The opening party for our comic cookbook/gallery show Just Add Ink is this Friday! I can’t wait!
Click on the image for details.
Please consider using the above image to help promote the event!
Some recent press:
Opening Reception
Friday, August 5, 2011 – 7pm-10pm
Artists’ Discussion
Saturday, August 20, 2011 – 1pm-3pm
Altered Esthetics
1224 Quincy St NE, Mpls MN 55413
612.378.8888
Fun! Our friends at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts are having a Day of the Dead postcard contest. The prize is 250 smackers! All entries will be displayed in the lobby gallery! Note that cards will not be returned. Read the details here.
Registration for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival is now open. Apparently, it usually sells out very fast.
Appallingly, Marvel Comics recently prevailed in court over Jack Kirby’s heirs in their challenge over ownership of and proper compensation for the creations that Mr. Kirby made for them (i.e. “The Whole Damn Marvel Universe”). If you are as disgusted by this as I am (or if you just want some food for thought), please consider reading what Steve Bissette writes about the issue. Marvel may have triumphed legally, but that does not mean we have to let them win. Why buy any new Kirby or Kirby-derivative comics from Marvel? Do you really need to read more fifth-generation rip-offs of the master?
CRAIG THOMPSON
Monday, September 26, 2011, 7:00 pm
Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Auditorium
2501 Stevens Ave., Minneapolis
Click here for directionsAcclaimed graphic novelist Craig Thompson returns from a seven-year hiatus this fall with the publication of Habibi, an epic romance that investigates the history of religion and storytelling. Habibi is a hugely anticipated release that Thompson says looks at Islam the way his previous graphic novel, Blankets, looks at Christianity. Blankets was once banned from some libraries, and Habibi is expected to be no less controversial and no less enthusiastically received as a watershed moment in the art form of comics.
At this special Twin Cities appearance, Thompson will give a visual presentation and discussion of his work. Not to be missed!
. . . his brilliantly realized artwork transforms whatever potential for triteness lies in his message into profundity. . . . Goodbye, Chunky Rice is a heartfelt masterpiece.
—Rain Taxi Review of BooksBlankets magically recreates the high emotional stakes of adolescence. Thompson has set new bars for the medium not just in length, but breadth.
—Time MagazineCraig Thompson’s previous graphic novels include Blankets (for which he received three Harvey Awards for Best Artist, Best Graphic Album of Original Work, and Best Cartoonist; and two Eisner Awards for Best Graphic Album and Best Writer/Artist); Goodbye, Chunky Rice; and Carnet de Voyage. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Sarah Morean (one of the main organizers of the MIX festival) recently twittered:
CARTOONISTS! Desperately need six volunteers to create new work for a fundraiser to benefit The Soap Factory and help MIX. DM me for deets!
So, please help out, huh? It is a fun project.
After a long break from not posting much on the web, I’ve decided to start posting with appalling regularity. I figured I should start here with some shameless self-promotion.
On Mondays, I will be posting a new Soapy the Chicken strip on the Soapy the Chicken site. (you can subscribe to Soapy the Chicken here… you can read the previous Soapy strips here… or you can buy the collected Soapy in book form here). Click the image below for the first one…
On Fridays, my new collaborative comic with my good friend Ben Zmith, Monkey’s Paw, will be updated. The first four weeks have already been posted, actually. You can see them by clicking on the below images.
You can subscribe to the feed for Monkey’s Paw here.
I’ll also be posting whatever I feel like on the Stwallskull blog, whenever I feel like it. The posts moving forward will mostly be focusing on my personal comic work, rather than stuff relating to the history of comics and animation. You can subscribe to Stwallskull here, if you’re inclined.
Thanks for checking my comics out, if you decide to.
The below very cool-sounding opportunity was just posted here.
Call for Mini Comics and mini comix submissions
I am looking for mini comic submissions for a new two-volume set of hardbound books to be published by Fantagraphics. This series will cover mini comics from the dawn of time (early 70′s) to the present. Since Newave (1980’s) has already been covered, the main focus will be on the 1990′s to the present although earlier minis will be covered too. The books will be the same size as the original Newave book (only more like 700 pages each) and will only reproduce whole mini comics that are 5 1/2 X 4 1/4 or smaller just like in the Newave book. (If you are concerned about the size of your submission contact me and we can talk about it). No digest sized comics or bigger will be accepted.
The two volumes are to be simply titled “Treasury of Mini Comics†Volumes one & two.
I am looking for contributors. I am looking for the best of the best. Any creator can send me their mini comics, disks, or photocopies to be considered for publication for this project. Or email me and send low-res jpegs to: brownfieldpress(at)hotmail.com.
Please send titles to: Michael Dowers 361 E. Birnie Slough Rd., Cathlamet , WA 98612.
If you want your material returned it is important to enclose return postage. Any mini comics that are kept will be placed in the Fantagraphics collection after the books are published. Also anybody sending actual mini comics will receive comics in trade from Brownfield press.
I was sorry to hear the other day that Terry Beatty is leaving Minneapolis… his wife got a new gig in Kansas City, so his family is heading down there. Terry is having sale of some of his large collection of wonderful things this Saturday. Stop by on Saturday and wish him well on his journey, and help him lighten his load. Details here.