SLEEPING BAIT

THE END, repeat.

2011-11-27T11:30:00.000-08:00

lots of stuff has happened with La Mano; the Sammy The Mouse book is done and being sent out to its Kickstarter contributors (it will hit comic stores in March), we just did a beautiful silkscreen print with John P (his first).

AND--both of these things and a bunch more will be with me this coming weekend, at one of my favorite small press/ comics things of the year, the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival. i'll be sharing a table with Tom K/ Uncivilized books, and all kinds of good people will be there.

why is none of this "big news" up on the site?
because let's be honest: any and all activity on this site has long gone dormant.
the La Mano interweb thingy needs a revamp and relaunch; i'm going to look at and change a lot of things, primarily just streamlining the whole deal, but also addressing the when/ how/ why i do updates/ blog posts. and other stuff.

the old site did its job, and my pals Mr. Mike and Karl R kicked ass on getting the thing going and helping me keep it going (respectively), but...time to rethink, i think. won't be real flashy, but it'll be different.
hopefully i'll get this going soon. you can still order stuff from me.
until then, my best--
zak.

KICKSTARTER: funded!!

2011-05-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

well hell yes.
Sammy vol 1 is fully funded (actually about a week ago now...), and there's still 9 days left.
i'm excited and thankful as hell to everyone who contributed, spread the word, etc etc.

speaking of thankful though, here's something i meant to write about at the outset of the Kickstarter campaign, and want to go on record and make very clear.
this whole Sammy Vol 1/ Kickstarter thing is in NO WAY due to a dissatisfaction with my "previous" publisher, Fantagraphics. i still think they they are the proverbial shit, and am honored to be part of/ published by them. always have been, always will be.
and no, i'm not trying to hedge my bets, either.
it's like this: i've GOT a publishing company, and a PRINTING PRESS. we were discussing a format change and reboot of Sammy in any case. i learned of Kickstarter and thought "well, at some point i should try printing/ putting one of these out myself", and this seemed like the time and place to do it.
i even checked it out with them to make sure i wasn't being a total prick.

as awesome as this whole Kickstarter thing is (and make no mistake, it is EXTREMELY awesome), the time i spend printing/ sending out distroing etc Sammy vol. 1 is time well spent.
but. it's not time spent DRAWING Sammy, you know? and i've got to keep drawing the thing.
that's a hard balancing act, and we'll see where i end up.
but, whether or not future volumes come out from La Mano or Fanta, the fact remains: Fantagraphics has always been totally solid with me, and they remain the best publisher of comics that i know of on this continent.
god bless 'em.
more soon.
z.

STOP ME IF YOU"VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE, BUT: SAMMY THE MOUSE VOL.1, via KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN

2011-05-05T22:24:00.000-07:00

yeah, i went and done it:

SAMMY VOL. 1

gotta drive to TCAF in, let's see:
3 hours.

more soon.
vote early and often

thanks.

--zak.

TOOTH: the graphic art of Dale Flattum

2011-05-05T21:54:00.001-07:00

very quickly, here.
full disclosure: you know when you have a friend? and that friend does stuff, and it's stuff you like very much. and then that friend eventually mentions to you something they are up to, or something they are doing, and you think to yourself, well: i can't wait to see that. i bet when it is done it'll be great, and i'll love it.
sometimes it happens that said friend completes said project, and shows it to you; and usually, given all the above, you see the thing and think "this is just what i thought it would be. i love it and it's great."
but SOMETIMES, that friend hands you something and...it's what they DO, that thing you are a fan of, and it completely knocks you for a loop, and not only exceeds your expectations, but DESTROYS those expectations.
for me, that just happened, and the friend is Dale Flattum (aka TOOTH), and the project is his book, TOOTH.

he raised the $ to publish his book via kickstarter (about which outta me more, very soon...) in 72 hours (!!), and before you read any more you should go to the site and check it out so my hyperbole will be less...hyperbolus. right now.

so, yeah: Dale was in a lot of bands and has done a lot of posters, music art, and great shit; but the way this book pulls it all together is...WAY beyond what this sort of book usually does (to my mind).
i like posters, and i like nice design as much as the next guy; this book contains all that eye candy, but also notes, stories and just general weirdness that end up leaving you with way more than a collection of rock posters. in fact, the "rock" seems pretty beside the point-- in the end, what you get is more of a world view than a "design book". it's smart, it's thoughtful, and in a lot of cases, it's really sweet and funny.

even fuller disclosure: La Mano will be helping distro this book. Dale let me sit with the (almost) final draft.
a full read-through made me... just kind of happy to be alive. i can't say enough about the damn thing (and there's a full length CD in it encompassing all Dale's many awesome musical projects that i haven't even HEARD yet...).

so. like i said (and you noticed, because you hit that link), Dale got the $ to do this thing: it WILL EXIST. he got the $, but that should not stop you from going to kickstarter and pre-ordering it right now. he doesn't have much longer.

he just KILLED IT.
ok get to it.

THE DEITCH FILES

2011-05-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

nice big thing on the new (and fantastic) COMICS JOURNAL site; a thoughtful appreciation of Kim's work through the lens of La Mano's The Kim Deitch Files collection.

and, while we're at it, here's another great one from a while back that ran on The Comics Reporter (which, rightfully calls me out on the site's concentration on the PACKAGING rather than the art itself...mortifying, and WILL BE RECTIFIED).

The Kim Deitch Files will be getting another push soon on a number of levels, as Diamond will be offering it in their June 11 Previews catalog.

big news coming in the next few days. Tom K and i will be driving to TCAF (and listening to RUSH the entire 16 hours) on friday.

i'll post before then.

FACEBOOK?!

2011-02-28T19:05:00.000-08:00

so, i'm finally on facebook for real, but not sure how...it all fits together, you see. like if it goes up on facebook do you still blog that shit? yes? no? do i set up a La Mano "group" or a "business" or, uh....
aw who cares.

local heroine/ one half of minneapolis' fantastic MIX event (2 days this year, start getting ready now...) and writer for the Daily Crosshatch stopped by the studio and took some pictures.
and (without me realizing it) a movie of me and the press.

look real close and you can see evidence of the fact that i somehow made it through an entire evening, fancy dinner and all, never once realizing that i was wearing 2 different boots (Tom K later said "...we thought it was some fashion thing" to which i responded "who in their right mind would purposely leave the house LOOKING LIKE A TOTAL IDIOT?!?!").

more soon. lots going on.
--z.

LOOK MA, I'M ON THE TEEVEE

2011-01-10T19:36:00.001-08:00

or was, anyway. a pretty nice little piece on Minnesota's public TV channel about yours truly and La Mano.
watch it here:
http://www.mnoriginal.org/art/?p=2921

then send money for a damn haircut.

FUCKIN DORK/ FUZZY BOX

2011-01-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

johnny told me about these on the phone: seems he kicked out this series of prints in 1990(!), with the intention of putting them out someday and, well....he just did.
and it looks absolutely amazing.
support john, get this beautiful (and EXTREMELY limited) thing.
do it NOW.

http://johnporcellino.blogspot.com/2011/01/fin-dork-fuzzy-box.html

-z.

AND

2010-12-19T20:02:00.001-08:00

R.I.P Beefheart.

lordy, lordy.

SEATTLE, home, etc.

2010-12-18T19:52:00.002-08:00

so, after brooklyn there was seattle; i missed the huge blizzard leaving my poor wife to shovel the 6 1/2 feet of snow while i....partied. ok, i don't really party, but i got close i suppose.
the Fantagraphics bookstore 4th Anniversary was pretty fun; a lot of people, great art show (i'm thinking that might have been my final "live performance"...ever. ok not ever, but i got some stuff to figure out...). followed by a crazy-ass party at the Woodring residence (you all know he built a 6-foot dip pen, right? well he did, and i saw Chris Cilla waving it around). i gotta say some thanks here to Larry Reid for picking my tired ass up, and putting the whole thing together; everyone who came down and said Hi; Jason T. Miles for carting me around and general Jason T. Milesishness, Kim and Gary and Mike and Janice and Jacob and Jacq and the whole Fanta crew; cartooning couple Max Clotfelter and Kelly Froh for some pretty incredible hospitality and warmth (and an air mattress). Chris Cilla and Mindy for coming up from PDX. Eric Rhea and Clementine for nice hanging around, and American Treasure Pete Bagge for the lift to the airport. and everyone i forgot.
home now.
it's nice. have no idea how i ever travelled so much, i LOSE EVERYTHING.

ALSO: sorry for the delay on...nearly everything, but i'm knocking them down--got really backed up on filling orders, but they're packed up and going out; my apologies to everyone i kept waiting.
the KIM DEITCH FILES is (obviously) finished, site update with paypal buttons going up hopefully sometime monday. for all of you who wrote reserving a DELUXE edition; your order HAS BEEN noted and those folio #'s will go out in the order in which i received them (pending payment, of course).

best, z.

BCGF, interviews, appearances.

2010-12-08T18:56:00.000-08:00

i don't have photos, but other people do: the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival this past weekend was completely amazing on any number of levels; the work available (i got so much good stuff...), the artists in attendance (yeah, you heard right Matt Groening was there too, but only to SHOP.), the programming (very little of which i was able to check out, manning my table and all...), but mostly just the sheer NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO CAME TO CHECK THE THING OUT. the place was PACKED, almost all day.
which would be great in any case, but La Mano did as well as i've ever done at a convention; this makes me very happy.
and, Kim Deitch came and sat at the table for a while, signed some books and such. it's always great to see him, and he seemed to like the folio. he's just a great guy, that Kim Deitch.
so, some lucky folks got their first crack at the folio, and the rest of you will as well, REAL SOON. i'm working on the site update/ paypal buttons etc.
but, overall-- BCGF was a hell of a show. Desert Island and Picturebox did a great job putting it together.

also-- an interview with me went up at the Fantagraphics site, which is worth reading i guess but even moreso because it features the best/ most terrifying photograph i've ever had taken of me (scroll to the bottom).

and it's all a ramp-up for the big Fantagraphics Bookstore's 4th anniversary bash this saturday, where i'll be making a lot of noise to cover up the fact that my throat is completely blown from yelling for 9 hours in Brooklyn.

that's all.
oh wait: i joined facebook. i haven't figured out how to use it yet, though.

DEITCH: incredibly close (also preorders).

2010-12-02T06:20:00.000-08:00

see, told you there was a "plan b" for the Deluxe edition.

GOCCO.

there's isaac helping. he's good that way (and about every other way, too.)

as of this writing, ONE item left to print (on the offset; the "list of works" insert).

if nothing goes horribly awry, i'll nail those after work/ kids go to bed, then finish assembly and get on the plane tomorrow to BKYLN. it's real down to the wire shit, but...very, VERY close.

close enough that i'm ready to start taking requests for the DELUXE version; i've already received 2 hold requests and considering that this is a limited edition, it only seems fair that i open it up.
so, #'s 001 and 002 are spoken for; i WILL get these up for sale with paypal buttons very soon...but in the meantime,
if you'd like to reserve a copy of the DELUXE EDITION email me at orders@lamano21.com.
your name will go on a list in the order it is received; if you bail, that # will go to the next person in line (orders that come in this weekend will be processed when i get back from the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics festival.)

-z.

THE DEITCH FILES UPDATE: ENVELOPES, done.

2010-11-29T05:45:00.000-08:00

so friday night Tooth and i stayed up til 4am screening the envelopes for the regular edition and something secret and amazing for the Deluxe Edition.

that's Tooth there (aka Dale), going beyond the call of duty banging these things out with/ for me (he did all the work i just grabbed em and put them on the drying rack).

this thing is coming together and, well.....holy shit.
more very soon.

KIM DEITCH FOLIO UPDATE-- LAST PRINT: done.

2010-11-23T23:35:00.000-08:00

for the "regular" edition, anyway (still quite a few left to do for the DELUXE version).
this is a crappy cellphone photo of the final plate. now assembly, trimming, screenprinting, etc etc etc.

but. on our way.

(yeah and on the subject of screenprinting: looks like the leatherette/file folder material itself on the DELUXE edition won't hold the kind of ink we need to work with, so plan B on that one. what IS plan B, you ask? wait and see....)

OLD LOW ART FOR SALE/ andy k. benefit

2010-11-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

a little over 2 weeks ago a tragic accident occurred in Seattle, and longtime Sub Pop employee Andy Kotowicz lost his life; you can read more about it here:

http://www.subpop.com/channel/blog/our_friend_has_died

i did not know andy well, but the interactions i did have with him showed him to be a real solid, good guy. i liked him. i know quite a few other people that were closer to him who are just absolutely destroyed by his loss: "universally loved" seems to kind of an inadequate description, here. any way you cut it, it's just a tragic, sad deal.
so there's been a fund set up for his family and, well....i've got a piece art that i'm selling toward that purpose.
up on ebay now is the original art for a Low flyer i did....uh, a long time ago; we copied it off and used it for a long us tour (i don't even remember when...Secret Name maybe or Songs For A Dead Pilot...). it looks like this:

ebay listing is here:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230549049518#ht_500wt_1156

reserve is $70, but bid high, it's for a good cause.
here's the link to that fund, too, should you feel moved to contribute--

http://www.subpop.com/channel/blog/andy_kotowicz_family_foundation

thanks.
more soon.
--z

SAMMY #3 Release/ Minneapolis Indie Expo AUGUST 20/21

2010-08-19T07:04:00.000-07:00

hey all--
heads up here; big party/ signing at Big Brain comics here this friday: it's a pre-MIX (about which more in a second) kickoff, and the release event for 3 new books: look, that's the flyer up above:

WILL DINSKI will have his debut book (from Top Shelf) FINGERPRINTS
AARON RENIER's newest, (via First Second) THE UNSINKABLE WALKER BEAN
i'll be signing/ selling copies of the brand new third issue of SAMMY THE MOUSE (Fantagraphics/ Coconino)

Will and Aaron are great cartoonists-- i'm excited to be doing this with them (and i can't wait to see their books).

and then the next day-- Minneapolis Indie Expo, or MIX.
(details above)

this thing is shaping up to be a fantastic event. Minneapolis (being the great city that it is) has a bunch of different comics events that occur over the course of the year, be it Zine Fest or Fallcon or the Rain Taxi Book fest: i like all of em, but they all serve different...niches, somehow.
but i'll tell you: both US coasts have a sizeable "Small press" convention (SPX in Maryland, APE in San Francisco, and MoCCA in NYC). all of those are great, but where the heck is the one for the midwest? i don't want to jump the gun, but there's some significant signs that the organizers of this here thing a) have their act together and b)have put a ton of work into this thing that has already paid off; from all your local knowns and unknowns to out of town heavy hitters like Sparkplug Comic Books and Top Shelf. hell, John Porcellino's coming out for this thing, and it's only the first year.
i have every belief that this thing is going to be fantastic for Small press nerds and casual "consumers" alike.

La Mano will have a table, but unfortunately i'll only be able to be there for a limited time (due to a family wedding), but i cannot urge folks enough to get down to this thing; just go check it out.
if it's terrible you can get real mad and yell at me next time i see you, but it won't be.
terrible, that is.

SAMMY THE MOUSE #3

2010-08-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

from The Comics Reporter:

"Creator: Zak Sally
Publishing Information: Fantagraphics/Coconino, Ignatz format, 32 pages, July 2010, $7.95
Ordering Numbers: 9781606994269 (ISBN13)

The Ignatz-format comic were introduced into the marketplace at a time when it seemed like the indy/alt serial comic may be doomed (as opposed to now, when we know for sure). Along with a cheaper comics for fewer pages experiment a few teams at Image were trying, the over-sized, high production value, slip-cased and saddle-stitched effort shared by Fantagraphics and Coconino would be one of those things that might catch on and revitalize the serial comic while the surging book format carried the financial load. At least that's what I remember. I'm not sure anyone asked the publisher if they agreed with this -- it was sort of assumed for these books. It's my opinion that the format has been less of a hit commercially than it has artistically. If the entire line consisted of Kevin Huizenga's Ganges -- all three issues of which were top 10 books the years they came out -- and the evocatively well-drawn series by veterans Richard Sala and Gilbert Hernandez, that would have been a publishing effort worth undertaking. There's been a lot more to it than that, though, showcasing a wave of talents either unknown or under-published in America in a format that flattered their visual gifts.

And then there's Zak Sally's Sammy The Mouse which for me has been a revelation, taking Zak Sally's natural cartooning chops away from some of the more densely-told and even sometimes predictable material from projects past and opening it up to a mix of classic cartooning tropes and the outright weird. I either missed issue #2 of Sammy entirely or forgotten it, but that's part of the serial comics experience, too. Without knowing for sure, I'd say issue #3 feels like Sally falling into a reluctant protagonist motif with his character. Characters like Sammy exist to march their way through scenes and set pieces that give insight into the human condition. But if you see the human condition as rife with absurdity and pain and arbitrary circumstance, then those kinds of adventures are bound to be troubling and annoying rather than satisfying. Or maybe that's not what he's saying at all -- I told you I missed an issue. It's enough for me to watch Sally explore the comics page, and at this point I think I'd watch him adapt the minutes from a school board meeting."

coming soon to a comic store near you (and this site).

(also: The Comics Reporter also just won a well deserved Eisner Award for best comics publication or somesuch at this year's Nerdpocalypse in San Deigo. you know the one. congrats CR and Tom S.)

La Mano "2nd ANNUAL REPORT"/ Eclipse Records THIS SATURDAY 7/24

2010-07-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

the LA MANO 2nd ANNUAL REPORT SATURDAY JULY 24 2010

so, last year we did a La Mano benefit show here in minneapolis, which ended up being just an astoundingly great time for everyone involved. so much so that we're doing it AGAIN THIS YEAR!!!
hosted at the same place: minneapolis's (actually it's in St. Paul) favorite all ages record store/ venue ECLIPSE RECORDS, right on university ave (1922 to be exact).
same as last year, there will be zines and posters and art and weirdness set up all over the place for sale (i think more than last year), but there will also be MUSIC.

starting at around 5 pm, these folks will entertain you:

CAMDEN (Cole from Daughters Of The Sun project)
PINK TEETH (me and Tooth making a racket)
NOSE QUEAN ANT (newly reconstituted)
TUNNELER (a couple guys from Moonstone doing "a hair metal project about drills", whatever the hell that means...)
MARIJUANA DEATH SQUAD
ARCTIC UNIVERSE
and
GAY WITCH ABORTION

(not in that order, though...). whole thing wrapped up by 11ish (at the latest).

$6 door (redeemable for that amount off of most La Mano products). i know it's crazy.
it's KIND of a benefit (because La Mano seems to be perpetually broke since the economy tanked...), but mostly it's just an excuse to get a bunch of people together in a big room: good music, zines, art and whathaveyou.
i must again stress: last year, ridiculously fun. don't believe me? then look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQls4CaEo5E

this year should be just as good.

plus the whole thing is being sponsored by the good people at RADIO K (and i'll be talking about it on-air on the Off The Record show this friday, as well...)
if you miss this, i don't know what to say to you. i'll be there.

as always, write/ blog if that's your thing, spread the word, or just come down.

SPECIAL TOPICS

2010-02-11T20:20:00.000-08:00

sampling of subjects mentioned/ covered in today's class "COMIC CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT"
MCAD COM 3030_01
Zak Sally, instructor.

-- a request for 8-sided Dungeons and Dragons dice (request granted after first break, followed by obligatory joke about "hit points")
-- Jimmy Webb/ "Wichita Lineman"/ Glen Campbell
-- Fred Flintstone
-- The Shaggs (with repeated in-class playing of "My Friend Foot Foot")
-- Jack Kirby
-- Turns out the main guy from Men Without Hats had a solo career and is a great guitar player?
-- Horse Pills (subject quickly changed)
-- Hippies
-- If I Were the King Of Comics
-- Extreme
-- Nuno Bettencourt
-- Hobo Bindles
-- "Remember The Magic" = 14 beers
-- foreshortening.

STUFF AND JUNK.

2010-02-04T23:01:00.000-08:00

there's a great radio show out of Vancouver called "Inkstuds" which is just interviews with cartoonists (and they are all archived, which is fantastic): this week they put up the interview with yours truly, so if you want to listen to me have a real difficult time forming sentences (and hear the "secret track" from the Sub Pop 7" which is essentially me screaming and swearing for 3 minutes straight...god bless Canada for allowing such horrible filth to sully their airwaves...), you can listen to it here:

http://inkstuds.com/ (and find my name...easy.)

also, there's this nice interview & review from a site called Bookmunch:

http://bookmunch.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/you’ve-got-to-figure-out-a-way-to-not-throw-that-chair-across-the-room-an-interview-with-zak-sally-author-of-like-a-dog/

http://bookmunch.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/from-tormented-surrealism-to-flat-realism-to-downright-abstract-strangeness-like-a-dog-by-zak-sally/

also: in both these things, i formally announce the next La Mano project: "The Deitch Files", a portfolio of seminal underground cartoonist Kim Deitch's rarely seen "Story Pages"; it will appear in both a "regular" edition, and a signed and numbered "deluxe" edition.
it is, in all honesty, going to be completely amazing, and i'm honored to be the guy putting this thing out into the world.
i'll be posting more details soon, but my hope/ plan is to premiere this thing at MOCCA.

ok that's it be well.
--z.

FLOSSIE

2009-11-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

born 11/23/09.

JOHN P/Map Of My Heart=ZAK SALLY/Like A Dog book release party OCT 24

2009-10-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

my very good pal John Porcellino has been on the road for the past 5 weeks, traversing our great nation in celebration of the release of his new book "MAP OF MY HEART: selected comics 1996 -2002" (Drawn & Quarterly) and not only that but GET THIS: also marking 20 YEARS OF KING-CAT.
i know, it's crazy. so, yeah; John has been doing his zine for 20 years, and it's pretty well agreed that King-Cat is perhaps the greatest mini comic, uh...ever. John has been HUGELY influential and i'm not even going to get into all that because i'd be up typing for another 2 hours, but it's a big deal (in a very quiet, small way).
and John has said to me many times on the phone about the comics that make up "MAP OF MY HEART"..."they're the best comics i've ever done". and you know-- they ARE. and with someone like John, and a magazine like King- Cat, that's saying something. i'm not kidding, this is a VERY SPECIAL BOOK.
and not only that, but MY new collection of old stuff is coming out too-- it's called "LIKE A DOG", and it's a fancy hardcover book with a bunch of full color stuff in it, collecting the first 2 'zine issues of "Recidivist" as well as a bunch of other stuff i did for anthologies and whathaveyou, all decked out with extensive "liner notes". my pals at Fantagraphics were nice enough to publish the thing, and i've got to say-- i'm extremely proud of this book. i really am; it came out better than i could've possibly hoped.

so it's a RELEASE PARTY FOR BOTH BOOKS!!! HOORAY!!!
michael's puttin' it on, so we'll both be at BIG BRAIN COMICS (that's 1027 Washington Ave S Minneapolis, MN 55415 (612) 338-4390) signing and shooting the breeze from 5 til 7:30 or so on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24.

then after that, we're heading over to the WEST BANK SOCIAL CENTER (501 Cedar Ave. S (Second Floor) Minneapolis, MN 55454 http://westbanksocialcenter.org/)
from 8 to 10 or so, where Johhnny will give a presentation about 20 years of zinehood.

as always, short notice, but
come on down and say hi.
ok all, bye.
best, zak.

damn, i don't have a pic of Johnny's book, but here's mine:
(whoops, that's it up top there and i'm too tired to change it...)

ANALYSIS: DISNEY BUYS MARVEL COMICS

2009-08-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

apparently, Disney has bought Marvel Comics.

--zak.

Jason T. Miles' "DEAD RINGER" nominated for IGNATZ AWARD!

2009-08-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

for "Outstanding Comic"; just announced today.
i've got to say, this is great because i honestly feel (both as a cartoonist myself, and as PUBLISHER of the thing) that DEAD RINGER has not received the amount of attention that it deserves. maybe this'll get it a little more (remember: it's there for the ordering in the La Mano store, right at the top there...). i sure hope so.

my hearty and deserved congrats to Jason.

and, i've got to add... La Mano has released three books that could be considered "comics", and let's see here; John Porcellino's MOSQUITO book won an IGNATZ, and, hmmm....the final issue of RECIDIVIST got nominated for TWO "Eisner"'s, and now with DEAD RINGER getting the nom, that makes...wait, hold on, let me do the math....wait....wait....

EVERY SINGLE BOOK LA MANO BOOK HAS RECEIVED INDUSTRY AWARD NOMINATIONS?!?! REALLY?!?!

WHY, THAT'S 120%!!!!
that makes La Mano the GREATEST COMICS PUBLISHER OF ALL TIME!!!

(yeah, i know La Mano puts out less than a book a year, and awards are kind of goofy but still...)

the award'll be given at this years' Small Press Expo (SPX) the weekend of September 26-27 in Bethesda, MD.
LA MANO will have a table, and i'll be there, as will John P, and maybe hopefully Jason as well.
more details as they arrive.

I'M ON VACATION AND DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE AUTO RESPONSE EMAIL

2009-08-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

in FACT, i just tried to write a nice thing that said "if you just sent me an order it'll be a week before i can get it out to you because i'm away on vacation, sorry about that" that would go out whenever i get an order, like it's SUPPOSED TO, but it somehow SENT THE DAMN THING TO EVERYONE WHO HAS WRITTEN ME AN EMAIL EVER, IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. god i hate these fucking machines. if you got one of those emails and have, you know, ALREADY RECEIVED YOUR STUFF A WEEK OR THREE AGO, please disregard.
for the rest of you...i'm on vaction. will get you orders out asap when i return home. sorry for the delay.
cripes.

MORE AND BETTER

2009-08-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

my pal Karl comes through with the classy filmwork from the release show...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQls4CaEo5E

SO MUCH FUN

2009-07-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

so, just over a week ago, that thing happened at Eclipse records. if you weren't there, you missed out, and you are probably kind of upset about it. man, i don't blame you. fact is, from the store (thanks, Joe x 2 an everyone else), to everyone in the bands (who were, each and every one of them, GREAT) to most everyone i saw in attendance, this event was just what i hoped it'd be: a fun-as-hell 5 hours surrounded by pals (nevermind that it was CHEAP). and La Mano raised some much needed cash, for which i am really, REALLY appreciative. my sincere thanks to everyone who hosted, performed, sold zines, or just showed up.

really. as i wrote in my original email when i was hitting up folks to play; there's a part of me that feels strange about having a "benefit" for my business; i mean, you have your own CHAIR SHOP or whatever and you need $, you don't have a benefit, right?
and then i realize; you know, if you're a friend of mine and you're making beautiful chairs and you need a little hand and it sounds like a great event, well-- maybe you should consider having a benefit show, because I'D probably play it.

still and all: thank you.

but let's be honest-- all anyone who was there remembers is this:

and this:

(and before you go calling social services, my boy's got earplugs in)

LA MANO BENEFIT JULY 22 ECLIPSE RECORDS st.paul mn: JIM AND THE FRENCH VANILLA, PAUL METZGER, SKOAL KODIAK, TOGPTFFSOTWOTER, SEAWHORES

2009-07-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

big things are happening; expect a big site update and new la mano product (!!) tomorrow, but in the meantime, COME TO THIS:
("official""press" release follows)

all right; this is "Steve", the official La Mano "publicist".
here is the deal: Zak Sally (musician [Low, Dirty Three, Kid Dakota, etc], cartoonist [Recidivist, Sammy the Mouse, the forthcoming "Like A Dog" hardcover collection due this fall from Fantagraphics], and publisher [La Mano 21]) somehow ended up making a record; wrote, sang and played every damn thing on it, recorded it with his old pal Ben Durrant (Andrew Bird, Dosh, Shearwater) at Crazy Beast Studios.

it's called "Fear Of Song" (as in: "Zak Sally's Fear Of Song", get it?). 9 songs 37 minutes, and will be released on CD in a signed and limited edition, with all the packaging and such done BY HAND on the La Mano press. very pretty.
his old pals at the venerable Sub Pop records also did a 7" from that record, featuring the single "Why We Hide", and an exclusive track "When I Said I Missed You I Just Meant My Aim Was Off (The Quiet Life)". see, look here:

http://www.subpop.com/releases/zak_sally/singles/why_we_hide

there is also probably going to be a video for that first thing by Phil Harder (Foo Fighters, and, uh...Prince).
release date for the single is JULY 21, release for the CD is JULY 22.

to this end we are setting up a HUGE, AMAZING RECORD RELEASE SHOW/ LA MANO BENEFIT, etc etc see above i'm not typing it all again.
it'll be hosted by the good folks at Eclipse records (and therefore is ALL AGES and CHEAP) right on University ave in St. Paul.
starting at 5:30-ish, you will se performances by these local luminaries:
JIM AND THE FRENCH VANILLA (Jim from the blind shake's solo venture)
PAUL METZGER (solo treated guitar unbelievableness)
SKOAL KODIAK (sorry everyone else, but the best damn band to come out of minneapolis in a decade solid)
T.O.G.P.T.F.F.S.O.T.W.O.T.E.R.A.T.S.Y.O.A (Three Old Guys Play The First Five Songs Off The Wipers' Over The Edge Record And The Song Youth Of America, featuring Zak Sally, Dale Flattum [Milk Cult, Steel Pole Bath Tub], and double duty from Freddy Votel [Cows, Skoal Kodiak, a million other bands]
and the SEAWHORES.

and besides that, there will be tables selling ZINES, POSTERS, BOOKS and whatever by a bunch of your favorite local arteests.
like i said; ALL AGES.
and CHEAP? how does SIX BUCKS SOUND?
good? yeah, well see the aforementioned mention of a "benefit" and what that means in this case is that that $6 you just spent gets you SIX BUCKS OFF OF ANY LA MANO BOOK OR POSTER (and aside from all that, the first hundred or so people in the door will almost certainly get some free thing from the La Mano archives, not sure what exactly yet, but...).

oh who am i kidding there is no La Mano publicist. you knew that.
if you are getting this it means you are either a) a friend of Sally or La Mano, b) someone i've talked to about this thing but haven't yet said hey dammit you want to come sell stuff at this thing (if so, email me and say so posthaste) c) a writer or dj or press person or most likely
d) some combination of those things.
this thing is just a couple weeks off (and this email should've gone out a month ago), so spread the word, come down, whatever.
you got questions?
zak@lamano21.com

ok all. see you down there.
--zak.

ZAK SALLY OFF THE RECORD

2009-07-16T18:34:00.001-07:00

yup. i'm going to be on the Off The Record show on 770 Radio K tomorrow.
around 5, i guess. talking about my new record (Fear Of Song) which is out next wednesday and the La Mano benefit show that goes along with that release and maybe play some songs from the record.
but i don't think i'm going to play anything "live", because i haven't had time to, you know-- practice.
TUNE IN.

ART SHOW TOMORROW, DAMN IT!!

2009-05-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

you know you are behind when your friends are telling you what day and time you're having an art show.
but-- it's kicking off the great northeast minneapolis "art-a whirl" yearly event: here's the deal, (copy and pasted from my pal scott's email, since i'm too scattered to write it myself...) and i don't want to sound like i'm not excited, 'cuz i AM...

Friday May 15
the good people of Foiled Again hair salon are hosting an opening reception for Zak Sally (fancy pants illustrator, comic art guy, and head honcho over at La Mano press),
whose selected works will adorn the walls of the salon for the next month or so. fun starts at 6:30, with live "entertainment" and "music" by the always amazing Lady Hard On at 8pm, followed by NoiseQueanAnt around 9pm. standard art opening fare will be on hand - refreshments & beverages of different kinds, but it's probably a safe bet to bring your own libations for the long haul.

630 - ?pm, free for all ages.
Foiled Again Hair Salon
2807 Johnson Street NE

Saturday May 16
our friends at Creative Electric Studios have dug in down on the riverfront off of Marshall Street northeast, and are proud to present
SS Infinite Regress:
a new safe house boat exhibition featuring all kinds of things: film projections, modern dance performances, and live music.....
Saturday's show offers Allison LeBon (of Owls fame), and White Map (yours truly along with the formentioned Mr.Sally) performing on a floating (i hope) raft out in the river.

7-11pm, free for all ages.
on the Mississippi River
Rockway Docks behind
The Sample Room
2124 Marshall Street NE

Here's to another busy, fun, hectic, and awesome art-a-whirl weekend. Whatever you do, get out and enjoy some of it!

wait, did he call me a "fancy pants"?!!!
why that...

more soon bye.

ART FOR SALE

2009-03-31T18:05:00.000-07:00

yes.
like many people in the country (...and just about everywhere else), i'm scraping the barrel. this is NOT my "long-talked about-but-never-instituted 'I WILL DRAW YOUR INSIDES' Initiative", nor is it my "Sammy the Mouse OUT-TAKES Project": it's just me selling some art for money.
i got 3 pieces on the chopping block (with probably a couple more to come in the next couple of days...).
the first 2 are illustrations i did for the 4th issue of the always-awesome YETI magazine: one of John Denver:

and the next of, that's right-- Lynyrd Skynyrd:

each one of these are india ink on bristol, 8 x 11.5 inch image area.
$100 each.

and the final one at the very top of this entry is an illustration i did accompanying an article i wrote about the rock band TOOL, that appeared here in minneapolis in the weekly City Pages, and then, inexplicably, in the Village Voice. anyway, this one is a little bigger, but again it's india ink, white ink, and graphite on vellum. it measures 10x 12 inches,
and this one is $160.

email me if you got questions, tell all your rich art-collector pals.
ok bye.

NRD ALRT: WTCHMN

2009-03-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

you want nerd points? i'll GIVE you nerd points: in 1985 (or something...'86?) i spraypainted "EGO IPSE CUSTODIES CUSTUDIO" on the FRONT DOORS OF MY HIGH SCHOOL.
yeah. WOW.
i thought that was PRETTY GODDAMNED DEEP.(and no, i don't know latin, i read it on some watchmen button set or something and besides i was so terrified i'd get caught, that i think i spelled it wrong.)
so, yes i am a nerd, and also yes, i am a moron.

so i went and saw this movie.
the funny thing is, is... i'm strangely not really bothered one way or the other. some parts were pretty entertaining, some were downright terrible and some of it was boring and some was... i don't know. do i love the original?
last time i checked, yeah, i did.
now, if you want to see me get really REALLY mad about a shitty hollywood movie taking such an enormous dump on the world that it stinks up the original, you need look no further than 2 posts down where i go hog wild for no good reason all over "Horton Hears A Who". i can't tell you why, but this movie didn't leave me with that (not there there weren't certain points where i felt as if alan moore was rolling in his grav...wait. he's still alive. forget that.). some parts were just plain dumb, but...for whatever reason, maybe it's just the fact that it seemed these guys actually DID love the original (to a fault) that just left me feeling like "ok. saw that. what's for dinner?". maybe my "art comics guy" card will suddenly be revoked, but some parts were-- like i said-- kind of entertaining.
i'm honestly surprised that i'm not fuming mad about this abomination etc etc etc. i don't even think i could tell you why i'm not. am i saying i LIKED it? no, i wouldn't go that far...it's...it's a movie that, if it walked past me on the street, i'd say "hi how are you", but i... i wouldn't let this movie date my sister, you know?
the thing is, if there's a truth here, it's this: comics can do some things that movies just plain can't, and this movie is proof.
ok that's all.

MOME ART SHOW, TOMORROW

2009-03-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

yes, comic nerds, i KNOW that's opening day for the Watchmen movie.
instead of waiting in line for a movie that-- let's face it-- will probably suck (in one way or another), just come to THIS:

OPENING FROM 6-8 pm, concourse gallery of Minneapolis School Of Art and Design:

mome noun (1553) 1. archaic: fool; blockhead. 2. a quarterly anthology showcasing the best new talent of this decade's rising cartoon generation.

MOMENTUM: The New Comics presents a retrospective of comic artworks published in the Harvey and Eisner award-nominated quarterly Mome (Fantagraphics Books), one of the industry's leading contemporary anthologies. Anchored by an ever-evolving core roster of contributors, the lauded series showcases comic art's best emerging talent alongside some of North America and Europe's most respected creators. MOMENTUM artists include rising stars such as Sophie Crumb, Tim Hensley, R. Kikuo Johnson, Tom Kaczynski, Zak Sally, and Dash Shaw. Check out a gallery of sample work from MOMENTUM.
The Made at MCAD/MOMENTUM opening reception on March 6 will feature live music by hip-hop duo Elliot Looney and DJ Danny Sigelman, snacks and refreshments, and much more. No tickets required--fans of all ages are welcome to join in the fun, connect with other comic heads, and check out exciting new work.

Also on March 6 is an afternoon lecture with Mome editor Eric Reynolds. 1pm, auditorium 150.

Just added! Join us for a gallery talk with comic artists Tom Kaczynski and Zak Sally on Thursday, April 9, starting at 6:30 p.m. in the second-floor Concourse Gallery.

To get caught up with Mome, read interviews with Mome artists, view galleries of their work and more, head to the anthology's page at Fantagraphics Books.

that's the press release there.
it doesn't mention folks like Andrice Arp, David B (whose pages are IMPOSSIBLY gorgeous...), Jim Woodring (same), Liili Carre, Gabrielle Bell, Olivier Schrauwen, and...seriously; it's a great show and i'd say that even if i WEREN'T in it.

and Eric Reynolds, besides being #3 man at Fantagraphics books, is a also a great guy (and a good pal), and i'm really looking forward to his talk

probably over to Big Brain after, and then Grumpy's.

JOHNNY P + MISFITS = HAPPY DAY

2009-03-02T20:46:00.002-08:00

no, i really don't know what it is with all the old-schoolish punk rock on this blog of late; all i can say is, john p(orcelllino, my good pal and man behind King- Cat Comics and Stories which is the greatest 'zine of all time ah who am i kidding nobody reading this blog doesn't know who john p is...). john sent me this photocopy of a drawing someone had commissioned from him (let me pause for emphasis here; JOHN P IS TAKING COMMISSIONS, come ON people...), saying ..."doing this drawing made me happy..."

i can see why, because it makes ME happy too...(and he said it was ok for me to post it, so you are welcome...)

RIP LUX

2009-02-06T12:17:00.000-08:00

"YOU AIN'T NO PUNK YOU PUNK"
what with losing Ron Asheton not so long ago (which i didn't blog about, because it seems like the only time i DO blog is when someone dies, which is pretty depressing...but i guess here we go again, sorry), the loss of Lux Interior...
i don't even know: i was actually SHOCKED when i read the news.
i remember when i was, hell-- 12 or 13 and trying to wrap my (at that particular time...) suburban head around this scary "punk rock" thing; of course, i came at it all ass-backwards, but most of it i just didn't understand; i WANTED to understand it, but the Clash's first record(s) really didn't hit me where i lived...how could it?
but the Cramps...my friend josh's older brother had all this stuff, and when i finally heard the one with the scariest cover (all yellow and black)... it was... unbelievable. from the very first note of Garbageman... i liked it so much i felt like "this is the greatest thing i have ever heard, and so there must be something WRONG WITH ME". seriously. my brain could not process the fact that the world could accommodate this music and, you know, MIAMI VICE at the same time. it made me feel... creepy and GOOD simultaneously. i couldn't really deal with it, back then.
and. well. look how it all worked out.
rock and roll is a pretty stupid thing (and i say this from experience). but it's also... not stupid (ditto).

the Cramps weren't ever about "PUNK" or haircuts or any of that shit, they were about... being a WEIRDO; a DEEP- DOWN, LIFER WEIRDO, and that's a different thing than any musical fashion trend. the glory of the Cramps was that they MADE THIER OWN WORLD; they constructed it out of the fact that they were weirdos, and wrote songs that were 100% serious and 100% hilarious and 100% about the GLORY OF BEING A GODDAMN WEIRDO. they weren't getting kicked out of your world; they were letting you into theirs.
i'm teaching a college class right now and i brought in my DVD of the Napa crazyhouse show (and made it "optional" for the students to watch...), and was yet again stunned at a) how AWESOME it is and b) how NO BAND would have the balls to do that TODAY, much less in 1978, and c) how they just seem right at home playing there. and the fact that the 5 students who DID stick around (god bless 'em) to watch it had that glazed look of disbelief on their faces says... it says a lot.
look; the Cramps are one of the things that make me PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN. i always thought "if, for whatever reason, i go on some 2-day blackout bender and when i come to i've got a Cramps tattoo... that'd be just fine."
they were also one of those things that, unfortunately, i thought would go on forever, and the couple times i had the opportunity to see them it got sidetracked with whatever, and i always thought "i'll get them the next time".
now i won't, and i'm an idiot.
i'm with everyone who says Lux Interior (and Poison Ivy for that matter) ought to go along with Mark Twain and Lovecraft and Crumb and ... ah hell whatever other nutjob americans originals that history ought not to forget, just by virtue of "Drug Train" and whatever the hell he's got shoved in his mouth during "She Said"... there oughtta be some sort of national holiday where everyone shoves a live microphone halfway down their gullet and bellows like a dying horse, just for fun.
but i'm not telling you anything you don't know.
i know 62 is young all things considered, but hell; you cut a swath like he did and...
anyway, still; damn it.
RIP LUX.

tune in tomorrow as i get furious about some dumb thing that hardly matters.

ps-- need i mention that i'd take the Cramps over the Rolling Stones in a heartbeat? no.
AND; r.i.p Ron Asheton, damn it.

BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN (or: HORTON HEARS...oh, i hope you all just FRY IN HELL)

2009-01-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

so, i've got a million things i ought to be doing... laying out a book of my "early work" that's due from Fantagraphics this summer, finishing Sammy #2, finishing 2 new songs, getting isaac out of diapers and into BIG BOY UNDERWEAR, lesson plans, and oh yes the american economy (and the comic book/ publishing industry along with it) is heading straight down the shitter, etc etc etc yadda yadda yadda.
...and not only THAT, but there's actually a great number of wonderful things that i've been MEANING to write about on this blog lately; and YET, here i am, so HONKED OFF that all i can think to do is BLOG ABOUT IT.
yeah, NOW you're with me: ok fine then i'll TELL YOU.
from the beginning then-- anyone who's even had a passing glance at the aforementioned Sammy The Mouse comic i'm working on (and will be working on for the next 8 years...) knows that, among a great many other things, it's got a lot of... things i took in before i knew what "ART" was, you know? things from childhood. stuff you loved before the world turned you rotten with things like "taste" and "intelligence" and "critical faculties". and i'm not saying this is even a CONSCIOUS decision on my part, it just seems like that's what i'm vomiting up (so to speak...it's actually NOT unpleasant at all, like vomiting is). i don't know the what or why of it, but i'm sure becoming a dad and re-experiencing all the childhood stuff through the filter of ADULTHOOD has a lot to do with it.
which is a long explanation of my newfound love and appreciation of the genius of Ted Giesel, aka Dr. Suess.
like i said, anyone who's seen Sammy can probably see it from a mile off, but...really; the stuff is absolutely AMAZING.
isaac and i read a Suess book every night before bed, an i've certainly got my favorites, but each time we crack a new one, it's got some moment in it that's just astounding; i mean, the guy was SMART.
but here's the thing: he was smart enough to not have to SHOW IT; the cleverness on display never detracts from the point of the book, and most importantly, there is NEVER a sense that Suess is PANDERING, or talking down to his readers, or... whatever. there's a... respectfulness that's pretty striking, even in the odd book where he's...making a "point". this, to my mind, is also why the books are/ were so successful: they're HONEST. kids have a radar for that stuff, and they respond to the real thing. and "the real thing" is a note that Dr. Suess hit just about every time.
so. Horton. the elephant.
"Horton Hatches an Egg": A+ MATERIAL.
isaac and i made a special trip to the bookstore this past weekend and paid $15 (which is actually kind of big spend in this family) for a BRAND NEW (i know, it's insane; who would pay FULL PRICE for a Suess book? there's like, 350 MILLION of them IN PRINT...someone who really wanted a good copy from which to-- ahem-- "reference" the drawing, i guess...) for "Horton Hears A Who".
and, right. at the SAME TIME, this MOVIE VERSION has just come out recently on DVD. and while i'm out getting diapers at Target (see above, toilet training) or whatever, i keep seeing this DVD and thinking, well heck; i remember this movie got pretty resoundingly good reviews when it came out ( i don't know how may of you rely on Metacritic like i do, but a 71 on that site actually carries quite a bit of weight with me...), and at $14 i should probably just pick it up. but for whatever reason, i didn't. i didn't purchase it.
and so last night. returning overdue movies (one of which was American Psycho, which was also really underwhelming); there it is, and i think: this'll be great. isaac an i can watch this together.
and, finally, the point of all this:
WHAT A FUCKING PIECE OF GARBAGE THIS MOVIE IS.
ok, sure, some of the animation "bringing Suess' world to life" was neat to look at, but...seriously, i'm too old to be expressing myself in this kind of terminology, but FUCK YOU PEOPLE, YOU PEOPLE WHO MADE THIS THING.
and FUCKING SHAME ON YOU.
you gotta take this thing, this simple, sweet little thing about the idea that "A person's a person, no matter how small", and "update" it? add new subplots and characters and get Jim Carrey to do "crazy comedic riffing" all over the thing, make Horton all wisecracking and IRONIC, and....you folks who "wrote" this thing have got to pull in every stupid-assed bullshit hollywood storytelling trope from out of the trashcan to make this thing fly?
because, what, a book that's BEEN IN PRINT FOR 30 FUCKING YEARS AND SOLD A BAZILLION COPIES NEEDS YOUR HELP SO BADLY?
and, look, i know-- what do i expect? this is, by and large, what hollywood does. it's what they ARE. and...yeah, i ALSO know; there's a MILLION people and factors involved in the making of a movie like this, and a hell of a lot of people, amazingly TALENTED people pouring their hearts into the thing.
but, you gotta have all the characters do a SING- ALONG TO JOURNEY AT THE END?! that's...what, funny?
fuck YOU.
FUCK YOU.
and now i'm almost done, but... it is what it is, right? and usually i'm just fine, i don't really get that mad about stuff like this anymore (honestly). but tonight i read the book to isaac, and on every page i COULD NOT GET THAT MOVIE OUT OF MY HEAD-- what parts they took from the book and shit all over, what other parts they just peed on.
look, hollywood; do what you need to do. i understand.
all i ask is that you not RUIN THE THING YOU ARE STEALING FROM.
that, and just the fact that this movie was not excoriated by the critics...it just makes me feel...like a crazy person (which i am NOT, by the way...). I'M the only person who thinks this thing is not just trash (because there's a lot of trash that i'm really fond of, to tell the truth...), but DISEASED TRASH?

weird. i actually DO feel better now.
this blogging thing really works.

I VOTED OBAMA ALREADY (and i hope to hell you do too).

2008-11-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

and it's not even voting day; i know 5 people read this blog, but damn it...even ASIDE from the fact that another 4 years (or four DAYS, for that matter...) of the Republican's general idea of "America" is a nightmare i can barely face (and i was in a state of shock and disbelief 4 years ago that never really wore off), even ASIDE from the fact that Obama could charm the paint off a wall if necessary, aside from the fact that the ENTIRE WORLD is waiting with held breath wondering if WE AMERICANS ARE GOING TO FUCK THIS UP, you know, AGAIN, and never mind that he's the best candidate to come down the pike in a while and has inspired some grass-roots-level stuff that i frankly (and cynically) thought America was completely incapable of.
never mind all that.
i pumped my fist in the air when i left the voting area.
i mean, on my best day i never thought that America would elect a black man; i thought that was something that would not happen in my lifetime. i thought that no matter how far we got, the redneck dumbshits (of any economic strata, thank you very much...) that keep this country eating dog food for dinner would always slither in and keep that from happening. i have some faith in people, but i suppose...i always just felt like-- no matter how i wished it were different-- that was the sad reality of things.
and by this time tomorrow, well...2 things could very well happen:
1) i will be proud to call myself an American for the first time in a very long while, and
2) on some level, another step will be taken towards my boy growing up in a slightly less divided and frightened world.

nothing's perfect. but.

come ON.

love, z.

JAIME HERNANDEZ/ RAIN TAXI BOOK FEST

2008-10-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

as always, should've posted this a week ago, but...turns out having a "real" job takes up a LOT of time...
La Mano has had a booth at the past 4 Rain Taxi book fairs, and it's -- like the magazine itself-- a great thing, and a great event. lots of tables, lots of books, and lots of people who love books; what more could you ask for?
besides an economy not on the verge of collapse, i mean.
in any case, besides just the fact that it's HAPPENING and you should go, this year is special for yours truly: i'm ridiculously and stupidly honored to be hosting an hour-long Q&A with a guy that i consider to be one of the greatest cartoonists on the face of the planet: Jaime Hernandez.
for those of you who don't know, Jaime (and his equally talented brother Gilbert) have been writing and drawing the "Love and Rockets" comic/ magazine since 1980ish. Jaime's ongoing "Locas" is... well, with all the lip wagging these days about the validity of comics and the "graphic novel", seems like folks are wondering when we're going to get the Great American Comic Book Novel, and the fact is that Jaime has been steadily creating that novel for the past couple of decades; 20 years from now, everyone in the world will acknowledge this fact, but...
this is like hanging out with Jack Kirby, as far as i'm concerned. if not for Xaime, i...man, i can't even imagine comics WITHOUT him (not to mention my comics specifically).
do yourself a favor; come on down.
i'll try to keep my shit together, i promise.

REJECTED NICKELODEON GAGS

2008-09-16T20:12:00.001-07:00

actually, i DID do some work from them that WASN'T rejected ( a 2-page strip), and that'll get printed one of these days, but i also sent along a couple of gags...i was really happy with these, and was convinced of the pure LAFF potential.
have a look:

now that one's ok and all, but THIS one: pure genius.

HAW HAW!!

i was told that not only were these unusable, but that i should refrain from coming up with more gags until i figured out what was appropriate to 10 year olds.

RIP DFW

2008-09-15T17:00:00.001-07:00

for what it's worth, i'm going to join in the chorus; the loss of David Foster Wallace is a terribly sad thing.
i remember when "Infinite Jest" was making a sort of insane amount of waves for a "literary" novel clocking in at over a thousand pages; it seemed like it, and DFW, were everywhere. Wallace was being touted as "the new Pynchon" and the "voice of a generation" and all the pictures i saw of him looked like he was a grunge rocker. a grunge rocker with a PHd.
"FUCK THAT", i thought, and vowed i'd never touch that book.
a couple years late, i was living in a closet in Olympia, washington, and playing racketball a lot with my pal Brian, who had told me that Infinite Jest was the best thing...ever. i relented, and started the thing (mostly because brian is awesome).
from the first page, all my suspicions were totally confirmed: the guy was TOO smart, the writing was TOO clever, the writing was FAR TOO GOOD. and over the next month or so, i just kept going, and every couple of days rant with/ to brian about it; i could not believe the sort of...fever pitch of hyper-EVERYTHING the novel was attempting to achieve, and, to my near constant disbelief, hitting the mark almost constantly. he was setting up far too many things, there wasn't a chance he could pull it off (and i had my deep suspicions he wasn't even going to TRY, he was just going to find some SMART AND CLEVER way to BEG OUT OF IT...). the thing reeked of ambition and there was no question the writer was shooting for the next "novel that changes everything, including the concept of 'the novel'".
and i finished it.
and he pulled it off. and all the cleverness and smartypantsness all faded away from the fact that underneath it all, this book was sad, and human, and naked, and deeply felt. and i've never read anything like it before or since (though i've certainly read a bunch of stuff that ripped him off stylistically). and, more than anything, it's a book that stuck with me. and probably "changed everything, including my concept of 'the novel'".
it's just an astounding work, any way you cut it. and absolutely fantastic.
i've purchased some of his other books, but...to be honest, his writing is something that is the polar opposite of "light reading"; when you take on something he wrote, you know you are IN FOR IT.
and so. it'd be sad in any case, but when it's by his own hand, well.
no fuck that; it's just sad. a sad loss.
RIP.

ps-- i'm gonna post about something happy and great real soon. like next week, or tomorrow, or-- as soon as i finish the BRAND NEW ISSUE OF COMETBUS.

ZAK SALLY/ NATE DENVER/ LA MANO WEST COAST TOUR

2008-07-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

ok, were i more on top of it (or a better blogger) i would've been greasing this particular wheel months ago, but.. what follows is the "press release" i wrote for the tour that's "starting" in, like, 7 hours (when i get on the plane to san diego).
still, it's gonna be crazy stupid horrible.
wait, not horrible; HORRIBLY FUN.
you should come. so there.

TO ALL WHO MIGHT POSSIBLY BE INTERESTED:

Zak Sally (the cartoonist behind Recidivist, Sammy the Mouse, and the guy behind La Mano books) and Nate Denver (of Nate Denver's Neck, Total Shutdown, and the amazing "Wait, You're Not A Centaur" book/ cd) are going to hop in a car together with a couple guitars and boxes of fresh books, then drive like hell up the west coast, stopping only to PLAY SONGS AND SELL BOOKS TO THOSE OF YOU WHO LIVE IN L.A, SAN FRANCISCO, OLYMPIA, PORTLAND, AND SEATTLE.

THAT'S RIGHT: Zak will be attending the San Deigo Comic Con (from friday the 25th through sunday the 27th of July), signing copies of the fresh-off-the-boat-from-Singapore copies of Sammy The Mouse #2 at the Fantagraphics table (check the Fatagraphics site for details). Chances are, he'll also be selling La Mano books there and with his pals at Sparkplug Comics' table as well. Nate might show up as well, we'll see.

but ANYWAY, after that we begin the aforementioned tour; HERE'S HOW IT'S GOING TO GO:

monday july 28 : Secret Headquarters, 3817 W. Sunset Blvd, LOS ANGELES, CA.
tuesday, July 29: Needles and Pens, 3253 16th st, SAN FRANCISCO, CA.
thursday, July 31st: the Pony Club, 625 NW Everett St. #105, PORTLAND, OR.
friday, August 1: Danger Room Comics, Columbia and Fourth, OLYMPIA, WA.
saturday, august 2: The Fantagraphics Bookstore, 1201 South Vale St (at Airport Way S.), SEATTLE, WA.

we will roll into each of these fantastic and amazing stores around 6-6:30 or so. Then at around 7-7:30 ish Nate will play 4-5 songs, then Zak will do the same...(no sound system, no microphones, no nothin; just like Pa Ingalls did it....then again, he probably didn't pass a hat around for gas $, and we probably will...).
that'll take around 45 minutes, and when it's all done we'll sit around shooting the breeze with everyone and signing books and whatever until the place closes or 9:30, whichever comes first.
we will be carrying Nate's book, copies of Sammy The Mouse issues 1 AND 2, all the rest of the La Mano books (including the stunning new "Dead Ringer" book by Jason T. Miles...), and assorted posters, cd's, and detritus.

don't let the breezy tone of this email fool you: this is going to be REALLY VERY COOL. sick of hearing youself lament the good old days, when everything wasn't so boring and lame? well they're coming to your town, so shut up and SHOW UP! it's going to be a blast.
if you are a friend of me or Nate's or La Mano's we'll see you there (or you are in deep shit). if you're NOT a friend, why don't you come down and we can talk about it; bring some friends too, they will want to be part of that conversation (which will be conducted quietly and with great care.). "oh, i can't go, i've got KIDS"-- BRING 'EM!!!

ok everyone. spread the word as you see fit, and we look forward to seeing you.
best,
US.

ps-- Zak was in the band Low for many years and he isn't anymore, but he made a record and played all the instruments and sang and one of the songs sounds like this:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/51018-new-music-zak-sally-formerly-of-low-my-secret-world-mp3-stream

Nate has put out BUNCHES of great records (both solo and with numerous other groups), and you can and should check it out here:
http://www.natedenver.com/

OFF-KILTER COMICS, TREEHOUSE B-DAY

2008-04-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

yes, i know; when i said i was going to blog more, i lied. again. maybe i'm just not cut out for this blogging thing. anyway, here i am, and here's what's going on:

big, great COMIC SHOW at our very own Minneapolis College Of Art and Design (MCAD).
Ivan Brunetti (Schizo, one of the most singularly brutal/ human comics...ever, not to mention a New Yorker cover and a ton of other stuff...), John Hankiewicz (Kramer's Ergot, and the amazing ASTHMA collection), Lilli Carre (Tales Of Woodsman Pete), Dan Zettwoch (Kramer's Ergot, and his solo Red Bird series), Onsmith (show curator and author of many fine zines and other stuff) and yours truly (Sammy the Mouse, Recidivist, etc). original art, etc.
also, Onsmith, Brunetti, Hankiewicz and myself will be present for a gallery talk at the show opening at 6pm on april 4, and that same crew will be doing a signing from 3-5 pm the following day (saturday april 5th) at Big Brain Comics in downtown minneapolis.
i'd wager that all but the most obsessively comics- savvy of folks will find something you've never seen in this show that will more that float your respective cultural boat, whatever it might be.
so come on down if you live here.
ok, and then LATER TONIGHT, there's a big 7th birthday celebration for minneapolis' favorite record store, Treehouse records ( in Uptown); before it was Treehouse, it was Oarfolkjokeopus (seriously), and before that it was something else, but fact of the matter is that it's been there, and been a record store, for 40 YEARS. holy crap.
a buch of folks and bands are celebrating it tonight at the Turf Club in st. paul tonight (with a bunch of the proceeds going to a New Orleans relief fund).
here's the lineup:
MICHAEL YONKERS, PAUL METZGER, THE HYPSTRZ (with special guest BUZZ BARKER), VAMPIRE HANDS and CHOOGLIN'.
dj clint destijl will be working his dancefloor magic, as well.

R.I.P. The Church

2007-11-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

yeah so what i havn't posted for what---half a year or something ( i got so many posts under my sleeve right now you will all be CRUSHED by my blogging! JUST YOU WAIT!!! but, well, actually the real truth is that i forgot my password and couldn't find it. seriously. i know, it's sad.).
just heard word that today the Church was bulldozed into its grave. sad, sad thing.
the church was (for those of you not a) a resident of minneapolis or b) a wingnut who enjoys really fucked-up music performed in strange spaces of dubious legality) a place where, for a great many number of years, truly weird stuff went down.
mostly bands/ shows etc that couldn't (or didn't want to be) pulled off in a more "legitimate" setting. folks lived there, too.
i swear i remember going to a show there in 1991, and when the cops came to bust it up i escaped in a wheelchair i found.
anyway.
in the past decade or so, i havn't been a regular denizen of the place as much, but from time to time i've had some truly awesome/ scary musical experiences there. the first Destijl Festival, the last time i saw Wolf Eyes (ended in a near riot...some meathead smashed whathisname's table w/ all his noise thingies on it...ugly.), and the final show/party a couple months back, which was absolutely one of the most absurd clusterfucks i have ever had the privilege of being witness to ( i bailed at 3am, and there were still 4 BANDS LEFT TO PLAY.).
i could go on and on about how places like this are few and far between and yadda yadda yadda.
but really, shutting up and saying 26th and chicago ain't what it used to be is all i got at present.
RIP Church.

ZAK SALLY INTERVIEW with COMICSREPORTER.COM

2007-07-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

oh yeah. also, a really long interview with me about Sammy The Mouse and La Mano, and other stuff (conducted by Tom Spurgeon, who wrote areally great book called "Stan Lee and the Rise And Fall Of The American Comic Book". very highly reccommended) at comicsreporter.com.
and no, actually, i'm not depressed about Sammy, or La Mano, at ALL. i couldn't be prouder.
seriously.

SHOW REVIEW: CALVIN JOHNSON with JULIE DOIRON

2007-06-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

3 nights ago, Calvin Johnson and Julie Doiron played at First Amendment (silkscreen/ design/ all sorts of awesome stuff place here in minneapolis).
they arrived at my house promptly, quietly, and EARLY (by rock tour standards); A. they loaded all their own shit into the house, and proceeded to unpack all of THEIR OWN FOOD. A+. amazing. Calvin then regaled me/ us with tales about NW rock (including stories about Greg Sage, which is, obviously, a current mild obsession of mine), and how to bring tens of thousands of cd's to the dump A+ / B- (as the second part made me sad).
with an incredible minimum of fuss, Julie took the couch (with the dog), and Calvin went and slept in the van (because he apparently has an aversion to dogs, and because after all these years, he is STILL PUNK.) A+. woke up early, made their own food, folded the sheets i'd given them, and Calvin sort of remembered how to play "Ponytail", so he showed me that; but the point is, when they left, the house was AS IF THEY HAD NEVER BEEN THERE; like that Zen "don't leave a ripple in the pond" thing that i can never remember right. Calvin even put away the salt and pepper, and cleaned toast crumbs off the counter.

all you touring rockers out there take note: THAT'S how you DO IT.

all in all, a spectacular performance: A+.

ok, actually i missed the show itself (Calvin does sing in the shower, loudly, so i caught that and it was pretty good...) but if it was anywhere as good as their houseguest manners, i totally missed out.

no but really; Calvin is an old pal (and, let's be frank, a total pinetop-- but in a good way.) and it's always great to see him (i hadn't met Julie Doiron before, but she was real nice too). but beyond that, i've started thinking in recent years that...Calvin's the real deal. not that he ever WASN'T (in fact--and this is something that really truly surprises me-- those Beat Happening records not only hold up incredibly well, as opposed to a lot of stuff from that era that i THOUGHT was fantastic at the time but now sort of mildly suck, they actually GET BETTER as time rolls on. put on Jamboree or Black Candy and see for yourself.), just that...things move and change, so does the world. and that's fine, but Calvin knows what he is, and what he does, and he has never stopped. and me, i find it all pretty awesome.
i mean, the last part of this tour (which he is doing BY TRAIN), Calvin is playing, you know; Minot ND. and Kalispell MT. no rock clubs, not even any AMPLIFIERS. he just goes into a room, people are there (sometimes a lot, sometimes not so many), and he's got his guitar and he sings his songs. la la la. no microphone, no nothing.
aside from the fact that this just takes a lot of balls, it's...as always, PUNK.
and Calvin's "punk" was never the mohawk/ crusty kind, it was always...weirder. he does 2-week acoustic tours of small towns in Oregon.
indie-rock or "punk" or whatever you call it is now as standardized as anything else; it's just a different "sound" than, say, adult alternative (but often not MUCH different). they play the same clubs, they sign with the same labels, etc etc. what Calvin does is, and never has been, that.
it's the honest- to -god REAL DEAL: the real "punk", which, to me, is that just because "the way things work" happens to be a semi- stupid, crass, and dehumanizing bunch of nonsense, that don't mean it's the only way. it just means you try to figure out a better way. and the dichotomy here (i learned that word by looking it up in the dictionary) is that it's no big deal and the biggest deal in the world at the same time. it's not wearing a Crass shirt and having a stupid haircut and beating your chest with righteous indignation, it's just getting on with what YOU do.
regardless of if it's cool or hip according to this weeks' barometer, or that it's "unmarketable" and economically stupid, or that it flies in the face of what you're "supposed" to do (i mean, you're supposed to play ROCK CLUBS, you know?). you just do your damn thing, and the innumerable people who will tell you you shouldn't can...go ride a bike (or fuck themselves, depending). i really don't know what "punk" is anymore, and i'm not sure i ever did, but i know that...sometimes little stuff is important.
the first time i heard Beat Happening, i HATED it. all i could think is "this is RETARDED. i HATE this."
and boy was i wrong. 20 years later, here we are.

hm. i actually did not mean to write that much.
ah well. go buy a record from K, or go see Calvin play. it'll be fun.

MOCCA 2007

2007-06-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

pushing aside all the other stuff i've been meaning to blog about but havn't yet ( i was informed by someone at the Sammy The Mouse release show--which you missed and it was a blast, thank you very much-- that he ACTUALLY READS this blog, which was wildly encouraging to me as far as keeping this thing going...) is the fact that this past weekend i attended MOCCA 2007 in new york city.
it was my 2nd time at this event, and i'll be damned if i dindn't take a total bath, $-wise: last year sucessfully cleared table and plane fare and made a couple hundred bucks on top of that, this year felt like i couldn't GIVE the damn books away. very strange.

as always with these kinds of things, though, saw some old pals ( such as the always great Mark Burrier, with whom i shared a table) and met some nice folks (such as Everett and Giaoia from the old-school fanzine Mineshaft, which you should check out). it wasn't a total bust.

also did signings for my new Sammy The Mouse book ( which Fantagraphics sold out of, thanks very much...). pictured here is me with nice fellow/ comedic genius Michael Kupperman (if you havn't seen the work Michael drew for the recent Satuday Night Live/ TV Funhouse clip "Big-Boobed Einstien", you need to check it out on youtube or whatever that thing is...pretty damn funny) of Snake N' Bacon/ Tales Designed to Thrizzle fame at the Fantagraphics signing table.

notice that he is signing things and i am not.

2nd day was with cartoonist/ writer Paul Karasik who put together the astounding new collection of Fletcher Hanks' comic work "I Shall Destroy All Civilized Planets!". holy crap is it great.
and, for those of you wondering, Jason Miles' "Dead Ringer" was NOT completed in time for MOCCA. why? because it wasn't ready yet.
when will it be ready?
(...all together now) WHEN IT IS DONE.

remember that i love you all,
zak.

LAVENDER DIAMOND, Cedar Cultural Center

2007-05-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

hey looky here; Ron Rege Jr. has been around the small press scene for as long as i can remember (which, frankly, is getting to be a pretty long time at this point...), and is the cartoonist behind countless 'zines (including his long-running Yeast Hoist deal, which is now being put out by the good folks at Buenaventura Press, which i would surely link to if'n i knew how...), and a pretty stellar book, Skibber-Bee-Bye (...first put out by Highwater, re-released by Drawn & Quarterly a couple years back...go buy it.).
last time i saw him was on the La Mano West Coast Tour, and crimeny what a sweet guy he is; he gave me a CD/ep by his band Lavender Diamond, and i played the hell out of it in my rental car; now they're all signed to a big label and are touring behind a new record (which i havn't heard yet, because...uh...i'm broke) and playing here in minneapolis on sunday, at the Cedar Cultural Center.
so, if you live here, go see them; if you don't live here, go see them when they come to your town; if all that fails, go buy the record and do a puppet show at your house.
HOORAY!!

HELIOTROPE IV

2007-05-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

as always, late and overdue, but need to mention one of my favorite yearly things: minneapolis' own HELIOTROPE festival.
never mind that i'm a participant, each year i end up hanging around at this thing for about 1/2 of the 3 days it's going on, and am always happily inspired by the diversity of wingnuts that participate in this, and all from my hometown, right here: screwy folk, noise, psychedelical-type rock, a "novelty gamelan" orchesetra, and a lot of points in between.
and, you know, let's be frank: sometimes with these multi-day festivals, it can get pretty over (or -under, for that matter)..uh, whelming, but with heliotrope's short sets and some great programming choices, i'm always pretty whelmed, and leave the thing happy and, frankly, inspired by all this great shit.
like i said, late, as last night was the first of 3 (now in its new location at the swanky Ritz Theater here in NE minneapolis, moved from the previous 3 years down at Franklin Art Works), and saw some great stuff already; some guy palying the hell out of some tablas, some kids who sounded like they'd been drinking some 1968 west coast wellwater (Dad In Common), a great set by Jesse Peterson, and the always astounding Paul Metzger doing a solo "Fucked-Up Guitar" set.
you should've been there.
tonight is more "rock"; me, i'm playing twice-- once with the White Map (closing the night out after Skoal Kodiak), and a 7:30 set premiering (?) this new thing, TOGPTFFSOTWOTERAMTSYOAITANTT.
huh?
better late than never:
May 17, 18, 19 at The Ritz Theater - 345 13th Ave NE Minneapolis

Ticket Prices: $8 per night, $15 for two nights, $20 for three nights

Thursday:
7:00 Milo Fine with Davu Seru, Charles Gillett and Viv Corringham
8:00 Jaron Childs and Bryce Beverlin II
8:30 Kaharwa
9:00 Jesse Petersen
9:30 Paul Metzger
10:00 The Dad in Common
11:00 International Novelty Gamelan

Friday:
6:30 New Port
7:00 Sarah Johnson
7:30 TOGPTFFSFTWOTER
8:00 Synchrocyclotron
8:30 Mute Era
9:00 Thunderbolt Pagoda
10:00 Michael Yonkers and the Blind Shake
11:00 Skoal Kodiak
11:45 White Map

Saturday:
6:30 Sean Connaughty and Jason Kesselring
7:00 Dreamland Faces
7:30 Thank You
8:00 The Pins
9:00 Dallas Orbiter
10:00 Build My Gallows High
11:00 David Krecji

NEW BOOKS: ALIAS THE CAT by Kim Deitch, KING-CAT CLASSIX by Johnny P

2007-05-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

there are 2 new books hitting (hopefully) every store in the nation as i write this, and man is it exciting: both volumes are significant works by good, good friends of La Mano, and chances are if you're reading this crappy blog you are well aware of them, but i'm not gonna let that stop me...

1) KING-CAT CLASSIX by John Porcellino
as you all very well know, John P' s "Diary Of A Mosquito Abatement Man" was the first "proper"/ non- zine book that La Mano ever produced, and John is one of my closest friends.
all that aside, though, this huge (380 pages!!!), beautiful hardcover collection of comics and stories (compiled from the first 50 issues of King-Cat) is a sight to behold.
i know that for John (and for myself, and many others...), King-Cat in its original 'zine format is...where the gold is: it is the format and the platform for where John's work really LIVES: it's simple, humble, and there is hands-down no better way to experience what John does (and has been doing for the past...what, 2 decades now?).
but.
be that as it may, that means that in many ways, only those among us who know what 'zines are, and are willing to go search out the work, or order it from John (you know, through the MAIL...) are going to get to see this work: now, i'm not man enough to get into that discussion right now (...maybe only those people who DO make the time to search out the work and make that effort are the people that SHOULD BE getting it...hell, i don't know...)
this elegant volume from Drawn and Quarterly collects a ton of material that, frankly, John never really thought would be widely seen-- i mean, HEY YOU KIDS!! BEFORE THE INTRANET WE HAD TO MAKE OUR OWN LITTLE MAGAZINES AT THE COPY SHOP AND SEND THEM IN THE MAIL!! NOW GET OUT OF MY YARD!!...uh...what i mean is that the early issues of King-Cat had "print runs" of 15 copies. John did NOT create this work so that someday it'd be collected in some fancy assed hardcover; he created it because he lived in the midwest and was a punk rocker, and for fuck-all, BECAUSE nobody gave a hoot.
so. there's some irony there, no?
my point is, this book is a huge chunk of not only work, but TIME.
and this book is a HUGE chunk of time, not to mention pages. other folks have said it, but it bears repeating: what is baeutiful and amazing about this book is how, from the very beginning, the themes and feel of John's work (and King-Cat as a whole...) are all in place: they may be hidden beneath some layers of youth, drunkenness, and some midwestern punk-rock crust, but as you move through this book a bigger picture begins to emerge, and that picture is of a guy trying to live his life in this world as best he can.
and it's pretty amazing.
long rant aside, i realize that just about anyone reading this blog knows John's stuff, and probably buys King-Cat: let me say this: i've been getting every issue of King-Cat since, i don't know, 1992 of something (...holy SHIT...), and this book contains plenty of stuff i've never seen. and, for those of you newcomers to John's stuff (like, the last decade or so), the thing that'll be most striking is how goddamned FUNNY it is. don't get me wrong, i love King-Cat now, but in reading this book, there were a couple of times where i LAUGHED. REALLY HARD. it's easy to forget how Johnny really used to bring the LAFFS.
all right seriously, go buy it.

Kim Deitch is another great friend of La Mano: i've made no secret about my love of his work and my respect for the guy-- i've written about his stuff for magazines, i've interviewed him (for the great Comic Art magazine), and on a personal front, he's the closest thing i've ever had to a "mentor" in cartooning: his insight, criticism, and general advice about how to not go crazy making comics have been just a huge, huge thing to me.
Kim is a comic-making machine of the first order: he pours everything he's got into whatever he's working on at the time, and so any new work from him is a cause for celebration.
"Alias The Cat" is no exception: i've read the work in serialized form (as individual comics released through Fantagraphics), and, as always, Kim's stuff is even more amazing when collected: in the new world of "literary" comics, it seems that often such things as "tone" or "artfulness" are a cover for the fact that there's not a whole lot of STORY being told (again, an argument i'm not getting into here, just an observation...).
not so with Kim-- if anything, Kim's books are bursting at the seams with STORY; you get the sense while reading this book that you are careening through this thing, and couldn't get off if you wanted to. the thing is so thick with plot that by the time you're done reading it you're kind of exhausted.
"Alias..." is a story that , like may of Kim's other books, moves through decades of time and generations of humans before it's all over; and, as always, that old feeling sneaks in over the course of the narrative, leaving you creeped out wondering how much of this is made-up, and how much is true. Kim's art, as always, is so obsessively and perfectly realized as, well, KIM'S WORLD that, again, it's kind of jarring to have to leave it.
i read a review of this book calling it a "meta-narrative" and from what i know of that description, it fits: Kim weaves himself, his wife Pam, "Furry" culture, and our current never-ending state of terrorist paranoia around a tale of old silent film serials, island pygmies, New Jersey towns created for midget bakeries, illicit arms factories, and even an honest to goodness superhero.
and, as always, Waldo.
where Kim's real-life interests end and where fiction begins is always where (for me, anyway) Kim's comic work becomes like no one else's, and in that sense, he's been creating "meta- fiction" or "meta-narrative" or whatever the hell you want to call it for 2 decades now. in the end, it's the world that exists in Kim's head out on paper, and he took 10 hours a day, every goddamned day (seriously: the guy NEVER STOPS WORKING) to make it look just right for us.
this is the perfect immersive comics experience, folks. have at it. (Pantheon published it, so don't tell me you can't find it.)

in other news, i was changing my boy Isaac's diaper the other day, and there was a huge banner on the package of diapers exclaiming "baby-shaped fit!".
well, YEAH!! what the fuck is it SUPPOSED to fit-- "new Huggies daipers with PEREGRINE FALCON SHAPED FIT!!" ?!?

morons.

Fantagraphics Benefit Auction

2007-04-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

for those of you not "in the know", comics-wise (i.e a nerd), everyone's favorite great comics publisher Fantagraphics Books is currently getting sued.
AGAIN.
no, but really; sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison has a bone to pick and has filed suit, leaving Fantagraphics with some huge legal bills that are only going to get larger as this thing rolls on.
a bunch of artists (including art spiegelman, Jason, Tony Millionaire, and many more) are donating original art (which are being sold via ebay) to the cause, and i am one of them.
so go and get some great art, and do your 2 bits for Fantagraphics.
INDIE-ROCKERS TAKE NOTE: the piece(s) i donated is an illustration i did for David (ex-Pedro The Lion) Bazan's solo record "Fewer Moving Parts". i was selling the originals for this for $250 apiece, and starting bid here is a mere $100.
it looks like this:

hmm. well, actually, it DOESN'T look like that: the colors are reversed (it's supposed to be blue and white), but since i don't know how to work a computer, you'll have to just figure it out, or go to ebay, or whatever.

http://www.fantagraphics.com/blog/

NOT AFRAID TO BLOG

2007-04-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

in fact, i'm ALL ABOUT blogging. yeah, i KNOW it seems like i only update this thing when...well, something sad is happening or what have you, but no longer.
no, now i'm gonna post blogs all the live long day, just like all the rest of you freaks. in fact, in MY world, "blogger" is gonna be the new descriptive "cool, bad-assed" word, taking the place of a tired, mean old word, like..."bitch".
"bitch", that's not a nice word, at all; what would your mother say if she heard you talking like that?
so, you know, i'm switching up: "blogger" for "bitch". try it, it WORKS:
"What's UP, BLOGGER?!?", or call someone a "SON of a BLOGGER!!", and see if it doesn't get you a smack in the piehole. or, if you're currently incarcerated, and...no, actually, forget it.
forget it, and look.

look at BRAIN BOY.

more later.

Cal Robbins Benefit/ 7th St. Entry 3.17.07

2007-03-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

i feel ridiculous for having not posted anything about this previously, but given that the event is TOMORROW, better late than never. please check out this site, which explains the situation better than i possibly could:

http://www.desotorecords.com/cal/

and here's the link to tomorrow's show:

http://www.first-avenue.com/calendar/event_1593.aspx

La Mano will sell books, bands will play, hooting and hollering will ensue, and $ will be donated to help out.
if you live here, come on down-- if not, take a look at the site.
hard, hard stuff.

zak.

Anders Nilsen at MCAD

2006-11-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

Anders Nilsen is a great cartoonist and a real nice fellow: he's been garnering tons of well-deserved acclaim for his work both in his ongoing comic series Big Questions (from D&Q), a couple books (Monologues for the Coming Plague, Don't Go Where I Can't Follow), and elsewhere (MOME, Kramer's Ergot, etc etc...his work has been appearing in so many places recently that i can't keep track...).
Anders will be giving a talk here in Minneapolis at the Minnepolis College of Art and Design on monday nov 6 (...i think at 6pm or so...), following a Zine Fest, which will feature a lot of MCAD students (including La Mano intern Ed Moorman) hawking zines, of all things. starts at noon. head on down, people.
if you don't live here, forget it.

Randy Kaye, R.I.P

2006-10-31T05:19:00.000-08:00

i'm sure that this is not the happiest way to start a new weblog, but the fact of the matter is that my old friend Randy Kaye is being buried today in Los Angeles.
he died very suddenly (and unexpectedly) last week of a heart attack.
Randy was apretty amazing guy any way you'd care to cut it: i probably am not the person who should be explaining what the guy did and who he was (but somebody oughtta...), because i was only his friend for the last decade and a half or so, and, you know-- when he died i googled his ass for a while and "punk rock icon dies" came up (which i can only imagine would have made Randy laugh...or scowl...or something).
that's not how i knew Randy: i met him in the early 90's, when he was involved in the legendarily great L.A. all ages "club" Jabberjaw. my band Low played there, and we became good friends with him-- we stayed at his house countless times, we just...he became our (and my...) friend in a way that...you know, transcended "band" stuff.
scratch a little deeper, and...well, when WE met him, he worked at Slash records, and it was a good long while before i realized how involved he'd been in the early L.A. punk scene (it's not something he went around yelling about...)...he'd known the Germs (he was the guy who put together the "G. I" comp that came out on Slash), he'd co-edited the "Lobotomy" 'zine with Pleasant Gehman (a fact that i had to learn after i'd known the guy nearly a DECADE, from none other than Aaron Cometbus, who was/ is a big fan of said 'zine...), and, you know...he took Souixie Sioux to Disneyland on her first trip to the states. so, maybe he was a "punk icon". he was a lot of stuff.
and later, he... aw fuck it--he did a lot of things: Faith No More, Soul Coughing, those were his bands you've heard about and there were a bunch more you havn't. he had his own label ( a couple, actually...), he worked at Warner Brothers, he worked as a realtor... like i said, i'm sure i don't even know the half of it.
the thing is, he died last week, and a lot of people are just going to miss the living hell out of him. he was mean, funny, sweet, and a very good friend-- to me, and to more people than i could mention if i tried.
the last time i saw Randy was in april, on the La Mano book tour. i did a wholly miserable signing at Meltdown, on sunset: 3 hours sitiing next to a giant Batman sculpture, with all my little books sitting in front of me, and not a SOUL showed up.
except for Randy, and his friend Jesse (who i met for the first time that day). after the nightmare, we went to Astroburger (like always), and sat around talking about "the old days", Jabberjaw, etc etc. we talked about him FINALLY sending me all the issues of Lobotomy, and maybe we should just put it out on La Mano, and...i've got to say-- this is not just because he's gone now, but i had never seen Randy that healthy, calm, happy, and... generally PEACEFUL than he was that night. i left Astrobuger happy for him.
look, i don't exactly know what these "blog" things are for (and, if you are wondering what this has to do with La Mano and book publishing, well--this IS what La Mano is, way more than any silly BOOK, damn it...): but if this is a public forum in some sense, i want to give my sincere condolences to Randy's family, both blood and extended.
he was the kind of guy you want to..SHOW UP for. i wish i could pay my respects today in L.A, but i can't.
he was a good friend, and i will miss him terribly. i loved him dearly.
Randy had a phobia (that i thought was hilarious. but he was dead serious...) that all at once, gravity would cease to exist, and he (and everyone else, i guess) would lose his tether to the earth and just keep floating up and away into infinity. it scared the hell out of him.
well.
i hope now he knows that it's nothing to be afraid of.
zak.