Hey, Bartender! The Top Shelf Blog

really really cool comics events abound during the summer, and here are just a couple...

Brett Warnock@topshelfcomix.com — Thu, 2 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST

• An art show of new work by my long-time pal Garret Izumi? Count me in! This is tonight here in Portland.

• And don't forget Jeremy Eaton's brilliant Cartoon Jumbles art show which opens tomorrow at Secret Headquarters.

• Meanwhile, Will Dinski is serializing his new work-in-progress "Covered In Confusion" on his website. (And keep your eyes peeled in early 2010 for his Top Shelf debut Finger Prints.) Will's comics are amazing, as well a world class designer and one of the medium's foremost practitioners of exquisite hand-crafted comics and mini-comics.

• Comics historian Craig Yoe has launched a new site dedicated to his hella cool release Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster. I can't overstate how delicious this book is.

• Gareth Brookes from Appalling Nonsense recently gifted me a trio of stellar books: The Manly Boys Annual, a very creative, very witty and VERY British two-man anthology; The Banal Pig Landscape Anthology, a truly exquisite collection of comics; and J. Homersham's Musetopia, a series of delightful one-panel gags. Cheers!

• Well i finally read the new issue of World War 3 (#39), the wordless issue. It's a fat 120 pages in length and it is, as always, hard-hitting and superb. Dig that Drooker cover and order it here.

• So-many-cool-new-books/minis/comics/etc-no-time-for-lengthy-reviews Episode #44

If it appears here, it has my absolute stamp of approval. And i do recommend at least checking this stuff out.

- Birds in the City: Exploring the Wildlife of Crissy Field. One of comics' finest naturalists Tammy Stellanova delivers another gorgeous comic. In an ideal world kids would be reading her comics in classrooms across the nation.

- Paper Cutter #10. Editor Greg Means of Tugboat Press continues his choice run of the best comics anthology running. This issue features new work by Damien Jay, Jesse Reklaw, and Minty Lewis.

- James Hindle continues to produce little mini-comic gems. His new Come Back might be his best work to date. Terrific chops and storytelling, and as always, a bittersweet and effecting story. I'm a BIG fan of his work, and you should be too! (Note, this image is not from said comic. I just pulled it off his site because it's pretty sweet.)

- Matinée, by the lovely Christine Norrie. This lush little mini combines two great things: Christine's beautiful artwork interpreting classic Hollywood films.

- The Girls' Guide to Rocking, published by Workman. Not comics. It is just what it says it is, with the subtitle, "How to Start a Band and Get Rolling to Rock Stardom." This baby rocks, chock full of useful information, from setting up a practice space, to song structure, to booking and promoting. Very very cool!

- Taddle Creek is an anthology of Toronto-based artists i picked up at TCAF. It's strong all around, but three pieces really rocked, by Michael (we can never see enough of his comics) Cho, J. Bone (set loose with an outstanding digitally-rendered wordless comic, and Fiona (i didn't even know she was still making comics) Smyth. A very very fine comic worth looking for. I'm not sure where it's available, but i'd wager it can be procured at Toronto's epic comics shop The Beguiling.

• And speaking of TCAF, here's a few snaps i took while i was in Toronto.
- Two great portraits by the aforementioned Michael Cho. I think these were originals, painted on a wooden sandwich board for Pages bookstore.

- Jeff Lemire starting his contribution to my Twin Peaks sketchbook. (This is the giant from Agent Dale Coopers dreams.)

- Here's Matt Kindt and Jeff Lemire, comics cognoscenti, talking shop in Jeff's luxurious basement office.

all hail the great Eddie Campbell...

Brett Warnock@topshelfcomix.com — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST

<Alec: The Years Have Pants has left the building. It is en route to the printer as i type this, and fer f*cks sake, if there are only a small handful of must-have books of the year, this is one of them. Some of the most important, intelligent and human autobiographical fiction to ever see print. No less than 640 pages of comics goodness, all resting under sublime covers (softcover AND hardcover) designed by Eric Skillman.

Like i said. Must. Have.

• So-many-cool-new-books/minis/comics/etc-no-time-for-lengthy-reviews Episode #43

If it appears here, it has my absolute stamp of approval. And i do recommend at least checking this stuff out.

- Re-read Rafael Navarro's brilliant Sonambulo: Sleep of the Just, since it came out eight years ago. It has aged exceptionally well. A luchador detective crime noir thriller. Oh, and the hero Sonambulo never sleeps, instead catching everyone else's dreams.

- Finally read Andi Watson's wonderful family story titled Little Star. (Oni Press.) Three years late, but worth the wait. Andi's evolution as a storyteller and as an artist over the years is incredible.

- Hey 4-Eyes #4. Robyn Chapman's fabulous zine about eye-glasses and the people who wear them. Tons of contributors, including the insanely talented Joseph Lambert.
(Art by Tom K.)

Cold Heat Special #3, by Frank Santoro and Dash Shaw. Whoa! The stuff mini-comics legends are born of.
Eyes Move Rapid, by Michael Noonan (Top Shelf neighbor at TCAF). Trippy, cool, beautifully drawn mini-comic.

- Trubble Club III. The gang-bang of comics jams, this awesome mini proves wrong the rule that jam comics by nature suck butt. The art alone is worth the price of admission, but these short little ditties actually deliver.

- Jewish Memoir Goes Pow! Zap! Oy! [On Autobiographical Graphic Novels and Why They are so Jewy], by Miriam Libicki. I've been a real big fan of Miriam's drawn essays chronicling her time spent in the Israeli army, but this is a smart and entertaining departure. Originally made for and featured in The Jewish Graphic Novel: Critical Approaches.

- Monkey Island. Self-published by Matt Rota. Good gods this guy can draw. Seriously, check out his site and feast your eyes.

kochalka's brilliant tribute to MJ...

Brett Warnock@topshelfcomix.com — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST

Courtesy of American Elf.

so-many-cool-new-books/minis/comics/etc-no-time-for-lengthy-reviews Episode #37

Brett Warnock@topshelfcomix.com — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST

If it appears here, it has my absolute stamp of approval. And i do recommend at least checking this stuff out.

Item #1. The Art of Harvey Kurtzman. By Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle. Published by Abrams. Editor Charlie Kochman. A stunning addition to the growing number of vital comics-creator monographs. Hats off to all involved.

Item #2. The work of Grant Reynolds. This guy rocks and keeps getting better. Watch for his Top Shelf debut, Comic Diorama, this Fall.

Item #3. Squink, dessin de dave mckean. A new book of mind-boggling drawings (NO digital manipulation!) published in conjunction with the always classy Allen Spiegle Fine Arts. No really, this is one of the most beautiful books i've seen in years. Get it while you can, McKean lovers.

Item #4. The work of Dan Archer. Center for Cartoon Studies student. Edgy political comics. Still a little rough around the edges, but great stuff that should be seen, especially in the socio-political blogospere. I expect big things.

• And now some nifty random ephemera.
- A preliminary drawing by Bwana Spoons, for the international tour he's doing to promote his new Top Shelf release, Welcome to Forest Island.

- Sneak peek at the cover for James Kochalka's Johnny Boo and the Mean Little Boy, and Christian Slade's third volume of Korgi.

- Some promotional art for Kevin Cannon's Far Arden, which will be used in conjunction with Things From Another World.

- And more from the pesky CCS (Center for Cartoon Studies) kids, given to me for giving them a sliver of our more-than-needed table space at TCAF a few weeks back. Thanks to Penina Gal, Josh Rosen, and Nick Patten.

• Yeesh, just went through the brand new Previews. Good gods, there's so much crap. Sigh... Oh well, easy on the ol' pocketbook, right? A few items do command attention, however, besides of course our own Alec: The Years Have Pants, Eddie Campbell's magnum opus in one giant edition.

Anyway, you could do worse than to pre-order the following books with your favorite local retailer:

- Page 107. The debut issue of Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth, with colors by Jose Villarrubia. (DC / Vertigo) It's Jeff Lemire... need i say more?

Page 182. Driven by Lemons, by Josh Cotter. (AdHouse Books) I've seen pages from this book, and it's fucking awesome.
Page 204. Masterpiece Comics, by the brilliant R. Sikoryak. (D & Q) The title is not hyperbole... it's really really amazing comics.

• Finally, we got a little shout out from Max Estes in Norway. Hi Max!

item of interest for Portlanders...

Brett Warnock@topshelfcomix.com — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST

[From a Grass Hut press release]

Portland is a river city; many of us lay our eyes daily upon the mighty Willamette and Columbia rivers. Yet, deep below the city’s surface runs another river, one that few have heard of and even fewer have seen. It’s a mysterious body of water that some say has the power to heal the sick, to make the old young again, to give the impotent a boner. It’s a magical place known as Zine River.

Another well-kept secret: the IPRC has a secret passageway to this amazing river of creativity. Our fearless Membership Coordinator Lori D has been down there for months, paddling the Zine River on a homemade raft, seeking out underground artists and zinesters to take part in this special benefit
art show. Join us for the opening reception on Friday June 26th at 7pm, and take your own wild ride down the Zine River.

Zine River
A Benefit Art Show for the Independent Publishing Resource Center
Grass Hut Gallery
811 East Burnside Portland, OR 97214
Opening Reception: Friday June 26, 2009 at 7-10pm
The show will be up in the gallery until June 29th and online until August 2nd.

Featuring artwork and zines by Chris Johanson, Thomas Campbell, Lori D, Nicole J. Georges, Gabriel Liston, Theo Ellsworth, Dan Gilsdorf, Travis Millard, Mel Kadel, Megan Whitmarsh, Leif Goldberg, Keegan Wenkman, Scrappers, Sammy Harkham, Chris Duncan, Thom Lessner, Elizabeth Haidle and E*Rock.

catchin' up catchin' up...

Brett Warnock@topshelfcomix.com — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST

Damn, if i was in New York next month i'd attend this fo sho!!

Join Mike Dawson (Ace-Face, Freddie & Me), Alex Robinson (Too Cool To Be Forgotten, Box Office Poison), and John Kerschbaum (Petey & Pussy, The Wiggly Reader) for casual comic-book conversation and Sunday brunch at Bergen Street Comics.

Blue Sky Muffins and Mimosas to be served. Child, pet, and Nerd friendly.

Sunday, July 12th
12pm - 3pm

Bergen Street Comics
470 Bergen Street
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-230-5600

good stuff in the in-box...

Brett Warnock@topshelfcomix.com — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST

Here are some nifty sounding items of interest from my email in-box:

• Mike (Freddie & Me) Dawson and Alex (Too Cool) Robinson have started a new podcast called The Ink Panthers Show. "In each half-hour episode, Mike and Alex discuss the important issues of the day, including troublesome neighbors, Billy Joel, bike riding in Prospect Park, and news-radio."

Count ME in!

• Ink-stud Graham Annable has a bitchin' new store up online. So get on over to The Grickle Store, do your part to bolster the economy, and spend some dough!

• Jeremy Eaton continues to Wow, with his surreal cartoon jumbles. Check out his 10-page pencil-studies preview and be floored.... i mean, Charlie Brown Watcher?!!.. COME ON!

And these are just preliminary drawings for an upcoming show at L.A.'s Secret Headquarters' show of Jeremy's Cartoon Jumbles, which opens July 3. Secret Headquarters is located at 3817 W. Sunset Boulevard.

• Vertigo has released some sneak peek art for Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth at the new Vertigo blog, colored by our pal Jose Villarrubia. I saw some of the originals for this in Jeff's luxurious studio, and i can't wait to read it!!

• Finally, my old college professor and good friend Ken O'Connell sent along this information and call for submissions for the Superhero Comic Conference and exhibit at (my alma mater) University of Oregon. He and Ben Saunders in the Lit Department have been championing graphic novels for years now. I've seen lectures by Scott McCloud and art spiegleman down is fair Eugene, and you can bet your bottom dollar i'll be down for this event! Unfortunately, the deadline for submissions is in three days.

Full press release:

UNDERSTANDING SUPERHEROES: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
Location: The University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Dates: October 23-24, 2009

“Understanding Superheroes” is conceived as an interdisciplinary multi-media event, held in conjunction with a simultaneous exhibition of original comic art at the UO’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

This exhibition, “Faster Than A Speeding Bullet,” will feature over 150 pages of original superhero comic art from the 1940s to the present, with examples of key works by many major creators in the industry, including Neal Adams, Mike Allred, C C Beck, Gene Colan, Steve Ditko, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Ramona Fradon, Dave Gibbons, Don Heck, Carmine Infantino, J G Jones, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert, Mort Meskin, Frank Miller, Joe Orlando, George Perez, H G Peter, Mac Raboy, John Romita Sr., Alex Ross, Marie Severin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Matt Wagner, and Berni Wrightson.

Keynote Speakers include Danny Fingeroth (author of Superheroes On The Couch and Disguised As Clark Kent) and Charles Hatfield (author of Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature).

Guests Panelists include Kurt Busiek (author of numerous Superhero titles for Marvel and DC, and creator of the award-winning Astro City series), Greg Rucka (co-creator of Gotham Central, White Out, Queen & Country, and many projects for Marvel and DC), and Gail Simone (writer on Marvel’s Deadpool, DC’s Birds of Prey, co-creator of Welcome To Tranquility for Wildstorm, and current Wonder Woman scribe)!

Other guests TBA.

We invite 1-2 page proposals for 20-30 minute conference papers considering the implications of superhero fantasies for our understanding of such diverse topics as gender identity, queerness, theological yearning, and nationalist politics. We also welcome appreciative discussions of superhero comics as significant aesthetic achievements — particularly insofar as those discussions contribute to the ongoing project within contemporary Comics Studies, to map the unique conventions of the comic art form. Above all, we are interested in sophisticated, lucidly written analyses that utilize the conceptual tools and hermeneutic lenses of contemporary literary and cultural theory.

It is our hope that this conference will help all participants, student and professional, skeptic and fan, to understand the extraordinary imaginative appeal of the costumed adventurer — an appeal that overlaps significant distinctions of age, gender, nation, and culture, and which no amount of silliness or cynicism seems quite able to dispel.

Please address queries and submit proposals via email to Ben Saunders, Associate Professor, Department of English by Monday, June 15th, 2009. (Email address: ben@uoregon.edu )

back in black...

Brett Warnock@topshelfcomix.com — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST

After nine grueling weeks of travel (and having a smashingly fun time, mind you), i'm back from a dizzyingly awesome trip to New York (in part for MoCCA) and in the commander's chair at Chez Brett, and buckling down to work. First up on the agenda is closing in on putting Eddie Campbell's sublime masterpiece Alec: The Years Have Pants to bed, and off to the printer. This massive tome will truly be one for the ages.

• Moving right along, let's turn back the clock to mid-April, and revisit my trip to Industry Day at the Center for Cartoon Studies. In addition to a brief Powerpoint presentation about myself and how i got into comics, the attending pros and myself went on to do a smattering of portfolio reviews. Sadly, it's not all so fresh in my fevered brain anymore, but i did want to mention some of the work that do recall, including that of Mo Oh, Nicholas Patten, Penina Gal, Jose-Luis Olivares, Josh Rosen, Brandon Elston, Steve Seck, and Keny Widjaja. (Oh man, that seems like a million years ago.)

Nick Patten

Penina Gal

Jose-Luis Olivares

I also came home with lots of killer mini-comics, including some by the folks i just mentioned, and some by former students of CCS. A few things rocked my world. The work of Jon Chad is pretty freaking amazing. His in-progress Bikeman will turn some heads if & when it's completed. (And issue #2 was snuck into my bag at MoCCA when i wasn't looking... THANKS, whomever that was!) Not content with straight linear narrative, Chad plays the formal card to terrific effect with the mini-comics Whaletowne and Leo Geo Acquires Ancient Knowledge.

John Chad

Former student and White River Junction resident Joseph Lambert continues to impress, with I Will Bite You. Also a former student, Colleen Frakes' Tragic Relief won a Xeric Grant, and is worth your time. (I got her awesome book Woman King, too, but in mini-comic form only. I saw at MoCCA that it's out now as an a beautifully designed "real" book.) Chuck McBuck's bonus! was quite fun. I really enjoyed Melissa Mendes' Freddy Figures It Out and Jen Vaugn's My Lady.

Colleen Frakes

The class also made a super cool jam comic, patterned loosely on 50s-era horror comics, called Dark Tomb of Dread.

Much more to come, including a peek back at some loot picked up at Stumptown Comics Fest and TCAF, the Swedish scene and more... but for now, it's bed time.

Brett Warnock@topshelfcomix.com — Wed, 3 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST

Leaving on the MoCCA trip for New York very early in the a.m. Staying once again at Gregory Benton's swank pad on the Upper West Side. Gregory and his lady Florence actually just returned from a trip to France... here are some beautiful drawings he made while there.

Nicolas Mahler visits the U.S!!

Brett Warnock@topshelfcomix.com — Sat, 30 May 2009 00:00:00 PST

That is correct, the genius cartoonist and author of Top Shelf masterpiece editions Van Helsing's Night off and Lone Racer will be in conversation with Mark Newgarden, moderated by Mark Nevins. The topic — What is "Funny" Anyway? (Info below the fold.)

AND Mahler has a brand new book available from Top Shelf! It's titled SPAM, and is a collection of comics made from miscellaneous spam messages acquired in his email in-box. Amazing work as always. We've only got a limited number of these trick 2-color hardcovers in stock, so ya better get 'em while they're hot!

Rock star book-designer Jacob Covey recently wrote an appreciation of Mahler's work over at the Fantagraphics blog, Flog, which is worth your time.

Seriously people, if you haven't read his work before, now is the time to do so. In fact, if you order now and buy both Van Helsing's Night Off and Lone Racer, we'll shave $6 off the cover price for the pair. Just make a note that Brett said so on the Hey Bartender blog.

Oh, and i can't forget one of my favorite Mahler comics of all time, the epic boxing story "TNT" in Top Shelf Asks The Big Questions.

• From the Press Release...
THE AUSTRIAN CULTURAL FORUM NEW YORK
PRESENTS: WEDNESDAY JUN 3, 6:30 PM
CONVERSATION:
WHAT IS "FUNNY," ANYWAY?

A Comics Conversation with Cartoonists Nicolas Mahler (Vienna) and Mark Newgarden (NYC). Moderated by Mark David Nevins.

VENUE
Austrian Cultural Forum NY, 11 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022 (between 5th and Madison avenues)

RESERVATIONS
Free Admission. Reservations necessary. Call (212) 319 5300 ext. 222 or e-mail reservations@ acfny.org

Over the last several years, comics and graphic novels have hit "the mainstream" -- not just in Hollywood (which currently has a fascination with superheroes) but among the intellectual set as well. University presses are publishing monographs on classic and avant-garde cartoonists; THE NEW YORK TIMES runs a long-form comics narrative in its weekly Magazine; and graphic novels have gained credibility on the college campus and in the hipster coffee shop.

The Austrian Cultural Forum is pleased to present an evening of conversation with two of comics' rising "alternative" cartoonists, Nicolas Mahler and Mark Newgarden. While the work of these two artists is visually quite different, they share a similar bizarre sense of humor, an ability to capture (and lampoon) the absurd nuances of daily life, and a comics style that often humorously captures what all of us think but don't dare say.

Join us for a lively and visually rich conversation with Nicolas and Mark, in which we will explore how comics work, the marketplaces for graphic humor, where these cartoonists get their ideas, and, yes, the answer to that eternal question, "What is 'Funny'?"

NICOLAS MAHLER was born in 1969 in Vienna, Austria, where he resides to this day. As unique as he is prolific, Mahler's distinct minimalist style appears in Austrian, German, and Swiss newspapers and magazines. Over the last 10 years he has written and illustrated over 30 books which have been published in various languages around the world. His primary publishers include L'Association (France), Top Shelf (U.S.), La Pasteque (Canada), Edition Moderne (Switzerland) , and Reprodukt (Germany). In 2006 and 2008 he won the "Max und Moritz Award" for best German-language comic. His comic series FLASCHKO has been adapted as a series of animated shorts, and his book KRATCHOVIL was turned into a puppet show by a Swiss troupe, and is currently touring Switzerland, Austria, and France.

MARK NEWGARDEN has worked as a concoctor of novelties (Garbage Pail Kids), graphic artist (from RAW magazine to THE NEW YORK TIMES), and writer for TV, film, and multimedia projects (from Microsoft to Cartoon Network), among various and sundry careers. His work has also graced such venues as the Smithsonian Institute, the Cooper-Hewitt, the Brooklyn Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the ICA in London. He is the author of CHEAP LAFFS, a picture history of novelty item from Abrams, and WE ALL DIE ALONE, a collection of his comics and humor from Fantagraphics Books. His first children's book BOW-WOW BUGS A BUG (with Megan Montague Cash) was released in June 2007 from Harcourt, won the Society of Illustrators Gold Prize for that year, and has spawned a series of 6 additional "Bow-Wow" titles . . . and counting!

MARK DAVID NEVINS is an aficionado of graphic narrative and comics from around the world, and he occasionally puts pen to paper to write about his passion for the unique art that marries words and pictures. Years ago he took his Ph.D. in Literature from Harvard, and he now lives in NYC, where he is a management consultant by day. He is the American Correspondent for the renowned Swiss comics periodical STRAPAZIN, and sits on Executive Committee of the International Comic Arts Conference (ICAF) as well as the Editorial Board of THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMIC ART (IJOCA). In addition to essays and critical reviews, he has published several translations of comics from French and German. He has traveled, worked, and taught in more than 60 countries around the world.