In My Merry Oldsmobile - Fleischer Brothers

An awesome old commercial!

(Thanks again to Noelle for the link!)

New Somersaults

By Richard Cowdry & Dan Locke.

The Toon Treasury Of Classic Children’s Comics

"Hard to pick up and even harder to put down." Read Richard Bruton's cracking review of this book over on the FPI blog.
Selected & Edited by Art Spiegelman & Francoise Mouly.

Charley Bowers 3

(Thanks AGAIN to Noelle for the link!)

More Charley Bowers

I'd never heard of this guy 'til yesterday.
(Thanks again to Noelle for the link!)

Metal Eating Bird

The last few minutes from Charley Bower's 1930 live action/animation classic "It's A Bird".

(Thanks, Noelle).

Crumb's Genesis round up

Now expected in mid October, although some people (like retrocrush) have said it'll ship before the end of September.













"As I noted in my Bookforum review, one way to appreciate the awe-inspiring craftsmanship of Crumb’s The Book of Genesis Illustrated is to pay attention to his handling of the translation." - from Jeet Heer's informative article Altering Alter: Crumb & the Translator on Comics Comics.

Boing Boing has a preview video of the book as well as a sneak peek of Chapter 19 .

R. Crumb's Genesis, Heavenly or Heretical? (beliefnet.com)

Crumb's desk while working on Genesis, and Peter Poplaski tells how he helped research visual details for the book.

"It took R. Crumb to get me to read the Bible."

Amazon UK still has the book available for pre-order at £11.39, which seems reasonable.

The Guardian and Observer Guides to Drawing and Painting

Included with The Guardian and Observer this weekend.














A write-up of the drawing guide from the University of Gloucestershire.

Richard Sala on CBR

Richard Sala, one of today's best cartoonists, gives a great interview with Alex Dueben over on Comic Book Resources.
Read up-to-date news on Richard Sala at "Here Lies Richard Sala".






















See (and buy) the original art for "Delphine" at www.comicartcollective.com.

Opening Tonight

At the Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco, www.cartoonart.org. More info here.

This weeks somersault

Written by me and Jeanette Rieger, drawn by me.

Free comics giveaway this week in the Guardian

I'm a bit late with this, but anway....

The schedule is...

Sat 12 September - Jackie
Sun - Beano (darn, missed it!)
Mon - Roy of the Rovers
Tues - Bunty
Wed - The Dandy
Thu - Tammy
Fri - Whizzer and Chips

Mary Fleener's cover for Mineshaft 24

Pretty sharp, huh? I'm a couple of issues behind with this wonderful little magazine, but looking forward to sitting down with the last 2 or 3 issues and just.... soaking them up.

Mineshaft.

UPDATE : There's a review of this issue on HIGH-LOW

YES PLEASE!!!!

Coming soon from Fantagraphics:

NEWAVE! THE UNDERGROUND MINI COMIX OF THE 1980'S

by various artists; edited by Michael Dowers
5 x 7, HC, 892 pages, Color/B&W, $22.99
ISBN 978-1-60699-313-2

A GIGANTIC collection of the best SMALL press cartoonists to emerge in the 1970s after the first generation of underground cartoonists (such as R. Crumb, Gilbert Shelton and Art Spiegelman) paved the way. These cartoonists, inspired by the freewheeling creative energy of the underground comix movement, began drawing and printing their own comix. The most popular format was an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, folded twice, and printed at a local, pre-Kinkos print shop; because of the small size, they were dubbed “mini comix.” Just a few of the BIG talents included herein: Dan Clowes! Fred Hembeck! Gary Panter! Rick Geary! Mary Fleener! XNO! Jim Blanchard! Sam Henderson! J.R. Williams! Steve Willis! Doug Allen! Gary Leib! Mack White! and many! many! many! MORE! Inspired by the creative freedom of their underground predecessors and unrestrained by commercial boundaries or editorial edicts, their work was particulary innovative and experimental. Here you will find a group of artists who could not get any attention from the mainstream, who were driven by the inner need to express themselves. This group was a pioneering force that still leaves a wake and an imprint on the alternative comix scene today.

Hyuk hyuk

New Somersaults

By Dan Locke and my own good self.

The Super Globetrotters!!!

Ethel Sparrowhawk part 2

I'm very happy to hear there's going to be a second issue of one of my favouritest UK comics ever, Ethel Sparrowhawk, by Steven Tillotson and Jemima von Schindelberg. Issue 1 was so good, that I very nearly reviewed it... but reviews take time and energy, so take a look at this summary instead, which will appear on the inside cover of issue 2 :

Nostalgia and Comics calls out to cartoonists across the land :

The newly refurbished Nostalgia and Comics shop in Birmingham is encouraging small press comics creators to send in their zines and comics. This is great news, as decent shops that are welcoming to, and actually engaging with small press and indy creators are not only rare, but can have a hugely beneficial effect on the scene and artform. One word of encouragement, one extra comic sold, can make all the difference to someone who is just testing the waters... or to seasoned self-publishers for that matter.
Maybe one day, all comic shops will be judged by the size and range of their self-published section!

More about this on the Forbidden Planet Blog and Down The Tubes.

Citizen Rex : A new comic series by Gilbert and Mario Hernandez

I didn't know about this... and it's on issue 2 already! Luckily they had both issues in Dave's Comics in Brighton, and thank heavens... as it's holy fucking freaking awesome!
Picking up the first issue and turning it's pages also reminded me just how beautiful an object the floppy, stapled comic book is... at least when it contains good work. It's just the right weight and size, both high and low art, disposable yet collectible, and I was able to read the first issue in 15 minutes while sitting in the park. How can this format have almost disappeared??

There's an interview with Mario and a preview of issue 1 at Comic Book Resources.

The Sign Painter