It’s come that time when Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery curator Larry Reid chooses his favorite comix of the year. I customarily select about a dozen outstanding titles. This being a banner year for contemporary comix, I’ll be more expansive this time, listing my top twenty. This exercise is subjective by nature. I try to avoid the term “best,” preferring instead to name the books that most appealed to me. 20. Doukhobor Comics by Rose Driver. What’s not to like about an eccentric anarchist/nudist/arsonist religious cult that, with the help of Leo Tolstoy, made their way from Russia to the Pacific…
What’s in Store: Mita Mahato presents In Between
Hear Mita Mahato discuss her sublime new publication, In Between, from Pleiades Press this Saturday, November 11 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. The book employs cut paper collage techniques and emotive narratives to create a cohesive collection of experimental comics – by turns ephemeral, funny, and transcendent. Critic Paul Constant of Seattle Review of Books observes, “Mahato has finally figured out how to break her comics into the third dimension.” Rich Smith of the Stranger adds, “Some people use pens to write poetry. Mita Mahato uses a scalpel.” Visitors can view the stunning “Short…
What’s in Store: Short Run Marathon!
Join us at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Friday, November 3 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM for the 5th annual Short Run Marathon art show and pre-festival party. The exhibition features original works by an amazing array of artists including Emil Ferris, Leela Corman, Julia Wertz, Anders Nilsen, Jordan Crane, Gemma Correll, Tom Hart, nishat akhtar, Rebecca Artemisa, with presentations by Anders Nilsen & 2dcloud. The Short Run Comix & Art Festival has grown to become one of the country’s premier showcases of emerging contemporary cartoonists. As the titles suggests, the Marathon exhibition references the daunting challenges these artists confront…
What’s in Store: Days to Remember
For the past decade, we’ve been privileged to share space with our retail partners at Georgetown Records. The shop specializes in vintage vinyl – everything from early punk, power pop, prog, soul, industrial, electronica, garage, psychedelic, rock n roll, and more. This Saturday, April 22 marks the 10th annual Record Store Day, a national celebration of record shops. To commemorate the occasion, Georgetown Records presents live music by two Seattle bands: the blue-eyed soul of Bonneville Power featuring our own Martin Bland on drums, and roots rockers Paper Dolls. The music starts a 4:00 PM, but drop by early to…
What’s in Store: Northwest Exposure
Don’t miss the Northwest Alternative Comics exhibition at Washington State University’s Museum of Art featuring Jim Woodring, Peter Bagge, Ellen Forney, David Lasky, Max Clotfelter, Tom van Deusen, Eroyn Franklin, Taylor Dow, Mita Mahato, and Paul Chadwick, on view through December 17. Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid served as a consultant and will speak (very briefly) at the opening reception on Thursday, October 6. Artist talks, workshops, and related activities are planned throughout the run of the show. WSU is conveniently located in the middle of nowhere, on the border between Washington and Idaho south of Spokane. Then tune up…
What’s in Store (Affordable Gift Edition)
If you’ve been procrastinating on your holiday shopping, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is the perfect place to painlessly complete this annual ritual. The store stocks a delightfully diverse selection of comix, graphics novels and badass books, with many exquisite gifts under $20. Among them… Fante Bukowski by Noah van Sciver is a wildly entertaining and cleverly conceived story by one of the masters of alternative American comix. Lucy Knisley chronicles her adventures on a European book tour in the engaging memoir Age of License. At under 10 bucks, Charlie Brown’s Christmas Stocking is the perfect stocking stuffer (and you’ll save an…
