Named one of the “The Best Damn Comics of the Year” by Tom Kaczynski in Boing Boing‘s survey and one of “The Best Reads of 2012″ by musician Dan Willson in The Scotsman‘s survey, Ron Regé, Jr's The Cartoon Utopia was one of the most enchanting books of last year! And he'll be signing and discussing his magnum opus on Wednesday, July 17th at The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, starting at 7:00 PM! Learn more about the magic from the man himself, and get yourself a copy of this psychedelic, philosophical tale. The Last Bookstore (which is such a great name, by…
Down with OPP*: Marble Season
* Other People's Publications** Yeah, You Know Me. It's summertime, and the perfect way to spend it is with the "semi-autobiographical" novel Marble Season by the great Gilbert Hernandez, published by our dear friends at Drawn & Quarterly! Sure, I s'pose it takes place during the school year, but there's just something about Beto's stories of kids staging backyard plays, shooting marbles, and holding initiations for secret clubs that made me think of my own childhood and running around with no parents around during summer vacations! Even though it was inspired by Gilbert's own childhood growing up in suburban 1960s…
This Week in Fantagraphics Events: 7/8-7/15
photo credit: Larry Reid Wednesday, July 10th • Seattle, WA: It's your last chance to see our exhibit Guy Peellaert: The Adventures of Jodelle and Fragments of the Pop Years at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. The closing of this exhibit is especially bittersweet, as it was the last gallery show Larry worked on with Kim, seen here on opening day with Larry's wife, Tracey, and daughter, Bella, Kim's wife Lynn, and their friend, Ana. Please do come by and see it. (more details) Thursday, July 11th • Chicago, IL: "The Lexicon of Sexicana" + Esther Pearl Watson + A…
Sub Pop Zine Scene at Fantagraphics Bookstore
The evolution of the Sub Pop empire will be examined at Fantagraphics Bookstore in SODA POP: Super Sugar Big Buzz opening Saturday, July 13. These hand made publications serve as exquisite time capsules of early 80s indie culture. I recall sessions at Rosco Louie gallery with Bruce Pavitt and Russ Battaglia in 1981 individually coloring issues of Sub Pop #3 with crayons. The only directive I remember was "Don't stay inside the lines." Covers and random interior pages were scribbled with infantile abandon. Multiple examples of these early Sub Pop zines (with a quaint 80¢ cover price) will be on…
Lost Cat by Jason – Now in Stock
Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: Lost Catby Jason; translated by Kim Thompson 160-page two-color 6" x 8.75" hardcover • $24.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-642-3 See Previews / Order Now A detective is walking down the street. It is raining. He sees a "Lost Cat" poster. A minute later he sees the cat from the photo. He picks it up and goes back to the poster. He calls the number. A woman answers. He turns up at her place and gives her the cat. She invites him in from the rain for a cup of coffee. They talk and find…
Goddamn This War! by Jacques Tardi & Jean-Pierre Verney – Now in Stock
Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: Goddamn This War!by Jacques Tardi & Jean-Pierre Verney 140-page full-color 8.25" x 10.75" hardcover • $24.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-582-2 See Previews / Order Now BARGAIN COMBO: Goddamn This War! + It Was the War of the Trenches Price: $49.98 $39.98 Created 15 years after the completion of his Eisner Award-winning World War I masterwork It Was the War of the Trenches, Tardi's Goddamn This War! is no mere sequel or extension, but a brand new, wholly individual graphic novel that serves as a companion piece to Trenches but can be read entirely on…
The Lexicon of Sexicana with Esther Pearl Watson in Chicago!
What more do I even need to say here?! The great Esther Pearl Watson + something called "The Lexicon of Sexicana" = your guaranteed attendance! Oh, fine, more details… The Ladydrawers Comics Collective is an unofficially affiliated group of women, men, transgender, and non-binary gender folk who research, perform, and publish comics and texts about how economics, race, sexuality, and gender impact the comics industry, other media, and our culture at large. This summer, they have launched SEX. MONEY. RACE. GENDER., an exhibition and workshop series at the A+D Gallery in Chicago. And, on Thursday, July 11th from 5:30 PM to…
The Three Paradoxes on comiXology
Happy to bring you some great comics reading for your long weekend, Fantagraphics and comiXology present Paul Hornschemeier's The Three Paradoxes to download. The story begins with a story inside the story: the cartoon character Paul Hornschemeier is trying to finish a story called "Paul and the Magic Pencil." An intricate, complex autobiographical comic blending multiple threads of reality and fantasy, each drawn in a different style, coming together as one story questioning change, progress, and worth in the author's life. For $12.99 this carefully woven tale can be yours to unravel again and again and again at comiXology. …
Sub Pop and Seattle’s Seminal Comix Culture
My first encounter with Sub Pop founder Bruce Pavitt came when he participated in an art show I co-curated at Rosco Louie gallery called "Famous Artists of the 80s," which opened on New Year's Eve at the dawn of that decade. Bruce contributed a delightfully playful painting rendered on the headboard of a baby crib. Though still a student at Evergreen State College, he came closest to fulfilling the ironic premise of the exhibition. Pavitt soon began producing his hand crafted Subterranean Pop fanzine, enlisting recent Evergreen alumni Lynda Barry to create the cover of issue 2 and Charles Burns to illustrate…
Wake Up with Percy Gloom & Cathy Malkasian This Saturday!
Don't sleep in this Saturday, July 6th! The great Cathy Malkasian will follow up her Friday night appearance at the California College of the Arts with a special "brunch" event at Mission: Comics & Art! Cathy will be serving up smiles and signings of Wake Up, Percy Gloom!, starting at 12:30 PM. It's sure to be your new favorite bedtime story, except you'll be too enchanted by Percy's adventures to fall asleep! Mission: Comics & Art is located at 3520 20th Street, Suite B in the Mission District of San Francisco, natch!
