THE END, repeat.

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!!

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

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

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

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?!

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

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

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

R.I.P Beefheart.

lordy, lordy.