WA – Problematic Signing

Jim Woodring signs at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, January 12th from 6-9pm!

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Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.), Seattle, WA 98108

WA – Eat More Bikes Signing

Press Release:

The Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is proud to present a homecoming event with artist Nathan Bulmer, former-Seattleite now-Brooklynite, on Sunday, December 30th, signing from 2:00 to 4:00 PM!

Bulmer has had work published in MAD Magazine, Time Out New York, Seattle Magazine, and The Comics Journal, and has a brand-new collection out now titled Eat More Bikes, from our dear friends at Koyama Press! Much like his web-comic of the same name, the all-new cartoons contained inside traffic in the same absurdist humour.

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Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.), Seattle, WA 98108

WA – Love & Rockets 30th Anniversary

Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez celebrate 30 years of Love & Rockets at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, December 8, 2012 from 6:00 – 9:00 pm! Special musical guest Geneviève Castrée performs.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.), Seattle, WA 98108

WA – Marbles Signing

Cartoonist Ellen Forney discusses and shows illustrations from Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me at the Central Branch of the Seattle Public Library on Saturday November 10, 2012 from 7:00 till 8:30 pm.

Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Flagrantly manic and terrified that medications would cause her to lose creativity and her livelihood, she began a years-long struggle to find mental stability while retaining her passion and creativity.

Searching to make sense of the popular concept of the crazy artist, Forney finds inspiration from the lives and work of other artists and writers who suffered from mood disorders, including: Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O’Keeffe, William Styron and Sylvia Plath. She analyzes the clinical aspects of bipolar disorder as she struggles with the strengths and limitations of a parade of medications and treatments.

Forney’s graphic memoir provides a visceral glimpse into the effects of a mood disorder on the artist’s work. Her story seeks the answer to this question: If there’s a correlation between creativity and mood disorders, is an artist’s bipolar disorder a curse… or a gift?

“Ellen’s work has always been hilarious and sharp, but Marbles has an emotional resonance that shows new depth as an artist and a writer. This is an extremely personal, brave, and rewarding book.” Dan Savage, syndicated columnist and author.

Forney grew up in Philadelphia and has lived in Seattle since 1989. She created the Eisner-nominated comic books “I Love Led Zeppelin” and “Monkey Food” and collaborated with Sherman Alexie on the National Book Award-winning novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” She has been teaching comics at Cornish College of the Arts since 2002.

Event Notes Library events and programs are free and open to the public. Tickets and reservations are not required.

Note: The Library will close at its regular Saturday time of 6 p.m. and will reopen at the Fourth Avenue entrance at 6:30 p.m. for this event. Parking in the Central Library garage will be available for $5 after 5 p.m.

This event is supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation, author series sponsor Gary Kunis, media sponsor The Seattle Times and presented in partnership with Fantagraphics. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Seattle Public Library – Central Branch
1000 Fourth Ave,  Seattle, WA 98104

OR – Good Grief Exhibition

Press Release:

Happiness is an art exhibit honoring the work of Charles M. Schulz, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR has just that!

Exhibition curator Ben Saunders has chosen 25 originals spanning all five decades of PEANUTS that he hopes will allow the viewer to take in the origins, maturation, and final years of this great American masterwork.

Fantagraphics’ Gary Groth will make a visit on Thursday, November 8th to discuss the importance of Charles Schulz’s work within the larger tradition of newspaper strip comics. This event begins at 5:30 PM, and is co-sponsored by the UO School of Journalism.

Don’t be a blockhead and miss this exhibit! GOOD GRIEF! Original Art from 50 Years of Charles M. Schulz’s PEANUTS runs through December 1, 2012. The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is located in Eugene, Oregon on the western side of the University of Oregon campus next to the Knight Library.

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
1430 Johnson Lane, Eugene, OR 97403

Love and Rockets: A 30th Anniversary Celebration

Press Release:

The Cartoon Art Museum is honored to host Love and Rockets: A 30th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, October 13, 2012 from 8:00-11:00pm. This will be the opening reception for a career-spanning retrospective exhibition including more than 50 pieces of original artwork from the groundbreaking Fantagraphics comic. This event coincides with the annual Alternative Press Expo (APE), which takes place at San Francisco’s Concourse on October 13 and 14. Special guests for this party include Love and Rockets creators Jaime, Gilbert, and Mario Hernandez, with additional guests to be announced.

Visitors will enjoy food and drink from local vendors, live drawing events, and the company of dozens of talented cartoonists. Admission for the event is on a sliding scale, from $5 to $50, with guests encouraged to donate whatever they can to support the Cartoon Art Museum. Guests who donate $20 or more will receive an exclusive 30th anniversary print courtesy of Fantagraphics Books.

All proceeds from this reception will benefit The Cartoon Art Museum, a non-profit educational museum dedicated to the collection, preservation and display of original cartoon art in all its forms.

Tickets can be purchased at the museum on October 13, but they may also be pre-purchased through Guestist Ticketing.

For more information about the Alternative Press Expo, please visit their website.

Also on display in October 2012:

Sketchtravel: Acclaimed artists Dice Tsutsumi of Japan and Gerald Guerlais of France originated Sketchtravel as an international charity art project. A simple red sketchbook was passed from one artist to another, not unlike an Olympic torch, in an artistic relay through 12 countries over the course of four years. The end result was a beautiful sketchbook containing the personal visions of 71 exceptional illustrators, animators and comic book artists including Bill Plympton, James Jean, Rebecca Dautremer, Glen Keane, Frederick Back, and Studio Ghibli founder and animation legend Hayao Miyazaki. This sketchbook was sold at auction in 2011, raising funds for Room to Read, an international literacy non-profit, and helping to build five libraries in five third-world nations so far.

The Art of ParaNorman: The Cartoon Art Museum proudly presents original works of art from the feature film ParaNorman, produced by LAIKA, the Portland-based animation studio owned by Nike co-founder and Chairman Philip H. Knight, and released nationwide by Focus Features on August 17, 2012. The exhibition features concept art, puppets, costumes and more from the upcoming film, LAIKA’s second stop-motion animated film to be shot in 3D. In stop-motion animation, everything seen on screen actually exists in the real world, as opposed to computer-generated animation.

Small Press Spotlight on Jonas Madden-Connor: The Cartoon Art Museum celebrates the art of self-publisher Jonas Madden-Connor in the latest installment of its ongoing Small Press Spotlight.

WA – Building Comix Panel

   

Chris Ware, Charles Burns, and Chip Kidd appear at Seattle’s Town Hall on Monday, October 22, 2012 from 7:30 – 9:00pm.

Great Hall; enter on 8th Avenue. $5.

In the world of graphic novels—heck; in the world of publishing—superstars just don’t shine much more brightly than these two sterling comix stars: Chris Ware and Charles Burns. And—lucky us—each has a book coming out this fall. Ware, whose work recalls the greatest 20th-century cartoonists with a style and worldview utterly, unmistakably, his own, has packed his new graphic novel, Building Stories, with advanced wood-pulp technology, ambition, emotions—and exquisite artistry. And Burns, who grew up in Seattle and crafted the semi-autobiographical magnum opus Black Hole, brings The Hive, the second part of his epic masterpiece trilogy of graphic horror. Presented as part of the Town Hall Arts & Culture series with Fantagraphics.

Tickets are $5 at townhallseattle.org or 888/377-4510 and at the door beginning at 6:30 pm. Town Hall members receive priority seating.
Town Hall
1119 8th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101

WA – The Hive Signing

Charles Burns signs at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday October 20, 2012 at 6:00pm.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery 
1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.), Seattle, WA 98108

Fantagraphics Schedule at SPX 2012

Press Release:

Join Fantagraphics this weekend for the 2012 Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland! On September 15th & 16th, we’ll be filling the Marriott Betheseda Conference Center with some dazzling debuts, panels, and signings! Come meet your favorite artists and get your books signed:

Saturday, September 15th
11:30-1:00 PM     Lilli Carré // Noah Van Sciver
1:00 – 2:00 PM    Daniel Clowes // Phillip Nel
2:00 – 3:00 PM    Mark Newgarden
2:00 – 3:30 PM    Steven Weissman // Chris Wright 
3:30 – 4:30 PM    Kevin Huizenga // Rich Tommaso
4:30 – 6:30 PM    Gilbert Hernandez // Jaime Hernandez

Sunday, September 16th
12:00-1:00 PM    Lilli Carré // Steven Weissman
1:00 – 2:00 PM    Gilbert Hernandez // Jaime Hernandez
2:00 – 3:00 PM    Phillip Nel // Rich Tommaso
3:00 – 4:00 PM    Chris Wright 
3:30 – 4:30 PM    Noah Van Sciver
4:00 – 5:00 PM    Kevin Huizenga
5:00 – 6:00 PM    Gilbert Hernandez // Jaime Hernandez

Fantagraphics will be located at tables W40-W44, as seen in the map excerpt below! For a larger version of the complete floor map, please click here.

Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo Returns

Press Release:

Boston Comics Roundtable (BCR) and the Art Institute of Boston (AIB) are proud to announce the third annual Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE). MICE is Boston’s only show dedicated to alternative comics, ‘zines, and web comics. The 2012 expo features talented regional cartoonists, including Ignatz Award-winning Box Brown (Everything Dies), veteran comics parodist Robert Sikoryak (Masterpiece Comics), and 100 more indie artists on the rise.

With free admission, MICE 2012 is a great opportunity for anyone interested in the local independent comics scene to get a first-hand look at thousands of unusual, entertaining and interesting comics, as well as meet the creators. Over 100 comics artists and small publishers will be exhibiting.  The show will include demonstrations with professional artists and panel discussions on topics central to comics and an exhibit of original art.

“There’s so much exciting work being done in independent comics these days, but it’s a rare opportunity to be able to see such a great sampling of it one place,” said Dan Mazur, a MICE organizer. “The great thing about a show like MICE is that so many local creators get to gather together and connect with their fans, and with potential readers.”

The popularity of last year’s show was reflected in the fact that exhibitor tables for MICE 2012 sold out within three hours of going on sale online.

MICE will present a day-long slate of panel discussions and creative workshops, on topics including Comics and Medicine, Comics and the Art World, Comics and Religion, Injury-avoiding Exercises for Artists, and others.

Another new wrinkle for MICE this year is the addition of the NECAC (New England Comic Arts in the Classroom) Symposium, as an associated event.  NECAC is an organization that promotes the use of comics as an educational tool in K-16 classrooms. The symposium will be a three-hour event, offering workshops and discussions specifically aimed toward educators. It will be held on the same morning as MICE, and in the same building, creating a unique synergy between a creator-focused and educator-focused approaches to the art of comics.

MICE occurs on September 29 at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. For more information, please visit www.masscomics.com.

ABOUT BOSTON COMICS ROUNDTABLE
Boston Comics Roundtable draws local cartoonists and writers to collaborate, workshop and socialize since 2006. BCR publishes Inbound, an anthology of Boston-area independent comics, Outbound, a science-fiction comics anthology, and the horror anthology, Hellbound. Visit bostoncomicsroundtable.com for more information.

ABOUT THE ART INSTITUTE BOSTON / LESLEY UNIVERSITY
The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University is a college of visual arts offering the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, the two-year Advanced Professional Certificate, and the low residency Master of Fine Arts degree. In addition, continuing and professional education, intensive workshops, and pre-college courses are all available.

ABOUT R. SIKORYAK
MICE 2012 Guest of Honor R. Sikoryak’s cartoons and illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Nickelodeon Magazine, Drawn & Quarterly, Raw, Fortune, Esquire, GQ, among many other publications, and on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He is the author of the graphic novel Masterpiece Comics (Drawn & Quarterly), and the co-author, with Michael Smith, of The Seduction of Mike (Fantagraphics), a comic book funded by the NEA. He was awarded an Artist’s Fellowship from The New York Foundation for the Arts for his comics adaptations of classic literature. He is in the Speakers Program of the New York Council of the Humanities. In his spare time, he creates performances, slide shows, and animation for downtown theater and independent films.

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