Wow Cool is a studio and label based in Cupertino, California. Artists include: Marc Arsenault, Brown Cuts Neighbors, Steven Cerio, evidence, Simon Gane, God Hates Computers, nickname: Rebel, and Offset Needle Radius.
Newave! is a 892 page monster collection of 80's minicomix. Art by Marc Arsenault, Sam Henderson, Ion, Wayno and scores of others. Available Right Now!
The Art of Zines show at Anno Domini in San Jose is still going on (through March 13th, 2010). There are many zines by me and related Wow Cool type people on display. Check it out if you can. Many reviews have been flowing in from the likes of: Daily DuJour, Gary Singh at the San Jose Metro, and 1 (800) Dilettante.
OK. Now some damn music. Brown Cuts Neighbors have been organizing the archives and have put out a call for any audio/video/photo documentation that might be out there (See this earlier post). One item that is already online that has resurfaced is this piece on the 1986 release(?) by BCN “No Big Deal” (When Jason was 12) on Albany, New York’s TheHiddenCity.com. It includes four song downloads and a full gear breakdown by Jason Martin. He claims a Tesco guitar was employed. That is hardcore.
Brown Cuts Neighbors bassist circa 1999-2001 Seth Cluett is presenting “Forms of Forgetting” Tuesday, March 9, 2010 8:00pm – 9:15pm at the Princeton University Chapel (FREE admission). The work explores the role of in-attention and re-attending in listening. Using found objects, altered consumer electronics, home-made instruments, sine tone oscillators, the acoustics of the space and a host of psycho-physical phenomena, this new piece aims to construct a focused, attentive perceptual space and an elastic, malleable experience of time. For more information: http://www.onelonelypixel.org
I got to spend last week in Wow Cool’s stylish Brooklyn HQ and met up with occasional recordist, mixer, and masterer for nickname: Rebel, Mr. Andrew Gerhan, who was fresh off of a European tour with Adam Arcuragi. Andy was part of Adam’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert recently, and he had many exciting tales of life on the road, which included late night concerts on the MTA (New York Subway), with the whiskey flowing freely, and other assorted hi-jinks.
An unholy host of New York City-type cartoon art guys (and a couple others and at least one gal), many of whom have been or are currently published or distributed by Wow Cool (and nearly all the rest are old friends from SVA, minicomics or the Zero Zero anthology) get to step out in style in Hotwire Comics 3, available today, Wednesday, January 27, in a comic book shop near you. That’s right, brand new work from Steven Cerio, David Sandlin, Mats?!, Danny Hellman, Michael Kupperman and a whole bunch more. The Comics Reporter says: “A boon for fans of a certain kind of energetic, restless, profane comic book making — for the rest of us it’s an exquisitely curated, controlled visit to that particular comics world.”
If you are in New York City, there is a release event for the book at Desert Island Comics this Friday, January 29. Editor Glenn Head and contributors Danny Hellman, Sam Henderson, Michael Kupperman, Jayr Pulga, David Sandlin, R. Sikoryak, Chadwick Whitehead and Karl Wills will be there in person. If you miss it, I imagine you can catch most of them at Kellogg’s Diner sometime after 4 am.
Get on down to the glorious DTSJ (that’s Down Town San Jose, folks) for the South First Friday art walk this coming February 5th; and, do not fail to stop in at Anno Domini for their Art of Zines show. Wow Cool will be at a table there hawking our wares, too. All the details and the awesome poster (including Frank Beam with the ductwork head on the cover of “That Dog Drives A Go-Cart”) can be found right here. The show runs through March 13th. Anno Domini, 366 So. First Street, San Jose, CA 95113 408.271.5155
It’s Official! Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle, Washington will be hosting a release party for this massive brick of a book on January 30, 2010. The event marks the debut of their new Spectacular Saturday series. The show will feature original art and graphics by underground mini comix pioneers Jaimie Alder, Jim Blanchard, Wayne Gibson, David Lasky, Wayno, Steve Willis, Dennis Worden, and XNO. NEWAVE editor Michael Dowers will produce and distribute a mini comic on site. This festive reunion also includes live music, a comix jam, and the debut of the NEWAVE! anthology. I will have a piece of art on exhibit at the show but will not be able to attend. More details and the awesome poster by Gahan Wilson.
Plan to go see Wow Cool’s and about about a bazillion other publisher’s zines at Anno Domini’s 2009 Art of Zines exhibit. It opens on Friday, February 5, 2010. Reception begins at 8pm. There will be live music and Marc Arsenault (me) will be there in the stinkin’ flesh. Thanks to Cherri from AD for the photo above of the books I dropped off today for the exhibit.
Brand new on the Interwebs, in just the last few days, are the three following, vaguely Wow Cool connected sites that are worth your while to check out. Relevancy and mileage may vary based on your personal preferences and life experience.
Yes, It is true, the renowned Swamp Thing artist, Mister SR Bissette, has launched his first sustained comic effort since putting Tyrant on hold in 1995. It’s a webcomic with a Parson and some monsters. What else? We’ll find out as it develops.
Lady Starlight, AKA Brown Cuts Neighbors co-founder Colleen Martin, known to many as a collaborator of Lady Gaga and to a few less as the author of the best rock blog ever – Lady Starlight’s Rock n Roll High School – has launched her own shop. Style + Capitalism (and very glam).
3. Brevator, CALMS, Burnt Hills, nickname: Rebel members launch new band White Seizure
Mike Keegan, Nick Carpenter and Robb Cole went and started another band. It’s pretty rockin’. Go listen.
I have been an avid fan of Javier Mariscal’s art since first encountering his Garriris comics in Raw Magazine at the age of 12. When I got to visit Barcelona for the first time, apart from the buildings of Guadi and the museums of Picasso, Dalí and Miró, I was most excited to see what works there were by Mariscal (and then I discovered the wealth of other amazing work by young Catalan artists in the streets and universities). I have the most wonderful plush dog of Mariscal’s (with both eyes on one side of the head, of course) as a memento of that trip. If I had managed to attend the Olympic games in 1992, I would surely have a room filled with his designs. Instead, there is now this dream book of his art, Mariscal Drawing Life, published by Phaidon to coincide with Mariscal’s installation of the same name at the UK’s Design Museum, which ran from July to November 2009. You will want to be sure to visit the exhibit blog, which features many wonderful images and videos from the event.
Continuing this informal daily (-ish) holiday series on Wow Cool, that highlights some cultural objects that may have flown under your radar, but are well worth a look for one reason or another, we move on to a few lovely (comic) art books that were published in 2009. In other words, if you have some leftover holiday cash and need a coffee table book, you could do far worse than to get these.
Being a former comicbook designer (for most of the 1990’s at Tundra, Fantagraphics and elsewhere), Gary Spencer Millidge’s Comic Book Design: The Essential Guide to Creating Great Comics and Graphic Novels immediately caught my eye. I have never seen a book similar to this one. Considering the scope of it’s topic, it does a pretty good job with it, offering samples from an impressive array of genres, eras and publishers. The book is of a decent size to do justice to the material (11×10″) and the reproductions are generally of a high quality. Although, as pointed out in this more detailed review on Comic Book Bin, the art is sometimes victim of the format (or more specifically, trying to make the page design grid accommodate different publication sizes), resulting in a few examples that are either too small or are distorted. Such is the later case in one I am far too familiar with (having done the color separations back in 1997), the reproduction of the cover of Chris Ware’s Acme Novelty Library #8 from Fantagraphics books, which appears to be stretched out to fit the books layout. Apart from that, of the many times that I have seen that cover reproduced, this is the first that came close to the book’s actual appearance. Not an easy thing to do, as it was printed with a gold foil plate in addition to the usual CMYK.
Mr. Millidge is also the creator of strangehaven and he maintains a website and blog.
Yes, Brandon Graham’s 56 page smut comic from 2003 Perverts of the Unknown is that most rarest and sought after of things. Impossible to find in a reasonable condition for less than One Thousand US Dollars! As the sole reviewer on Amazon attests (in box, below), it is not the most immediately arousing of works for the typical audience for such books, so we can only assume that the reason for this scarcity lies on the tome’s artistic merits.
I bought this book because I enjoy seeing pretty, erotic drawings of nude women, particularly nude women together with other women. The cover of this book shows an attractive naked girl lying down in front of an older man and a dominant-looking older woman. So far, so good. But the inside of this book is overly raunchy and far less erotic. There’s precious little lesbianism, and instead there’s lots of XXX-rated male-to-female stuff that I found far too hard-core and generally uninteresting.
Clearly a man of taste who knows what he wants.
I stumbled upon this curiosity while cruising through Amazon attempting to fill some holes in my collection of the fine works of Brandon Graham. Who knew that his early comics could command fees in league with the earliest and rarest of books by the likes of Cole, Ditko and Eisner?
You really should be picking up Brandon Graham’s King City (every couple months from Image Comics), and, Multiple Warheads (pretty infrequently from Oni Press) and be sure to look at his blog RoyalBoiler every week where he shares his own art, and some stunning cartoon oddities from the near to distant past.
UPDATE: Further digging revealed that three copies of the book have sold for a meager $260.69 on eBay. I could not find any other copies available for purchase online.
Portland’s Floating World Comics is selling a magnificent 18″x24″ very limited print of Al Columbia’s painting Toyland (detail view above). I’m a little late posting this, but they seem to be still available. Go get yours now! The art also appears as the centerspread to Floating World’s Diamond Comics #4.
UPDATE: The Prints Keep Coming!
Brooklyn’s Desert Island is now offering a slightly less limited Pim & Francie print by Al, for much less money, and it’s been hand-stained in tea!
As Orson Welles and Terry Gilliam have film adaptations of Don Quixote as their great incomplete masterworks; Al Columbia has Pim And Francie. A work over 15 years in the making, and never now likely to be ‘finished’, the pieces of it have been assembled as Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days (Fantagraphics Books, 2009).
This gorgeous grimoire is part alchemy, part art book, part storybook, part comic book, and part conceptual art from the pen of Al Columbia, a longtime fan favorite contributor to comics anthologies like Zero Zero, Blab!, and more recently, Mome. Collecting over a decade’s worth of ‘artifacts,’ excavations, comic strips, animation stills, storybook covers, and much more, this broken jigsaw puzzle of a book tells the story of Pim & Francie, a pair of childlike, male and female imps whose irresponsible antics get them into horrific, fantastic trouble. Their loosely defined relationship only contributes to the existential fear that lingers underneath the various perils they are subjected to. Columbia’s brilliant, fairytale-like backdrops hint at further layers of reality lurking under every gingerbread house or behind every sunny afternoon. Never have such colorful, imaginative vistas instilled such an atmosphere of dread, and with such a wicked sense of humor.
This is a comprehensive collection of Columbia’s Pim & Francie work, including paintings, comics, character designs, and much more, all woven into something greater than the sum of its parts, with Pim & Francie careening from danger to danger, threaded together through text and notes by the artist.
Al is an old friend and contributor to Wow Cool. You may best know his work from the Postal Service LP Give Up or from his stage sets for David Cross’s live show. Al has also been making his own music and videos; and has also remained active in comicbooks, contributing stories to several well respected anthology titles.
Gladtree Journal #3 is out now, and it can be yours for 12 bux. Featured inside are stellar contributions from Wow Cool & Brown Cuts Neighbors’ grown men Marc Arsenault and Jason Martin plus many much more!
The third installment of assorted written and visual pleasures… this one floats through the themes of geography/topography/cartography – landscapes of memory, maps of desire, and musings on cityscapes and travel. features works by Marc Arsenault, Stephanie Baird, Amy Borezo, Byron Coley, Matthew Erickson, Dredd Foole, Scott Foust, Phil Franklin, Raphael Griswold, Hexit/MJK, Sara Jaffe, Shannon Ketch, Matt Krefting, Jason Martin, John Moloney, Thurston Moore, Lynn Myers, Rick Myers, Bill Nace, Lauren Naylor, Pete Nolan, Lauren Pakradooni, Joel Paxton, pi, Claire Potter, Aaron Rosenblum, Kevin Scalzo, Nadine Schneider, Ron Schneiderman, Christine Shields, Jessi Swenson, Matt Valentine, Joshua Vrysen, Emma Young, Angela Zammarelli, and Devon Zink. edited by John Shaw.
50 pages, 6×9in, screenprinted cover w/ hand-sewn binding. edition of 300. Buy it Now!
Not entirely sure what is going on here, but Rebecca Migdal has started what is to be a 22-page online comic adventure of Mike and Andy from the Yes Men on her Rosetta Stone site. Amusing stuff. Start reading.
Gary Panter may have been Punk Rock Art’s Father, but Shawn Kerri was definitely it’s mother. The style was already familiar from dog-eared copies of CARtoons. We weren’t sure what was going on, but we knew it was punk, and we liked it.
Jonathan Vankin teases next year’s Dark Rain: A Graphic Novel of Katrina up at his From the Editor’s Desk blog at DC’s Vertigo imprint. It is to be released to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the hurricane, so it should be in stores by August 25th, 2010. We try to keep on top of things here. The writing is by Mat Johnson of Incognegro fame. You can follow Mr. Johnson on Twitter @mat_johnson. His tweets are all that, and worth a follow.
The latest book in the popular Gym Shorts series by Betty Hicks is illustrated by Mr. Simon Gane. It’s a bit of a departure from what we’re used to, but it’s all classic Simon. Go get Track Attack on Amazon.
Simon has been teasing drawings from the book for the last few weeks on his blog. You can also now follow Simon Gane on Twitter. Any guesses on where on the body that tattoo on his profile pic is located?
Jazz loves being on the track team! And her dad is her biggest fan — maybe too big a fan. He argues with the coach, yells at the ref, and screams his head off at every meet. Jazz loves her dad, but can she keep him from having a full blown track attack? The latest book in the GYM SHORTS series finishes ahead of the pack and will keep early readers cheering.
by STEVEN CERIO……”Distant Bee Travel”…..a 12 PAGE SCREENPRINTED BOOK AND CD-R (of Steven Cerio and Lettuce Little)… This book and 17 track cd-r (released on cd-r only and published by Steven himself The book is printed in 4 colors (barn red, aqua blue, black and a deep chocolate brown)….it is an edition of only 125 copies…the book is 6.5” wide and 6.25” closed…… (both disc and book are signed and numbered by the artist.)
……both (disc and book) come in a clear 7” sleeve with a separate cover for your own jewel case (not included) that gives track listing and a list of contributing musicians including Dara (formerly of His Name is Alive & Brown Cuts Neighbors), JD King (The Coachmen), Laure Barges (Dragibus), Jim Kopta, Marc Arsenault and Jason Martin (Brown Cuts Neighbors) and Karen Langlie (Twink). Steven Cerio has played in Dee Dee Ramone’s “Sprocket” just after Dee Dee’s decision to leave The Ramones. Steven toured and recorded extensively with Railroad Jerk (Matador Records) and Drunktank (Matador/Radial records), ATLANTIC DRONE (Noiseville) …..as well as recording with Jad Fair of Half Japanese and performing with Ron Asheton of The Stooges… Steven formed Lettuce Little with bassist and trombonist Roger Kummert in 1993 to explore free form improvisation and soundscapes, also to escape the rigors of touring to dedicate himself to his art. This cd-r has been played on radio across the States and Europe including the now rightly famous WFMU in New Jersey….the music on the disc is a hybrid mix of Psychedelia, freeform jazz, soundtrack scores and twee children’s music. UPDATED – Another copy. Auction ends July 16, 2009. Go and get bidding. And here’s another copy currently on eBay. Many other Cerio items also up on eBay.
Print
on Amazon.
, published by Phaidon to coincide with Mariscal’s installation of the same name at the UK’s 
immediately caught my eye. I have never seen a book similar to this one. Considering the scope of it’s topic, it does a pretty good job with it, offering samples from an impressive array of genres, eras and publishers. The book is of a decent size to do justice to the material (11×10″) and the reproductions are generally of a high quality. Although, as pointed out in this more 
is that most rarest and sought after of things. Impossible to find in a reasonable condition for less than One Thousand US Dollars! As the sole reviewer on Amazon attests (in box, below), it is not the most immediately arousing of works for the typical audience for such books, so we can only assume that the reason for this scarcity lies on the tome’s artistic merits.
or from his stage sets for David Cross’s live show. Al has also been making his own music and videos; and has also remained active in comicbooks, contributing stories to several well respected anthology titles.
