NEW STUFF ARCHIVES
New for September 2022
In this boldly printed, oversize (8 1/4" x 11 1/2") edition of Plaza, Yuichi Yokoyama has managed to translate the frenetic phantasmagoria of hyperconnected late capitalism into page after page after page of manic manga possessed of a relentless rhythmicity that will leave readers reeling in stupefaction. This edition includes a brief interview with and afterword by Yokoyama, conducted by Ryan Holmberg, who also edited and translated this edition. Here's what a couple of fave Copacetic creators have to say about this work: Art and literature historians of the future will be flabbergasted that Yokoyama Yuichi existed in our time. He is a visionary on the level of William Blake. PLAZA is a parade of invention, set to the beat of turning pages. — Dash Shaw A dazzling sensory barrage of speeding lines and swoops! Witness the torrent of joyous spectacle, the inner workings of a cosmic parade machine! — Lale Westvind And, there's an insightful review of the original, Japanese edition, accompanied by a few sample pages that only provide an inkling of what's in store, at Ear Splitting Trumpet, on Tumblr, HERE.
Plaza
retail price - $32.00 copacetic price - $28.75
Kate Beaton's latest takes readers far, indeed, from the familiar territory of her popular, short, witty, humor strips; to the oil sand fields of northern Alberta, Canada, in fact; in this hefty, 430 page, black & white (with plenty of nice half tones) graphic memoir. Encompassing a period of two years – beginning back in 2005, when Beaton was faced with paying off astronomical college loans – Ducks is straightforward account of a woman in a man's world, working on the sands, that successfully walks the tightrope walk of providing a critical account – harsh when necessary – of the experience both of the work itself and, especially, of dealing with the all-pervasive gravitational field of male entitlement, without ever veering into the exploitative. Readers can expect an engaging, detailed education of life in the Canadian north as experienced by a determined, intelligent young woman; conveyed by the talented, persuasive cartoonist she grew to become.
Ducks
retail price - $39.95 copacetic price - $34.75
The new issue is here – and a lot sooner than we expected! Just in time, in fact, to be part of the Love and Rockets 40th Anniversary celebrations, including an hour-long PBS special (!) produced by KCET of Southern California. Which you can watch HERE and read a nice companion article HERE. As for the issue itself, this time around, in "More Mind Spurs Starring Fritz," Gilbert treats us to a Japanese science fiction movie starring Fritz. The watching of the film occurs within a quotidian comics narrative that brackets it, adding a situational layer, or two. It's not every day that you get to watch a movie... in comics! On the Jaime side of things, "Animus" takes a dark and violent turn that heightens the suspense. And then, there's the pièce de résistance – the wedding of Vivian ("Frogmouth") Solis and Ignacio Dominguez. A day to remember – and a comic that you won't soon forget!
Love and Rockets, Volume IV #12
retail price - $4.99 copacetic price - $4.99
Viewotron #2Here's a new issue of the second volume of Viewotron, now back at Radiator Press. This time around the issue is, for the first time, formatted standard (6 1/2" x 10") comic book size, and runs for 48 black & white pages, printed on a heavier-than-average flat-white paper with full color cardstock cover. This issue features three stories. Peach Goodrich's "Satellite & Telescope", a whimsical tale of the communion between an orbiting satellite and an earthbound child, and Sam Sharpe's "The Spooky Child", about the relationship between two adult teachers that may hinge on the titular child, are each the first part of two-part stories, both of which, we presume, will be concluded in the next issue. The middle story separating these two serials is Sharpe's "What Will Be Left", a humorous look at what the space aliens will find left on earth after humans have been driven to extinction by their own unrestrained appetites.
retail price - $9.99 copacetic price - $8.75
A Frog in the Fall Frog in the Fall is a unique work, with a notable Japanese feel. It has an extremely horizontal format, combined with open spine binding to enable it to easily lay flat while reading, providing readers with an unusually broad spread – well over fifteen inches wide, but less than five inches high – that makes for a panoramic landscape that strikes us as working to capture a frog's perspective. Here's the official PEOW text: "A young frog (hatched this spring) encounters two toads, who have captured the ghost of a Shungiku flower that withered and died just recently. The spirit yearns for the tropics and so do the two toads. The frog decides to follow them on their journey south. It’s a slice of seasonal life for a frog who experiences everything for the first time. Along the way, the frog has encounters with mice, cats, dogs, trees, persimmons, and other beings. Lessons are learned, and thoughts are exchanged. A meditative road trip, a contemplation on life in general. Linnea Sterte is one of the most mysterious illustrators in Sweden, but probably one of the absolute best. You may recognise her on Instagram as TurnDeCasette, or from the book Stages of Rot which she released in 2017 which she was also Eisner nominated for. This is the longest Peow book that we have ever published, at just over 330 pages. The story is told in a landscape format, printed in a solid blue pantone ink on our favourite paper from Munken. The book has an open spine binding and a thick kraft cover with white and blue pantone spot colors. To fit the landscape book comfortably in bookshelves, the book has a rotated slipcase (slipcase shown in image at left), so that you can store the book vertically." You can see a handful of pages here: https://shop.peowstudio.com/products/a-frog-in-the-fall (just click on the thumbnails below the cover image). And HERE is a thoughtful, in-depth review of Frog in the Fall that incorporates a discussion of trends in comics that it represents, by Arpad Okay at The Comics Beat, which also presents a few choice spreads from the book.
retail price - $35.00 copacetic price - $31.75
Acid NunAcid Nun is a fearsome, full color graphic novel that collects all three issues of Corinne Halbert’s small run (self-published?) series in a larger hardcover format. Acid visions meet tarot card illustrations to illuminate a psychic journey involving a haunting internalized struggle between innocence and corruption, embodied by Annie the titular acid nun and the underworld pair of Eleanor and Bahomet. Sex & love, violence & hate, and acid & hallucinations combine in a heady psychedelic comics brew that will propel readers “through a journey of suffering and self-discovery.” Includes pin-ups by Mike Centeno, Hyena Hell, Alex Graham, Matthew Allison, Haleigh Buck, Dead Meat Design, Katie Skelly… and Jim Rugg! Here’s what a couple of her fellow comics creators have to say:“A psychedelic hymn that cycles through desire, trauma, and rebirth in glorious color. Kneel at the altar of Acid Nun and experience a new comics visionary!” – Katie Skelly “True modern myth-making, nor for the faint of heart and not for the heartless.” – Hyena Hell
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.75
Madwoman of the Sacred Heart – deluxe oversize edition Back in print at last, and in an amazing oversize (9 1/2" x 12 1/2") full color hardcover edition, no less! Madwoman of the Sacred Heart is the other Moebius/Jodorowsky masterpiece (along with, of course, The Incal). This edition, as with the previous, standard size editions, collects all three original albums. Here's our original listing: Moebius & Jodorowsky's Madwoman is, perhaps, the screwball comedy to end all screwball comedies. Opening on a French college campus, it starts out slow with what seems at first to be the beginnings of a fairly typical professorial indiscretion with an attractive younger student, but.... Well, we don't want to ruin it for you, as the primary pleasures of this work – after, of course, that provided by simply enjoying Moebius's splendid artwork – are the rapidly multiplying plot twists that make up this roller coaster ride of a book. It seems germane to point out that, yes, the superficial characterizations on display here lean towards the stereotypical and, oh boy, yes, sexism is the order of the day – but the outrageous plot has been concocted to turn these clichés inside out and point out the inherent folly in building a society based on such patriarchal conventionalities, before, finally, setting everything back to right with what may very well be the definitive deux ex machina conclusion. So, buckle up and get ready for quite the ride.
retail price - $39.99 copacetic price - $34.75
These items and more may also be found at our eCommerce site, HERE.
New for August 2022
Joseph Smith and the Mormons is a 464-page, hardcover, full color, historical-epic/biography in comics form of the life of Joseph Smith and the founding of the Church of the Latter Day Saints – aka the Mormons. One could say that it is the work of a lifetime. It is the fruition of years of self-reflection and research followed by even more years of writing and drawing (and then editing). Noah Van Sciver was brought up in the the Church of the Latter Day Saints, but then fell away from it – along with his mother, and some (but not all) of his siblings – after his parents divorced. His father stayed in the church. These biographical facts shed some light on the particular contours of the shape and form of his recounting of this saga – and a saga it is. In many ways, Noah's saga of the Mormon Church reveals it as that of a peculiarly American growth, during the first half of the nineteenth century, of a stray seed of Christianity planted in American soil. So much about the rise of the Mormons reflects the American character, and Noah very pointedly ties the story to the land of America itself; the glory and the mystery of the seemingly endless, untrammeled landscape, as well as its transformation by the industrious workings of this new breed of people, the Americans. Noah's storytelling here excels at revealing character and motivation through implication, leaving final judgements to the reader. In these pages, Joseph Smith is simultaneously hidden and revealed, with the character of his revelation hidden to almost the precise degree that his personal character is revealed. This at times has the effect of putting the reader in the position of a spectator witnessing a highwire balancing act, wondering whether or not Noah will make it all the way to the end without tipping his portrayal one way or the other. By the end, one is left with the sense of a religious revelation emerging from personal need. Joseph Smith and the Mormons provides an additional dimension in that the narrative arc of the rise of the Mormon Church as here portrayed can be seen as a template for the countless American corporations that began emerging half a century later: The charismatic "visionary” leader with a new idea/concept/product that meets an untapped market demand who employs the force of his (as it’s nearly always a man in these sagas) personality to push through his idea/concept/product and get it accepted in the marketplace, followed by an unexpected level of success which bolsters the leader/visionary’s status and seems to grant them a surety of continual leadership, resulting in the leader/visionary’s losing sight of their humanity and fallibility which leads in turn to megalomania and thoughtless decisions that bring about dissatisfaction among their board of directors/workforce/followers/customers that then necessitates the elimination/sacrifice of the leader – in some way, shape or form – in order to “save the company” – or, in the primal case here, save the church – at which point a more even-headed, managerial type member of the leadership team – here, Brigham Young – steps into the leadership (aka CEO) role to steady the company and get it back on track. This linkage is made manifest in the ways in which Smith’s life and the genesis of the church intersect with American capitalism. As the church gets underway Smith supports himself by running the dry goods store at the center of the community. The church also attempts to set up a bank – in order to finance its operations, specifically the construction of its physical church – but one substituting faith for a state sanctioned charter (unsurprisingly, this doesn’t end well); and they even set up their own militia at one point, with Smith anointing himself as the general! So, here in the pages of Joseph Smith and the Mormons, readers will, if they dig, find themselves in possession of a revelation of the linkages between religion, business, finance and the military – all ring-fenced by a patriarchal order that prioritizes the masculine prerogative – that lie at the core of the American character. This may well be the true revelation offered by the Golden Plates.Joseph Smith and the Mormons
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.75
Acting ClassCreator of the critically acclaimed Sabrina, Nick Drnaso's highly anticipated new graphic novel, Acting Class, has arrived. In the 248 full color, flat, heavyweight, off-white pages of this hardcover volume, role playing and reality mix it up in the shared headspace of a group of adults who are drawn to the idea of inhabiting new characters as a result of difficulties in their own lives. Almost immediately, the destabilizing effects of the acting lessons set the stage for the dissolution of borders between actor and role and an ever increasing sense of disorientation. Set in a world in which all forms of remote communication are quite notably absent – no television, no mobile phones (or, indeed, telephones of any kind), no social media, no internet, no computers – one gets the sense that with Acting Class, Drnaso has created a cartooned, diagrammatic simulacrum of the functioning of these platforms and devices, one that can serve as a model of the illusory spaces that they have opened in our individual psyches, as well as in our collective society; is offering us a chance to step back and take a look at it from the outside. Acting Class poses the questions, who are we when we pretend to be someone else, and what becomes of our lives? Interested in getting a taste of what's in store? Dive right in with this PDF preview from D & Q. And then keep going with this hefty excerpt from the New Yorker.
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.75
One Beautiful Spring Day is an oversize, heavy duty, paperback, with a translucent vellum jacket (which has been removed in the image on left, so as to reveal the splendor of the underlying image), featuring 400 pages of eye-popping and brain-bending artwork by the one and only Jim Woodring. Yes, of course that sounds amazing, but, you may ask, Is it a reprint collection? Is it new? The answer is… it’s both! It collects the three most recently published volumes of the Frank Universe™ — Congress of the Animals, Fran, and Poochytown — plus 100 new pages by Woodring that serve to weave these three volumes into a single cohesive artistic entity. And, yes, as with all other works in the Frank Universe, it is stunningly rendered in black and white and entirely wordless. Yes, it’s another Woodring masterpiece! For those of you who have already purchased the original hardcover editions of Congress of the Animals, Fran, and Poochytown and are on a budget, we feel your pain, BUT we can also let you know that copies of Congress of the Animals now routinely sell on eBay for around the price of this compendium, or more, so, anyone so inclined could fund their purchase of this volume with the sale of that one (although, it’s certainly possible that demand – and so prices – for Congress of the Animals will now drop as a result of the release of this compendium, but only time will tell on that). Regardless, non matter how you slice it, One Beautiful Spring Day is a stunning, splendid work that will take readers on a journey into the recesses of consciousness.One Beautiful Spring Day
retail price - $49.99 copacetic price - $43.75
How to Make a MonsterThere are plenty of news reports emanating from Chicago concerning how harsh, difficult and violent life can be there, but we also know Chicago as a key cultural nexus, central to the development of Jazz, the Blues, indy Rock, and, of course, Comics. Here in the 200+ oversize, black & blue pages of How to Make a Monster, the acerbic cartoonist – and Chicago native – Casanova Frankenstein teams up with Australian “outsider artist”, Glenn Pearce to present an unflinching – yet nonetheless fun – look at life from the inside of this seething cauldron, in the process providing insights into the formative impact that growing up in this environment can have on one’s personal and psychological development. How to Make a Monster unquestionably has some overlap with My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, most obviously in their shared central metaphor and its incorporation into their respective titles, along with the fact that both contain autobiographical elements concerning growing up in Chicago – and also that both are published by Fantagraphics; but the similarities more or less end there, and it is ultimately in their differences that that the relationship between these two works is most intriguing. How to Make a Monster is definitely its own thing. That said, a meta-textual analysis of the two works in tandem could be fruitful. And, should How to Make a Monster ever end up being made into a film – or Netflix series – an obvious choice for inclusion in the soundtrack – or theme song – would be the New York Dolls classic, “Frankenstein” (sorry, just had to throw that out there)!
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.75
Belfaust #4The latest installment of Belfaust, David Sandlin's epic saga of Belfast and beyond, has arrived! In the pages of Belfaust #4, our protagonists escape Belfast (just in time) and find themselves transplanted to a family farm in rural Alabama. Culture shock! It's not long before they discover the existence of Birmingham – aka Sin City – and they're off! It is here the adventures begin. This issue is beautifully printed, as always, this time around on a new, slightly heavier and smoother paper stock which provides better risograph color registration. Signed and numbered first edition of 100 copies. And, if you have any time to spare, do yourself a favor and visit DavidSandlin.com where there are plenty of great Sandlin art works on hand – paintings, prints and drawings – that will supply you with both æsthetic pleasure and intellectual stimulation, and that you can scroll (horizontally) through at your leisure.
copacetic price - $18.75
The Audra Show #6Leapin' Lizards! The Audra Show is now being published in full comic book size – and still in full color; a full 32 pages. Old school comics just like you like 'em, featuring Bea, Owen, Margaux, Jonah and Flower. PLUS: Letters Page!
retail price - $8.00 copacetic price - $7.50
These items and more may also be found at our eCommerce site, HERE.
New for July 2022
FINALLY! Twenty years after Connie left Will at home to get takeout and a video (yes, that's right, she left to go to the video rental store – that's how long ago this night began) – the dénouement! Keeping Two collects the entirety of the extant series along with the highly anticipated conclusion. The book itself is a beautifully designed hardcover, with rounded edges, and the 300+ pages of classic Jordan Crane artwork is crsiply printed entirely in shades of green – from so dark as to be nearly black all the way through to shades so light as to be nearly translucent, all on heavy, flat, off-white stock. A real pleasure to hold and to read. For those unfamiliar with the premise, Will is not someone who waits well. His mind is always going, and, not only that, it tends to head for dark places, the places where things go badly. Even when he tries to shut his racing mind down – or at least redirect it along the predetermined path of a novel – his choice of reading – which, as readers of this work will discover, is shared by Connie – is, at least in the instance covered here, of a book where things don't go well for the protagonists. Thus the "taking two" of the title (as in, "it takes two to tango") is multivalent and multilayered. The bulk of Taking Two is devoted to Will's imaginings – both of what has transpired with Connie that has prevented her from returning home when he expected, and what is happening with the protagonists – another couple – in the novel he is reading, and then how the two intertwine. There is then, of course, the additional layer provided by the readers of Taking Two themselves, whose own lives are then intertwining with that of these two couples, one nested within the other. So, perhaps, the ideal readers of this work would be other couples who read Taking Two by taking turns... Ultimately, the book leads out of the darkness and towards survival and redemption, but not without multiple crises and climaxes along the way. It's a roller coaster ride of a read! For more details and insights into Crane's ambitions with the work, check out Rachel Cooke's review in The Guardian, HERE.Keeping Two
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.75
Birds of MaineMichael DeForge's latest, Birds of Maine collects the 455, full-color, six-panel, one-page strips that made up this series, in the process creating a world that offers an intriguing mirror to our own. It is a world that is, apparently, an artificial environment on the moon, populated by anthropomorphized birds, wherein, ironically, life is able to harmonize with nature in a way that has been lost to humans on earth. It is also one of constant continual communication – between birds, yes, but also, evidently, between trees and fungus, and even a human being, one that is filled with meditations on mortality and meaning, sound and vision, organizing principles and chaos – and with a library at it's center. The mis-en-scène of Birds of Maine presents us with a semiotic free for all, where every object and act is simultaneously a sign. There is much æsthetic pleasure to be had in these pages, as well. DeForge, who has at this point in his career produced a prodigious number of comics pages, has developed a mastery of the form that allows him to – seemingly – effortlessly balance color and composition with an inherent sense of pacing. Each of these 455 pages is both a building block of a world and a treat in and of itself. But there's more. Along the way a story takes shape...
retail price - $34.95 copacetic price - $29.75
While putatively categorized as belonging to the "choose your own adventure" genre – the plot is simple: you are a computer repair man who finds himself caught in a trap and must figure out how to escape – 2120 takes a unique approach to the graphic novel, one that seems to be designed to mimic the process of writing and debugging computer code: if this then that – or maybe that – or go back and try again until it works, or doesn't. There is a feeling of not-working that permeates the pages, as the circularity of the narrative at times seems to collapse in on itself. It will not be for everyone, but it is fairly unique and some are sure to find it intriguing enough to let themselves be caught up in its 492 pages...
2120
retail price - $26.95 copacetic price - $23.75
Talk to My BackOriginally published in Japan in the early 1980s, Talk to My Back at long last makes its English language debut courtesy of Ryan Holmberg's translation. The 35 linked stories that make up this volume provide intimate vignettes of a wife and mother's lot in Japan: the isolating experience of caring for children, waiting for the husband, a salaryman who is out all hours and rarely home, with all depending on her for their needs and well being. The initial publication of these short works – first in Garo, and later collected in book form – opened up this private world to manga readers and marked an important expansion of manga's representational and expressive range. Includes a 40-page essay by Holmberg, which will aid readers in contextualizing and appreciating this important work.
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.75
Ginseng Roots #10Hot off the press, it's another fantastic issue of Craig Thompson's Ginseng Roots! This issue has a bit of a meta vibe as it goes back and delves into Craig's own feelings at the start – or, at least, early days – of the Ginseng Roots project when, it appears, that Craig was having some doubts about things. This part includes a (fairly hilarious) vignette of his (briefly) entertaining Hollywood dreams – before recruiting his brother, Phil to accompany him on a "road" trip to Korea – where he receives much encouragement and inspiration, and takes readers along for inside looks at both Korean comics publishing and Korean ginseng farming, processing and trade. The issue finished up with Craig and Phil arriving in China together, but then splitting up to head their separate ways in #11, due later this year...
retail price - $6.00 copacetic price - $5.50
This hardcover collection brings together 100 pages of comics – full color (for the most part) and B&W – focused on the life of the cartoonist; often, but not exclusively, that of the author. Many of these pieces have seen print before, primarily in the pages of Blammo, but there are quite a few that appear here for the first time. Modes include fiction, biography, memoir along with a cocktail including a bit of each, under the classification of "meta-memoir", all woven together into a rich comics tapestry. A portrait of the artist as a young, but aging, cartoonist.
As a Cartoonist
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.75
Lucky's Tune - Vinyl LP
by Reid PaleyReid Paley's now classic 1999 debut solo LP, Lucky's Tune has at long last been released on (140g) vinyl, in a limited, SIGNED, gatefold edition of 1000 copies from Demon Records in the UK. A key architect of the Pittsburgh punk scene, among whose many roles were show promoter, gig securer, venue locator, press liaison, actor in the seminal Pittsburgh punk film, Debt Begins at Twenty and, oh yeah, being the front man for Pittsburgh's greatest punk band (which later relocated to Boston), THE FIVE, Reid has gone on to have a lengthy solo career, based in Brooklyn, NY where he continues to write, record and perform his unique brand of music, both solo and with his trio. Here on Lucky’s Tune, listeners are in for an up close and personal experience. It’s just Reid and his 1955 Gretsch Archtop, plugged into a 1965 Fender Super Reverb. Recorded at House of Blues Studio and produced by Frank Black, the sound is spare, raw and straightforward. Each of the thirteen tracks – all penned by Paley – that make up Lucky’s Tune present a persistent personal praxis in lyrical form. Punctuated by Paley’s trademarked pauses, rests, cæsuras and fermatas the songs rise and fall, thrust and parry, building up tension to the breaking point before then knocking it down. Learn more – and listen to this LP's lead track, "Lazarus in Brooklyn" – HERE. And Copacetic VinylMaster, Dan Allen has this to say about the quality of the record itself: "Lucky's Tune sounds fantastic. There is hardly any surface noise (which is sadly, almost a given with current hastily-pressed LPs) and the record sounds loud in all the right places. Whoever mastered the recording for vinyl knew what they were doing and luckily, the pressing plant took their time creating the LPs." Lucky’s Tune really is a one of a kind listening experience. Don’t miss it.
retail price - $32.99 copacetic price - $30.00
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