After a hiatus of nearly two and half years, we're pleased to announce that our Walt & Skeezix series is back with the new Volume 4 (1927-1928), arriving in stores within the next couple of weeks.
Jeet Heer, one of the finest journalists writing in comics today, provides another compelling introduction, rich in biographical detail (Frank King's granddaughter, Drewanna, graciously provided us with King's diaries and sketchbooks from this period).
And, as we have all come to expect when a book is designed by Chris Ware, there are many nuanced flourishes in how the book is presented (my favorite is how Skeezix "ages" on the spine of each volume).
Then there's the strip itself: in this volume, Walt once again faces a threat of losing Skeezix (a recurring theme in the storyline and one that mirrors King's own experience with his son) and Corky, Skeezix's brother, is born.
From here on the series is back on a regular schedule; we're already half way through production on Volume 5 (1929-30), which will be out in March of next year.
I came across this blog that had the most awesome picture of Tove, above. It reminded me to call attention to D+Q publishing two new books by the Finnish (who spoke Swedish) master of literature!
In July, stores will see Moomin The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Volume 5.
And this fall, stores will see the second title in our Enfant line Who Will Comfort Toffle?, perhaps the sweetest story ever about being shy and feeling left out.
International man of mystery, the man of stellar taste, Paul Gravett, hosts the esteemed Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware at two Comica events this May. In London on the 24th and in Brighton on the 25th.
National Magazine Award Finalist Tablet Magazine interviews James Sturm about his new book Market Day, his influences, his previous books and Inky Solomon. It's a great thorough, thoughtful interview. Here's the podcast. Happy Passover!
Oooowee! The Fall 2010 covers are rolling in and here's a doozy of a beauty by Vanessa Davis for her short story collection this fall titled Make Me A Woman. We were practically tripping over ourselves when the original artwork came in. Have I mentioned that Vanessa is a special guest at Comic-con this July?
It's nice to see the spate of reviews that have come in loving the new edition of Hicksville. The Onion AV Club gives the rerelease an A, the Las Vegas Weekly gives the book 4 stars, Boing Boing joins in, and Pop Matters offers lengthy praise.
Coinciding with a stellar review of MAP OF MY HEART in The Onion's AV Club--"quiet, emotional storm...A-"-- John P. added two more dates next week for his current road trip!
The new issue of Quill & Quire interviews a dozen scholars in Canada, asking them to rebuild the canon of what Canadian books need to be taught. Professor Julie Rak of the University of Alberta opined for the inclusion of It's A Good Life, If You Don't Weaken stating:
"Along with his friend Chester Brown (whose Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography could also be included on this list), Seth is one of the best graphic novelists in the world. This book, a semi-autobiographical tale about the artist's obsession with an obscure cartoonist, looks beautiful, walks a fine line between fiction and non-fiction, and has a compelling narrative that stands up to analysis and re-reading. It deserves to be canonized, even if it is not 'traditional' enough to ever win a Governor General's Literary Award or the Giller Prize."
Being a publicist, there is nothing like a sincere, honest review of the actual material in a good book by a great artist that makes the day go by nicely. Visit J. Caleb Mozzocco on Newsarama to hear his thoughts on the third title in our John Stanley Library, 13 Going On 18--he shares his likes and dislikes (it's not all glowing!) and ends with "This is perhaps my favorite, in large part because it’s so different than Nancy and Lulu and even Melvin, and yet still has the pleasant charm, endless variations on a few familiar joke plots, and lovely simplified but amazingly expressive artwork that makes a John Stanley comic a John Stanley comic."
Also, I appreciate that Caleb touches on Seth's intro {the first title in the JSL to have ancillary information} and how dear Val and Judy are to Seth as much as Maggie and Hopey or the Peanuts gang and how the two fit into to Stanley's kid comics spectrum, most of all, their obvious comparison to the Archie comics, which now that I think about it, isn't that comparison screaming for a hardcore, academic breakdown? People, ball is in your court.
Chip Kidd, designer and editor extraordinaire and man about town, offers some very, very kind words in regards to D+Q in this interview about his new Alex Ross book on Comic Book Resources. "...I think Drawn and Quarterly is certainly one of the best, if not the best, single independent publisher of comics today..." Thanks Chip, you and Pantheon aren't too shabby either!
Black Blizzard, the new crime-noir thriller written and drawn by Yoshiro Tatsumi more than 50 years ago, hits most stores today. Given the content and context of the book, Adrian Tomine designed Black Blizzard as a 1950s pulp novel. With every detail, his intention was to match the sensibility of "hard-boiled" dime store novels of that era, from the printed edges of the pages (how often is that done anymore?), to the rough, pulpy interior stock, to the jolting, eye-popping back cover descriptive text.
For more context on Black Blizzard, see the chapter devoted to its creation in Tatsumi's 2009 memoir, A Drifting Life. Adrian also conducted a new interview with Tatsumi, which is featured at the end of Black Blizzard. Also, scroll down a few inches to see Tom's post from earlier today.
"That's why I like Tatsumi's work: it's unrefined, maddeningly dank stuff, the work of an early comics pioneer staggering bleary-eyed into a terrifying, uncertain future and lashing out nervously at every envisioned hell in a titanically blunt manner...Black Blizzard may prove to be the most valuable 'classic' release of the year..." says Joe McCulloch over at Comics Comics. That man is an astute reader of comics!
I don't know how this slipped past me, but apparently a few weeks on the NYT, they featured an R.O. Blechman animated gif to illustrate an article. Here
We have until May 6th to vote for which of these awesome covers by Seth appears on the summer reading issue of the WALRUS. you can even win a framed picture of the cover, a D+Q gift pack (woot! woot!) and a subscription to the Walrus. More information here.
Steve Duin of the Oregonian ravely reviewed Market Day and stated: "Market Day -- a James Sturm epiphany from Drawn & Quarterly -- is a memorable graphic novel that follows a man down the thin line between lost and found. This is the best graphic novel, to date, of 2010"
And as a publisher, Portland is one of the best comics cities ever! I am dying to visit a city that counts Joe Sacco as one of their esteemed residents not to mention the critic Mr. Wolk AND extremely supportive press such as the Oregonian, Willamette Weekly and The Portland Mercury. And, holy smokes, let's list the stores in no particular order: Powells, Reading Frenzy, Cosmic Monkey, Bridge City, Floating World, Excalibur, Guapo, and what else? Did I miss any other store?! Let me know. And let's not forget that it is the HQ of Top Shelf, Dark Horse, ONI and Spark Plug. And let's not forget Wordstock! What the heck is in the water there? Perhaps it is in relation to the number of microbreweries? PEOPLE! THIS CITY LOVES COMICS! A GRAPHIC SHANGRI LA, XANADU, HICKSVILLE!!!
So to commemorate this occasion, D+Q is bringing two superstar guests to the festival including R. Sikoryak of Masterpiece Comics and James Sturm of Market Day, James has a kick off event for the weekend at Powell's on Thursday the 22nd! Show us east coasters some love!
Coming this October is Picture This Lynda Barry's companion book to the bestselling What It Is. To celebrate this, here's a wonderful interview with Lynda conducted by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer through The New York Times Knowledge Network and the University of Toronto School for Continuing Studies.
If you have never heard Lynda explain how she loves when people mishear lyrics, she explains here how she misheard the lyrics to the Rascals "Groovin" when she was 11, and how sad she was to find out the real lyrics. She then touches on the "specifics vs the general" and how to move from memory to fiction, and the bridge between text and drawing, and there's much more but go read it!
As I type this, I am devouring the very last piece of a chocolate-Guinness cake sent to the office by James Sturm, man of class, to celebrate the release of his new graphic novel, Market Day! That's right: he sent us a cake (not kosher, in case you were wondering.) All I'm saying is that the rest of you artists really need to step up your game: Seth, I'm expecting nothing less than macaroons.
Technically this isn't an original graphic novel. Black Blizzard was published in 1956, but was never published again though it marked the arrival of a major talent, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, who coined the term gekiga. The book is a noir crime thriller, and if Tatsumi-san's first book sounds familiar-- it is. He goes into great detail in A Drifting Life about the process of creating Black Blizzard and how it was a creative breakthrough for him. The book also features an interview between the series editor and designer Adrian Tomine with Tatsumi-San. And yes, this book is in color. Or, I should say the first fifteen pages. Now before you go blaming the economy and D+Q trying to institute some extreme cost savings measures, this is the way the book was originally published. Tatsumi-san explains in the interview it was a tradition leftover from the rental manga market.
Adrian also did a bang-up job with the design, as he chose the paperback format complete with dying the edges of the book yellow to mimic old pulp novels.
Thursday, March 11 - CHICAGO, IL Comics Symposium of Chicago (5:45-6:45 PM "Comics as Art" panel with Paul Hornschemeier, John Porcellino, Christa Donner, and Bernie McGovern)
Forthcoming dates:
Friday and Saturday, March 12-13 - CHICAGO, IL Chicago Zine Fest (Friday 7pm: Zine Reading at Quimby's, followed by Zine Art opening at Johalla Gallery) (Saturday: Tabling at CZF and King-Cat slideshow/talk at 12:15 PM)
James Sturm is a busy, busy man. Most people would consider being the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for Cartoon Studies a full-time job. Most people would consider being the series editor of the line of biographical comics a full time job, not to mention writing a book in said series. Most people would consider co-penning an award-winning how to draw comics book a full time job. James also has a family, again, full time job. So what does a man with this much on his plate set out to do? Well, create an original graphic novel that has been drawing rave advance reviews, of course.
Here is it, everyone, a final copy of the James Sturm's new book, in stores in April, Market Day.
Market Day is classic historical Sturm, with a story that rings relevant in any day and age. I do not want to give away too much, but the story is wonderful, the colors are brilliantly subtle, and altogether makes you marvel and realize that right now is the golden age of graphic novels.
Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review remarking: Sturm turns in a tightly woven graphic novella.
Booklist raves: The timeless dilemma of balancing artistic integrity and the dictates of the marketplace is addressed with compassion and sensitivity.
The Daily Crosshatch notes: Sturm refuses to tie up unraveled ends. It's not his style. He does, however, offer his character the sunrise of another day.
And well, as usual The Spurge of the Comics Reporter says it best of all with: James Sturm's new graphic novella Market Day did a fair job of breaking my heart.
So the book is in stores in April, and so is Sturm, catch him at one of these fine establishments and be enthralled by his slide show and get him to sign your book. We will be adding more dates!
The Centre for Cartoon Studies will be showing artwork from R. Sikoryak's Masterpiece Comics in its CCS gallery until March 27th. Go check it out! Gallery info below
CCS Gallery 94 South Main Street White River Junction, Vermont Tel: 802 295 3319
What's all the fuss about this WILSON fellow, you ask? If the very idea of an all original Dan Clowes graphic novel doesn't send you running to your nearest bookstore in May, well, then you can have a peek at the man in this week's New Yorker. This is an original story separate from the original graphic novel!
Oh, yes, on the same day as a WILSON review by Tom Spurgeon, we receive our advances of the book, which is gorgeous! The Comics Reporter starts his review with "Wilson is a sharp strike right to the sweet spot of the brain where great comics are enjoyed" and it only gets better.
Eagle eyed readers may notice that on the books on the bottom of the stack are not D+Q. (Readers may also notice the stacks of original Denys Wortman art waiting to be scanned.) Indeed, they are not, our run was co-printed with Jonathan Cape of the U.K., as well, other foreign rights were sold prepublication to Cornelius of France; Oog & Blik of the Netherlands; Reservoir Books/Mondadori of Spain; Coconino of Italy; Eichborn Verlag of Germany; and Aben Maler of Denmark. Clowes around the world!
Before Tom turns this blog into a virtual quarter bin (I jest, I jest) I wanted to turn your attention to the fact that the first official review of the first ever all original Dan Clowes graphic novel, WILSON, came in this week from Publisher's Weekly. The pub rightly gave the May book a starred review and noted Clowes' "new levels of brilliance" and that he offers "offers another beautifully drawn slice of piercing social commentary." Yes, indeed.
Surprisingly, the interior cartooning is vastly superior to the cover. The cover looks like it's to spec and the interior is actually off model and just better. When Seth saw this issue (I picked it up at Comic-con), he remarked that it looked like George Gately (he of irritating Heathcliff fame. It does look like his work a bit but my research doesn't lead to Gately working for Dell. In fact, my research turned up so little on this comic other than it ran for three issues that I shouldn't even be posting it. Possibly we are looking at the work of Bob Gustafson. The original strip was a daily that ran for years (56-80 possibly) drawn by Robert "Rupe" Baldwin who evidently set up his studio in the back of a van.
There are some decent moments in this comic although much of the capturing-childhood-moments seems forced. How you can make two kids wildly squirting hoses at each other seem forced is beyond me and yet there it is. There is a nice quality to the story in that incidents sort of flow into each other--I hesitate to say that the action escalates exactly, more like it flows along.
Paul Hornschemeier's got the goods here. This is a dream for any comics nerd--not only the original art but a page of the layouts as well. Check it out! And whose name appears at the top of that layout script?!? Jack Mendelsohn!!!
Diamond has previews up for this years forthcoming Free Comic Book Day comics. Our comic this year is extra awesome in that it reprints a bunch of different John Stanley written comics (including Choo-Choo Charlie?!). It is good. Very good. And cherry on top of that particular sundae is TUBBY!!! TUBBY!!! TUBBY!!! Go here to read the preview of the classic story where Tubby grows a moustache and infuriates his neighbors.
As I mentioned before, seeing the Jacky's Diary entry in Art Out of Time was pretty exciting for me. I sure do love the oddball and forgotten in just about anything. The fact that comic was ever published made me beam for days. I did a little research on Jack Mendelsohn after that and came up with the fact that he wrote and drew a Miss Peach comic (as I mentioned here.) I grew up reading Momma in the Boston Globe in the 70s and while I can't say I loved that strip, it stuck in my mind like a few other second tier strips at that time(like Broom Hilda, Tumbleweeds, Crock). I don't recall if Miss Peach ran in one of the other papers or not but I knew of its existence. I DO recall those giant apricot heads though. And I definitely recall those smart mouths. Now honestly, I didn't expect much from the Miss Peach comic but I'm happy to say that it's a solid humor comic and that the credit has to go to the great Jack Mendelsohn. Mendelsohn loves a good cliche and loves playing around with it. He's also great with snappy banter in what was by then a long time vaudeville, radio, tv tradition. These kids really are funny and in a grand comedy tradition they confound and irritate the grownups. Of course, this comic didn't last.
I love that panel where the principal is looking out the window at the tree. A great reflective moment.
OK, people, there are many reasons why the Strand is one of the most storied, respected and famous bookstores in the world, as evident by the above immortalization in the Dupuy & Berberian story, first published in Monsieur Jean and translated and published in Drawn & Quarterly #5. Everything about them is great: great taste, great building, great location, great staff, and great books.
So when they called D+Q to sponsor the Strand Tote Bag Design Contest, we had to say yes. The contest is to be judged by previous bag artists, Art Spiegelman, Adrian Tomine, R. Sikoryak AND Françoise Mouly and Steven Heller!!!!! And the prizes are FANTASTIC! The winner not only gets their art on a Strand bag, but they receive $1000 of comics, and afternoon with Françoise at Toon Books, and $100 in free coffee! Second and Third prizes aren't too shabby either!
I'll take this time to announce two upcoming D+Q events at the Strand, including James Sturm's launch for Market Day on Thursday, April 8th and the NYC event for Daniel Clowes' Wilson on Wednesday, May 5th. Complete details here.
So to jog your memory here are the D+Q artist bags to date and on sale on the Strand site (and note there are a few unannounced gems to debut in the next year or so!):
