NEW STUFF ARCHIVES
New for September 2024
Fielder #3
by Kevin Huizenga
Fielder #3 is the comic book as meaning making machine. It is, literally, cover-to-cover comics – 38 pages worth – and, not only that, there are two front covers; so, in one sense, it is actually two comics that meet in the middle. There is so much COMICS here. It could also be said to be a comic book about what a comic book can be. Like, “look at all these different ways to approach the medium: you can do this, and that – and this, and that; and if you combine this you can do that – and if you add that you can do this. And you could draw it this way, or that way, or a combination of the two… and/or…" There are six distinct sections plus an editorial page: 1) A remixed version of the graphic novella, “Alla Prima” that had previously been published in an entirely different format, as a stand-alone work, in Italy. Here, in the pages of Fielder #3, this piece, which runs an extremely dense thirteen pages (and also takes up the lion’s share of the editorial page), is a fictionalized retelling of the story of two young American painters in Italy in the 1880s that serves as a nexus of art history, art theory and the American-European linkages that were so central to the work of Henry James.; 2) An ample selection of the “You and Me” series – some of which have been posted online – which are part formal exercises, part deconstruction of gag cartooning, that work to strip down the form to its bare essentials so as to lay bare the underlying mechanics of the comics operations: of the basics of character; of panel to panel transitions; of timing and punchlines; compare and contrast; etc.; 3) The inside front cover piece is a six-panel meditation on geometry; 4) Flip it over and you’ve got Huizenga’s deconstructive send up of Sam Glanzman’s 1960’s Dell series, Kona, that begins on the inside front cover and tears through three pages filled with non-stop violent action at a frenetic pace, in “Bona”; 5) This is immediately followed, cheek to jowl, with Huizenga’s meta/deconstructive homage to E.C. Segar’s Popeye – which focuses specifically on Wimpy – which originally appeared as the introduction of the second volume of the ongoing Fantagraphics series collecting Segar's Popeye Sunday pages, "Wimpy & His Hamburgers," and that does double-duty as a workshop/class in both cartooning and the comics biz; 6) And, then, the pièce de résistance, the twelve page collaboration with Conrad Bakker, “Meta Modern Comics”, which deconstructs a particular comics-making project in a manner analogous to those those exploded diagrams showing all the parts of a car engine and drive shaft sort of floating in space in their proper positions with text explaining how everything works together to propel the car through space, only here the added dimension of time is added as the creative process runs back and forth over the internet and in person and, eventually, et voilà – the process becomes the project (or vice versa, if you prefer). This description only scratches the surface of the comics complexities on hand here. Informative, educational, and, yes, entertaining. There is so much going on in these pages, that you will find yourself pausing and pondering again and again and as result you are likely to spend more time reading this single issue than many a graphic novel. With that in mind, Fielder #3 has been printed in Canada and, like the first two, is magazine size. This issue feels good in the hands, providing a solid yet flexible heft while turning the pages – which are nicely printed on heavy, off white, flat stock in a variety of duotones featuring red, yellow, brown and green (along with a couple moments of brief full color). It’s likely to be another year until the next issue, so take your time and savor this one.
retail price - $12.99 copacetic price - $10.75
It’s been a minute since Marc Bell last graced us with a sizable collection of work… we’ve been patiently waiting… and now, at last we have it! Raw Sewage Science Fiction – a title only Marc Bell would dream up – may very well be the ultimate mini-comic: a jam-packed, pint-sized powerhouse of a super-sturdy, smyth-sewn hardcover that collects over a decade's worth of work, all of which is produced in the anarchic spirit of anything goes self-publishing. This mass of mayhem runs 336, 5” x 7" full color pages, so be prepared to have your mind pulled in many directions (often at the same time) as Bell’s idiosyncratic (to put it mildly) comics iconoclasm demonstrates again and again just how porous the boundary is between image and text. In these pages, Bell will take you on a journey to the center of the mind... prepare yourself for disorientation; you may come out at a different place than where you went in. To help you get a better idea of what were talking about here, we've posted a sizable gallery of images from the book on our Tumblr, HERE.
Raw Sewage Science Fiction
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $25.75
In the pages of this oversize hardcover comics memoir, originally published in France in 2021, Tardi adapts his wife, Dominique Grange's first-person account of the political uprisings that rocked France, begininning with the protests against the French military's exceedingly violent suppression of the Algerian independence movement that included the killing of protesters in France and continuing through the uprisings that characterised "May 1968" and that continued into the 1970s – and on to today, in one form or another. The story presented by Elise and the New Partisans is a complex, historically rooted tale specific to France, the nuances and subtleties of which many Americans will be unable to fully appreciate, but its central themes – rising up against blatant injustice and fighting oppression – are both universal and forcefully and directly presented. A servicable approach for those unfamilar with the history of French Colonialism in Northern Africa, would be to characterise the resistance to it and protests against it taking place in France – which in turn kicked off larger scale protests against the status quo – that began during the 1950s and then grew exponentially in the 1960s, as being similar in tenor and significance to the conflation of the Civil Rights Movement and the protests agains the War in Vietnam that were taking place in America at roughly the same time, while keeping in mind that there are many siginificant differences and points of departure between the two situations. Jenna Allen's excellent translation helps fill in some blanks, and the author provides an informative afterword; there is also a helpful glossary of organizations appended at the conclusion of the work. It's a gripping read that has much to say to the present. For many longtime Tardi fans, reading this will be an eye-opening experience, adding a heretofore unsuspected political dimension to his works that will have them pulling his earlier works off the shelf for rereadings.Elise and the New Partisans
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $25.75
WOW! Attilio Micheluzzi's crisp, pen & ink, black & white artwork here in the 144 pages of this full-size hardcover edition of The Farewell Song of Marcel Labrume is knock-your-socks-off good. It's part of the long lineage that starts with the fine line rendering of Hal Foster and Alex Raymond on the one hand and strong compositional skills of Milt Caniff and Noel Sickles on the other, and that falls exactly – perfectly – between Alex Toth and early Jaime Hernandez (who then combined it with much else, took it in another direction and made it all his own). The characters and stories are at times reminiscent of Howard Hawks, with a tough guy hero encountering a series of heroines who are strong (but vulnerable), and tough (but sexy) – and, unfortunately, highly perishable. Micheluzzi has only been sparingly translated into English, most notably in the pages of the 1988 Eclipse Comics / Acme Press co-publication, Aces. This stunning Fantagraphics hardcover edition will go a long way towards bringing Micheluzzi's amazing work to the attention of Anglophone readers everywhere, but especially here in the USA. The Farewell Song of Marcel Labrume was originally published way back in 1981 and is only now making it to our shores in this new English translation by Jamie Richards. There are at least a couple important caveats to Micheluzzi's amazing art chops. On the formal level, his storytelling, while largely flowing and engaging, is, at certain moments – usually those involving some plot complexity – deficient, causing readers to pause and wonder, "who is/was that?", "how does this connect to that?" and/or "I'm confused as to what's going on here". But, usually the needed answers are there, just perhaps less clearly – or maybe, just less obviously – than they could have been. And then, on the level of content, it is important to point out that these stories are set in (former) French colonial territories (largely during WW II) and are rife with colonial (and also, especially given the war setting, nationalistic) attitudes and the accompanying implicit racism. Mitigating this is a sense that Micheluzzi is aware of this and works to assign the attitudes to the characters and their embodiment of the historical period, but it's still there, nonetheless.
The Farewell Song of Marcel Labrume
retail price - $24.99 copacetic price - $21.75
Petar & LizaPetar & Liza is a massive, oversize, full color, hardcover graphic novel that distills a particular essence of the former-Yugoslavia. The nexus of the particularity is Petar, who we meet first during his service in the army and then follow through a long, largely – but not entirely – urban existence of which the central and most important section is its intersection with the lifeline of Liza, who equally shares the stage during their time together. Petar's experiences push his psyche to the wall, and then some; there is many a moment spent in extremis. Petar & Liza is a fully painted work, representing an astonishing labor that delivers a fully fleshed out portrait of a dense, multi-faceted culture that fully embodies all the criteria of the novel, replete with an epic sweep that simultaneously provides up close and very personal looks at a large cast of characters and their relations to and with its protagonist – which run the gamut from intimate to antagonistic – and will fully immerse readers the experience of the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Peter & Liza is a fully engrossing work both on the narrative and æsthetic planes. It is – like life – both beautiful and emotionally exhausting. "Unpredictable and as strange as life itself, Petar & Liza is an exquisite and poetically written portrait of an artist, a love story and, finally a whole generation. I was stunned by it. His work, and this book, feel like a miracle to me." – Chris Ware
retail price - $39.99 copacetic price - $33.75
Here's a handily tactile edition that stands out for it's design decisions. Myths of Making is a 6x6” hardcover composed of embossed, foil-stamped, exposed board covers and a woven buckram cloth spine. Inside are 372 vividly illustrated pages – one (mostly) text-accompanied image per page – printed on warm-toned acid-free heavy-weight 140 gsm uncoated paper. Taken together, these design decisions lend the feel of the raw materials of art-making to works that are themselves about art-making; nice touch. Myths of Making presents a total of twenty-five "tales and legends" of artists and art making, starting with the anonymous cave artists, through Greek and Chinese myths and legends involving creators, through to tales of renaissance and romantic artists, a detour to Hokusai, and then full on to modernism and pop before concluding with what is likely the oldest continuous art tradition in the world, that of the Australian Aboriginal artists, embodied in the present by John Mawurndjul. We've posted a gallery of the book on Tumblr, HERE. | Introduction by Karen Green | Limited edition of 2500 copies.
Myths of Making: True Tales and Legends of Great Artists
retail price - $34.95 copacetic price - $29.75
Tokyo These Days #3The third and final (>sob!<) volume in Taiyo Matsumoto's masterful and hugely empathic look at the oddballs and misfits who make manga magic is here, concluding one of the all time greatest portrayals of the inner workings of, and interactions between, creativity and production in the making and then bringing to market of manga, and thereby providing a striking portrait of the marriage of art and commerce that has brought forth comics unto our world.
retail price - $28.00 copacetic price - $25.00
Joe Sacco's Palestine, which has now passed the quarter century mark since its initial publication, has been brought back into print at this critical juncture in a sturdy, oversize hardcover edition with a new afterword by Israeli journalist Amira Hass and an introduction by Palestinian American author and critic Edward Said. This single work, more than any other, announced the advent of comics journalism. Here, in its 300 pages, hundreds of hours of in-person, on-the-ground observation, interviews, and research have been distilled into an empathic narrative via thousands of hours of Sacco's painstaking comics work, which embodies a startling attention to the details of environment, character and historical dynamics and in the process fully demonstrated the strengths and capacities of comics journalism.
Palestine
retail price - $34.99 copacetic price - $29.75
Judge Dredd by Brian Bolland: Masterpiece EditionThis is, basically, a new edition of the out-of-print (and now super-pricey) Judge Dredd by Brian Bolland Apex Edition from 2022, this "Masterpiece Edition" reproduces the same high quality scans (along with a dozen new scans that were not in the Apex edition) of page after page – and cover after cover – of classic original Brian Bolland art from the character that launched his career, Judge Dredd in a smaller (but still oversize) softcover edition. This book includes pages from the Judge Dredd epics: "The Cursed Earth", "The Day the Law Died", "The Judge Child Quest", and Bolland’s masterpiece "Judge Death Lives". Also included is a gallery of covers ranging from 2000 AD to the Judge Dredd reprints published by Eagle Comics which brought Bolland to the attention of American readers and show off his graphic inventiveness and sardonic humor. PLEASE NOTE: This edition does not reproduce stories in their entirety; only select pages. That said, the pages that they did select include most of those that we rank as the classics of the Bolland Dredd oeuvre. So, heartily recommended for all Bolland aficionados.
retail price - $39.99 copacetic price - $35.75
Swag six is another self-published, black & white, magazine size comic book from the Texan cartoonist, Cameron Arthur (who has just recently relocated to Pittsburgh!). It runs a full 42 pages of comics, plus a contents page and a notes page; all under one wraparound cover. All of the comics in this issue employ a four-tier page layout; most of these pages are then divided into the standard, classic eight-panel grid, but with divergences and variations when called for by the unfolding drama. Panel composition is a clear priority here, followed by panel-to-panel transitions; the beat. Taken together these make for a highly æsthetic reading experience of the kind that is very hard to come by in contemporary comics. In other words Cameron Arthur is keeping alive a classic adventure comics tradition that goes way back, to Roy Crane, Noel Sickles and Alex Toth in particular, and then bringing to it perspectives informed by the world we live in today. A spirit of fatalism pervades this issue. In the world as shown here, resignation and acquiescence appear to be the way of all flesh; initiatives are not rewarded. The issue starts and ends with enigmatic one-pagers. In between we have an epic 36-page old-school tale of a motley crew of seaborne treasure hunters whose troubles begin as soon as they spot land. There’s plenty of discussion – there are stories within stories – but not much in the way of decisive action. This is followed by a four-page tale of a world in which the characters seem to have no say in their own destinies; all feels preordained, and meaning is hard to come by. Each of the stories here is multi-layered, and each rewards multiple readings.Swag #6
retail price - $10.00 copacetic price - $9.00
Here's the book Tara Booth fans have been waiting for! Processing is cover-to-cover fully painted color comics – a whoppin' 396 pages worth! The comics presented here are filled to the brim with personality and generational atttitude – particularly that of sarcasm in the service of self-mockery – and include plenty of instances of transition and repetition to achieve a sense of motive temporality, but their key function is to allow Booth the opportunity to paint, and paint she does. While her expressive figuration occasionally overwhelms her compositional sense, her brush strokes and, especially, her bold, splashy exploitation of the inherent color capacities of gouache combine to make for an exceptionally pleasing reading experience. And then there are the moments when she lets go of any pretence of narrative and just stops and paints a painting... and then moves on. While her sense of humor is never far from the page, there are moments of æsthetic abandon that call to mind a slew of major (aka great) painters, none more so than Matisse. Check out D & Q's Processing page for more info and a nice preview. Also, we've posted a gallery of pages from the book on our Tumblr, HERE.
Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It
retail price - $24.99 copacetic price - $21.75
These items and more may also be found at our eCommerce site, HERE.
New for August 2024
Originally published in Holland in 1968 Iris is very much a "sixties" book: psychedelic art; wild colors; sexy action; casual drug use; youthful struggles against an oppressive authority; and more. The core of the work is located in its all-consuming focus on fame and stardom and its depiction of "stars" as being the center around which society is organized – and therefore the source of power – and of being manufactured in an almost industrial fashion by a veiled corporation (which the story implies to be one among several) led by a somewhat degenerate, Pygmalionesque dictator. In this, it overlaps in its concerns with the film Performance – which was also produced in 1968 (but not released until 1970) – in which organized crime, corporations and pop stardom are shown as being stucturally and functionally similar, overlapping layers of the socioeconomic framework. While surely influenced by Guy Peellaert's work on Jodelle and elswhere, tropes developed and employed by Tjong-Khing here in the pages of Iris also appear to prefigure some of those prevalent in the Metal Hurlant era. And, of course, there is its highly gendered accounting of power, with its nexus shown as located in the feminine – and, specifically, in Iris herself – while its control is firmly held within the masculine. Intriguingly, these gender power relations do not wholly transcribe to biological gender. Iris's love interest is the flamboyant and somewhat feminine Michael, while there is an army of masculine women who serve "MG", the corporate overlord of the star-making factory. Additionally, there are multiple instances of cross-gender disguising and dressing which serve to accentuate the socially constructed aspects of gender. So, suffice it to say that there is plenty of food for thought regarding gender constructs and power relations. As a side note, all of this could be seen as, in part, a sort of inside-out view of Andy Warhol's "Factory" which was well underway by 1968. This well produced 136 page (very) full color, 8 1/2" x 11" softcover marks the first publication of Iris in English, well over fifty years after its initial publication. So, a watershed moment for the Anglophone appreciation of Dutch comics. The graphic novel itself takes up 90 pages with the rest devoted to a heavily illustrated essay by Rudy Vrooman charting the the back story of the work and its creators as well as providing ample historical and cultural context, including the rise of Pop Art and Camp, along with Iris's precursors, Jean-Claude Forest's Barbarella and Guy Peellaert's Jodelle and Pravda. Not to be missed!Iris
retail price - $24.99 copacetic price - $21.75
BlurryBlurry is an all new, 480 page graphic novel from the indefatigable Dash Shaw. It has been published by NYRC in a laminated hardcover with Smyth-sewn binding suitable for standing up to the multiple readings each copy is likely to undergo. Rendered almost entirely in a uniform 4-panel grid, in blue ink on heavy newsprint, it is a formal tour de force that goes deep inside the habitrail of the bourgeoisie, where rising destinies collide, and also occasionally fall, into unexpected – and sometimes deep – rabbit holes, but where mostly everyone is going around and about their business; where life imitates art imitating life, identities merge and swap, and everyone is connected. Check out the NYRC page on it for more details (and a nice little preview). Limited Time Bonus Offer: FREE copy of Ant Dodger with every purchase of Blurry (PLEASE NOTE: This tabloid newspaper may require either being wrapped around the book or an extra fold in order to be packed flat in the shipment with Blurry).
retail price - $34.99 copacetic price - $29.75
(The) Future has arrived! This 288 page, full color, 8 1/2" x 12", French-flapped, beautifully printed (in Latvia) softcover collects the ten hard-to-find issues of the single-creator, auteur anthology of the same name by Finland's incredibly prolific master cartoonist,Tommi Musturi's series of the same name, complete with covers, in a fine, high quality edition printed – in Latvia – in a volume that exceeds the original issues in both quality and page size. Taking in the amazing diversity of styles on display in its FULL color pages, it is at times hard to believe that they've all been created by the same artist. We've posted a wide-ranging selection of pages from Future HERE, so you can see what we're talking about. Translated from the original Finnish (no mean feat, we can tell you) by Tuomas Rantala.
Future
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $25.75
A pair from Jasper Jubenvill
Milkmaid is 40 non-stop pages of hormone-powered, over-the-top, stream-of-consciousness comics from the one and only Jasper Jubenvill. It could be considered Jasper's equivalent of Chester Brown's free-associating early issues of Yummy Fur, with, of course, Japser's obsessions substituted for Chester's. Here we have a storyline that starts off in a quasi-"normal" setting of Dynamite Diva setting off for a girls get-together at the Purple Elephant Diner, but it gets weird fast and it isn't long before things head over the cliff into disturbing, bizarro-nazi scenario set in an insano-world of a violent military-industrial complex based on and powered by breastmilk- and semen-extraction factories, giant mutant babies, hybrid dog-tanks and a cast of characters to match. The intellectual value-add here is that the over-the-top stream-of-consciousness bores deep into of the psychic structures of the global capitalist system, revealing the pulsing, throbbing unconscious drives that power it. So, it can be considered quite informative in that regard. Not for fans of realism or the faint of heart. You have been warned.
retail price - $10.00 copacetic price - $9.50
The Engine Whispers (Dynamite Diva #4)The latest installment of Jasper Jubenvill’s Dynamite Diva saga (technically #4), The Engine Whispers is 100+ pages of densely drawn pen & ink comics boldy printed in black & white on glossy 8 1/2” x 11” stock. This heavy duty squarebound edition is designed to take the wear and tear of the multiple reads it will be surely subjected to, seeing as how it is filled with non-stop action, gory violence, sleazy sex, casual drug use and non-stop mayhem that is interrupted only by an interlude in the form of a brief fumetti “trailer” for the crime feature, No Silencer Needed, from "Tip-Top Pictures," starring “model turned actress, Holly Newberry" as – you guessed it – Dynamite Diva, and directed by “Italy’s most deranged film director Enzo Moretti.” Buckle up.retail price - $10.00 copacetic price - $9.25
retail price - $25.00 copacetic price - $22.75
Chesley #1Charles Forsman is back with a nice, full color comic book. Format fiends, take note: It's been produced in the wider, Golden Age format and is also cover-to-cover eight-panel grid, giving it a real old school comics feel. Hear, hear! What's it's deal? Well, like many an old school comic strip, it's about family and friends. To be more specific, it's a kind of, sort of, maybe like a post-TEOTFW slice and dice, reassembled take on John Stanley's Little Lulu & Tubby (and Oona) and Chic Young's Blondie with considerably darker humor and grimmer wit and a lot more depth in the psychology department. Here's hoping he runs with this one awhile to see where it goes.
King-Cat Comics & Stories #83King Cat #83 is a King-Size Special issue! Its 48 pages are brimming over with comics & stories. The core of this issue is the experience of a parent's passing, which in turn leads to many childhood reminiscences. All the King-Cat special features are nevertheless here in full force: the King-Cat Top 40, Cat Calls (letters to the editor), and dream transcriptions, along with one (canine) obituary for family dog, Iris "P." Dorman. All (except for the dream transcriptions) hand written and drawn by Mr. John Porcellino. There's only one King-Cat and here's the newest and biggest (right?) issue yet!
retail price - $7.00 copacetic price - $5.00
Ready AmericaIn October 2022, Anna Haifisch arrived in Los Angeles from Leipzig, Germany for a three-month artist residency, where she thought she would be drawing a children's book. But LA had other plans for her. Swept away by the city's visual cacophony, she bought a car and began to draw her surroundings using the paper, ink and colored pencils that had been intended for her planned children's book project, recording aspects of Los Angeles both macro and micro; real as well as imagined. Ready America is the document that resulted: 94, horizontal, 8" x 5 1/2", full color drawings, all presented, two to a page – juxtaposed, one above another – on 48, 9" x 12" pages of heavy, flat white stock.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.75
Kate Carew: America's First Great Woman CartoonistWith the help of Kate Carew's granddaughter, Christine Chambers, Eddie Campbell has assembled an excellent monograph on the life and career of Kate Carew (born Mary Williams; aka Mary Reed). Carew started her professional career during the last decade of the 19th century as an illustrator, producing detailed pen & ink portraits for the San Francisco Examiner. When newspaper comics first started gaining traction during the first decade of the twentieth century, Carew was there with The Angel Child, which first appeared in 1902 in both black & white dailies and glorious full color Sunday pages. She continued with her illustration work, and developed a fairly unique hybrid cartooning caricatural illustration form that she pursued into the the 'teens. Later in life, as May Reed, she embarked on a painting practice, working both watercolor and oil. All this and more is covered in 160 page 8 1/2" x 11" full color volume, which enabled an early star of comics to rightfully regain her place in comics history. Thanks, Eddie!
retail price - $30.00 copacetic price - $25.75
You've read Shakespeare... You've read Tezuka... but you've never read Tezuka's manga Shakespeare – until now! Some of these adaptations are very loose indeed, and one has a science fiction slant via their incorporation into the Astro Boy universe. They're a lot of fun to read, as you already know the stories, and so you're just focused on how Tezuka is going to play and where he's going to take it. Plus these works span a twenty year period, so it also provides a focused way to watch his development as an artist. On hand are:
Shakespeare Manga Theater
* The Merchant of Venice (1959)
* Robio and Robiette (from Astro Boy, 1965)
* Macbeth (from Vampire “The Three Fortunetellers”, 1966)
* Hamlet (from Rainbow Parakeet, 1981)
* The Taming of the Shrew (from Rainbow Parakeet, 1981)
* Othello (from Rainbow Parakeet, 1982)PLEASE NOTE: Unsurprisingly, given that it is from a manga produced in 1959, there are some racially related caricatures in some of the stories, notably, The Merchant of Venice. 300 pages of classic manga for one low price! Here's a preview on out Tumblr to get an idea of what's in store.
retail price - $14.99 copacetic price - $13.75
These items and more may also be found at our eCommerce site, HERE.
New for July 2024
OK, here's the new issue of Tongues! ... sort of. Basically, Anders realized after the fact that he needed to bring to the light of publication aspects of the story that were lurking beneath the surface of his conscious understanding of what was transpiring in the epic mythic (unconscious) space of his narrative, and so we now have this: Tongues Supplement No. 1 (the number preparing us for the possibility of further supplementation). As anyone who has been following this amazing tale up to this point knows, the feeling one gets reading each issue is that it is only the tip of the iceberg; that there is far more going on than what meets the eye. And this feeling of knowing that there is so much more going on, and that it is not only unknown but unknowable, provides an eerie frisson that is a major part of the experience. Here in the pages of the first Tongues Supplement we learn the origins of the talking Eagle(s) as well as how that relates to the evolutionary origins of speech, which then takes us in fastforward to the present day and... the advent of the global connectivity manifested in our plane of existence by mobile cell phone networks, as mythology becomes reality via the magic of science-based technology. Then, at the center of this is a metaphoric (dream) sequence that serves – at least in some respects – to symbolize the magical mystery of communication itself. Roughly speaking – the two scenes that are presented in this issue's 33 pages are intended to be read as taking place in the overall narrative arc somewhere between issues four and five. And, in case anyone is wondering, yes, this issue is in the same oversized French-flapped format as all the other issues of the series.Tongues Supplement #1
retail price - $18.00 copacetic price - $15.75
And, while we're in the space of the mythic unconscious, there's no greater master than Moebius. And here we have – after a significant hiatus – a new addition to The Moebius Library from Dark Horse Comics. The Major is a full size edition that has been produced in the dimensions of all the previously published volumes in the Moebius Library, and so will match the rest on the shelf. Yes, this volume is a tad on the expensive side – we wish it were cheaper – but it's the first new-to-the-Anglophone-world Moebius in years and we're confident that readers will feel that the experience it offers is worth it. It's 192 pages, 95% of which is black & white, with 9 full color pages at the back. It's chock-a-block with both mind games and spectacular artwork – especially in the latter third of the volume. Moebius has an unequaled talent when it comes to drawing psychic states. In the pages of The Major – which were originally created, for the most part, during the first decade of the 21st century – Moebius appears to be positing a reality in which he himself, in actuality, is living through his creations; that Major Grubert embodies his life more than – is more alive than – his corporeal flesh and blood form, more than Moebius (which, is, in turn, a fictional creation of Jean Giraud), who is here an outsider, an enigmatic controlling force. The volume's translator, Diana Schutz describes this volume as a tragedy and "one of the saddest stories ever told by Moebius." Our reading led us to infer that the tragedy lies in Jean Giraud's locating his life force in the creation of Moebius he has named Major Grubert, while knowing nonetheless that this creation of lines on paper is irreconcilably at odds with the reality of his physical existence. Ms. Schutz has also provided, in an addendum, extensive notes on the translation that includes important informational asides on the text and art that will serve to both clarify and deepen appreciation of this work.The Major
retail price - $39.99 copacetic price - $35.00
KommixWith Kommix, readers are taken specifically to that corner of their mythic unconscious that has been colonized by classic comic books. The page after page of amazing full color Charles Burns comic book covers – 80 in all – that fill this slim but potent hardcover volume serve to actuate a gateway to the Transcendental Realm of True Comix that is normally obscured by the consensus reality of our mundane world. Gazing at these haunting – and haunted – images, readers will sense the presence – just on the other side – of the incredible comic books that these covers are working to channel, but will need to first actuate Cosmic Comics Consciousness through the Power of Imagination to carry themselves through the gateway and connect to their contents. Kommix opens a door to the Land of Comic Book Dreaming. If you decide to step through, you may want to mark its location, or else you might not be able to make it back... Get a sneak preview of a handful of the covers HERE. (And, for anyone wondering: yes, the contents of Kommix is largely – but not completely – identical to that of Caprice, the slightly smaller softcover volume published last year in France by Cornelius.)
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.75
The Nancy Show: Celebrating the Art of Ernie Bushmillerby Ernie Bushmiller, Brian Walker & Peter MarescaThis book's full title, The Nancy Show: Celebrating the Art of Ernie Bushmiller – A Catalogue Accompanying the Exhibition at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum – pretty much sums it up. For those of you who don't expect to be able to visit the exhibition in person, this horizontally formatted, 12" x 9", 152 page, flexicover volume does a great job of presenting it to you in the comfort of your reading chair. It features 72 big pages of high resolution scans of the original Bushmiller art along with 36 pages of full color reproductions of Nancy Sunday pages, plus plenty of pics of Nancy memorabilia and ephemera, an essay by exhibition curator Brian Walker and more – including a Special Bonus Gift: inserted in the rear of the book is a fold-out sheet of Nancy gift-wrapping paper, composed of a collage of dozens of classic Nancy panels, suitable for wrapping the book itself or anything else one might give to a Nancy lover, yes – BUT, you're more likely to want to frame it and hang it on the wall! So, with all that on offer – and for a quite reasonable price, we might add, even those who managed to make it to the exhibit in person are likely to want to take a copy home with them. A must for all true Nancy fans!
retail price - $22.99 copacetic price - $21.75
Here's an all-new, eight-color, 44-page, 8" x 10" risograph from Christina Lee (aka Xtina), whose work will be familiar to any who have spent time browsing the MADE IN PITTSBURGH table at the Copacetic shop, as we stocked all (or close to it) of her numerous publications over the years. In two short pieces – "I Can Be Anything You Want Me To Be" and "Employee of the Month" – along with the more substantial "Superfan", Lee confronts the vicissitudes of female fame and fortune – as well as the lack thereof. The anxieties and fears that lay dormant within dreams are activated in the deceptively bright color pages of this limited, hand-numbered edition, working to show that a bright surface may be employed to hide a darkness within... You can get a sneak peek of the book HERE. And we're giving this one an honorary "Made in Pittsburgh" designation despite the fact that it was actually produced in NYC, due to Christina's long tenure in town.
The Method
retail price - $15.00 copacetic price - $12.75
And here's another item with an honorary Made-in-Pittsburgh designation. Although Indy Comics Bang-for-Your-Buck Reigning Champion, Nate McDonough has been calling Colorado his home for coming on nine months now, he'll be working the Pittsburgh out of his system for awhile yet. Grixly remains the last word in value comics pricing, and here we have two new issues for one low price. And not just any two issues, Grixly #65 & #66 are chock-a-block with keen observations, insightful anecdotes, thoughtful asides as Nate's criss-crossing of middle America in search of comics brings him into contact with all sorts of characters and situations – most of all those immersed in the world of comics collecting, wheeling and dealing; the comics fans, collectors and obsessives who make it all happen. All communicated in Nate's ever more confident cartooning.Grixly Two-Pack #65 & 66
retail price - $6.00 copacetic price - $5.75
Peepshow #15It was only after Joe Matt's unexpected death last year, at age 60, that it was discovered that he had been working on a new issue of Peepshow all this time – since #14 was published in 2006 – and that an entire issue was complete aside from four uninked pages. And so, with a little help from Matt’s cartoonist friends, Peepshow #15 has now arrived! It doesn't feel like it took seventeen years to complete. It reads just like you would think the new issue of Peepshow would. And not only that, you could make the case that it is the best issue of the series. Forty full pages of great comics, all in uniform six or eight panel grids, clearly laid out and cleanly inked – four, that were left in pencil form at the time of Matt's demise, by Chester Brown in a manner so faithful to Matt's own inking that few people other than Seth would be able to tell the difference. In this issue readers will encounter the tales of Matt's departure from Toronto, arrival in L.A., his shot at the big time with his pitching of a Peepshow HBO series, and, of course, intimate details of his love life, closing, finally, with a Crumb confessional. It's a great swan song, but it is bittersweet not only in knowing that it is the final work but also in how it leaves the reader wondering why there couldn't have been more...
retail price - $6.99 copacetic price - $6.50
Greatest Hitsby Harlan EllisonWhile Harlan Ellison's star has dimmed somewhat with the passing of the years, likely due, at least in part, to his abrasive personality, it remains hard to overstate his influence on science fiction, and then, in turn, on science fiction's invasion of and subsequent influence on mainstream fiction – particularly short fiction. Forty or so years ago, both "'Repent, Harlequin,' said the Ticktockman" and "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" (written in 1966 and 1967, respectively) were among the most anthologized stories out there, with one or the other – sometimes both – being in the majority of high school and college short fiction 101 collections then in use. He was born in 1934, was first published in the late 1950s, and wrote continuously up to his death in 2018, with his most important works being written in the 1960s and 1970s. He was also an important editor. So, suffice it to say that he's worth reading, and currently, this 468 page collection is the best place to start. Edited by Ellison's executor, J. Michael Straczynski, with an introduction by Neil Gaiman and a preface by Cassandra Khaw. "Harlan Ellison was, after all, one of the most interesting humans on Earth. He was one of the greatest and most influential science fiction writers alive. He marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, lectured to college kids, visited with death row inmates, and once mailed a dead gopher to a publisher. Ellison brought a literary sensibility to sci-fl at a time when the entire establishment was allergic to any notion of art. To say he was one-of-a-kind would be trite, and he would likely hate that. What he was, was a legend." —NPR
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $15.75
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