NEW
STUFF ARCHIVES
New for
June 2010
Well, by
all appearances, June is "Fantagraphics Month" here at Copacetic...
Wally Gropius
by Tim Hensley
If ever there was a comic book character that embodied Art Spiegelman's
definition of comics as "the bastard offspring of art and commerce"
then Wally Gropius is him. Hensley is clearly an intellectual who
is employing the language of comics with a specific aim in mind.
He has something to say and has managed to effectively leverage the
capacities of the medium to his advantage in delivering his
message. Wally Gropius is an obvious success as a logically
consistent piece of work, but it is definitely not a work for
everyone. The degree of archness (archity?) embodied in these
full color pages is at times almost overwhelming. Yet, we have no
problem recommending that copacetic readers take a stab at this smartly
designed, well executed, and surprisingly affordable, oversize
hardcover volume which collects the entirety of the Wally Gropius
stories
that have appeared in MOME
over the last several years, along with – we
believe – a few that haven't. Go ahead and sample a story with
this PDF
download. And then, those who would like to further explore
the ramifications of this work are hereby encouraged to read the
discussion that Dan Nadel's
(obscenely titled) appreciation of this collection at ComicsComics.com
got going (start with Dan's piece, and then keep reading the [14 as of
this writing] responses that follow). This is a book that will
definitely give you something to think about!
retail price - $18.99 copacetic
price -
$17.00
The
Search for Smilin' Ed
by Kim Deitch
A new book by Kim Deitch is always a cause for celebration, and the
release of Smilin' Ed is
certainly no exception. This graphic
novel at long last collects the entirety of the Smilin' Ed saga from
the pages of the 1990s anthology, Zero
Zero, along with an ALL-NEW
chapter. A true comics powerhouse, Kim Deitch has spent the
better part of five decades forging a mythography of American
entertainment folklore in comics form. It is a veritable Yoknapatawpha
County of the collective unconscious, and The Search for Smilin' Ed
is the latest installment of this modern masterwork. Please do
yourself a favor and read
the first ten pages, and then, if you feel like delving deep into
the significance of this work, go right ahead and read the entirety of Bill
Kartopolis's introduction.
retail price - $16.99 copacetic
price -
$15.00
Artichoke Tales
by Megan Kelso
It took a while, but she did it! This chunky, pert, hardcover
volume
finally delivers on the promise of Kelso's
self-published mini-comics trilogy of the same name that brought her
multiple Ignatz awards way back in 2002. During the
intervening years, Kelso has been busy with – among other things, such
as having a major
work run 24 weeks in the New York Times –
raising a child. And, as anyone who has done so knows, personal
creative work not only necessarily retreats into the background of the
rigorous demands of the day-to-day, but is very difficult to find the
time to do. In other words, the fact that an artistic work is
completed during the trials of parenthood is as sure a guarantor that
the work is passionately cared about as any we can think of, and Artichoke Tales is a work
that can be cited in defense of this
premise. This volume provides (if memory serves) roughly twice
the
amount of the previously extant material, and all long-suffering Kelso
fans are sure to be pleased. Doubt us? Then check out this massive
16-page PDF preview, and doubt no more!
retail price - $22.99 copacetic
price -
$19.99
Werewolves
of Montpellier
by Jason
This one is an all-new graphic novella by an undisputed master of the
form. Really, that's all you need to know, but we'll throw this 6-page
PDF preview your way, on the off chance someone still needs
convincing.
retail price - $12.95 copacetic
price -
$11.75
King of
the Flies, Volume One: Hallorave
by Mezzo and Pirus
Fans of Charles Burns's epic masterwork, Black
Hole, who have been wondering if anything would ever come along
that was nourished by the fecundity of that uniquely
powerful work should be at the very least curious about and make an
effort to go out of their way to take a look at this work
from Germany which explores the grimy underbelly of contemporary German
suburbia employing a visual vocabulary that is very much drawn from
Burns's work, most notably Black Hole.
Read
the first chapter and see what you think.
retail price - $18.99 copacetic
price -
$17.17
Billy
Hazelnuts and Crazybird
by Tony Millionaire
No, we're not on the Fantagraphics payroll, it's just that they've
issued a wagon load of new material since we last had the chance to sit
down and clue you in to what's been arriving here on the Copacetic
shelves. This one is the "long-awaited" sequel to 2006's Eisner
Award-winning Billy Hazelnuts.
It is chock-a-block with the patented Victorian-era-esque hijinks that
we've all come to expect from mr. Millionaire. And we can't
refrain from mentioning, that of all of Millionaire's creations, Billy
Hazelnuts seems to us to owe the biggest debt to Bob Burden's Flaming
Carrot; there's just something about Billy H. that says, "Flaming
Carrot" (at least, we hear it).
retail price - $19.99 copacetic
price -
$17.77
Tales
Designed to Thrizzle #6
by Michael Kupperman
Cultural miscegenation at its finest, TDTT#6
crossbreeds high and low
like there's no tomorrow (Is he trying to tell us something?) in tales
of the Jungle Princess, Cowboy Oscar Wilde, two new installments in the
soon-to-be-classic™ Twain & Einstein saga, and the epic
historical meta-drama, "All About Drainage." "NOW WITH TOO MUCH
COLOR!"
retail price - $4.95 copacetic
price -
$4.44
Meatcake
by Dame Darcy
This is the softcover edition of the long out-of-print, hard-to-find,
and (now) super-pricey hardcover that collects 240 pages of the best of
the first ten years of Meatcake comics by the one-and-only pop-art
polymath and , Dame
Darcy! If you ain't hep then you'll want to dive into this
whoppin' 20-page
preview of her pen-and-ink visions of gaunt and haunted beings,
taunted by their inner sexual frustrations and lost chances.
retail price - $22.99 copacetic
price -
$19.99
Abandoned
Cars
by Tim Lane
Here's another softcover edition of a previously released
hardcover. Tim Lane's Abandoned
Cars is a hardboiled, hard-drawn,
hard-livin' look at the underbelly of America that deserves a look, and
the new, attention grabbing cover for the softcover works hard to get
you to do just that. We'll do our part by offering up this major
league 16-page
PDF preview, and referring you to our review of the
hardcover.
retail price - $18.99 copacetic
price -
$17.00
Blazing
Combat
edited, and largely written, by Archie Goodwin
Yes, you are correct: this is yet another softcover edition of a
previously released hardcover from Fantagraphics. Featuring the
art of EC (and Two-Fisted Tales) alumni like
Wally Wood and John Severin, along with heavy hitters like Alex Toth
and Gene Colan, this hefty softcover collects the entirety of Warren's Blazing Combat series that was
originally published in 1965 and 1966. This hard hitting series
took an unvarnished look at the hard realities of war just as the
protests against the Vietnam were gaining traction and so is an
important historical document at the same time that it offers up some
spectacular comics work. See what mean by reading this 19-page
PDF preview.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic
price -
$17.77
Prince Valiant,
Volume Two: 1939-1940
by Hal Foster
This one reverses the trend of the preceding volumes in that it is a
hard cover reprint of a softcover! But, really, it is much more
than that. With this new edition of Prince Valiant, Fantagraphics
has dramatically improved the quality of reproduction by employing the
latest in scanning and printing technology. Volume Two picks up
right where the first one left off in bringing us
what is likely to become the definitive version of the finest and
longest running historical fantasy-adventure comic strip of all
time. This
eminently affordable edition leaps off the shelf and begs to be
read. We're not giving you any preview of this one, as the art is
simply too good to be subjected to a computer screen.
retail price - $29.95 copacetic
price -
$25.00
The Complete
Peanuts, Volume 13: 1975 - 1976
by Charles Schulz
introduction by Robert Smigal
And, finally, we'd be remiss if we let you go without pointing out that
with this thirteenth volume The Complete Peanuts, "The definitive
collection of Charles M. Schulz's comic strip masterpiece," has passed
the half way mark. Peanuts ran everyday for nearly half a
century, with Schulz drawing every line, and here we are right smack
dab in the middle. An excellent vantage point from which to view
both the earlier strips and those to follow. Peanuts has the cure
for those everyday ailments – glumness, loneliness, confusion, doubt,
the blues and the blahs – and the Copacetic Society for Comics as
Medicine recommends having at least a two-year supply of unread Peanuts
strips on hand at any given time, so check your shelves! Here's
a free sample to help you set your dosage.
retail price - $28.99 copacetic
price -
$23.19
Items
from our June 2010 listings may now be purchased online at our new
site, HERE.
New for
May 2010
Krazy
& Ignatz 1916 - 1918
by George Herriman
This month we have an embarrassment of riches in the comics classics
department, and the lead off can be none other than this absolutely
essential volume. Here it is: the first three years of George
Herriman's
splendiferous Sunday pages for the one and only Krazy Kat! With
this volume, Fantagraphics launches its third and final leg of
collecting the entirety of Krazy Kat Sunday pages. Due to the
fact that the first nine years of the run had been collected in a
series of nine volumes jointly published by Eclipse Books and Turtle
Island Press roughly twenty years ago, Fantagraphics Potentates, Kim
Thompson and Gary Groth decided it was best to pick up the run after
that point and then, if the series met with success (which it, of
course did) then they would circle back and start over from the
beginning and collect those first nine years. And, so here we
are. And what a glorious place to be!
retail price - $24.95 copacetic
price -
$22.22
Captain
Easy
by Roy Crane
What do Milton Canniff, Alex Toth, Hergé, Frank Santoro and a
whole heck-of-a-lot of other cartoonists all have in common? A
solid appreciation of the genius of Roy Crane, that's what. In
the family tree of comics, one of the sturdiest and vital branches is
that of Roy Crane. A natural story-teller and fluid draughtsman
who knew how to lay out a page like nobody's business, Roy Crane
originated the adventure comic strip in 1924 with his Wash Tubbs daily strip
(a full decade before Terry and the
Pirates).
Populated with thoroughly likable, humble, human heroes, the Wash Tubbs daily comic strip, and
its later outgrowth, the Captain Easy
Sunday pages established Crane at the forefront of the cartoonists of
his day. Crane achieved a magic balance between realism and
cartooning that went a long way towards defining the visual identity of
comics in the twentieth century, and Captain
Easy is his masterpiece. This wonderful, oversize, full
color, hardcover volume presents the first two years – and then some! –
of this classic, from its very first strip, 7/30/33
through to 12/1/1935.
And, best of all, this is only the first volume of a promised complete collection, which
will run through four volumes! Five full adventures are herein
assembled – "Gungshi," "The Slave Girl," "The Sunken City," "Pirates,"
and "The Princess." Learn more about Roy Crane, Wash TUbbs and
Captain Easy by reading this
excellent article by R.C. Harvey.
retail price - $39.99 copacetic
price -
$35.00
Culture
Corner
by Basil Wolverton
This 169-page, vertically formatted, full color hardcover volume is
wacky and wonderful and Wolverton through and through. Format
fiends and practicing artists will relish this chance to see over 100
examples of a master working in the relatively rare half-page
format. Originally published in the pages of Whiz Comics (home of Captain
Marvel) and several other Fawcett Comics titles, from 1944 through
1952, Culture Corner is a conceptual, idea-centered strip, that
occupies a place in Wolverton's oeuvre that is analogous to that which
"Hey, Look!" occupies in Kurtzman's. The challenge was to
repeatedly present a humorous concept month after month in a
specifically ascribed format. Culture Corner took modern manners
as its taking off point and then gets going and gets goofy. And
it's all here – and then some! Culture Corner not only collects
the series in its entirety, but, offers up a truly amazing bonus
feature of including the original pencil roughs for nearly every one of
the published strips AND an
incredible treasure trove of an
additional 41 pencil roughs for strips that were rejected by the
publisher (why? who knows! see if you can figure it
out...). Plus an introduction by Basil Wolverton's son, Monte
that lays out the history of the strip and helps to puts it all in
context of Wolverton's career and comics history.
retail price - $22.99 copacetic
price -
$19.99
John Carter of Mars
by Jesse Marsh
One of the great masters of comic book art, Jesse Marsh is best
remembered as the long-running artist on Dell's Tarzan comics (Marsh drew the first
153 issues, one of the longest unbroken runs in the history of
comics). Here at Copacetic, while we do, of course, have a great
and abiding respect for Marsh's work on Tarzan, it is his modest
three-issue run on that other Edgar Rice Burroughs creation, John
Carter of Mars, that has long
been our favorite of his works. Marsh really shines here, with
page after stunning page of fabulous work. He manages to combine
a 'fifties SF sensibility with pop abstractions derived from modern art
and his own classic comics language that he developed on Tarzan for a
career high work that is magnetically attractive; you can get lost in
the pages. This full color hardcover from Dark Horse contains
good quality scans of every page of the original comic books, along
with the front and back covers – and, thankfully, inside front and back
covers as well. Our only criticism is Dark Horse's continual
reliance on glossy coated stock. C'mon guys, wake up!
These works were originally printed on newsprint. When you're
printing scans of original comic book work, it needs to be printed on
flat, uncoated, off-white stock. Dark Horse is clearly doing the
work a disservice by printing the interior pages on glossy white
stock. But this is a mere quibble
next to the easy availability of this classic work that their edition
has now
made possible (In other words, "Thank you, Mike Richardson.").
As Copacetic customers may or may not know, Marsh's work was a fixture
in the household of los hermanos Hernandez
when they were growing up, and its influence is quite visible in their
work, especially that of Gilbert, whose line owes quite a bit to
Marsh's (Gilbert's long focus landscapes and skyscapes are also very
much indebted to Marsh's example), so it is quite fitting that the
forward to this volume is by Mario Hernandez, the eldest, who would
have likely been the one to have first brought these comics home and
introduced them to his bros; and its inclusion more than makes up for
the aesthetic damage of glossy stock. Here's hoping that this
book is the success that it deserves to be, that it sells out and
requires a second printing, and that the powers that be at Dark Horse
wise up and select a more suitable paper stock for the second
printing. This work is good enough that it would be worth buying
again if they do!
retail price - $29.95 copacetic
price -
$26.95
Giant-Size
Little Lulu, Volume 1
by John Stanley
This hefty 650+ page book brings back into print the first three
volumes of Dark Horse's collected Little
Lulu in one big book. Here we have the entirety of the
Dell Four Color, Little Lulu
one-shots along with the first five issues of the stand alone
title. If you (or anyone you know) missed out the first time
around, now's your chance to get started with one of the most lauded
kids comic book series around. (NOTE:
Volume 2 is now available!)
retail price - $24.99 copacetic
price -
$22.22
City of
Spies
Written by Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan and illustrated by Pascal
Dizin
Fans of TinTIn may want to take a look at this new release from First
Second. Set in New York City in the summer of 1942, while the
city is set on edge by the Second World War, this tale focuses on the
adventures of budding adolescents Evelyn and Tony as their shared
fantasies of espionage takes a twist and become real in this all-ages
friendly yet nevertheless complex tale of growing up.
retail price - $16.99 copacetic
price -
$15.00
Weathercraft
by Jim Woodring
He's back! An all new wordless Frank epic by the one and only Jim
Woodring! Manhog, Whim, Pupshaw & Pushpaw, along with "Betty
and Veronica" all join Frank in the magical world of Woodringian
archetypes where unconscious drives and desires take on vivid cartoon
reality that dives right through your eyeballs and straight into the
center of your brain. If you have yet to get a hold of a copy of
the Weathercraft Free Comic
Book Day preview, just let us know and we'll hand one over, so you' can
get revved up.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic
price -
$17.77
Big
Questions #14
by Anders Nilsen
Anders pulls out his pens and gets down and does some serious drawing
in this 48 page issue which is, evidently, the penultimate issue of
this epic tale.
retail price - $7.95 copacetic
price -
$6.75
Curio Cabinet
by John Brodowski
We're glad to report that, balancing out the massive outpouring of
classic comics collections, there is also a healthy influx of new,
small press and self-published works out this month as well,
demonstrating that the riches of comics past are not crowding out the
healthy spouts of new comics growth. John Brodowski's weird and
wonderful – and largely wordless – self-published comics have developed
a small but faithful following here at Copacetic, and we are pleased to
be able to offer these no-longer-available issues in this single volume
to what we hope will be a wider audience. These are comics that
are extremely difficult to write about. What, exactly, is going
on in these deftly pencilled pages? Well, what we can say is that
the unique pleasure that the reading of this work affords is precisely
the evocation of this mystery.
retail price - $15.00 copacetic
price -
$12.75
Whirlwind
Wonderland
by Rina Ayuyang
An ex-pat Pittsburgher, Rina Ayuyang revisits many chapters of her
eventful life through the avenues of memory and depiction.
There is a special focus on family and work in the pages of
this new collection,
which also pays a pen-and-ink
visit to
her old stomping grounds here in Pittsburgh. Jointly published by
Portland publishing powerhouses Sparkplug Comic Books and Tugboat
Press, Whirlwind Wonderland assembles the self-selected "best of"
Ayuyang's self-published series, Namby Pamby, work that originally
appeared in a variety of anthologies, and all new work that appears
here for the first time. This 128 page collection includes an 8
page color section along with 120 pages of black and white art.
Ms. Ayuyang not long ago finally made it back to town in person, and
gave a well-received presentation at The ToonSeum, and stopped by our
shop as well. The curious among you may learn more about it here,
on her blog.
retail price - $15.00 copacetic
price -
$12.75
Young
Lions
by Blaise Larmee
Abstract comics artist Larmee steps into the narrative limelight in
this 94 page, Xeric-grant-winning graphic novella that is very much in
the vein of Chris "C.F." Forgues. To get an idea of what we're
talking about, check out this Arthur
Mag sponsored preview.
retail price - $10.00 copacetic
price -
$8.88
Death
Trap
by Lane Milburn
Closed Caption Comics alumnus and Cold Heat collaborator, Lane Milburn
brings his talents to bear on his first extended length piece.
Death trap is an action-packed, teen-monster-rock 'n' roll comic book
that is a good old fashioned page turner. It comes complete with
an eight-page full color science fiction prelude, "Perceived
Obsolescence."
retail price - $10.00 copacetic
price -
$8.88
Items
from our May 2010 listings may now be purchased online at our new
site, HERE.
New for
April 2010
Wilson
by Daniel Clowes
OK, admit it – this is the one you've been waiting for. Well,
it's here, the first original graphic novel by Mr. Clowes; the first,
in other words, that did not first see the light of day in his long
running solo title, Eightball.
Wilson extends the vein he
opened in Eightball #22 (the
story that went on to be released as Ice
Haven) and continued in Eightball
#23 (the yet to be graphic-novelized 1970s "super-hero" story).
In these two works Clowes penned a sequence of stand-alone short strips
of varying length each rendered in one of a variety of distinct cartoon
voices (aka
styles).
Through the course of these works, the short pieces slowly coalesce
into an organic whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
In Wilson Clowes employs this
technique with a singular focus. Whereas in the aforementioned
works, point of view shifted among and between the characters, in Wilson each and every one of the 71
single page strips, while employing the same wide variety of voices as
the other works, features and focuses on the titular character.
In addition, almost all the single page strips contain six panels –
with the few that don't all being either seven or eight panels – and
the last panel of each strip serves as a sort of "punch line."
Taken together, this homogeneity creates a formal unity between all of
the strips and gives a sense that the book is a collection of Sunday
page strips that is doubling as
a graphic novel. The cumulative narrative effect of Wilson is to provide the reader
with a massive refraction of a single personality and the realization
that while context can and does alter the perception of people and
events, an individual's character remains and retains an essential
unity that undergirds and connects it all.
retail price - $21.95 copacetic
price -
$19.75
Other Lives
by Peter Bagge
OK, while this one may not be the one you've been waiting for, the near
simultaneous release of new graphic novels by Dan Clowes and Pete Bagge
(on top of last month's Hernandez
Brothers love fest)
has us remembering the days twenty years back when Bagge and Clowes
were much more closely associated in the the minds of the comics
reading population than is the case today (although the fact that Other Lives sports a lone front
cover blurb from Clowes demonstrates that a link between them
nevertheless remains). Unlike
Clowes, Bagge has eschewed formal inventiveness in his art and has
instead continued to employ his personal and highly expressive comics
language to tell twisted tales of (more or less) everyday people.
But, like Clowes, Bagge continues to
focus on harnessing his cartooning skills to mine
the rich vein of his unique and original comics language
in the service of delineating character. In Other Lives he has crafted an
elaborate plot that explores
the fungibility of individual
identity in the internet age and that demonstrates the deformative
effects
of secrets, lies and Second Lives™. It is an assignment which,
when you stop to think about it, is one that comics is ideally suited
for.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic
price -
$22.22
Unknown
Comic Book Adventures, 1940 - 1980
by Dan Nadel
The long awaited follow up volume to Nadel's pioneering 2006 anthology
of rarely seen and under appreciated comics, Art Out of Time, has at last
arrived! This time around we have a tighter focus. While
much of the work contained in Art
Out of
Time originally appeared in newspapers and broadsheets, all the
work contained in this volume originally appeared in comic book form
between 1942 and 1980. Extending and expanding his mission to
bring art world curatorial standards to comics, Nadel has provided an
informative introduction to the book as a whole, along with separate
one-page explanations of the underlying reasoning behind each of the
thematic groupings into which the work is divided: "Demand
and Supply," "Where They Were Drawing From," "It's All In the Routine,"
and "Expansive Palettes." The artists included here range from
the golden age
superhero work of
H.G. Peter and Mort Meskin, through the post-WW II "atomic age" genre
work of
Bill Everett, Matt Fox, Jesse Marsh and Pete Morisi, and also including
early work focused on hardboiled detective, Sam Hill, by the one and
only Harry Lucey, who is best know for his 1960s work on Archie
Comics. Another artist whose work included here ranges far from
their iconic work is John Stanley, who is best known for his
multi-decade run Little Lulu. Nadel has dug up a couple of
obscure
horror tales from 1962 that should be quite a surprise to most Stanley
collectors. Also from the 1960s we have Sam Glanzman's Kona and
Pat Boyette's career high, the 25 page, "Children of Doom" from 1967.
Heading into the underground era we have fairly obscure yet
nonetheless era-defining work from Willy Mendes and John
Thompson. And, finally, on the cusp of the undergrounds and the
alternative revolution that supplanted them is Sharon Rudahl's 34 page
epic, The Adventures of Crystal Night,
which is presented here in its entirety. Essential, we say.
retail price - $40.00 copacetic
price -
$35.00
Bodyworld
by Dash Shaw
Speaking of long awaited follow-up works, here we have Dash Shaw's
groundbreaking new graphic Novel, Bodyworld!
A non-stop comics
producer, Shaw had published a number of small press works over a
roughly five year period before making a big splash with his 700 page
graphic novel, Bottomless Belly
Button, which went on to grab a lot of
mainstream attention and had readers wondering where he would go
next. Well, where he went was to the web, where he produced the
full color Bodyworld at a furious pace. The hardcopy – and hardcover –
edition is a revised-for-print presentation of his webcomics epic, Bodyworld is printed in a
vertical format so as to translate the experience of reading and
scrolling on the web. Read the original online here, and then check out the
book and compare, and while you're at it you will experience living on
the cusp of the digital age.
retail price - $27.95 copacetic
price -
$25.00
Market Day
by James Sturm
The founder and director of The Center for Cartoon Studies
puts on his other hat to present us with his first solo graphic novel
in nearly a decade, since 2001's The
Golem's Mighty Swing. That's
not to say Sturm hasn't been busy, as quite the opposite is in fact the
case. In the intervening hears, in addition to founding and
running CCS, he has co-authored Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules,
Satchel Paige and Adventures in Cartooning.
With Market Day, however, we
get a solid dose of pure unadulterated Sturm, and it's a heavy load he
drops on the pages here. There is a a weariness reflected in the
tone and modulation in this work which may very well reflect his own
personal exhaustion at having to shoulder so much responsibility; or
not. Regardless of the source of the mood that is evinced in the
pages of this work, it is fairly clear that the inspiration for it is
the world of independent comics production. It is atavistically
embodied here in the form of a nineteenth century European carpet
weaver. Implicitly woven into this atavism is a connection of the
world of 19th century European Jewry to that of their descendants in
20th century America who went on to create the comic industry.
This
creates a complex multi-levelled pattern right that will engage
perceptive readers right at the get go. The
comics work itself is confident, poised, finely wrought and expertly
paced. We couldn't help but feel that Sturm's
narrative strategies in Market
Day evinced some sympathies towards Seth's
latest work, especially George Sprott,
but with closer attention to detail and a more nuanced sense of
rhythm. A dark, deep and challenging work that you can, and
should, preview here.
retail price - $21.95 copacetic
price -
$18.88
MOME 18: Spring 2010
edited by Eric Reynolds
This issue's editorial claims that, with the publication of MOME 18,
MOME has now published over 2000 pages of comics, and that this "may be
a record for an English-language alternative comics anthology."
Who knew? To start off the celebration we have Nate Neal's cover
feature, the multi-layered and multi-levelled, "Neurotic Nexus of
Creation." This one should leave you with much to ponder,
especially regarding its innovative formal qualities, but as well as
for its worldview. Of special interest to Copacetic customers is
the latest message from the Cold Heat universe,
brought to you by the combined powers of Ben Jones, Frank Santoro and
John Vermilyea. This feature is a vigorously rendered
and sumptously
colored tale of drugs, rock 'n' roll, sex, and gruesome horror. Also
in
this issue we have:
an all-new Tim
Lane tale, "The Passenger"; a surprise new Pip and Norton adventure
from Dave Cooper and Gavin McInnes; "Burrow World," wherein Joe Daly
does Mat Brinkman; three short pieces by Nicolas Mahler; the
third
installment of Fuz & Pluck in "The Moolah Tree"; the second
installments of both T. Edward Bak's WIldman – "A Barvarian Botanist in
St. Petersburg," and Michael Jada & Derek Van Gieson's "Devil
Doll"; a four-pager by Lilli Carré that had us thinking of old
Rick
Geary; the pastoral "Autumn" by Conor O'Keefe; more René French;
and the Chris Ware homage,
"The Jerk Machine," by Jon Adams. MOME!
retail price - $14.95 copacetic
price -
$12.75
Hicksville
by Dylan Horrocks
Here at Copacetic Comics, we've long been fond of calling Hicksville "The Watchmen of small press
comics." This is useful in that practically all comics readers
are familiar with and have positive associations with The Watchmen, and we feel that Hicksville is a similarly
ambitious, successful and important work, and so is one that we like to
draw attention to, and comparing it to The Watchmen is a cheap and easy
way to do so. Whether or not this is a good, right or fair thing
to say in regards to to the themes and content of the respective works,
we're not going to try to defend. The comparison's validity rests
more on a historical point in that both are works whose central
narratives, in addition to telling engaging stories, simultaneously
serve to deconstruct the basis of the genres they are working in.
For Watchmen it is that of
the superhero, for Hicksville
it is the genre of autobio comics and its rise out of the
world of comics fandom.
Now, back in print after a two-year hiatus, this new edition of Hicksville is, we feel, likely to
be the definitive one, as everything about it feels just right.
Most especially the significant addition of an all new, all comics
introduction by Horrocks that he himself states (in this
quite-worthy-of-reading Publisher's Weekly interview) is "one of
the most frank and personal things I've ever drawn." This
introduction is an important minor work in its own right and puts the
proverbial icing on the cake of this seminal volume (preview it here). So, for any and all
Copacetic customers who have yet to experience this comics masterwork,
we say: now is the time.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic
price -
$17.77
Black Blizzard
by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Here
we have a classic bit of pulp comics – perhaps better thought of as proto-gekiga – from Japan.
Produced and originally released in
1956, this 128 page hardboiled manga was, according to Tatsumi, drawn
in a mere 20 days of non-stop creative fury when he was only 21 years
old. Yet, despite his tender
age he had already produced seventeen book-length manga prior to this
one. It seems almost superhuman to have completed so much work so
young, but he had clearly cut his storytelling teeth by the time he did
Black Blizzard, as it is
expertly paced for that quick pulp fiction
rush. D & Q's in house Tatsumi point man, Adriane Tomine,
made a
smart design decision to package this work in the guise of 1950s
paperback; it works. Unfortunately for us readers, it's not
priced
like one. Ah, well. We here at Copacetic like this one
enough to meet
our customers half way, by offering a 25% discount – at
least for now. While you're mulling it over, download a PDF
preview here, and learn more about
Tatsumi's other works, here.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic
special
price -
$14.95
Walt
and
Skeezix, Volume Four: 1927 - 1928
by Frank King
Well, all we have to say is, "It's about time!" After the timely
release of the first three volumes in this excellent reprint project
that was a long time dream of series designer, Chris Ware, we waited...
and waited... and waited... and still no fourth volume. Now,
finally, we have it. This time we have on hand two full years of
continuity of Walt and Phyllis's growing domestic bliss that is both a
joy and comfort to behold. In addition, as though to make up for
the lost time, we also have over 80 pages of bonus material including
another essay but comics scholar and Gasoline Alley fan, Jeet Heer, a
copious selection of King family photos, and, for us the best of all,
25 loose leaf sketchbook pages containing drawings of the American
southwest that Ware surmises were drawn in 1931 that are deft, highly
controlled pencil and conte crayon(?) drawings that look like they
might have been done by Frank
Santoro. PLUS, at the very end, one Chris Ware related
surprise that was interesting to say the least. In other
words: the wait is over, and the book is worth it.
retail price - $39.95 copacetic
price -
$34.95
Melvin Monster,
Volume 2
by John Stanley
The fun continues in this, the latest volume of The John Stanley
Library, the fabulous and fetish-worthy series of Seth-designed
hardcover volumes that constitute Drawn and Quarterly's ongoing effort
to bring the light of John Stanley to the dim and impoverished corners
of the the comics reading world. Melvin Monster is the first title
to receive a second volume, and, intriguingly, this fact (that this is
the second volume) is not indicated anywhere on the cover of the
volume, but is only noted on the idicia located in the standard
position at the bottom of the first page of the first story; perhaps
this was done in homage to the original issues, which, likewise,
displayed no numbers on their covers. Whatever the case may be,
this volume, like the first, contains three complete 32-page issues,
for a total of 96 full color high resolution scans of the original
comic book pages presented on high grade flat white paper. A true
treat for the already initiated, and another chance for the rest to see
the light.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic
price -
$19.95
Items
from our April 2010 listings may now be purchased online at our new
site, HERE.
4Q
2008: October - December, New
Arrivals
3Q 2008: July - September, New
Arrivals
2Q 2008: April - June, New
Arrivals
1Q 2008: January - March, New
Arrivals
4Q
2007: October - December, New
Arrivals
3Q
2007: July - September, New
Arrivals
2Q
2007: April - June, New
Arrivals
1Q 2007: January - March, New
Arrivals
4Q
2006: October - December, New
Arrivals
3Q
2006: July - September, New
Arrivals
2Q
2006: April - June, New
Arrivals
1Q 2006: January - March, New
Arrivals
4Q 2005: October - December, New
Arrivals
3Q
2005: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q
2005: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q
2005: January - March, New Arrivals
4Q 2004: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2004: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2004: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2004: January - March, New Arrivals4Q 2003: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2003: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2003: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2003: January - March, New Arrivals2002: January - December New Arrivals
ordering info
prices and
availability
current as of 30 June 2010