Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "This all-ages-friendly tale opens with a comical but sincere note of existential angst, but Billy ultimately discovers his orientation in the world through his relationships with others. … The tale itself frequently veers toward the lunatic, but if it skirts the surreal it does so precisely by taking the kinds of unfettered narrative turns that characterize the best children's literature. And like those books, Millionaire's [Billy Hazelnuts and the Crazy Bird] creates a safe space for exploration that remains grounded throughout in a humane sensibility that quietly makes itself known by showing, not telling."…
Artopia Arts Festival in Seattle’s Utopian Georgetown on June 26
Don’t miss this: The Artopia cultural extravaganza and Georgetown Music Festival take place on Saturday, June 26 from 3:00 to 10:00 PM. It’s all FREE! Dozens of bands will perform on several stages, including one right outside Fantagraphics Bookstore featuring the Tom Price Desert Classic with our own Martin Bland on traps. Old school carnival games and confections, aerial circus acts, and thrilling Power Tool Races are among the many attractions. You’ll love the demonic chainsaw-powered Daniel Clowes skateboard created by our curator Larry Reid and daughter Bella. Just don’t get too close. This year’s Artopia features a special appearance…
Cash in that 401K and Call Your Travel Agent!
Make plans for Labor Day weekend in Seattle now! The Bumbershoot art and music festival promises to be the best in recent memory. In addition to performances by the likes of Bob Dylan, Neko Case, Hole, the Decemberists, Weezer and countless other bands, the festival includes a large exhibition of contemporary Seattle cartoonists. Organized by Fantagraphics resident curator Larry Reid, "Counterculture Comix: A 30-Year Survey of Seattle Alternative Cartoonists" begins with Lynda Barry's work circa 1980 and continues through the present. The show reveals Seattle as the ancestral home of the alternative comix genre and examines the role comix played…
Kim Deitch master class at MoCCA June 28
Meanwhile, Deitch family fans on the other coast won't be left in the lurch — on Monday June 28 at 6:30 PM in New York City the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art presents a Master Class in Comic Art and Storytelling with Kim Deitch, who "will impart some key secrets. Secrets easily mastered that transformed him from being lazy, hedonistic and unfocused into a more positive, goal oriented human being. He will also show you a certain attitude about the idea of making art; how an artistic life can be more than a way to make a living; that…
Cinefamily presents A Tribute to Gene Deitch July 6
Los Angelinos and animation aficionados rejoice, as Cinefamily presents a tribute to the great Gene Deitch on Tuesday July 6, 2010 at 8 PM, hosted by Jerry Beck and featuring a rare U.S. appearance (he lives in Prague don't you know) by Gene himself! They'll be screening shorts from throughout Gene's career, including the Oscar-winner Munro, with a Q&A afterward. More info & tickets here.
Things to see: 6/14/10
Periodic clips & strips – click for improved/additional viewing at the sources: • Whoa, how come I didn't know that Kevin Huizenga has a Fight or Run blog? Now I do, thanks to Sean T. Collins. Meanwhile, over on his main blog, a screenshot of a scan of something wild • Michael Kupperman gives a blurry sneak peek of a work in progress (I took the liberty of bumping up the contrast) • A new Johnny Ryan comic for Vice; elsewhere, this • A sketch for The Groovy Age of Horror by Josh Simmons (uh, NSFW) — via Sean T….
Daily OCD: 6/14/10
Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "…[The Search for Smilin' Ed is] a massive comedic epic of demonic possession and ventriloquism — it’s an explosion of the kind of thing Deitch does best. … I defy anyone to read this and keep pace with Deitch’s ideas — somewhere between hippie psychedelics and virtual reality futurism is where Deitch’s brain lies. His wacky cartoon art style reveals a complex universe that meditates on the nature of reality itself, and your personal place within it as filtered through the isolated impressions of your own brain." – John Seven, Reverse Direction • Review:…
David Sandlin art show in Berlin
David Sandlin is subject of a major art show titled "Sleep O'History" at Bongout Gallerie in Berlin right now. It opened a couple of weeks ago and continues through July 10, 2010. Via Parsons Illustration via The Beat.
Megan Kelso brings her acclaimed graphic novel to Ravenna Third Place Books July 20th
MEGAN KELSO CELEBRATES NEW GRAPHIC NOVEL AT THE THIRD PLACE BOOKS ON JULY 20 Fantagraphics Books and Seattle's Third Place Books are proud to present an evening with acclaimed graphic novelist Megan Kelso on July 20, talking about and signing her new graphic novel, ARTICHOKE TALES, which the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW recently hailed as "surprising and wonderful,” and about which STRANGER Books Editor Paul Constant declared, “[it] feels like a series of expansions. The characters and their world grow to envelop the reader in a singular, charming way.” Kelso will be making a rare appearance in her hometown of…
Weekend Webcomics: 6/11/10 (posted 6/14/10)
This week's strips, normally posted on Fridays (we'll probably be late with them next week too): Start your day with a nutritious breakfast in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan… …and a White House g-g-g-ghost in this week's Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman.
