Happy Halloween! (or how to drive your coworkers nuts on a late friday afternoon)

OK, so this photo is tangentially comics related. But a special thank you to our coworkers for putting up with Tom and I scrambling to put our costumes together before heading off to a zillion kids parties.

For your Halloween reading, please check out the NY Times Book Review for the quarterly critical filing by Mr. Douglas Wolk of WILD KINGDOM: "Every few pages, there’s a hilariously inventive piece of cartooning..." and a glorious full-page spotlight on THE NATIVE TREES OF CANADA by Leanne Shapton where she expounds of finding the inspiration for the book and some of her favorite Canadian books.

And check out the blog to our Librairie for event photos from Leanne, Sheila Heti and holy smokes William Gibson. I stopped by at the tail end of his reading, and the store looked like it had been hit by a bomb....a literary bomb of epic proportions...hello! ok Happy Halloween people!

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Lynda Barry at the IFOA in Toronto!

So Torontonians, the incredible Lynda Barry is in your town for today and tomorrow only! Tonight at 8 PM, Lynda will be on an all star panel with Nadine Bismuth, Dany Laferrière and Yann Martel and Saturday at 5 PM, Lynda will have a spotlight panel with her slide show, hosted by the delightful Peter Birkemoe of the Beguiling. And then that is it people! She's gone! Get your Lynda fix while you can.

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Leanne Shapton in Toronto!

Don't forget Leanne Shapton launchesTHE NATIVE TREES OF CANADA at the Monkeys Paw in Toronto Saturday from 6-8:00 PM.

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Leanne Shapton's NATIVE TREES OF CANADA; Montreal, Toronto & NYC Events

When the Native Trees of Canada arrived in the office this week, I was struck by how simple a book can be, and yet so beautiful. This book pretty much encapsulates what we set out to do with the Petit Livre imprint--showcasing beautiful artwork, perhaps not even comics, in an unassuming format with an equally unassuming price. This book is nothing short of fascinating with page after pager of gorgeous renderings of trees, leaves and seeds in rich tones of deep reds, greens, teals and purples.


If Leanne Shapton's name sounds familiar it should, she is the author of two of my most favorite (non-D+Q, natch) books from the past few years. With Farrar, Straus & Giroux, she created two fascinating uncategoriazble books Was She Pretty? and Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry.

Important Artifacts in particular is mind bending in its unfolding of a love story that was so right and then goes wrong told in the pages of an auction catalogue. While the story seems so particular to the couple in the catalogue, one can't help to mentally compose their own catalogue of stray items, mementoes or cultural references that instantly take you back to memories of a former love or even just a state of mind.


You can also find Leanne's artistry on the cover of books, whether officially like this season's Skippy Dies or unofficially like her book covers of classics for the NYTBR (above), there is also the NY Times Op Ed Page, her publishing company J&L books, and even her writing in the NY Times T Magazine, where she has an ongoing column, "We Three Things", to write about subjects far and wide. To name a few: jello, Atlanta, tabletops, marmalade. Last week, she described her love of empty rooms and the artists who depict them well and how an empty room can be "wait{ing} in quiet anticipation" She also mentions her penchant for looking at shelter magazines such as The World of Interiors {which coincidentally I have on my desk as I like to look at it while on hold!}. I also particularly enjoyed Leanne's segment from last Spring for T Magazine on lips. I think her first sentence of this essay says it all "If the eyes are window to the soul, then the mouth is window to the gut, revealing anxieties, turmoil and hidden appetites."

So what inspired Leanne to create The Native Trees? Leanne happened upon a dusty old government reference book (which I hopes she brings to Montreal this week!) and found beauty in the technical details of indigenous trees of the Great White North. She found this book at the great curio used bookstore the Monkey's Paw in Toronto, where she'll have a launch for the book, after stopping by Montreal. Here are the details:



Thursday, October 28th, 7:00 PM
D+Q Librarie, Montreal
A joint book launch with Sheila Heti


Saturday, October 30th, 6:00 PM
Monkey's Paw, Toronto
A joint book launch with Jason Logan

Sunday, November 7th, 11:30AM-1:00PM
NY Art Book Fair at PS1 Long Island City, NY

Saturday, December 4th
Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival

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Tonight in Montreal! All the way from New Zealand! Mr. Dylan Horrocks!

Montreal comic books fans are sure in for a rare treat, with tonight's event with Dylan Horrocks at the D+Q Librairie, 7:00 PM. Can't make it? Well then be sure to read his short but must read interview in this week's MIrror with Rupert Bottenberg.

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Seth, Dylan Horrocks AND Charles Burns?

Toronto, you are one lucky city! The International Festival of Authors is so mind-bendingly packed with amazing authors, and they always remember ol' comics with their programming. Tomorrow, October 23rd at 3pm, head down to the Harbourfront centre to see Seth, Dyland Horrocks and Charles Burns talk about their new work. Get your tickets here.

IFOA: Round Table Oct 23 3pm BRG
Saturday, October 23, 2010, 3pm
Brigantine Rm - York Quay Ctr
235 Queens Quay West

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Hey Portland! Vanessa Davis! Saturday night! Reading Frenzy!

Hey Portland! Go check out Vanessa Davis at Reading Frenzy tomorrow night! 7 pm!

While you're here, have you read the Onion A.V. review of MAKE ME A WOMAN? Well, I can promise you that Vanessa is as "bright and funny" in person as she is in her comics, and that her event is not to be missed!

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James Sturm at the Yiddish Book Center, Amherst!

This Sunday at 2:00 PM in Amherst, Massachusetts at the Yiddish Book Center, James Sturm will be in conversation with Chris Couch, a lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts. A signing is to follow. This is one of James' last events for a while, so if you are anywhere in Western Mass, be sure to go!

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Lynda In Vancouver!

So maybe you're hesitant to go to one of Lynda's events. You've heard how hundreds of people show up, and how over 300 people packed the Portland Art Museum, and how her line snaked around the concourse at APE, and you think "what's the point? They'll cut the signing line before I'll get to have my book signed." But what does the above picture reveal? Well, when we had to cut the line last weekend at APE, Lynda gets up to personally shake the hands of everyone who is turned away! Awwwww!

So Lynda arrived at the Vancouver International Writers Fest yesterday and was featured in last week's Georgia Straight: "Barry’s ability to delve into just about any conceivable subject matter is part of what makes her a great writer. And she is indeed a great writer..."

Here are her three events:
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22ND 2010 10:00 AM
Waterfront Theatre * Comic Book Confidential

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23RD 2:00 PM
PTC Studio * The Lighter Side

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24TH
PTC Studio * Do You Think You Can Write?
Sold Out

{Photo Credit: Woodrow Wilkes White}

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More "Wart."

I'm actually seeing some Dick Moores in this strip that I didn't see before. Entirely possible as an influence at this time (um, I think) although almost certainly not the man himself. Look at those silhouettes and horizontal hatching.

I like this strip because I feel like it really captures that kind of "let's build a fort or spend all day pretending we're astronauts" feeling that is all about being a kid. Yeah, the mixup at the end is hokey (classic 50s/60s sit-com) but the comic is clearly drawn and really captures time and place and how it feels to be that age (in any era.)

{UPDATE: Vigilant Jeet Heer does the research and finds out that Moores actually worked for Western (Dell) for a few years up until he was hired to work on Gasoline Alley. So, actually, it is entirely possible that Moores did draw this strip if not the entire comic.

UPDATE 2: Jeet has spoken with Moores' daughter and her recollections say her father did not do these pages. While he did start work on Gasoline Alley the following year ('56), she claims he hadn't arrived at the style he became known for. The Grand Comic Book database claims that the artist on these pages was Neg Cochran who was J. R. Williams' assistant in his later years.}

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Skylight Books Drawing for Adrian Tomine print!

One of the best bookstores in the world, Skylight in Los Angeles, has put together a great chance to own a signed and numbered print of one of Adrian Tomine's New Yorker cover.(Above)During the month of October (October 2 until 5 p.m. on October 30) all customers who make a purchase of $40 or more are eligible to receive a raffle ticket which qualifies them to win one of these 10 coveted and unique prints. And you can enter online, as long as you make an online purchase, just enter "Tomine Raffle" in the comments field of your order.

SOAPBOX! People what better way to support independent publishing, artists and retailing than by buying a book from Skylight? Think about it.

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Out Our Way with Worry Wart

Continuing my fascination with Dell kids comics from the 40s, 50s, 60s comes Out Our Way with Worry Wart . Based on the daily comic of the same name that ran from 1922-77 by J. R. Williams (the "old" one not the 80s-90s Skinboy, Crap one), this comic almost seems a little out of place with the usual rounder cartoon-y fair of the funny kid comics that Dell cranked out during those decades. It's very pen-and-ink crosshatch-y like the work of Claire Briggs, H. T. Webster, and Williams (and numerous others that I don't know about yet) rather than brush-y like Dan Gormley, Lloyd White, Walt Kelly, and Irv Tripp. When I first discovered this comic 15 years ago, I was stunned at how Crumb-like it looked (at least on the surface). Some of the character drawing is a bit stiff (unlike Crumb) but the backgrounds are detailed and solid. The stories are entertaining boy comics--the younger brother usually irritates and confounds the older brother with his schemes. "The Open Road" is a nice piece of Americana--we see Worry Wart running away with his bindle, passing butcher shops, sandlot games, rail- and junk-yards.



I'll run another Worry Wart strip tomorrow concerning that classic of Boys' Comics--Fantasy Space Travel. Of course, I use "Boy's Comics" like it's a genre we all know but honestly I'm hard-pressed to think of other books besides Tubby that seem so focused on the hobbies, adventures, friendships and rivalries of actual boys. Usually the comics seem to be more along the lines of genres like Western, Jungle Adventure, or Space Opera and featuring adults. {I'm sure there are many. I've only just begun to explore these genres.}

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Lynda! Barry! Tonight! At! The! Portland! Art! Museum!

People, I will only remind you so many times about the fabulous Lynda Barry being on tour, or, who I am kidding, I will relentlessly beat you over the head with posts, tweets and FB pokes until I force you into submission and the only thing to wake you out of your coma is a rousing, awe- inspiring, wholly fantastic, outrageously funny in person appearance by the one and only Lynda Barry on tour now for PICTURE THIS.

Tonight she is at the Portland Art Museum, 7:00 PM, sponsored by Reading Frenzy. Be careful, PDX-ers, you want the crowd chanting when I say Lynda you say Barry. Lynda! Barry! Not Barack Obama.
{Yet another photo of Renee French and Lynda Barry from last weekend's APE in SF, photo by the wonderful Woodrow Wilkes White.}

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Thank you, Boston Book Festival!

This past weekend I went back home to Boston to hit the Boston Book Festival for a day, take in the Highwater show, and visit family and friends. The family argued and the friends were maudlin so we'll skip that.

The Highwater show was great. Lots of old ephemera and minis that I had forgotten about. It was nice to see originals by Kurt Wolfgang and illos by Megan and puppets by Greg Cook. The folks who worked on it (TD, Brooke, Jef, Greg, and Emily) did a great job. There's a small photoset here (Facebook) if you care.

Copley Square is right next to the stately Boston Public Library. They have free books in there. Do not tell the Book Festival people.

Book fairs are great because you see a much different crowd than the comics shows. Mostly people say "what are you? A bookstore, a publisher?" Also, many people call the books "graphica." Looks like Paul Constant has won. AND people stopped by often to tell us that they loved the name. Aaaw, book people.

It was cold in our little cave so Alison and I bundled up. But no windstorms (well, at least not as bad as last year) or rainstorms. It was actually a decent day.

Alison, the D+Q booth MVP. Let's face it, the rest of us are pretty tired of each other. Alison comes in and is just happy to not be serving pie and coffee for a change.

My old boss, Tony Davis, from the Million Year Picnic. A kind and generous man whose support helped me get the great job I now have. In the background his wife April (sorry about the squinty photo, April) and son Ethan.

Of course you have a dog named "Snufkin." Bless you.

Also, book fairs really have an eccentric crowd much more so than the comic shows. Show some respect for the King of Pop people!

My sales pitch went something like this: "He's a portly lad who thinks quite highly of himself and that attitude often facilitates his getting into scrapes." Replied the young boy, "Dad, I can't read outdoors. It's too bright."

Dad provides the shade.

Not pictured. Many friends who stopped by to say hi, famous designers and authors, the kid who handed out fliers for his comic event, and Alison chasing after the guy in a Curious George costume trying to politely get a picture.

And I leave you with this video of 826 Boston tearing down their booth. They had a typewriter set up at the front of the booth and asked people to sit and type a few lines. This young lady was possessed! She typed like this for about an hour. Hunt and peck, touch chin, hunt and peck , touch chin. What was she writing? The Event fan-fic.

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Lynda Barry at Skylight Books Tonight in Los Angeles!

Tonight at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, people, is the ONE AND ONLY LYNDA BARRY! What can I do to make you go? Well I should do nothing, and you should be paying me, because seeing Lynda Barry person is one for everyone's bucket list, I SWEAR! Tonight, 7:30, Skylight. {Picture with fellow cartoonist Renee French at this past weekend's APE}

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APE, Boston Book Festival

Just a reminder--Peggy will be at APE (today and tomorrow) and Tom will be at the Boston Book Festival (today.) Come by and see us!

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PYONGYANG TOO

MAN, things are just different with comics across the pond. Do you all check out Guy Delisle's blog? Not only is he very funny and interesting, but, also, sometimes things like this happen. It looks like one of his readers sent him a facsimile of the english edition of PYONGYANG wherein he had replaced panels of the books with photographs of the actual locations/scenes featured in the book. Below are some of the pages, but you can see more here.




Now, someone please do this for CATLAND EMPIRE.

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Dear John Stanley

John Stanley's biggest fan--our friendly man Quenton from North Carolina--strikes again. A budding artist himself, Quenton produces what is quite possibly the cutest fan mail ever received by D+Q. John Stanley, in the words of Quenton:



And the John Stanley Library is pretty rad too. MELVIN 3 is due out this winter (previews to come shortly), and if you haven't already picked up your copy of TUBBY, I'd recommend you do so, immediately. If Seth's striking cover isn't enough to entice you, Rebecca definitely outdid herself on the production of this volume.

But back to Quenton and how much we appreciate his mail. His drawings on lined paper made me think of Lynda Barry, so I look the liberty of making Quenton's white paper yellow to strengthen the similarity.



In case you missed it before, Lynda has a new book, PICTURE THIS. She'll be touring the West Coast starting tomorrow at APE and finishing on my native turf later this month (Oct 22-24) for the Vancouver International Writers' Fest. Here's a complete list of her her stops along the way (as well as her East Coast events).

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APE reminder!!

Tomorrow in San Francisco, D+Q will exhibit at the Alternative Press Expo in SF, 10/16 & 10/17, at booth 222. Vanessa Davis, Dan Clowes and Lynda Barry will be signing! Lynda will be debuting her new book PICTURE THIS. Dan and Lynda have spotlight panels on Saturday and note that Dan will NOT be at APE on Sunday. Come by the booth and say hi to Peggy and special guest intern Woody White!

New books will not only include the aforementioned Lynda Barry's PICTURE THIS (a gorgeous and just-as-amazing followup to WHAT IT IS) but also Brecht Evens' THE WRONG PLACE (I predict this will be the graphic novel debut of the year, I do, I swear), Tove Jansson's WHO WILL COMFORT TOFFLE? (the sweetest shy child picture book story ever!), Doug Wright's NIPPER (cheap paperback edition designed to hook you on the strip and then you'll have to buy the more lavish hardcover volume from 2009 but it'll totally be worth it) and Chris Ware's ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY #20 (Is there a limit to the number of masterpieces one man can produce?)




Saturday
1:00-3:00 Vanessa Davis Signing
2:00-3:00 Spotlight on Dan Clowes, questions by Picture Box and Comics Comics' Dan Nadel
3:00-5:00 Dan Clowes Signing
4:00-5:00 Spotlight on Lynda Barry, with Picture This slide show!
5:00-7:00 Lynda Barry Signing

Sunday
1:00-3:00 Vanessa Davis Signing
2:00-3:00 Art of Storytelling panel with Lynda Barry & others
3:00-5:00 Lynda Barry signing

Also do not miss our APE pre-party at Needles and Pens in SF Tonight, October 15th, 7:00 pm where Vanessa Davis will discuss and sign MAKE ME A WOMAN.

And on Saturday, be sure to check out the Giant Robot opening for the show "Removeable Pants" with Marc Bell and Peter Thompson.

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Boston Book Fair

This Saturday, I will be in Boston for the Boston Book Festival from 10am to 6pm. I will be there with favored helper Alison pushing books new and old onto the fair people who wander through Copley Square (Kaw-plee, people, not Koe-plee).

New books will not only include the above Lynda Barry's PICTURE THIS (a gorgeous and just-as-amazing followup to WHAT IT IS) but also Brecht Evens' THE WRONG PLACE (I predict this will be the graphic novel debut of the year, I do, I swear), Tove Jansson's WHO WILL COMFORT TOFFLE? (the sweetest shy child picture book story ever!), Doug Wright's NIPPER (cheap paperback edition designed to hook you on the strip and then you'll have to buy the more lavish hardcover volume from 2009 but it'll totally be worth it) and Chris Ware's ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY #20 (Is there a limit to the number of masterpieces one man can produce?) Yeah, you'll see all this same stuff in the APE post coming up soon. I'm warning ya, I'm recycling.

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Brinkman Beer

How many of these are there going to be? I gotta admit this might be a dream come true. When do I get my Marc Bell Lager or my Brian Ralph Pilsner? When am I going to have the chance to drive to NYC again to find this beer? When? Why?

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What! Tonight! Go! Now! (Vanessa at Skylight!!)

Boy, that is one nice bookstore they have in Los Angeles. That Skylight Books is perfect. Love it. You know what makes it even better (besides being featured on Joan of Arcadia?! Vanessa Davis. Thee Vanessa Davis will be launching her new book, Make Me a Woman tonight before heading off to San Francisco for the APE show (more on that later.) Come on down to 1818 N. Vermont Avenue at 7:30pm.

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D+Q at APE! Clowes! Barry! Davis! And PICTURE THIS!

This weekend in San Francisco, D+Q will exhibit at the Alternative Press Expo in SF, 10/16 & 10/17, at booth 222. Vanessa Davis, Dan Clowes and Lynda Barry will be signing! Lynda will be debuting her new book PICTURE THIS. Dan and Lynda have spotlight panels on Saturday and note that Dan will NOT be at APE on Sunday.

New books will not only include the aforementioned Lynda Barry's PICTURE THIS but also Brecht Evens' WRONG PLACE, Tove Jansson's WHO WILL COMFORT TOFFLE, Doug Wright's NIPPER and Chris Ware's ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY #20.

Saturday
1:00-3:00 Vanessa Davis Signing
2:00-3:00 Spotlight on Dan Clowes, questions by Picture Box and Comics Comics' Dan Nadel
3:00-5:00 Dan Clowes Signing
4:00-5:00 Spotlight on Lynda Barry, with Picture This slide show!
5:00-7:00 Lynda Barry Signing

Sunday
1:00-3:00 Vanessa Davis Signing
2:00-3:00 Art of Storytelling panel with Lynda Barry & others
3:00-5:00 Lynda Barry signing

Also do not miss our APE pre-party at Needles and Pens in SF on Friday, October 15th, 7:00 pm where Vanessa Davis will discuss and sign MAKE ME A WOMAN.

And on Saturday, be sure to check out the Giant Robot opening for the show "Removeable Pants" with Marc Bell and Peter Thompson.

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From the shores of New Zealand...

Dylan Horrocks will be in North America later this month for the first time in nearly a decade. He'll be a special guest at Toronto's International Festival of Authors, where he'll join Charles Burns and Seth in conversation. Dylan then heads across to Montreal, where he'll give a much anticipated presentation at the Drawn & Quarterly store. Just look at this beautiful poster he did especially for the event.

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Jinchalo

Dreamboat Matt Forsythe dropped by yesterday to talk about his current projects. Seems like there's a kind of sequel to Ojingogo in the works. He promises to hand it in by the end of the year. Jeez, the 2011 schedule is packed!! Possible tour van needed?

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