 |
Saturday, September 25, 2004
the bluesman cometh:
"Absence of Ink Press (AoI) is proud to announce the debut this November of the innovative new graphic story from the 2003 Eisner nominated team of writer Rob Vollmar and artist Pablo G. Callejo (THE CASTAWAYS) that brings the legacy of the blues to life in comics with BLUESMAN. BLUESMAN is the story of wandering musician Lem Taylor's harrowing journey across Arkansas of the early 1930's with much worse than hell-hounds on his trail. BLUESMAN's potential audience is made up of blues music fans, historians (amateur or otherwise), and anyone else who enjoys adventure-oriented material with a good brain on its shoulders.
"Offered on page 198 of the September/November Previews catalog this month, the AoI edition of BLUESMAN- Book One will debut alongside similar editions published this fall by DUDE COMICS (BONE, ARTBABE) in Spain and AKILEOS COMICS in France (AGE OF BRONZE, COURTNEY CRUMRIN). Books Two and Three are scheduled to be released in May and November of 2005 respectively and will not be superseded by a book collection for at least one year following the final book's release, thus allowing retailers to order the single editions with confidence of sell-through.
"AoI is supporting this project with an all-new BLUESMAN preview section at the AoI website that retailers and potential readers can access at that offers the first chapter of Book One in its entirety. We plan to offer further promotional materials to interested retailers as the date of the book's release becomes more imminent."
BLUESMAN Book One
72 pgs, B&W, $6.95
Diamond Order Code: SEP042266
posted by peter! 9:45 PM EST permalink
Friday, September 24, 2004
meet paul harmon:
back in the day, i had the pleasure of working with an illustrator and designer by the name of paul harmon on an animation project outside of these ol' walls of comics. while at a.p.e. earlier this year, i picked up a copy of the latest town o'crazies anthology and noticed to my great surprise that he had some work in it and dropped him a line to see how's he doing. turns out, he's been working on a new book of his own called mora, which is slated to debut next year at image comics. he's posted some artwork at his website for your viewing pleasure (when you get there, click the first thumbnail box on the top left row):
he also just happens to have the best. site. name. ever.
posted by peter! 11:07 AM EST permalink
Thursday, September 23, 2004
saved by the beagle:
"A year ago, Seattle's Fantagraphics was on the brink of bankruptcy. Now it's in the black, thanks to good ol' Charlie Brown—and a pair of dogged believers who turned a cranky fanzine into the most widely respected comics publisher in America."
"It's easy to get lost looking for Fantagraphics' headquarters. Situated just off I-5 on Lake City Way Northeast, it's neighbored on the left by a, shall we say, imaginatively decorated house: hand-painted signs and bizarre metal tchotchkes leap about the exterior fence like a Dalí birdhouse explosion. Visiting for the first time, it's tempting to mistake that oddball unit for FHQ. Hey—maybe comics people really are all nuts!
"That fantasy begins dissipating as soon as you walk up to the 28-year-old publisher's actual offices next door; go inside and it disperses entirely. For one thing, this office is a two-story house with a basement, an old place with a surprising number of rooms around a surprising number of corners. The kitchen is triangulated by a staffer's desk, a Xerox machine, and the refrigerator, which itself is a couple steps away from the office of Gary Groth, the company's president and the majordomo of The Comics Journal, the monthly news and criticism magazine. Groth's office window overlooks a back porch and the alleyway. The house is not brightly lit—the better, one suspects, to concentrate on the tasks at hand.
"'You should have seen it before,' says Eric Reynolds, leading me to a basement room full of newly built metal shelves. An affable, sandy-haired, 33-year-old Californian, who began as a Fantagraphics intern over a decade ago and is now publicist and special projects editor (he helms The Complete Crumb Comics, the ongoing series dedicated to the godfather of 'underground comix,' Robert Crumb), Reynolds is showing me the company's extensive, neatly kept library of old comics and research materials. 'The old shelves were way less efficient,' he says..."
for more, visit the seattle weekly.
posted by peter! 10:43 AM EST permalink
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
"All I want for Christmas, is..."
Locas: A Love & Rockets Book by Jaime (!) Hernandez
"One of the most humane, graceful and imaginatively inexhaustible artists in American popular culture, Jaime Hernandez has created in Locas one of the great American novels of the last 25 years, graphic or otherwise. Created over 15 years from 1981 to 1996 in the pages of the legendary comic book series Love & Rockets, Locas tells the story of Maggie Chascarrillo, a bisexual, Mexican-American woman attempting to define herself in a community rife with class, race and gender issues.
"Maggie's story begins in the early-1980s Southern California rock scene, when it was shifting from the excesses of the 1970s to the gritty basics of punk and new wave. Hardcore punk rock came to the fore, and the teenaged Maggie finds herself drawn to the anarchy, energy and diversity of the scene, which in the hands becomes a very real, habitable place populated with authentic human beings rather than stereotypes. She quickly befriends Hopey Glass, a feisty anti-authoritarian punkette who quickly becomes Maggie’s on-again, off-again lover and a constant presence in her life throughout the book.
"Maggie comes of age in this tumultuous environment, with class and racial tension fueling the rising violence between punks and the already antagonistic LAPD. Hernandez's naturalistic storytelling and mastery of body language and facial expressions, and his pitch-perfect depiction of barrio life all makes for an exhilarating read. His characters are infused with strength, intelligence, independence, imperfection, bitchiness, frailty, obsessiveness, and so much more.
"Maggie evolves from an angry young punk into a mature woman. She encounters cruelties large and small and resigns herself to dashed hopes, shattered illusions, and even death with ironic acceptance. Locas presents an incomparable body of work in comics form, created over 20 years (which not coincidentally mirrors Maggie’s arc), and told with an uncompromising beauty and grace. As ALAN MOORE (author of From Hell and Watchmen) has put it, 'Jaime's art balances big white and black spaces to create a world of nuance in between, just as his writing balances our big human feelings and our small human trivias to generate its incredible emotional power. Quite simply, this is one of the twentieth centuries most significant comic creators at the peak of his form, with every line a wedding of classicism and cool.'"
$49.95 HARDCOVER
Fantagraphics
750 pages, B&W, 8 1/2” x 11”
ISBN 1-56097-611-X
L.A. Release Party:
Meltdown Comics (meltcomics.com)
Saturday, October 9th
3:00pm to 5:00pm
posted by peter! 10:27 AM EST permalink
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
the entertainer:
newsarama caught up with former marvel president bill jemas about his new licensing company 360ep...
"NRAMA: Comics weigh in heavily in this, don't they? How much of a part are they to what 360ep offers, and where do they fit in the big picture in terms of property management?
"BJ: Well, yes, there are comic industry people all over 360ep, but right now we haven't formulated a specific publishing plan for our own books. Again, we're barely a month old; it's all about signing up clients and delivering on promises.
"And our clients are fascinated by the phenomenal growth of Japanese Manga at bookstores. Turns out, after all, that girls read comics and boys read comics and comics work in the mass market. Sure the pages are smaller and the covers are further apart -- but the bookstores are moving comics like crazy..."
hopefully we'll see more of bill as he's bound to provide entertainment in what has otherwise been a dreadfully boring year.
posted by peter! 10:37 AM EST permalink
Monday, September 20, 2004
artbomb review: finder mystery date by carla speed macneil
"Vary is a college girl like any other coed studying to be a prostitute whose best mate is an anthropomorphic Pomeranian in bondage gear. She has crushes on two of her professors, one of whom looks like a velociraptor. The other one may or may not be blind, has written three books that he forbids his students to read and has mechanical ostrich legs."
"If Western comics read left to right and Eastern comics read right to left, MYSTERY DATE reads like a shotgun blast..."
(more from kelly sue deconnick)
posted by peter! 11:04 AM EST permalink
Sunday, September 19, 2004
"graphic novels are good for you."
posted by peter! 11:54 PM EST permalink
archives:
11/30/2003 - 12/06/2003
12/07/2003 - 12/13/2003
12/14/2003 - 12/20/2003
12/21/2003 - 12/27/2003
12/28/2003 - 01/03/2004
01/04/2004 - 01/10/2004
01/11/2004 - 01/17/2004
01/18/2004 - 01/24/2004
01/25/2004 - 01/31/2004
02/01/2004 - 02/07/2004
02/08/2004 - 02/14/2004
02/15/2004 - 02/21/2004
02/22/2004 - 02/28/2004
02/29/2004 - 03/06/2004
03/07/2004 - 03/13/2004
03/14/2004 - 03/20/2004
03/21/2004 - 03/27/2004
03/28/2004 - 04/03/2004
04/04/2004 - 04/10/2004
04/11/2004 - 04/17/2004
04/18/2004 - 04/24/2004
04/25/2004 - 05/01/2004
05/02/2004 - 05/08/2004
05/09/2004 - 05/15/2004
05/16/2004 - 05/22/2004
05/23/2004 - 05/29/2004
05/30/2004 - 06/05/2004
06/06/2004 - 06/12/2004
06/13/2004 - 06/19/2004
06/20/2004 - 06/26/2004
06/27/2004 - 07/03/2004
07/04/2004 - 07/10/2004
07/11/2004 - 07/17/2004
07/18/2004 - 07/24/2004
07/25/2004 - 07/31/2004
08/01/2004 - 08/07/2004
08/08/2004 - 08/14/2004
08/15/2004 - 08/21/2004
08/22/2004 - 08/28/2004
08/29/2004 - 09/04/2004
09/05/2004 - 09/11/2004
09/12/2004 - 09/18/2004
09/19/2004 - 09/25/2004
|
|
