It wouldn’t have happened without THE CATERER.

Arthur ran a two page sample of Steve Aylett’s bizarro masterpiece in one of their back issues and I thought it was hilarious. Years later after opening my own comic shop I contacted Steve to see about reprinting THE CATERER in vintage comic form. I also emailed Jay and mentioned the project to him. A lightbulb must’ve gone on in Jay’s head. He put together that I was the publisher of Diamond Comics, a free comics newspaper anthology and he emailed me a few weeks later asking if I’d like to be comics editor for Arthur Magazine.

In the years since we’ve published work by dozens of incredible artists, interviewed folks, shared trippy animation and hopefully given a sense of what’s good and interesting in the international art comics scene. Will started collaborating with me later and introduced the full screen Greenermags format which I really dig.

We’re going to transfer all the Arthur Comics to my store’s website and I plan on curating more “Arthur Comics” there in the future.

I wasn’t able to get the link set up by the March 15th deadline, but you will be able to find us soon at – http://floatingworldcomics.com/comics

I’m also excited to announce that I’ll be publishing a chap book with Arthur contributor, Anthony Alvarado, of his DIY MAGIC articles in May or June.

Thanks again, Jay, for helping us find the others.

“Just because it is totally dark does not mean there is nothing to see.”

Maria Sputnik does the pictures. She’s been living in New York studying science writing and thinking about chromosomes and the moon. She misses Oregon. Van Choojitarom collaborated on the writing. He’s in Bangkok preparing to join a monastery.

It’s George Bush’s world, they just draw comics in it. A special feature on making art in troubled times, featuring work by Chris Wright, Brian Ralph, Dan Zettwoch, Megan Kelso, Ben Jones, Paul Lyons, David Lasky, Tom Hart, Vanessa Davis, Greg Cook, Marc Bell, Amy Lockhart and John Hankiewicz. Edited by Tom Devlin.

Originally published in Arthur No. 15 (March 2005). Click each image (page) to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely legible—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

Becky Stark: facebook page?

Ron Rege, Jr: http://ronrege.blogspot.com

Arthur Store: Arthur No. 15 (May 2005), Arthur No. 16 (July 2005)

Click image to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely legible—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

Jason T. Miles: http://jasontmiles.blogspot.com/

Arthur’s superb Comics Editor in this era was Tom Devlin.

Click image to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely legible—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

David Lasky: http://dlasky.livejournal.com/

Arthur’s superb Comics Editor in this era was Tom Devlin.

Click image to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely legible—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

Vanessa Davis: http://www.spanielrage.com

Arthur’s superb Comics Editor in this era was Tom Devlin.

Click images to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely ideal—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

Sam Zettwoch: http://zettwoch.blogspot.com

Arthur’s superb Comics Editor in this era was Tom Devlin.

Click image to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely ideal—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

David Lasky: http://dlasky.livejournal.com/

Arthur’s superb Comics Editor in this era was Tom Devlin.

Click image to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely ideal—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

David Lasky: http://dlasky.livejournal.com/

Arthur’s Comics Editor in this era was Tom Devlin.

Click image to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely legible—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

Tom Gauld: http://www.tomgauld.com/

Arthur’s Comics Editor in this era was Tom Devlin.

Click image to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely legible—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

Vanessa Davis: http://www.spanielrage.com

Arthur’s Comics Editor in this era was Tom Devlin.

Click image to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely legible—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

Leif Goldberg: http://www.pictureboxinc.com/artists-authors/leif-goldberg

Arthur’s Comics Editor in this era was Tom Devlin.

Click image to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely legible—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

Megan Kelso: girlhero.com

Arthur’s Comics Editors in this era were Jordan Crane & Sammy Harkham.

Click image to really enlarge. It’s still not gonna be completely legible—for that, you’ll have to see the actual magazine (available at the Arthur Store for cheep)—but it’s pretty good.

Souther Salazar: southersalazar.net

Arthur’s Comics Editors in this era were Jordan Crane & Sammy Harkham.

For our fourth annual animation fest it was time to focus on what we liked best from previous shows and continue to seek out films that really embrace the infinite mysteries that resonate with us. The result is DMTV, a program that goes further into experimental realms of video art and abstract visuals.

Remixed, remastered and featuring new films by King Terry, Amy Lockhart and more!

DMTV trailer – Floating World Animation Fest, Show Cave, Feb. 19th 2011 from Floating World Comics on Vimeo.

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Films by: Barry Doupe, Michael Robinson, Jesus Rivera, Jacob Ciocci, King Terry, Dash Shaw, Kihachiro Kawamoto, Amy Lockhart, Milton Croissant,  QS Vore Guy, James Mercer, David O’Reilly, Eurico Coelho, Yoshi Sodeoka

WHAT: FWC’s 4th annual animation fest

WHEN: Saturday, February 19th, 8pm – midnight

WHERE: Show Cave, 3501 Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

COST: $5, 21+

Highlights of this year’s program include:

Travel, aka The Trip (1973) – Kihachiro Kawamoto studied puppet animation in Prague in 1963 before going on to create his own haunting puppet and cut-out animations drawing from his own Japanese heritage. Travel depicts the journey of a young girl into the Dali-esque landscape of her own psyche.

Apeiron (1996) – Eurico Coelho depicts a modern technological labyrinth where society has surrendered to the cold lamps of their computer screens. The entirety of this ten minute film was animated on a Commodore Amiga 4000, giving the film a completely fresh aesthetic that has outlived the technology with which it was created.

The Peace Tape (2008) – With a title hearkening back to the analog era, The Peace Tape is a frenetic remix of old and new “found” video. Culling his sources from thrift stores (countless straight-to-VHS childrens’ programs), the Internet (a single YouTube clip featuring “dog in a dog costume”), and his own designs (flash animation of eyes and mouths, subliminal flickers of text), Ciocci concentrates hours of light entertainment into a dense, four-minute block. Saved from total sensory overload by the musical logic of Extreme Animals’ “A Better Way,” The Peace Tape is cryptic, hypnotic (and above all), empathetic. “Culture is out of control,” Ciocci explains, “but it is ok.”

The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D (2009) – This original animated web series is based on graphic novelist and comic book artist Dash Shaw’s latest book of the same title. Shaw’s animation has been widely praised for its eclectic style, innovative design and emotional depth.

A friend just got back from Angoulême Comics Festival in Paris. He also got to experience Moebius’ first major exhibit of artwork at the Foundation Cartier. The show is up until March 13 if you can make it. If not, there’s a set of amazing photos at designboom that made me wide eyed with awe.

Thomas Toye is an artist living in Patterson, NY. He and his brother print all kinds of stuff out of a shed in their backyard. They both run Portal Prints. They are watched over by Gumpster Pussy and the Great Cobra.

I came across his art on one of Mickey Z’s blog posts.  I thought it was cute that he did two versions of a silkscreen poster, a Sega Genesis version with red blood and a SNES version with green blood.

He has self published 8 issues of Illogical Comics so far.  We decided to share issue 7 with you since it is out of print and otherwise unavailable.  All other back issues are available for purchase on his blog.

It’s interesting to observe not only the differences in drawing styles, but also to have something tangible and external that represents the changes that occur with slight adjustments to one’s brain chemistry.

Too often, discussions about chemicals are oversimplified if you simply categorize them by what’s legal and what’s not. It’s important to be aware that any chemical you put in your body is going to affect you whether it’s thc, caffeine, msg, ritalin, or heroin. I admire Bryan for the experimental and possibly hazardous research he is sharing with the world.

There’s a great interview with Bryan on dinosaurcity where he talks more about the drug project. I also recommend exploring his website where you can see more of the self portrait series and also check out his discography of experimental music and spoken word albums which deal with the same topics.  One of his latest LPs “Near Death Experience” was ranked #2 on a Wire Magazine best of list for 2010.  Less than 20 vinyl copies left, available directly from Bryan’s website.

10 mg Ambien

10mg Adderall

Butane Honey Oil

1/2 gram Cocaine

2 bottles of Cough Syrup

1 “Bump” of Crystal Meth

G-13 Marijuana

Morphine IV (dosage unknown)

Psilocybin Mushrooms (2 caps onset)

PCP

100 mg Seroquel

Ritalin (dosage unknown – snorted)

50 mg Zoloft (after 2 weeks prescribed)

I came across Marie’s (or Marijpol) work in a German comics anthology called Orang.  I was immediately attracted to her confident, cartoony style and the mysterious symbolism encoded in her work.  On her website I found this funny series of illustrations called ‘Transcendental Police’.  We decided to start with this one because the translation was pretty simple and the humor works even without the translations.  Hopefully we’ll be sharing more from this talented artist in the future.

1.Transcendental Police
2. It’s a dogs’ choice
3. In rank and file – Parade ’93
4. In honour of Hannibal
5. Gunshots to happiness
6. The confession
7. Adam
8. Intuitive paperwork
9. The new Auromat
10. has no title…

I was born in Berlin in 1982, living in Hamburg now. I have published in several comic anthologies like Orang, Spring (Germany) and Canicola (Italy). This year my first book is gonna be published by avant-Verlag(the publisher). Its title is “Trommelfels” (that is a wordgame and aproximately means eardrum but also drum made from stone).

The book is about a frustrated elderly couple.They are archeologists working at a bizarre excavation ground in the desert. They are desperate to find something sensational at the end of their career. Which they wont. But there is somebody else who is stumbling across that sensation just by chance.

Michel Fiffe is the writer/artist/colorist of Zegas. Between his comics work and building props and costumes for Broadway, Michel has also interviewed many of his cartoonist heroes at The Comics Journal as well as writing creator retrospectives on his art blog . He is also currently editing a line of indy back-up stories for Image Comics’ flagship title Savage Dragon.

Box Brown is a cartoonist living in Philadelphia, PA.  He sent us an email proposing a series of comics on different historical or philosophical subjects.  For the past year he’s been working on a project called “Everything Dies”, a web and print series about religion from the perspective of an atheist.  We decided to start with one of these but who knows where we’ll go next?

Looking over this comic, “But I Don’t Want to Die”, it may seem that I am a highly open to influence.  That may be the case, but when it comes to topics like this, the most important thing to remember is that if you keep your mind open a tiny little nugget of information can grow into a full blown philosophy.  I think that’s mostly whats going on here, lots of rumination.  So, beware when reading my other comics at everythingdiescomic.com and when you pick up the print issues of Everything Dies (all original content).

Simon Roy is a talented young artist from Victoria, BC.  I first noticed his work when Simon was on a book tour with Brandon Graham earlier this year.  He’s had some great science fiction comics published in Heavy Metal magazine and I highly recommend his debut graphic novel, Jan’s Atomic Heart.

Just think, this could’ve been a new Adult Swim series if they hadn’t left the decision in the hands of Burger King customers…  I read somewhere that it may end up as a Cartoon Network series.  Whose french fries do I gotta eat to make that a reality?

UPDATE: Problem solved.  We can look forward to a 13 episode season of THE PROBLEM SOLVERS coming soon to Cartoon Network.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dHyB1kRDNc

Then we were joined by superstar comics writer, Matt Fraction (Casanova, Invincible Iron Man, Thor), who moderated an interview with the boys.  It was a a great comics crossover to have one of the top mainstream writers meet with two of the best creators from the avant garde experimental comics world.  We found that CF and Chippendale are actually working in the action genre and Fraction said they were representing the weird comics power of Jack Kirby better than anyone in the mainstream comics world.  For your pleasure we recorded the 60 minute conversation in its entirety.

CF Chippendale Fraction interview 11/19/10 (pt. 1/4) from Floating World Comics on Vimeo.

CF Chippendale Fraction interview 11/19/10 (pt. 2/4) from Floating World Comics on Vimeo.

CF Chippendale Fraction interview 11/19/10 (pt. 3/4) from Floating World Comics on Vimeo.

CF Chippendale Fraction interview 11/19/10 (pt. 4/4) from Floating World Comics on Vimeo.

If you’re near Brooklyn this Saturday you definitely want to check out The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival.  It’s FREE and you will see the latest and greatest publications in indie comics as well as this impressive list of special guests:  Lynda Barry, Charles Burns, Brian Chippendale, Jordan Crane, Evan Dorkin, Renee French, Bill Griffith, Sammy Harkham, Anders Nilsen, Paul Pope, Johnny Ryan, Adrian Tomine and so many more!

The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival is a one-day festival of cartoon and graphic art featuring artists and publishers displaying and selling publications; lectures and conversations on comics; and associated exhibits and satellite events.

WHERE:

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church
275 North 8th Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
View Google Map

WHEN:

Saturday, December 4, 2010 from 12:00 – 9:00 pm

We’re pleased to present an issue length adventure by Stanley Lieber. Stanley Lieber is a comics factory, a house of ideas, a bullpen bullet, a Jim Starlin drawing, a Herzog documentary. He just finished a new novel, 1OCT1993. It’s a 6″x9″ paperback, 280 pages. (Preview at http://1oct1993.com.) It’s retailing for $14.99. Next he’s compiling a comics anthology called FAKE which will contain the secrets of the internet’s true birthday.

“ACTRON #242 serves as a prequel to the still unfinished graphic novel, MY STRUGGLE.

Begun in late 2006, this project commemorates the 20th anniversary of the creation of ACTRON when I was in the second grade. Issue #242 represents the accurate numbering if I had continued to be publish the comic monthly since its inception in 1986.

Well, accurate if ACTRON #242 had been published in 2006.

Colorist Pete Toms helped bring this issue across the finish line just prior to the four year mark.

It’s entirely possible that MY STRUGGLE will be completed in 2011.”

“cartoonist ron rege, jr talks to gazeta comics about alchemy, catholicism, and his project ‘the cartoon utopia.’

“more about the cartoon utopia and foreign comics at gazetacomics.com

“music by ron rege’s discombobulated ventriloquist
images by ron rege (or from his blog)
edited by maria sputnik / gazeta comics”

http://ronrege.blogspot.com

More artwork and classic comic pages at this recently launched Moebius appreciation Tumbler blog: http://theairtightgarage.tumblr.com/

Brian Chippendale and C.F. are hitting the road this weekend to do a book signing tour along the west coast for their new works, If ‘n Oof and Powr Mastrs 3.  Chippendale and CF will present slide shows about their work, answer questions, and sign books.  At their Portland stop here at Floating World Comics, we are also honored to welcome local writer, Matt Fraction, who will interview the artists about their work.  I’m anticipating the comics crossover of the century.

I read both of the new books multiple times this past week. Powr Mastrs 3 sees C.F. taking his incredible artwork to the next level. It’s a science fiction adventure comic, but I’d probably compare it to interpretive dance before comparing it to Jack Kirby. Papa don’t take no mess.

If ‘n Oof is an 800 page! chunk of comic, literally a Picturebox. But it reads fast with lots of humor and surprises. The first time through is a visceral experience. The book almost animates itself as you turn the pages. Multiple readings reveal that the surreal story actually ties together with lots of layers and backstory.

Chippendale has had a busy weekend, getting ready for the tour, but he had time to do a quick interview with me about his new book.

Jason Leivian: I want to start with some questions about the characters and world of If ‘n Oof.  Does this land have a name?

Brian Chippendale: If ‘n Oof takes place in and above a giant crater. Inside the crater is called “The C.” A mountain range separates The C from the city of Grain (now called Grave), the setting for my Ninja book and also my new comic Puke Force.

JL: There’s a huge cast of characters in the book. Many characters you only meet once and each reveals new information about the world they live in. Doctor Payne has apparently created a lot of the lifeforms in this story through his experiments. Does he have much power and influence in this world, or is he just more of a mad scientist?

BC: Doctor Payne is a major player in this book, but he is also a victim. There are more major players than him, specifically The Nine, who are actually a shattered god divided into nine pieces. Worshipped by nine different cults. This is barely, possibly not at all recognizably, referenced in the book. The Nine are also mentioned in Ninja. Doctor Payne does research for the Nine but was also wronged by them and craves vengeance. He has been populating The C with his failed creations but doesn’t have much power over these creatures after that. He’s really just a semi-successful businessman/scientist with a host of issues. But he does have power for sure.

JL: At the beginning he refers to something called Operation Dreamworld.  At the end of the story, we hear about Operation Bloodworld.  Are these two outcomes related?

BC: Operation Dreamworld is Doctor Payne’s plan to put all the citizens of The C and surrounding areas to sleep and use them as human batteries. Operation Bloodworld refers to a feud Payne has with a being who lives under The C, in The Ancient City. These Operations are separate, but are rooted in a greater scramble for the natural resources of The C.

JL:  Is If some sort of artificial life-form?

BC: Good question. Aren’t we all?

JL:  Good answer. After reading the book I started thinking that all human beings are almost clones of each other. Most of our genetic material is so similar with just slight variations here and there.

BC: Interesting train of thought. Are we all clones of Adam and Eve? I like how tech terms like “hardwired” are creeping into descriptions of people. That we are “hardwired” to be act a certain way. Will there be a discovery that we have been super advanced organic machines the whole time? At some point as technology gets smaller and crazier, will there be a difference between sentient and not?

JL:  They refer to If as I-6/B and also mention that he may have a twin brother I-6/A, the failed creation from the opening scene.  There’s also some other relatives like Uncle Ouch and Cousin Eek. I couldn’t quite keep it all straight. Do you have these backstories and relationships worked out in your notes?

BC: There are several “I” models in development on the SciCitadel. Uncle Ouch has a story but Eek is not really developed. There is also an Auntie Em, short for Auntie Empathy.

JL:  Maybe it’s some sort of Wizard of Oz fantasy inspired by the 16 Assassins comic book, where If has a dreamlike adventure in the crater. Oof could be like his Toto?

BC: Hmmm. If Oof is Toto, perhaps If is Journey? Where is Styx? Yes. This is the kind of shit I root my stories in. Funny reference. Now just to set the record straight, there are absolutely no dream sequences in the book. It is all hard, cold reality.

JL:  Good, I like that better. The pacing of the book is a lot of fun. Almost every page is a single rectangular panel and the book almost seems to animate itself as you turn the pages. These are punctuated with incredibly detailed, double spread, full bleed splash pages that are as surprising as they are fun to look at. Did you get to experience the timing of these punchlines as you drew the book?

BC: I made physical mock-ups of each chapter as I went. It took a lot of time to make each one and then I would change the chapter and have to make a whole new mock-up. I have a large pile of glue-sticked together chapter books. It had to be done so I could see if it would read correctly and really flow.

JL:  Someone told me that you drew Maggots kind of like a steady drum beat. I imagine that would be a bunch of 1/16th or 1/32nd notes. If ‘n Oof definitely has a nice rhythm to it. Can you imagine a soundtrack or what kind of music would go with the chapters?

BC: I had some soundtrack ideas. In chapter 1 when IF is in the bathroom and the room next door talking to the robot guys I was listening to a lot of Raymond Scott. So it would be Soothing Sounds for Babies for that part. When the Benjo-Men show up it would like a more evil Tibetan chant. It’s mentioned that they sing a spooky song. There would be a series of ice cream truck songs for some of the boy scenes. I had some more music ideas but I have forgotten them. I would play certain stuff when drawing certain scenes to get the mood right.

JL:  Did you draw the pages basically in the same order they appear in the book, from start to finish?  Was it improvised or scripted out?

BC: It began utterly improvised, and some of those improvised pages landed in the second half of the book. The scenes where the Boys start appearing. After that I worked backwards to get the characters to that point and finally did the closing chapter and some additional middle scenes. Maybe halfway through I began scripting/penciling and inking much of it so I could steer the mess I had made to some sort of logical conclusion. I like brainstorming a ton of crap with no rules or plan and then quickly jumping in before I can get a grip on it. Then after a while I try to sculpt what I have started into a more recognizable form but due to the senselessness of it’s beginning it retains some elements based in what might be bad idea.

JL:  Is this possibly an all-ages book?  I imagined giving it to my younger self and I’m guessing it’s something I would not have understood, but would have wanted to enjoy anyway. It seems to be a cartoon adventure at heart. Oh wait nevermind, I see there’s some language in the book. I guess it would be like coming across a Bakshi cartoon as a kid.

BC: I thought about cleaning it up as I got near its finish really because it was so close to being a kid’s book. There is some violence that’s over the top I could have removed or softened, but I decided to leave it in and then add even more for chapter 8. So it’s not for kids, but it is a bit schizo in terms of it’s audience. Because it also is for kids. Kid’s these days have seen way crazier shit than what’s in If ‘n Oof. Well, teens have. I would like to make a less gruesome kid book someday. Kids will find it. You cannot stop the children.

JL:  That would be great if kids found this at their public library. I think kids like finding stuff above their reading level anyway. I started reading Stephen King in 4th grade and my favorite comics were the gory ones, Tales From the Crypt and Fist of the North Star. Did you get into comics as a kid? Even before music?

BC: I got into comics I think around age 10. Before that I was probably looking at AD&D books my older sister had to see weird stuff. The comics where G.I. Joe and Marvel stuff. Nothing too gory. It was probably not until high school or late junior high that my friends and I got into watching horror movies all the time. I can’t remember my first encounter with truly shocking imagery. The Faces of Death movies? And when I was buying G.I. Joe I was listening to Van Halen. I was middle of the road all the way till 9th grade, and then my hair started getting long. I discovered Metal Edge magazine and South Street in Philadelphia.

JL:  Are Master of Boys and Doctor Payne related?  What about that hippie character at the end?  They all seem to look similar and have moustaches or beards.

BC: No relation that I know of. Other than being gross half-poisoned adults. Don’t all adults have mustaches?

Victor Kerlow was born, raised and educated in New York City and continues to live there, drawing full time. He has done work for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Random House and IFC and Redbucket Films. His work has been recognized by The Society of Illustrators and he edits and contributes to a Gutter, a comics anthology published by TV Books. His comics are available at Birdcage Bottom Books and you can see more of his work at VictorKerlow.com and Chopped in Two.

Over the past decade Brian Chippendale and CF have reinvigorated the action-adventure genre and with their unique mixtures of personal politics, humor, fantastic worlds, sex, and visionary drawing. Now these two acclaimed Providence-based artists are embarking on their first book tour in support of their new works If ‘n Oof (an 800 page graphic novel) and Powr Mastrs 3 (the climactic volume in this multi-part graphic novel series).

Chippendale and CF will present slide shows about their work, answer questions, and sign books. At Floating World in Portland we are also honored to welcome local writer, Matt Fraction, who will interview the artists about their work. I’m anticipating the comics crossover of the century.

About the books:

If ‘n’ Oof (Flexibound, 800 pages, $30) focuses on the misadventures of the mismatched eponymous duo Chippendale’s very own Laurel and Hardy. Chippendale allows the two to explore his landscapes and alien beings. Comedy, horror, and out-and-out adventure in a story-driven, manga-style adventure, replete with the frenetic linework and concise, witty dialogue for which he has become known.

Powr Mastrs 3 (Flexibound, 112 pageas, $18) This latest installment continues C.F.’s Dune-like science fiction/fantasy epic featuring a misguided scientist and the race of beings he has created, who inhabit a surreal world called New China. Powr Mastrs overflows with graphic innovation, from the intricately designed costumes each character wears to the exactingly drawn architectural detail, all rendered in C.F.’s distinctive pencil line.

About the authors:

Brian Chippendale, who also performs in Lightning Bolt and Black Pus lives and works in Providence, RI. His previous graphic novels include Maggots (2007) and Ninja (2006), both published by PictureBox.

C.F., a contributor to Kramers Ergot, among other books, also performs under the monikers Kites and Daily Life. His first two books, Powr Mastrs 1 and 2 were published in 2007 and 2008 by PictureBox. He lives in Providence, RI.

Patrick Kain was kind enough to share this comic with us on the Arthur Blog.  Here’s a bit more about what he’s been up to:

I’ve been making mini comics and zines since 2006. Really small print runs only like 100 issues of each thing I’ve done. So, I try to make them more art books/collectables by doing silk screen and block print covers. My works been in Taffy Hips since issue 5… and in the upcoming issue of Secret Prison.

Right now I’m not working on any comics but I’m turning “Cave Dweller” a strip I have on my website into a short film for my animation class and the Columbus College of Art & Design. that’ll go up on my website in January.

website

taffy hips

secret prison

[Lately] I’ve been able to spend some time on my passion: dream comics. I’ve picked up SUBTLEMAN again, which launched in the last issue of RARE BIT FIENDS. The second chapter appeared in THE FORBIDDEN BOOK, and what you see here is the third chapter, in progress. I posted both previous chapters here on the blog last summer if you need to get up to speed.

SUBTLEMAN is an exploration of what might be called my “shamanic” dreams; those mystically charged, magically strange, quantum-tunneling visions that hint at the true nature of consciousness and the multi-dimensional universe. When last we saw my dream self, he’d covered himself in clay, which seemed perfectly fitting. I’ll write more about the direction of SUBTLEMAN in upcoming posts. Meanwhile, enjoy.

Here are a few pages from Chapter 3:

More: rickveitch.com

Lala Albert lives in Brooklyn where she does art and comics at night and on the weekends. During the week she works as the textile designer/whatever-else-they-need-her-for at a small fashion company in Manhattan.

http://plslala.com/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLxFegbyWwQ

The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D (2009) – This original animated web series is based on graphic novelist and comic book artist Dash Shaw’s latest book of the same title. In the future, a man pretends to be a droid model so hea can pose nude for academic figure drawing. Shaw’s animation has been widely praised for its eclectic style, innovative design and emotional depth.

Floating World Animation Fest returns with a new name and trippier mission. We’ve dug even deeper into the vaults of psychedelic animation to curate a heroic dose of visionary video art for this year’s animation fest.

For our fourth annual animation fest it was time to focus on what we liked best from previous shows and continue to seek out films that really embrace the infinite mysteries that resonate with us. The result is DMTV, a program that goes further into experimental realms of video art and abstract visuals.

Rounding out the evening are two of my favorite local bands, Atole and Nice Nice who will perform with live visuals mixed by e*Rock.

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Atole, Nice Nice; films by: Barry Doupe, Michael Robinson, James Mercer, Eurico Coelho, Jacob Ciocci, Milton Croissant, David O’Reilly, Dash Shaw, Dalibor Baric, Kihachiro Kawamoto, Max Hattler, Jesus Rivera, Max Capacity and more!

WHAT: FWC’s 4th annual animation fest & live music by Atole, Nice Nice

WHEN: Wednesday, October 13th, 8pm – 1am

WHERE: Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St.

COST: $7 at door, $5 advance tickets at Floating World, 21+

DMTV trailer -- Floating World Animation Fest, Holocene, Oct. 13th 2010 from Floating World Comics on Vimeo.

Pete Toms is back with part 2 of PAWS, which he describes as a horror comic about watching TV.

The comic is essentially a horror comic about a guy that only experiences the outside world through television trying to sell an autobiographical screenplay. It has all the same themes as my other comics, how people choose identity roles, the media’s effect on memory, how we mythologize our personalities, but this one has a lot more dogs and possibly werewolves, and jokes about how creepy sitcom laugh-tracks are.

I’m doing the same stuff as always, drawing at night, using my natural jazz dancing ability to put my kids through college during the day.

Here’s a great interview Pete did with Escape from Suicide Wolf Forest where he shares the harrowing details of joining a street gang at age 8.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGxZ4K-J5YE

Apeiron (1996) – Eurico Coelho depicts a modern technological labyrinth where society has surrendered to the cold lamps of their computer screens. The entirety of this ten minute film was animated on a Commodore Amiga 4000, giving the film a completely fresh aesthetic that has outlived the technology with which it was created.

Floating World Animation Fest returns with a new name and trippier mission. We’ve dug even deeper into the vaults of psychedelic animation to curate a heroic dose of visionary video art for this year’s animation fest.

For our fourth annual animation fest it was time to focus on what we liked best from previous shows and continue to seek out films that really embrace the infinite mysteries that resonate with us. The result is DMTV, a program that goes further into experimental realms of video art and abstract visuals.

Rounding out the evening are two of my favorite local bands, Atole and Nice Nice who will perform with live visuals mixed by e*Rock.

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Atole, Nice Nice; films by: Barry Doupe, Michael Robinson, James Mercer, Eurico Coelho, Jacob Ciocci, Milton Croissant, David O’Reilly, Dash Shaw, Dalibor Baric, Kihachiro Kawamoto, Max Hattler, Jesus Rivera, Max Capacity and more!

WHAT: FWC’s 4th annual animation fest & live music by Atole, Nice Nice

WHEN: Wednesday, October 13th, 8pm – 1am

WHERE: Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St.

COST: $7 at door, $5 advance tickets at Floating World, 21+

DMTV trailer -- Floating World Animation Fest, Holocene, Oct. 13th 2010 from Floating World Comics on Vimeo.

Seripop is a Montreal based, internationally focused art/design duo made up of Chloe Lum and Yannick Desranleau. In addition to doing gig posters and international gallery exhibitions, they are currently touring as the noise-rock band AIDS Wolf. Catch them on tour and pick up a copy at their merch table. Limited to only 1000 copies, this oversized 10″ x 15″ newsprint monograph collects 16 mutated and melty designs suitable for browsing or framing. Each image is composed of layers like a 4 color silkscreen, inviting viewers to indulge in optical exploration.

16 page bound 10″ x 15″ newsprint, limited to 1000 copies, only $5 on Floating World’s website.

Blaise Larmee (Young Lions)  (http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/02/13/exclusive-preview-of-blaise-larmees-young-lions/) has started his own publishing imprint, Gaze Books (http://www.gazebooks.com/index.html).  Their first book is Aidan Koch’s debut graphic novel, THE WHALE.

The 64 page book is a gorgeous showcase of Aidan’s ethereal pencil illustrations and poetic storytelling.  The story follows a young woman who has just suffered the loss of a loved one.  There is no backstory or explanation.  Instead we simply follow the protagonist for a day as she walks her dog on the beach, makes tea at home, is surprised that all of her loved one’s belongings fit in a couple cardboard boxes.  The text is minimal, just her internal dialogue, but very resonant.

Most of the time we keep death at bay as an abstract mystery.  Butwhen death cannot be avoided it pierces each moment like a needle.Those painful hours become linked with normally small and mundane details, almost absurd, always irreversible.  I think the book is trying to capture this melancholy paradox; the complex idea that we live in a world of objects, sweaters and seashells, while simultaneously existing in the overwhelming emotional world of our memories.  In our hearts we identify with the grandeur of existence, and in our minds we know there is nothing.

Special thanks to Blaise and Aidan for sharing this 12 page preview.  Preorders are available on Gaze Books’ website (http://www.gazebooks.com/store.html) and Blaise has announced a release party in October, at his apartment.

Moebius is arguably my favorite comics creator of all time.  For the past few years, zero of his books have been in print in the US.  Zero.

The good news is Humanoids is back and they’re bringing all of the Jodorowsky/Moebius collaborations back to print.  Jodorowsky and Moebius worked together to create a film adaptation of Dune in 1974.  The film was never made, but instead of letting all their designs and ideas go to waste, they took those concepts and made some awesome comics like Metabarons and The Incal.  This November their finest collaboration, THE INCAL, returns with all three volumes collected in a deluxe slipcase format (with the original colors, not those terrible digital recolors from a few years ago).

Humanoids just received a sample copy of the book and there’s more great photos of the interiors on their blog.

(poster by Drew Marshall)

Floating World Animation Fest returns with a new name and trippier mission. We’ve dug even deeper into the vaults of psychedelic animation to curate a heroic dose of visionary video art for this year’s animation fest.

For our fourth annual animation fest it was time to focus on what we liked best from previous shows and continue to seek out films that really embrace the infinite mysteries that resonate with us. The result is DMTV, a program that goes further into experimental realms of video art and abstract visuals.

Rounding out the evening are two of my favorite local bands, Atole and Nice Nice who will perform with live visuals mixed by e*Rock and Yoshi Sodeoka.

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Atole, Nice Nice; films by: Barry Doupe, Michael Robinson, James Mercer, Eurico Coelho, Jacob Ciocci, Milton Croissant, David O’Reilly, Dash Shaw, Dalibor Baric, Kihachiro Kawamoto, Max Hattler, Jesus Rivera, Max Capacity and more!

WHAT: FWC’s 4th annual animation fest & live music by Atole, Nice Nice

WHEN: Wednesday, October 13th, 8pm – 1am

WHERE: Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St.

COST: $7 at door, $5 advance tickets at Floating World, 21+

DMTV trailer – Floating World Animation Fest, Holocene, Oct. 13th 2010 from Floating World Comics on Vimeo.

Highlights of this year’s program include:

Travel, aka The Trip (1973) – Kihachiro Kawamoto studied puppet animation in Prague in 1963 before going on to create his own haunting puppet and cut-out animations drawing from his own Japanese heritage. Travel depicts the journey of a young girl into the Dali-esque landscape of her own psyche.

Apeiron (1996) – Eurico Coelho depicts a modern technological labyrinth where society has surrendered to the cold lamps of their computer screens. The entirety of this ten minute film was animated on a Commodore Amiga 4000, giving the film a completely fresh aesthetic that has outlived the technology with which it was created.

The Peace Tape (2008) – With a title hearkening back to the analog era, The Peace Tape is a frenetic remix of old and new “found” video. Culling his sources from thrift stores (countless straight-to-VHS childrens’ programs), the Internet (a single YouTube clip featuring “dog in a dog costume”), and his own designs (flash animation of eyes and mouths, subliminal flickers of text), Ciocci concentrates hours of light entertainment into a dense, four-minute block. Saved from total sensory overload by the musical logic of Extreme Animals’ “A Better Way,” The Peace Tape is cryptic, hypnotic (and above all), empathetic. “Culture is out of control,” Ciocci explains, “but it is ok.”

Whose Toes (2009) – Barry Doupé’s films are as surreal as any Lynch or Jodorowsky movie, but with an added level of weirdness because they are rendered with Sims-like polygon graphics. Showcasing the late Princess Diana and JFK as its main characters, we are invited to return to past events that have caused discomfort, and to re-imagine a misstep in time.

The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D (2009) – This original animated web series is based on graphic novelist and comic book artist Dash Shaw’s latest book of the same title. Shaw’s animation has been widely praised for its eclectic style, innovative design and emotional depth.

So glad I’m in NY this weekend for this art opening.  Mat Brinkman’s Multiforce comics in Paper Rodeo changed my life 10 years ago.  Very excited to catch his first solo show in NY at The Hole.
MAT BRINKMAN

PHANTASMATGORIA

SEPTEMBER 18 – OCTOBER 23 2010

OPENING: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 18 6-9PM

THE HOLE

104 GREENE ST.

The Hole is pleased to present Mat Brinkman’s first solo show in New York! There are not enough exclamation points in existence to convey our excitement. The last time Mat showed a major work in New York was when he was part of Forcefield in the Whitney Biennial in 2002. I was a Whitney intern back then and like everyone who saw it, had my mind completely blown by that installation. I have followed Mat’s books prints and zines since then, from the epic Teratoid Heights book to his latest neon silkscreen zine by Le Dernier Cri, and got the chance to include him in a few group exhbitions like New York Minute at the MACRO in Rome and Mail Order Monsters, London at Max Wigram and Athens at Andreas Melas Presents. His work was also recently included in Portugal Arte 2010 in Lisbon, Portugal.

But now! Mat will be filling the gallery with black ink works on paper and blasting some rooms with colored light. Plus an advance previewing of selected work by various artists from a yet to be released Necro~Demonic Dungeon~Crawl~Warfare Boardgame. What will this be like? We don’t know. But pinch us because we just can’t believe we are finally getting to see some new art from this secret mega legend artist in our home city.

We will be releasing our first Hole book in conjunction with this show: a coverless mystery book in which we see a monstrous face melting, ripping off, reconstituting, tumescing and exploding. This book may do similar things to you head as well!

Mike Getsiv is currently looking for a publisher for his three completed books of wordless comics (Eyeballs, Lightbeam and one more as yet untitled) plus the anthology he edited called Snow Stories. He was a major supporter and contributor to the Eisner-nominated anthology Abstract Comics published by Fantagraphics and now he’s working on a full-length autobiographical comic book called The Green Kid.

He also started a collaborative project called ABCOLAB on Abstract Comics: The Blog and received contributions from ten countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, England, Finland, Portugal, Russia, the United States and Uruguay.

Twitter along with him at: http://twitter.com/MikeGetsiv

http://www.getsivizion.com/

From Eric Reynolds:

Fantagraphics Books is proud to announce the acquisition of the only graphic novel written by — and possibly the last unseen work of his to be published — the innovative Beat writer and Naked Lunch author, William S. Burroughs. This lost masterpiece, Ah Pook Is Here, created in collaboration with artist Malcolm McNeill in the 1970s, will be published in the summer of 2011 as a spectacularly packaged two-volume, hinged set, along with Observed While Falling, McNeill’s memoir documenting his collaboration with one of America’s most iconic authors.

Ah Pook Is Here is a consideration of time with respect to the differing perceptions of the ancient Maya and that of the current Western mindset. It was Burroughs’ contention that both of these views result in systems of control in which the elite perpetuate its agendas at the expense of the people. They make time for themselves and through increasing measures of Control attempt to prolong the process indefinitely.

Read the full press release and see more of Malcolm McNeill’s incredible artwork here.

Sean Christensen aka Awesome But True aka Glass Moustache is a prolific comics maker and mega awesome bro from way back.  When he’s not getting radical or enjoying life… oh wait… that’s never.  So in the midst of all that awesomeness you know he’s drawing pictures and making comics with his friends here in Portland.
One of his newest books is Labanotation: The Center of Weight, a collaboration with the incredible Amy Kuttab.  We’re pleased to present some pages from a new odyssey in progress, ’2005′.

http://seanchristensen.blogspot.com/

http://awesomebutcomics.blogspot.com/

Chris Cilla’s modern underground comics have been published in Kramers Ergot and his new book ‘The Heavy Hand‘ is now available from Sparkplug Comic Books.  “What’s in ya sack, Portland?”  Mild Hasslecop was previously printed in Made magazine, but now we’re reprinting it here for all to enjoy!

Lane Milburn was born in Lexington, KY and studied Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He currently lives in Baltimore, MD. He is currently at work on a long science fiction graphic novel that is coming along in fits and starts.

His new book DEATH TRAP was the winner of a 2009 Xeric Grant. It contains two stories: Perceived Obsolescence (a full color sci-fi short) and Death Trap, a 104 page horror tale of a group of teens who venture into the woods for a night of partying….only to encounter a strange evil… DEATH TRAP is available from Sparkplug Comics ( http://www.sparkplugcomicbooks.com/ ) or directly from Lane at: http://closedcaptioncomics.blogspot.com/2010/03/death-trap-has-arrived.html

Dina Kelberman’s first collection of comics and illustrations, Important Comics, will make you think and laugh. Also she has just released the tenth issue of The Regular Man. What else is Dina up to? I’ll let her tell it:

I am an illustrator comics and drawings and website. I enjoy blue, red, yellow and green when used correctly. I got to: go to Purchase College; found Wham City; show work in lots of places and publications; tour the east coast with my friends. Please email me at dina@whamcity.com immediately.
New projects I gots on the burner include: going to SPX in Sept., a book of my Citypaper comics, illustration for the next Nuclear Power Pants album, comics in Friends With Benefits (ltd. edition handmade art book by Impose Magazine) and Fakeheads Anthology, video on Baltimore vs. The World DVD by Current Gallery, & ISBN numbers!

Stanley Lieber is a comics factory, a house of ideas, a bullpen bullet, a Jim Starlin drawing, a Herzog documentary.  Check out his website to preview his new book, The Abandonment of Cruelty.  He’s currently compiling a comics anthology called FAKEwhich will contain his new Actron novella, ACTRON: MY STRUGGLE.  We will serialize the following chapters here on Arthur:
1. SOLUTION
2. MUSCLES
3. YOU’RE TRAPPED
4. ENSIGN SMURF
5. SOME GREAT REWARD
This week’s chapter is the first half of SOLUTION (colors by Pete Toms).

Conor Stechschulte graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2008 and embarked on a cross-country bicycle trip from the east coast in Virginia to the west coast in Oregon.  In each state, he photographed a “woods walk” where he would find a patch of woods usually somewhere close off the side of the road, walk in a straight line (going from east to west), and take a photograph every 3 to 5 steps.  Since coming home, he edited the photos down to one walk (consisting of anywhere from 10 to 16 images) per state and has begun to translate them into drawings.

Conor adds, “The drawings are done side by side, two at a time on pieces of 24 x 19″ bristol board.  Each drawing is about 9 x 6.5″.  There are 134 images to draw for the final Silence Country book, so going at the pace I am right now, it’ll probably be done somewhere around 2018.  Haw haw.”

This particular set is from Kentucky, outside of Bardstown. It was photographed right near an anonymous graveyard dating back to the civil war.

Conor underwent a similar walking/photographing/drawing process for a zine he did in 2008 titled “The Spirit World.”

Conor is a member of Closed Caption Comics, he plays in the band Witch Hat, and he lives in and helps run “Open Space” gallery in Baltimore.

If you enjoy the comics you’ve been reading on the Arthur blog I highly recommend ‘GANG BANG BONG’ a new anthology compiled by Inés Estrada.  The first issue includes comics by Inés as well as new work by some of my favorite creators: Sua Yoo, Maureen Gubia, Ginette Lapalme,  Patrick Kyle, Ralph Niese and Zack Hazard.  Inés mentions that there isn’t a huge “alternative comics scene” in Mexico City which makes it even more awesome that she’s producing a bilingual comics anthology there.

“I live in the same place where I was born: Mexico City.  I like drawing, but I’m sure you know that already.  I’m fascinated by zines and self publishing, I really like the idea of making “art” an accessible and touchable thing.
I’m one half of Café con Leche, alongside with my boyfriend Roi.  We make things togethers like stories and songs and bastard monster kids out of textiles.
I’m also co-editor of the bilingual comic anthology Gang Bang Bong, and we released our first volume (of many to come!) this February.” ~ Inés Estrada

Lane Milburn was born in Lexington, KY and studied Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art.  He currently lives in Baltimore, MD.  He is currently at work on a long science fiction graphic novel that is coming along in fits and starts.  His new book DEATH TRAP is available from Sparkplug Comics (http://www.sparkplugcomicbooks.com/) or directly from Lane at: http://closedcaptioncomics.blogspot.com/2010/03/death-trap-has-arrived.html

]]> http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/07/23/tengu-tango-in-violence-valley-jesse-mcmanus/feed/ 0 http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/07/21/island-mountain-michaela-colette/ http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/07/21/island-mountain-michaela-colette/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:34:50 +0000 Floating World http://www.arthurmag.com/?p=12839

Michaela lives in Providence, RI where she makes comics, prints and posters.  She is currently exhibiting work in Print Matter 8 at Giant Robot New York  http://www.grny.net/.  Island Mountain is a the beginning of a comic she created specially for Arthur readers.  Maybe we’ll have some more to show you soon!  In the meantime check out lots of awesome artwork and comics on her website.  http://www.michaelacolette.com/

Harvey Pekar (right) with longtime Arthur contributing artist Joseph Remnant. They had been collaborating on a new book at the time of Pekar’s passing.

Cleveland Plain Dealer: news report

New York Times: report/obituary

Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter: long, smart essay on Pekar’s life, work and impact

ROTFLOL “No Fear” Preview from Audio Dregs Recordings on Vimeo.

E*Rock just dropped off Audio Dregs’ latest release, ROTFLOL, a LP of music and DVD of animations and videos from Paper Rad’s Jacob Ciocci.  I’d seen the videos projected at various shows in the past but I must say I had a great time rediscovering all the hyper details and sounds watching the DVD at home.

Ciocci’s music and art, along with Paper Rad’s monumental output, have been (to say the least) highly influential on a younger generation of artists and musicians. ROTFLOL is a “best of” collection of Jacob’s solo music from the past decade, soundtracks from videos and animations, as well as a selected discography of self released cassettes, hand made CDRs, 7 inch vinyl, and live recordings. The music is often composed in ACII, blasted through a series of vintage Casio keyboards and budget electronics, recorded in real time and captured onto rainbow-colored floppy discs before being mixed down to digibeta, for that perfect sound. This collection is an attempt to collect this musical output as its own musical statement on vinyl LP, along with a full DVD of selected video works (some classics, such as the Peace Tape, and some yet unseen face melters) as well as a digital download including over an hours worth of “bonus tracks”.

More: josephremnant.com

Toronto based Michael Deforge has been tearin it up lately. His comic book series _Lose_ is currently being published by Koyama Press. He won the 2010 Doug Wright Award in the category of “Best Emerging Talent.” He recently contributed to the Lady Gaga fanzine ‘Prison For Bitches’. http://kingtrash.com/

William Cardini is the comics-drawin’, tofu-chompin’, eye-patched wizard-bearded alter-ego of mild-mannered writer and sometimes video artist Mark P. Hensel. They live in Austin, TX and can be contacted at markphensel@gmail.com. Check out more of their work at hypercastle.com.

Saw this at 360 Vinyl today.  The LP is a triple album with silkscreened sleeves and the cd comes with an awesome new ‘Rapper X’ comic by Benjamin Marra.  Happy to find myself reading a comic book in a record store.

Madlib Medicine Show No. 5: The History of the Loop Digga, a limited-edish album of early work by hip-hop artist, Madlib, is now available for pre-order on Stones Throw’s website. Check out everything here. I did the cover and a comic book insert for the album. Some of my artwork was the basis for the silkscreen vinyl covers. I worked with Stones Throw’s Jeff Jank, who put together the designs for everything and was great to work with.

(photo by Aaron Colter)

Robert Crumb at the Portland Art Museum?  It’s true.  All 207 individual pages from his ambitious adaptation of the Book of Genesis are on display this summer.  Seeing the artwork in person is awe inspiring.  The obsessively perfect brush strokes fill the page with black ink.  Yet all of his forms are rendered so clearly and naturally.  It’s also great to see the human touches on the page, little dabs of white out, a bit of the pencils underneath.  You can ponder the choices the artist made.  Why did he decide to white out that panel border and redo it?  The original looked fine…

I’m not sure if I’ll ever read the book from cover to cover, but at the exhibit I found myself focusing on single panels for minutes at a time.  I like how Crumb brings some excitement to even the driest parts of the story.  You know the genealogy stuff, so and so begat this guy, so and so begat these folks.

There’s an inconsequential line in chapter 26: “Esau was forty years old and he took as wives Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.  And they were a source of provocation to Isaac and to Rebekah.”

His interpretation is as scandalous as anything you’d see on a daytime talk show.  The two women are fighting in front of a tent, pulling hair and causing a ruckus.  Maybe all that lineage stuff was more gossipy and exciting back then if you had a vague sense of who these families and tribes were.

FREE admision to the Portland Art Museum on fourth Fridays from 6-8pm.  If you’re in town I recommend seeing the exhibit at least once.  Check their schedule for a full list of events.  They have guest speakers from the comics community and drawing workshops through August.  Also the NW Film Center is presenting two screenings to coincide with the exhibit.

This summer, the Museum will present the drama and sweep of the Book of Genesis as illustrated by the internationally celebrated artist R. Crumb. Organized by the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles for a national tour, the exhibition of more than 200 drawings is the culmination of four years of labor by Crumb to illustrate every word of the fifty chapters that make up Genesis in the Bible.

Portland Art Museum

1219 SW Park Ave

Portland, OR 97205

For more information, visit specialexhibitions.pam.org/rcrumb/.

Northwest Film Center Films

CRUMB

Friday, July 2, 7pm

Saturday, July 3, 4:30 and 7pm

Director: Terry Zwigoff, US 1994

This documentary focuses on R. Crumb’s seminal work in the ’60s and ’70s.  Essential viewing for visitors to the R. Crumb exhibition. (119 mins.)

COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL

Saturday, July 31, 9:15pm

Sunday, August 1, 4:30pm

Director: Ron Mann, Canada 1988

This acclaimed documentary traces comic book art from the 1930s to the 1970s. (90 mins.)

Fat Rabbit Bajada Lodge visitors Sam, cartoonist Ron Regé, Jr. and Tim Leanse display their house gift: the 15th edition of Ron’s “Yeast Hoist” comics series, “Kept in Balance by Equal Weights,” an eight-page alchemy zine that hangs from the neck of a reusable earthenware bottle filled with 16.9 ounces of a Belgian Abbey Ale! Sam and Tim roped the whole thing together. Right now the only place you can get one is from Whole Foods’ flagship store in Austin, Texas, but that should change soon. More info…

Lala Albert lives in Brooklyn where she does art and comics at night and on the weekends. During the week she works as the textile designer/whatever-else-they-need-her-for at a small fashion company in Manhattan.

About Arthur Comics
We are proud to bring you Arthur Comics curated by Floating World. Be sure to click full screen for a leisurely bath in our new interactive format, an exclusive collaboration with GreenerMags / グリーナーマガジン.

The fifteenth installment in Ron Regé, Jr.’s ongoing “Yeast Hoist” series of comics, “Kept in Balance by Equal Weights” is an 8-page zine that hangs from the neck of an earthenware bottle filled with 16.9 ounces of a delicious top-fermented Belgian Abbey Ale. This unique vessel features an original design screenprinted in Belgium.

Available beginning Thursday June 17th at Whole Foods’ flagship store in Austin, Texas

Special bottle signing and beer tasting event Saturday June 19th from 3-5pm prior to Cartoon Utopia opening at Domy Books in Austin

Watch this space for information on retail locations carrying YH15. Subscribe to info list for event and online availability announcements.

Questions? Ask!

yeasthoist.com

Buenaventura Press Closed

Without Buenaventura Press it’s possible I wouldn’t have been inspired to start Floating World Comics. Kramers Ergot (Buenaventura published volumes 6 and 7) was a game changer, and Buenaventura was there to pick up the ball and rewrite the rules. They published some of the best comics of the decade, from Vanessa Davis’ Spaniel Rage, to Jerry Moriarty’s Jack Survives, to Johnny Ryan’s Comic Book Holocausts, to new work by Matt Furie and Lisa Hanawalt. It’s sad to see them go but also interesting to reflect on how much comics have been changed since they started. It’s the Velvet Underground effect. Their books have inspired new comic scenes all over the world. I look forward to seeing the next generation rise from these ashes.

“Fruiting Bodies” by Brian Chippendale

Opening reception, June 4th 7-10pm

Cinders Gallery

103 Havemeyer St.

Brooklyn, NY 11211

Brian’s hyper busy mark-making achieves a similar barrage of rhythms akin to his drum playing in the band Lightning Bolt, obsessively filling up all available space until the viewer/listener is in a state of blissful frenzy.

Brian Chippendale comes to us from Providence, RI, where he has resided for the past 13 years. As a co-founder of now legendary art warehouse Fort Thunder, Brian has been an important part of the underground music and art scene that sprouted out of the Fort and other similar collective-living spaces. In addition to art and music, Brian is known internationally for his innovative comics and has just finished a new 800 page comic called “If N’ Oof,” to be published by Picturebox this Fall.

Brian has also shown his visual art at the Macro Future Museum in Rome, the Deste Foundation in Athens and the RISD Museum as part of Wunderground: Providence 1995 to the Present. This is his first solo exhibition at Cinders.

ARTHUR readers experienced a nine page preview toke of ‘PAWS’ in February, but who would have seen this one coming?

The comic is essentially a horror comic about a guy that only experiences the outside world through television trying to sell an autobiographical screenplay. It has all the same themes as my other comics, how people choose identity roles, the media’s effect on memory, how we mythologize our personalities, but this one has a lot more dogs and possibly werewolves, and jokes about how creepy sitcom laugh-tracks are.

I’m doing the same stuff as always, drawing at night, using my natural jazz dancing ability to put my kids through college during the day.

We found an interview Pete did with Ecstatic Days back in November where he talks about what’s abstract and what’s real. Enjoy and follow up if you please over at Pete’s website!

About Arthur Comics
We are proud to bring you Arthur Comics curated by Floating World. Stop by our oasis, http://www.arthurmag.com/comics, for a leisurely bath in our new interactive format, an exclusive collaboration with GreenerMags / グリーナーマガジン.

About Daniel Locke:

Daniel Locke is an artist based in London and Brighton UK. He works as an illustrator and teacher, and was a sketch artist on the UK version of the
reality TV show Dating in the Dark. He is currently Artist in Residence at the St Martins project in Islington, London. He used to make videos and
installations, but these days confines himself to comics. His work can be seen at www.daniellocke.com

About Arthur Comics
We are proud to bring you Arthur Comics curated by Floating World. Stop by our oasis, http://www.arthurmag.com/comics, for a leisurely bath in our new interactive format, an exclusive collaboration with GreenerMags / グリーナーマガジン.

Enjoy the miraculous finale of GWC, our next installment of ARTHUR COMICS.

About Jesse Moynihan:
Jesse Moynihan self published 2 books in 2005, and ran a strip in the Philadelphia Weekly. He’s been featured in Meathaus and Canicola anthologies. This year, Bodega put out a larger volume of his work called Follow Me. He recently collaborated with Dash Shaw on a strip that will appear in an upcoming issue of Believer Magazine. Recently, Jesse has been plugging away every Thursday on his webcomic, Forming, which is a sprawling account of human origins, transgender aliens, and ripped gods.

About Arthur Comics
We are proud to bring you Arthur Comics curated by Floating World. Stop by our oasis, http://www.arthurmag.com/comics, for a leisurely bath in our new interactive format, an exclusive collaboration with GreenerMags / グリーナーマガジン.

April 10, 2010 – May 5, 2010
Reception: Saturday, April 10, 6:30 -10:00

GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
gr2.net
310.445.9276

Giant Robot is proud to host Living Space, an art show featuring new work by John Pham.

John Pham is a Los Angeles-based, Xeric Grant-winning artist and creator of the ongoing graphic novel series Sublife, published by Fantagraphics, in addition to making work for various galleries and clients.

The work in Living Space portrays a cartoon world with its own set of laws and internal pop-inspired logic. The flat, vibrant colors and abstract lines clash with caricatures of urban, Los Angeles streetscapes and the people who live there. Rules of perspective and representation are willfully ignored in the gouache paintings on panel; the familiar figures, faces and places are distilled into contorted, colorful versions of themselves. Everything becomes, in effect, a cartoon. At first glance, the fluorescent-skinned, fractured people and pop candy-colored buildings may seem alien and off-putting. Upon further inspection, and with some familiarity, they prove inviting, friendly and, most importantly, human. The pieces will be mostly gouache paintings on panel with a few sculptures.

On his return to Mexico in the late-’60s, Jodorowsky started writing and drawing a subversive weekly comic strip (”Panic 
Fables”) in the right-wing newspaper The Herald.

“For four or five years every Sunday I drew a comics page, a complete story,” he told me in 2003. “But it was very basic. When I saw [cartoonist and future Jodorowsky collaborator] Moebius making the drawings, I stopped. And I never make any more.”

Here are some sample pages via http://fabulaspanicas.blogspot.com/—go there to see larger jpgs…

I heard about Kickstarter just a few weeks ago by word of mouth. It’s a fundraising website that works like an online pledge drive for creative projects. Artists are using the site to fund album recordings, independent film and video game production, book publication, liscensing costs, travel expenses and other art projects. I think this site has a lot of potential and it’s been cool to see it mentioned more and more on the web the past few weeks. Most projects need between $1000-$10000 to become reality. Prohibitive for many individuals; but with the help of a hundred or so backers chipping in the goals are being met.  Kickstarter is there to bridge that gap between the dreamers and their benefactors.

For the past two years, I’ve published a free comics newspaper called Diamond Comics which I distribute through local coffee shops, bars, record shops and other cool businesses around town. Basically the same places where you might’ve found a copy of Arthur. Each issue would generally lose a little money, which I would write off as an advertising cost. But if this thing was sustainable I could afford to do it more often and put out new issues on a regular basis.

With the Kickstarter model I set the monetary goal and the deadline that we need to raise the money by. If we don’t hit the goal in the next 40 days, I actually get none of the funds. On one hand the potential for failure was a little intimidating. But I know from experience that the finances of a business are equally cold, hard, and fast, so it’s an accurate model.

Kickstarter suggests that I film a video where I explain my project and also offer different gifts or incentives for the various levels of sponsorship. If you sponsor a recording artist it’s likely you can get your name listed as a “producer” in the credits or even have something personal worked into a song lyric. With Diamond, I’m offering free issues, a printed ‘thank you’ in the next issue, and archival prints of covers from past issues. The video thing actually held me up for a couple weeks after my proposal was approved. Oh yeah, Kickstarter is invite only. Which I originally misinterpreted as something like a Google invite where users would have to invite me. No, you just email Kickstarter with your proposal and an individual responds within a day or two. They seem enthusiastic to have users spread the word about their site which is the right way to do cooperative marketing.

For anyone who’s used a Blogger, Twitter or Vimeo, Kickstarter’s interface is very appealing and easy to use. I set up my bio and profile, put a picture in, attached some links, came up with the incentive rewards, and finally recorded a video of myself talking to put a face to the project. Now the excitement begins as I watch people from all over the world sponsor the project and spread the word with their Facebooks and Twitters. It’s taking all this internet time and energy we normally dump into our computers every day but actually focusing it into tangible real world results. Put your money where your mouse is.

From Profanity Hill:

The truth is the Punk DIY thing is SO SO SO amazing to me. I hate mainstream society in so many ways. Everything I love is usually done by nuts. Sometimes they get accepted like Herge or Carl Barks but most of the time they are just seen as nuts. And they have to do it themselves. I used to feel so self conscious of that, in that typical comic way where you think you suck cause nobody likes you or wants you to be part of their world. But then I realized that is the root of punk, that you can’t “do it right” so you just end up doing it your way.

Dylan with his Grandma

Our next installment in the Arthur Comics series drops…
so click here to check it out!

About Jean Josef Jesus:
Jean Josef Jesus is a comic zine, 30 pages long going on 100. The work will premiere in conjunction with a narrative installation in an exhibition in May 2010 at the ESAD, a school of decorative arts in Strasbourg, France, as part of its graduate degree program in illustration. Six pages from the collection will appear in the next issue of NYCTALOPE.*

About Tristan Pernet:
Tristan Pernet is a French illustrator/graphic designer and one of the founders of French Fourch, a non profit platform for multimedia publishing. You can check out his stuff over here: tristanpernet.com/

*Thanks to Emilie Friedlander for the worthy translation…

]]> http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/03/10/tristan-pernet-jean-josef-jesus-supreme/feed/ 0 http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/02/27/gwc-part-5-jesse-moynihan-third-eye/ http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/02/27/gwc-part-5-jesse-moynihan-third-eye/#comments Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:37:30 +0000 Administrator http://www.arthurmag.com/?p=11630

Get ready for more transpersonal vision and non-locality
as Jesse Moynihan’s GWC continues!
Click to read the new GWC

We are proud to announce the launch of Arthur Comics brought to you by Floating World. Stop by our new oasis, http://www.arthurmag.com/comics, for a leisurely bath in our new interactive format, an exclusive collaboration with GreenerMags / グリーナーマガジン. Enjoy the next eight pages of GWC, followed by all our previous editions in sequence. Check back soon for the full Arthur Comics archive!

About Jesse Moynihan:
Jesse Moynihan self published 2 books in 2005, and ran a strip in the Philadelphia Weekly. He’s been featured in Meathaus and Canicola anthologies. This year, Bodega put out a larger volume of his work called Follow Me. He recently collaborated with Dash Shaw on a strip that will appear in an upcoming issue of Believer Magazine.

Meanwhile Jesse has been plugging away every Thursday on his webcomic, Forming, which is a sprawling account of human origins, transgender aliens, and ripped gods.

]]> http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/02/27/gwc-part-5-jesse-moynihan-third-eye/feed/ 7 http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/02/26/tips-on-how-to-survive-the-coming-depression-by-gabe-soria-and-joseph-remnant-from-arthur-magazine-no-32-dec-2008/ http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/02/26/tips-on-how-to-survive-the-coming-depression-by-gabe-soria-and-joseph-remnant-from-arthur-magazine-no-32-dec-2008/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:23:44 +0000 Jay Babcock http://www.arthurmag.com/magpie/?p=3461 Reposted from December, 2008…cuz these tips still apply!

(Click here to VIEW LARGE.)

Emily Nilsson interviews Croatian born comics artist/musician Dunja Jankovic on the Sparkplug Comics blog.  Click here for the full interview.

What are your main influences as an artist?

In a random order: 60’s and 70’s hairstyles, outsider art in every form, Constructivism, ceramics (even though I’m not making it, but I’d love to), street art and art in the woods, trashy you tube videos, photos from socialistic era, Yugo-nostalgia, thrift stores and flea markets, Kosmoplovci, Komikaze, indigenous art, masks, ritual dances, rituals in general, smoking cigarettes, quitting smoking and then starting smoking again, afghan war rugs, Indian rugs and art in general, music, green architecture, black olives, diving, diving, dying…

Scheduled for publication on April 1, 2010, Blaise thought of a unique promotion for fans interested in reading his new book.  Make a Yoko Ono zine and he will mail you 1x pre-order package (1x Young Lions + 1x untitled experimental zine).

Mail a copy to:
Blaise Larmee
3720 SE 28th Pl. #19
Portland, OR
97202

or post an excerpt on your blog (example)

This offer will expire (perhaps)

Pete Toms is back with PAWS, another comic that blurs the line between fiction and reality.

The comic is essentially a horror comic about a guy that only experiences the outside world through television trying to sell an autobiographical screenplay.  It has all the same themes as my other comics, how people choose identity roles, the media’s effect on memory, how we mythologize our personalities, but this one has a lot more dogs and possibly werewolves, and jokes about how creepy sitcom laugh-tracks are.

I’m doing the same stuff as always, drawing at night, using my natural jazz dancing ability to put my kids through college during the day.

We found an interview Pete did with Ecstatic Days back in November where he talks about what’s abstract and what’s real.  Enjoy this 9 page preview and stay tuned to Pete’s website for the conclusion of the story!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeXCsvUlzSc

We’re down to the last ten copies of the limited edition ‘TOYLAND’ giclee print. There’s still time to get one before they’re gone. Artwork is shipped priority mail or fedex for international orders.

PIM & FRANCIE – SALMON FALLS SWEET SHOPPE

Size: 14″ x 12″ – mixed media – 2003

SOLD

To purchase please email: jason (at) floatingworldcomics (dot) com

Conor adds, “The drawings are done side by side, two at a time on pieces of 24 x 19″ bristol board.  Each drawing is about 9 x 6.5″.  There are 134 images to draw for the final Silence Country book, so going at the pace I am right now, it’ll probably be done somewhere around 2018.  Haw haw.”

This particular set is from Kentucky, outside of Bardstown. It was photographed right near an anonymous graveyard dating back to the civil war.

Conor underwent a similar walking/photographing/drawing process for a zine he did in 2008 titled “The Spirit World.”

Conor is a member of Closed Caption Comics, he plays in the band Witch Hat, and he lives in and helps run “Open Space” gallery in Baltimore.

(click on images to make them larger)

Previously:  In issues 1-3, interplanetary nurse Gemma is sent to space to help heal atmosphere-poisoned colonists on Venus. She’s attacked by a butterfly farmer who experiments in aphrodisiacs and steals a top secret book, which gets her demoted to a mission on Mars. On the way to Mars, two space pirates, Bandit and Pandaface, hijack her ship and loot it for parts. Gemma discovers a way to escape the pirates but it lands her on a familiar adversary’s ship.

Previously:  In issues 1-3, interplanetary nurse Gemma is sent to space to help heal atmosphere-poisoned colonists on Venus. She’s attacked by a butterfly farmer who experiments in aphrodisiacs and steals a top secret book, which gets her demoted to a mission on Mars. On the way to Mars, two space pirates, Bandit and Pandaface, hijack her ship and loot it for parts. Gemma discovers a way to escape the pirates but it lands her on a familiar adversary’s ship.

Previously:  In issues 1-3, interplanetary nurse Gemma is sent to space to help heal atmosphere-poisoned colonists on Venus. She’s attacked by a butterfly farmer who experiments in aphrodisiacs and steals a top secret book, which gets her demoted to a mission on Mars. On the way to Mars, two space pirates, Bandit and Pandaface, hijack her ship and loot it for parts. Gemma discovers a way to escape the pirates but it lands her on a familiar adversary’s ship.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEG6YMtOh5w

Two dimensional line animation from the amazing Mr. Bickford.