Navigate Poopsheet

 
• A month after the debut of Attempted Not Known #9, Peter Conrad has a new issue out and this one's a Rubik's Cube. I kid you not, my friends. Go here for more.

• You are reading the weekly comics at reddingk, right? Jordan Crane, Tom Devlin, Sammy Harkham, DaveK, Kurt Wolfgang, etc. Come on, you know you wanna.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
FULL FORCE
over-the-counter culture

an art exhibition by:
JOSH SIMMONS
HALEY LOU HADEN
PIERRE PRE$$URE

paintings- drawings- comics- animation- installation- toys- music- film- photography- fashion- pornography- montage- sculpture- miscellany

Music by Brad & Nancy from Glorybee
and
Oneworld.gov & the 666 Chip

HOWLPOP STUDIO
742 Franklin (in the Marigny)
(upstairs at the corner of Dauphine & Franklin)
504-931-9122 -- e-mail

THURSDAY, APRIL 1st -- 6-10 p.m.


------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Here's an interview with Kelli Nelson of the True Porn comics anthology at Suicide Girls. [ thanks to Eli Bishop ]

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• The April issue of kids' mag Nickelodeon (on stands now) contains comics by Sam Henderson, Jason Shiga, Jef Czekaj, Terry Laban, Marie Severin and others, not to mention illustrations by Marc Rosenthal, Sergio Aragonés, Hilary Barta, Ellen Forney and many more.

• Do you dig art brut and/or the Fort Thunder brand of aesthetics? Then check out this page for Zeke S Clough's Pet Static (courtesy of Zum!).

• Check out this Sammy Harkham print, the newest release from Buenaventura Press.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
Thursday April 1st
7pm-10pm
Charm City Art Space
1729 N. Maryland Ave.
Baltimore, MD

...featuring comics by seven of the bigger names and lesser known (but still great) self-publishing artists of the past few years:

Jeffrey Brown (Clumsy, etc.)
Martin Cendreda (Zurik Robot, Dang!)
Jordan Crane (Non, Keeping Two, etc.)
Brian Ralph (Crawling Out, Fireball)
Grant Reynolds (Orange Dirt)
Kevin Sherry (True Life Stories)
Ben Snakepit (Snakepit)

Comics on display and for sale along with t-shirts and other stuff from many of the artists.

Playing in the basement:
Ultradolphins (NYC)
Snacktruck (NYC)
Kudzu Wish (GA)
Drummachinegun (Bmore)

FREE
ALL AGES
curated by Nolen Strals

Charm City Art Space is a collectively run DIY space devoted to being an outlet for independent audio and visual arts. Manifesto, schedule of events, directions and more at www.ccspace.org.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• A bunch of cartoonists are given an opening line, create a strip around it and you vote for your favorite. Strip Fight! Robin Bougie, Tony Walsh, Daniel Collin and others. Check it out.

• In case you haven't heard, the Oxygen Network is running an animated comedy called "Life's a Bitch" which is based on Roberta Gregory's Bitchy Bitch comic. More info here.

• Art Spiegelman has been profiled in The Age (Melbourne) to promote an exhibition at The Jewish Museum of Australia.

• Federal appeals court overturns Virginia Internet porn law. Here's a link to the AP article. [ thanks to Jeff Mason ]

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
A gala affair is being held in honor of the release of the first volume of the new Hi-Horse Omnibus comics anthology (Alternative Comics; $11.95; ISBN: 1-891867-67-9) on Wednesday April 7, from 7pm to 11pm at the Coral Room in New York City. This unique space boasts wall-size aquariums and live mermaids performing underwater throughout the evening. Cocktails will be in abundance, as will be signed copies of the gorgeous new book, silkscreened posters and plenty of attractive, interesting people dressed to the teeth and sauced to the gills.

What: Hi-Horse Omnibus #1 Release Party!
When: Wednesday, April 7, from 7 to 11 pm
Where: The Coral Room: 512 West 29th Street, between 10th & 11th Aves.

Hi-Horse leaps in a bold new direction with this gorgeous new special, introducing a new generation of comics innovators, 20 in all, to the world. Included are Gabrielle Bell's uninhibited but clear-headed chronicle of an artist's model, and Dan Zettwoch's “The Crucial Point," a Zen-like anecdote about a cliff-diving hobo. Andrice Arp provides the “Cover of the Year!” The Comics Journal calls Hi-Horse “intelligent, imaginative ... a striking book that stands out from the other anthologies." Get your Hi-Horse and discover the future of comics!

Edited by Howard John Arey, Andrice Arp, Joan Reilly, and Bishakh Som; Designed by Andrice Arp; Featuring new work by Howard John Arey, Andrice Arp, Gabrielle Bell, Martin Cendreda, Damien Jay, Cole Johnson, J Bradley Johnson, Ellen Lindner, Chris Onstad, Thien Pham, Lark Pien, Joan Reilly, Jesse Reklaw, Jeff Roysdon, Olivia Schanzer, Karen Sneider, Bishakh Som, Zack Soto, Hsiao-chen Tsai, and Dan Zettwoch

Hi-Horse Omnibus Volume 1; For Mature Readers; deluxe trade paperback; 112 pages; 7” x 10”; $11.95; ISBN: 1-891867-67-9; DCD: DEC03 2043

For more about Hi-Horse, see http://www.hi-horse.com

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Eddie Campbell interview at the Pulse [ thanks to Tim O'Neil ]

• The San Francisco Chronicle ran a profile of Keith Knight ("The K Chronicles") on Wednesday. [ thanks again to Tim O'Neil ]

• Guy Leshinski talks to Seth about "Peanuts" and more at The Cultural Gutter.

• In The Stranger (Seattle) Greg Stump offers a cautionary tale in this week's comic.

• Johnny Ryan's got a new Blecky Yuckerella strip in this week's LA Weekly.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
2004 is the year that AdHouse decided they were spineless.

After two years of creating books with spines (aka trade paperbacks), AdHouse has made the decision to publish in the traditional comic book format (aka "floppies", "pamphlets" or "comics").

Current plans are to have three saddle-stitched comics debut within the year.

Those comics are:

- The AdHouse Books FREE Comic Book Day Comic Book.
A 32-page themed comic with stories by Joel Priddy and Scott Morse.

- Return of the Elephant by Paul Hornschemeier.
A 48-page comic that tells an eerily quiet story of a solitary man and the ulterior motives involved in a visit from a longtime friend of the family.

- One Step After Another by Fermin Solis.
A 40-page comic imported from the alternative comics movement happening in Spain.

When asked about this format decision, publisher Chris Pitzer elaborated, "Although this goes against the current industry trends, the decision to do 'traditional' comics was an easy one. First and foremost was the chance to work with the talented creators involved with these projects."

Look for the first of these comics in July with the release of The AdHouse Books FREE Comic Book Day Comic Book on July 3rd.

www.adhousebooks.com
www.FreeComicBookDay.com

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• I hate the ads I have to endure before a movie at the theater but here are some I could get behind – for the SPACE show in Columbus.

• ADD's got Five Questions for Colleen Coover (Small Favors).

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Tom Devlin is the new Art Director for free national mag Arthur. For info on where to pick up this fine publication see their website.

• Fans of Allison Cole's mini-comics can now buy them online.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 


This eye-popping show has the smallest works ever shown at National Product and the smallest hand painted Ronald McDonald you are ever likely to see by Jeff Roysdon. There are also interactive "make your own MATS!?" magnet boards with mix-n-match animal and human parts. There are also some collaborative works by Jeff and MATS!? together.

NATIONAL PRODUCT
1845 Market Street near Guerrero
San Francisco, CA 94103

415.255.1920

Wed-Sat 11-7, Sun 12-5

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Johnny Ryan's Blecky Yuckerella sums up the Oscars perfectly.

• Swingers of the World Unite! Peter Bagge's got a new comic up at Reason.com.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Did you know the latest issue of Arthur's got artwork by Leif Goldberg, Ivan Brunetti, John Hankiewicz, Tom Hart, Ben Katchor and others?

• The March 15th issue Publishers Weekly reports on books promoted at February's APE. They also ran a nice profile of Alternative Comics. Note: Site requires registration.

• The current issue of X-Tra (Los Angeles) features an article that addresses the concept of underground comics as a visual art movement in the form of Brian Tucker's indepth reviews of Rebel Visions and Hysteria in Remission.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
San Jose Museum of Art &
Anno Domini // the second coming of Art & Design

invite you to submit your zine for

Art of Zines 04
to be held at SJMA in conjuction with the exhibition
"Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens"
07.24.04 - 10.31.04

*Please submit up to 5 copies of your zine to:
Art of Zines 04
c/o San Jose Museum of Art
110 South Market Street
San Jose, CA 95113

Join us for the OPENING NIGHT PARTY for Art of Zines 04 and Nothing
Ever Happens
Saturday, July 24, from 8 - 10pm
at the San Jose Museum of Art
(See SJMA website for party ticket information.)

SJMA or 408-294-2787
Anno Domini or 408-271-5151

*Please note that zines will not be returned, but will be donated to the Anno Domini Art of Zines Library.

[ thanks to artnoose ]

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 


Yeah, It Is! graphic novel
Published by Leslie Stein, sub-distributed by Alternative Comics

Xeric Grant Winner! A bold and humorous picaresque featuring an adolescent misfit and the oddball characters she seeks to befriend after losing her best buddy to a distant suburb. Hipster wannabes, cheesy new agers and co-dependent 13-year-old girls are meticulously illustrated with cut paper and ink, making this Xeric-winning graphic novella a fun and unique read.

Leslie Stein was born in Evanston, Illinois and now resides in New York City. She is kind of like an eagle in the sense that she looks pretty while flying but often eats fish in a vicious manner and has huge claws. Despite how hard it is to use scissors with giant claws, she regularly makes comics out of construction paper and glue sticks.

By Leslie Stein, full color, 48 pages, softcover graphic novel, 5.5" x 8", $5.99. ISBN: 1-891867-52-0

Sample pages of Yeah, It Is! can be seen on serializer.net at: http://www.serializer.net/series.php?name=yeahitis

Alternative Comics

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
With great pleasure and excitement, Leanne Franson invites you to the launching of her comic book Don't Be a Crotte!!, starring bi-dyke Liliane. 96 all-new pages of people acting badly!!

Please join me at Café Toast Thé / Le Placard at 2129 ave Mont-Royal east, one street east of deLorimier, in Montréal.

Monday March 22, 2004, from 5 to 8 pm.

As it is a restaurant, it would be possible to dine during the launch.
Hope to see you there!

[ thanks to Lyn X ]

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• It appears that, according to former owner/publisher Dana Countryman, Cool & Strange Music! magazine is no more as its new owner/publisher has seemingly dropped out of sight. More info at Countryman's site. [ thanks to Rod Lott ]

• Here's the continuation of the Nono Kadaver comic in The Stranger (Seattle). I also like this week's cover by Rene Garcia Jr.

• Meanwhile, the LA Weekly has the final installment of "A Grozny Lullaby" by Bob Callahan and Spain.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
From Josh Simmons:

This weekend I will be on a wee mini-tour with The Show is the Rainbow and Glorybee, with whom I will be singing our hit pop song, "It hurts being a 14-year-old girl", as a 14-year-old girl.

Rainbow: Flailing psychotic electrofunk solo dood
Glorybee: Blenderized hip-hop, metal, noise, '80's pop, FUN

I will also be selling the new Glorybee cd with comics and art by me, and my comics All About Fucking and Happy.

places and dates:

Thursday, March 11: St. Louis, MO @ Lemp Arts Center
Friday, March 12: Chicago, IL @ Fireside Bowl
Saturday, March 13: Champaign, IL @ Nargile
Sunday, March 14: Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
Monday, March 15: Tulsa, OK @ $100 Taco

www.theshowistherainbow.com
www.heavenlyhive.com

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
Florida publisher Alternative Comics has announced that for September through December 2004, it will release a number of new and eagerly awaited graphic novels including:

• A Few Perfect Hours and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe by Josh Neufeld
• Escalator by Brandon Graham
• The Salon by Nick Bertozzi
• Slowpoke: America Gone Bonkers by Jen Sorensen
• Stickleback by Graham Annable
• Turtle, turtle by Jed Alexander
• Waterwise by Joel Orff

A Few Perfect Hours and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe by Josh Neufeld
October 2004, 104 pages, 2-color, 6 5/8” x 10 1/8”, $12.95, ISBN: 1-891867-79-2
In A Few Perfect Hours and Other Stories From Southeast Asia and Central Europe, autobiographical cartoonist Josh Neufeld takes us on a dramatic tour of such diverse locales as Thailand, the former Yugoslavia and New York City. Highlights include Neufeld and traveling companion Sari Wilson's volunteer expedition to an organic farm in Malaysia, stint as extras in a Chinese-language Singaporean soap opera, train trip through war-torn Serbia, and near-disastrous cave adventure in Thailand. Using gentle humor and a keen eye for revelatory detail, Neufeld explores religion, spirituality and the mysteries of everyday life. In the collection's titular first story, Neufeld illustrates how being blessed by a Thai monk helped relieve his tensions and suspicions about traveling in a strange country. In "On a Mission," Neufeld contrasts the viewpoints of Baptist missionaries in northern Thailand with the traditions of a Buddhist festival. In the collection's final story, "Cremations, Cubicles & Cant," Neufeld juxtaposes his grandmother's Jewish funeral with a Hindu cremation ceremony he witnessed on Bali.

Neufeld uses the conventions of the comics form to experiment with point-of-view and traditional narrative. His stories echo the rootless, amorphous world of the backpacker, mirroring a reality that is constantly in flux.

Escalator by Brandon Graham
September 2004, 120 pages, $12.95, ISBN: 1-891867-81-4
It started here and continued to gain momentum. Escalator: a collection of Brandon Graham's short comics with a cast of sumo heroes, Graffiti writers, truck drivers from the future and alien pornographers as they try to get through their lives with all the demonic possessions and cannibal school girls that get in the way.

The Salon by Nick Bertozzi
December 2004, 130 pages, Full-Color, Hardcover, $24.95, ISBN: 1-891867-77-6
While developing the style that would become known as ‘Cubism’ in 1907 Paris, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque chase bloodthirsty creatures come to life from famous paintings. Gertrude Stein, Alice B Toklas, Guillaume Apollinare, and Erik Satie join in the hunt for the madman at the center of the mystery: Paul Gaugin. A fast-paced thrill-ride with an earthy tone that offers a pungent glimpse of pre-War Paris, The Salon deftly deconstructs the creative process, allowing the reader to enter the minds of two men who changed not only art, but the entire world. Nick Bertozzi has won two Harvey Awards and two Ignatz Awards, nominated for an Eisner Award and another Ignatz and has received a Xeric Grant.

Slowpoke: America Gone Bonkers by Jen Sorensen
November 2004, 112 pages, 8” x 8”, $12.95, ISBN: 1-891867-78-4
Jen Sorensen returns with a much-awaited second volume of "Slowpoke" cartoons! As seen in the Funny Times, Slate.com, Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists, and alternative newspapers around the country, "Slowpoke" has been critically hailed as a smart and savvy comic strip. This scandalously funny collection gathers the "Slowpoke" cartoons of the Bush era, chronicling America’s political and cultural buffoonery with Sorensen’s trademark brand of absurdist humor. Packed with gags, Slowpoke skewers media blowhards, corporate scumbags, vapid trends, and the lunacies of the Bush administration with relentless wit and energy.

Stickleback by Graham Annable
November 2004, 48 pages, 7” x 10”, $6.95, ISBN: 1-891867-80-6
An eccentric George Stickleback spends life in his apartment with his cat Patty surrounded by meticulously arranged men of toilet paper. A mission from the outside world to console a friend imposes an unwelcome break in Mr. Stickleback’s routine. This funny, quirky sketch of friendship, confrontation, and the desire to be left alone, comes from the creator of the Grickle graphic novels, Graham Annable.

Turtle, turtle by Jed Alexander
September 2004, 96 pages, 2-color, $11.95, ISBN: 1-891867-65-2
Just off the coast of an unnamed Mexican town is Porta Tortuga, an Island that no one seems to remember but Cesar, a US citizen with a Mexican mother and a Jewish father who spent one unforgettably vivid day at the Island’s Dia de los Phantasmas festival. And just what the Dia de los Phantasmas festival is or where the island can be found no one seems to remember either, or what happened that long ago summer of his childhood on an island whose inhabitants are convinced they live on a giant turtle. Cesar returns to Mexico to try and find the island and to try and decipher memories that he can’t let go of, and to search for his father, who disappeared 15 years earlier, and what the adult Cesar discovers will both demystify these early memories, and reveal an even more impenetrable secret.

Waterwise by Joel Orff
September 2004, 128 pages, 6” x 9”, $14.95, ISBN: 1-891867-82-2
Imagine a cross between American Splendor and Alice in Wonderland...or imagine a cross between Carl Barks and Carlos Castaneda... In Joel Orff's new graphic novel Waterwise he explores these concepts and many more. This is the story of two old friends who are reunited for one night and wander together through a surreal, vaguely apocalyptic landscape, pondering life, griping about their circumstances, and trying to connect. Along the way they explore the nature of dreams, the fragile facade of civilization and the tenderness of a true friendship.

Alternative Comics

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• In early 2005 Dark Horse will be publishing a 6-part mini-series called Apocalypse Nerd written and drawn by Peter Bagge and featuring the post-apocalyptic adventures of a middle-aged computer geek. Also of note is the announcement that Marvel has "formally upgraded" Bagge's canceled Hulk comic to "postponed", so we may yet see it on the stands. More info here. [ thanks to T Fraga ]

• Alan David Doane presents Five Questions to Tom Beland (True Story, Swear to God).

• Darren Schroeder at Silver Bullet talks to Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca about their new series, Street Angel.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
From Marcel Herms:

Rigodon is the name of a new paper zine, published by Anima Mal Nata & The Hunting Lodge. The first issue (A5-size, 72 pages) is now available:

Interviews with:
Monobrain/FCKN’ BSTRDS
Oscillating Innards
Kapreles
Ibol/Manherringbone
Jelle Crama/Rotkop
Dead Husbands/Dead Mind Records

Column by Hal McGee

Reviews

Artwork from:
Billy McKay
Jelle Crama
Monobrain
Carl Alessi
Kapreles
Carlo Steegen
Rael Mail
Gordon W. Ashworth
Will Elliot
Claudio Parentela
Marcel Herms

The price is:
5,00 euro or $6,00 for Europe
6,00 euro or $7,00 outside Europe.

Sorry for the high price but that’s what it costs me to get it copied & sent.

Anima Mal Nata / Postbus 6359 / 7401 JJ Deventer / THE NETHERLANDS

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
From Scott Hsu-Storaker:

I am proud to announce today the launching of bowzizzer.com, a new online store for self-published comics. The site features a small but swiftly growing line-up of artist/publishers that are producing some of the best work that is available in the small press community and beyond. Anyone who has tried to track down mini-comics from 5 different artists knows how difficult and slow-going it can be to shop for these hard-to-find little masterpieces. The bowzizzer store offers readers the convenience of getting comics from a whole host of artists all in one easy-to-use site that utilizes a familiar shopping interface and speedy delivery. To celebrate the opening of the site, I am excited to let everyone know that I just received issue nine of Justin Madson's Happy Town, which is quickly becoming the most engaging series in print today. Stop by and have a look around at:

http://www.bowzizzer.com

Thank you,
Scott Hsu-Storaker

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Jay Stephens' new Tutenstein cartoon series (on NBC Saturday mornings) has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Special Class Animated Program". Here's more. [ thanks to The Beguiling ]

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
This Is Not A Reading Series
DRAWN & QUARTERLY NIGHT! With Seth & Chester Brown

Wednesday, March 31st @ The Rivoli, 332 Queen St W, 6:30-8:30pm, no cover.
Co-Sponsored by Pages and The Beguiling

SETH presents his new books: Bannock, Beans and Black Tea and Clyde Fans: Book One at The Rivoli on Wednesday, March 31st. Bannock, Beans and Black Tea is the illustrated autobiography of Seth's father, John Gallant. A gripping and poignant memoir, it recounts one boy's experience of deprivation and poverty growing up in a Prince Edward Island farming village during the Great Depression. Meanwhile, the long-awaited new Palooka-Ville collection arrives with Clyde Fans: Book One, a collection of the first seven issues of the Clyde Fans story line.

Come celebrate the launch of these two Seth titles on our Drawn & Quarterly night, and you'll also see Seth present an entertaining multi-media show called "20 brief stories about cartooning".

CHESTER BROWN presents his latest book: Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography. Every Canadian school child can tell you the story of Louis Riel and the Red River Rebellion of 1869. To some Louis Riel was one of the founding fathers of a new nation, but to others he was a murderer who nearly tore a country apart. A man so charismatic he was elected to government twice while in exile, Riel took on the army, the government, the Queen of England, and even the Church in the name of his passionate vision of freedom for the people of the prairies. Come see Chester Brown in a multi-media presentation on the creation of his epic on this Canadian legend, Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography.

The Beguiling is proud to be presenting this event in conjunction with Pages Books. For more information, you can visit the Pages website at:
http://www.pagesbooks.ca/reading.html

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Check this page out for a cool step-by-step look at the production of Ben Steckler's new mini-comic, Peeps et Beans.

• Finally, somebody gets "B.C." right.

• Graham Annable's got a new comic beginning on Serializer called "The Odyssey of Winton Worel". A new Walt Holcombe strip starts next week.

• I hesitate to mention this but I can't help myself: Word on the street is that a drunk driver plowed her car through SLG Publishing's offices Friday night. Fortunately, no one was hurt. There is reportedly, however, quite a bit of damage that's still in the clean-up process. Best wishes to SLG for a speedy recovery.

• Take a look at "Hail Jeffrey", a new comic by Hans Rickheit.

• Dark Horse is apparently publishing an issue of Star Wars Tales in June featuring comics by Tony Millionaire, Peter Bagge, Gilbert Hernandez, Bob Fingerman and James Kochalka. It'll be the first Star Wars comic I've read in years. No info on their site, but you can read more about it somewhere on this page at the Pulse. [ thanks to T Fraga ]

• In semi-related news, James Kochalka has drawn a "Diary of the Hulk" one-pager for the next issue of Wizard Edge magazine.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
From Joey Manley at Modern Tales:

Modern Tales' 2003 Yearbook, "Tallscreen Edition," is now available for purchase from Booksurge.com.

It's massive (130 pages). It's full-color. It's for those of you who are interested in the cartoonists whose work appears on any of the sites in the Modern Tales family of websites (ModernTales.com, girlamatic.com, serializer.net, graphicsmash.com) but who hate reading comics online. Or who love reading comics online but also want a printed physical item for your bookshelves.

It includes full-color work by: Roger Langridge, Spike, Dean Haspiel, Donna Barr, Dan Hernandez, Chuck Whelon and Adam Prosser, Eric Millikin and Casey Sorrow, Spike and Matt, Andre Richard, Jenn Manley Lee, Drew Weing, Amanda Crichton, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, Joda Thayer and Sam Henderson.

This is the "Tallscreen" (i.e. standard-book-sized) collection of 2003 work from our sites. We will also be putting out a "widescreen" edition featuring work that looks better in a horizontal format. More info on that shortly.

It's kind of expensive. It's well worth every penny.

Enjoy!

www.moderntales.com

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 


M Modern Gallery will be hosting an exhibit of new work by Dave Burke featuring paintings, silkscreened wall elements, prints and more.

The opening reception will be on Saturday, March 13, from 7-10 PM.

M Modern Gallery
448 N. Palm Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262
(760) 416-3611

Exhibit runs March 13 - April 4 2004

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• In the recently-published 2004 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market (published by Writer's Digest Books) the annual guide's coverage has been expanded to include graphic novels. The book contains an interview with Brian Michael Bendis and its experts include Jamie S. Rich (Oni Press), Jennifer de Guzman (SLG), Lee Dawson (Dark Horse), and Jeff Mason (Alternative Comics). Here's more on the book.

• Wayne Alan Brenner has reviewed James Kochalka's Peanutbutter & Jeremy's Best Book Ever! for the Austin Chronicle.

• Randy Reynaldo's Rob Hanes Adventures resumes publication in June. More at Digital Webbing.

• According to EGON, Nat Gertler's About Comics publishing company will collect "It's Only A Game," Charles Schulz's "short-lived syndicated comics feature from the late 1950s. Read more here.

• Harvey Pekar and Gary Dumm have created a comic-book insert for The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Here's the cover. To read the rest go here and follow the Comic Book links on the left. [ thanks to EGON ]

• In reference to manga available at local bookstores, The Shelby Star (Shelby, North Carolina) and the local Sheriff's Department offer this warning to parents: "Watch what your children read." Should you really have to tell grown people with children that they might want to be aware of what their kids are consuming? [ thanks to Artbomb ]

• Here's a new Q&A with Jeffrey Brown (Be a Man) at Silver Bullet. [ thanks to Tim O'Neil ]

• Alan David Doane asks Five Questions of My Uncle Jeff's Damon Hurd.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Scott Saavedra writes in to say that the next issue of Comic Book Heaven (issue #10) will be the last one. From his e-mail: "I really feel the need to make comics more than I want to make fun of them. I can't seem to fit both things into my schedule right now so CBH is getting the axe. Since I can never look at an old comic the same way again I know I will try to find a way to get back to CBH somehow (maybe as a series of occasional books). But first, I've gotta get back to the drawing board." For info on Scott's other projects, check out his site.
• Dennis Eichhorn (Real Stuff, recently collected by Swifty Morales Press) interviewed at Newsarama
• Check out this Q&A with Nick Bertozzi ("The Salon", Rubber Necker) at Serializer.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Donna Barr wants you to know that she's got a new Stinz/Bosom Enemies flipbook, New Souls/All Turned Around, available and that her "Solid Gold" is restarting at Girlamatic and likewise "Hairy" at Modern Tales.
• There's an upcoming Tintin exhibit at the National Maritime Museum in England that sounds pretty interesting. Check out the Guardian article here. [ thanks to Andy Konky Kru ]
• Jim Munroe of No Media Kings has recently launched The Cultural Gutter, "a weekly-updated site that features critical writing on art forms generally regarded as trash: videogames, science-fiction and comics." And here's a report of his tour of Africa and Europe.
• Did you play Thomas Herpich's Altoids game that I linked to yesterday? Well, here's some behind-the-scenes info about it at his site.
• David A. Berona has compiled an interesting list of noteworthy graphic novels at the Library Journal site. [ thanks to Jeff Mason ]
• I keep hearing about the Mobilivre project but here's one that's new to me: the Autonomadic Bookmobile, an "infoshop on wheels" [ thanks to Kath Williamson ]
• Santa Cruz artist Koak is featured in this article from Metro Santa Cruz. [ thanks to Tim O'Neil ]

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
Few people could turn recurring sinus problems and a love of baked goods into an enterprise that earns them a prestigious award and critical acclaim. But that's exactly what Gene Yang did when he created his comic book Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks, for which he was awarded a Xeric Foundation grant in 1997. Now SLG Publishing is collecting the three-issue miniseries, originally published by Yang's Humble Comics, into a single volume to be released in May 2004 under SLG's all-ages imprint, AmazeInk.

Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks tells the story of an unlikely friendship, bizarre alien technology and possessed cookies. But it all begins with a nose problem. Gordon Yamamoto, a life-long bully out of habit more than mean-spiritedness, has been waking up from strange dreams about his nose for a week. His easy life, marked by bully traditions like crowning a new King of the Geeks every school year with a ripe pair of tighty-whities, makes a turn for the weird when alien technology leaves him with all the memories and knowledge of the reigning King Geek, Miles. A misguided attempt to get Miles’s memories out of Gordon’s head causes Miles’s hate to be manifested in an unexpectedly sweet and crunchy form, and Gordon has to help Miles face his demons or be consumed by them himself – literally!

"You wouldn't imagine that a story that hinges on a bully finding an alien in his nose would be so affecting and human, but that's exactly what Gordon Yamamoto is," said Jennifer de Guzman, SLG's editor-in-chief. "It's a book with a lot of sincerity and heart."

Gordon Yamamoto is a black-and-white, 96-page graphic novel, scheduled for release in May 2004. A preview is available at SLG Publishing's website, www.slavelabor.com.

Yang is also the creator of The Rosary Comic Book, which tells the story of the Virgin Mary and Jesus and can also be used in prayer in place of traditional rosary beads. The book was on the National Catholic Booksellers' Top Ten Bestsellers List for Children and Young People. Yang also wrote the two-issue Image miniseries Duncan's Kingdom, which was illustrated by Derek Kirk Kim. Yang's follow-up to Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks, the three-issue mini-series Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order, will be collected and published by SLG Publishing later in 2004.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Sequential Tart has been updated for March.
• Last week's Nono Kadaver strip continues in the new Stranger (Seattle).
• Alan David Doane talks to Alan Moore.
• Thomas Herpich (Cusp, Gongwanadon) has designed a game for the Altoids site. Check it out: Curiously Strong All Night Long [ thanks to Artbomb ]

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
Oni Press is ecstatic to announce the June release of an all-new original graphic novel by Scott Morse, creator of Soulwind. A modern-day heist tale, Morse's Spaghetti Western is a full-length adventure that tips its ten-gallon hat to the films of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood that sparked a revolution in the Western genre in the mid-'60s.

"Westerns are few-and-far between in any entertainment medium these days, and that's too bad," Morse said. "I wanted to do something that both played on the classic touchstones of the genre, but also was about the fact that there just are not enough cowboys anymore. Spaghetti Western came out of that. Two guys who are sick of modern life want to get back a little of that rebellious spirit that made screen legends out of Eastwood, Wayne, and Fonda. And what's more classically Western than robbing a bank?"

Beyond being a wild action romp, Morse is also going to give readers a tour of some of the sights in his California home. "There is a lot of culture in California that doesn't get covered in films and on TV," Morse added. "It's not all about the Hollywood glitz. There are places like Olvera Street, where the culture of Mexico is transplanted to Los Angeles. It's so colorful and rich, I want to put that on the page."

2004 is shaping up to be a big year for Morse. DC recently released his graphic novel Batman: A Roomful of Strangers to great fan acclaim. Top Shelf reteams with the cartoonist for the Lyrical Whales book in the summer, and in August, he will once again work with Oni Press, undertaking the 12-issue trek with writer Greg Rucka, Everest: Facing the Goddess. Morse will not only paint the covers, but each 32-page issue will feature a fully painted story from cover to cover – presented in color!

The Spaghetti Western original graphic novel ships June 23, 2004, and retails for $11.95. Printed at digest size, 5.5" X 8", it will also be presented in a landscape format – meaning the length of the pages is 8", and the height 5.5". In order to allow retailers regular racking, the book will come in a vertical slip cover featuring a second cover painting by Morse! The story will be 136 pages and carry an ISBN of 1-929998-91-0.

www.onipress.com

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
Sunday March 7th:

"Marginalia: Mini-Comix Festival"

featuring cartoon and illustration works by...
Dame Darcy
Jordan Crane
Sammy Harkam
Souther Salazar
John Pham
Loma Linda

with music from...
Death By Doll (featuring Dame Darcy)
XO
Totally Radd!!
The Hot Tramps
Vagenius

FREE

8PM

The Smell
247 South Main St., Los Angeles

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
From Bwana Spoons:

Plushtastrophe
The Art Of Plush

Plushtastrophe is a gathering of a few of my favorite (now 40+) designers, illustrators and plush makers from places near and far. When all is said and done there will be upwards of 100 fancy fabric critters for your pleasure and mine. Plus a fancy li'l catalog book and print. These will be available at the opening, or $6 for each shipped to yer home.

The Plushtastrophe show will open March 4th, from 6pm - 9pm at the Basil Hallward Gallery in Portland at Powell's City of Books (1005 W Burnside).

Artists include: Souther Salazar, Saelee Oh, Lark Pien, Katie Aaberg, Uglydolls, Caroline Hwang, Bwana Spoons and many others.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Take a look at "Little Trees", Drew Weing's new online comic. [ thanks to Yakov Chodosh ]
• In this article at Comic Book Resources artist Casey Jones notes that he's putting together a new project with Mario and Gilbert Hernandez for Marvel. [ thanks to Rodrigo Baeza ]
• Ian Carney informs me that the pilot episode for his and Woodrow Phoenix's proposed Cartoon Network Pants Ant series (based on the Slave Labor title) will be screened for a test audience on March 15th. If all goes well a series will be ordered. In the meantime, those in the UK can check out the "Monster vs. Monster" shorts Carney and Ian Culbard did for Nickelodeon.

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
It may be fun to fantasize about continuing where General Sherman left off, but these two cartoonists can barely even light a stove. One of them can’t even figure out how to pump gas. At the very least, Sam Henderson and Rich Tommaso can draw comic books well and while they’re in Atlanta they’ve decided to promote Magic Whistle #9: Bigger, Larger, and Bigger and 8½ Ghosts, their brand-new books from Alternative Comics.

First they will bring their pens to Little Five Points. Locals may be surprised to see ink applied to paper rather than skin, though the latter isn’t out of the question. Come see this bold experiment at Criminal Records on Wednesday, March 3 at 6pm. Criminal Records is located at 466 Moreland Avenue; Phone: 404-215-9511.

Next they will greet the public in the quieter neighborhood of Buckhead. Some churchgoers may skip out a little bit early to make it to Oxford Comics on Sunday, March 14 at Noon at 2855 Piedmont Road NE; Phone: 404-233-8682

As an added bonus, they’re traveling the neighboring town of Athens to sign stuff at Bizarro-Wuxtry. What kind of name is that? Is this some kind of slang the college kids there use? What kinds of people are these? Who knows? We’ll find out when the book tour gets there on Sunday, March 21 at 1pm. Bizarro Wuxtry is located at 197 E. Clayton Street, Athens; Phone: 706-369-9428.

Sam Henderson has recently finished Magic Whistle: Bigger, Larger, and Bigger, a record 96 pages with a third of it in full color. This all-new ninth issue marks the debut of a new annual trade paperback format in an attempt to gain further legitimacy for his quasi-juvenile sense of humor. Sam has written and drawn for DC Comics, Nickelodeon, countless weekly newspapers, and internet porn. He has been nominated four years in a row for the Harvey Award for special achievement in humor and also recently received an Emmy nomination for some lines he wrote for a sponge and a starfish.
Magic Whistle #9: Bigger, Larger, and Bigger is for mature readers; deluxe trade paperback; 96 pages; 6” x 9”; $11.95; ISBN: 1-891867-68-7.

Paul Massina is a B-movie hack who knows he could become an A-list director, if only the studios would kick in more funding for his new horror film. But Fate hands him the perfect low budget prop – an enormous Victorian home, haunted by eight real ghosts! Once Paul has convinced the specters to perform in his film, all he has to do is keep his actors calm and his film costs low. But what about that ½ ghost at the story’s end...? Rich Tommaso’s newest comic 8½ Ghosts, complete in one issue, might be described as a cross between Fellini’s 8½ and William Castle’s 13 Ghosts as re-imagined by Jack Cole – but you'll agree there's never been anything like it!
8½ Ghosts is for mature readers; deluxe oversized 7½” x 11½”; 24pg; $3.95; ISBN 1-891867-45-8

Rich Tommaso was a student of The Joe Kubert Art School where he learned many techniques that he still today puts to use in his comics. He learned other things there that he would never put to use in his comics as well. He quit school after his first year there, never being interested in a career drawing superheroes and instead spent many years making pizza while trying to find more personal things to write and draw about. In this area, he has been mildly successful, sometimes focusing his stories upon his own life experiences, while other times falling back on just “making things up.” He’s worked for many companies such as: Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, and Dark Horse and became fed-up with bouncing around from one to the other until he finally found a home in 2003 at Alternative Comics.

The cartoonists will not have any matches.

Alternative Comics

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
From Lila Vassal:

What? The Denver Zine Library has over 4,000 zines?

Yep! And we think that’s enough reason to throw an all-day party! Join us on Saturday, March 6th, the three-month anniversary of the library opening.

Come by the library from 11am-7pm to read some zines, get some free food, and hear some fabulous zinesters read. Readings will take place at 3pm and 6pm. The library is located at 111 W. Archer Pl. (3 blocks south of 1st and 1 block west of Broadway).

Then… at 9pm, there will be music and dancing at Garageland (2721 Walnut St). There is a $3-$5 sliding scale cover. I know you may be thinking, “Oh darn! A cover?” But just remember that all of the proceeds are going to the zine library to make it the biggest and best it can be. There will be two local bands – The Illegal Goose Band and another band to be announced. There will also be some local DJs supplying us with a rockin’ dance party. Plus, $1 PBRs!

Woo hoo!

For more information, check out www.geocities.com/denverzinelibrary or e-mail

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------

 
• Here's a Q&A with Jay Hosler (Clan Apis) at SciScoop.
• Mark Campos' "Monk" is now running at Modern Tales Longplay.
• Newsarama's Chris Arrant profiles Slave Labor Graphics.
• Peter Bagge appreciates Seattle Post-Intelligencer political cartoonist David Horsey.
• Hey, it's Five Questions with Johnny Ryan (Angry Youth Comix), courtesy of Alan David Doane.
• Evan Dorkin has announced at his blog that SLG Publishing has licensed the rights to collect (in two volumes, no less) the Bill and Ted's Excellent Comic Book series he did for Marvel in the early '90s. Wacky, no?

------------------------------------------- [ Link to this item ] (0) comments
-------------------------------------------