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New for May 2008
What It Is
by Lynda Barry
It's here! The long awaited all new, 208 page, hardcover volume of heuristic metacomix by the one and only Lynda Barry is both a beautiful and inspiring work of art, and an insightful exploration of the creative process. Her first new work since her 2003 masterpiece, 100 Demons, What It Is uses the language of comics to probe the secrets of creativity itself, which, she reveals, is located in "the image" -- her definition of which, however, might not be what you expect. This book is full of surprises and delight. There's really only one thing to say about this book: "YES!!!" If you still need convincing, then feast your eyes on this AMAZING (lucky)13-page preview.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $22.22
Bottomless Belly Button
by Dash Shaw
Weighing in at 700+ pages, we're pretty sure this one surpasses Craig Thompson's Blankets as the longest unserialized graphic novel ever published in the US. Just think: over 700 pages of far out and freaky graphic storytelling that you've never laid eyes on before -- and neither have we, so we'll have to get back to you on the details. What we can tell you is that the book took over two years to draw, is divided into three sections (each of which you are advised by the author to take a break after reading), is printed in brown ink on 6" x 9" white paper, and tells the tale of the Loony family. It begins with the line, "There are many types of sand." OK, now you're on your own.
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $25.55
Amor Y Cohetes
by Gilbert, Jaime & Mario Hernandez What It Is
It's hard to believe, but with this volume, the seventh in the new format, the repackaging of the first volume of Love and Rockets is now complete! While the first six volumes gave us the massive mythologies of Hoppers and Palomar, this issue collects all the odds 'n' ends and bric á brac that the fertile imaginations of los Bros unleashed when they were kicking back; as well as the story that started it all back in Love and Rockets #1, Gilbert Hernandez's BEM. Let us rhapsodize for a moment: It was with BEM that Gilbert Hernandez -- comics' own St. George -- slew the dragon of derivative, formulaic heroic fantasy comics by ripping out its heart and laying it bare. BEM demonstrates once and for all that the success of the formula is based on keeping fear alive, that the hero and the villain are, unwittingly perhaps, complicit in an illicit pact to keep the reader enthralled with the eternal recurrence of evil. BEM pulls back the curtain and reveals formulaic heroic fantasy comics as Ouroboric circles devoid of any real hope, real progress or real growth; promising salvation but delivering the damnation of addiction with an empty formula expertly designed to keep readers coming back for more with the dangled promise of the imminent unveiling of a mystery that not only is there no intent to deliver on, but as BEM finally and brilliantly reveals, there is not even the capacity or ability on the part of the danglers to do so in the first place for the simple reason that the creators of this formula are themselves as equally trapped within it by their fealty to the profit motive -- unable to see outside the borders of their own fear and need and so drawing in the hordes to feed their own cravings (Love and Rockets: it's not just a comic book series, it's a hermeneutics.). We'll be the first to admit that anyone coming to this story now, over 25 years after the fact -- and especially those who were never themselves in the thrall of superhero comics in the first place -- will have a hard time fully appreciating the importance of this story, but that's no reason not to try. The revelation of BEM cleared the way for a whole new approach to comics: the way that Love and Rockets went on to pioneer. Comics have never been the same since.
retail price - $16.99 copacetic price - $13.55
MOME, Volume 11: Summer 2008
Speaking of "a whole new
approach to comics,"
what better fits this description than MOME? To any readers who
might have felt a creeping worry that MOME wouldn't
be able to keep it up, that there simply wasn't enough high calibre new
work being produced to keep MOME floating on its lofty plane, let us be
first to say that these fears can be laid to rest with this issue,
which is arguably the best yet. It starts off with a new Al
Columbia piece that (finally) lives up to the promise of his outsized
rep. "5:45 A.M." is a story which shows us that, yes, God is in the
details. In a mere eight, actionless panels -- more or less a tableaux
nature morte
-- Columbia manages to quite successfully share with us his own
dark lord. "Einmal Ist Keinmal" by this issue's cover artist,
Killoffer, follows. A
variation on his singular masterwork, 676 Apparitions of Killoffer,
"EIK" will
give you
plenty to ponder while you pore over its seductive
linework. Nate Neal is up next with "The 5 Simple Cosmic Do Dats"
wherein he deftly manages the fairly astounding party trick of grafting
his own left-leaning
post-punk tendencies onto a synthetic hybridization of the aesthetics
of Kim Deitch and the narrative techniqes of Dan Clowes to create that
wonder of wonders: an entertaining work that is both funny and
smart. You might find yourself scratching your head at first
while working through this one, but keep going -- or better yet,
start over and try again -- this one has more going on in it than first
meets the eye. Four panels of "Truth Bear" by Ray Fenwick (who
doubles as this issue's [quite engaging] interview subject)
follow. Eleanor Davis serves up an irresisitable visual treat ,
"The 10,000 Rescues," and then we have seven pages of fun with the
future of the wonderful world of Art in "The Galactic Funnels,"
courtesy Dash Shaw, before plunging into John Hankiewicz's personal
gift to Copacetic -- a five-page story that combines his own totally
unique approach to narrative with a brief episode in the life of the
one and only Anita O'Day!
(Thank you, John.) Then it's Emile
Bravo's turn to wow us with his four-page assembly of signs &
meaning which deftly deconstructs the quandary of globalization, "A
Question of Human Resources." Newcomer, Conor O'Keefe brings
a novel approach to his two pieces, combining an old-old-school
Sunday page design sense (we suspect he may have spent some time surled
up with Art Out of Time)
with a very contemporary sensibility. We look forward to watching
his
talent develop ( and we hope that it continues to do so in the pages of
MOME). And
then there's the topper:
"Million Year Boom," by Tom Kaczynski will knock your socks off.
It is probably the first succcessful translation of the Ballardian (as
in J.G.
Ballard)
narrative approach to science fiction yet achieved in comics
form. This deeply creepy tale brings us face to face with a world
where major corporate leaders so deeply internalize their own marketing
messages and stock market hype that they become untethered from
consensus reality and move into the ambiguous landscapes of delusion,
paranoia and insanity that were so successfully mined by Ballard (and,
to be fair, by many others, most notably Philip K Dick; but none so
well as Ballard, who is most convincingly evoked here). While the
influence of Clowes is certainly evident in Kaczynski's work, he has
created a wholly original synthesis here. This issue is rounded
out with contributions by MOME regulars Andrice Arp, Paul Hornschemeier and Kurt
Wolfgang. Encore! Encore!
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Gary Panter
by Gary Panter
The definitive monograph on the one and only Gary Panter is here. Published by PictureBox, "This monumental, slipcased set is split into two 344-page volumes. The first is a comprehensive monograph featuring over 700 images of paintings, drawings, sculptures, posters and comics, alongside essays by Robert Storr, Mike Kelley, Edwin Pouncey, Richard Klein, Richard Gehr, Karrie Jacobs and Byron Coley, as well a substantial commentary by the artist himself. The second volume features a selection from Panter’s sketchbooks–the site of some of his most audacious work–most of which has never been published in any form."
retail price - $95.00 copacetic price - $77.77
The Explainers
by Jules Feiffer
OK, this is the one we've been waiting for. It all starts here. Jules Feiffer is the founding father of the alternative newsweekly comic strip. He walked into the offices of the Village Voice at some point during the first year of its operations and pitched an idea for a continuing comic strip. The editors took him up on it and for the next forty years Feiffer turned in a strip nearly every week, ALL of which will be collected by Fantagraphics in four fat volumes, each collecting a decade's worth of strips. This 546 page volume is the first. Feiffer reinvented the comic strip for the then nascent "Alt." crowd that had The Village as it's ground zero. These strips seem amazingly contemporary even today. Try saying that about any other 50 year old comic strip (well, not counting Peanuts, which is, evidently, timeless). Feiffer created the template, and pretty much owned it for twenty years. Once the punk rock generation clawed their way into the newsweeklies Feiffer's way became ubiquitous, and cartoonists the likes of Matt Groening, Lynda Barry, Mark Stamaty and Stan Mack spread the gospel. The comics contained in The Explainers are smart and funny and made a vital contribution to the development of American comics.
retail price - $28.99 copacetic price - $25.00
Comic Arf
edited by Craig Yoe
It's time for another oversize collection of "the unholy marriage of comics + art" as defined by editor Yoe. The highlight this time around is the opening salvo: 31 of today's top cartoonists each complete an installment of "Draw Your Own Conclusion," a series originally created in the late 1920s by old-school-comics-master, Milt Gross, as a contest wherein readers sent in their version of the last panel, and the winner received $25 (a lot, in those days) and saw their conclusion see print. This time around we're all winners as the responders whose conclusions see print range from R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman and Kaz to Xaime Hernandez, Pete Bagge and Ivan Brunetti to Mike Mignola and Sergio Aragonés to Patrick McDonnell and Bill Griffith to Jules Feiffer and Matt Groening to Mort Walker and Bil Keane... and more! There's also a hefty dose of Gross's full-page full-color Sunday pages from the same period. There's plenty more on hand here including color scans of the original art for a seven-page Bob Powell pre-code horror story.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77
Dororo, Volume One
by Osamu Tezuka
Hard to believe, but here's yet another late sixties masterwork by the one and only Tezuka, published by Vertical. This time around the publisher, Vertical, has opted for the original righit-to-left Japanese page order ; in other words, unlike the other Vertical editions of Tezuka's work (Buddha, MW, etc.) this one reads "back" to "front." This is the first of three volumes. Get a nice preview, here.
retail price - $13.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Speed Racer: Mach GO GO GO
by Tatsuo Yoshida & Co.
Just in time for the Wachowski Bros. full-length (2 1/2 hours!) CGI-intensive feature film, DMP has put together a complete edition of the original Speed Racer manga from back in the day. It's a slip-cased edition composed of two hardcover volumes that will be sure to rev up the emotional engines of Speed Racer fans (you know who you are). Read this, for a fairly thorough accounting of its merits, a nice photo of the actual item and a general meditation on all things Speed Racer.
retail price - $39.95 copacetic price - $33.33
Little Nothings: The Curse of the Umbrella
by Lewis Trondheim
Fully cognizant adult funny animals walk and talk through the streets and across the skies of Europe, searching for meaning and beauty in this 120 page graphic novel that is confidently rendered in pen and ink and sensitively colored in watercolor by one of the most popular of contemporary European comics artists.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $13.50
Three Shadows
by Cyril Pedrosa
Hey, this one's a beaut. :01 (First Second, to you) made all the right choices to emphasize the aesthetic pleasures in this fine 268 page graphic novel by reknowned (at least in France) French artist Cyril Pedrosa. All we have to say is that if dramatic narratives, cinematic storytelling and great ink brush work are your thing, then this is for you! Not sure, check out this preview.
retail price - $15.99 copacetic price - $14.44
Little
Vampire
by Joann Sfar
Vampires. Little vampires. A cute li'l blood-sucker doing his thing in a big book full of full color comics. Little vampire, little vampire, won't you come out and play? What more can be said, which is more or less a sort of follow up (prequel?) to Sfar's earlier Vampire Loves, which presents the gambollings of a moody adolescent vampire. It seems the world just can't get enough of vampires. Here's the comic that dares to ask the question, "Can vampires be cute?" To help you decide the answer, here's a preview. It's cute!
retail price - $13.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Life Sucks
by Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria and Warren Pleece
:01 seems intent on moving in on Vertigo's turf with this one. A tall tale of walking on the wild side with twenty-something, surfer-duding, night-clerking, goth-rocking (and not-so-cute -- what a difference fifteen or twenty years makes, huh?) vampires. Might be good, let's check out this bloodless preview and see what we think. Hmm, looks a bit like Ghost World meets a PG-13 version of Howard Chaykin's Black Kiss. Vampires. It looks like there's no getting away from them. Why are we not surprised?
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
ordering info
New for April 2008
Thoreau at Walden
by John Porcellino
Thoreau & Porcellino: a perfect match if there ever was one! We have nothing but good things to say about this, the third volume in the Center of Cartoon Studies series of American Biography in Comics. Printed in brown and black ink, this new hardcover book is a fantastic intro to the life and works of Henry David Thoreau and makes for a transporting read. Porcellino had extracted the key quotes from Walden (along with a few from Civil Disobedience, for good measure) and then given them plenty of space to breath in the reader's mind, as the gently paced visuals flow across the page and work to capture the deliberate and gradual rhythms of Thoreau's day to day existence, which is to say real life, as it is lived: the practical realization of his philosophy, in comics.
retail price - $16.99 copacetic price - $14.44
The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing About the Godfather of Soul
edited by Nelson George and Alan Leeds
Talk about contrasts! Henry David Thoreau and James Brown may very well be the alpha and omega of American culture -- everything else will fit in between these two giants. Here's your first chance to follow the life and career of James Brown as it happened. This entire volume is all from original source material penned as history was made, beginning with an unsigned Variety reveiw of a 1959 show at the Apollo through to a lengthy 2006 appreciation of his life by Jonathan Lethem for Rolling Stone, The James Brown Reader presents the most multi-faceted single volume view of its subject yet. A must!
retail price - $17.00 copacetic price - $15.00
Hall of Best Knowledge
by Ray Fenwick
A book like no other, HoBK is very tough to concisely describe, but we'll give it the old college try: It is a meditation on ideas concerning knowledge; specifically on what constitutes authority in the realm of knowledge, and how this authority is represented. It is -- whether consciously so or not is open to debate -- an examination of the perception that an innate authority lies in manuscripts -- literally "writing by hand" -- the medium through which all traditional knowledge was stored and distributed during the millenia preceding Gutenberg's invention of the movable type and the printing press ushered in the era of print (which era, we hasten to add, is now coming to a close -- what better time to revisit its precursor?). Fenwick employs walls of irony and sarcasm to seal off the reader into chamber of darkness wherein he lights a single candle and everything is illuminated.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
Dead Ringer
by Jason Miles
Whew, this one's another toughie. This is an 11" x 15" handmade narrative portfolio. Limited to 500 copies, (hand?) printed on heavy flat white stock, with hand-scored cardboard covers, Dead Ringers is a graphic meditation on death and personal mortality that employs stasis as its central metaphor. Learn more, here.
retail price - $14.00 copacetic price - $12.00
The Rabbi's Cat 2
by Joann Sfar
Hey, here's a swell surprise: another fine hardcover edition continuing the series of elegantly eloquent tales set among the Jewish diaspora in the French inflected culture of northern Africa, centered in Algiers, and taking place during the more innocent days of the 1930s. The eternal mysteries of love, faith, ritual and nature are probed with a delicate and nuanced touch in the 130, lush, full color pages of this hardcover volume. A real treat. Get a nice sneak preview, here.
retail price - $22.95 copacetic price - $20.00
Papercutter #7
Another fine issue of this perky peppy anthology published in Portland, Oregon by Tugboat Press. This time around we have an epic of 8th grade outsiders by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill followed by a one-pager by Aron Nels Steinke and a striking adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Sheperdess and the Chimney Sweep" by Andy Hartzell, who has clearly built on the momentum of his successful Fox Bunny Fox and turned in his finest work to date here. We can't wait for the next issue!
retail price - $4.00 copacetic price - $3.50
Welcome
to the Dahl House:
Alienation, Incarceration and Inebreation in the New American Rome
by Ken Dahl
Are you worried that things are going just a little too good? Need to be brought down a notch from your giddy heights of blissful contentment? No? Didn't think so. But, if you were, then Welcome to the Dahl House would be the ticket. The harsh world view on display here in this finely crafted compendium make the comics of Chris Ware and Ivan Brunetti seem the work of dewy-eyed optimists by comparison. And, it's priced on the assumption that you're broke, so you can actually afford it!
retail price - $7.00 copacetic price - $6.25
Wordless Books: the Original Graphic Novels
written and edited by David A. Beronä w/ introduction by Peter Kuper
Lynn Ward, Franz Masereel, Milt Gross and Laurence Hyde -- they're all here along with several of their lesser known cohorts in this lavishly produced survey of the picture novel that flourished in the first half of the twentieth century. High quality, full page reproductions abound, all are accompanied by historical and crictical essays that help put the works in context. Also full color scans of the volumes themselves. This volume is a great primer to this important area, and a work of art in itself!
retail price - $35.00 copacetic price - $19.75
A
People's History of American Empire
by Howard Zinn • adapted by David Wagner & Paul Buhle with art by Mike Konopacki
This 272 page, 8 1/2" x 11" volume provides a graphic interpretation of the key points of Howard Zinn's seminal, alternative reading of American history, A People's History of The United States. If you' haven't been able to find the time to read Zinn's opus, this volume just might be the ticket. We used to say that A People's History will teach you a whole different American history from what you learned in school, but this book (and/or the material it introduced) has now begun to be introduced into curriculums, as well as bits and pieces being disseminated through the culture at large through the mainstream media, so maybe you've already been introduced to some of the events and perspectives delineated here, but nothing beats getting the big picture, and that's what this book is intent on delivering. In any event, if you're not familiar with Zinn's work and you enjoy history in comics form, then you owe it to yourself to check this out.
hardcover - retail price - $17.00 copacetic price - $15.00
softcover - retail price - $30.00 copacetic price - $25.00
Wholphin No. 5
The fifth issue of the "DVD Magazine of Rare and Unseen Short FIlms" has arrived. Documentaries, short fiction films and animations from Africa, Spain, Canada, the UK and (primarily) right here in the USA. Spend a day with the Sudanese Liberation Army, see drunk bees, watch Spanish science fiction, experience a herion addicted carnival monkey (don't worry, it's an animation), be outraged at the treatment of American Indians and enjoy the 20 minute adaptation of Michael Chabon's short story, "House Hunting," directed by Amy Lippman and featuring Paul Rudd & Zooey Deschanel; along with much more -- all of which you won't be seeing anywhere else (at least for now). Get the whole story -- and the chance to watch tons of web-only short films -- here.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
Other new arrivals include:
More Old Jewish Comedians
by Drew Friedman
'Nuff said.
retail price - $16.99 copacetic price - $15.00
Kaput & Zösky
by Lewis Trondgein w/Eric Cartier
Great hi-jinx fun for kids of all ages. Full color.
retail price - $13.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Funeral of the Heart
by Leah Hayes
Dark (very dark, like, black) musings from the author of Holy Moley.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Daddy's Girl
by Debbie Dreschler
This landmark comics work of the hell and purgatory of childhood and adolescence is now back in print in this finely crafted hardcover edition.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $12.75
M: A Graphic Novel based on the Film by Fritz Lang
by Jon J Muth
Here's a deluxe, expanded, hardcover collection of the 1990 series.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $22.22
One Hundred and Forty-Five Stories in a Small Box
• How the Water Feels to the Fishes by Dave Eggers
• Hard to Admit and Harder to Escape by Sarah Manguso
• Minor Robberies by Deb Olin Unferth
These three hardcover books are snugly enclosed together in an illustrated (by Jacob Magraw-Mickelson) slipcase and bring you together the 145 short (generally very short) stories of the overarching title; from the fine folks at McSweeney's.
retail price - $25.00 copacetic price - $21.25
ordering info
New for March 2008
Ganges 2
by Kevin Huizenga
It's been almost a year (more?) since we've seen anything new by Kevin H. (not counting the self-published mini, Sermons #2), so it was with no small trepidation that we cracked open the second issue of Ganges. which is the 27th in the Ignatz series. What surprises will it hold? Well, we certainly don't want to rob you of this experience, so we're not going to go into too much depth here, but we will say this much: This issue has a bipartate structure. The opening section is a bravurra performance on Huizenga's part, in which he takes on a challenge that is dear to many cartoonists of his generation (Brinkman, Chippendale and Paperrad foremost among them): that of portraying the inner vision of the inveterate videogamer. Huizenga ups the ante here by going one step further and attempting to depict the ideational transformations that are brought about by continual gaming. Employing a (nearly)purely visual approach that is in places reminiscent of the work of Jim Woodring and Ron Regé, Jr., he presents his vision in such a way as to imply that these transformations may involve actual organic restructuring -- although this latter implication is somewhat undercut by the conclusion of the piece, which is not so much a story as it is an experiment in visualization. The following part, "Pulverize," which takes up 2/3 of the issue, is a more mundane piece. Another of Huizinga's fictionalized, semi-autobiographical accounts of the type that dominated the first issue of Ganges, it provides an enjoyable, straightforward account of time spent working in a dotcom startup that involved a lot of after hours videogaming. Here, however, it serves the additional (one might even say primary) function of providing the "real world" context -- the objective outer vision -- for the subjective inner vision of the opening pages that precede it. Suffice it to say there's plenty of food for thought here; the only question is, will it be enough to sustain readers until the next Huizenga release?
retail price - $7.95 copacetic price - $6.75
The Ten Cent Plague
by David Hajdu
We've been looking forward to this one. It's an in-depth cultural history of comics by the author of Positively 4th Street (about Dylan & Co. in the Village) and Lushlife, a biography of Pittsburgh's own Billy Strayhorn. We'll let you know what we think once we have a chance to get through it. For now, here's the official hype: "In the years between World War II and the emergence of television as a mass medium, American popular culture as we know it was first created—in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. No sooner had this new culture emerged than it was beaten down by church groups, community bluestockings, and a McCarthyish Congress—only to resurface with a crooked smile on its face in Mad magazine. The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told—until The Ten-Cent Plague. David Hajdu’s remarkable new book vividly opens up the lost world of comic books, its creativity, irreverence, and suspicion of authority." HERE's a nice chunky preview excerpt .
retail price - $26.00 copacetic price - $22.22
Kirby: King of
Comics
by Mark Evanier
Here it is, the official authorized biography of the King! Yes, of course, this is a lavishly illustrated oversize hardcover edition. It's author, Mark Evanier was the man closest to Kirby during the last two decades of his life and so was in a position to learn of many personal anecdotes that no other chronicler of Kirby's life would have had access to. That said, Evanier's acccount of Kirby's life is not the thorough, in-depth one that we are all waiting for -- it looks like we'll have to wait a bit longer. From a production and presentation standpoint, however, the creators of this volume have done an excellent job. The quality of the reproductions is top notch and the've made all the right printing decisions -- flat colors on flat, bright, low-reflective, heavyweight white stock. The book is filled with page after amazing page of full size reproductions of original art, as well as luscious reproductions of the comics themselves. This book is a real pleasure to go through. When all is said and done, this must be considered a book that no self-respecting comics fan can be without.
retail price - $40.00 copacetic price - $35.00
Little Things
by Jeffrey Brown
Mr. Brown takes another step closer to the mainstream with this 352 page collection published by Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster. Subtitled, "A Memoir in Slices," this volume consists of a dozen pieces of various lengths, all rendered in his trademarked scratchy pen & ink style. Some of these have seen print before, most notably, the lead off "These Things, These Things," but this collection is mostly new. It's pretty much a "must have" item for all pre-existent Jeffrey Brown fans. It is, however, especially well suited to serve as a jumping on point to those readers who have yet to experience his work. While the story content on display here will be especially appealling to twenty-somethings, Jeffrey Brown is a natural born cartoonist, and his work is unfailingly engaging to anyone who enjoys reading comics.
retail price - $14.00 copacetic price - $12.50
The Complete Peanuts,
Volume 9: 1967-68
by Charles M. Schulz
introduction by John Waters(!)
Well, this time around the wonderful world of Peanuts we have 1967 & 1968, two of the most pivotal years in American history, the apogee of "the sixties." The events of these years continue to resonate strongly today, bringing to the fore much of the culture clash that defines our own era. Now's your chance to (re)experience Charlie Brown & Co.'s take on it all. John Waters turns in a surprisingly heartfelt introduction wherein he reveals Lucy as his personal patron Peanut, providing yet another perspective from which to view his films. Firsts on hand in this volume include the introduction of the strip's first African-American, Franklin, along with the less well remembered José Rodriguez. There's plenty more we could say, but really, there's no need: it's Peanuts, it's all good.
retail price - $28.95 copacetic price - $23.15
Barefoot Gen of Hiroshima Volumes 5
& 6
by Keiji Nakazawa
We hope you haven't forgotten about Project Gen's ongoing project to bring the entire ten-volume saga of Hadashi no Gen to an American audience. We certainly hadn't! These two are the volumes we've really been waiting for as they take us into new territory, for the first time presenting material that has never before appeared in English. Here are brief synopses courtesy the publisher, Last Gasp: "Volume Five of the Barefoot Gen story follows Gen's struggles in postwar Japan. The people of Hiroshima face a massive food shortage and horrendous health problems. Gen is in school, but he is forced to choose between making money to support his family or staying in school to be a part of society. The choice is further complicated when his mother becomes sick, and his old friends reappear
as
part of a street gang. There is no help for his mother, save for the
costly medicine procured on the black market. Gen becomes entangled
with black market gangs and faces an internal struggle of honor,
ethics, and duty to resolve his problems. In Volume Six, Gen
fights against a corrupt medical system, the discriminatory practices
of his neighbors, and the American presence in postwar Japan. Gen's
brother, Koji, has gone away to work in the coal mines, but has since
disappeared. To make up for the shortage, he and his friends must
resort to more drastic measures, which lands one of the bunch in a
juvenile detention center." What's that? You say you
haven't even started reading this series yet? Well, don't
despair, we still have the first four volumes of this 20th
century masterpiece in stock and copacetically priced.
retail price - $14.95@ copacetic price - $12.75@
Arab in America
by Toufic El Rassi
While we're on the subject of comics' ability to show how the world looks through another's eyes, this new 118 page graphic memoir, also published by Last Gasp (which seems to be on a mission to broaden American's perspectives), promises its readers, "The eye-opening story of the life of an average Arab-American struggling with his identity in an increasingly hostile nation." Moving with his family from Beirut to Chicago a year after his birth in 1978, El Rassi is well positioned to illustrate the prejudice and discrimination Arabs and Muslims experience in American society. He recounts his personal experiences after the 9/11 attacks and during the implementation of new security and immigration laws that followed, and gives context to current world events, providing readers with an overview of the modern history of the Middle East, including the Gulf wars. In addition, Arab in America includes several asides that examine the roles American films and news media play in creating negative stereotypes of Arab-Americans, in order to demonstrate how difficult it is to have an Arab identity in a society saturated with anti-Arab images and messages.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $12.75
The Education of
Hopey Glass
by Jaime Hernandez
The arrival of a new Love and Rockets collection is always a cause for celebration, and this 128-page hardcover, the 24th volume in the Complete Love and Rockets, collecting material that originally appeared in Love and Rockets v.2 #s 11 - 19, is certainly no exception. The first course here is "Day by Day with Hopey," which gives us Hopey's gradual segue into (gasp!) middle age -- which, of course, involves Maggie along with many other lesser lights, some not seen for quite awhile. This makes for a revelatory reading experience for anyone who's been around since anywhere near the beginning of this 25 year long story; an aspect we touched on in our review of L & R v.2#15. The going gets even heavier -- and tougher and meatier and sexier and scarier and just about any other adjective you can add an -er to -- in the long series of linked pieces, all told from Ray D.'s perspective, that, while giving us several tantalizing glimses of Maggie and Angel (and Doyle!), focus primarily on the adventures of Vivian -- aka "Frogmouth" -- who operates on the razor's edge of rationality, so you never know which way she's going to go, making her an extremely propulsive figure, narratively speaking. A couple quick peeks at "The Angel of Tarzana" along with full-page B & W reproductions of those of Jaime's works that graced the front and back covers of the comics these stories originally appeared in round out this life sustaining collection. Jaime Hernandez is the greatest delineator of character in the history of comics -- his pen and ink lines posses an uncanny transformative power capable of creating cartoon beings that insinuate themselves into the reader's psyche to such a profound degree that they become an integral part of self and identity, weaving themselves into the very fabric of reality -- and he's still in his prime. Long after we're all dead and buried, readers all over the world will still be marveling at the genius that is amply on display here.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $15.99
Cold Heat Special #3
By Frank Santoro & Dash Shaw
While Santoro burns the midnight oil finishing up the Cold Heat graphic novel, he knows Cold Heat fans are jonesing, and so has commisioned an ongoing series of specials. These specials are all limited editions with very low print runs and they won't be reprinted in the graphic novel, so don't miss out! CHS #3 is a collaboration with up and coming comics experimentalist, Dash Shaw (see the latest issue of MOME) that is built around a combination of early Italian renaissance imagery and contemporary urban cityscape. This time out we have a saddle-stapled 16-page horizontally formatted comic book with a wraparound two-color cover that blurs the line between waking and sleeping, dream and reality, drugged and straight, and yesterday and today, as well as between classical fine art and contemporary popular art. In other words, this comic book is not the kind you see every day.
copacetic price - $3.00
Spunj Baahb
by Chris Cornwell
Are you looking for new, fun and smart, visually and intellectually stimulating, hand-made and independently published comics work that's created right here in Pittsburgh, PA? Well, if you are, you've come to the right place. Spunj Baahb is the latest comics conundrum by Copacetic customer Chris Cornwell. It's a 20-page, 8 1/2" x 11" black & white, saddle-stapled comics magazine printed on 28 lb. bright white stock with a two-color hand silk screened cover on sky blue cardstock. Except for two pages of exposition wherein the work's themes are explicitly stated, the narrative unfolds entirely in Cornwell's ever evolving pictograhic language. While cartoon characters such as Sponge-Bob Squarepants™ are commonly understood to represent the communal unconscious of the society that produced it, Spunj Baahb takes it a step further and posits the inner life of the cartoon character itself -- the dream within the dream, if you will -- and does so with much aplomb.
retail price - $5.00 copacetic price - $4.00
Haunted
by Phillippe Dupuy
This one represents quite a departure for Dupuy. Those who are accustomed to his stylish depictions of French bourgeois life will be in for a surprise. Taking the form of a 200 page hardcover graphic novel; sparse and scratchy in its execution; by turns scary, funny, sad, cute, odd, bizarre and absurd, Haunted is a 200 page self analysis in comics that was nomiated for the 2006 award for Best Comic Book at Angoulême International Comics Festival. Here's a 5-page preview to give you an idea of what we're talking about.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $22.22
Lost Highway (DVD)
directed by David Lynch
The final (major) piece in the puzzle of the Lynchian oeuvre is at last in place. Employing the great American metaphor of driving -- in a highly coded manner that takes one bizarrely twisted turn after another -- Lost Highway shows us the innermost workings of a psyche (in more ways than one, Lynch's own) that failed to successfully navigate the transition from childhood to adulthood and so remains trapped in a state of traumatized adolescence where identity remains in a constant state of transitional flux and the real and the imagined are never far apart. Or something like that. Not to mention the cool soundtrack. Get creeped out, freaked out, wigged out and more!
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77
Funplex (CD)
by The B-52s
The first new
LP in well over a decade by the band from Athens, GA that brought the
party back to music over (good lord!
>choke<) thirty years ago. The entire band --
including, once again, Cindy Wilson, who has returned to the fold
-- shake their tail feathers as hard as they can and prove that they
can still rock the house. They're still tripping the light
fantastic in more ways than one and remain dedicated to their ethos of
combining an inspired fun-filled kookiness with a stripped down
sensuality to preach the gospel of personal liberation.
It's hard to believe, but the B-52s are now as old as (and even older
than) their own parents were when the band first started out, yet here
they are, still at it. You might experience a momentary twinge of
awkwardness at the spectacle of fifty-somethings getting down and
dirty, but hey -- that's what the B-52s are all about.
retail price - $18.98 copacetic price - $12.77
ordering info
New for February 2008
The Spirit #12
by Darwyn Cooke
While Darwyn Cooke originally planned for a two-year stint on The Spirit, circumstances conspired to cut his run short at the halfway mark. The evidence of this final issue -- an exigetical adaptation of Eisner's original Sand Saref story (the same story Frank Miller's upcoming movie is also using as it's core text) -- bears out that this is all it took for Cooke to bore right to the core of not just the character of The Spirit but of the spirit of the noir sensibility itself. Through his masterful employment of Eisner's late style (which Eisner himself used to portray the past; i.e. his own childhood during the depression out of which so many heroes emerged to collectively shake the country out of its torpor) in conjunction with his own, Cooke has managed to delineate how the fatalistic noir sensibility is connected to a personal feeling of discontinuity, particularly the sense of disconnection with childhood self: the "paradise lost" that Denny Colt's pre-sexual relationship with Sand represented. It is the trauma of sexualization (that is metaphorically represented in The Spirit #12 -- as it is in so many other myths -- by the death of the father) that separates childhood from adulthood and it is the "something" that is lost at that moment that the hero (here, The Spirit) is forever trying to recapture; but these attempts are always failures and it is the final resignation to the permanence of this "failure" to regain the "paradise" of unsexualized childhood that colors the noir sensibility. This quest to capture the sense of childhood innocence is amplified by the choice of medium: the fact of the story being told in comic book form implicitly links it to the very childhood innocence that the comic book symbolizes and so transforms this issue into a near perfect symbol of Paradise Lost. The Spirit #12 is not just a tough act to follow, it's impossible.
retail price - $2.99 copacetic special price - $2.69
Fantastic Comics #24
by Allred, Casey, Larson, Rugg, Scioli, Sienkiewicz, Yeates, et al
While it is true that some are acts are indeed impossible to follow, history has shown that the second act will nevertheless often show up and give it a try, like the Monkees taking the stage after Hendrix finished his set -- it was totally pointless, but there they were. Other times there's a bit of a lag, as in this instance: here we have the latest issue of Fantastic Comics... 67 years after the last one! The creators of this encore/homage clearly had a lot of fun reviving these classic characters -- among whom are numbered Capt. Kidd, Yank Wilson, Sub Saunders, Space Smith, Samson and Stardust. There's definitely a bit of a boy's club feel to everything here, but implicit in this clubby atmosphere is the sense of a slumbering tradition being revived. Each of these revivals carry their own unique stamp of respect for the precursors at the same time that they knowingly wink at and/or reconfigure those aspects which are clearly dated. And while we are doubtless somewhat biased, we can't help but single out the contributions of Copacetic customers Jim Rugg and Tom Scioli as counting among the highlights. Anyone with a soft spot for classic old school comic books will have as much fun reading this as the writers and artists did creating it.
retail price - $5.95 copacetic price - $5.35
Reflecting Culture: The Evolution
of American Super Heroes
by Gail Stavitsky
w/ contributions by Michael Uslan, Patterson Sims & Twig Johnson
Published by The Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, New Jersey, on the occcasion of the exhibition of the same name that closed in January, this catalogue of the exhibition is the most intelligent yet assembled on the history, function and significance of the comic book super hero yet produced. This 68 page, 8 1/2" x 11 1/4 " volume is filled with crisp, full color, high definition reproductions of a wide range of original art and original
editions
of comic books from the golden age to the present. Divided into
six sections -- "Super Heroes Go To War," "Cold War, Conformity, and
Censorship," "Questioning Authority," "American Indian Super Heroes,
Diversity and Moral Complexity," and "Super Heroes at Ground Zero" --
each
of which is introduced by a concise essay placing the works in
the approproriate context. The organization of the exhibit and
the insights demonstrated by the essays demonstrate an impressive grasp
of the material and left us
feeling both grateful that cultural institutions are finally beginning
to give more than lip service to the important role that comic books
and super heroes have played -- and continue to play -- in the
culture and history of America, and impressed yet again by the fact
that quality, groundbreaking work can be found in the most unexpected
places -- like Montclair, NJ. Take a look at the NY
Times review
(complete with slideshow), for a little more "color." These
catalogues are made available here at a substantial discount off their
original price as the result of a special, one-time purchase from the
museum. We think it's a price worth taking advantage of.
retail price - $15.00 copacetic special price - $8.88
The
Comics Journal #288
Behold! The wonder of the New Format! Yes, it's true: that cornerstone of the world of comics has undergone yet another make over. This time around it has -- more or less -- been subjected to MOME-ization, in that has been shrunk to 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" (which is half way between the old Journal size and that of MOME) while seeing everything else about it upgraded to the MOME format: stiff, glossy covers contain heavy, bright-white paperstock (except for the 44-page full color comics classics section, which is, at least this time out, appropriately printed on heavyweight cream stock), for a heftier and more solid feel, which shows TCJ following the medium in its migration from the ephemeral, rack-displayed and box-stored, magazine format, to the permanent, shelf-friendly, book format. #288, the inaugural issue of this format, features "The Best Comics of 2007," along with interviews galore -- Paul Karasik, Bryan Talbot, Peter Kuper, Cathy Malkasian, Nick Bertozzi, and Joe Sacco interviewing Rutu Modan -- and, wonder of wonders, the comics classics section features 44 pages of that fashion illustrator turned Golden Age comics great, Tarpé Mills, the bulk of which is devoted to her greatest creation, Miss Fury!
retail price - $11.95 copacetic price - $10.00
Angst: The Best of
Norwegian Comics
The answer to your question is, "Yes, the comics have been translated into English." Now that we have that over with, we'll let you know that this is a 96 page magazine size collection printed in black & white and full color. Yes, in addition to the cover there are two short Jason pieces of indeterminate age, but it's his peers that you'll be getting to know here, and there's a whole crew for you to be introduced to here, with quite a variety of styles and talents in the dozen pieces by as many (+1) creators that are on display. Broaden your horizons with this comics tour of the land of fjords, Norway!
retail price - $12.00 copacetic price - $12.00 (sorry, no discount on this one)
Maakies with the
Wrinkled Knees
by Tony Millionaire
Yes, it's time for another hardcover, super-horizontal, hardback collection of the incredible pen & ink stylings of the comics champion of alcoholic antics, nautical naughtiness and pellucid peccadillos. It's never too late to throw caution to the wind and jump right in.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
The Bakers: Babies and Kittens
by Kyle Baker
What's cuter than babies? Babies and kittens! The funniest man in comics returns with anther hardcover collection of thinly veiled stories of his family's antics that will deeply resonate to any comics reader suffering through paternity. Any and all Chuck Jones fans will find this book a dream come true with its hi-jinx cartoon style which is deeply indebted to Jones. This is a very funny book. You will laugh.
retail price - $18.99 copacetic price - $17.00
The Book of Other
People
edited by Zadie Smith
We've been looking forward to this 300+ page softcover anthology for a long time, and now that we've had a chance to pore through it we feel safe in freely recommending it -- it's a real treat. All the pieces are focused on the process of character creation and formation. The work of 22 of the best contemporary writers of fiction is on hand here -- Edwidge Danticat, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Safran Foer, Andrew Sean Greer, Aleksandar Hemon, A. M. Homes, Nick Hornby, Heidi Julavits, Miranda July, A. L. Kennedy, Hari Kunzu, Jonathan Lethem (whose contribution is sure to be a standout among Copacetic habitués), Toby Litt, David Mitchell, Andrew O'Hagan, ZZ Packer, George Saunders, Posy Simmonds, Adam Thirlwell, Colm Tóibín, Vendela Vida and editor Zadie Smith herself -- along with two of today's top cartoonists, Chris Ware and Dan Clowes, who both turn in amazing, full color stories that are almost worth the price of the anthology all by themselves. And not only that: this book is a "charity anthology", meaning that none of the contributors were paid and that all profits go to a charitable organization -- in this case, 826NYC, "a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children 6 - 18 with their creative and expository writing skills." And then there's the amazing Charles Burns cover. How can you say no? To learn more, read these reviews in the LA Times, NY Times and the UK Independent.
retail price - $15.00 copacetic price - $12.75
Black Hole - softcover edition
by Charles Burns
And, speaking of Charles Burns, those few unfortunate souls among you who strayed and so failed to get a hold of his amazing comics masterwork now have now been given a second -- and less expensive -- chance. Make sure you take it.
retail price - $17.95 copacetic price - $16.25
Crickets #2
by Sammy Harkham
The wait is over. It's been well over a year since this series premiered, and we were wondering if it was going to continue, or not. Well, no more! This issue -- which, according to the front cover, features "generals, pregnant teenagers, cartoonists, golems, prophets and boners" -- primarily consists of the second chapter of "Black Death", but there are a half dozen or so additional shorts that are a lot of fun and help make up for the long wait. It's like they say: "You can't rush quality." This work is in the "comics purist" school: every line, from cover to cover, including the credits and even the letters page, is hand drawn.
retail price - $4.95 copacetic price - $4.44
Heironymous B.
by Ulf K.
Ulf K. is a German artist whom we suspect makes his living as a commercial illustrator, but who has nevertheless been quietly and steadily working away on his comics for two decades now. He has produced a small but very solid body of work that puts him at the front of the ligne claire ranks. This slim attractively produced hardcover volume collects (we believe) all extant appearances of the eponymous character, a minor clerk working in public administration. Ulf K.'s work has a small but loyal fan base that is spread out over Europe and the Americas, a fact that is attested to by the fact that this volume has no less than five publishers: Edition 52 in Germany, Bries in Holland, Dibbuks in Spain, Komika in Sweden and Top Shelf in the USA. The stories herein contained, for those unfamiliar with his work, are in a vein that is (vaguely) like a crossbreed of two other mono-named comics creators: Jason -- in their clear and concise pantomime storytelling -- and Seth -- in their focus on the melancholy of the workaday world (someone should do -- or, more likely, already has done -- a study on what, if any, similarites there are between all the mono-named comics creators); Mr. K.'s work is all his own, however, in its delightful flights of fancy.
retail price - $15.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Lois #1
stories by Lois Gilbert w/Harvey Pekar
art by Gary Dumm and Greg Budgett
40 pages of comics written by Pekar protegé and pal, Lois Gilbert, and illustrated by those American Splendor stalwarts, Dumm and Budgett. If you enjoy the comics of Harvey Pekar, the chances are very good that you'll enjoy this comic as well. We did! Make sure to give it the once over.
retail price - $5.00 copacetic price - $4.50
Insomia #3 (the 25th in the Ignatz series)
by Matt Broersma
Another long wait is ended with this release, the best issue yet in Broersma's Insomnia series.
retail price - $7.95 copacetic price - $6.75
Blue Pills: A Positive Love Story
by Frederik Peeters
This hardcover release was a hit in Europe where it was originally released. It is the personal memoir of the artist relating the story of his relationship with an HIV positive girlfriend and her HIV positive son from a previous relationship. _____ is a seasoned storyteller and the story flows along with its ink brushed lines of his artwork. The story deals openly with his navigation of the fears and anxieties that accompany the progess of the romance. To learn more, read Derik Badman's in-depth review on Madinkbeard.
retail price - $18.95 copacetic price - $17.00
Paul Goes Fishing
By Michel Rabagliati
Following up on Paul Has a Summer Job and Paul Moves Out, Paul Goes Fishing follows its eponymous (and semi-autobiographical) hero along on the next chapter of his life, including, as you would expect, fishing, as well as family, flashbacks, forays and... fatherhood! 185 pages of solid comics storytelling from this Montreal native who has followed his career as an illustrator with an ever more successful second act as a cartoonist. If you have yet to read one of Rabagliati's comics, there's no better place to start than here.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
The Al Williamson
Reader
The Lou Fine Reader, Volume 2
Wallace Wood's Wayout
Believe it or not, this month brings us three new books from Pure Imagination, the undisputed champion of classic comics reprints. The Al Williamson Reader is a true treasure trove: 23 -- count 'em -- stories that originally ran between 1948 and 1965, spanning the key years of Williamson's long (and still running) career. These stories run the gamut of the classic comics genres, including westerns, horror, science fiction, jungle, suspense and war. And, as for the inkers, well, nothing but the best for Williamson: this collection features the fine pen and brush work of none other than Frank Frazetta, Angelo Torres, John Severin, Wally Wood and, of course, Williamson himself. What a find! The second volume of The Lou Fine Reader contains 14 classic Golden Age tales taken from the pages of Jumbo, Wonderworld, Smash, Crack, Feature and National Comics published between 1939 and 1941. Also included are 24 rare early "Wilton of the West" full page Sunday comics from 1938 (published under the same psuedonym -- Fred Sande -- that Jack Kirby used when penning this strip earlier that same year), and 16 pages -- at 4-up per page -- of his late newspaper strip, "Peter Scratch". And then there's Wally Wood's Wayout. This one's a bit of a departure from the tried and true Pure Imagination format in that it collects not Wood's comics works (some of which have already been collected in Pure Imagination's The Wally Wood Reader), but instead focuses on his science fiction illustration work, all done for Galaxy and If. The bulk of the work on hand here is from the late 1950s, but it extends all the way to 1968. The work is especially notable for its use of ink wash. All of Wood's signature bits are on display here, including his unique sense of humor. This one will primarily be of interest to illustration fans and hardcore Wood collectors, who will be quite happy to add this one to their library -- especially when they discover the super special price we are offering it at -- along with both the Williamson and Fine Readers. These are real values on great classic comics.
retail price - $25.00@ copacetic special price - $19.99@
Lust Caution (DVD)
directed by Ang Lee
w/ Tony Leung, Tang Wei and Joan Chen
Fresh from his Oscar win for Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee delivers this devastating critique of the folly of entertainers' attempts to involve themselves in politics that is as intense as it is insightful. NC-17; widescreen; 157 minutes.
retail price - $29.98 copacetic price - $24.77
The Darjeeling Limited (DVD)
directed by Wes Anderson
w/ Adrian Brody, Jason Schwartzman & Owen Wilson
While some may complain that this entire film serves as an elaborate set up for the final scene, we have to say that even if this is the case (and we'd have to argue that it's not, as the film certainly has its moments) it's well worth the "sacrifice" of sitting through the picture as its conclusion is a true tour de force and the emotional payoff is huge.
retail price - $29.98 copacetic price - $23.77
The
Personal Best of Monty Python (DVD)
This six-disc box set features the greatest hits of the immortal classic, Monty Python's Flying Circus. The contents of each of the discs was chosen and is introduced by one of the six Pythons and features their personal favorites, which, taken together are sure to encompass a solid majority of anyone's faves, including yours. Want to see for yourself? Here's the complete listing. OK, now that that's over and done with, feast your eyes on our amazing special price below. This is is a perfect opportunity to reacquaint yourself witih this classic, or, better yet, introduce it to someone new.
retail price - $44.95 copacetic super special price - $18.88
What It Isby Lynda Barry
It's here! The long awaited all new, 208 page, hardcover volume of heuristic metacomix by the one and only Lynda Barry is both a beautiful and inspiring work of art, and an insightful exploration of the creative process. Her first new work since her 2003 masterpiece, 100 Demons, What It Is uses the language of comics to probe the secrets of creativity itself, which, she reveals, is located in "the image" -- her definition of which, however, might not be what you expect. This book is full of surprises and delight. There's really only one thing to say about this book: "YES!!!" If you still need convincing, then feast your eyes on this AMAZING (lucky)13-page preview.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $22.22
Bottomless Belly Buttonby Dash Shaw
Weighing in at 700+ pages, we're pretty sure this one surpasses Craig Thompson's Blankets as the longest unserialized graphic novel ever published in the US. Just think: over 700 pages of far out and freaky graphic storytelling that you've never laid eyes on before -- and neither have we, so we'll have to get back to you on the details. What we can tell you is that the book took over two years to draw, is divided into three sections (each of which you are advised by the author to take a break after reading), is printed in brown ink on 6" x 9" white paper, and tells the tale of the Loony family. It begins with the line, "There are many types of sand." OK, now you're on your own.
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $25.55
Amor Y Cohetesby Gilbert, Jaime & Mario Hernandez What It Is
It's hard to believe, but with this volume, the seventh in the new format, the repackaging of the first volume of Love and Rockets is now complete! While the first six volumes gave us the massive mythologies of Hoppers and Palomar, this issue collects all the odds 'n' ends and bric á brac that the fertile imaginations of los Bros unleashed when they were kicking back; as well as the story that started it all back in Love and Rockets #1, Gilbert Hernandez's BEM. Let us rhapsodize for a moment: It was with BEM that Gilbert Hernandez -- comics' own St. George -- slew the dragon of derivative, formulaic heroic fantasy comics by ripping out its heart and laying it bare. BEM demonstrates once and for all that the success of the formula is based on keeping fear alive, that the hero and the villain are, unwittingly perhaps, complicit in an illicit pact to keep the reader enthralled with the eternal recurrence of evil. BEM pulls back the curtain and reveals formulaic heroic fantasy comics as Ouroboric circles devoid of any real hope, real progress or real growth; promising salvation but delivering the damnation of addiction with an empty formula expertly designed to keep readers coming back for more with the dangled promise of the imminent unveiling of a mystery that not only is there no intent to deliver on, but as BEM finally and brilliantly reveals, there is not even the capacity or ability on the part of the danglers to do so in the first place for the simple reason that the creators of this formula are themselves as equally trapped within it by their fealty to the profit motive -- unable to see outside the borders of their own fear and need and so drawing in the hordes to feed their own cravings (Love and Rockets: it's not just a comic book series, it's a hermeneutics.). We'll be the first to admit that anyone coming to this story now, over 25 years after the fact -- and especially those who were never themselves in the thrall of superhero comics in the first place -- will have a hard time fully appreciating the importance of this story, but that's no reason not to try. The revelation of BEM cleared the way for a whole new approach to comics: the way that Love and Rockets went on to pioneer. Comics have never been the same since.
retail price - $16.99 copacetic price - $13.55
MOME, Volume 11: Summer 2008
Speaking of "a whole new
approach to comics,"
what better fits this description than MOME? To any readers who
might have felt a creeping worry that MOME wouldn't
be able to keep it up, that there simply wasn't enough high calibre new
work being produced to keep MOME floating on its lofty plane, let us be
first to say that these fears can be laid to rest with this issue,
which is arguably the best yet. It starts off with a new Al
Columbia piece that (finally) lives up to the promise of his outsized
rep. "5:45 A.M." is a story which shows us that, yes, God is in the
details. In a mere eight, actionless panels -- more or less a tableaux
nature morte
-- Columbia manages to quite successfully share with us his own
dark lord. "Einmal Ist Keinmal" by this issue's cover artist,
Killoffer, follows. A
variation on his singular masterwork, 676 Apparitions of Killoffer,
"EIK" will
give you
plenty to ponder while you pore over its seductive
linework. Nate Neal is up next with "The 5 Simple Cosmic Do Dats"
wherein he deftly manages the fairly astounding party trick of grafting
his own left-leaning
post-punk tendencies onto a synthetic hybridization of the aesthetics
of Kim Deitch and the narrative techniqes of Dan Clowes to create that
wonder of wonders: an entertaining work that is both funny and
smart. You might find yourself scratching your head at first
while working through this one, but keep going -- or better yet,
start over and try again -- this one has more going on in it than first
meets the eye. Four panels of "Truth Bear" by Ray Fenwick (who
doubles as this issue's [quite engaging] interview subject)
follow. Eleanor Davis serves up an irresisitable visual treat ,
"The 10,000 Rescues," and then we have seven pages of fun with the
future of the wonderful world of Art in "The Galactic Funnels,"
courtesy Dash Shaw, before plunging into John Hankiewicz's personal
gift to Copacetic -- a five-page story that combines his own totally
unique approach to narrative with a brief episode in the life of the
one and only Anita O'Day!
(Thank you, John.) Then it's Emile
Bravo's turn to wow us with his four-page assembly of signs &
meaning which deftly deconstructs the quandary of globalization, "A
Question of Human Resources." Newcomer, Conor O'Keefe brings
a novel approach to his two pieces, combining an old-old-school
Sunday page design sense (we suspect he may have spent some time surled
up with Art Out of Time)
with a very contemporary sensibility. We look forward to watching
his
talent develop ( and we hope that it continues to do so in the pages of
MOME). And
then there's the topper:
"Million Year Boom," by Tom Kaczynski will knock your socks off.
It is probably the first succcessful translation of the Ballardian (as
in J.G.
Ballard)
narrative approach to science fiction yet achieved in comics
form. This deeply creepy tale brings us face to face with a world
where major corporate leaders so deeply internalize their own marketing
messages and stock market hype that they become untethered from
consensus reality and move into the ambiguous landscapes of delusion,
paranoia and insanity that were so successfully mined by Ballard (and,
to be fair, by many others, most notably Philip K Dick; but none so
well as Ballard, who is most convincingly evoked here). While the
influence of Clowes is certainly evident in Kaczynski's work, he has
created a wholly original synthesis here. This issue is rounded
out with contributions by MOME regulars Andrice Arp, Paul Hornschemeier and Kurt
Wolfgang. Encore! Encore!retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Gary Panter
by Gary Panter
The definitive monograph on the one and only Gary Panter is here. Published by PictureBox, "This monumental, slipcased set is split into two 344-page volumes. The first is a comprehensive monograph featuring over 700 images of paintings, drawings, sculptures, posters and comics, alongside essays by Robert Storr, Mike Kelley, Edwin Pouncey, Richard Klein, Richard Gehr, Karrie Jacobs and Byron Coley, as well a substantial commentary by the artist himself. The second volume features a selection from Panter’s sketchbooks–the site of some of his most audacious work–most of which has never been published in any form."
retail price - $95.00 copacetic price - $77.77
The Explainersby Jules Feiffer
OK, this is the one we've been waiting for. It all starts here. Jules Feiffer is the founding father of the alternative newsweekly comic strip. He walked into the offices of the Village Voice at some point during the first year of its operations and pitched an idea for a continuing comic strip. The editors took him up on it and for the next forty years Feiffer turned in a strip nearly every week, ALL of which will be collected by Fantagraphics in four fat volumes, each collecting a decade's worth of strips. This 546 page volume is the first. Feiffer reinvented the comic strip for the then nascent "Alt." crowd that had The Village as it's ground zero. These strips seem amazingly contemporary even today. Try saying that about any other 50 year old comic strip (well, not counting Peanuts, which is, evidently, timeless). Feiffer created the template, and pretty much owned it for twenty years. Once the punk rock generation clawed their way into the newsweeklies Feiffer's way became ubiquitous, and cartoonists the likes of Matt Groening, Lynda Barry, Mark Stamaty and Stan Mack spread the gospel. The comics contained in The Explainers are smart and funny and made a vital contribution to the development of American comics.
retail price - $28.99 copacetic price - $25.00
Comic Arfedited by Craig Yoe
It's time for another oversize collection of "the unholy marriage of comics + art" as defined by editor Yoe. The highlight this time around is the opening salvo: 31 of today's top cartoonists each complete an installment of "Draw Your Own Conclusion," a series originally created in the late 1920s by old-school-comics-master, Milt Gross, as a contest wherein readers sent in their version of the last panel, and the winner received $25 (a lot, in those days) and saw their conclusion see print. This time around we're all winners as the responders whose conclusions see print range from R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman and Kaz to Xaime Hernandez, Pete Bagge and Ivan Brunetti to Mike Mignola and Sergio Aragonés to Patrick McDonnell and Bill Griffith to Jules Feiffer and Matt Groening to Mort Walker and Bil Keane... and more! There's also a hefty dose of Gross's full-page full-color Sunday pages from the same period. There's plenty more on hand here including color scans of the original art for a seven-page Bob Powell pre-code horror story.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77
Dororo, Volume One
by Osamu Tezuka
Hard to believe, but here's yet another late sixties masterwork by the one and only Tezuka, published by Vertical. This time around the publisher, Vertical, has opted for the original righit-to-left Japanese page order ; in other words, unlike the other Vertical editions of Tezuka's work (Buddha, MW, etc.) this one reads "back" to "front." This is the first of three volumes. Get a nice preview, here.
retail price - $13.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Speed Racer: Mach GO GO GO by Tatsuo Yoshida & Co.
Just in time for the Wachowski Bros. full-length (2 1/2 hours!) CGI-intensive feature film, DMP has put together a complete edition of the original Speed Racer manga from back in the day. It's a slip-cased edition composed of two hardcover volumes that will be sure to rev up the emotional engines of Speed Racer fans (you know who you are). Read this, for a fairly thorough accounting of its merits, a nice photo of the actual item and a general meditation on all things Speed Racer.
retail price - $39.95 copacetic price - $33.33
Little Nothings: The Curse of the Umbrella
by Lewis Trondheim
Fully cognizant adult funny animals walk and talk through the streets and across the skies of Europe, searching for meaning and beauty in this 120 page graphic novel that is confidently rendered in pen and ink and sensitively colored in watercolor by one of the most popular of contemporary European comics artists.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $13.50
Three Shadows
by Cyril Pedrosa
Hey, this one's a beaut. :01 (First Second, to you) made all the right choices to emphasize the aesthetic pleasures in this fine 268 page graphic novel by reknowned (at least in France) French artist Cyril Pedrosa. All we have to say is that if dramatic narratives, cinematic storytelling and great ink brush work are your thing, then this is for you! Not sure, check out this preview.
retail price - $15.99 copacetic price - $14.44
Little
Vampire by Joann Sfar
Vampires. Little vampires. A cute li'l blood-sucker doing his thing in a big book full of full color comics. Little vampire, little vampire, won't you come out and play? What more can be said, which is more or less a sort of follow up (prequel?) to Sfar's earlier Vampire Loves, which presents the gambollings of a moody adolescent vampire. It seems the world just can't get enough of vampires. Here's the comic that dares to ask the question, "Can vampires be cute?" To help you decide the answer, here's a preview. It's cute!
retail price - $13.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Life Sucksby Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria and Warren Pleece
:01 seems intent on moving in on Vertigo's turf with this one. A tall tale of walking on the wild side with twenty-something, surfer-duding, night-clerking, goth-rocking (and not-so-cute -- what a difference fifteen or twenty years makes, huh?) vampires. Might be good, let's check out this bloodless preview and see what we think. Hmm, looks a bit like Ghost World meets a PG-13 version of Howard Chaykin's Black Kiss. Vampires. It looks like there's no getting away from them. Why are we not surprised?
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
ordering info
New for April 2008
Thoreau at Waldenby John Porcellino
Thoreau & Porcellino: a perfect match if there ever was one! We have nothing but good things to say about this, the third volume in the Center of Cartoon Studies series of American Biography in Comics. Printed in brown and black ink, this new hardcover book is a fantastic intro to the life and works of Henry David Thoreau and makes for a transporting read. Porcellino had extracted the key quotes from Walden (along with a few from Civil Disobedience, for good measure) and then given them plenty of space to breath in the reader's mind, as the gently paced visuals flow across the page and work to capture the deliberate and gradual rhythms of Thoreau's day to day existence, which is to say real life, as it is lived: the practical realization of his philosophy, in comics.
retail price - $16.99 copacetic price - $14.44
The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing About the Godfather of Soul
edited by Nelson George and Alan Leeds
Talk about contrasts! Henry David Thoreau and James Brown may very well be the alpha and omega of American culture -- everything else will fit in between these two giants. Here's your first chance to follow the life and career of James Brown as it happened. This entire volume is all from original source material penned as history was made, beginning with an unsigned Variety reveiw of a 1959 show at the Apollo through to a lengthy 2006 appreciation of his life by Jonathan Lethem for Rolling Stone, The James Brown Reader presents the most multi-faceted single volume view of its subject yet. A must!
retail price - $17.00 copacetic price - $15.00
Hall of Best Knowledgeby Ray Fenwick
A book like no other, HoBK is very tough to concisely describe, but we'll give it the old college try: It is a meditation on ideas concerning knowledge; specifically on what constitutes authority in the realm of knowledge, and how this authority is represented. It is -- whether consciously so or not is open to debate -- an examination of the perception that an innate authority lies in manuscripts -- literally "writing by hand" -- the medium through which all traditional knowledge was stored and distributed during the millenia preceding Gutenberg's invention of the movable type and the printing press ushered in the era of print (which era, we hasten to add, is now coming to a close -- what better time to revisit its precursor?). Fenwick employs walls of irony and sarcasm to seal off the reader into chamber of darkness wherein he lights a single candle and everything is illuminated.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
Dead Ringer
by Jason Miles
Whew, this one's another toughie. This is an 11" x 15" handmade narrative portfolio. Limited to 500 copies, (hand?) printed on heavy flat white stock, with hand-scored cardboard covers, Dead Ringers is a graphic meditation on death and personal mortality that employs stasis as its central metaphor. Learn more, here.
retail price - $14.00 copacetic price - $12.00
The Rabbi's Cat 2by Joann Sfar
Hey, here's a swell surprise: another fine hardcover edition continuing the series of elegantly eloquent tales set among the Jewish diaspora in the French inflected culture of northern Africa, centered in Algiers, and taking place during the more innocent days of the 1930s. The eternal mysteries of love, faith, ritual and nature are probed with a delicate and nuanced touch in the 130, lush, full color pages of this hardcover volume. A real treat. Get a nice sneak preview, here.
retail price - $22.95 copacetic price - $20.00
Papercutter #7
Another fine issue of this perky peppy anthology published in Portland, Oregon by Tugboat Press. This time around we have an epic of 8th grade outsiders by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill followed by a one-pager by Aron Nels Steinke and a striking adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Sheperdess and the Chimney Sweep" by Andy Hartzell, who has clearly built on the momentum of his successful Fox Bunny Fox and turned in his finest work to date here. We can't wait for the next issue!
retail price - $4.00 copacetic price - $3.50
Welcome
to the Dahl House:Alienation, Incarceration and Inebreation in the New American Rome
by Ken Dahl
Are you worried that things are going just a little too good? Need to be brought down a notch from your giddy heights of blissful contentment? No? Didn't think so. But, if you were, then Welcome to the Dahl House would be the ticket. The harsh world view on display here in this finely crafted compendium make the comics of Chris Ware and Ivan Brunetti seem the work of dewy-eyed optimists by comparison. And, it's priced on the assumption that you're broke, so you can actually afford it!
retail price - $7.00 copacetic price - $6.25
Wordless Books: the Original Graphic Novels
written and edited by David A. Beronä w/ introduction by Peter Kuper
Lynn Ward, Franz Masereel, Milt Gross and Laurence Hyde -- they're all here along with several of their lesser known cohorts in this lavishly produced survey of the picture novel that flourished in the first half of the twentieth century. High quality, full page reproductions abound, all are accompanied by historical and crictical essays that help put the works in context. Also full color scans of the volumes themselves. This volume is a great primer to this important area, and a work of art in itself!
retail price - $35.00 copacetic price - $19.75
A
People's History of American Empireby Howard Zinn • adapted by David Wagner & Paul Buhle with art by Mike Konopacki
This 272 page, 8 1/2" x 11" volume provides a graphic interpretation of the key points of Howard Zinn's seminal, alternative reading of American history, A People's History of The United States. If you' haven't been able to find the time to read Zinn's opus, this volume just might be the ticket. We used to say that A People's History will teach you a whole different American history from what you learned in school, but this book (and/or the material it introduced) has now begun to be introduced into curriculums, as well as bits and pieces being disseminated through the culture at large through the mainstream media, so maybe you've already been introduced to some of the events and perspectives delineated here, but nothing beats getting the big picture, and that's what this book is intent on delivering. In any event, if you're not familiar with Zinn's work and you enjoy history in comics form, then you owe it to yourself to check this out.
hardcover - retail price - $17.00 copacetic price - $15.00
softcover - retail price - $30.00 copacetic price - $25.00
Wholphin No. 5
The fifth issue of the "DVD Magazine of Rare and Unseen Short FIlms" has arrived. Documentaries, short fiction films and animations from Africa, Spain, Canada, the UK and (primarily) right here in the USA. Spend a day with the Sudanese Liberation Army, see drunk bees, watch Spanish science fiction, experience a herion addicted carnival monkey (don't worry, it's an animation), be outraged at the treatment of American Indians and enjoy the 20 minute adaptation of Michael Chabon's short story, "House Hunting," directed by Amy Lippman and featuring Paul Rudd & Zooey Deschanel; along with much more -- all of which you won't be seeing anywhere else (at least for now). Get the whole story -- and the chance to watch tons of web-only short films -- here.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
Other new arrivals include:
More Old Jewish Comedians
by Drew Friedman
'Nuff said.
retail price - $16.99 copacetic price - $15.00
Kaput & Zösky
by Lewis Trondgein w/Eric Cartier
Great hi-jinx fun for kids of all ages. Full color.
retail price - $13.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Funeral of the Heart
by Leah Hayes
Dark (very dark, like, black) musings from the author of Holy Moley.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Daddy's Girl
by Debbie Dreschler
This landmark comics work of the hell and purgatory of childhood and adolescence is now back in print in this finely crafted hardcover edition.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $12.75
M: A Graphic Novel based on the Film by Fritz Lang
by Jon J Muth
Here's a deluxe, expanded, hardcover collection of the 1990 series.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $22.22
One Hundred and Forty-Five Stories in a Small Box
• How the Water Feels to the Fishes by Dave Eggers
• Hard to Admit and Harder to Escape by Sarah Manguso
• Minor Robberies by Deb Olin Unferth
These three hardcover books are snugly enclosed together in an illustrated (by Jacob Magraw-Mickelson) slipcase and bring you together the 145 short (generally very short) stories of the overarching title; from the fine folks at McSweeney's.
retail price - $25.00 copacetic price - $21.25
ordering info
New for March 2008
Ganges 2by Kevin Huizenga
It's been almost a year (more?) since we've seen anything new by Kevin H. (not counting the self-published mini, Sermons #2), so it was with no small trepidation that we cracked open the second issue of Ganges. which is the 27th in the Ignatz series. What surprises will it hold? Well, we certainly don't want to rob you of this experience, so we're not going to go into too much depth here, but we will say this much: This issue has a bipartate structure. The opening section is a bravurra performance on Huizenga's part, in which he takes on a challenge that is dear to many cartoonists of his generation (Brinkman, Chippendale and Paperrad foremost among them): that of portraying the inner vision of the inveterate videogamer. Huizenga ups the ante here by going one step further and attempting to depict the ideational transformations that are brought about by continual gaming. Employing a (nearly)purely visual approach that is in places reminiscent of the work of Jim Woodring and Ron Regé, Jr., he presents his vision in such a way as to imply that these transformations may involve actual organic restructuring -- although this latter implication is somewhat undercut by the conclusion of the piece, which is not so much a story as it is an experiment in visualization. The following part, "Pulverize," which takes up 2/3 of the issue, is a more mundane piece. Another of Huizinga's fictionalized, semi-autobiographical accounts of the type that dominated the first issue of Ganges, it provides an enjoyable, straightforward account of time spent working in a dotcom startup that involved a lot of after hours videogaming. Here, however, it serves the additional (one might even say primary) function of providing the "real world" context -- the objective outer vision -- for the subjective inner vision of the opening pages that precede it. Suffice it to say there's plenty of food for thought here; the only question is, will it be enough to sustain readers until the next Huizenga release?
retail price - $7.95 copacetic price - $6.75
The Ten Cent Plagueby David Hajdu
We've been looking forward to this one. It's an in-depth cultural history of comics by the author of Positively 4th Street (about Dylan & Co. in the Village) and Lushlife, a biography of Pittsburgh's own Billy Strayhorn. We'll let you know what we think once we have a chance to get through it. For now, here's the official hype: "In the years between World War II and the emergence of television as a mass medium, American popular culture as we know it was first created—in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. No sooner had this new culture emerged than it was beaten down by church groups, community bluestockings, and a McCarthyish Congress—only to resurface with a crooked smile on its face in Mad magazine. The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told—until The Ten-Cent Plague. David Hajdu’s remarkable new book vividly opens up the lost world of comic books, its creativity, irreverence, and suspicion of authority." HERE's a nice chunky preview excerpt .
retail price - $26.00 copacetic price - $22.22
Kirby: King of
Comicsby Mark Evanier
Here it is, the official authorized biography of the King! Yes, of course, this is a lavishly illustrated oversize hardcover edition. It's author, Mark Evanier was the man closest to Kirby during the last two decades of his life and so was in a position to learn of many personal anecdotes that no other chronicler of Kirby's life would have had access to. That said, Evanier's acccount of Kirby's life is not the thorough, in-depth one that we are all waiting for -- it looks like we'll have to wait a bit longer. From a production and presentation standpoint, however, the creators of this volume have done an excellent job. The quality of the reproductions is top notch and the've made all the right printing decisions -- flat colors on flat, bright, low-reflective, heavyweight white stock. The book is filled with page after amazing page of full size reproductions of original art, as well as luscious reproductions of the comics themselves. This book is a real pleasure to go through. When all is said and done, this must be considered a book that no self-respecting comics fan can be without.
retail price - $40.00 copacetic price - $35.00
Little Things by Jeffrey Brown
Mr. Brown takes another step closer to the mainstream with this 352 page collection published by Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster. Subtitled, "A Memoir in Slices," this volume consists of a dozen pieces of various lengths, all rendered in his trademarked scratchy pen & ink style. Some of these have seen print before, most notably, the lead off "These Things, These Things," but this collection is mostly new. It's pretty much a "must have" item for all pre-existent Jeffrey Brown fans. It is, however, especially well suited to serve as a jumping on point to those readers who have yet to experience his work. While the story content on display here will be especially appealling to twenty-somethings, Jeffrey Brown is a natural born cartoonist, and his work is unfailingly engaging to anyone who enjoys reading comics.
retail price - $14.00 copacetic price - $12.50
The Complete Peanuts,
Volume 9: 1967-68by Charles M. Schulz
introduction by John Waters(!)
Well, this time around the wonderful world of Peanuts we have 1967 & 1968, two of the most pivotal years in American history, the apogee of "the sixties." The events of these years continue to resonate strongly today, bringing to the fore much of the culture clash that defines our own era. Now's your chance to (re)experience Charlie Brown & Co.'s take on it all. John Waters turns in a surprisingly heartfelt introduction wherein he reveals Lucy as his personal patron Peanut, providing yet another perspective from which to view his films. Firsts on hand in this volume include the introduction of the strip's first African-American, Franklin, along with the less well remembered José Rodriguez. There's plenty more we could say, but really, there's no need: it's Peanuts, it's all good.
retail price - $28.95 copacetic price - $23.15
Barefoot Gen of Hiroshima Volumes 5
& 6by Keiji Nakazawa
We hope you haven't forgotten about Project Gen's ongoing project to bring the entire ten-volume saga of Hadashi no Gen to an American audience. We certainly hadn't! These two are the volumes we've really been waiting for as they take us into new territory, for the first time presenting material that has never before appeared in English. Here are brief synopses courtesy the publisher, Last Gasp: "Volume Five of the Barefoot Gen story follows Gen's struggles in postwar Japan. The people of Hiroshima face a massive food shortage and horrendous health problems. Gen is in school, but he is forced to choose between making money to support his family or staying in school to be a part of society. The choice is further complicated when his mother becomes sick, and his old friends reappear
as
part of a street gang. There is no help for his mother, save for the
costly medicine procured on the black market. Gen becomes entangled
with black market gangs and faces an internal struggle of honor,
ethics, and duty to resolve his problems. In Volume Six, Gen
fights against a corrupt medical system, the discriminatory practices
of his neighbors, and the American presence in postwar Japan. Gen's
brother, Koji, has gone away to work in the coal mines, but has since
disappeared. To make up for the shortage, he and his friends must
resort to more drastic measures, which lands one of the bunch in a
juvenile detention center." What's that? You say you
haven't even started reading this series yet? Well, don't
despair, we still have the first four volumes of this 20th
century masterpiece in stock and copacetically priced. retail price - $14.95@ copacetic price - $12.75@
Arab in Americaby Toufic El Rassi
While we're on the subject of comics' ability to show how the world looks through another's eyes, this new 118 page graphic memoir, also published by Last Gasp (which seems to be on a mission to broaden American's perspectives), promises its readers, "The eye-opening story of the life of an average Arab-American struggling with his identity in an increasingly hostile nation." Moving with his family from Beirut to Chicago a year after his birth in 1978, El Rassi is well positioned to illustrate the prejudice and discrimination Arabs and Muslims experience in American society. He recounts his personal experiences after the 9/11 attacks and during the implementation of new security and immigration laws that followed, and gives context to current world events, providing readers with an overview of the modern history of the Middle East, including the Gulf wars. In addition, Arab in America includes several asides that examine the roles American films and news media play in creating negative stereotypes of Arab-Americans, in order to demonstrate how difficult it is to have an Arab identity in a society saturated with anti-Arab images and messages.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $12.75
The Education of
Hopey Glassby Jaime Hernandez
The arrival of a new Love and Rockets collection is always a cause for celebration, and this 128-page hardcover, the 24th volume in the Complete Love and Rockets, collecting material that originally appeared in Love and Rockets v.2 #s 11 - 19, is certainly no exception. The first course here is "Day by Day with Hopey," which gives us Hopey's gradual segue into (gasp!) middle age -- which, of course, involves Maggie along with many other lesser lights, some not seen for quite awhile. This makes for a revelatory reading experience for anyone who's been around since anywhere near the beginning of this 25 year long story; an aspect we touched on in our review of L & R v.2#15. The going gets even heavier -- and tougher and meatier and sexier and scarier and just about any other adjective you can add an -er to -- in the long series of linked pieces, all told from Ray D.'s perspective, that, while giving us several tantalizing glimses of Maggie and Angel (and Doyle!), focus primarily on the adventures of Vivian -- aka "Frogmouth" -- who operates on the razor's edge of rationality, so you never know which way she's going to go, making her an extremely propulsive figure, narratively speaking. A couple quick peeks at "The Angel of Tarzana" along with full-page B & W reproductions of those of Jaime's works that graced the front and back covers of the comics these stories originally appeared in round out this life sustaining collection. Jaime Hernandez is the greatest delineator of character in the history of comics -- his pen and ink lines posses an uncanny transformative power capable of creating cartoon beings that insinuate themselves into the reader's psyche to such a profound degree that they become an integral part of self and identity, weaving themselves into the very fabric of reality -- and he's still in his prime. Long after we're all dead and buried, readers all over the world will still be marveling at the genius that is amply on display here.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $15.99
Cold Heat Special #3By Frank Santoro & Dash Shaw
While Santoro burns the midnight oil finishing up the Cold Heat graphic novel, he knows Cold Heat fans are jonesing, and so has commisioned an ongoing series of specials. These specials are all limited editions with very low print runs and they won't be reprinted in the graphic novel, so don't miss out! CHS #3 is a collaboration with up and coming comics experimentalist, Dash Shaw (see the latest issue of MOME) that is built around a combination of early Italian renaissance imagery and contemporary urban cityscape. This time out we have a saddle-stapled 16-page horizontally formatted comic book with a wraparound two-color cover that blurs the line between waking and sleeping, dream and reality, drugged and straight, and yesterday and today, as well as between classical fine art and contemporary popular art. In other words, this comic book is not the kind you see every day.
copacetic price - $3.00
Spunj Baahbby Chris Cornwell
Are you looking for new, fun and smart, visually and intellectually stimulating, hand-made and independently published comics work that's created right here in Pittsburgh, PA? Well, if you are, you've come to the right place. Spunj Baahb is the latest comics conundrum by Copacetic customer Chris Cornwell. It's a 20-page, 8 1/2" x 11" black & white, saddle-stapled comics magazine printed on 28 lb. bright white stock with a two-color hand silk screened cover on sky blue cardstock. Except for two pages of exposition wherein the work's themes are explicitly stated, the narrative unfolds entirely in Cornwell's ever evolving pictograhic language. While cartoon characters such as Sponge-Bob Squarepants™ are commonly understood to represent the communal unconscious of the society that produced it, Spunj Baahb takes it a step further and posits the inner life of the cartoon character itself -- the dream within the dream, if you will -- and does so with much aplomb.
retail price - $5.00 copacetic price - $4.00
Haunted
by Phillippe Dupuy
This one represents quite a departure for Dupuy. Those who are accustomed to his stylish depictions of French bourgeois life will be in for a surprise. Taking the form of a 200 page hardcover graphic novel; sparse and scratchy in its execution; by turns scary, funny, sad, cute, odd, bizarre and absurd, Haunted is a 200 page self analysis in comics that was nomiated for the 2006 award for Best Comic Book at Angoulême International Comics Festival. Here's a 5-page preview to give you an idea of what we're talking about.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $22.22
Lost Highway (DVD)directed by David Lynch
The final (major) piece in the puzzle of the Lynchian oeuvre is at last in place. Employing the great American metaphor of driving -- in a highly coded manner that takes one bizarrely twisted turn after another -- Lost Highway shows us the innermost workings of a psyche (in more ways than one, Lynch's own) that failed to successfully navigate the transition from childhood to adulthood and so remains trapped in a state of traumatized adolescence where identity remains in a constant state of transitional flux and the real and the imagined are never far apart. Or something like that. Not to mention the cool soundtrack. Get creeped out, freaked out, wigged out and more!
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77
Funplex (CD)
by The B-52s
The first new
LP in well over a decade by the band from Athens, GA that brought the
party back to music over (good lord!
>choke<) thirty years ago. The entire band --
including, once again, Cindy Wilson, who has returned to the fold
-- shake their tail feathers as hard as they can and prove that they
can still rock the house. They're still tripping the light
fantastic in more ways than one and remain dedicated to their ethos of
combining an inspired fun-filled kookiness with a stripped down
sensuality to preach the gospel of personal liberation.
It's hard to believe, but the B-52s are now as old as (and even older
than) their own parents were when the band first started out, yet here
they are, still at it. You might experience a momentary twinge of
awkwardness at the spectacle of fifty-somethings getting down and
dirty, but hey -- that's what the B-52s are all about. retail price - $18.98 copacetic price - $12.77
ordering info
New for February 2008
The Spirit #12by Darwyn Cooke
While Darwyn Cooke originally planned for a two-year stint on The Spirit, circumstances conspired to cut his run short at the halfway mark. The evidence of this final issue -- an exigetical adaptation of Eisner's original Sand Saref story (the same story Frank Miller's upcoming movie is also using as it's core text) -- bears out that this is all it took for Cooke to bore right to the core of not just the character of The Spirit but of the spirit of the noir sensibility itself. Through his masterful employment of Eisner's late style (which Eisner himself used to portray the past; i.e. his own childhood during the depression out of which so many heroes emerged to collectively shake the country out of its torpor) in conjunction with his own, Cooke has managed to delineate how the fatalistic noir sensibility is connected to a personal feeling of discontinuity, particularly the sense of disconnection with childhood self: the "paradise lost" that Denny Colt's pre-sexual relationship with Sand represented. It is the trauma of sexualization (that is metaphorically represented in The Spirit #12 -- as it is in so many other myths -- by the death of the father) that separates childhood from adulthood and it is the "something" that is lost at that moment that the hero (here, The Spirit) is forever trying to recapture; but these attempts are always failures and it is the final resignation to the permanence of this "failure" to regain the "paradise" of unsexualized childhood that colors the noir sensibility. This quest to capture the sense of childhood innocence is amplified by the choice of medium: the fact of the story being told in comic book form implicitly links it to the very childhood innocence that the comic book symbolizes and so transforms this issue into a near perfect symbol of Paradise Lost. The Spirit #12 is not just a tough act to follow, it's impossible.
retail price - $2.99 copacetic special price - $2.69
Fantastic Comics #24
by Allred, Casey, Larson, Rugg, Scioli, Sienkiewicz, Yeates, et al
While it is true that some are acts are indeed impossible to follow, history has shown that the second act will nevertheless often show up and give it a try, like the Monkees taking the stage after Hendrix finished his set -- it was totally pointless, but there they were. Other times there's a bit of a lag, as in this instance: here we have the latest issue of Fantastic Comics... 67 years after the last one! The creators of this encore/homage clearly had a lot of fun reviving these classic characters -- among whom are numbered Capt. Kidd, Yank Wilson, Sub Saunders, Space Smith, Samson and Stardust. There's definitely a bit of a boy's club feel to everything here, but implicit in this clubby atmosphere is the sense of a slumbering tradition being revived. Each of these revivals carry their own unique stamp of respect for the precursors at the same time that they knowingly wink at and/or reconfigure those aspects which are clearly dated. And while we are doubtless somewhat biased, we can't help but single out the contributions of Copacetic customers Jim Rugg and Tom Scioli as counting among the highlights. Anyone with a soft spot for classic old school comic books will have as much fun reading this as the writers and artists did creating it.
retail price - $5.95 copacetic price - $5.35
Reflecting Culture: The Evolution
of American Super Heroesby Gail Stavitsky
w/ contributions by Michael Uslan, Patterson Sims & Twig Johnson
Published by The Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, New Jersey, on the occcasion of the exhibition of the same name that closed in January, this catalogue of the exhibition is the most intelligent yet assembled on the history, function and significance of the comic book super hero yet produced. This 68 page, 8 1/2" x 11 1/4 " volume is filled with crisp, full color, high definition reproductions of a wide range of original art and original
editions
of comic books from the golden age to the present. Divided into
six sections -- "Super Heroes Go To War," "Cold War, Conformity, and
Censorship," "Questioning Authority," "American Indian Super Heroes,
Diversity and Moral Complexity," and "Super Heroes at Ground Zero" --
each
of which is introduced by a concise essay placing the works in
the approproriate context. The organization of the exhibit and
the insights demonstrated by the essays demonstrate an impressive grasp
of the material and left us
feeling both grateful that cultural institutions are finally beginning
to give more than lip service to the important role that comic books
and super heroes have played -- and continue to play -- in the
culture and history of America, and impressed yet again by the fact
that quality, groundbreaking work can be found in the most unexpected
places -- like Montclair, NJ. Take a look at the NY
Times review
(complete with slideshow), for a little more "color." These
catalogues are made available here at a substantial discount off their
original price as the result of a special, one-time purchase from the
museum. We think it's a price worth taking advantage of.retail price - $15.00 copacetic special price - $8.88
The
Comics Journal #288Behold! The wonder of the New Format! Yes, it's true: that cornerstone of the world of comics has undergone yet another make over. This time around it has -- more or less -- been subjected to MOME-ization, in that has been shrunk to 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" (which is half way between the old Journal size and that of MOME) while seeing everything else about it upgraded to the MOME format: stiff, glossy covers contain heavy, bright-white paperstock (except for the 44-page full color comics classics section, which is, at least this time out, appropriately printed on heavyweight cream stock), for a heftier and more solid feel, which shows TCJ following the medium in its migration from the ephemeral, rack-displayed and box-stored, magazine format, to the permanent, shelf-friendly, book format. #288, the inaugural issue of this format, features "The Best Comics of 2007," along with interviews galore -- Paul Karasik, Bryan Talbot, Peter Kuper, Cathy Malkasian, Nick Bertozzi, and Joe Sacco interviewing Rutu Modan -- and, wonder of wonders, the comics classics section features 44 pages of that fashion illustrator turned Golden Age comics great, Tarpé Mills, the bulk of which is devoted to her greatest creation, Miss Fury!
retail price - $11.95 copacetic price - $10.00
Angst: The Best of
Norwegian ComicsThe answer to your question is, "Yes, the comics have been translated into English." Now that we have that over with, we'll let you know that this is a 96 page magazine size collection printed in black & white and full color. Yes, in addition to the cover there are two short Jason pieces of indeterminate age, but it's his peers that you'll be getting to know here, and there's a whole crew for you to be introduced to here, with quite a variety of styles and talents in the dozen pieces by as many (+1) creators that are on display. Broaden your horizons with this comics tour of the land of fjords, Norway!
retail price - $12.00 copacetic price - $12.00 (sorry, no discount on this one)
Maakies with the
Wrinkled Kneesby Tony Millionaire
Yes, it's time for another hardcover, super-horizontal, hardback collection of the incredible pen & ink stylings of the comics champion of alcoholic antics, nautical naughtiness and pellucid peccadillos. It's never too late to throw caution to the wind and jump right in.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
The Bakers: Babies and Kittens
by Kyle Baker
What's cuter than babies? Babies and kittens! The funniest man in comics returns with anther hardcover collection of thinly veiled stories of his family's antics that will deeply resonate to any comics reader suffering through paternity. Any and all Chuck Jones fans will find this book a dream come true with its hi-jinx cartoon style which is deeply indebted to Jones. This is a very funny book. You will laugh.
retail price - $18.99 copacetic price - $17.00
The Book of Other
Peopleedited by Zadie Smith
We've been looking forward to this 300+ page softcover anthology for a long time, and now that we've had a chance to pore through it we feel safe in freely recommending it -- it's a real treat. All the pieces are focused on the process of character creation and formation. The work of 22 of the best contemporary writers of fiction is on hand here -- Edwidge Danticat, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Safran Foer, Andrew Sean Greer, Aleksandar Hemon, A. M. Homes, Nick Hornby, Heidi Julavits, Miranda July, A. L. Kennedy, Hari Kunzu, Jonathan Lethem (whose contribution is sure to be a standout among Copacetic habitués), Toby Litt, David Mitchell, Andrew O'Hagan, ZZ Packer, George Saunders, Posy Simmonds, Adam Thirlwell, Colm Tóibín, Vendela Vida and editor Zadie Smith herself -- along with two of today's top cartoonists, Chris Ware and Dan Clowes, who both turn in amazing, full color stories that are almost worth the price of the anthology all by themselves. And not only that: this book is a "charity anthology", meaning that none of the contributors were paid and that all profits go to a charitable organization -- in this case, 826NYC, "a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children 6 - 18 with their creative and expository writing skills." And then there's the amazing Charles Burns cover. How can you say no? To learn more, read these reviews in the LA Times, NY Times and the UK Independent.
retail price - $15.00 copacetic price - $12.75
Black Hole - softcover edition
by Charles Burns
And, speaking of Charles Burns, those few unfortunate souls among you who strayed and so failed to get a hold of his amazing comics masterwork now have now been given a second -- and less expensive -- chance. Make sure you take it.
retail price - $17.95 copacetic price - $16.25
Crickets #2
by Sammy Harkham
The wait is over. It's been well over a year since this series premiered, and we were wondering if it was going to continue, or not. Well, no more! This issue -- which, according to the front cover, features "generals, pregnant teenagers, cartoonists, golems, prophets and boners" -- primarily consists of the second chapter of "Black Death", but there are a half dozen or so additional shorts that are a lot of fun and help make up for the long wait. It's like they say: "You can't rush quality." This work is in the "comics purist" school: every line, from cover to cover, including the credits and even the letters page, is hand drawn.
retail price - $4.95 copacetic price - $4.44
Heironymous B.by Ulf K.
Ulf K. is a German artist whom we suspect makes his living as a commercial illustrator, but who has nevertheless been quietly and steadily working away on his comics for two decades now. He has produced a small but very solid body of work that puts him at the front of the ligne claire ranks. This slim attractively produced hardcover volume collects (we believe) all extant appearances of the eponymous character, a minor clerk working in public administration. Ulf K.'s work has a small but loyal fan base that is spread out over Europe and the Americas, a fact that is attested to by the fact that this volume has no less than five publishers: Edition 52 in Germany, Bries in Holland, Dibbuks in Spain, Komika in Sweden and Top Shelf in the USA. The stories herein contained, for those unfamiliar with his work, are in a vein that is (vaguely) like a crossbreed of two other mono-named comics creators: Jason -- in their clear and concise pantomime storytelling -- and Seth -- in their focus on the melancholy of the workaday world (someone should do -- or, more likely, already has done -- a study on what, if any, similarites there are between all the mono-named comics creators); Mr. K.'s work is all his own, however, in its delightful flights of fancy.
retail price - $15.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Lois #1
stories by Lois Gilbert w/Harvey Pekar
art by Gary Dumm and Greg Budgett
40 pages of comics written by Pekar protegé and pal, Lois Gilbert, and illustrated by those American Splendor stalwarts, Dumm and Budgett. If you enjoy the comics of Harvey Pekar, the chances are very good that you'll enjoy this comic as well. We did! Make sure to give it the once over.
retail price - $5.00 copacetic price - $4.50
Insomia #3 (the 25th in the Ignatz series)
by Matt Broersma
Another long wait is ended with this release, the best issue yet in Broersma's Insomnia series.
retail price - $7.95 copacetic price - $6.75
Blue Pills: A Positive Love Story
by Frederik Peeters
This hardcover release was a hit in Europe where it was originally released. It is the personal memoir of the artist relating the story of his relationship with an HIV positive girlfriend and her HIV positive son from a previous relationship. _____ is a seasoned storyteller and the story flows along with its ink brushed lines of his artwork. The story deals openly with his navigation of the fears and anxieties that accompany the progess of the romance. To learn more, read Derik Badman's in-depth review on Madinkbeard.
retail price - $18.95 copacetic price - $17.00
Paul Goes Fishing
By Michel Rabagliati
Following up on Paul Has a Summer Job and Paul Moves Out, Paul Goes Fishing follows its eponymous (and semi-autobiographical) hero along on the next chapter of his life, including, as you would expect, fishing, as well as family, flashbacks, forays and... fatherhood! 185 pages of solid comics storytelling from this Montreal native who has followed his career as an illustrator with an ever more successful second act as a cartoonist. If you have yet to read one of Rabagliati's comics, there's no better place to start than here.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
The Al Williamson
ReaderThe Lou Fine Reader, Volume 2
Wallace Wood's Wayout
Believe it or not, this month brings us three new books from Pure Imagination, the undisputed champion of classic comics reprints. The Al Williamson Reader is a true treasure trove: 23 -- count 'em -- stories that originally ran between 1948 and 1965, spanning the key years of Williamson's long (and still running) career. These stories run the gamut of the classic comics genres, including westerns, horror, science fiction, jungle, suspense and war. And, as for the inkers, well, nothing but the best for Williamson: this collection features the fine pen and brush work of none other than Frank Frazetta, Angelo Torres, John Severin, Wally Wood and, of course, Williamson himself. What a find! The second volume of The Lou Fine Reader contains 14 classic Golden Age tales taken from the pages of Jumbo, Wonderworld, Smash, Crack, Feature and National Comics published between 1939 and 1941. Also included are 24 rare early "Wilton of the West" full page Sunday comics from 1938 (published under the same psuedonym -- Fred Sande -- that Jack Kirby used when penning this strip earlier that same year), and 16 pages -- at 4-up per page -- of his late newspaper strip, "Peter Scratch". And then there's Wally Wood's Wayout. This one's a bit of a departure from the tried and true Pure Imagination format in that it collects not Wood's comics works (some of which have already been collected in Pure Imagination's The Wally Wood Reader), but instead focuses on his science fiction illustration work, all done for Galaxy and If. The bulk of the work on hand here is from the late 1950s, but it extends all the way to 1968. The work is especially notable for its use of ink wash. All of Wood's signature bits are on display here, including his unique sense of humor. This one will primarily be of interest to illustration fans and hardcore Wood collectors, who will be quite happy to add this one to their library -- especially when they discover the super special price we are offering it at -- along with both the Williamson and Fine Readers. These are real values on great classic comics.
retail price - $25.00@ copacetic special price - $19.99@
Lust Caution (DVD)
directed by Ang Lee
w/ Tony Leung, Tang Wei and Joan Chen
Fresh from his Oscar win for Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee delivers this devastating critique of the folly of entertainers' attempts to involve themselves in politics that is as intense as it is insightful. NC-17; widescreen; 157 minutes.
retail price - $29.98 copacetic price - $24.77
The Darjeeling Limited (DVD)
directed by Wes Anderson
w/ Adrian Brody, Jason Schwartzman & Owen Wilson
While some may complain that this entire film serves as an elaborate set up for the final scene, we have to say that even if this is the case (and we'd have to argue that it's not, as the film certainly has its moments) it's well worth the "sacrifice" of sitting through the picture as its conclusion is a true tour de force and the emotional payoff is huge.
retail price - $29.98 copacetic price - $23.77
The
Personal Best of Monty Python (DVD)This six-disc box set features the greatest hits of the immortal classic, Monty Python's Flying Circus. The contents of each of the discs was chosen and is introduced by one of the six Pythons and features their personal favorites, which, taken together are sure to encompass a solid majority of anyone's faves, including yours. Want to see for yourself? Here's the complete listing. OK, now that that's over and done with, feast your eyes on our amazing special price below. This is is a perfect opportunity to reacquaint yourself witih this classic, or, better yet, introduce it to someone new.
retail price - $44.95 copacetic super special price - $18.88
