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.
This Week in Fantagraphics Events: 8/27-9/3
Tuesday, August 28th • Denver, CO: Join Noah Van Sciver for the release party for The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln at Kilgore Books! (more info) Saturday, September 1st • London, England: It's your last chance to check out an art exhibit of movie posters from the golden age of American porn, as seen in Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur! (more info) • Seattle, WA: Our very own Larry Reid, curator extraordinaire of the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, has teamed up with local artist John Ohannesian for a piece in the exhibit Elvistravaganza, which opens at Bumbershoot: Seattle's…
Ghosts of the Past
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…
Oil & Water Heading to Manzanita, Oregon!
Residents of this charming coastal town in Oregon need not fear: it's not an environmental disaster heading your way, merely the writer and artist behind the acclaimed graphic novel, Oil & Water! Steve Duin and Shannon Wheeler will be the special guests at the Manzanita Writers’ Series on Saturday, September 15th, to discuss what happened to other coastal towns after the Deepwater Horizon spill with a reading and discussion of the book starting at 7:00 PM. The Manzanita Writers’ Series meets at the Hoffman Center, located at 594 Laneda Avenue, across from the Manzanita Library, about two hours west from…
The Lost Art of Ah Pook Is Here and Observed While Falling by Malcolm McNeill – Previews, Pre-Order
The Lost Art of Ah Pook Is Here: Images from the Graphic Novel by Malcolm McNeill 168-page full-color 10.25" x 13.25" hardcover • $39.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-445-0 Ships in: October 2012 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now BARGAIN COMBO: Order this book with its companion volume and save 20%! The Lost Art of Ah Pook + Observed While Falling – Gift Set Price: $69.98 $55.98 Add to Cart In 1970, William S. Burroughs and artist Malcolm McNeill began a small collaborative project on a comic entitled The Unspeakable Mr. Hart, which appeared in the first four issues of Cyclops, England’s first comics…
Daily OCD 8/23/12
The ink is still wet on these Online Commentaries & Diversions: • Review: Andrew Wheeler of the Antick Musings rolls the dice with Dungeon Quest Vol. 3 by Joe Daly. "Dungeon Quest is so mellow and stoner-joyful that there's nothing to do but go along with it. . . it's an entirely amiable, perfectly cromulent wander through well-emulated quest-fantasy tropes, enlivened by cursing, drugs, and just a hint of sex." • Review (audio): Factual Opinion with Tucker Stone, Joe McCullogh and Chris Mautner rattle on about Dungeon Quest from the 5 minute mark on. They love Daly's descriptions of his…
Happy Birthday, Ernie Bushmiller!
Creator of the seminal NANCY comic strip in addition to Fritzi Ritz, Ernie Bushmiller would have been 107 today. A truly 'algebraic' comic, the oddly yet perfectly balanced strip was and still is hugely popular with comic strip readers despite its squat protagonist and cornball comedy. A cartoonist who rarely took a day off, Bushmiller inspired generations of future cartoonists and Fantagraphics is proud to reprint the strips. As Tom Spurgeon was so nice to point out, when Fantagraphics was located in Stamford, Connecticut, our neighbor WAS Ernie Bushmiller! Celebrate the love of Bushmiller and read some Nancy today….
First Look: Ralph Azham Vol. 1 by Lewis Trondheim
That's right, it's the first volume in an all-new, all-original fantasy saga by the great Lewis Trondheim! Advance copies of Ralph Azham Vol. 1: Why Would You Lie to Someone You Love? arrived here at HQ a couple days ago and here's your first peek at a copy. Ralph is an erstwhile "chosen one" who's gone to seed a little bit but is called back to adventure when his village is threatened by a horrific invasion force. Action and hilarity ensues! The book should be out in October — stay tuned for more previews, and be among the first to…
Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me: Robert Crumb Letters 1958-1977 – Previews, Pre-Order
Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me: Robert Crumb Letters 1958-1977 by Robert Crumb; edited by Ilse Thompson 264-page black & white 6" x 9" softcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-560-0 Ships in: September 2012 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now "R. Crumb's writing, a dimension of his comics that usually passes underappreciated, receives a welcome spotlight in these sparsely illustrated letters that exhibit the artist's ear for the American vernacular." — Rain Taxi Review of Books “I feel that my work is but a feeble expression of something that in itself is vague and doubtful… Sometimes when I probe myself I find…
Gary Panter Dal Tokyo Exhibit & Signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore Sept. 8
Gary Panter’s Dal Tokyo exhibition and book signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore! August 23, 2012 – Seattle, WA. Cartoonist Gary Panter has indelibly influenced four decades of American popular culture. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery celebrates this remarkable artist with an exhibition of original drawings and colorful prints on Saturday, September 8, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Panter will appear to sign copies of his new collection Dal Tokyo, published by Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books. Gary Panter’s manic “Jimbo” comix and dense illustrations were emblematic of California’s punk movement in the 1970s and later became fixtures in Art Spiegleman’s avant garde RAW Magazine…
