Speaking of Kazu Kibuishi, he has a nice post up examining what the contributors to the anthology FLIGHT #1 have done in the five years since it came out. At the time, the fresh new cartoonists within were hailed as a new force in the industry — and they have mostly gone on to very productive careers in animation and comics. Kazu didn’t include last names, so they’ve been added:

7 out of 19 have worked on completed films, either as production designers or story artists:
- Enrico Casarosa (Ratatouille, Up)
- Jake Parker (Horton Hears a Who!)
- Vera Brosgol (Coraline)
- Khang Le (Monster House)
- Chris Appelhans (Monster House, City of Ember, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox)
- Phil Craven (Kung Fu Panda, the forthcoming Kung Fu Panda 2)
- Clio Chiang (the forthcoming Princess and the Frog)

11 out of 19 have published one or more graphic novels (or will have a graphic novel published in 2010):

- Enrico Casarosa (The Venice Chronicles)
- Kazu Kibuishi (Daisy Kutter, Amulet, the forthcoming Copper collection)
- Jake Parker (Missile Mouse, forthcoming Scholastic GNs)
- Vera Brosgol (forthcoming First Second GN)
- Jen Wang (forthcoming First Second GN)
- Neil Babra (Hamlet)
- Bengal (Meka, Naja)
- Dylan Meconis (Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love, Bite Me!)
- Derek Kirk Kim (Good as Lily, The Eternal Smile)
- Rad Sechrist (Tom Sawyer)
- Kean Soo (Jellaby)

It’s certainly an impressive body of work — especially where comics for kids are concerned. But as Kazu notes, it perhaps wasn’t as much a movement as some very talented people who came together. And of the 12 who had webcomics running at the time, only 3 do now.

I’m sure The Beat will have more on this later in the week but don’t forget that the new version of The Prisoner starts on Sunday. And, as a tie-in, the Thomas Disch novel is back in print too.

Drew Friedman writes of his upcoming collection of illos:

This is my cover for the upcoming book, “The Kingdom of New York”, the Best of the New York Observer, due out later this month from Harper Collins. Aside from 20 years of articles, columns and reviews, the book will feature hundreds of covers by Victor Juhasz, Philip Burke and Robert Grossman, and yours truly, as well as loads of caricatures by Barry Blitt (He even drew me).

Via Flog

Publishers Weekly has published its Best Books of 2009 list and David Small’s STITCHES was named one of the Top Ten books OVERALL. There is also a Best 11 graphic novels:

Parker: The Hunter, Darwyn Cooke and Richard Stark (IDW)
Driven by Lemons, Josh Cotter (AdHouse)
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth,Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou with art by Alecos Papdatos and Annie Di Donna (Bloomsbury)
The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders, Emmanuel Guibert and Didier Lefèvre (First Second)
Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli (Pantheon)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni Press)
Footnotes in Gaza, Joe Sacco (Metropolitan)
A Drifting Life, Yoshihiro Tatsumi (D&Q)
You’ll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man, Carol Tyler (Fantagraphics)
Pluto, Naoki Urasawa (Viz Media)

Amazon has also listed its Best of 2009:

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Abby Denson’s DOLLTOPIA tour continues on the west coast, with CUPCAKES! Starting tonight in Vancouver. BOO!

October 31, 12pm Halloween event @ Elfsar Comics, 1007 Hamilton St., Vancouver BC
November 1, 2pm ECUAD, Emily Carr Theatre (SB 301), 1399 Johnston Street, Granville Island, Vancouver BC
November 4, 6pm In Other Words, 8 B NE Killingsworth St, Portland, OR
November 5, 5pm Floating World Comics, 20 NW 5th Ave, Portland, OR
November 6, 7PM Dolltopia reading and signing at Modern Times, 888 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA
November 7, 1PM Dolltopia signing @ A Different Light, 489 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA
November 7, 6-8PM Dolltopia signing @ GRSF, 618 Shrader St, San Francisco, CA
November 8, 1pm Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA

When R. Crumb does a book tour, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thus, his appearance Tuesday with Françoise Mouly in Richmond, VA has gotten lots of online coverage.

Here’s Harry Kollatz Jr. at RichmondMagazine.com.

Last night, R. Crumb entered with a pratfall that seemed to surprise the University of Richmond’s director of museums, Richard Waller. Waving and smiling, the artist tripped off a platform, his arms flailing and cap flying, and went “SPLAT!” But he dexterously rebounded with a grin. Perhaps this demonstration of agility came from the physical regime of his wife, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, herself a noted cartoonist.

Chris Pitzer has a report on the talk as well as a panel with Anders Nilsen, Kim Deitch, Hope Larson and Gabrielle Bell that was part of the week’s festivities.

The panel discussion brought in Gabrielle Bell, Kim Deitch, Hope Larson, and Anders Nilsen. All fantastic comic creators coming with different views and histories of making comics. So, that was kind of troublesome, since I wasn’t really sure how to tie them all together. Erling stepped in and suggested the scope should probably fall into creation, history (with a nod to Crumb), and publishing. He also suggested a few questions, which turned out to be very helpful.

And at Comics Worth Reading, Ben Towle has a blow by blow. Since Mouly is moderating each stop of the Crumb tour, we were wondering how she would keep it fresh, but based on this, it’s clear she’s not playing pattycake:

Next on the screen was Crumb’s two-pager, “Don’t Touch Me” (from Snatch #3) which depicts an apparent rape, followed by the “punch line” in the last panel: “I never get to come!” In a rare bit of almost-regret (maybe? almost?), Crumb recalled showing this strip to a woman he knew and being genuinely surprised by her horrified reaction. Mouly wondered though if it wasn’t his intention to shock. “I intend to shock–but I don’t want them to run away in horror!” he replied. The discomfort in the room became almost palpable when he glibly remarked about “all women having rape fantasies, right?” and mentioned that “even Freud said all women were masochistic.” Then, after a moment, “Let’s move on…”

BONUS: A picture of Crumb from 1968, taken by animator Ward Kimball, and hosted by Michael Barrier:

Ward Kimball gave me this snapshot of Robert Crumb, the great underground cartoonist, when I interviewed him for the first time, at the Disney studio on June 6, 1969. The photo is dated December 1968, which I believe is when Ward first met Crumb, in San Francisco. I was publishing Funnyworld in those days, and Ward had written to me about Crumb in November 1968: “Have you seen Robert Crumb’s new comic book, ‘SNATCH’? I dare you to run reproductions from this public hair-raiser in ‘Funnyworld.’” (No, I didn’t take him up on that dare.)

[Thanks to the fellow who wrote to us in what looked to be Romanian to send us this link.]

You’re one of the world’s most revered but reclusive cartoonists and you’ve just put out a book that confronts the biggest human enterprise of all: religion. So how to do you promote your book tour?

If you’re R. Crumb, hardly at all, as this statement at his website shows:

Robert, in accordance with his agreement with W.W. Norton Company (the publisher of his latest book), will spend much of this autumn promoting Genesis. In late September he will hold a two day press event in Paris, and in the middle of October start his press tour of the US in New York City. From there he is headed to Richmond, Virginia. From there he attends an event in L.A. where all 200+ pages of the original art which comprises the book will be shown at the Hammer Museum. From L.A. he goes up to San Francisco where he will do some interviews but also take some time off to visit friends. In the middle of November he goes to the University of Texas in Austin to finish the tour. Upon his return to France, he looks forward to beginning the new book he and Aline plan to do together.

While the listed itinerary for the Contractual Obligations Tour may be a bit light, our Intern Kate dug up the complete schedule, which kicks off TOMORROW in NYC at B&N:

10/23: New York BARNES & NOBLE/Union Square
In conversation with Francoise Mouly
7:00 PM
33 East 17th Street
New York, NY 10003
212-253-0810

Pre-signed copies available for sale.

10/24 — Los Angeles: Hammer Museum’s exhibit of all of Crumb’s art for GENESIS goes on display.

10/27: Richmond UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND/Modlin Center for the Arts
In conversation with Francoise Mouly
7:30 p.m.
28 Westhampton Way
University of Richmond, VA 23173
(804) 289-8592

Technorati Tags: Crumb, Religion

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With his long awaited GENESIS adaptation finally hitting shelves, somewhat reclusive cartoonist R. Crumb is having a, for him, orgy of publicity. First and perhaps most excitingly, a show of his art is up this month at the Hammer Museum in LA:

The UCLA talk is presented in conjunction with the exhibition “The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis” on view Oct. 24–Feb. 7 at the Hammer Museum. On display will be 207 pages of the original artwork from the Book of Genesis, including the front and back cover. Crumb will also speak at Hammer’s Lunchtime Art Talks series on Nov. 4.

An Evening with R. Crumb, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. at Royce Hall. Tickets are priced at $60, $44, $36, and $18 tickets available for UCLA students.

But there’s also the press tour you never thought you would see! R. Crumb interviewed in USA TODAY!

“I ended up with the old stereotypical Charlton Heston kind of God, long beard, very masculine. I used a lot of white-out, a lot of corrections when I tried to draw God.”

With a mixture of anticipation and anxiety, the art world has been awaiting Crumb’s long-rumored illuminated manuscript, a four-year, monastic-like effort to adapt every word of the first book of the Bible in distinctive pen and ink.

Bonus: USA Today’s Faith & Reason blog analyzes his view of the Scripture.

AND, the Washington Post’s religion column presents another in-depth analysis:

And more Crumb, drawing four to nine panels on most pages, and inking in the words in capital letters, comic book-style. But a primitive comic style that derives from Disney and fuzzy-animal comics, with little of the extreme cinematic angles, close-ups and diagonally split panels that artists such as Will Eisner brought to comics art in the 1940s — techniques that live on in graphic novels and newspaper strips such as “Judge Parker.” Crumb stays with a head-on, eye-level style as if he were drawing for small children. Part of his energy has always come from the ongoing joke of putting a fuzzy-animal style together with heinous perversities and despairs, a mating dance done to the music of his creepy obsessions with women built like linebackers, with his Rapidograph pen and with his style, which never changes, regardless of topic. It’s as if Picasso had spent his entire career in his blue period, doing art as ritual.

AND, a fine review of GENESIS from Print Magazine by Bill Kartalopoulos.

More to come, surely.

David Small’s acclaimed graphic novel memoir, STITCHES, has been nominated for a National Book Award in the literature for young people category.

It’s the second nomination for a graphic novel in this category; Gene Yang’s AMERICAN BORN CHINESE got the nod in 2006.

The NBAs are considered one of the most prestigious literary awards in the US, and it’s a great recognition of both Small’s incredible story and the acceptance of books with pictures as possessing literary merit.

[Thanks to Torsten Adair for the alert.]

Via PR, the news that Wimpy Kid is really, really big, with a four million copy initial release for the next volume in the series. Author Jeff Kinney will also be on tour on the West Coast (dates in the jump) and be making many media appearances. Although whether the text-heavy Wimpy Kid series counts as a comic at all is often a subject of some dispute, as we’ve often said, Kinney self-identifies as a cartoonist, and we should welcome him to our clan.

On October 12, 2009, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, the fourth title in #1 bestselling author Jeff Kinney’s series published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams, releases with a 4-million-copy one-day laydown. The printing is the largest of any children’s book release this year. The additional pre-publication printings reflect a surge in demand for the newest book in the middle grade series and Abrams’ commitment to the increasing popularity of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. 

“We are poised to ship additional books as demand warrants, and we expect the sell-through to be extraordinary. Our first printing and lay down are unprecedented for Abrams and indicate how hugely successful and popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid has become,” said Michael Jacobs, president and CEO of Abrams. “It’s exciting to see the impact these books have on readers. Even more interesting for our industry is how Dog Days will bring people into the stores and give fans of the series an impetus to shop for and buy books and help kick off the holiday season at retail.” 
The national lay down of the book has been supported by a pre-sell campaign implemented by more than 3,000 stores across the country. Custom-made items provided by Abrams kept the message consistent and in support of in-store events on the day of sale and throughout the fall. More than 2,000 event kits that have materials created by Jeff Kinney were shipped. These include reproducible sheets with Wimpy Kid games and trivia, a T-shirt to be raffled off, and temporary Dog Days tattoos. 

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Is there a living cartoonist besides Robert Crumb who could hold a press conference just about a comic book? For two hours? And sit in front of a picture of God and look great doing it? Crumb recently faced questions in Paris about GENESIS, his towering interpretation of the first book of the Bible:

The 66-year-old hero of underground comics who wowed the 1960s with “Fritz The Cat” and “Mr Natural”, said he took up the challenge 40 years later of creating another white-haired long-bearded figure “to illuminate the text of Genesis by illustrating every single thing that’s in there.”

“It hasn’t been done before I think,” he said. “There are hidden stories that are very strong.”

The lanky gray-haired Crumb, in grey suit and waistcoat for the two-hour media conference, poked fun at the Almighty hero of the book but said he had reneged his Roman Catholic upbringing to become a gnostic “on a spiritual quest”.

Crumb will be doing some events in conjunction with the book’s release. Does anyone have the schedule?

Speaking of GENESIS, at SPX, we had a fun conversation with Carol Tyler and Douglas Wolk in which we imagined what it would be like if EVERY book of the Bible got a comics adaptation. Can you imagine who would do what book? Tyler said she’s been told she’s perfect for Ruth, and suggested Justin Green for one of the Gospels. We like Jim Woodring for Ezekiel and Todd McFarlane for Revelations. Who do YOU think should draw what book of the Bible?

UPDATE: Douglas has his own suggestions at Comics Alliance:

This weekend, at SPX, Carol Tyler mentioned that someone had suggested she should draw the book of Ruth; Chester Brown has already done Mark and part of Matthew. Anyone want to suggest cartoonists particularly suited to other books of the Bible? Joe Matt on Job, anyone? P. Craig Russell’s Song of Solomon?

It’s been an astonishing year in graphic novels, but…we’re not done yet. Comicmix has the goods on what may be the most amazing book of the year, LOVERBOY, by Dondi creator Irwin Hasen.

Loverboy is the risqué, romantic escapade story of a short bachelor, who adores tall, women. The double-breasted suit wearing man-about-town seeks psychiatric insight to his tendencies in this humorous new graphic novel by award winning Dondi cartoonist, Irwin Hasen. Also includes a major biography of the noted cartoonist, and is filled throughout with Hasen’s famous humor.

Hasen is 91, so…he must have a good memory.

It seems that the Amazon Artist Fail matter we reported the other day has led to the entire situation being reexamined. You’ll recall that cartoonist George O’Connor was thwarted in his attempt to list the books he drew on his Amazon Author page. However, there seems to have been a happy ending. O’Connor writes:

It might be obvious if you’re reading this post via the rss feed on my Amazon Author page, but Amazon has reversed their previous decision that I was not a prominent enough contributor to several titles that they had recently pulled from my page. Amongst the pulled-but-now-reinstated titles are the upcoming graphic novel Ball-Peen Hammer, written by the amazingly talented Adam Rapp, but with artwork by yours truly. Comics are truly a collaborative effort (a comic without pictures is something entirely different) and I am heartened to see that my letter has played some part in having Amazon reexamine this practice of theirs.

Full text of Amazon’s reply below:

Dear Mr. O’Connor,

My name is Sarah Beaudette of Author Central. I’ve reviewed previous correspondence with you, and would like to apologize for the misunderstanding. Normally illustrators are not allowed to add books to their bibliography, but we’ve researched these titles and have concluded that you are a primary contributor to them. Your example has driven us to re-consider our policy, and we appreciate your feedback as we continue to look for ways to make our service more useful to authors.

Your bibliography now includes “Alien Feast” and “Ball Peen Hammer,” as well as “The Glass Cat of Oz.” These changes will appear online within 3 days.

I hope this helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Justice! Congrats, George!

Events- Bergen Street Comics:

Boing Boing has an exclusive excerpt of Crumb’s GENESIS, out this week, and you know they chose Chapter 19, the one where Lot has unexpected houseguests. Good times.

Another popular book series is being adapted into comics form, this time The Clique, by Lisi Harrison, a #1 New York Times bestselling series in the Gossip Girl-ish vein. Yen Press will publish a manga version illustrated by Yishan Li in July 2010.

With nearly 8 million copies sold and a popular feature film from Warner Bros. and Executive Producer Tyra Banks out on DVD, THE CLIQUE (called “Sartre with lip gloss” by Time magazine), is set at Westchester County’s most exclusive girls’ private middle school, and it exactly captures the super-pressured environment in which today’s teenagers compete in every way to be the “best”. Through these endlessly entertaining stories readers live vicariously (and often, hilariously) through the lives of the memorable “Pretty Committee” where the only thing harder than getting in is staying in. 

Kurt Hassler, Publishing Director of Yen Press, says “THE CLIQUE has been an absolute phenomenon in the young adult publishing world, and Yen Press is extremely grateful to be able to work on this visual adaptation of Lisi’s story. It’s exciting to be able to work on a project like this that has such amazing potential to introduce a new generation of young female readers to the medium of comics.”

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Do you want to go to Hogwarts, stroll around a bit, buy a new wand, and shoot off a few messages by owl? Well, soon you will be able to as Universal has unveiled plans and art for their Harry Potter theme park, complete with video tour.

From the front archway of Hogsmeade to the immensity of Hogwarts castle, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will feature the locations listed below:

– At the entrance of Hogsmeade, billowing steam and an iconic whistle signal the arrival of the Hogwarts Express into Hogsmeade station

– Across the way is Zonko’s, a joke shop with a collection of tricks and jokes, including Extendable Ears, Boxing Telescopes and Sneakoscopes

– Honeydukes is next door and full of treats like Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans

– The Three Broomsticks and adjacent Hog’s Head pub will feature traditional British fare and drinks including Butterbeer and pumpkin juice

– Across from the Three Broomsticks is The Owlery, where owls roost and await their next delivery

– The Owl Post sends letters with a certified Hogsmeade postmark and sells official stamps from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

– Ollivanders wand shop is an incredible interactive experience where the wand chooses the wizard

– Completing Hogsmeade is Dervish and Banges, the magical instruments and equipment shop featuring Quidditch equipment, Triwizard apparel, Spectrespecs and Remembralls

– The first attraction, Dragon Challenge, features a twin high-speed roller coaster with many iconic elements from the Triwizard Tournament

– Next is Flight of the Hippogriff, a family coaster simulating a Hippogriff training flight over the grounds of Hogwarts castle

– Located in Hogwarts castle, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is a thrilling new state-of-the-art attraction that uses entirely new technology to bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life in ways never before experienced

– Before exiting back into Hogsmeade, Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods is full of Ministry of Magic and magical creatures merchandise, Omnioculars, and even remote control Golden Snitches “This Universal Creative and Warner Bros. team shares an incredible passion and commitment to making this destination an exceptionally immersive environment that will touch the lives of our guests,” said Mark Woodbury, President, Universal Creative.

io9 has a complete rundown and some concept art. Muggles, prepare to part from your money!

It was a busy weekend in socializing. Friday night was the Spectrum art opening at the Society of Illustrators, a who’s who of fantastic artists, from Donato Giancola to Kinuko Y Craft  to Phil Hale and beyond. James “Dinotopia” Gurney has a post, as does Eric Braddock. We even stole one of Gurney’s photos, above. The show is open to the public until October 17th and it’s quite inspiring.

The event was also a black diamond schmoozeathon. We caught up with Charles Vess, Jon Foster, Christian Gossett, Tom Fowler, Spectrum runners Arnold and Cathy Fenner and too many to mention really. If you like fantasy art, this is the place for you.

SATURDAY, it was the gala Drawn & Quarterly 20th Anniversary shindig at Rocketship! Who was there? Who was NOT there! For the evening, a secret back door into the speakeasy at the back of the Clover Club had been opened, allowing the dream of a classy bar attached to a comics shop to come true for many. Some of the folks we hobnobbed with (although we arrived late and missed many) Matt Madden, Charlie Oarr, Anne Bernstein, Dan Nadel, Tom Hart, Leela Corman, Abby Denson….you get the picture. Of course, the fab D&Q power team of Peggy Burns and Tom Devlin stole the show, along with Rocketship’s own dapper Alex Cox. We got to meet the incredibly talented Guy Delisle, who hobnobbed about the developing styles of comics in various European countries, and Gabrielle Bell, R. Sikoryak and R.O. Blechman also held court. We managed not to take a single usable picture, but we hear Peg or Alex may have some. SPILL.

SUNDAY, we managed to make it out to Brooklyn for the Brooklyn Book festival. It was a gorgeous day with late summer sunshine perhaps overheating those who had too quickly pulled out their fall woolens, but there seemed to be good sized crowds for both the regular book panels and the graphic novel area. We chatted briefly with the Topatoco crew, including Jonathan Rosenberg of Goats, who is very happy with how his first collection from Del Rey is doing. The webcomics crowd continues to be blissfully removed from all the direct market sturm und drang. We also caught a bit of the Act-i-vate panel and chatted with Ed Chavez from Vertical who managed to sell us three Japanese cookbooks! Yum yum!

The best part of the day was when a chat with Ed Catto at the Captain Action/Moonstone booth turned into an impromptu “Future of Comics Panel,” with the above folks.  (Front row: Bob Kahan, Paul Kupperberg, Denny O’Neil, MariFran O’Neil, Heidi MacDonald, Keith Williams; Second row: Ed Catto, Jim Salicrup, Tom DeFalco, Danny Fingeroth; Third row: Peter Sanderson.)

Can you guess what was talked about?

A few observations from weekend chatter…comics retailers reactions to 10 Days That Shook The World range from calm — those who sell more books in their stores — to blank faced shock and dismay — those who depend more on the Wednesday crowd. Also,  DeFalco, E-I-C- at Marvel from 1987 to 1994, gave out some advice hiring the next publisher at DC which he gave us permission to pass along.

“The new publisher should be a) someone from outside comics and b) should own a Kindle and an iPhone,” he said.

Not bad advice.

The GN programming for the dedicated NYCC Pavilion at this weekend’s Brooklyn Book Festival (BBF), Sunday, September 13 at Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza has been released. More PR below:

“Both NYCC and BBF are strong New York events with distinct local flavor and focus, and we both have our greatest support from the residents of NYC,” notes Lance Fensterman, Vice President for the Reed Exhibitions Pop Culture Group, which manages NYCC among several other pop culture events. “On top of this, there is so much cross-over and commonality between the pop culture world and the literary world that our presence at the Brooklyn Book Festival seems almost intuitive. Where else would Jonathan Ames, Phil Jimenez, and Francine Prose fit so comfortably together? We are very pleased and proud to be a part of this event, and I hope our presence will add significantly to the excitement and sense of community that defines NYCC and BBF.”
 
Organizers note that the NYCC Pavilion will include performances, presentations, autographings, and other opportunities for fans to interact directly with artists, creators, publishers, and retailers. The following is a list of the programming events that have been scheduled to date. Further details about NYCC activity at BBF are available by visiting the official NYCC website at www.nycomiccon.com and clicking on Brooklyn Book Festival.
 
NYCC Pavilion Stage Programming:

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If he finished this, it would be on every college syllabus. Will no smart publisher step up?

Guy Delisle, author of three fantastic graphic novels, will be making his first appearance in New York at the Brooklyn Book Festival September 13th. Drawn & Quarterly will be exhibiting for the third year in a row and they have several exciting events planned, as you can read at their blog. Beside Delisle, D+Q cartoonists in attendance: R. Sikoryak (Masterpiece Comics), R. O. Blechman (Talking Lines), Adrian Tomine (Shortcomings), Gabrielle Bell (Cecil & Jordan In New York) and Ron Rege Jr. (Skibber Bee Bye, Against Pain).

To celebrate such a momentous gathering of D+Q cartoonists as well as toast to the company’s 20th Anniversary, please join us for cocktails at the Brooklyn purveyor of fine comics, Rocketship, on Saturday evening.

Saturday, September 12th, 7:00 PM
Rocketship 208 Smith Street Brooklyn, NY
http://rocketshipstore.blogspot.com/

Sunday, September 13th, 10:00AM-6:00 PM
Brooklyn Book Festival Borough Hall Brooklyn NY
http://www.visitbrooklyn.org/festival.html

11:00 AM Guy Delisle on the BBF’s International Stage
11:00-12:00 PM Gabrielle Bell & Ron Rege Jr signing
12:00-2:00 PM Guy Delisle & Adrian Tomine signing
2:00-4:00 PM R. O. Blechman & R. Sikoryak signing
4:00-6:00 PM Guy Delisle & Gabrielle Bell signing

All signings will be at the Drawn & Quarterly booth!

For more general information on the BFF, which includes appearances by:

Russell Banks, Jonathan Lethem, Anne Carson, Paul Auster, Edwidge Danticat, Claire Messud, Colson Whitehead, A.M. Homes, David Cross, Mary Gaitskill, Nicholson Baker, Oliver Sacks, Staceyann Chin, Gary Shteyngart, Amy Sohn, Nelson George, Melvin Van Peebles, Siri Husvedt, Lupe Fiasco, Heidi Julavits Sloane Crosley, Tao Lin, Jeffrey Rotter, Esmeralda Santiago, Keith Gessen, Naomi Klein, Thurston Moore, M.T. Anderson, Greg Milner, Francine Prose, Jonathan Ames, Kate DiCamillo, Mo Willems, T. Cooper, Tom Tomorrow, Judi Barrett, Christopher Myers….and many more

Check out the latest press release.

There will be a sizable graphic novel presence at the show with the New York Comic-Con’s participation…more details forthcoming on that.

LITERALLY!

We dropped by the signing for Josh Neufeld’s A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge last night. Arrived late, and the place was crowded but we heard it had been absolutely mobbed earlier, and Josh was still signing books right until things broke up at 9 pm. So, a success! It couldn’t happen to a more deserving cartoonist or project. Josh told us the signings in New Orleans over the weekend were “amazing,” selling out at one location. “People were really grateful to have their stories told,” he said.

We didn’t get any pictures of Josh, but we did snap this iconic one of Dan Goldman and Dean Haspiel, which represents the way graphic novels are conquering the world!

We also snapped this pic of Tim Hamilton and Joan Reilly, conveniently showing the front and back covers of the book, and you can actually see Josh’s ear behind Joan’s right shoulder. That’s Joe Infurnari and his awesomely fashionable friend to the left. Anyway, Josh was really busy the whole, we just couldn’t get near him.

Other folks we chatted with: Chip Kidd, who enjoyed last week’s Bryant Park event, although he’d suffered terribly in the heat; Ada Price, Hilary Florido, and Sean Pryor, who are apparently forming some new kid gang; Larry Smith of SMITH Magazine, which gave birth to A.D., David Heatley, Tom Hart, Joey Manley, and a lot of people who we waved at but couldn’t talk to.

It was yet another night of good comics and good energy. People are making progress, slowly in some cases, but moving forward.

There is one thing that was really, really notable about the evening in hindsight…no one gave a shit about comics gossip or comics gossip sites. Really. It’s a great way to live.

Just as a reminder, this weekend Josh Neufeld has three stops in New Orleans to promote the release of A.D.: NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE DELUGE:

Friday, August 21: A.D. hits New Orleans. Release party with Josh and some of the book’s subjects, live and in person! Plus an art show, music, and refreshments. The Canary Collective, 329 Julia Street, New Orleans, 7pm.

Saturday, August 22: Josh signs books @ Maple Street Book Shop, 7523 Maple Street, New Orleans. 1pm.

Saturday, August 22: Josh signs books @ Octavia Books, 513 Octavia Street, New Orleans. 3:30 pm.

Only yesterday, we were wishing for a larger version of Tony Millionaire’s definitive drawing of the eye of Moby Dick for the cover of the new Penguin Classics edition. Today, we figured out how to get bigger art all by ourselves!

If that isn’t the most malevolent and relentless drawing of a white whale’s eye we’ve ever seen, we’ll eat a hat full of blubber. Clip and SAVE.

Via Jacob Covey at Flog, a link to the Flickr stream of Paul Buckley, the art director for the highly regarded line of Penguin Classics with covers by comics luminaries. This is the best collection of this great line we’ve seen online. Here’s a few you may have missed. Above, Lilli Carré.

Sammy Harkham

And…the inevitable Tony Millionaire. I heard a million voices cry out at once for a GIANT SIZED JPEG of this.