The Journal kicks off the summer with another absorbing and definitive interview - this time with the inimitable WILL ELDER (MAD Magazine and Playboy master illustrator)! And, along with our award-winning news and criticism, we're proud to present a hard-hitting Critical Focus section on the state of comics culture and criticism, headed by the long-awaited return of the mighty GARY GROTH with his pointed pen!
128-page squarebound magazine with color $6.95; $11.10 Canada MATURE READERS UPC: 0-74470-74114-5-7
LOVE & ROCKETS VOL. II #8 by Los Bros Hernandez
What the hell is going on in Izzy's house? Maggie, Hopey, Doyle, and other recurring characters share reminiscences about the strange history of their strange friend's long-time residence in this issue's "Maggie" installment by Jaime Hernandez. Over in Beto-land, in "The High Soft Lisp," Fritz's happy marriage begins to unravel, and an over-the-top way to save it turns out to be the biggest mistake yet. And what might that be, you ask? Deranged sex! What else? Plus, in "Julio's Day," the rain won't let up, forcing Julio and his brother to find work out of town, and "Me for the Unknown" begins charging towards its climactic finale next issue. All this, plus more surprises -- 30 pages of all-new Hernandez work.
RAISIN PIE #2 by Rick Altergott and Ariel Bordeaux
Another gooey go at some goshdarned good comics by the domesticated duo of Ariel (Deep Girl) Bordeaux and Rick (Doofus) Altergott. In this issue: the plot thickens in episode two of "Blessed Be," Rick Altergott's amazing new Doofus epic; "Maple Valley Public Library" continues; Ariel's new teenage saga, "Queen of the Geeks," begins; a super-compressed career overview of porn star John Holmes by Altergott; and other surprises. You know what they say -- the couple that draws together…
This wide-ranging little book spotlights over 100 comics strips, comic books, and graphic novels to feature black characters from all over the world over the last century, and the result is a fascinating journey to, if not enlightenment, then at least away from the horrendous caricatures of yore. Each strip, comic, or graphic novel is spotlighted via a compact but instructive 200-word essay and a representative illustration. The book is augmented with a foreword by Charles R. Johnson, the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation fellowship and winner of the National Book Award for his 1990 novel Middle Passage (and a published cartoonist to boot!).
Meet the ,b>Bradleys, America's most dysfunctional family: Pops, Mom, Buddy, Babs and Butch Bradley. The best-selling humor cartoonist of his generation, Bagge has been hailed as one of comics' great satirists along with James Thurber, Harvey Kurtzman, and Matt Groening. The Bradleys remain his most enduring creation. Created in the 1980s while Bagge was also editing R. Crumb's Weirdo magazine, this family for the ages has its roots firmly planted in All In the Family's Bunker family and MAD magazine, with a healthy punk rock anger occasionally exploding.
The first new Jaime Hernandez book since the splashy return of Love and Rockets in 2001 spotlights a wide-ranging and funky group of stories from L&R and Hernandez's comic Penny Century. The further trials and tribulations of Maggie and Hopey are featured in "Election Day," "Everybody Loves Me, Baby" (featuring extensive flashbacks to their early punk days -- a reader's favorite) and the surreal dream story "The Race." We also check up with Maggie's ex-boyfriend Ray D., who is the recipient of a series of increasingly rude surprises when his old buddy Doyle shows up, somewhat the worse for wear, in "Frog Mouth". Plus "Bay of Threes," which chronicles the romance of Penny Century and H.R. Costigan from (virtually) cradle to grave.
THE IRON WAGON by Jason, based on a book by Stein Riverton
An evocative murder mystery set in the Norwegian countryside, it, like all good murder mysteries, is a stew of passion, buried past crimes, revelations, and sharply defined characters who remain ambiguous to the very end. Stein Riverton's novel The Iron Wagon has never been translated into English. Now, using a striking two-color drawing style and re-casting the story with his iconic animal characters from his previous graphic novel Sshhhh!, the acclaimed cartoonist Jason has adapted The Iron Wagon into an original graphic novel that will appeal not only to fans of his work but also to mystery fans who will finally have a chance to experience Riverton's clever story.
80-page 2 spot color graphic novel $12.95; $20.75 in Canada ISBN 1-56097-541-5
FANTAGRAPHICS REOFFERS
RAISIN PIE #1 by Rick Altergott and Ariel Bordeaux
A double dish of cartoon delectation served up by the domesticated duo of Ariel (,b>Deep Girl) Bordeaux and Rick (Doofus) Altergott. In this new series these two indie-altie survivors each cook up their own longer stories for a main course of chewy, tough but toothsome comic meat, supplemented by side dishes of one shots, collaborations and gags. Pull a chair up to the table for heapin' helpin's of Doofus, Henry Hotchkiss, pissed off Christian Fundamentalists, sulky eavesdroppers, and a side of happy sex enthusiasts. More than a movable feast, more like a movable food fight!
THE DOOFUS OMNIBUS by Rick Altergott
Altergott is a master craftsman with a compulsion for the strange; his most famous character, Doofus -- a panty-huffing hillbilly with a Dutchboy hairdo -- is the star of this show. Imagine Harmony Korine's film Gummo as a graphic novel drawn in pen and ink (but not written) by Wally Wood and starring the Three Stooges. The book collects almost every Doofus story from the character's long history, and features an introduction by Ghost World author Daniel Clowes.
112-page 7-1/2" x 10" B&W Softcover Book with 24 color pages $16.95; $27.15 Can. ISBN 1-56097-494-X MATURE READERS
SSHHHH! by Jason
Entirely told in pantomime, this suite of short tales veers from the funny to the terrifying to the surreal to the touching. Like Chris Ware, Jason's clean, deadpan style (featuring animal-headed characters with mask-like faces) hides a wealth of emotion and human complexity, leavened with a wicked wit. Jason's work has also drawn comparisons to Art Spiegelman for the similar ways both artists utilize anthropomorphic stylizations to reach deeper, more general truths, and to create elegantly minimalist panels whose emotional depth-charge comes as an even greater shock. His dark wit and supremely bold use of "jump-cuts" from one scene to the next are endlessly surprising and exhilarating.
120-page B&W 7" x 10" graphic novel $14.95; $22.45 in Canada ISBN 1-56097-497-4
LOCAS IN LOVE by Jaime Hernandez
A Jaime classic spotlighting Penny Century! Although "Penny Century" refers to one of Hernandez's most popular characters -- a voluptuous platinum-blonde heiress whose wealth affords her the luxury of indulging her fantasy life as a costumed superheroine-cum-bon vivant - the title Penny Century functions more as a catch-phrase for the optimistic mood of the series this book in part collects, in which anything can and does happen, where seemingly unrelated stories when read together give texture to a larger canvas. PLUS this gorgeous book also includes Maggie and Hopey Color Fun, a 24-page full-color romp starring Hernandez's two most popular characters. Bueno!
120 page 7-1/2" x 11"graphic novel with 24 pages in full-color $14.95; $22.45 ISBN: 1-56097-412-5 MATURE READERS
