Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Alex Toth worked in a multitude of genres while at Standard (crime, romance, and horror among them) and they are, to the last one, collected here. Also, Toth’s Standard work has been reprinted somewhere between infrequently and not at all, and to have it all collected (and collected beautifully; the digital restoration keeps the original look perfectly) in this work fills in a sizable gap in comics history. Bravo for Fantagraphics…. If you’ve ever wanted to see what the 'big deal' is with Alex Toth, I can think of absolutely no better place…
Warren Bernard discusses Drawing Power, Tom Neely presents The Wolf at Fantagraphics Bookstore 9/24
DRAWING POWER: Curator Warren Bernard discusses the history of cartoon advertising at Fantagraphics Bookstore on September 24. Special guest artist Tom Neely presents The Wolf. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery welcomes two diverse professionals in the field of comix for an extraordinary event on Saturday, September 24 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Editor and curator Warren Bernard will discuss cartoons in the service of commerce in connection with his new book and exhibition Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising. He'll be joined by provocative contemporary cartoonist and visual artist Tom Neely presenting his new graphic novel The Wolf. Drawing Power…
Bookmark: el blog de Max
The great Spanish cartoonist Max contacted us to let us know he has a new blog, El Hombre Duerme, el Fantasma No, where he's posting his illustrations and designs as well as updates on his upcoming graphic novel Vapor, which we will be publishing in Spring 2012. There's a pretty decent amount of stuff up already, so check it out and we'll be keeping an eye on future updates!
Powering Up for Drawing Power at the Fantagraphics Bookstore
I was pretty excited to get to the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery this past Sunday and see the exhibit is now up for Drawing Power: An Exhibition of Cartoon Advertising! Where the heck did editor Warren Bernard get all this cool stuff?! Well, we can ask him in person when he makes a special Seattle appearance on Saturday, September 24th at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery! Make plans now to join us from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Warren will be giving a slideshow presentation and talk. And as an extra bonus, we'll be joined by artist Tom Neely, currently on…
Things to See: 9/12/11 Roundup
• Convention sketches inspired by song lyrics is a pretty great idea, and an Atlanta comic fan named Erich collects them and posts them on his blog. Above: Lisa Leavenworth + Mudhoney by Peter Bagge (hat tip: CBR) • Noah Van Sciver illustrates the Denver Westword's "hipster's guide to sports" • More Jack Davis fun from Will Pfeifer's Today's Inspiration blog, as Pfeifer presents a bunch of Davis-illustrated "Funny Valentines" Topps cards (hat tip: The Comics Reporter) • Victor Kerlow draws Julie Hagerty and Albert Books in Lost in America for The New Yorker • Eleanor Davis presents a preview…
Things to See: more of Jason’s Athos in America sketches & notes
As we pointed out a week or 2 ago, Jason has been posting some rough sketches and handwritten dialogue, along with brief comments on background and storytelling technique, for each of the stories in his upcoming book Athos in America on his Cats Without Dogs blog. Here's the complete set: "So Long, Mary Ann," "The Brain That Wouldn't Virginia Woolf," "Tom Waits on the Moon," "A Cat from Heaven," "The Smiling Horse" and the title story "Athos in America."
Daily OCD: 9/12/11
A double dose of Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: Race To Death Valley by Floyd Gottfredson will be warmly received by comics aficionados but should also intrigue Disney animation buffs who aren't necessarily plugged into comic strip history. Editors David Gerstein and Gary Groth have not only scoured the planet for the best surviving artwork on Gottfredson's first epic continuity, which ran in newspapers from April to September of 1930; they've provided background essays (by a raft of experts), vintage press materials and artwork to put it into the context of Walt Disney's burgeoning career,…
Bumber’ed with Jim Blanchard and Jim Woodring
The Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival in Seattle has come and gone, and I'm still recovering from the three-day whirlwind of bands, comedians, and shishkaberries, but for those of you who weren't able to attend, I thought I'd share some snaps from the "Bumber By Number" exhibit, which ran during Bumbershoot weekend! Curators Marlow Harris and Jo David gave vintage paint-by-number kits to local artists, who were encouraged to customize the works and "paint-outside-the-box," as it were. Here's Jim Blanchard's vibrant piece, which looks like it should be hung in a wood-paneled basement, or perhaps screened on the side of…
Hooked On Hooked On Comix
Earlier this month, the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery was thrilled to host a preview screening of the alt-comix documentary series "Hooked on Comix 3," spotlighting our very own Dame Darcy and Tony Millionaire! We were very fortunate to have directors David P. Moore and Audry Mandelbaum in attendance, and you can check out an interview David did with Dan Morrill of ComicsForge.com below (or on YouTube)! It's a great look around at our bookstore & gallery, and there's even a lo-fi preview of Tony's interview at the end: Come visit the Fantagraphics Bookstore and get hooked on comix yourself! We're…
Love & Rockets & Laundry
Somewhere out there is an incredibly lucky lady named Susan who received a half-dozen of these one-of-a-kind hand-drawn t-shirts from Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez back in 1982! Gilbert's awesome wife Carol just shared these pics on the Love & Rockets Facebook Fan Page with the note: "I am amazed that she still has them." Whaaat?! I would've been amazed if she didn't!!! Become a "fan" of the Love & Rockets Facebook Fan Page and see more of these incredible tees, and stay in the loop with The Hernandez Brothers, past and present!
