Prada Animation - Trembled Blossoms from kwest on Vimeo.

Pretty pretty.

Flog alerts us to a couble of appearances by Drew Friedman. They may not become as famed as his Friar’s bash, but should provide good fun:

THURSDAY NIGHT IN SEATTLE:

DREW FRIEDMAN: THE FUN NEVER STOPS!
March 27 – May 6, 2008.
Opening Reception and Book signing
Thursday, March 27, 5:00 – 8:00 PM
Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 206.658.0110

SATURDAY NIGHT IN LOS ANGELES:

WHO: Drew Friedman & SPECIAL GUESTS!
WHAT: Discussion, Q&A and book signing
WHERE: Skylight Books
1818 N. Vermont Ave. • Los Angeles, CA 90027 • 323.660.1175 tel.
WHEN: Saturday, March 29, 5PM

At Skylight, Drew will be joined by several very special surprise guests, as well as discussion moderator Ben Schwartz and comedian Andy Kindler (whose father, Larry Kindler, was good friends with comic book legends Harry Chester and Harvey Kurtzman).

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More Jacob Covey-designed goodness! The cover to Dash Shaw’s upcoming BOTTOMLESS BELLY BUTTON.

BEASTS art director Jacob Covey has linked to a Flickr page of submissions for his open call and the results are super tasty. Above, Mario Trigo.

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The rescheduled HOTWIRE release party–felled by a blizzard on the original date– takes place tonight at Rocketship.

DRINKS! COMICS!! BEEF PATTIES!!(?)

and…….CARTOONISTS!! ZANGO!!!!

Mark Dean Veca
Sam Henderson
R. Sikoryak
Jonathon Rosen
Mark Newgarden
Chadwick Whitehead
Danny Hellman
Craig Yoe
Glenn Head

§ ICv2 has a two-par interview with First Second’s Mark Siegel:

What were your big hits for the second half of 2007 through the holiday season?

Laika and Robot Dreams have had all sorts of interesting things happen for them (Laika is Nick Abadzis and Robot Dreams is Sara Varon). It’s a delightful thing to see happen. It’s kind of interesting that these are both sort of on the young side; Laika is getting shelved a lot in the teen sections but it’s not necessarily meant that way. And Robot Dreams definitely appears very young at first glance, but then many of the reviews caught on that it has strange, unexpected depth to it. Those have been really pleasant surprises. Both reviewed very well, and there’s a lot of interest. There were a lot of invitations for Nick Abadzis; he spoke at the Smithsonian, he’s been all over the place, and on the radio. That’s been a fun thing to see take off.

In part two, Siegel talks about projects for 200, including, a new book written by Gene Yang and drawn by Derek Kirk Kim called Second Lives; Genius by Steven Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen; and The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert, a non-fiction book about a photographer who goes to Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders.

§ The Daily Cross Hatch talks to Charles Berberian and Philippe Dupuy:

What was the catalyst for these solo projects?

CB: Phillippe had some difficult issues that he had to deal with, on a personal level. I couldn’t get involved with them. So it was a step further into what we did ten years ago, which came out as Maybe Later. In that book we drew our own pages, but this was a matter of going through hard times, and he was really into that difficult moment.

PD: There are just some subjects that you have to deal with alone. When a subject is good to work on together, we work together.

§ Anthem Magazine interviews Gary Panter:

Maybe some cartoonists make money from their cartooning. Cartooning does not supply any meaningful amount of my income. I have to do commercial art. I think of my self as a painter. If my wish came true, people would buy my paintings and then i could afford my hobbies: cartooning and playing guitar. As it is, I have always had to do commercial art to survive.

We’re a little bit recovered from the week’s dizzying array of New York-cenetered events. Wednesday was Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian at Housing Works, moderated by Matt Madden. You can read Madden’s report here. Also recap by Kiel Phegley. We arrived a little latish (but still well before 7:00) and the place was already PACKED. The woman from Worlds Without Borders said it was the biggest crowd they had had for ANY of their events and a producer from NPR was there talking to people–graphic novels are hot!

We already linked to Isaac Cates excellent write up. It was a charming and discursive evening — the focus was not on craft question but more Dupuy and Berberian’s feelings about their work and their working process. We snapped a few photos but weren’t very close to the action. Above you can see (l-r) Madden, Dupuy and Berberian, with the NPR guy in the foreground. Here’s one more.

The crowd was a who’s who of the comics scene. Nick Bertozzi had brought his class from SVA. We ran into our former intern, Cindy Arias, who is much missed, as the ongoing lack of an events calendar here proves. Baby Aldara Madden was on hand. We also saw David Mazzucchelli whose Asterios Polyp will surely be one of the most talked-about graphic novels of 2008. However, Mazzucchelli will not be the one doing the talking, as its been announced that he will be doing no press for the book. Other luminaries spotted: Bob Sikoryak, a bunch of folks from Act-i-vate and Studio Deep Six, PWCW’s Ada Price, Jessica Abel and lots lots lots more. There were even people we didn’t know, new or returning recruits to the Dupuy/Berberian army, hopefully.

THURSDAY, we were off to the Friar’s Club for a “bookwarming” for Drew Friedman’s More Old Jewish Comedians. . Brian Heater already has a fabulous write-up with great photos from the event.

The Friar’s Club, in case you don’t know, is a private club for comedians and old timey Catskill schtickmeisters. The Friars Club Roasts are show business legends, with everyone from Sammy Davis Jr. to Milton Berle to Roger Grimsby having been the targets over the years. Okay Roger Grimsby was a local New York newscaster not a comedian, but the Friars Club is as old New York as you can get, a monument to the days when business was conducted over a cigar and whiskey and not Facebook and Twitter.

Given our love of timeless comedy and Rat Pack-era glamour, we were thrilled to be invited to this shindig. As is our wont, we arrived a bit late, and festivities were already under way, just in time to hear Mickey Freeman finishing up the joke with the punchline “Just enough to win!” This was followed by the joke with the punchline “Doctor, am I getting stronger?” Freeman also mentioned someone who was “so eager to join the Friar’s Club that he had prostrate surgery.”

The Beat was majorly overcome to be in the same room with Jerry Stiller, Larry Storch and…JOE FRANKLIN. “JF!” as fans of the Uncle Floyd Show will recall. Others in attendance, ubiquitous Bob Sikoryak and wife choreographer Kriota Wilberg, Gilbert Gottfried, Len Cariou (The original Sweeney Todd), Kaz, the Royal Flush magazine crew, and Michael Kupperman. We chided Kupperman on the non-appearance of a new issue of Tales Designed to Thrizzle, but he explained he has been busy finishing up an animation project which we aren’t allowed to talk about but it sounds great. We also heard that the next issue of MAD magazine is going to be an ALL-MONKEY issue, so that will be of some interest to our regular readers.

Our camera was kiboshed for the night by low batteries, but we snapped one or two. We can also add that the pigs in blankets at the Friars Club were, for some reason, the best we ever tasted.

Stiller and Friedman

Charles Brownstein, Brian Heater and Nikki Cook converse beneath the Friar logo. Mark Newgarden in the BG.

Note: Friedman and Larry Gelbart will be appearing at Skylight Books in LA on March 29th.

FRIDAY NIGHT it was pouring rain, but we still managed to make it out to Brooklyn to Rocketship for the Leah Hayes party. We hadn’t been there since the still-ongoing remodeling; although the store is a bit narrower it has been redone in a very pleasing way, and the left over show-store slat walls are mostly gone, too. On hand, the usual gang including Brian Heater, Jah Furry, Dash Shaw, who is newly relocated back in New York and Julia Wertz, Above, Hayes poses in the well-stocked store. Our camera still not working, so no more pictures.

As a reminder, we’re always looking for pictures of comics related events. SEND US YOUR LINKS!

Could there BE a cooler comics event?:

You’re all invited to join a stellar group of accomplished cartoonists in the “Friends of the Nib Comics Jam” at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery this Saturday, March 8 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Celebrated cartoonist and visual artist Jim Woodring will preside over the activities, which will include a guest appearance by New York underground comix legend Kim Deitch. Aspiring cartoonists of all ages are encouraged to participate in this lively session, which will include a rare screening of Deitch’s 1960 short film “Dial M for Monster.”

Brooklyn-based cartooner Leah Hayes is an artist/musician with a passel of news this week. #1, her new graphic novel Funeral of the Heart is coming out, and it’s previewed at The First Post. She also has a joint tour for the book and band Scary Mansions, starting with a release party this Friday at Rocketship. Complete tour in the jump:

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:

Multimedia reading and performance
Plus! Dazzling dancer Fuschia FoXXX! (Voted one of the Stranger’s “Sexiest Citizens”!) Scantily-clad boy AND girl sirens, including Holly Chernobyl! (Also voted one of the Stranger’s “Sexiest Citizens”!) Chocolate kisses! More!!

Thursday, February 28, 7pm
Bailey/Coy Books
414 Broadway Ave. E. (across from QFC)

Bob Fingerman reports that he has new collection in the works:

It’s been a while since I’ve had any publishing news to announce, but unless the contract stuff goes horribly awry (an unlikelihood), Fantagraphics Books will be publishing my oddball stream of consciousness (or in this case, unconsciousness) epic, Connective Tissue, sometime early spring 2009. Connective Tissue is my reverse-engineering experiment in art and prose. Instead of a normal illustrated book, in which the pictures illustrate (duh) the text, this time around I’m doing the art first, then supplying the prose. To ensure it flows well, I’ll likely add some art at the end of the writing stage (the titular connective tissue).

Above: A sample

Technorati Tags: Bob Fingerman

It’s snowing a gale here in NYC (NB; this weekend last year was New York Comic-Con! Woe betide the return to February in ‘09.)

However, if you are ANYWHERE NEAR ROCKETSHIP you must go to this because HOTWIRE #@ will melt icicles and blast through drifts.

Rocketship proprietor Alex Cox informs us in the comments that this has been CANCELLED for tonight and postponed until March. Smart move!

UPDATE: The new date is March 14th, per head Hotwire Glenn Head.

Stay home and watch CELEBRITY REHAB reruns!

Cult director David Fincher has been attached to a few comics comics movies (notably TORSO) and now he’s attached to another: Charles Burns’ BLACK HOLE. The film was adapted by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, and previously had Alexander Aja signed on to direct. Frankly, we’d prefer to see Fincher’s take on the award-winning tale of a sexually-tranmitted disease which turns teenagers into mutated monsters.

Jason’s new comic is being serialized in The New York Times Magazine. It’s called LOW MOON and it’s a Western. We’re in.

Dan Clowes Mr. Wonderful strip ends this weekend in the New York Times and you can catch up with the whole thing right here.

Next up in the Times: Jason!

Technorati Tags: Jason, New York Times, puppy

Wilfred Santiago is putting out a graphic novel about baseball great Roberto Clemente called 21 and he’s posted a preview on Flickr. Baseball and comics just go together like bratwurst and mustard, don’t they? Link via FLOG.

Technorati Tags: Sports

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Jacob Covey has a blog for the second edition of BEASTS! and it’s mouthwatering. Above,
Sea Monster and Bigfoot by Josh Cochran from a non-Beasts! illo job.

The wonders continue to unfold over on the newly refurbished and enhanced Fantagraphics website. For instance, they are now running free webcomics, and the first is “Chocolate Cheeks” by Steven Weissman. Now, to be honest, in order to get to the comics, you have to sign up in a way that might please the Dept. of Home Security—they want everything but your shoe size. But still, it’s STEVEN WEISSMAN! When asked for this kind of information, The Beat always uses a well disguised alias.

Meanwhile, over on Flog, they ask you to guess who this cartoonist is. The answer may surprise but to play is FREE!

The kids at FBI seems to be having entirely too much fun with their updated website–it offers one stop shopping for just about everything you need for Internet survival. Take these mouthwatering WALLPAPERS!

And then there are the awesomely appetizing avatars:

What’s next? A sociel nertworking site? PLEASE ANYTHING BUT THAT.

Via Flog (which has a spiffy new look, BTW):

All comix fans will want to see “REBEL VISIONS: The Underground Comix Revolution” opening this Saturday, January 12 from 11:30 to 8:00 PM at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle. This colorful art show will complement R. Crumb’s Underground exhibition opening January 26 at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle.

Organized by comix historian, author and archivist Patrick Rosenkranz, in association with Fantagraphics resident curator Larry Reid, “REBEL VISIONS” features original artwork, artifacts and relix from masters of the underground era. Highlights include a previously unseen original drawing by Rick Griffin, recently discovered by L. A. collector Greg Escalante; rarely viewed original art by feral genius S. Clay Wilson; and locally created original artwork by the legendary Greg Irons, who followed his underground work with a prolific career as a tattoo artist working at the storied Seattle Tattoo Emporium prior to his untimely death in 1984.

A wide selection of comix, graphic novels, and histories of this wildly creative period in American illustration, cartooning and graphic art from Fantagraphics Books others will be available. We also have new offerings by popular Fantagraphics artists including Jason, Ellen Forney, Dan DeCarlo, and others — as well as a limited supply of the coveted BEASTS!, recently unearthed in our cavernous warehouse.

More info in link.

What do Tim Lane, Jonathon Rosen, Mark Newgarden, R. Sikoryak, David Sandlin, Mary Fleener, Johnny Ryan, Matti Hagelberg, David Paleo, Sam Henderson, Danny Hellman, Glenn Head, Carol Swain, Mark dean Veca, Stephane Blanquet, Mack White, Onsmith, Lorna Miller, Chris Estey, David Lasky, Ivan Brunetti, Tobias Tak, Craig Yoe, and Christian Northeast have in common? They are all in the upcoming issue of HOTWIRE the Glenn Head-edited anthology of in-your-face comics brutality. Click on the link for a very tasty preview.

The Spurge–or at least his website–is up and at ‘em again! His holiday interview series continues today with Eric Reynolds, publicity maven and so much more at Fantagraphics. (And Tom is right; Eric is just about the most universally liked guy in indie comics.)

I think there’s tons of stuff I could do better. I know there is. I’m 36, I’m not quite willing to go to the extremes I would have 10 years ago. I think about what I and we can do better all the time. Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. Time and money are the biggest concerns, if we were rich we could do all sorts of awesome things, but because we’re not, we all here spend a lot of time covering a lot of bases that in a bigger company would be entire departments of people. Jacob [Covey] and Adam [Grano] would have a team of assistants and not have to stop everything several times a day to create a simple PDF for me to send to a magazine on deadline. Jason [Miles] would have a fleet of sales reps to pound the pavement. Gary would have an assistant — tell me Gary doesn’t need an assistant! But anyway, there’s always room for growth. It does get hard to tell sometimes, but I know I’m way better at my job now than I was in my first year.

Next up, Chris Pitzer of AdHouse

PITZER: I forget who came up with “whimsy” to describe AdHouse. It was probably Joel Priddy. He’s good at that type of stuff. So, while we publish what some consider one of the most depressing comics created — Skyscrapers — I think there are still elements of whimsy to be found within its pages. When people ask me to describe why I publish certain books, I usually fall back to what Jeff Mason said to me once: “Publish what you love.” So, first I have to love the book, since it will take time, money, stress, etc. to make it all happen. That said, I like bringing new voices to the people when possible. Other buttons of mine that can be pressed: smart, funny, designy, original. The sad part is that I’m interested in many more books than I can publish. At some points, I’ve had to pass on certain things that I’ll see published elsewhere, which is one of those sad/happy moments. It’s probably in their best interest, though.

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With THE BOTTOMLESS BELLY BUTTON a 720-page graphic novel coming out later this year (from Fantagraphics), stories in MOME and Marvel Comics, and the online serialization of his new comic Body World busting across the blogosphere this week, Dash Shaw is set to break out big time in 2008. Mixing themes of botany and anatomy — plant and animal — with a visual approach that uses diagrams, call-outs, text and other non-comics elements, his work looks like nothing else you’ve seen. His stories are rich, complex explorations of family dynamics, and misguided relationships. His characters can sometimes barely communicate verbally; Shaw uses his elegant symbolism to connect their dots for them.

Over on his blog, he gives us the BodyWorld faq:

* New pages uploaded on the BodyWorld site every Tuesday starting January 1st.
* A romance about bodymind telepathy.
* Will have detailed explanations of how this telepathy works.
* In book form it will be 360 pages. 12 chapters.
* Looks like a weird Bruce Timm cartoon.
* I am having a blast drawing this comic.

The future is now!