* Other People's Publications
** Yeah, You Know Me.
It's been a long time since our last edition of "Down With OPP," so for those of us who've forgotten (me), it's a column where we take a look at books from other publishers that you can find at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle!
And, of course, what could inspire me to revive the column faster than a new title from the great Lynda Barry!!! I was beyond the moon to get to the store yesterday and see we had Blabber Blabber Blabber: Volume 1 of Everything (Drawn & Quarterly) in stock!
It opens with this beautiful quote from Gahan Wilson's Nuts, I mean COME ON.
And here's Lynda's take on a ZAP Comix cover, wowie! The book begins with Lynda talking about her introduction to comics, which I loved reading since she was one of MY introductions. I fell in love with her work from the back pages of the alt-weeklies, and, um… may have collaged some of them into my zines in the '90s. (Sorry, Lynda…)
ANYWAY! The book then goes on to collect her very first Ernie Pook's Comeeks from the late '70s/early '80s, to a strip called Two Sisters that I had not even heard of before! It also includes some mail art and comics that Matt Groening sent her in the late '70s, including some collaborations with Gary Panter, eee!
It ends with a reprint of Girls + Boys and Big Ideas, as seen in the 2010 Bumbershoot Counterculture Comix exhibit, curated by Fantagraphics' own Larry Reid!
Larry and Lynda go way back in the Seattle underground comix scene, so swing by the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery and ask him all about the good 'ol days! Blabber Blabber Blabber: Volume One of Everything, and a coupla other Barry titles, are currently in stock at 1201 S. Vale Street in Seattle's Georgetown district. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: (206) 658-0110. See you there!