I love this playlist of some of Joe Sacco's favorite songs that he put together for the New York Times. For one, Joe cites Wings' "Magneto & Titanium Man," describing it as a song about "made-up superheroes." Joe has to be the only comic book artist in America whom I could believe loves this song yet doesn't recognize Magento and Titanium Man as the iconic Marvel super-villains that they are. Joe, your FOOM card is revoked. I also love it because Joe cites Charlie Patton's "Down the Dirt Road Blues." Around the time Joe was working on Safe Area Gorazde,…
New Comics day 3/3/10
Guaranteed to be the glitteriest book slated to arrive in comic shops throughout the land today: Unlovable Vol. 2 by Esther Pearl Watson 416-page two-color 5.75" x 5.75" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-314-9 Being the second and final installment of the hilarious and humiliating adventures of high school misfit Tammy Pierce. In their weekly recommendations new Comics Comics correspondent Joe McCulloch admits "I didn’t read the first one, but it seems to have been well-received for its gangling verisimilitude" and Robot 6's Chris Mautner calls it "Poignant, cringe-inducing comics, to be sure." Catch up with more info and extensive previews here,…
Dash Shaw art show & talk at MoCCA
Cribbed directly from Dash's blog: Making The AbyssDrawings from BodyWorld, Bottomless Belly Button, animations and comic short stories by Dash Shaw. Shaw's recent works (BodyWorld, The Unclothed Man, and Bottomless Belly Button) connect an interest with the human body, informed by figure drawing, with humorous character-driven narratives. This show displays his original art for these stories, which are often a combination of traditional crowquill and ink work with gouache paints, acetate sheets, animation-style backgrounds, colored marker storyboards, and mixed media collages. At the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art594 Broadway, Suite 401 (btwn. Houston and Prince) New York, NY 10012…
First Look: Ding Dong Daddy from Dingburg
Bill Griffith returned my Facebook friend request just in time for me to catch his post with the original to-be-colored cover art for his next Zippy the Pinhead collection coming later this year.
Alternative Comics Luminary Gilbert Hernandez at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Sat. March 13
Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of original artwork and book signing by celebrated cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez on Saturday, March 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Gilbert will be Fantagraphics guest at the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle on March 13 and 14. The reception at Fantagraphics Bookstore serves as the official after-party for the convention, so expect to see a wide array of comic book professionals in attendance. Together with his brother Jaime, Gilbert Hernandez revitalized the moribund comics medium nearly 30 years ago with the inspiring series LOVE AND ROCKETS. Los Bros. Hernandez created…
Things to see: 3/2/10
Your daily roundup of art bits from 'round the web: • Is this a glimpse inside Tales Designed to Thrizzle #6 from Michael Kupperman? (Update: Nope) (Update update: Our own Adam Grano IDs it as a colorized page from Snake 'n' Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret — what's goin' on here?) • Steven Weissman's remaining Post-Its from the GR2 show are now available on Comic Art Collective — who are you to resist? • A 5-page Kim Deitch story from 1973, presented by John Glenn Taylor (via The Comics Reporter) • This 1948 Jim Flora illustration accompanies news about a future Flora…
Daily OCD: 3/2/10
Today's dose of Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: The great John Porcellino names Zak Sally's Like a Dog as one of his favorite comics of 2009 (unsurprising, since he wrote the introduction): "It's impossible for me to be objective about this book, as Zak is one of my closest friends, but this is a really powerful, fascinating collection of comics. Very dark, and even brutal sometimes, but bracing, and highly original." • Interview: Blogcritics' Michael Jones talks to Femke Hiemstra about her art book Rock Candy: "I do not deliberately strive for a 'childlike' feel or a 'children's book…
Things to see: 3/1/10
Good grief, all you art bloggers sure stay busy over the weekends… • Man, remember the awesome comics that Tower Records' Pulse magazine ran back in the 1990s, like this one from Frank Santoro? • A piece by Richard Sala for an Oz-themed art show at Gallery Meltdown in L.A. which opened on Saturday (Steven Weissman's in it too) • Speaking of Steven Weissman, here are some ideas he's working on • Nautical sketches circa 1950s by Jim Flora • Two from Jim Blanchard, who describes the commissioned drawing at top as "Definitely the high point of my art career…
Daily OCD: 3/1/10
In like a lion with Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Thank God then for Almost Silent, a new collection repackaging some of Fanta’s older Jason books — some of which are no longer in print in their original format — as an anthology the same size, shape and design as Low Moon. … Buy it to read the stories, keep it to restore order and balance to your bookshelf." – J. Caleb Mozzocco, Newsarama • Review: Avoid the Future collects and expands on their first 10 Twitter micro-reviews of Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s: "More than…
Fanta Sponsors STRAND Tote Bag Design Contest!
Announcing the STRAND Tote Bag Design Contest! WIN BOOKS from Fantagraphics, Toon Books and Drawn & Quarterly! The Strand Book Store has partnered with the School of Visual Arts, TOON Books,Drawn & Quarterly and Fantagraphics Books to host a tote bag design contest. Beginning today, March 1, 2010, artists from around the world are invited to submit original illustrations representing the Strand Book Store.In April 2006, a Japanese language financial newspaper named the Strand tote bag the #1 souvenir to bring home to Japan from New York City. In one month, tote bag sales tripled and have been at the same level ever since….
