Just In (Case You Missed It) - New Stuff Archives 2Q 2009

New for June 2009

Asterios Polyp
by David Mazzucchelli
This is perhaps the longest awaited work in the history of comics (No? Let us know what, in your estimation, beats it.). Over ten years in the making, Mazzucchelli's first ever solo graphic novel, is also his first major work since his 1994 graphic adaptation of Paul Auster's City of Glass, a trailblazing, highly influential work which put him at the forefront of the then nascent "serious" graphic novel movement. David Mazzucchelli's work with Frank Miller in the mid-80s -- Daredevil: Born Again and Batman: Year One -- made him a mainstream comics superstar, but then he walked away from it all to pursue his own calling of an independent, more thoughtful form of comics and became a legend in the process. And now here we are, over twenty years later with his most important work. Talk about anticipation! Mazzucchelli has spent the last decade pondering the possibilities and potentials of the comics form and Asterios Polyp embodies his findings. Metaphysical speculations in comics form combine with Mazzucchelli's own idiosyncracies, Eisnerian pathos, and a notable Japanese aesthetic, as well as explorations and deconstructions of the printing and production process that shows commonality with contemporaries Paul Hornschemeier (specifically The Three Paradoxes), Dash Shaw (particularly Bodyworld), and Frank Santoro (pretty much everything), all of which is woven together in a tale clearly inspired by classical Greek mythology, dramatics, and philosopohy that commands the reader's full attention, forcing perceptual and conceptual apparatuses into overdrive and demanding multiple readings.
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $26.95

Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz
by L. Frank Baum, Walt McDougall and W.W. Denslow
It's here: the latest gigantic Sunday-page-sized super-book from Sunday Press, the trailblazing publisher that opened all our eyes to the glory of early 20th century Sunday comics pages with Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays and its sequels. This time around we are treated to a look at the super-rare Sunday pages devoted to the wonderful world of Oz. Here's what publisher, Peter Maresca has to say: "Now arriving in Kansas (and everywhere else): a long-hidden treasure from the Land of Oz. In 1904 L. Frank Baum, creator of The Wizard of Oz , wrote a story specifically for the Sunday color comic sections to promote his second Oz book. These pages, illustrated by comic pioneer Walt McDougall, ran for 26 weeks and feature some of the most innovative comic strip layouts of the era. In that same year, a second Oz Sunday feature appeared, Scarecrow and Tinman, by famed Wizard of Oz illustrator W.W. Denslow. This sumptuous volume also includes the complete run of BOTH of these fantasy series, reprinted for the first time in the original colors and in full broadsheet size. The book also features additional Denslow comics 1901-03, such as Billy Bounce (the first superhero of the comics) as well as beautiful comic features from McDougall and Oz illustrator John R. Neill. This book is full of rarely seen comic gems - a must-have for all Oz fans and collectors of classic comic strips." Dig into some details in this illustrated page on the publisher's site. 72 pages, 16 x 18 inches.
retail price - $75.00 copacetic price - $75.00 (sorry, no discount on this one)

Last Year at Marienbad
directed by Alain Resnais from a screenplay by Alain Robbe-Grillet
w/ Delphine Deyrig and Girogio Albertazzi
There are few truly one-of-a-kind films. By any measure, Last Year at Marienbad is clearly one of them. A film that is successful like none other in recreating a mental landscape, that shows the inner workings of a restless mind and haunted memory, that employs the language of cinema to probe the interior twists and turns of consciousness, that demonstrates how thought is action in a manner that, while tempermentally quite different from, may yet be considered the most successful translation of the Proustian approach to narrative in any film yet realized. Here, in L'année dernière à Marienbad, like in Á la recherche du temps perdue, we are confronted with a life turned inside out. Robbe-Grillet, Resnais & Co. managed a feat that has yet to be repeated, and now we are presented with the – for now – definitive DVD edition, courtesy of The Criterion Collection (who else?). This is a two-disc edition with some interesting and worthwhile extras – including two short Resnais documentaries from 1956 & 1958 – but all pale next to the glory of the restored high-definition transfer of the film itself. Your film education is incomplete until you've seen this film. And this is also one film that can quite decidedly stand up to repeated viewings, as its aesthetic pleasures and intellectual challenges are not easily exhausted.
retail price - $39.98 copacetic price - $34.95

Cometbus 52: The Spirit of St. Louis, or How To Break Your Own Heart, a Tragedy in 24 Parts
by Aaron Cometbus
It's safe to say that here we have the item that delivers the biggest bang for your buck. A mere two dollars will get you this memoir of Aaron's early days of punk rock life spent in St. Louis that fills sixty-four prose-packed pages. Angry? Yes, but chock full on insights into human nature and recognitions of the inevitable patterns that so many fall prey to. The definitive DIY writer continues his literary journey. It is certainly safe to say that long time Cometbus readers will be joining him, but for those of you who have yet to take a walk on the Cometbus side of life, now's your chance – just hold onto your hats!
retail price - $3.00 copacetic price - $3.00

Two Eyes of the Beautiful

Two Eyes of the Beautiful
by Ryan Cecil Smith
Based on Umezuo Kazuo's Blood Baptism, this self-billed "grotesque horror manga" comes to us from Nishinomiya, Japan, where RCS is currently hanging his hat and teaching English. Cognizant of the fact that the largest part of the market for this item lies across the Pacific Ocean, here in the USA, he has conscientiously jammed as much as humanly possible into the 28, 4 1/2" x 6" pages and GOCCO printed cover, so that it can be sent half way around the world without breaking the bank for shipping costs. Another fine example of form following function. Hi-Energy, high quality comics & story-telling are in ample evidence here and are sure to be enjoyed by fans of fine hand-made comics wherever on this globe they may reside.
retail price - $5.00 copacetic price - $4.00

Low Moon
by Jason
Here it is, the first Jason omnibus. Five – count em'! – graphic novellas in one hardcover volume. All new, none before published in the United States (although the work whose title supplies that of the collection, "Low Moon," was serialized in the New York Times). This works out to less than half the price per work compared to the softcover editions we're all so familiar with (at the copacetic price, they're a mere four dollars and change each). The lead off tale, "Emily Says Hello," is Jason at his darkest. You won't wallow in despair for long, however, as it is followed by "Low Moon" which is a quirky – and funny – take on the classic western, as only Jason could do. Then we have the pivotal, center story, the aptly, if oddly, named, "&." A period piece set during what appears to be the silent film era, this is a piece of gloomy slapstick, an apparent contradiction in terms that only Jason could pull off, and the source of the cover image. Next up is "Proto Film Noir," which we are not going to say anything about, just to keep you guessing at what a story bearing such a title could possibly be about (here's a tip: don't bother, you'll never guess). Finally, the book closes with "You Are Here," which may very well be the definitive Jason story, and has to be one of the most pithy stories ever penned on the price exacted by the failure of forgiveness. Did we mention that all stories are full color? While everyone doubtless has their own personal favorite Jason book, we feel comfortable stating that from an objective standpoint, this one is clearly the best yet. So, what are you waiting for?
retail price - $24.99 copacetic price - $22.22

Multiforce Brinkman

Multiforce
by Mat Brinkman
After last year's release of Brian Chippendale's Maggots, this work is the last major piece of the puzzle that is made up of the long awaited comics works from the halcyon days of Fort Thunder. Although those days are now fading into history, the work itself is only now finally getting the wider exposure it deserves; which, in turn, will allow the next generation to put together these pieces in their own original ways. No surprise that this, as well as the bulk of other Fort Thunder works, are all issuing forth from that art comics publishing powerhouse, PictureBox, Inc. Multiforce is a megasize (11" x 16.5") saddle-stitched pamphlet comics that brings together the entirety of this Fort Thunder era serial that originally ran in the pages of Paper Rodeo from 2000 through 2005. This is truly original work that has had a strong influence on many of the up and coming generation – but only on those who managed to get a hold of the hard to come by original copies of Paper Rodeo. Now it is here for all!
retail price - $15.00 copacetic price - sold out!

Cold Heat Special #9
by Frank Santoro and Lane Milburn
The latest Cold Heat Special takes the standard practice of many hand-made self-published comics (including several of the previous numbers in this very series) – that of the silk-screened cover encasing photocopied interior pages – and stands it on its head. Yes, that's right, you guessed it: this one has a photocopied cover enclosing 16 hand-silk-screened interior pages of pantomime comics which pictographically record the spiritual regeneration of Castle as she merges with both the biological and historical forces that power her quest for truth, justice and personal growth. Also from PictureBox. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!
copacetic price - $12.00

Uuptight 3

Uptight #3
by Jordan Crane
Speaking of long awaited comic books, here's another one that copacetic customers have been patiently awaiting for (quite) awhile. Well, we're quite pleased to announce that the wait is over for what is certainly one of the finest pamphlet comic book series going. (Although we're not sure if one issue every two years really qualifies as "going.") This time around we have a kind-of-sort-of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde split issue in which the Dr. Jekyll component appears an unnamed, cuckolded garage mechanic who is the protagonist in the first story (although one could easily make the case that it is girlfriend, Delores, who is in fact the protagonist of this story; but that would mess up our simile) and Mr. Hyde manifests as the (re)appearance of Simon from The Clouds Above in an all new adventure which, we suspect, serves a compensatory function. Anyway, it's safe to say that this is one comic book that no self-respecting comics reader can go without. Especially as no one can use the excuse of being too broke to afford this one. It's worth it just for the cover alone.
retail price - $2.75 copacetic price - $2.50

Papercutter #10
Papercutter 10

by Dominic Jay, Jesse Reklaw and Minty Lewis
While perhaps not in quite the rarefied Olympian strata as Uptight, Papercutter nonetheless continues to get our vote as the best ongoing, regularly published (here is where it trounces Uptight - five issues of Papercutter have been published in the interregnum between the last two issues of Uptight), anthology comic book title currently on the market. High quality production and simple, spot-on design showcase uniformly excellent work by many of today's top independent comics creators (with a special focus on those in and around Papercutter-publisher, Tugboat Press's stomping grounds, Portland, OR). All for a quite reasonable price. And it's regular publication schedule (Well, they may miss a deadline once in a while, but the key fact is that they have a deadline in the first place, and that they actually care if they miss it; this sets them apart in the relatively lackadaisical world of indy comics publishing. #10 is a family affair of sorts in that it is primarily composed of two stories by the comics couple of Jay and Lewis, who are kept at arms length from one another by the centerfold executed by the one and only Jesse Reklaw.
retail price - $4.00 copacetic price - $3.50

Color of Water Hwa

The Color of Water
by Kim Dong Hwa
The second volume in the Korean comics (manhwa) trilogy that we highly praised a couple months back has arrived and it continues to live up to the promise of the first, The Color of Earth. This too is a 300+ page work of finely drawn comics that provide an intimate and insightful portrait of a young woman's coming of age. Be sure to give this series a look if you haven't already.
retail price - $16.95 copacetic price - $15.25

You'll Never Know
by Carol Tyler
Well, you know that Fantagraphics has entered the ranks of the mainstream when they have a Fathers' Day release, and, yes, you guessed it, this is it. It is Carol Tyler's memoir of her life with father (and mother and her own daughter, and more besides... but the central focus here is on dad). Formally, it shares some aspects with Maus: the adult child interviewing the elderly father to pry out the WW II memories before they're lost forever, and the concomitant presentation that intertwines these present day efforts with the actual recollections themselves. Tyler, of course, brings her own distinct visual style to these efforts, but, more than that, she has hit upon an effective, original formal device of presenting her father's WW II recollections in the form of a comics scrapbook/photo-album that is sure to pull at the heartstrings of some readers. There are probably not an awful lot of Copacetic customers out there who have a still living father who fought in "the Big One," so it may seem that we're wasting our breath here, but this book will be appreciated by anyone who can be engaged by a deeply personal and heartfelt exploration of family history as well as anyone who enjoys fine comics, and will provide a special pleasure to those who would like to celebrate and explore the father-daughter bond.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic special price - $19.99

Life, in Pictures
by Will Eisner
Somehow, we neglected to bring this book to your attention when it was originally released late last year. Like its two fine precursors in W.W. Norton's fine series reissuing Eisner's classic mature work – The Contract with God Trilogy and Will Eisner's New York – Life, in Pictures is a large, well bound, hardcover edition which contains three complete works accompanied by critical introductions and annotations, all printed in the signature sepia tones of Eisner's late work. This time around we get: The Dreamer, a roman á clef about Eisner's early years in comics; and two full length graphic novels that provide a history of Jewish life in America – To the Heart of the Storm and The Name of the Game. Also, be sure to keep in mind the fact that these hardcover Eisner omnibuses are a terrific value as they contain three complete works each of which retails for $16.95 (except for The Dreamer, which is less) in softcover. You really can't go wrong.
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $27.50

Items from our June 2009 listings may now be purchased online at our new site, HERE.

Special Bonus Feature - Here's a report on MoCCA 2009 by Copacetic customer turned comics reporter, Yakov Hadash: http://snipurl.com/ilikecomics

New for May 2009

George Sprott
by Seth
A few listings down below, we lauded Seth's design of the first volume of the collected Doug Wright as being, "without any doubt, Seth's crowning achievement as a book designer." We are now, in the wake of George Sprott, forced to add to that comment the qualifier, "working with material other than his own," for with this lavishly produced, spectacularly sized (12" x 14"), and yet modestly priced volume, Seth has taken his design to another level by integrating book design deep into the fabric of his work; to such a degree that the apprehension and full appreciation of the material is inseparable from it. George Sprott is simultaneously a character study, a historical saga, and a cultural analysis, but most of all it is a comics feast prepared by one of today's top cartoonist's operating at the height of his powers. Make sure you check out this preview. This is one book you don't want to miss!
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $22.22

Moomin, Book Four
by Tove Jansson
For the past three years, a new Moomin book has been released each year during the start of the Christmas season, but this year it looks like Christmas has come early to Moominland. Also, for some reason we got it into our head that the complete collected Moomin was only going to run four volumes, but we were, evidently, mistaken, as Drawn and Quarterly has already announced the fifth volume. So now we can all relax and enjoy this new release, free from the angst that would have accompanied the experience had this indeed been the end of the line for Moomin comics. Here's a brief preview.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77

Luba
by Gilbert Hernandez
At last! The second hardcover collection in the epic saga that began with the mammoth (and now, sadly, out of print*) Palomar. Luba is a massive 600 page hardback that collects the entirety of the three previously released softcovers, Luba in America, Luba: The Book of Ofelia, and Luba: Three Daughters, and then some. The combined retail price of these three softcover trades is $59.97 making the choice of this stunning hardcover a no-brainer for anyone who had yet to purchase this amazing material. And not only that, this time around the work is printed on non-reflective flat white stock yielding superior image quality, which it will make tempting to even those who already have the trades. Luba follows the the titular character along with a large supporting cast that spans three generations and the environs of Mexico and southern California. This is a series that is populated by some of the most colorful characters in the history of comics and that's saying something considering they're all printed in black & white. There are plot lines, actions, reactions and interactions galore. There is powerful social commentary side by side with action and laughs, and more insight into character formation and sexual development than you will find anywhere else.
retail price - $39.95 copacetic price - $33.95
(*However, there's no need to despair as the entirety of Palomar is available in three excellent softcover volumes, here.)

Che: A Graphic Biography
by Spain Rodriguez
Ernesto "Che" Guevara's life and times are concisely communicated in exactly 100 pages of comics written and drawn by the man born for the job, Spain Rodriguez. One of the founding members of the original Underground Comix generation that helped define the 1960s, Spain (the single name by which he is commonly known and referred to in the comics world, but not, alas, in the wider world, for then we could have had a book that was titled, simply, an more appropriately, "Che by Spain") is someone who is sure to have been conversant with Che's iconic and political status during those heady days when his life and work was still in the air and so have had ample time during the ensuing forty-some years since his death to ruminate upon Che's significance as well as digest the morass of historical data and coordinate the diverse opinions into a single, solid over-arching narrative; this he has done. In yet another example of the communicative efficiency of comics, this work, which can be successfully absorbed after dinner, imparts the saga of an era that will leave its readers more worldly and skeptical. It must be said that most of the negative aspects that have been imputed to Che's character have been ignored and that some (i.e. conservative) critics will doubtless view this portrayal as a "whitewash." Regardless of any and all opinions on the pros and cons of Che the man, we're confident in our positive appraisal of "Che" by Spain as making for an absorbing read.
retail price - $16.95 copacetic SALE price - $7.77

The Photographer
by Emmanuel Guibert (he wrote and drew it), Didier Lefevre (he lived it and photographed it) & Frédéric Lemercier (he laid out and colored it) - translated from the French by Alexis Siegel
A unique – at least in our experience – work, The Photographer interweaving the actual photographs taken by intrepid photojournalist Lefevre during his numerous journeys in Afghanistan accompanying Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders to us Yanks) during 1986, when the country was at war with the USSR and, as the cold war had yet to be resolved, was therefore, at that time, a strategic ally of the USA; meaning that the CIA was working hand-in-glove with the likes of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. While Che shows comics excelling at digesting large amounts of historical information into a concise cohesive narrative, this work excels in another way: that of putting the reader right there in this far away alien place, and then guiding them while simultaneously interpreting the experience. In this way the reader, too, can be there, after a fashion, and connect to these lives of "others" that are so different from our own, and yet, if only by virtue of our shared humanity, still remain, at their most basic level, the same. Learn more by reading this interview with Emmanuel Guibert as well as Kate Culkin's review at Publisher's Weekly.
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $26.95

Underground Classics: The Transformation of Comics to Comix
by James Danky and Denis Kitchen
This oversize hardcover book is published, by Abrams ComicArts, in conjunction with the exhibit of the same name that originated with the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin in the spring of this year. Hail, hail, the gang's all here! Underground comix veterans Jay Lynch, Trina Robbins, and Denis Kitchen (with the able assistance of James Danky), all provide essays, as does official comix chronicler, Patrick Rosenkranz, as does leftist extraordinaire, Paul Buhle (who also co-authored the afterword to Spain's Che, listed above; hmmm... we're sensing a serious swing to the Left here). And then there's the documentation of the exhibit itself: nearly ninety full-page, full color reproductions (of works that were, please keep in mind, executed for the most part in pen & ink, in black & white) of original underground comic book (or, comix) pages. Pretty much everyone you would expect is included, as well as a few surprises you might not be familiar with. A great retrospective that is sure to be appreciated by artists, scholars, historians, and fans.
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $26.95

The Color of Earth
by Kim Dong Hwa
The first volume of a trilogy, the remainder of which is scheduled for release over the coming year, The Color of Earth represents the first major Korean work of graphic fiction – known as manhwa – to be published in the United States. The work is of uniformly high quality and is filled with many poetic interludes where the drawings and their pacing transport the reader to meditative states. Students of manga will have much to ponder in as they study Hwa's work to discern those aspects of it that might be isolated as being specifically Korean and so distinguish manhwa from manga. The tale is set in a timeless village in rural Korea and chronicles the relationship of a widowed mother and her daughter as the daughter matures from girl to woman. Read Kate Culkin's (yes, again) review on Publishier's Weekly to learn more, then, if you're still not convinced, make sure you take a look at it and see for yourself what all the fuss is about.
retail price - $16.95 copacetic price - $15.25

The Collected Doug Wright – Canada's Master Cartoonist: 1949 - 1962
edited by Seth and Brad Mackay
This book is, without any doubt, Seth's crowning achievement as a book designer. Into it he, and co-conspirator Brad Mackay, have poured all their enthusiasm for their subject. To say that Doug Wright is the Charles Schulz of Canada is not fair to either party, but as this comparison is alluded to in the book's introduction it serves to give some idea how high the regard is for Wright and his work among those who appreciate his work. Unlike Schulz, who has ever been before our eyes in death as in life, Wright has effectively faded from sight. Thus, in order to forcefully revivify his corpus, dramatic measures are called for, and this volume is nothing if not dramatic. The cover is – with the exception of a die-cut oval in the upper center revealing an embossed portrait of "Nipper," Wright's most famous creation – a solid wraparound of glossy metallic ruby red, making look like the gift to its readers that it is clearly intended to be, as well as boldly announcing the retinal reverb in red that is this volume's central design motif. It measures a regal 11" x 15", runs 240 pages printed in full color and black & white as called for, and is designed with a flair that simply must be seen up close and personal to truly appreciate (a meager simulacra of its aesthetic pleasures may be had here.). Evidently, while the work contained in this volume brings tears of nostalgic joy to its Anglophone Canadian creators, it brings tears of anger to at least one Canadian(?) of Francophone persuasion, whose piece while reeking of sour grapes nevertheless provides some interesting historical context in which to view the work on display here. We'll go on record as finding this collection to be a true joy to behold that is in no way dependent on one's opinion (or, indeed, of the fact) of the lasting value of the work it collects: this volume stands on its own by the simple fact that its design and presentation so effectively embodies its creators' reverence for Wright and his work.
retail price - $39.95 copacetic price - $35.00

Closed Caption Comics 8
by the Closed Caption Posse
We usually pick this up every year in the fall, at SPX, but CCC is way ahead of schedule this year and the Copacetic shelves have already been graced with this hand-embossed-cover-sporting 80-Page Giant packed with brand new comics the likes of which you won't be finding anywhere else. The gang's all here, including – among others – Lane Milburn, Mollie O'Connell, Ryan Cecil Smith, Conor Stechschulte, Molly Goldstrom, and cover artist Erin Womak. The comics from Closed Caption Comics that we pick up every year at SPX have pretty much all been hits here at Copacetic, most of all this, the flagship title. While we believe that it's fair to say that CCC is working with some of the tropes established by Fort Thunder, there is quite a bit of original work here, and anyone interested in deeply personal, artistically informed comics work should be checking this out.
retail price - $8.00 copacetic special price - $6.00

The Eternal Smile
by Gene Luen Yang & Derek Kirk Kim
More than a long-awaited follow-up, this hefty, full-color volume teams two of the brightest lights of the Asian-American comics scene to bring readers of comics a triptych of tales celebrating universal themes that incorporate motifs from fairy tales, myths and legends and integrate them into the fabric of contemporary California life. Fans of formal invention will find plenty to celebrate as well. Yang, author of the multiple award-winning American Born Chinese, and Kim, author of the amazing Same Difference, employ between them a host of styles and techniques to properly situate the content of their narratives in the readers minds
retail price - $16.95 copacetic price - $15.25

Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology
edited by Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow and Jerry Ma
200 pages of original superhero comics by and about Asian-American characters. Published by The New Press, SI was years in the making and presents an amazing array of talent displaying an impressive diversity of artistic approaches and techniques. Here's a review worth reading, from Reappropriate, "a personal & political blog by an angry Asian American woman."
retail price - $21.95 copacetic price - $19.75

Tank Girl One & Two: The Remastered Edition
by Jamie Hewlett & Alan C Martin
These new editions of Tank Girl feature: superior reproduction (especially of the color pieces) printed on a larger paper size, enabling a greater appreciation of Jamie Hewlett's fine ink stylings; new introductions by Tank Girl co-creator, Alan Martin, filling in some details, in Book One, about Tank Girl's origins and early days, and, in Book Two, about various behind-the-scenes creative goings on; rare photos, alternate covers, promo posters, early drawings and the like; ALL the original Deadline Magazine covers in which these stories first appeared (although we must inform you that these reproductions are thumbnail size); full-size reproductions of all the original covers to the Dark Horse Comics editions in which (most of) these stories first saw print stateside; and, last but certainly not least, bits of of work not collected in the first edition of these Titan trade collections. AND, they're less expensive than the old editions. What's not to like?
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $13.50

Connective Tissue
by Bob Fingerman
Video store clerk Darla Vogel, the protagonist of this work, a nutty hybrid novel of prose and illustrations, with comics epilogue, might be considered a New York disciple of Tank Girl, so this seems a good place to bring this work to your attention. The art here shows that Fingerman has definitely been paying close attention to Kyle Baker's work,and what's not to like about that? The Fanta hype states: "If William Burroughs, Lewis Carroll, HP Lovecraft, and Harvey Kurtzman ever collaborated, the result might resemble (this) bold new confection of words and pictures."
retail price - $22.99 copacetic special price - $17.77

The Brinkley Girls
by Nell Brinkley
edited by Trina Robbins
While they might seem to be located on the other end of the spectrum of femininity from Tank Girl and Darla Vogel, this is simply a lack of historical perspective. "The Brinkley Girls" are actually the daring cartoon precursors to today's freaky females. In fact, much of the work contained in this volume is formally similar to Bob Fingerman's in that it is a combination of prose and illustration, with an admittedly very big difference being that here, with Nell Brinkley, it is the illustrations that are quite dominant, while the reverse is the case in Fingerman's work. As Brinkley's work evolved, some of it took on more of a sequential, comics-oriented approach, but it remained unique both its style and flavor throughout is nearly thirty year run. The Brinkley Girls were the creation of one Nell Brinkley, a fabulously talented artist – and a glamour girl in her own right – who plied her trade in the rough and tumble masculine world of Hearst Publications, specifically The American Weekly, during the years 1913 through 1940. Editor Robbins has done an equally fabulous job of assembling the material for this fine volume (which, by the way, is an elegantly proportioned 10" x 13" hardcover volume, printed in full color – from high resolultion scans of original materials – throughout its 136 pages), and her fine introductory essay puts it all in context. The artwork here simply has to be seen to be believed. Brinkley, rather than create a continuity based on a single character or set of characters, after the fashion of practically all other cartoonists, instead created an series of discrete self-contained continuity adventures featuring non-recurring characters that ran a set number weeks and then ended, to be followed by a new adventure. What connected them all, is that, figuratively speaking, they all "starred" a set of Brinkley's gorgeous – and gorgeously rendered – golden girls,and this is what ensured their lasting fame. Brinkley's work influenced a host of classic newspaper cartoonists, most notably Dale Messick, the creator of Brenda Starr, and its inffluence continues to be felt, both directly and indirectly, today: The work of Dame D'Arcey will appear in a whole new light after you've spent some time with this volume. Opening this book will open your eyes to an era and an artist.
retail price - $29.99 copacetic special price - $25.00

And now for something completely copacetic... Depression Buster Bargain™ #2!

The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Collector's Edition Mega-Set
Copacetic Comics is amazed to present our second Depression Buster Bargain™: A mind-boggling box of 21 discs featuring just about everything ever produced for television under the aegis of Monty Python's Flying Circus, and then some – over 36 hours worth (and that's not even including the copious bonus material) – at an equally mind-boggling price! The complete series, three live films, one German television show, six personal best shows, two NEW documentary films and bonus galore! What can we say about Monty Python that hasn't been said before? Taking the angsty absurdity of post-WWII European existentialists across the English channel and then running it through the Goon Show grinder, and, via American ex-pat and former Harvey Kurtzman underling,Terry Gilliam, adding a touch of Mad, the Python posse somehow stumbled on a secret formula involving a heretofore unseen combination of startlingly original format, style and sense of humor that gave birth to a once in a lifetime television experience that is now available at may be a once in a lifetime price. Perfect timing, we say.
retail price - $159.95 copacetic depression buster price - sold out!

Items from our May 2009 listings may now be purchased online at our new site, HERE.

ordering info

New for April 2009

In order to to make it to the promised land of a "new comics" we must first scale "the mountains of the past." With this month's lead-off trio of books, some important mountains come to us, making them that much easier to scale and so bringing those of us willing to do so that much closer to our goal...

Supermen
edited and designed by Greg Sadowski
introduction by Jonathan Lethem
Ladies and gentlemen! Step right up and see the wonders of the ages! This is where it all began: the protoplasmic early days of the superhero comic book -- wild & heady, zany & crazy, fantastic & non-sensical, rough around the edges; all this and more. Reading these stories is like witnessing history in the making, it is being present at the birth. Sure, we've all read those original Superman and Batman stories along with other DC classics, as well as a those old Captain America, Submariner, Human Torch tales, and maybe a few other Golden Age Marvels (well, Timelys, actually), but these are usually presented in a self-promoting fashion by their corporate owners which mitigates and obscures the historical context in which these works need to be read to fully appreciate their novelty. The work here spans the years 1936 to 1941, with the bulk of it originating in 1939 and 1940. It is divided by publisher and includes the Comics Magazine Company, Chesler, Centaur, Fox, MLJ, Fiction House, Columbia, Your Guide/Rhoda and Novelty Press, Some of the earliest work by the brightest stars of the Golden Age are collected here: Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, Lou Fine, Jack Cole, Basil Wolverton, Bill Everett, Ogden Whitney, Dick Briefer, Fred Guardineer, and, yes, Fletcher Hanks. It appears that this volume has been put together employing high quality scans of the original comic books which were then digitally restored and and enhanced and then crisply printed on flat (non-glossy) bright paper stock, and the results are excellent, A minor quibble is that, for our money, we would have preferred an off-white paper that more closely matches the newsprint upon which these comics were originally printed, but this is negligible when stacked next to all that is right with the production. While it should go without saying that no self-respecting comics scholar can pass this up, we hasten to add that anyone who misses the plain old fun that we associate with the term comic book, who wants a jolt of that good ol' four-color energy from back in the day, need look no further than this fine volume.
retail price - $24.99 copacetic price - $22.22

The Best of Simon and Kirby
By (well, yes, of course) Jack Kirby and Joe Simon
edited by Steve Saffel, with essays by Mark Evanier and an introduction by Joe Simon
Just say no to those horribly overpriced and poorly produced Marvel Masterworks and DC Archives editions and say hello to this sumptuous oversize hardcover edition that does it right. Not only is this 240 page book, at 9" x 13", a full 30% larger than these volumes, but the images are taken from excellent resolution scans of the original comics and it is printed on high quality flat white stock, and, as if that weren't enough, it is priced 20% less! Kudos to the fine folks at Titan Books for a job well done. And then there's the work itself. The over two dozen tales taken from this two-decade-long partnership that are contained in this volume amply display the breadth of vision and amazing ability of this dynamic duo. The work is divided by genre and then presented chronologically within each of the categories, which are: "The Heroes," "Way Out Science Fiction," "War and Adventure," "The Birth of Romance," "Crime Drama," "The Great Western," "Oh! The Horror!" and "Sick Humor." Simon and Kirby really could do it all! While we here at Copacetic will always maintain that the creative engine was primarily powered by Kirby while the business brains and marketing savvy were Simon's, Mark Evanier, working with the still living Simon to put out this volume simply repeats Jack's consummately diplomatic response to the question of who did what – "We both did everything" – and leaves it at that. No matter how you look at it, though, this team was one of the most important in the history of comics, and this is a book that no self respecting comics fan should be without (unless, or course, they already own the original comics, in which case our hat's off to them).
retail price - $39.95 copacetic price - $35.00

Boody: The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers
edited by Craig Yoe
While some of the curatorial aspects of this publication leave much to be desired, the work on display here is 100% pure comic books, and we won't hesitate to deliver our thanks to Mr. Yoe and Fantagraphics Books for giving this work a second lease on life and bringing it before a whole new audience who can now get the chance to appreciate the quirky eccentricities and idiosyncrasies and just plain old personality that gets transmuted into four-color folk wisdom here through the magic of lines on paper. This is an excellent companion piece to the the book, Supermen, also published by Fantagraphics and listed above. Both publications employ the magic of scanning to provide readers with high quality facsimiles of the original comic book pages with all their inherent aesthetic qualities and quirks intact. The comics work of Boody Rogers is thoroughly charming in its naive weirdness and is unique in so many ways that it's hard to know where to begin. Let's just suffice it to say that Rogers's grasp of the vernacular of his time and place combined with his mastery of the craft of cartooning makes for an Americana that's loaded with insights into the quotidian quirks in our nation's character that you'd be hard pressed to find in such an easily assimilable form anywhere else.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77

Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5
by Michael Kupperman
Yes, it's comics as only Michael Kupperman can do them. Once you enter the pages of these thrizzling tales you can say good-bye to rationality, logic and all the rest of those old-fashioned ways of making sense of the universe. Here you will discover that history is in the eye of the beholder and that when it's viewed through the eyes of Mr. Kupperman, well then, let's just say it looks a little bit different than you remembered it. The centerpiece of this, the "Old People's Issue," is the adventures of Twain & Einstein, a compendium of mustachioed mayhem. In addition we are treated to tall tales of Ben Franklin, Buzz Aldrin, and The Monkees™, as well as "Sherlock Holmes versus Jungle Boy," "Real Old-Timey Horror," "Legs To Die For," and so much more!
retail price - $4.50 copacetic price - $4.00

Rumbling, Chapter 2
by Kevin Huizenga
This new self-published release marks the terminus of a round-trip of sorts. Customers of long-standing will recall that Huizenga burst into Copacetic consciousness with the startlingly original work contained in his self-published series, Super Monster, which climaxed with the 14th issue, the one-of-a-kind masterwork entitled Gloriana Comics (which was reprinted as Or Else #2, see below). It was not long after the publication of this issue that Huizenga was "signed" by Drawn & Quarterly, who went on to publish several new pieces in D & Q Showcase #1, a continuing series, Or Else - which combined material from Super Monster with newer material -- and then released a hardcover collection, Curses, which pulled this and other material together. Huizenga's work has/is also been/being published by Fantagraphics (Ganges) and Buenaventura (Kramers Ergot, Fight or Run) as well. Yet, while his star was rising over the field of contemporary comics, he continued to self publish smaller, more personal / less accessible works such as untitled, Sermons and New Construction. Now, a combination of market realities, personal preference and artistic aims has brought about the cessation of Or Else and the bringing forward of Huizenga's self-publishing efforts. Rumbling, Chapter 2 continues the "adaptation" (really, a massive inflation [reinflation?] of a work "from which all the air has been removed" – Manganelli's stated aim in creating one hundred novels each of forty lines) of Centuria: One Hundred Ouroboric Novels (#44) by Giorgio Manganelli that began in Or Else #5. Rumbling, as we stated in our review of the first part, imagines a United States embroiled in a sectarian struggle which has metastasized into armed military conflict that simultaneously harkens back to the religious wars of pre-Enlightenment Europe as well as the present armed struggles in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. It works to imagine how these wars might come about and what they might look like if they occurred on US soil. This continuation is bracketed by a dense two-page lead-in that offers a different sort of speculation: that concerning a look back from the future brought about by the future imagined in Rumbling and the consequent technological evolutions that occur and how they in turn reformat consciousness; a sort of flash-forward within a flash-forward, or a speculation within a speculation... Intellectually digesting the contents of this issue involves a fairly advanced level of abstraction in order to successfully process. And a knowledge of the history of religious conflict certainly wouldn't hurt. That said, Rumbling furthers Huizenga's unique employment of the language of comics to craft a heuristic exposition on the centrality of process in the contemporary historical dialectic. In addition, by crafting narratives which delineate the steady erosion of our human being that is effected by the merciless march of history and so provide a cautionary tales by which to avoid the worst of it, while simultaneously trying to win back the heart of the matter by insinuating a morally guided reason inside the machine, Huizenga strives to remind us that there are many possible worlds and it's up to us which one we choose to live in.
retail price - $3.00 copacetic price - $3.00

A Mess of Everything
by Miss Lasko-Gross
Here we have the continuation of the memoir began in 2007's Escape from Special about the turbulent high school years of a troubled teenager. As with the initial volume, this one is all about navigating the perils of growing up. Drug (ab)use and shoplifting, rock 'n' roll and school scribblings, self-esteen issues and anxiety, friendship and alienation, comic books and cooking class, dealing with the 'rents and the first fumblings of romance -- it's all here.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77

My Mommy Is In America and She Met Buffalo Bill
Jean Regnaud & Émile Bravo
This volume represents a bit of a departure for Fanfare/Ponent Mon, who have to date primarily focused on translating and publishing the best of contemporary Japanese manga (most notably the work of Jiro Taniguchi) so that they may rest under western eyes. My Mommy is a French graphic novel that is aimed at younger readers (In addition to winning the "Essentials Award" at the 2008 Angouleme Festival, it received the 2008 Tam Tam Literary Award from Salon du Livres er de la Presse Jeunesse, in the category of comic album, age group: 8-13 years old). Readers of MOME will recognize Bravo's distinct style as it brings to life Regnaud's tale of a lonely five year-old boy who lives with his father and younger brother, but terribly misses his absent mother. Take a quick look, here.
retail price - $25.00 copacetic price - $22.22

Mother Come Home HC

Mother, Come Home
by Paul Hornschemeier
Here's the work that brought Hornschemeier critical and commercial success when it was initially published, first in the pages of Forlorn Funnies #2 - 4 (2002-03), and then in a softcover trade from Dark Horse in 2004. After being unavailable for the last year or so, it is now back in print in its first ever hardcover edition, from Fantagraphics Books.
retail price - $22.99 copacetic price - $20.00

Funny Misshapen Body
by Jeffrey Brown
A brand new 200+ page Jeffrey Brown piece about, yes, his funny misshapen body, but also a whole lot more besides. This book is composed of a chocolate box assortment of vignettes from many different periods of the life of Jeffrey Brown. There is no immediately apparent order to the pieces, so this seems to be a good book to just open at random and dip in here and there as the mood strikes. School days, from kindergarten through college gets the most ink here, with the usual focus on high school. He definitely ranges beyond his usual obsessions of girls and sex (very little of which is on display in this Simon and Schuster publication), with a special focus on his experiences with doctors and hospitals. Brown's work is as engaging as ever here despite the topical differences, so we're confident that his long time fans will find much to enjoy (In addition, this might make a good gift book for anyone bedridden with a digestive disorder...).
retail price - $16.00 copacetic price - $14.44

I Saw You
edited by Julia Wertz
Yes, it's a comics anthology entirely consisting of comics inspired by "real-life" missed connection ads posted on Craigslist. These short tales range from sad to pathetic to depressing to funny to deranged to impossible-to-describe. An astonishing 98 artists contributed to this anthology, including – but not limited to – Sarah Oleksyk, Jesse Reklaw, Sam Henderson, Peter Bagge, Liz Prince, Shannon Wheeler, Laura Park, Jeffrey Brown, Keith Knight, Elijah Brubaker, Greg Means, Gabrielle Bell, Alec Longstreth and Aaron Renier. If nothing else, this massive array of talent testifies to the universality of Craigslist. This book probably has something important to say about interpersonal relationships in the internet era, if we can only figure out what it is...
retail price - $12.95 copacetic price - $11.75

Be a Nose! Three Sketchbooks
by Art Spiegelman
In inimitable McSweeney's fashion, this publication recreates three of Art Spiegelman's actual sketchbooks, accompanies them with a small stand alone guide that would make you think of an oversized CD booklet even if it wasn't titled "Liner Notes," and then secures them with an old fashioned book strap to create this one of a kind item that is sure to appeal to design fans . The first and smallest of the sketchbooks dates from 1979 and shows art just getting under way; the second and by far the most vital, engaging and intriguing, dates from 1983, at what may be the apogee of his creativity, during the Raw/Maus era, and shows him clearly (at least at times) under the spell of Gary Panter; the third, is amazingly recent, dating from 2007, is surprisingly deft, showing Spiegelman in more of a Crumb mood and thinking visually again. It is doubtless this return to sketchbook-making that has led to this publication as Spiegelman was famously adverse to the idea in the past. Any and all intrigued with the revolution in comics brought about by Raw would benefit by a trip through these, as would artists interested in learning Spiegleman's methodology, influences and development.
retail price - $29.00 copacetic price - $25.00

Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles Into Comics
by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, Alexis Frederick-Frost
And here's a book to help nurture the next generation of Art Spiegelmans. This volume was produced under the aegis of The Center for Cartoon Studies. It is the creation of the Center's director, James Sturm, and two of his students. It very simply provides the basic building blocks of comics while embodying core CCS principles of story-telling. It is primarily geared to encourage and empower youngsters to create comics of their own and is priced to encourage parents and relatives to buy it for them (or even for them to buy it themselves). There's a swell 17 page excerpt on the web, here. Check it out!
retail price - $12.95 copacetic price - $11.75

PB Almanack

The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack
by Nicholas Gurewitch
This is a giant, 256 page, oversize, horizontally formatted hardcover volume collecting the bulk of the extant PBF strips as well as several appendices wherein are found "lost" unpublished comics accompanied by brief explanations as to the basis of their exclusion; sketches and thumbnails; and a fairly lengthy interview, which , taken together, go a fair ways into demonstrating Gurewitch's creative process.
retail price - $24.99 copacetic price - $22.22

Alex Toth in Hollywood
by Alex Toth
This 160 page 8 1/2" x 11" collection contains some of Toth's finest. In it we find four full-issue-length stories, all dating to the late 1950s, from the Dell Four Color series of one-shots: "The Wings of Eagles" (#790), "The Lennon Sisters" (#951), "The Law Trap" (#992), and "The FBI Story" (#1069). In addition there are three short stories of 6, 8 & 10 pages in length from roughly the same period -- two westerns and a comedy featuring Danny Thomas. Classic stuff!
retail price - $25.00 copacetic special price - $19.99

The Believer Magazine - March/April 09 (#61): The 2009 Film Issue
It's been awhile since we went out of our way to mention The Believer in this space. It seems as though we've begun to take it for granted: another month (or two), another Believer. But this time around we were compelled to sit up and take notice. The DVD that accompanies this issue would, in all likelihood, under normal circumstances command a price higher than that being charged for this entire issue. Titled JLG in USA, this 3+ hour disc contains what may possibly be the entirety of extant work documenting French filmmaker, Jean-Luc Godard's stateside forays. It contains 2 not-quite-full-length documentaries – Two American Audiences (Mark Woodcock, 1968, 40 minutes) and Godard in America (Ralph Tranhauser, 1970, 50 minutes); Two 30-minute episodes of The Dick Cavett Show devoted to Godard that were taped on the occasion (circa 1980) of Godard's "come-back" film, Sauve qui peut (la vie); an eight-minute romp with Godard and friends at Del Mar Beach near San Diego – A Weekend at the Beach with Jean-Luc Godard (Ira Schneider, 1979, 8 minutes, video); and a slideshow by Jeffrey Blankfort of Godard's visit to San Francisco and Oakland during Huey Newton's trial. And that's just the DVD! The issue itself is overflowing with film related contents, most notably interviews with key independent filmmakers Michael Leigh (a Copacetic fave), John Sayles, Julie Delpy and Sam Mendes; an illustrated feature on the wonder of Polish film posters; The Believer Book Award (always worth reading) and plenty more. All for one amazingly low price!
retail price - $10.00 copacetic price - $9.00

Together Through Life (CD)
by Bob Dylan
And we'll leave you with this, the new Dylan LP from which our opening reference to "the mountains of the past" is taken. It's his 33rd solo release (it's too bad he didn't have a record for which he was one-third responsible, for then, he could have followed Fellini -- whose first film he was only half responsible for, thus giving him the option of naming a film "8 1/2" -- and named this record "33 1/3", [although, then again, maybe we're better off this way...]). The new Dylan album is uncanny. After putting it on for only the second time, some of the songs feel like old favorites. It really feels like some of these songs are well worn tunes even though they're brand new (However, our resident expert on all things recorded, Michael Prosser, informs us that this may very well be due to the fact that the melodies are primarily recycled blues classics). Here's the official promotional interview, where Dylan talks about it.
The LP available in three formats:
standard, single CD: retail price - $18.97 copacetic price - $12.99
Deluxe edition w/bonus CD of Dylan's radio show and DVD interview with Ron Silver:
retail price - $25.99 copacetic price - $18.88
and vinyl (2-Disc, 180 gram vinyl, w/ complimentary CD):
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $25.00

Items from our April 2009 listings may now be purchased online at our new site, HERE.