New for September 2021
Secret Life
by Theo Ellsworth & Jeff
VanderMeer
Working in an office building – or even
visiting one! – will never be the same again after reading
Theo Ellsworth's richly imaginative graphic novel
interpretation of Jeff VanderMeer's tale (that was
originally published as the lead story in
his 2004 collection of the same name). Secret Life, as one might
expect, is all about revealing a different sort
of life lurking just below the surface of quotidian
normalcy. It only takes an instant to realize that
this is straight up Theo Ellsworth's alley!
It's close to a perfect match, and Theo really
goes to town. It is a bit different seeing him work
on a more formally straightforward narrative, and there
are moments during the reading of Secret Life where you
might experience hints of Rick Geary, Mark Alan
Stamaty, Ben Katchor or even Michael Kupperman – yet
there's never the slightest doubt that no one else but
Theo Ellsworth could be the creator this work.
It's a lot of fun – but it's also more than
that. The office building, with its focus on a
nameless, faceless corporation the task and point of which
is not only unknown but also perhaps nothing at all
besides floating lives on a current of cash
flow along preset channels going nowhere, is also
clearly intended as a synecdoche for 21st century American
civilization. And then there are the seemingly
timeless natural rhythms that undergird and finally
interpenetrate it all, yet still remaining just out of
intellectual reach – beyond mortal ken. Moving in
the spaces between these two zones – which can (but
don't have to) be taken to symbolize the conscious and
unconscious – are a panoply of characters with whom
readers can identify to varying degrees, and so find their
own place and sort out their own role in all of this... a
process which to which Theo Ellsworth's singular art
provides a contribution of inestimable value.
Take a moment to check out this high
resolution preview courtesy D
& Q.
retail
price - $24.95 copacetic price - $21.75
Discipline
by Dash
Shaw
Discipline, the latest comics work from Dash Shaw,
has been in the works for over five years. Shaw set
himself the difficult challenge of creating a calm, still
work about war – specifically the American Civil War – one
that would embody the Quaker ethos. Whereas most
fictional depictions of war focus on strategy,
technological prowess and valor on the battlefield, or,
conversely, on the tragedy, absurdity and horror of
war, Discipline focuses
instead on the moral quandaries of war. These are
approached within a philosophical matrix firmly grounded
in the traditional Christian ethics of the Quaker faith,
which hold, among much else, that one should, when
attacked, turn the other cheek and “that no man overcomes
his enemy until he has made him his friend.” The
core of Discipline’s
narrative involves one Quaker family living in Indiana as
the country descends into Civil War, and focuses primarily
on the two children who come into adulthood amidst the
turmoil of war. The brother, impetuous, headstrong
and full of youthful energy finds himself, despite his
faith, unable to resist the siren song of soldiering, and
so heads off and joins the Union army, much to his
family’s dismay, while the sister stays at home and deals
with the consequences of her brother’s actions, as they
effect not only her community and family, but also,
ultimately, herself. The primary achievement
of Discipline is its form.
It manages to evince the intimacy of a rough,
sketchbook diary recording the impressions of the events
on their participants along with the inner thoughts and
feelings so generated while simultaneously weaving an
intricate narrative. Some readers will doubtlessly
find the rough, sketchbook quality of some of the
illustrations and page layouts unappealing and seemingly
lacking in craft, but their employment here is clearly
deliberate and crucial to forging the matter-of-fact
representational style that is key to conveying the work’s
perspective on war. The emotional impact of (the
aptly titled) Discipline slowly
and steadily builds, its narrative gathering force
throughout its ten chapters, spread over nearly 300 pages.
This force is not released in any cataclysmic conclusion,
but is instead held and gradually diffused into lived
lives, providing the necessary moral ballast to
stay steady on.
retail
price - $27.99 copacetic price - $23.75

Penny
by Karl
Stevens
When you think of your cat's inner life, do you imagine it
being by turns curious, angry, playful, hungry,
frantic, escapist, lazy, sleepy, dreamy, imaginative, and
even occasionally delusional bordering on psychotic – and
with an undercurrent of snark constantly lurking just
below the surface? If so, then your cat may have a lot in
common with Karl Steven's cat, Penny, the narrator and
putative "author" of this memoir. Even if you
imagine your cat's inner life as being very different –
and even if you've never had a cat – you still stand a
good chance of being entertained by this
precisely-yet-lushly drawn work. Head over to Room 68 Gallery and check out
the nice high-resolution images of some of the
original pages (and fantasize about owning one of them
– or, if you just came into some cash, consider
actually buying one!).
retail
price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.75

Good Night, Hem
by Jason
The latest from Jason is a quasi-historical drama set in
Paris before and during the Second World War, featuring
(a Jasonized™) Ernest Hemingway hanging out with
several other historical figures during historical
times, but then also mixes up historical fact with
imaginary Hemingway & Co. escapades and exploits
and, oh yeah, Athos of the Three Musketeers also
finds his way into the mix and plays a significant role.
An intuitive comics master, Jason always
delivers a satisfying read, and Good Night, Hem is
certainly no exception. Each four-panel page is as
deftly composed as a Peanuts daily and and shares a
deadpan delivery that has much in common
with Schulz's, as well. Jason's fluency
with characterization is fully integrated with his rich
stock of characters and both are expertly applied
here. Jason!
retail
price - $19.99 copacetic price - $16.75

1984: The Graphic Novel
by George
Orwell & Fido Nesti
What can we say? If graphic novels are your jam, and you
have not yet read (or have only a dim recollection of
reading it in high school, when, perhaps, you did not, or
were as yet unable to, fully appreciate
it) George Orwell's masterpiece, 1984 – one
of the key texts of the 20th century – then do yourself
a favor and read and/or revisit this classic here.
Fido Nesti's graphic novel adaptation –
which (quite fittingly, we think) was originally
published in Brazil – does an excellent job of capturing
the essence of Orwell's work, maintaining the oppressive
mood and incorporating the most important textual
elements. 1984 continues, in most respects, to offer
a critique of our society that is as germane today as it
was in 1948 when it was originally written, unfortunately.
retail
price - $22.99 copacetic price - $19.75

The
Hand of Black and Other Stories
by Martin
Cendreda
After a lengthy hiatus, Martin Cendreda returns with this
collection of largely new, longer stories – along with
some key earlier short works that fit well in this mix.
It's been a while since we last heard from him, so
it's great to know he's still working and, of course,
to witness the fruits of his labors.
Throughout the seven stories collected here –
four new and three old – Cendreda demonstrates his
distrust of the spoken word by entirely
eschewing dialogue, limiting the use of text to only
that which appears within the visual diagesis – as written
on signs, screens and pages, etc. – sound effects (of
which there are many), and the occasional extra-diagetic
caption ("and so", "the next morning", etc.). Taken
together with the fact that the entirety of this
collection is laid out in a nine-panel grid and
rendered in a black & white with red color
scheme means the reader is in for a strong
and direct visual reading experience, one that
Cendreda has designed to mercilessly drag those very same
readers – this means you – into the bleak, relentless
vortex of a largely – but, crucially, not wholly –
malevolent universe where hallucination and horror mix it
up with mayhem and murder and absurdity reigns
over all.
retail
price - $24.99 copacetic price - $21.75

Night Bus
by Zuo Ma
Night Bus is
the English language debut of Chinese comics maker Zuo
Ma (pen name of the artist Zou Jian), a native
of Zhijiang in Hubei province. It is a collection
of a dozen comics pieces, of which the titular work is
by far the longest, as it runs over half of
the collection's 400 pages. So, another way
to look at it is that Night Bus is
a graphic novel that includes a bonus
of eleven short comics stories. All the works
share a lyrical "magical realism" that is likely to
remind some readers of Hayao Miyazaki, but with
considerably more gritty details than one will encounter
in a Miyazaki work. If that sound interesting,
then be sure to check out this high-resolution preview, it's
worth a look.
retail
price - $34.95 copacetic price - $29.75
Grixly Bonus Pack #53
& 54 + Magician's Sleeve
by Nate McDonough, w/Tyler
McAndrew
OK, get ready for more "Longboxes" – 28 pages worth, to
be exact, as the entirety of Grixly #53 is
devoted to the continuing saga of Nate's adventures
in the wild world of comic book wheeling and dealing.
From interacting with fellow fans at comics shops,
to eBay etiquette, and the trips to the post office in
between, the strips that make up "Longboxes" are
interspersed with observations, interpretations and
self-reflections – all leavened with
the ironic and self-deprecative brand of humor
that is Grixly's trademark (aka GrixlyLaffs™).
#54 starts off with another brutal Minions cover
and moves on through a series personal anecdotes,
remembrances, recollections and reflections on Life
in These United States. A stand out is the
untitled pantomime strip that – Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy fans,
take note – provides the Answer to the Ultimate Question
of Life, the Universe and Everything in 42 panels spread
out over seven six-panel pages, before setting it up to
start over again with a single panel page,
asserting the cyclicity of existence... And then, as an
added bonus, we're throwing in Nate's 2021 Spooky
Halloween collaboration (the fifth) with Tyler
McAndrew, Magician's Sleeve: 16
pages of gruesome gore!
retail
price - $8.00 copacetic price - $6.00
These items
and more may also be found
at our eCommerce site, HERE.
New for August 2021
Unsmooth #2: BUM
by E. S.
Glenn
With the arrival of this, the second issue of the series,
it becomes clear that the first was but a prologue. Here,
in the 88 full color pages of Unsmooth
#2: BUM, E.S. Glenn opens up new portals and
reveals previously unseen dimensions of what will
henceforth be known as the Unsmooth Multiverse.
Enmeshed within an encompassing framework of ligne
claire bande dessinée, readers will encounter
mecha manga (along with a snatch of horror
hentai) – plus sub-titled anime videos – New Yorker
cartoons (and an old school Penguin paperback),
cartooned modern art (along with some graffiti), some
classical, newspaper
Sunday-page strips, photobooth strips, and
more. Oh yeah, and humans and anthropomorphic
animal characters (especially of the avian persuasion) mix
it up throughout, pressing readers ever further – and
deeper – into the realm of comics signification,
where the only reality that matters is the one on the
page. It can be deduced from the evidence provided
on – and within – these pages that pain and suffering
constitute the Dark Matter binding the
dimensions of the Unsmooth Multiverse together – with
all sorts of Family Drama forming its
core; always at risk of collapsing into a Black Hole. But, this dark
matter is simultaneously propelled outward by Repulsive Forces, and can be seen here to
be constantly working its way out any way it can:
the portals into the Unsmooth
Multiverse are two-way; dimensional gateways, if you
will. Acting out, drinking out, drawing out, loving
out, losing out, shooting out, writing out: these
are but some of the paths along which all this pain
and suffering is traveling, each pathway enacting a unique
set of transformations as it enters into each reader, each
variation multiplying the possibilities, creating endless
new realities. The Unsmooth Multiverse is a quantum
state, vibrating between the two poles of binding in and
working out, transacting within a Causaloid comics
architecture, and in the process instantiating an Amplituhedronic vision of
existence. Amazingly, Unsmooth also makes for
an engaging and entertaining read: fun and funny;
action packed; rife with pathos; smart, savvy, insightful
and clever – in other words, it's a great comic book! It
all depends on the angle of refraction. This issue
incorporates Glenn's mini-masterpiece, “The Gigs” –
originally published in NOW #8, and appearing here in the
full A4 paper size
that was its destiny – along with seven other short and
not-so-short pieces – including the title track,
"BUM", which is this issue's centerpiece – that
are simultaneously interactive parts of a single unity of
which this issue, in its entirety, forms but a tiny
part. Unsmooth #2 requires –
and rewards – multiple readings.
>>> Don’t miss it! <<<
retail
price - $15.00 copacetic price - $13.75
Crisis Zone
by Simon
Hanselmann
It's here! You don't need us to tell you what this
is about. You already know that this oversize,
full color, softcover volume collects the entirety of
Simon Hanselmann's hugely popular Instagram series of the
same name – that has already been heralded as the
definitive comics accounting of the pandemic – plus quite
a bit of extra art/panels/story that did NOT appear on
Instagram, the reason being that Simon works on a
twelve-panel grid, but Instagram limits posts to
ten-panels. So, Simon, effectively, had to come up with
two versions of each day's strip: one that worked in
a ten panel sequence read one at a
time, and one that worked in the full
twelve-panel grid. This, in and of itself is no
small feat, and is a testimony to Hanselmann's strong
comics chops. Additionally, it is a variation on the
(very) long running practice of newspaper cartoonists who
produce syndicated Sunday pages, in that newspapers employ
two different standard formats in printing them, depending
– in large part – on page size of the
newspaper, one which contains, roughly, the
equivalent of two extra panels (although, in practice,
this usually means one large panel). Newspaper
cartoonists usually insert a display panel here, rather
than one – or two – panels that can be read as part of the
narrative, as Simon has done. Thus, Hanselmann
emerges as comics champ!
retail
price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.75

Celestia
by Manuele
Fior
In Celestia, we have another
stunning work by il maestro dei fumetti
d’arte, Manuele Fior. Beautifully rendered in
mixed media, Celestia paints
an elaborate scenario which is part science fiction
adventure, part romantic courtship, part abreaction of
buried trauma; making for a strange, dislocating,
labyrinthian drama, but one through which the reader is
irresistibly drawn along by its spectacular and enchanting
art. Fior reaches new heights here with his closely
observed color and its use in the service of composition.
This 268 page hardcover is elegantly printed and
designed. A treat!
retail
price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.75
Providence
by Alan
Moore, &
Jacen
Burrows
Providence is an ambitious work of
meta-fiction that has much in common with Moore’s most
celebrated work, Watchmen,
most obviously with it’s format as a 12-issue limited
series, but most importantly with its similar claim to
being a comics masterpiece. But while the "meta" of
Watchmen pertained to superheroes, the "meta" of Providence
pertains to horror; specifically the horror of H.P.
Lovecraft. Now, finally, after a multi-year hiatus –
the entire series, which originally appeared between 2015
and 2017 – is at last collected in an affordable
single-volume, here in this 480 page softcover compendium.
Taking its title from H.P. Lovecraft’s hometown of
Providence, RI, Moore clearly intends this epic to be read
– in part – as a meditation on Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos –
as well as his life, times and world view. Providence is like Watchmen too in that
Moore lets it be known at the outset that it takes place
elsewhere in the multiverse, in a world that is closely
parallel to our own, similar in most respects, but yet not
the same; perhaps most profitably seen as our world as
Lovecraft saw it. And, finally, the methodically
detailed artwork of Jacen Burrows provides a similarly
well-suited complement to Moore’s script for Providence as that of
Dave Gibbons did for Watchmen. The story’s protagonist is
Robert Black, a gay, self-involved writer living in New
York City, and opens in 1919. The story runs on two,
parallel tracks – that of the visual mise-en-scène of the
comics, and that of the prose recording of the same events
in Black’s personal journal, which appear at the
conclusion of each issue/chapter. It is in the parallax view of the
variance between these two accounts that the true story – and horror
– lies. This double track narrative probes the nature of
subjective experience, in the process providing a
demonstration of the the powers of self-deception and
delusion and ultimately working to flip the relationship
between fiction and non-fiction, with Moore positing that
it is fiction that is closer to the ultimate truth as
unconscious biases and innate ignorances cannot help but
distort any reality that is processed by an individual
subjectivity, and thus that the "objectivity" of reportage
is illusory. In this way, Providence can
be seen as providing a Philip-K-Dickian take on the Cthulu
mythos. The narrative builds relentlessly towards a
suitably cataclysmic conclusion, but as in Watchmen, the greatest and
most memorable moments occur along the way.
And, Providence could
well prove to be Alan Moore’s final major comics work, as he recently signed a contract for a
five-volume series of (prose) fantasy novels (he also
announced his “retirement” from comics; but we’ve heard
that before). If so, it will be a fitting work to
mark his transition as one of its signal accomplishments
is in employing comics and prose together in an effective
and original synthesis. Yet it also clearly
shows what the world will be losing by Moore’s departure
from comics, as it is a work that would not be possible to
create in prose alone.
retail
price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.75

It's Not What You Thought It Would Be
by Lizzy Stewart
UK comicsmaker, Lizzy Stewart's US debut, It's Not What You Thought It
Would Be presents a collection of nine
short pieces, each of which has a character of it's
own, tailored to its particular subject, yet that
together ineluctably cohere into a portrait of
a life under construction. >>> "In beautifully observed
moments on buses, in pubs and on rooftops, Lizzy
Stewart delicately captures the ebb and flow of
friendships over time, and how the long uneventful
afternoons of childhood can linger on into our adult
lives." –
Jon McNaught <<< •
>>> "Each of Lizzy Stewart's carefully
fragmented stories deftly takes us on a journey from
the tedium of a teenage summer to the uncertainty and
anxiety of adulthood. It is a quietly
powerful book, and her well-chosen and often witty
dialogue goes straight to the heart. Her artwork
is filmic and beautiful and the muted colors and huge
washed skies are the perfect backdrops to this story." – Isabel
Greenberg
retail
price - $24.99 copacetic price - $21.75

Save It for Later
by Nate Powell
Abrams ComicArts sez: "In
seven interwoven comics essays, author and graphic
novelist Nate Powell addresses living in an era of what
he calls “necessary protest.” Save It for Later: Promises,
Parenthood, and the Urgency of Protest is
Powell’s reflection on witnessing the collapse of
discourse in real time while drawing the award-winning
trilogy March, written by Congressman John Lewis
and Andrew Aydin, this generation’s preeminent
historical account of nonviolent revolution in the civil
rights movement. Powell highlights both the danger of
normalized paramilitary presence symbols in consumer pop
culture, and the roles we play individually as we
interact with our communities, families, and society at
large." Interested? Want to read/learn more about
this project and/or Nate Powell? Then head on over
to this fairly in-depth, half hour
interview with Henry Chamberlin.
retail
price - $24.99 copacetic price - $21.75

Sensor
by Junji Ito
Yes, the latest Junji Ito work has arrived
in North America. Sensor is a
standard size graphic novel (in contrast to
the mega-length works like Uzumaki and Tomie) along the lines of Remina (but with
a dustjacket). This time around the story delves
into the story of a woman who walks alone at the
foot of Mount Sengoku. When a man appears, saying
he's been waiting for her, and invites her to a nearby
village, she discovers that the village is covered in
hairlike volcanic glass fibers, and all of it shines a
bright gold. At night, when the villagers perform their
custom of gazing up at the starry sky, countless
unidentified flying objects come raining down on them...
and it begins.
retail
price - $29.99 copacetic price - $17.75
Architecture of an Atom
by Juliacks
While we've been selling Architecture of an Atom in
the shop since its initial release – and in fact hosted
a release party for it – we, apparently, neglected to
list it online. So, we are hereby rectifying the
situation. Juliacks is a multidisciplinary artist
and, in fact, Architecture of an Atom is
a work that spans all her disciplines.
In addition to the – quite substantial –
comics form it takes here, Architecture of an Atom also also
comprises works in film, theater, performance,
painting, drawing, print-making and possibly others!
And so truly merits its designation as a gesamtkunstwerk – and
effectively serves to update this term and bring it
into the 21st century, as our lived environment today is
so wildly different form that of the 19th century when
this term was first coined. Architecture of an Atom is a
whirlwind portrait of a psyche coming to terms with its
life and times. It can make for a
difficult reading experience. Any reader looking
for narrative or theme will likely struggle for some
time and many readers will find the work opaque,
yet those who are able to let go of demands and
preconceptions of what a graphic novel should be may be
rewarded by the experience of direct psychic
confrontation that is on offer. Fans of Brecht
Evens, and others, who feel like pushing even further
into interiority should at least check this out, and the
creator and publisher have both made that easy to
do! Juliacks has created a website that provides
an overview of the project in its entirety, HERE.
And publisher, 2dCloud has provided a very
generous preview of the graphic novel, HERE.
Check them out and see what you think! And,
if you like what you see, we've made it a bit easier to
take the plunge by offering an
extra-strength discount on this fairly pricey – but
quite hefty – tome.
retail
price - $44.99 copacetic price - $35.75
These items
and more may also be found
at our eCommerce site, HERE.
New for July 2021
Chartwell Manor
by Glenn Head
Glenn Head's memoir, Chartwell Manor is an
open, revealing, and harrowing account of his years spent
in a boarding school headed by a deranged and abusive head
master – as well as its aftermath. While
the book, being a memoir, naturally focuses on Head's
own experiences, he also weaves in a series of vignettes
of encounters with other of Chartwell's alumni which,
taken together with his own, provide a damning account of
the life long consequences of the traumatic experiences
undergone there during those formative years.
Most intriguingly, Head effectively demonstrates the
ethos of the boarding school as being of a piece with
and/or an extension of that of his own parents.
That it was the needs and feelings of the
supervising adults that were paramount, and that it was up
to the children under their charges to adapt in order to
survive. And, as Chartwell Manor amply
illustrates in its 244 pages of hard won black and white
comics, these adaptations often took the form of
personality mutations and malformations that in turn led
to substance (i.e., drug and alcohol) abuse, which in turn
amplified these personality changes in a vicious cycle
that could – and did – take the better part of a lifetime
to escape from and/or work through. This isn't a
book for everyone, but it definitely hit a nerve for many
an old school independent and/or underground
cartoonist, as these testimonials amply testify: "This is a great graphic
novel! I couldn't put it down... starkly honest, a
powerful story... the level of merciless
self-examination – wow! I was deeply impressed.
Head has traveled a long way to get to this point.
This is – well, okay, I'll say it: A
MASTERPIECE! Truly." – R. Crumb "I loved it! Chartwell
Manor is a painful, riveting, and
brutally honest memoir – possibly the most honest one
I've ever read. This clearly took a lot of guts to
produce, as well a lifetime to process!" – Peter Bagge "A troubling but important
piece of graphic work. If you're new to Glenn
Head's comics, then this book is a perfect place to
start." –
Noah Van Sciver "Born too late to
be a member of the original Underground, this
establishes Head as being on equal footing with the best
cartoonists of those tattered ranks. With his
unique cartooning style and lean and mean prose, he is
keeping the flame of the original genre alive... He
somehow pulls this off with zero pretension, astonishing
honesty and understated wit." – Justin
Green
retail
price - $29.99 copacetic price - $25.75

Stone Fruit
by Lee Lai
Stone Fruit is
an amazingly assured debut graphic novel from Lee Lai.
Employing a modulating mode
of representation that shifts from realistic
to figurative as inner states of mind are
externalized, Lai relates the unwinding of a fraught
relationship. If that sounds interesting and you'd
like to learn more, then we recommend
reading Laura Sackton's insightful review
of Stone Fruit at the Chicago
Review of Books, HERE.
retail
price - $24.99 copacetic price - $21.75

Alone in Space
by Tillie
Walden
Alone in
Space is
a hefty hardcover volume that collects Tillie Walden's
first three graphic novels previously published by Avery
Hill – The End of Summer, A City Inside and I
Love This Part – along with a pile of short
pieces from various obscure sources, all from the same
period. The works here are in black and white,
duo-tone and full color, and show the development of
her style; they are also accompanied by some brief
authorial notes. Oh yeah, did we mention that most
of the work collected here was made by Ms. Walden when she
was a teenager? How!?! Plus, bonus
introductory essay by Warren "SPX" Bernard!
retail
price - $32.95 copacetic price - $29.75

No.
5, Vol. 1
by Taiyo Matsumoto
Finally, the entirety of Taiyo Matsumoto's eight-volume
saga, No. 5, will be collected –
in four, 300+ page, double-size volumes – in English
(translated by Matsumoto's longtime American collaborator,
Michael Arias) for the first time! Originally
published in Japan a full twenty years ago, No. 5
is an intriguing and intoxicating amalgam of Matsuoto's
international influences, notable among them Moebius,
Otomo and Hugo Pratt. No. 5 is
Matsumoto's most daring and experimental work, and readers
will have to stay focused to keep up with all the
twists and turns. Those who do will receive
ample rewards for their pains, as this series is filled
with dazzling artwork as Matsumoto shows off his
incredible artistic range. For those long-time
Matsumoto fans who were lucky enough to get their hands on
the two volumes published by Viz in 2002-3 – which
was as far as it went at that time – please note that
this first volume collects those two volumes (along with a
new super-wraparound-French-flapped cover and fold out
poster). The following three volumes – which will be
released at three-month intervals through April of 2022 –
will entirely consist of work appearing in English
for the first time. No. 5 is an epic
science fiction / fantasy adventure set in a topsy-turvy
world of Matsumoto's own devising where everything looks
and feels simultaneously familiar and alien. So,
settle in, buckle up and get ready for some fantastic
comics/manga!
retail
price - $22.99 copacetic price - $20.00

Queen of the Ring: Wrestling Drawings by Jaime
Hernandez 1980 - 2020
by Jaime Hernandez
The wait is over! Here in the pages of Queen of the Ring is a
selection from the heretofore secret stash of forty
– count 'em! – years worth of Jaime's wrestling drawings
that have now been nudged out into the open and
collected here by Jaime's fellow Fantagraphics-based
cartoonist, Katie Skelly, who here dons
the editor's hat. Jaime's comments –
transcribed from a December 2020 interview with Skelly –
are interspersed throughout this hardcover volume's 128
pages, which present these drawings in high
resolution, full color reproductions on a nice, heavy,
flat white stock – including those, in
the minority, that were rendered simply in black
and white, allowing for a good look at Jaime's drawing
processes. One early takeaway from looking
over these drawings is that many of the static
portraits evince a strong '70s-Kirby feel... more
insights are surely to come!
retail
price - $24.95 copacetic price - $21.75
And here's a
small press comics anthology quartet, featuring a regionally
produced trio!
American
Cult
by Robyn Chapman
OK, get ready for a roller coaster ride of euphoria
and terror, agony and ecstasy, megalomania and
paranoia in this 200 page, black and white
softcover comics anthology that examines the phenomenon
of American cults in eighteen separate works all created
especially for this volume and appearing here for
the first time. For the purposes of this
anthology, the editor, Robyn Chapman defines a cult
as being a group of individuals sharing a belief
system that challenges societal norms, who freely
cohere around a charismatic – but ultimately
totalitarian – leader, for the purposes of forming a
community. These communities share a wide variety
of beliefs, ranging from the Oneida Community in
mid-19th century New York to the Manson Family in
1960s California, from the The People's Temple
of Jim Jones that found its terminus in
Jonestown to the Westboro Baptist Church, and
many more in between, including MOVE in 1980s
Philadelphia. Also included are a look at the
cult-like aspects of branches of Orthodox Judiasm and a
fundamentalist Mormon "splinter group." Chapman
has recruited an all-star line-up of North American
independent cartoonists to shine a light on these
groups. Here's the creator lineup: Lara
Antal, Brian “Box” Brown, Ryan Carey, Rosa Colón Guerra,
Mike Dawson, Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg, Mike Freiheit, Emi
Gennis, Andrew Greenstone, Janet Harvey, Josh Kramer,
Jesse Lambert, Ellen Lindner, Lonnie Mann, Ben Passmore,
Jim Rugg, Robert Sergel, Vreni Stollberger, Steve Teare,
and J.T. Yost.
retail
price - $24.95 copacetic price - $21.75
Rust Belt Review #2
edited by Sean Knickerbocker,
w/Asia Bey, Will Dinski, Andrew Greenstone, Alex Nall, Evan Salazar, Audra Stang, Juan Fernandez
Right on schedule, here's the second volume of Rust Belt Review.
Edited and published by certified rust-belter,
Sean Knickerbocker, this issue is another over-sized
(9 1/4" x 12") issue, nicely printed on flat,
off-white stock, but this time around we have an extra
20 pages of comics! (Along with a slightly higher
price, as a result.) Life in the rust belt
emerges in a somewhat more unified fashion this time
around, as their is plenty of common ground
between these stories: movement, as characters
in these stories, drive, ride, bike and walk from
point A to point B (and in more that one instance [and
more than one way] find their travel interrupted for
reaching their destination); various forms
of violence and threats thereof, are
encountered, involving the intentional use of
weapons as well as the inadvertent use of vehicles;
sexual (or sexualized) behaviour is another common
thread weaving its way through most of the stories in
one form or another,
including acts, physical and
verbal play, innuendo, and also sublimation.
Each of the seven contributors to this
issue takes their own personal approach (about
which we hope to have the chance to
elaborate a bit on), and so there is a great deal
of diversity within this common ground – which is
very much the point of a
regional anthology! Plus, an essay by Juan
Fernandez, "Comics Is a River." A solid second
issue!
retail
price - $12.95 copacetic price - $11.75

Imperial
Egg #1
by Nate McDonough, Dan
McCloskey, Jonas
Goonface, Audra
Stang, M.S.
Harkness, Hyena
Hell, Steph
Neary
Imperial Egg is a 48 page, black and white
comics anthology printed entirely on newsprint that is
the latest project from Pittsburgh-based comics-maven,
Nate “Grixly” McDonough, who dons both editor and
publisher hats here (and is a contributor as well!).
Plenty of Pittsburghers and Copacetic regulars are among
the 34 contributors on hand here. Most of the
contributions are one-pagers, but there are a
substantial handful of longer pieces as well.
There are plenty of cool comics here – all
under an egg-cellent (sorry) cover by Jasper Jubenvill
– with pieces ranging from the abstract to the
fantastic, from the enigmatic to the straightforward,
from graphically bold to delicately rendered, from
autobio to science fiction, and more. Notable
pieces include Hyena Hell’s amazingly informative
historical (and humorous) two-pager on 14th century
Europe that focuses on St. Catherine of Siena, and
Daniel McCloskey’s entertaining slice-of-life,
“Vantastic Mystery.” We would also like to note here
that there is also a brutally gruesome
one-pager that, while clearly intended as a
graphic object lesson, some readers may,
nevertheless, find disturbing; if you think that
might be you, our advice here is simply to turn the page
and move on to the next piece, keeping in mind that it's
only lines on paper...
copacetic price - FREE!

Silence
by M.S.
Harkness, Nate
McDonough, Hyena Hell, Pete
Faecke, Fifi
Martinez
Here in the pages of this unique, black and white
saddle-stitched comics anthology, Columbus, OH-based
comics-maker, M.S. Harkness brings together a
cadre of her comics creating comrades to produce some
of their trademarked autobio comics... but with a twist.
Here, the creators, instead of writing and drawing
their own stories, as per usual, instead share the duties,
with each of the contributors drawing the story of
another. Makes for some interesting results, to say
the least. Copacetic mainstay, Nate McDonough's own
tale of inner isolation is drawn by Ms. Harkness,
while he in turn illustrates Fifi Martinez's tale of
a bad connection. And that spiffy cover is by
Alex Graham.
retail
price - $10.00 copacetic price - $9.50
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