny dude and talented musician. We'll miss him. 

In an ongoing effort to nurture young talent and provide a showcase for emerging artists, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery presents “The Massive World of Mini Comics.” This exhibition features art created by young students who attended an 826 Seattle workshop devoted to comic zines taught by Seattle cartoonists Max Clotfelter, Ben Horak and Tim Miller, and facilitated by Fantagraphics Books and Alex Bleecker, program coordinator for 826 Seattle. The opening on Saturday, July 14, and the work will remain on display through August 9. Instructors Clotfelter, Horak and Miller are active participants in Seattle’s lively small press and self-publishing comics…