Celebrate an alternative Free Comic Book Day this Saturday. No Diamond, no superheroes, no Warners, no Disney… Enjoy a weekend where the member of the Avengers who looks good in a leather catsuit is working with John Steed; and all you need that came before Watchmen was published in England in the early 1980s.
Sparkplug, Teenage Dinosaur, Revival House and Floating World join forces to bring you their 2012 FCBD anthology, BRAD TRIP. Eight Portland artists take you on a journey that explores vagaries, innuendoes, dreamscapes and weirdness in narrative form. Featuring all new comics by Virginia Paine (Milkyboots), Annie Murphy (I Still Live), Kinoko Evans (Zine City Comics), Aidan Koch (The Whale), Dunja Jankovic (Department Of Art), and Maria Sputnik (Gazeta) & Connie Hockaday. Covers by Lori D and Brenna Murphy (Oregon Painting Society).
Brad Trip is a 32 page black and white comic book with color covers. FREE with any order (or plus postage on it’s own) while supplies last. Any orders placed on WowCool.com this Saturday, May fifth (Cinco de Mayo!) will also receive as many other random free books as will fit in the box. We have all sorts of goodies waiting for you.
In Portland, Oregon? Go to the book release and art exhibit Thursday, May 3rd. Then join the artists the following Saturday 12-2pm for Free Comic Book Day.
WHO: Lori D, Kinoko Evans, Annie Murphy, Virginia Paine, Maria Sputnik
WHAT: Brad Trip free book release & art exhibit
WHEN: Thursday, May 3rd, 6-10pm
WHERE: Floating World Comics, 400 NW Couch St.
You too may have a fit of the vapours after reading and watching this overview of the exploits of this strange twisted man who is far more warped then Jonathan Pryce could have ever portrayed him. Hey, tomorrow never does die, does it?
It’s the last weekday of spring break. My family stopped by the office with smoothies after their trip to San Jose’s Happy Hollow. Shortly after recovering from the discovery that there was broken glass in mine, I notice my son flipping through an old issue of Mad Magazine. He loves Spy Vs. Spy, and was explaining the silent series of traps to me. On the facing page I recognized a story drawn by Harvey Kurtzman. Then I saw my name written there. I had totally forgotten about this personalized copy and don’t really remember the exact circumstances. This is from Mad #274, the October 1987 issue ($1.35 Cheap!) I was a student in Harvey’s class at The School of Visual Arts at that time. I imagine that I showed up early to class having just discovered that he was drawing for the magazine, brandishing the thing in one hand like Senator Joe McCarthy going after commies in the State Department. No idea when or how he snuck in there to jot this note. Thanks Harvey! I believe you now!
Thanks to Branwyn Bigglestone for remembering. She had the following to say and I couldn’t sum it up any better.
25 years ago today Rory Root & Michael Patchen opened Comic Relief in Berkeley, CA. The store has since closed, but its impact is still felt today, and I’m personally thankful for them helping me get my start in comics, and for giving me the opportunity to meet lots of people who have become some of my closest friends.
I wanted to just use the Dan Clowes CR logo on this post, but couldn’t find a good version on the web, and running across town to the office to dig up a better one was not going to happen on a Sunday. So… you get the above video. I’d not seen it before. Enjoy.
About the BBC has shared a selection of photographs charting the life of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, a department based at Maida Vale Studios in Delaware Road, West London dedicated to producing sound effects and new music set up in 1958 and closed down forty years later. They were freaking awesome. More reading on Sound on Sound. You are also required to watch the Alchemists of Sound. Part one is below.
There are a couple of Kickstarter projects that are near and dear to us that could use your support as they near the final hour.
UPDATED: Crap Hound 6 met it’s goal at the last minute with little to spare. Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who pledged! Previously: With mere hours to go Crap Hound #6: Death, Telephones & Scissors! is still short of it’s goal (as this is being written, might not be true as you read this).
Already past its goal with a couple days to go, but still needing some extra help to safely up the print run to a thousand is Injury Comics #4. Please help these guys out.
Happy Music Monday with this 1999 clip of Nick Cave talking about the mighty Pop Group. Sorry there was a bit of a blogging blackout here last week. It wasn’t intentional, just slightly less than usual going on. Will try to get a thorough update of all the little bits happening up here on Tuesday.
Our fine friends at Sparkplug Books are getting set to publish three new titles – the first big batch since founder Dylan Williams’ passing last year – and they need your help to make it happen. There is an excellent array of reward items, including original art and t-shirts. Get yourself over to Indiegogo and help them out.
Our dear friend Chloe is reprinting the popular Crap Hound #6 in a new edition and she needs your help on thee Kickstarter to make it happen. Here’s the pitch:
Dear Readers,
Sean is currently working on a book-length version of Crap Hound devoted to “Unhappy People” to be published by Feral House Press, so we thought we’d reprint an old favorite — Crap Hound #6: Death, Scissors & Telephones with a 16-pg. supplement of all new images — in the meantime! All the new material is in the supplement, the only change to the magazine from the 3rd edition is the cover.
This time around we’re offering pre-orders, as well as a variety of highly covetable rewards! Our goal is $13,000, which will cover the cost of printing 5000 copies of the magazine and supplement, silkscreen print, shipping and handling, and project fees.
Thanks for your interest in our project! If you like what you see, please help spread the word by sharing it with your friends! Remember, Kickstarter is an all or nothing proposition. If we don’t meet our goal, we won’t receive any funding!
Your Faithful Proprietress,
Chloe Eudaly
Reading Frenzy/Show & Tell Press
Double Fine Adventure on Kickstarter. As seen in Forbes. Most successful Kickstarter project ever. Over a million dollars raised in the first 24 hours – $600,000 past the goal. For a new point and click adventure game from two of the people involved with such classics of the genre as Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, Pajama Sam, Grim Fandango and many more. Double Fine has also been home to comics great Scott C., of course. These are the good guys. Add them to your good guy list.
Mike Kelley, a sure godfather figure to many who have followed, including the likes of Fort Thunder and Brown Cuts Neighbors, has left this world. He will be much missed. I just wanted to share a few images and link to some words about the man…
Stop SOPA & PIPA Join the party: Wikipedia, Reddit, Google, RPS, BoingBoing, AmericanElf, Rhizome, Wired, tumblr, and many, many other sites have gone various shades of black in protest today.
Media artist Dara Greenwald has been a close friend to many of the people involved in Wow Cool on both coasts for many, many years. I am sad to report that she lost her fight with cancer on Monday, January 9th, 2012. Although I have never met Dara in person, I feel her loss greatly and have never heard so many great things said about someone by so many people involved in my life and work from so many different areas. She contributed much to this world and I invite you to explore her work at http://daragreenwald.com/
This post will be updated with more information as it becomes available.
Yes, it is I. The irregular Wow Cool link dump. Usually posted on a Monday or Tuesday, often in two parts, often skipping many weeks. We are well back from the holidays, and therefore it is time to obliterate every open tab and share the good bits that emerge.
We open with the fight song from of the original St. Trinnian’s films. As you may have heard, St. Trinnian’s creator Ronald Searle passed away a few days ago. He has been remembered far and wide. I tried and failed to find what I thought would be the perfect image to present, so I went with the video instead. If you are going to read only one obituary of the late British cartoonist, you should read the one by Steven Heller in the New York Times. And, hey, I actually liked the newer St. Trinnian’s films.
If you have a couple days to spare you really should take the time to read this interview with amigo Steve Bissette – part of the Comics Reporter holiday interview series. I could list about half of the rest as must reads too, but I’ll let you pick your own favorites.
Our late friend and inspiration Dylan Williams, of Sparkplug Comics, is being chronicled in bloggy fashion at the DYLAN WILLIAMS ARCHIVES – The life and work of Dylan F. Williams 1970 – 2011. “We are attempting to archive the life and work of Dylan Williams: Collected writings, comics, artwork, sketches, letters, stories, photos and tributes. This is an ongoing project compiled by Dylan’s friends and family. If you have something you would like to contribute, please write to tom (at) iwilldestroyyou (dot) com” If you knew Dylan, then the Amazon reviews will make you chuckle and miss him all the more. I lied a couple paragraphs ago, you also must read this Comics Reporter holiday interview with the current proprietors of Sparkplug.
I would be amiss to not give a shout-out to Sean T. Collins for giving us a Shout-out in this post-holiday roundup of amazing comics stuff. It’s part three of… how many? Does this guy ever sleep? So much goodness out there.
In related news, CBR’s Robot 6 has gone into overdrive the last few days (while most of us were relaxing) with great news, bits, previews and more. Seriously, too much to mention, just start digging.
And give special attention to this Robot 6 exclusive preview of titles coming from Koyama Press in 2012. We’ve just added a couple more Koyama titles to the shop here at Wow Cool. Snatch those up, because they are low in quantity and not likely to be reprinted.
The latest in a semi-weekly roundup of the most interesting news from comics, art, music, video, games and more that have managed to reach us in the technological backwaters of Cupertino.
Printrbot: Your First 3D Printer by Brook Drumm — Comfy couch not included on Kickstarter. Also via RPS, same link as above.
Two games I’ve been exploring today that are well worth checking out are Kairo (available as a very affordable pre-order with an alpha download) and English Country Tune, which is in full release, but you might want to wait to see if your mind survives the experience of playing the demo first before making the plunge. Again, both via RPS.
The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy “The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class’s venality.” Also in the Guardian.
The archives of Anthony Burgess reveal many gems on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of his notorious Clockwork Orange. I had a great book-nerd conversation with the clerk at Shakespeare & Co. in Paris a few years ago about Burgess. He totally hard sold me on one of his later books. Sly bastard.
I could probably add tons more, but it’s late. Sorry, not much in the way of images or videos this time… click on for that. In case you missed it, Image Comics is having an SF Bay Area shindig this coming February. We haven’t signed off on anything yet, but Wow Cool will likely have a presence there. So, hope to see you at the Image Expo in late February in Oakland, CA.
I used to play the shit out of We Got Our Own Thang back in ’89. It was such an amazing time for music and this was a great bridge between hip hop and the emerging House music scene. Godspeed, brother.
I’ve been wanting to write something here about Susie Cagle’s coverage of Occupy Oakland for a couple weeks now. But, given the occupation’s escalating nature and Susie’s work on it being ongoing observation and documentation for an eventual full report, there was not an easy way in to hang a post on. Recent events and the press attention given them makes this seem like a good time to jump in. Occupy Oakland has been a strange story to try to follow, from the reports that make it all sound like a raging riot in the Guardian to the feel good piece in the LA Times on Thursday morning about protesters grabbing breakfast burritos from a food truck with the dockworkers Union boss. Add to this the such mindblowing events as solidarity protests in Tahrir Square and it’s all just a bit much to take in. One thing is certain, however, The Oakland Police Department is deeply fucked up. That’s not a big surprise to anyone, but it is shocking that the press has repeatedly been on the direct receiving end of their repressive measures — from their dusting off the riot playbook last Tuesday to this weeks imprisonment and intimidation exercises. Susie Cagle has been one of the most visible targets of their insane anti-journalist campaign — catching an exploding can of teargas right in front of her face (video above) to her arrest, imprisonment and the holding of her personal belongings by the police over the last few hours. As of this writing they are still holding her stuff, including her apartment keys. Yet, she is determined to follow this story until the end despite all of this. That level of commitment is a true inspiration. Just be safe out there, Susie. I don’t ever want to see you added to this roster at CPJ.
UPDATE: Posted late today on YouTube, Susie’s video from the plaza raid right before she was arrested. Yes, the footage is a bit rough. If I was ever in a situation where a large group of people were being told “Get on the ground, you’re under arrest”, I would probably try to run, break into a building, something–all Gordon Freeman style–because I would assume the alternative was far worse…
Mary Blair was born 100 years ago today. Even Google noticed. Her shapes and colors still fascinate. Below are a few photos I took earlier this year at the Disneyland Gallery show “The Colors of Mary Blair“. Clicking will make them twice the size. It’s magic.
Print
