Just In (Case You Missed It) - New Stuff Archives 3Q 2018

New for September 2018

Art Comic
by Matthew Thurber
The cover image with which the collected Art Comic first greets the eye, in juxtaposing Yves Klein’s “Leap into the Void” with Jeff Koon’s “Balloon Dog,” sends a strong, clear signal of what is in store for the reader, once they crack the cover. The protagonist’s leap here is made with an expression mixing equal parts of hope, fear and anxiety (with, perhaps, a hint of aggression), likely matching Thurber’s own feelings regarding the work’s central concern: the contemporary, NYC-centered, fine art world, and his experiences therein and thereof. The story begins from the perspective of youthful idealism embodied by students attending Thurber’s own alma mater, Cooper Union, at the end of the 20th century. It’s not long, however, before the naiveté necessary to maintain such idealism is buffeted by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that define the nexus of personal expression and financial gain that is (or at least was) the art market. The narrative employs a playful shifting of modes throughout, cutting back and forth between documentary, history, horror, fantasy, science fiction, autobio – even religion – and, especially, the absurd. The master thread woven through all is surrealism, giving the work an underlying structure that shares some notable common ground with Chester Brown’s Ed the Happy Clown (also from D & Q). While the stage upon which nearly the entirety of the drama which unfolds within Art Comic’s diegesis is set in the USA – primarily NYC – the entire publishing history of Art Comic – first as a series of black & white comics from Swimmers Group, and now as a full color hardcover (with new, bonus material, natch’) from Drawn & Quarterly – has, intriguingly, taken place in Canada. Hmmm… perhaps Thurber is onto something here.
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $25.75

I Am Young
by M. Dean
I Am Young reads like a series of lushly rendered postcards sent through time from eras past, each accompanied by an illustrated "soundtrack" consisting of classic LPs. Running throughout, as the main theme, is a ill-starred love story set to the music, lives and times of The Beatles. Other LPs incorporated into the narratives of love and heartbreak are Eddy Arnold's Anytime, The Beach Boys Pet Sounds, the Tom Jones debut, Along Came Jones (ironic or not ironic? / that is the question), along with Chuck Berry's greatest hits collection, The Great Twenty-Eight – and it all gets started with a Brunswick 78 rpm 10" of Cab Calloway's "St. James Infirmary." The artwork is rendered in a variety of color palettes, each carefully crafted to match the characteristics of the particular LP/era/story/sequence – while the main, interweaving piece that centers on The Beatles is consistently black & white with greytones. The pieces all assume – each to its own degree – an elegiac tone, as each confronts and relays an experience of love that fails to blossom, whether because it is unreciprocated, unrequited, unequal, or simply unrecognized, and for which the accompanying LP represents a soundtrack of consolation, of sorts, while, concomitantly, providing a sort of narrative harmony, serving to define – or at least to help locate – the associated absence. Dean's linework consistently maintains an earthy, organic feel which meshes perfectly with the various color palettes employed. Layouts, too, strive to match the mood of each piece and so vary from story to story; it is worth noting that particularly effective use is made of the twelve-panel grid in the Anytime sequence. There's a nice preview of (most of) the opening sequence of I Am Young on Google Books, HERE. Should that have whetted your appetite for more, while you're waiting for your copy of I Am Young to arrive, you may want to spend some time reading her current webcomic, The Girl Who Flew Away, which starts, HERE.

retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77

Marilyn's Monsters
by Tommy Redolfi
Marilyn's Monsters was originally published in France as Holy Wood – which is a better, more accurately evocative, but, perhaps, less marketable title than we have here in the English language edition from Humanoids – but the work's overall translation by Mark Bence in collaboration with Redolfi reads well, so this bowing to market forces is of little to no consequence (especially now that you know the original title). That said, it is Redolfi's art and visual storytelling that is the main attraction here. Redolfi has constructed an original and insightful take on the Hollywood dream factory that reveals it's underlying structure to be a synthesis of the classical European folk/fairy tale and Freudian psychology. Marilyn's Monsters, while centered and focused primarily on the myth of Marilyn Monroe, is more a deconstruction of Hollywood. There is darkly Lynchian vibe about much of the mis en scène, with particular hints of Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire. There's also a dash of Al Columbia evident in the feel of some the supporting characters and some of Darwyn Cooke's spirit lives on in the depiction of Marilyn herself. Redolfi's work here is, however, much more than simply a synthesis of his influences. Redolfi is a master storyteller. Marilyn's Monsters is cohesive organic unity in which each spread is a consciously composed and finely crafted work. In sum, it provides an inside-out look at the machinery of "star" production that, as the legendary film-maker David Cronenberg says in his cover blurb, is "a brilliant, hallucinatory meditation on the phenomenon of Marilyn Monroe. It will alter your understanding of both Hollywood and Marilyn. If this sounds like it's up your alley – it is! Recommended.
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $25.75

Blame This on the Boogie
by Rina Ayuyang
Blame This on the Boogie is a classic American tale of growing up in a traditional, suburban family and then moving out to go to college and eventually start a family of one's own. Rina Ayuyang's comics memoir is one of perseverance and fulfillment that will carry readers along with it's vibrantly colorful, and engagingly choreographed account of home and school, wherein we are treated to, among other things: memorable scenes of the fantasy play channeled through toys and dolls; scenes of Catholic school teachers and students at work and at play; and, especially, the portal provided by television into the glamorous worlds of music, dance and showbiz! It was these worlds that enchanted – and empowered – the young Rina and were a crucial part of what enabled her to connect with her inner strengths and to find her own rhythm, one through which adversity becomes opportunity, and challenges a chance for song and, especially, dance. And none other than Jaime Hernandez sez: "A delightful book. Love how Rina takes on childhood, motherhood and of course, the Solid Gold Dancers. Yes, and those colors. Oh, those colors..." Now on sale for a limited time at a special, get-acquainted price!

retail price - $22.95 copacetic price - $16.75

Roaming Foliage
by Patrick Kyle
Patrick Kyle's latest comics foray into 21st century, North American psychic spaces has just been released by Toronto-based Koyama Press. Roaming Foliage, as the title hints, presents readers with a dreamy, topsy-turvey world with flora and fauna intermingling and on the move. The irony present throughout is that the dream is a sort of machine dream – but a machine that is a product of the organic, biomorphic characters that populate the dream space, which in turn may be (are?) products of their own creation, Rotodraw. But is Rotodraw a machine? a robot? a man-machine? or, perhaps, a metastasizing subroutine that is drawing its own world... It may ultimately be up to the reader to decide.Regardless, one thing is for certain, and that is that Roaming Foliage is filled with page after page of Patrick Kyle's engaging and intriguing comics that will stimulate readers' neurocircuitry, leading to fresh perspectives on human being. Koyama Press has posted a brief preview, HERE. Check it out!
retail price - $15.00 copacetic price - $13.75

Brat
by Michael DeForge
The new Michael DeForge is here. This has only just now arrived, and so there's not yet much to say. A quick glance reveals that the six-panel grid is in full effect here, and looking good. Brat is a 160 page, full color hardcover graphic novel wherein we are given an up close and (very) personal look at the life and times of "Ms. D" (so close, in fact, that at times it feels like DeForge has turned her inside out). Looking forward to diving in...
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77

Now #4
edited by Eric Reynolds
The fourth issue of the latest Fantagraphics' foray into serial anthologizing of contemporary comics has arrived. This time around we are treated to work by names old and new including Cynthia Alfonso, David Alvarado, Nathan Cowwdry, Walt Holcombe, Rebecca Kirby, Roman Muradov, Tommi Parrish, Diego Alvarado & Lucas Varela and plenty more, including an endpage by Theo Ellsworth and a front cover by none other than Trenton Doyle Hancock! 128 pages in full color. DEAL!
retail price - $9.99 copacetic price - $8.99

The Nib #1: Death
edited by Matt Bors
The Nib comes to print! Edited by Matt Bors & Co., the first issue offers readers 112 crisply printed, full color pages on... death! Highlights of this issue include: an interview-in-comics-form with Barbara Ehrenreich by Editor-in-Chief, Bors; "Who Wants to Live Forever: Silicon Valley Tries to Disrupt Death" by Andy Warner; "Thinking Outside the Casket" by Josh Neufeld; "As Before, So Behind: A Memoir of Losing a Child" by Ted Closson (which is what it says it is and a tough read); and plenty more besides, including contributions by Gerardo Alba, Vanesa Del Rey; Rachel Dukes, Emi Gennis, Julia Gfrörer, John Martz, Isabella Rotman, Sophie Yanow, an archive curated by Warren Bernard, and much, much more. This issue is packed! Not a square inch is wasted. Like time is to life, page space is to comics, and here, in this issue devoted to the terminus of life in death, which reveals its limits, this first issue of The Nib, crams in as much comics as it possibly can into the space allotted, perhaps as a way to suggest to us that we do the same with our lives.
retail price - $15.00 copacetic price - $13.75

Best American Comics 2018
Guest Editor, Phoebe Gloeckner supported by Series Editor, Bill Kartalopoulos have together sifted through the American comics of 2017, pulling together a kaleidoscopic collection featuring tons of great work from the past year, all under a dazzling brand new cover by Lale Westvind (who also has a piece included). Plus, Pittsburgh-based Laura PallMall (aka Jason Lee) takes a bow for the second year in a row. In the nearly 400 pages of this years anthology, readers will discover a whopping 33 comics. Created in full-color, duo-tone and tri-tone as well as straight-up black & white, some of the pieces are complete in and of themselves, and others are excerpts of longer works. There's a nearly mind-boggling range of material here. We'd be surprised if there were more than a handful of comics readers who have come across all the work contained in this collection before. No matter what corner of the comics universe you come from, you will both discover new comics creators and find work that will challenge your conceptions of what comics can be.
retail price - $25.00 copacetic price - $22.22

IFM

I Feel Machine
by Shaun Tan, Tillie Walden, Box Brown, Julian Hanshaw, Erik Svetoft, Krent Able
I Feel Machine is a timely comics intervention into our ever more technologically interfaced and mediated existence. This anthology is edited by Julian Hanshaw, who also has contributed one of the six comics pieces created especially for this 152 page, full color, French-flapped softcover volume. In addition to Hanshaw, the all-star line-up of contributors is: Shaun Tan, Tillie Walden, Box Brown, Krent Able and Erik Svetoft. The works range from fable to fantasy to science fiction to horror, including mash-ups of some or all of these. And yes, these are all new works appearing here for the first time. The Shaun Tan story, it must be said, is an instant classic. It's so good that it seems likely to us that it will not be long before it is issued as a stand alone book, to bring it to the wider audience it surely merits. But you can get it now, along with five other great works, for what will be close to the same price of this hypothetical Tan volume. Nice, right?
retail price - $22.99 copacetic price - $20.00

Sunbeam

On a Sunbeam
by Tillie Walden
Yes, it's a new 540 page full color graphic novel by the relentless Tillie Walden, who is doubtless already hard at work on her next comics epic. There's a lot of great work here for your comics dollar. On a Sunbeam is a science-fictional take on a boarding school romance that goes one step beyond...
retail price - $21.99 copacetic price - $18.75

Draw Stronger: Self-Care for Cartoonists & Visual Artists
by Kriota Willberg
The sub-title serves up a fairly good idea of what this book is about, and who it's for. If you think it may be for you, here are some pretty solid endorsements: "Draw Stronger is a life-saver. Every artist – pro and amateur alike – needs to memorize this essential little book." – Scott McCloud "A concise, thoughtful, and informative manual that should be required reading for all aspiring (and aging) cartoonists." – Adrian Tomine "Draw Stronger is an indispensable guide to help artists and writers practice self care and sustain their creative practice." – James Sturm "Draw Stronger is a must-have resource for anyone who spends long hours drawing. Kriota Willberg's clear (and charming) drawings lay all our physical frailties bare, but also arm us with both information and techniques to safeguard our health and make it possible to keep on drawing long into the future." – Jessica Abel
retail price - $16.99 copacetic price - $15.00

Constant Companion
by Noah Van Sciver
It's a Noah Van Sciver sketchbook! Drawn between 2013 and 2017! 156 pages! "Covering Noah's time in Denver, White River Junction (as a Fellow of the Center For Cartoon Studies), and Columbus, Ohio, the sketchbook is a record of his failed relationships, sketches of his surroundings, strange recollections from life, and portraits of fellow artists." There are plenty of actual comics and cartoons filling these pages, in addition to life drawing, lists and more. A nice variety that is enjoyable to leisurely peruse.

retail price - $25.00 copacetic price - $22.22

The Agency
by Katie Skelly
Through the 80 full color, magazine size pages of The Agency, Katie Skelly takes a walk on the wild side with some sexy adults only fare. Agents 8, 9 and 10 each have their own approach to getting the job done, and Ms. Skelly takes a different approach to depicting each agent's progress, employing in each case, an artistic technique to match the spy/sex technique of the agent she is representing. An intriguing linking of form and content.
retail price - $25.00 copacetic price - $21.75

D21

Dementia 21
by Shintaro Kago
Finally, a hefty, easily obtainable dose of the wildly inventive and surrealistically inclined mangaka, Shintaro Kago is now available to English language readers in the US. This Fantagraphics edition of Dementia 21 is a fun, flexi-cover edition that contains the titular 272 page graphic novel, along with an afterword by Gary Groth, a brief interview with Kago conducted by Groth, and a bonus portfolio of ten full page, full color illustrations by Kago that are quite a nice bonus. Groth succinctly summarizes Kago's "persistent theme" as "the totalitarian reductio ad absurdum of mass bureaucracies and technologies, whose limitless humiliations we suffer, large and small," and which Kago "render(s) with a mocking, abrasive contempt."
retail price - $24.99 copacetic price - $21.75

Berlin - Omnibus Edition
by Jason Lutes
Here it is, all 580 pages of the now classic, twenty-years-in-the-making comics saga, Berlin, by Jason Lutes. While many have been following this series all along, buying either the individual issues and/or the first two collections, there are also those that have been meaning to check it out, but just never got around to it. Here, for those of you who fall into this latter category, is a complete collection. Not only is it a deluxe hardcover, but it is one that is priced noticeably less than the combined cost of the individual softcover volumes. And here at Copacetic, we're taking that value pricing one step further and offering this hefty tome – for a limited time – at a special, procrastinators-rewarded price!
retail price - $49.99 copacetic price - $39.99

You Are There
by Jacques Tardi & Jean-Claude Forest
Fantagraphics has at last re-issued their English language edition (edited and translated by Kim Thompson) of You Are There, a work it states is, "The Satirical Masterpiece That Ushered in the Graphic Novel Era to European Comics." David B. (Epileptic) opines, "You Are There is a masterpiece — a work unique in the history of comics, one of those books one reads and re-reads." Sounds like it's worth a look. Hardcover | 8 1/2" x 11" | 192 pages | B & W
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.75

His Dream of the Skyland
by Anne Opotowsky & Aya Morton
Back in print at last, courtesy Top Shelf Production, this epic graphic novel of nearly 300 pages in length remains in it's original oversize softcover form. It is the product of a pair of Americans that had originally been issued by Gestalt Publishing of Australia in 2011(and so hard to come by here in the States). Written by Anne Opotowsky and fabulously rendered by Aya Morton in a unique water color fashion, employing an Asian-inflected brushwork style with a muted, limited palette that excludes black line and hews to blue. Set in early 20th century Hong Kong, specifically the Kowloon area, it follows the adventures of a young man, Song, as he sets out to explore the possibilities life has to offer. Believe it or not, this mammoth tome is only the first volume of the Walled City Trilogy! Anyone interested in learning more, should take a moment to read Paul Gravett's heavily illustrated review of His Dream, HERE.
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $25.75

Free Money #6
by Dan McCloskey
Two years in the making! (well, sort of. It's been two years since #5 came out, anyway. We know Dan's been busy with plenty else during the interim). The adventure continues in another 24 page, full color, staple-free, old-school newsprint comic book. FREE! (in the shop; online it's as close to free as PayPal will let us go: 1¢). Also, should anyone have missed the original five-issue run, we now have a limited number of sets available for sale, here.
copacetic price - FREE

These items and more may also be found at our eCommerce site, HERE.

New for August 2018

We Are All Me
by Jordan Crane
Here it is, at last: a cosmic consciousness primer for kids. In these pages, Crane has stripped down his æsthetic to its core, crafting bold, optic nerve stimulating illustrations that leap scales from the macroscopic to microscopic and back again, in dynamic and wildly colorful images that are straight forward and immediately, intuitively comprehensible. Taken together with the accompanying simple blocks of text, the series of sequential combinations of images that make up We Are All Me unlock a latent power strong enough to light up dormant neurons, leading to new connections, and stimulating speculations, revealing a sense of wonder at creation capable of carrying open and ready readers to another plane of consciousness. "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together..."

retail price - $12.99 copacetic price - $11.75

Roly Poly
by Daniel Semanas
Daniel Semanas takes readers along on a wild ride through a neon jungle in his latest work. Published by Fantagraphics, Roly Poly is a square format, full color, hardcover volume that is packaged inside of an open-ended slipcase. Reading these comics featuring a avatar-esque kick-boxing, motorcycle-riding, partying, Instagrammer named Phanta, is a bit like being immersed in a very cool gaming environment, where you never know what's going to happen next.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77

Coyote Doggirl
by Lisa Hanawalt
It appears that the new Lisa Hanawalt is a > gasp! < graphic novel. This 156 page full color hardcover just showed up, so we can't say more than confirm that it is drawn in the clean-black-line-with-lush-watercolor-fill style that Hanawalt fans will immediately recognize. Here's the official party line: "Coyote is a dreamer and a drama queen, brazen and brave, faithful yet fiercely independent. She beats her own drum and sews her own crop tops. A gifted equestrian, she’s half dog, half coyote, and all power. Together with her trusty steed Red, there’s not much that’s too big for her to bite off, chew up, and spit out right into your face, if you deserve it."
retail price - $22.95 copacetic price - $20.00

Noc

Nocturne
by Tara Booth
The unconscious is a playground. Dreaming and waking lives intertwine as desires ebb and flow against and between an air of midnight blue.

retail price - $14.99 copacetic price - $13.75

Lost in the Fun Zone
by Leif Goldberg
Take a ride down a stream of (un)consciousness with Giorgio and Dimitrius as they explore every nook and cranny of the Fun Zone. You won't ever know what's going to happen when you turn the page.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $16.75

FoK

The Fruit of Knowledge
by Liv Stromquist

Fruit of Knowledge: The Vulva vs. The Patriarchy has hit America's shores! Coming to us from Sweden and employing a merciless onslaught of comics rhetoric, Liv Strömquist storms the patriarchal fortress with weapons readily at hand (including satire, sarcasm, synecdoche and more – all leavened with a healthy sense of humor). Her concise, visually and verbally witty comics puncture many a myth and will have you rolling your eyes again and again at the ludicrous nature of so much of what was taken as "a given" (by men) regarding women. Remember, not all Vikings were men. You have been warned.

retail price - $22.99 copacetic price - $20.00

PAPT

People Are Places Too
by Theo Ellsworth
Yes! An all new self-published Theo Ellsworth zine! 39 never before published pen and ink drawings on the theme of the spatial nature of self-image and identity as only Theo Ellsworth can envision. A treat for the eyes – and the mind!
retail price - $6.00 copacetic price - $6.00

CS12

Comix Skool USA #12
by Kevin Huizenga
We're back to the digest size with this, the twelfth issue of Comix Skool. This cardstock cover-wrapped issue contains a turbocharged take on select aspects of comics manufacturing.
retail price - $5.00 copacetic price - $5.00

3Sis

Three Sisters
by Gilbert Hernandez
MORE Gilbert H. comics – close to 300 pages! The comics collected here were originally published in the early-to-mid aughts, appearing in the second volume of Love and Rocketsas well as the concurrently published Luba's Comics & Stories. Some of these comics have already been previously collected in Luba: Three Daughters and High Soft Lisp as well as the hardcover Luba omnibus. Now, here, they at last find their permanent home as the fourteenth volume in the affordable and attractive Fantagraphics uniform edition of Love and Rockets. Luba, Fritz, Pipo, Doralis, Mila and the rest have more than their fair share of ups and downs in this heartbreak soup of comics tales.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $15.99

Slum Wolf
by Tadao Tsuge; edited and translated by Ryan Holmberg
The latest Garo-centric manga project from the (apparently, see below) indefatiguable Ryan Holmberg is this curated collection of nine classic tales of down-and-outers on the fringe of Japanese society by the legendary Tadao Tsuge. All the works in Slum Wolf were created in the 1960s and '70s, with all but three originally running in Garo. All works herein collected – including a bonus autobiographical essay by Tsuge, "Always a Tough Guy at Heart" – were translated and edited by Mr. Holmberg, who has also supplied a highly informative essay that closes out the collection, which runs 328 pages in total. Anyone wanting to learn more, can read an illustrated excerpt of this essay on the NYRB site, HERE.

retail price - $22.95 copacetic price - $20.00

Trouble

The Troublemakers
by Baron Yoshimoto; edited and translated by Ryan Holmberg
In yet another great manga collection edited and translated by Ryan Homberg, here we have six classic manga tales from the Gekiga master, Baron Yoshimoto whose hyperbolic observations of the social transformations taking place in the new post-WW II generation in Japan grab the reader's attention and don't let go. The title's of this collection's stories will give you an idea of what's in store: “Eriko’s Happiness”, “High School Brawler’s Ditty”, “Insect”, “The Gambling Stripper”, “Nostalgia”, and “The Girl and the Black Soldier”. Totaling 225 pages, these tales were originally published in Japan between 1966 and 1974. This volume also includes an 18-page illustrated essay by Holmberg, 'natch.

retail price - $20.00 copacetic price - $17.75

Winner

The Winner
by Karl Stevens
Karl Stevens runs his victory lap in this collection of (mostly) full color short pieces that (to some degree, anyway) depict his struggles to live a life less dependent on sarcasm and irony. A follow up to his previous collection, Failure, The Winner finds Karl recently espoused, newly sober and, as you may have already surmised from the cover illustration, working as a museum guard – but still residing in Boston and still an ace in the Pen & Ink Rendering of Reality (and, in one bit, Fantasy, as well) Department. This time around Mr. Stevens fleshes out his drawing with plenty of color, employing a variety of methods, primarily watercolor. Fans of his previous work will not be disappointed, and newcomers possessing the proper temperament and appropriately dry sense of humor may find themselves pleasantly surprised.

retail price - $17.99 copacetic price - $15.75

Other People: Days of the Bagnold Summer & Driving Short Distances

by Joff Winterhart
As this has only just arrived, but as this double-dose of comics new-to-US-readers by Joff Winterhart has been previously published in the UK, where it garnered some impressive praise by some people whose opinions we pay attention to (see below), we dove right in. So far we can report that Days of Bagnold Summer consists of a narratively linked series of one-page comics, each of which stands on their own yet each one building on the previous to tell the story advertised by the title. Days of Bagnold Summer doesn't blink in presenting the uncomfortable aspects of adolescence and adolescent parenting (Our blurb might read, "There's a cringe on every page!"). "Beautifully drawn and exquisitely written... confirms Winterhart as one of the most talented graphic novelists in the UK." – Zadie Smith on Driving Short Distances "There is probably no truer portrait of teenage and parental angst." – Posy Simmonds
retail price - $25.00 copacetic price - $20.00

Paprika Storyboard Book
by Satoshi Kon
And here's a hefty tome for students of animé and fans of Kon Satoshi – and a dream come true for those who are both! This 700 page softcover from Japan contains over 3000 storyboard drawings – crisply printed in black & white with greytones, on off white paper – that break down the entire film. Yes, there is plenty of bonus material – but, as with the rest of the book, the text is almost entire in Japanese. But, of course, it's the drawings that are the feature attraction here, and the column headers on the storyboards are in English, which is enough to guide students of the film through the process of breaking it down into its component drawings. Import.
copacetic price - $55.75

Miyazaki World
by Susan Napier
And, while we're on the topic of animé here's an in-depth look at a master of the form. Years in the making, Susan Napier's critical biography of the world's greatest living animator, Hayo Miyazaki is now available from Yale University Press, who state: "Japanese culture and animation scholar Susan Napier explores the life and art of this extraordinary Japanese filmmaker to provide a definitive account of his oeuvre. Napier insightfully illuminates the multiple themes crisscrossing his work, from empowered women to environmental nightmares to utopian dreams, creating an unforgettable portrait of a man whose art challenged Hollywood dominance and ushered in a new chapter of global popular culture." Miyazai World is a 300 page hardcover, illustrated in black & white, plus a 16-page section of full color plates.
retail price - $30.00 copacetic price - $26.75

These items and more may also be found at our eCommerce site, HERE.

New for July 2018

Blammo #10
by Noah Van Sciver
It's here! It took us a minute to get these in stock and up on the site, but the latest issue of Noah Van Sciver's Blammo – one of a tiny handful of outstanding single-creator anthology comics titles still being produced in North America – has at last arrived. And, this time around, all 48 pages are in duo-tone and full color! Historical, contemporary, short story, speculations, reminiscences, biographical, autobiographical, comedy, tragedy, pathos – it's all here, in pieces ranging in length from one to fourteen pages. Don't miss it!
retail price - $8.00 copacetic price - $7.25

KC78

King-Cat Comics and Stories #78
by John Porcellino
And here's the latest from Noah's mentor, John Porcellino. Lots more animal comics this time around: cats, dogs, shrews, birds, butterflies – even aphids! – and, of course, a few fellow humans, for good measure. 40 pages of black and white comics and stories (and lists).
retail price - $5.00 copacetic price - $5.00

CS11

Comix Skool USA #11
by Kevin Huizenga
And, here's another new work by a Porcellino pal! Kevin Huizenga's new issue of Comix Skool downshifts to mini-comics size. Here's your chance to get familiar with what this power-packed pint-sized format is capable of delivering in the hands of a master.
retail price - $5.00 copacetic price - $5.00

Tinderella
by M.S. Harkness
In Tinderella, Minneapolis-based cartoonist, M. S. Harkness has produced her most accomplished work yet: a graphic memoir of a Christmas Break past that, while it covers many aspects of her life including family, friends, school and work, places a special focus on her sex life, particularly her experiences on the contemporary online/phone-app dating/hookup scene. Its 120 black and white pages give an up close and (very) personal look at this slice of her life. She doesn't pull any punches or make any attempts to sugarcoat the events chronicled in these comics (quite the contrary, in fact), but also works to situate them in her overall life. In addition to portraying her exterior life, Tinderella contains some excellent comics representations of her interior life as well, including mental images and flights of fancy, all rendered with a self-assured yet simultaneously self-deprecating sense of humor. Her portrayal both of the strengths and weaknesses her own character and that of the milieu in which she finds herself together provide a portrait of the artist as a young woman that is a sign of the times.
retail price - $12.00 copacetic price - $10.75

YBF

Your Black Friend
by Ben Passmore
One of 2017's best selling small press comics here at Copacetic, Ben Passmore's Your Black Friend is now the "title track" in this 120 page full color, hardcover collection. Within these pages readers will also find works previously published by The Nib, VICE, and the As You Were anthology, along with brand new and unreleased material. Anyone not already familiar with Passmore and his work should take a moment to learn more about this New Orleans-based creator – and take a peep at his vibrantly colored comics – on his "super-professional portfolio website", HERE. Passmore's work strives to provide a much needed perspective on life in these United States and is well worth checking out.

retail price - $20.00 copacetic price - $16.75

But Is It... Comic Aht? #1

edited by Austin English
At last! A new print publication focusing on comics, and edited by Austin English – whose Windy Corner Magazine is still (just barely) in stock here at Copacetic. This initial issue runs 48 pages and includes original comics by David King, reviews, essays by comics makers Josh Bayer and Matthew Thurber, Inés Estrada's scene report, "So, What's the Comics Scene in Mexico Like?", a massive 20-page interview with Megan Kelso, and more!
retail price - $6.00 copacetic price - $5.75

Shit Is Real
by Aisha Franz
And now, we're off to Europe, as Berlin-based, Aisha Franz returns with a meditation on the porous border between dream, fantasy, and reality. Shit Is Real posits that, contrary to normative conceptions, dreams and fantasies are real life – simply of a different order than what we consider as constituting reality. In nearly 300 pages of crisp black and white comics, Franz delves into the subjective experiences of a young woman being out and about and within and without. Consciousness is perceived in layers and conveyed in levels, making for a conception of living taking place simultaneously in/on different dimensions. Experiences are had, decisions are made, and actions are taken – each on various planes of being, each interacting with the others, weaving a tapestry of temporality.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $21.75

Vanishing Perspective
by Alexis Beauclair
And now we're off to France, where anyone searching for a formalist comics minimalism will find quest's end in the works of the aptly named Alexis Beauclair. Here in this collection of four pieces, the longest of which, the title track, is in turn divided into eight parts, Beauclair explores the possibilities that inhere into arranging lines in sequence through time. To get an idea of what this mean in practice, just take a minute to scroll through a few choice spreads, HERE.
retail price - $20.95 copacetic price - $18.75

Arab of the Future 3
by Riad Sattouf
And now we head off to Syria via France where the highly acclaimed memoir of growing up in the Middle East – primarily in Syria – and Europe – primarily in France – continues to be created. We'll have more to add once we crack it open, but wanted to let it be known that it's now in stock, and on sale at a copacetic price. Here's the lowdown from the publisher: In this third volume, (1985–1987), Riad’s mother, fed up with the grinding reality of daily life in the village, decides she cannot take it any longer. When she resolves to move back to France, young Riad sees his father torn between his wife’s aspirations and the weight of family traditions.

retail price - $27.00 copacetic price - $22.75

SCST

Shaolin Cowboy: Start Trek
by Geof Darrow
And now we'll segue back to the states via Geof Darrow, who, while American, was influenced by Moebius at a critical juncture in his career, which resulted in some of his transformative works being published in France, which in turn granted him a certain perspective with which to skewer the land of the free with his over-the-top comics. Finally, his long-out-of-print, original Shaolin Cowboy series published by the Wachowski sibling's Burlyman Comics a full decade ago have at last been collected in this deluxe, oversize hardcover volume, as part of the uniform edition of Geof Darrow works currently being published by Dark Horse Comics. This one is an extra-chunky edition, as it collects a seven-issue series, compared to the four issues collected in earlier Shaolin Cowboy collections. In addition, tnis one includes an amazing bonus gallery of pin-ups by an all-star lineup of artists including Moebius, Mike Mignola, Kevin Nowlan and John Severin.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $21.75

The Best of Archie Americana: Silver Age
by Harry Lucey, Frank Doyle, Don DeCarlo, et al
And what could be more American than Archie? And who more fully realized the Archie æsthetic than Harry Lucey? OK, then, here it is: the most Harry Lucey art for your hard earned dollar that you're likely to find. This 416 page digest includes 18 great Lucey stories, most from his strongest period during the 60s, and most, if not all, scripted by Frank Doyle – plus a dozen classic Lucey covers to boot! Not only that, the rest of the material on hand is well worth while as well, including close to a dozen DeCarlo stories. These comics, in addition to being highly entertaining, offer a sociologically meaningful window through which to view the decades of the '60s and '70s, and, from an art history perspective, include many excellent examples of the short form of comics that can be quite instructive to comics creators of all stripes in their concise, compact conveyance of (occasionally calamitous) narrative content. RECOMMENDED

retail price - $9.99 copacetic price - $9.50

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassination
by Terrance Hayes
The latest poetry collection by the National Book Award-winning MacArthur Fellow, Pittsburgh-based poet, Terrance Hayes features 70 poems sharing the same title, identical with that of the collection itself. Prepare to be challenged.
retail price - $18.00 copacetic price - $15.75

RtD

Room to Dream
by David Lynch & Kristine McKenna
As with all things David Lynch, expect the unexpected. Here we have not a biography or an autobiography, but instead, both. The book is fairly evenly split between world-class interviewer and longtime Lynch intimate, Kristine McKenna's biography of Lynch – based on over 100 interviews with "surprisingly candid" ex-wives, family members and professional collaborators of all stripes – and Lynch's own personal reflections on his life and work, which – intriguingly – riff off of McKenna's work, making for a sort of auto/biographical jam session. And then there is the copious selection of rare and previously unshared photographs, particularly noteworthy being those of the youthful, 1970s Lynch along with his (often equally youthful) cohorts, many of which are "oh, wow"-inducing.
retail price - $32.00 copacetic price - $28.75

These items and more may also be found at our eCommerce site, HERE.

ordering info

Want to keep going? There's tons more great stuff here, most of which is still in stock. Check out our New Arrivals Archives:

2Q 2018: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2018: January - March, New Arrivals

4Q 2017: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2017: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2017: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2017: January - March, New Arrivals

4Q 2016: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2016: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2016: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2016: January - March, New Arrivals

4Q 2015: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2015: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2015: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2015: January - March, New Arrivals

4Q 2014: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2014: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2014: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2014: January - March, New Arrivals

4Q 2013: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2013: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2013: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2013: January - March, New Arrivals

4Q 2012: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2012: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2012: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2012: January - March, New Arrivals

4Q 2011: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2011: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2011: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2011: January - March, New Arrivals

4Q 2010: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2010: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2010: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2010: January - March, New Arrivals

4Q 2009: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2009: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2009: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2009: January - March, New Arrivals

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 Arrivals

4Q 2003: October - December, New Arrivals
3Q 2003: July - September, New Arrivals
2Q 2003: April - June, New Arrivals
1Q 2003: January - March, New Arrivals

2002: January - December New Arrivals

ordering info

Copacetic Commodities
Copacetic Collections

Copacetic Specials

Copacetic Select

Copacetic Gifts

NEW STUFF!

copacetic search

query

last updated 30 September 2018