PX92: Un regard moderne

(December 16, 2023)

Un regarde moderne (210x297mm) That’s some… cover. I think I’ll have to disable cross-posting on the Xitters and etc? Yup. No, wait, I can switch the “featured image” to something less aggressive than the cover image… I found this on ebay the other week, so I snapped it up. It’s got a sticker saying “Gary … Continue reading PX92: Un regard moderne

PX11: The Land Unknown

(June 20, 2023)

The Land Unknown by Gary Panter (170x261mm) This book was published (in France, but in English) in 2011, and I’ve somehow never seen a copy before. I happened onto this one in the 50 Watts Books store, but I see that it’s still available from the publisher here, and for just €15. So it’s (still, … Continue reading PX11: The Land Unknown

PX Stuff

(May 5, 2023)

OK, perhaps I should remove my ebay alert for “Gary Panter”, because I’m starting to have a sufficient volume of Panter ephemera… James Dean, dude. “Back Again”. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Stuff

(April 23, 2023)

This is a lighter produced by Zippo during the 90s, with a drawing of Jimbo by Gary Panter. Doesn’t look like it’s ever been used, even though it also looks kinda beat up? “Futility… grace of design”. Indeed. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Stuff

(January 31, 2023)

PX Stuff by Gary Panter (280x320mm) This is a cloth patch, and I found it randomly on ebay. I have no idea what the provenance is — I think it has to be a brand new bootleg thing? Because the cotton hasn’t yellowed at all. But it looks pretty good, right? So now I just … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX82: Sexy Politzei

(January 1, 2023)

Sexy Politzei by Bruno Richard and others (215x305mm) I thought this blog series was over now for sure, but then I happened onto this book while spelunking the interwebs, and I thought it looked pretty interesting, so I finally scored a copy. The book is, according to all sources, by Bruno Richard, but I can’t … Continue reading PX82: Sexy Politzei

PX83: Hoo-Be-Boo

(July 5, 2022)

Hoo-Be-Boo edited by Will Amato (168×260 cmmm) I finally managed to score a copy of this 1983 anthology, so let’s have a look at it. The book doesn’t say who the editor or publishers are, and a quick googling doesn’t reveal anything, either. But the address is in Torrance, California. Hm… This ebay page claims … Continue reading PX83: Hoo-Be-Boo

PX2019: Wildest Dream

(May 26, 2022)

Wildest Dream by Gary Panter (110x160mm) I don’t know how I missed this little book when I was actually doing the PX series — but the indicia claims that it was published in 2019. So this is a sketchbook… … and it’s really nice. I’m not sure how the pages were selected — they’re from … Continue reading PX2019: Wildest Dream

PX Stuff

(May 25, 2022)

Screamers: Demo Hollywood 1977 (with a cover by Gary Panter). This illustration for Screamers was probably Panter’s most famous single image for a decade there in the 80s? Screamers used it for a series of posters at the time… and they’d be insane not to. That’s the best poster ever. I want one on my … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX Stuff

(May 24, 2022)

Pray For Smurph by Gary Panter (2008). This is a CD released by Overheat (who also published some Panter stuff in the 80s, I think? Or do I misremember?). I kinda thought that this would include a little comic book, but it doesn’t. There’s a couple of illustrations, though. This blog post is part of … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX97: The Complete Maus

(April 8, 2022)

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (173x240mm) If you’ve following this blog series, you may be asking yourself — “didn’t that guy already talk about Maus? Excessively?” Yes, I have like a lot. So I don’t quite know why I bought this edition now — I think it just popped up (because of the banning … Continue reading PX97: The Complete Maus

PX21: Crashpad

(April 7, 2022)

Crashpad by Gary Panter (168x247mm) I wrote about a different edition of this book here — that was a luxurious edition for book fetishists (I think Panter said), but it included the smaller pamphlet as an insert. Now Fantagraphics has published it as a standalone standard comic book, so I thought I’d have a look … Continue reading PX21: Crashpad

PX Stuff

(April 6, 2022)

Read Yourself Raw pin by Art Spiegelman/Françoise Mouly around 1980. I had this pin as a teenager, and used to wear it on my jacket from time to time, to the great puzzlement of, well, everybody. But I lost it! I found it on ebay they other day, so I just had to get one … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX77: Hup

(April 5, 2022)

Hup by Gary Panter (140x216mm) This blog series was over half a year ago, but I’ve stumbled onto a couple of relevant items, so I thought I’d just write a few words about them. More bonus tracks. I was really excited to find this early Panter book. It’s a 32 page book published by Gary … Continue reading PX77: Hup

PX Index: Stuff

(December 3, 2021)

I’ve gotten various prints, paintings and bits and bobs created by the people I’ve been talking about in this blog series, so I posted some snaps of those things. Here’s links to them all; clickee on the images. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Retrospectives

(December 2, 2021)

I had a look at a handful of retrospective anthologies in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Not Punk Comix

(December 1, 2021)

Below are the books that I wrote about, but that are somewhat off topic for this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: And Even More

(November 30, 2021)

Below are some more books from this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Sue Coe

(November 29, 2021)

Below are the books by Sue Coe in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Matt Groening

(November 28, 2021)

Below are the books by Matt Groening in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Charles Burns

(November 27, 2021)

Below are the books by Charles Burns in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Ben Katchor

(November 26, 2021)

Below are the books by Ben Katchor in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Anthologies

(November 24, 2021)

Below are the anthologies in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Art Spiegelman

(November 23, 2021)

Below are the books by Art Spiegelman in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Lynda Barry

(November 22, 2021)

Below are the books by Lynda Barry in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Mark Beyer

(November 21, 2021)

Below are the books by Mark Beyer in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Gary Panter

(November 20, 2021)

Click on the images below to read the blog articles about Gary Panter’s books. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX Index: Raw

(November 19, 2021)

Below are the comics published by Raw Graphics (more or less). At the end, it also includes books packaged by Raw for publication by other publishers (mostly Penguin and Pantheon). Click on the images below to read the posts. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

Punk Comix Index

(November 18, 2021)

When I started this blog series half a year ago, I wanted to have a look at the comics from the “Raw generation” or whatever you want to call them. There seemed to be a quite particular aesthetic in comics happening in the early 80s, mostly in New York, mostly among younger comics artists, that … Continue reading Punk Comix Index

Punk Comix Redux

(November 17, 2021)

My blog series about “punk comix”/”the Raw generation”/whatchamacallit is finally over. I had originally planned on about eighty posts — but it ended up being one hundred and seventy posts. Good Lord! *choke* I had meant to focus on just Raw and the artists surrounding Raw — in the 80s. But then things got away … Continue reading Punk Comix Redux

PX11: MetaMaus

(November 16, 2021)

MetaMaus by Art Spiegelman and Hillary Chute (170x238mm) So here we are — the final post in this blog series about (sort of) the comics from the Raw Generation, or whatever we’re calling it this week. What started off with Mouly and Spiegelman printing stuff in their loft resulted in larger changes to the world … Continue reading PX11: MetaMaus

PX13: Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics, and Scraps

(November 15, 2021)

Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics, and Scraps by Art Spiegelman (241x340mm) In yesterday’s post in this blog series, I promised that it was the very, very final post… so of course here’s another post. Sorry! But it arrived in the mail, so I might as well read it and scribble some words about it. … Continue reading PX13: Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics, and Scraps

PX95: Dead Meat

(November 14, 2021)

Dead Meat by Sue Coe with Alexander Cockburn (203x256mm) OK, this is it, for sure this time: This is the final post in this blog series — before the MetaMaus post which is supposed to be the real final post (and was written months ago), and then the extremely final post that sums up the … Continue reading PX95: Dead Meat

PX97: The Huge Book of Hell

(November 13, 2021)

The Huge Book of Hell by Matt Groening (267x266mm) This is in the same format at The Big Book of Hell. That book was published in 90, and was a ten year retrospective featuring many strips not published before, along with a “best of” from the published collections. This one is published just six years … Continue reading PX97: The Huge Book of Hell

PX17: Songy of Paradise

(November 12, 2021)

Songy of Paradise by Gary Panter (294x378mm) I had totally forgotten about this book. I mean, both that I had it and what it’s about. Oh, right — after doing Dante, Panter is now doing Milton. Swanky. Anyway, this is a very large, thin hardback book with metallic inks on the cover — so it’s … Continue reading PX17: Songy of Paradise

PX13: Hand-Drying in America and Other Stories

(November 11, 2021)

Hand-Drying in America by Ben Katchor (298x311mm) This is a collection of strips that appeared in the architectural magazine Metropolis between 98 and 12, which is a marriage made in heaven, you’d think: Katchor had been doing stories about buildings and object design since, like, forever, so… This is a big, jam-packed book: It’s 160 … Continue reading PX13: Hand-Drying in America and Other Stories

PX90: The Big Book of Hell

(November 10, 2021)

The Big Book of Hell by Matt Groening (271x270mm) I didn’t buy this book at the time — I assumed that this was just a reprint of the smaller books that had already been printed. But… while doing this blog series, I couldn’t find any web sites that stated this outright, so curiosity (and a … Continue reading PX90: The Big Book of Hell

PX86: Lynda Barry ‘n’ Matt Groening’s Funky World Fun Calendar 1987

(November 9, 2021)

Lynda Barry ‘n’ Matt Groening’s Funky World Fun Calendar 1987 by Lynda Barry and Matt Groening (305x306mm) This is organised in a every-other-spread kind of fashion — on half the spreads, Groening does the cartoon at the top and Barry does the calendar at the bottom… … and the other half, vice versa. Most of … Continue reading PX86: Lynda Barry ‘n’ Matt Groening’s Funky World Fun Calendar 1987

PX05: Sheep of Fools

(November 8, 2021)

Sheep of Fools by Sue Coe and Judith Brody (260x261mm) This is published by Fantagraphics, but it’s a Blab book. When talking about anthologies from the 80s, Raw and Weirdo are seen as the two opposite poles, and nobody much mentions Blab. Which, OK, it’s a timing issue — Blab didn’t really find its form … Continue reading PX05: Sheep of Fools

PX90: The Best Comics of the Decade

(November 7, 2021)

The Best Comics of the Decade edited by Gary Groth and Kim Thompson (216x218mm) You’d think this blog series would be over now, right? Well, it was! But then when I was putting all the comics back into the bookshelf… … I found stuff I’d missed when rooting through the shelves for punk comix stuff … Continue reading PX90: The Best Comics of the Decade

PX09: Be a Nose!

(November 6, 2021)

Be a Nose! by Art Spiegelman (102x158mm, 136×211, 153x210mm) This is a set of three small books (and a pamphlet) held together by a stretchy band. This is published by McSweeney’s, and they love to play with book formats. I’m really intrigued, and I’m surprised I didn’t know that this existed. For a few years, … Continue reading PX09: Be a Nose!

PX91: Two Life in Hell Fun Calendars

(November 5, 2021)

Life in Hell Fun Calendars by Matt Groening (304x306mm) I was rummaging through stuff in the attic, and I happened upon these old calendars (from 1991 and 2006), so I thought it might be fun to have a quick peek at them. The first calendar goes from September 91 and all of 92. Is that … Continue reading PX91: Two Life in Hell Fun Calendars

PX11: The Cardboard Valise

(November 4, 2021)

The Cardboard Valise by Ben Katchor (281x222mm) This one’s got a fun design flourish — it’s got these fold-out handles, which makes the book into a kind of cardboard… uhm… what’s the word… oh, yeah, suitcase. Katchor had published just one book-length narrative before this — The Jew of New York. All his other collections … Continue reading PX11: The Cardboard Valise

PX08: Gary Panter

(November 3, 2021)

Gary Panter by Gary Panter (242x309mm) This massive box was published by Picturebox in 2008, and I think I got it at the time? Or pretty soon afterwards? When I got it, I was amazed at the… er… weight… of the box. It’s the most paper for the least amount of money ever. (I think … Continue reading PX08: Gary Panter

PX Stuff

(November 2, 2021)

A Mark Beyer poster from John Zorn’s Book of Angels. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX06: An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories Vols. 1 & 2

(November 1, 2021)

An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories Vols. 1 & 2 edited by Ivan Brunetti (200x260mm) I wanted to have a quick look at these due to their sheer heft, both physically and metaphorically. Altogether they weigh 2.6 kgs, collect over seven hundred pages of comics (or “graphic fiction” as the title portentously … Continue reading PX06: An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories Vols. 1 & 2

PX94: The Wild Party

(October 31, 2021)

The Wild Party by Joseph Moncure March and Art Spiegelman (140x224mm) Note the sizes of the names of the two creators on the cover? Yes, indeed, this was published after the stunning commercial (and critical) success of Maus II. This is a very handsome object. It’s designed by Spiegelman himself, but it’s obviously gotten lot … Continue reading PX94: The Wild Party

PX96: Horror Hospital Unplugged

(October 30, 2021)

Horror Hospital Unplugged by Dennis Cooper and Keith Mayerson (216x280mm) This is, once again, slightly off topic for this blog series, but I thought it might be vaguely interesting to have a look at a Re/Search book. In the 80s, Re/Search seemed to exist on the margins of both comics and music culture: They were … Continue reading PX96: Horror Hospital Unplugged

PX11: Blabber Blabber Blabber: Volume 1 of Everything

(October 29, 2021)

Blabber Blabber Blabber: Volume 1 of Everything by Lynda Barry (220x283mm) The Lynda Barry Renaissance over the past few decades has been a delight to behold. Drawn & Quarterly deserve major kudos for this, I guess — they’ve managed to make her books count in a major way: Every book she publishes gets reviewed in … Continue reading PX11: Blabber Blabber Blabber: Volume 1 of Everything

PX97: Open Me… I’m A Dog!

(October 28, 2021)

Open Me… I’m A Dog! by Art Spiegelman (234x185mm) After Maus, everybody waited for Spiegelman’s next hefty masterwork… … so Spiegelman made a book for young children instead. It’s neat — it’s a very cute size, and it’s got an pop-up feature, but it’s not a pop-up book, really. Instead it tells a good yarn … Continue reading PX97: Open Me… I’m A Dog!

PX Stuff

(October 27, 2021)

Oops! I found more stuff in the attic! Poster for a German exhibition of work by Mark Beyer. And there’s stuff on the back. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX00: Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: The Beauty Supply District

(October 26, 2021)

Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: The Beauty Supply District by Ben Katchor (280x225mm) Like most Pantheon books, this is a handsome object. There’s nothing extraneous here — no introductions by famous authors or anything icky like that. As much as I love Katchor, there’s precious little development between the previous collection of Julius Knipl strips … Continue reading PX00: Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: The Beauty Supply District

PX07: Will and Abe’s Guide to the Universe

(October 25, 2021)

Will and Abe’s Guide to the Universe by Matt Groening (230x229mm) This is the final collection of Life in Hell strips, and I think I’ve covered them all? The Big Book of Hell and The Huge Book of Hell are collections of the other, er, collections, aren’t they? It’s impossible to google these things, because … Continue reading PX07: Will and Abe’s Guide to the Universe

PX83: Zomoid Illustories

(October 24, 2021)

Zomoid Illustories edited by Ray Zone (110x140mm – 140x216mm – 172x260mm) I was ebaying for “punk comics”, as one does, and a collection of Zomoid Illustories appeared. I had the standard US comics-sized one already (it’s the one with the red cover up there), but I was wondering what the minis were like. Very varied. … Continue reading PX83: Zomoid Illustories

PX16: The! Greatest! Of! Marlys!

(October 23, 2021)

The! Greatest! Of! Marlys! by Lynda Barry (225x260mm) This was originally released in a smaller edition by Sasquatch Books in 00, but I’ve got the 16 edition from Drawn & Quarterly here. (I got rid of the earlier edition while weeding out duplicates the other year, and now I regret it. Sooo much.) That edition … Continue reading PX16: The! Greatest! Of! Marlys!

PX21: Crashpad

(October 22, 2021)

Crashpad by Gary Panter (286x363mm) It’s brand new! Ish! Published earlier this year, and I haven’t read it yet. This is a huge book (like all of Panter’s books with Fantagraphics)… but this one has a pouch on the inside front cover? With a comic inside!? What? Let’s leave that for later and read this … Continue reading PX21: Crashpad

PX08: Jack and the Box

(October 21, 2021)

Jack and the Box by Art Spiegelman (236x160mm) I am emphatically not covering all the Toon Books in this blog series, but let’s have a look at just a single one: Toon Books is an imprint own by RAW Junior, LLC, apparently, and I think it’s really cool that they’re still at the same address … Continue reading PX08: Jack and the Box

PX90: Warts and All

(October 20, 2021)

Warts and All by Drew Friedman and Josh Alan Friedman (204x190mm) This is a very nicely designed book by the Raw crew. It’s probably not visible here, but those yellow warts are embossed — they give the cover a sickeningly tactile feel. It’s really cool, but… does it shift copies? I think the general effect … Continue reading PX90: Warts and All

PX12: Is That All There Is?

(October 19, 2021)

Is That All There Is? by Joost Swarte (198x267mm) I was going to keep this blog series All-American, but let’s digress for one post (ahem) and have a look at this book. I guess all comics collections have to have an introduction by Chris Ware, and this one isn’t too bad. This is allegedly a … Continue reading PX12: Is That All There Is?

PX90: Come Over, Come Over/My Perfect Life/It’s So Magic/The Freddie Stories

(October 18, 2021)

Come Over, Come Over/My Perfect Life/It’s So Magic/The Freddie Stories by Lynda Barry (229x153mm) I’m not sure whether it’s because of the way I’ve read Barry’s collections over the years (I’ve tended to stumble across a copy here and a copy there in bookstores, without knowing that the book existed, and in no particular order), … Continue reading PX90: Come Over, Come Over/My Perfect Life/It’s So Magic/The Freddie Stories

PX89: Heck!

(October 17, 2021)

Heck! edited by Bob Donahue (214x768mm) Donahue claims in the introduction that this is the first paperback anthology of all-new comics. Can that be true? Er… Well, Raw #8 was squarebound… and… uhm… *ponder* What about Blab? Wasn’t that before this? Anyway, he talks a bit about Underground comics here, and it’s clear that he … Continue reading PX89: Heck!

PX86: Demo #1

(October 16, 2021)

Demo #1 edited by… Mary Fleener? (216x142mm) I was ebaying for “punk comics”, and this mini came up. It features stuff by Mary Fleener, so I thought “what the hey”. So let’s have a very quick look at it. This is a very good looking mini. (It’s of the sheet-folded-in-half type.) Most of the comics … Continue reading PX86: Demo #1

PX83: Casual Casual #1-9

(October 15, 2021)

Casual Casual #1-9 by Peter Dako (140x217mm) Casual Casual turned into an anthology later (covered earlier in this blog series), but I stumbled across somebody selling the original mini-comics cheaply on ebay, so let’s have a quick look at them. This starts out as an eight page comic (i.e., two sheets folded in half), and … Continue reading PX83: Casual Casual #1-9

PX98: The Jew of New York

(October 14, 2021)

The Jew of New York by Ben Katchor (212x221mm) I’d forgotten about this book! I thought it was another one of the Julius Knipl collections, but it’s a totally separate work. It’s a very handsome book. Almost square, and with these thick, rough-hewn covers… designed by Chip Kidd, of course. One of the plots in … Continue reading PX98: The Jew of New York

PX Stuff

(October 13, 2021)

This is a watch made by Nuts Collection, who apparently do a bunch of cool watches. This one is designed by Gary Panter. And comes in this handy case. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX90: Kaktus Valley #1

(October 12, 2021)

Kaktus Valley #1 by edited by Gary Panter and John Carlin (213x273mm) There was a period where alternative comics types were trying to do kids for comics, but… kinda half-hearted? Like… it’d seem really odd to imagine any kids actually reading these comics? This is one of those. The main story (which is only ten … Continue reading PX90: Kaktus Valley #1

PX86: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale

(October 11, 2021)

Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman (158x229mm) So how many editions of this book does a body need? I talked about this book in this blog post, but I’ve never actually seen a copy of the original edition before, and when I happened upon a cheap copy on the ebays, I couldn’t help myself. … Continue reading PX86: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale

PX94: Binky’s Guide To Love

(October 10, 2021)

Binky’s Guide To Love by Matt Groening (287x287mm) What!? Lynda Barry has been demoted from Funk Queen of the Universe!? Anyway, this book completes the format journey: These collections started out as spine-less stapled things, and then they got a spine (friendlier to book stores), and then they lost the staples, and now we have … Continue reading PX94: Binky’s Guide To Love

PX83: Scratchez

(October 9, 2021)

Scratchez by Bow Lewis and Kathe Pritz (105x139mm & 169x261mm) I had one of these comics already — the sixth issue (the one with the cover by The Pizz), and I vaguely remember that issue as being kinda adjacent to the comics I’ve been discussing in this blog series, so I bought all the other … Continue reading PX83: Scratchez

PX86: Road Kill

(October 8, 2021)

Road Kill by Gary Panter (218x142mm) Originally, this blog series was projected to be about 90 posts long, but we’re now up to 140 posts (I think), and I’m still adding things to the in queue. The feature creep has two reasons: I’m finding more stuff out there that I didn’t know existed (like this … Continue reading PX86: Road Kill

PX04: The New Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes

(October 7, 2021)

The New Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes edited by Bob Callahan (220x284mm) Callahan had previously had a go at creating a book like this in 1991: The New Comics Anthology. It wasn’t entirely successful — it read more like a catalogue than an anthology (and the artists had difficulties getting paid, … Continue reading PX04: The New Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes

PX99: Art Spiegelman: Comix, Essays, Graphics and Scraps

(October 6, 2021)

Art Spiegelman: Comix, Essays, Graphics and Scraps by Art Spiegelman (240x336mm) This is a very handsome softcover exhibition catalogue to accompany La Centrale dell’Arte’s travelling Spiegelman exhibition in 1999. (It was designed by Mouly and Spiegelman.) Spiegelman likes long (sub)titles, so this is called “From Maus to Now to MAUS to Now”. (His first collection … Continue reading PX99: Art Spiegelman: Comix, Essays, Graphics and Scraps

PX03: The Complete Maus

(October 5, 2021)

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (163x232mm) I’ve already talked about Maus in this blog series, so I’m not going to go over all that again. But I happen to have the collected edition (in addition to the I and II books), so I thought I’d just have a quick peek and see how they’re … Continue reading PX03: The Complete Maus

PX14: Here

(October 4, 2021)

Here by Richard McGuire (173x242mm) “Here” was originally a short piece printed in Raw Vol 2 #1, and was hugely influential: It was a brand new way to tell a story. So — 25 years later, McGuire expanded it to a three hundred page graphic novel. If you’ve been living under one of those them … Continue reading PX14: Here

PX17: Whatsa paintoonist?

(October 3, 2021)

Whatsa paintoonist? by Jerry Moriarty (261x335mm) The Jack Survives strips were absolutely amazing — strong graphics and moving, mysterious pages. I didn’t know quite to expect from this book — but absolutely not this: Moriarty is drawing from his childhood again: This time around he paints himself in, but as a girl. So we basically … Continue reading PX17: Whatsa paintoonist?

PX10: X’ed Out/The Hive/Sugar Skull

(October 2, 2021)

X’ed Out/The Hive/Sugar Skull by Charles Burns (230x303mm) After Burns had been doing comics about diseased teenagers for a few decades, X’ed Out arrived out of the blue. I certainly wasn’t expecting a kinda surreal Tintin-referencing book from Charles Burns: It’s in the classic European hardback album format, looking very classy. I remember being really … Continue reading PX10: X’ed Out/The Hive/Sugar Skull

PX01: Inkstains #4 & #5

(October 1, 2021)

Inkstains #4 & #5 (170x261mm) Since so many of the artists I’ve covered in this blog series have been at the School of Visual Arts (and I’ve talked about the Bad News anthology here, here, and here, which was done by students and teachers at the SVA), I thought it might be fun to have … Continue reading PX01: Inkstains #4 & #5

PX05: Satiroplastic

(September 30, 2021)

Satiroplastic by Gary Panter (107x157mm) This book has a kinda cool strip of paper around it, where the title is done as holes in the paper. Apparently Drawn & Quarterly planned a three volume set, but only this one was published. This is a facsimile (sort of) of Panter’s sketchbook from 1999 to 2001. I … Continue reading PX05: Satiroplastic

PX93: Amy + Jordan

(September 29, 2021)

Amy + Jordan by Mark Beyer (146x204mm) This was published by the same people who did Gary Panter’s Dal Tokyo the year before. It’s in the same format, and again, it’s a French book with un-translated English text. The book is a mainly a subset of the stuff later reprinted in the 2004 Pantheon book, … Continue reading PX93: Amy + Jordan

PX Stuff

(September 28, 2021)

“Welcome To The Atom Age!!!” by Gary Panter, button apparently from 1979. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX04: Amy + Jordan

(September 27, 2021)

Amy + Jordan by Mark Beyer (286x128mm) This is a Chip Kidd-designed book. I’ve heard rumours of him being so popular that people will buy any book if it’s designed by him. (This apparently pisses off fans of the artists featured in the books, because they feel that the attention distracts from… er… something…) Anyway, … Continue reading PX04: Amy + Jordan

PX91: The New Comics Anthology

(September 26, 2021)

The New Comics Anthology edited by Bob Callahan (218x278mm) I was googling for anthologies of “new wave comics” (etc.), and I came upon this book, and I immediately though “hey! I’ve got that one!” So I spent half an hour looking through the shelves, but didn’t find anything. But it looks so familiar… … and … Continue reading PX91: The New Comics Anthology

PX06: Big Fat Little Lit

(September 25, 2021)

Big Fat Little Lit edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly (225x280mm) I’m not quite sure how I ended up with this book — I probably bought it not knowing that it was a reprint of the three Little Lit volumes? Two of the Little Lit books had themes (fairy tales and “silly night”), but … Continue reading PX06: Big Fat Little Lit

PX02: Little Lit: It Was a Dark and Silly Night

(September 24, 2021)

Little Lit: It Was a Dark and Silly Night edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly (242x340mm) This is the third and final book in this series, and it’s a bit shorter than the previous two: 48 pages instead of 64. Martin Hanford does the endpapers, and they’re great. He’s the guy that does Where’s … Continue reading PX02: Little Lit: It Was a Dark and Silly Night

PX01: Little Lit: Strange Stories for Strange Kids

(September 23, 2021)

Little Lit: Strange Stories for Strange Kids edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly (242x340mm) The first Little Lit book wasn’t… very good, and this one doesn’t even have Chip Kidd as a co-designer. So let’s have a look. Heh, that’s pretty good… (Kaz.) That’s not bad, either. (Art Spiegelman.) There were quite a few … Continue reading PX01: Little Lit: Strange Stories for Strange Kids

PX00: Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tales

(September 22, 2021)

Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tales edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly (242x340mm) I didn’t originally plan on including anything from the Raw Junior, LLC line of books… but I thought it might be interesting to at least talk about the first spate of Little Lit books. These are published by HarperCollins, but apparently … Continue reading PX00: Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tales

PX05: We All Die Alone

(September 21, 2021)

We All Die Alone by Mark Newgarden (198x223mm) Unusually for a Fantagraphics book, this book has a very… extra… physical appearance: The cover is bound in a felt-like material, so it feels like fondling… moleskin pants or something. It’s very Indesigney. Ah! Edited by Dan Nadel (i.e., Picturebox) and designed by Helene Silverman. You can … Continue reading PX05: We All Die Alone

PX91: Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began

(September 20, 2021)

Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman (168x243mm) This book collects the four chapters of Maus that were published in Raw #8 and Raw Vol 2 #1-3, and adds a fifth and final chapter. While I’ve read the chapters that made up the first book many times (as inserts in the Raw … Continue reading PX91: Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began

PX Stuff

(September 19, 2021)

Mark Beyer screen print. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX10: Funny (Not Funny)

(September 18, 2021)

Funny (Not Funny) edited by Ryan Standfest (218x218mm) This is the catalogue for an exhibition, apparently? The exhibition is about “Black Humor”, and the curator capitalises it like that most of the essay, without mentioning actual Black humour, or using the expression “edge lord” a single time. But I think that’s what he’s going for, … Continue reading PX10: Funny (Not Funny)

PX00: Cola Madnes

(September 17, 2021)

Cola Madnes by Gary Panter (135x188mm) I’m always suspicious when I see stuff like this, but Overheat Communications really does seem to exist. Young Jimbo! Anyway, this is a very handsome little book, published by Funny Garbage Press. (No, me neither.) The reproduction is excellent, and the format is sympathetic to the work. On the … Continue reading PX00: Cola Madnes

PX91: Snake Eyes #1-3

(September 16, 2021)

Snake Eyes #1-3 edited by Glenn Head and Kaz (213x273mm) Three issues of Bad News were published in the 80s, as a sort of School for the Visual Arts anthology (but only sorta kinda). Mark Newgarden is interviewed in The Comics Journal #161, page 84: KELLY: It seems like Bad News somehow evolved into Snake … Continue reading PX91: Snake Eyes #1-3

PX09: The Complete Jack Survives

(September 15, 2021)

The Complete Jack Survives by Jerry Moriarty (273x362mm) This book was published by the late and very lamented Buenaventura Press, and basically reprints the Raw One-Shot from 84, but adds a few more things. This is in the same format at the first book, but is a hardback and is printed on shiny paper, so … Continue reading PX09: The Complete Jack Survives

PX04: In the Shadow of No Towers

(September 14, 2021)

In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman (255x367mm) This is Spiegelman’s book about the 2001-09-11 attack on New York, so even being slightly critical feels both churlish and besides the point. On the other hand, I do remember feeling somewhat disappointed by this book, so let’s see… This is a pretty thick book … Continue reading PX04: In the Shadow of No Towers

PX91: Raw Vol 2 #3: High Culture for Lowbrows

(September 13, 2021)

Raw Vol 2 #3: High Culture for Lowbrows edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (165x229mm) This is it: The third and final edition of the Penguin-published Raw, and the final Raw book. (Sort of.) And… we’re getting pretty high in the instep, aren’t we? Spiegelman is selling a $1K print. Tsk tsk. The book … Continue reading PX91: Raw Vol 2 #3: High Culture for Lowbrows

PX87: Casual Casual #19/20

(September 12, 2021)

Casual Casual #19/20 edited by Peter Dako (214x279mm) I blogged about Casual Causal some before, and in those issues, Peter Dako talked about putting on a travelling show exhibiting a bunch of artists. And now he’s finally gotten money from the gummint, so he’s doing it, and this 200 page magazine-sized publication is the result. … Continue reading PX87: Casual Casual #19/20

PX92: The Road to Hell

(September 11, 2021)

The Road to Hell by Matt Groening (226x229mm) I hadn’t planned on doing all the Life in Hell collections in this blog series, but there’s just a couple more books to go, so what the hey. This collection mostly covers 1991, and it’s a very cohesive collection… … but that’s mostly because half of them … Continue reading PX92: The Road to Hell

PX Stuff

(September 10, 2021)

Mark Beyer screen printed poster. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX88: Do You Hate Your Hips More Than Nuclear War?

(September 9, 2021)

Do You Hate Your Hips More Than Nuclear War? by Libby Reid (216x152mm) I’ve covered a few books that have been “adjacent” to the purported subject matter of this blog series… but I don’t quite know why I meant to do this book. I mean, it doesn’t look very… adjacent? Hm… *ponder*… Oh yeah, I … Continue reading PX88: Do You Hate Your Hips More Than Nuclear War?

PX95: The Narrative Corpse

(September 8, 2021)

The Narrative Corpse edited by Art Spiegelman and R. Sikoryak (223x413mm) I remember buying this in the 90s: It’s a narrow and tall book and it looked very enticing in the book store, so I finally broke down and bought it even though it was trey expensive (and I was a poor(ish) student). But after … Continue reading PX95: The Narrative Corpse

PX93: Go Naked #1

(September 7, 2021)

Go Naked #1 edited by Gary Panter (215x173mm) I’ve never read this book before — it popped up one day while I was “doing research”. I think it has to be the only anthology edited by Panter? And it’s published by Underground comix stalwarts Last Gasp Eco-Funnies, so colour me intrigued. So this is a … Continue reading PX93: Go Naked #1

PX87: Agony

(September 6, 2021)

Agony by Mark Beyer (128x128mm) I have two copies of this book — one that I bought in 87, and one I got about a decade ago. Mile High Comics were having a blow-out graphics novel sale, and they apparently had so many copies of this book that they were selling it for $5, so … Continue reading PX87: Agony

PX90: Raw Vol 2 #2: Required Reading for the Post-Literate

(September 5, 2021)

Raw Vol 2 #2: Required Reading for the Post-Literate edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (153x223mm) The first issue of the Penguin version of Raw was generally thought of as pretty disappointing — even by the editors themselves. They were looking for new, exciting talent working in the idiom loosely defined by Raw, and … Continue reading PX90: Raw Vol 2 #2: Required Reading for the Post-Literate

PX95: Paul Auster’s City of Glass

(September 4, 2021)

Paul Auster’s City of Glass by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli (132x209mm) I remember reading Auster’s New York Trilogy over a couple of days one summer — it was probably in 1988 and I was nineteen? I was absolutely flabbergasted! I thought it was the greatest thing ever, and I’ve continued to buy all of … Continue reading PX95: Paul Auster’s City of Glass

PX90: Gin & Comix

(September 3, 2021)

Gin & Comix edited by Philippe Lardy and José Ortega (267x356mm) The only reason I know about this Raw-sized book is that it was mentioned in a “coming attractions” column by Eclipse — I’ve never seen it mentioned by anybody else ever. That I can remember. Eclipse claimed that the book features student work from … Continue reading PX90: Gin & Comix

PX Stuff

(September 2, 2021)

Acrylic on cardboard by Gary Panter. This was allegedly painted for a book/exhibition Patrick J. Eddington was putting together — about cats. Which explains “More cats for Pat” on the back. The project was never finalised, I think? This web page has an overview of (some?) of the paintings that were to be featured. This … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX88: Down the Street

(September 1, 2021)

Down the Street by Lynda Barry (228x152mm) In the previous Barry post in this blog series, I said that I was going to stop there — because Barry’s work has really moved away from the ostensible purported subject of the series. (And because I had nothing more to say than “mm-hm, look at that isn’t … Continue reading PX88: Down the Street

PX85: Gripping Typos

(August 31, 2021)

Gripping Typos by David Lees, Gary Panter and others (255x356mm) This is an oddball publication — it seems like it’s basically an ad for Andresen Typographics in Los Angeles — but it doesn’t say so explicitly. It doesn’t say when it was published, either, but Printed Matter says that it’s from 1985, and they’re usually … Continue reading PX85: Gripping Typos

PX00: Pit’s Letter

(August 30, 2021)

Pit’s Letter by Sue Coe (184x184mm) I remember buying this at a bookstore somewhere in the US and somebody said “you like being depressed, eh?” And it is, indeed, a full on harrowing read. It quietly moves from one atrocity to the next. Coe should get extra compensation from the trauma doing artwork like this … Continue reading PX00: Pit’s Letter

PX96: Fleener #1-3

(August 29, 2021)

Fleener #1-3 by Mary Fleener (169x259mm) I love Mary Fleener’s work, but I wasn’t going to cover any of it in this blog series, because while it’s wild and sometimes avant garde, I’d say it comes more out of the Underground comics tradition than what I’m talking about here. But this was published by Bongo … Continue reading PX96: Fleener #1-3

PX91: How To Go To Hell

(August 28, 2021)

How To Go To Hell by Matt Groening (226x229mm) Big changes afoot — Groening has taken the book from Pantheon to HarperPerennial, and this is the first collection without staples. This is also the first collection that doesn’t dip back into deep Life In Hell history — all the strips are from recent years. And … Continue reading PX91: How To Go To Hell

PX89: Raw Vol 2 #1: Open Wounds from the Cutting Edge of Commix

(August 27, 2021)

Raw Vol 2 #1: Open Wounds from the Cutting Edge of Commix edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (153x224mm) I stumbled upon somebody on the intertubes talking about Raw a couple weeks back. Can’t find it now, but they said essentially “Man, Raw was good… I’m talking about the real Raw — not the … Continue reading PX89: Raw Vol 2 #1: Open Wounds from the Cutting Edge of Commix

PX07: Omega the Unknown

(August 26, 2021)

Omega the Unknown by Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple with Karl Rusnak and Paul Hornscheimer (170x259mm) I know, I know — this is really off topic for a blog series about early-80s avant garde comics. But Gary Panter drew the cover to one issue, and I just found the idea of Panter being published by … Continue reading PX07: Omega the Unknown

PX Stuff

(August 25, 2021)

Painting by Mark Beyer on semi-spherical glass from 1997. I’m not sure whether this is a thing that people do? I mean, do a painting on the back of half a glass globe? It seems like something that should be in every tourist shop, but… I’m not sure I’ve seen something like this there? Probably … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX87: Read Yourself Raw

(August 24, 2021)

Read Yourself Raw edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (267x357mm) This book reprints Raw #1-3 — but not in full. I’ve already covered those three Raw issues in this blog series, so I’m not going to re-read this book once again… instead, I’ll just see if there’s anything interesting about what they’ve kept and … Continue reading PX87: Read Yourself Raw

PX92: Facetasm

(August 23, 2021)

Facetasm by Gary Panter and Charles Burns (226x254mm) This is a spiral-bound book with thick cardboard pages, immaculately printed by Gates of Heck. The gag is that the pages are cut in three (horizontally), so you can flip the three parts independently… … creating a large number of facial combinations… … or just look at … Continue reading PX92: Facetasm

PX92: Dal Tokyo

(August 22, 2021)

Dal Tokyo by Gary Panter (148x203mm) Fantagraphics reprinted the Daltokyo strips in a definite edition in 2012, so I won’t actually talk about the strips themselves (since I did that in that blog post, see?) in this brief blog post. This was published by Sketch Studios in France (but not translated into French), and as … Continue reading PX92: Dal Tokyo

PX86: Maus I: My Father Bleeds History

(August 21, 2021)

Maus I: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman (mm) This is it: The pivot point in this blog series. You may not have thought so (if you’ve been reading a few of these blog posts), but there’s a kind of loose structure going on here. I wanted to divide the series into a “before” … Continue reading PX86: Maus I: My Father Bleeds History

PX85: Casual Casual #15, #16, #18

(August 20, 2021)

Casual Casual #15, #16, #18 edited by Peter Dako (140x216mm) I’ve never read Casual Casual before — I was vaguely aware of it, but no copies wended themselves my way. But while researching stuff for this blog series, I happened upon somebody selling a bunch of them on ebay, and I managed to score these … Continue reading PX85: Casual Casual #15, #16, #18

PX91: Funny Ladies

(August 19, 2021)

Funny Ladies by Pamela Beere Briggs (130х184mm) So I’m watching this DVD because it has Lynda Barry (on topic) and Nicole Hollander (somewhat on topic) for this blog series. The other two here are less on topic. Just to get my prejudices up front: I don’t like documentaries in general, and I loathe sound byte … Continue reading PX91: Funny Ladies

PX80: Ma, can I be a feminist and still like men?

(August 18, 2021)

Ma, can I be a feminist and still like men? by Nicole Hollander (210x138mm) I’m not going to continue covering the Hollander books in this blog series (since she works on a scale perpendicular to the topic), but I thought I’d do at least one more: The first collection was all politics all the time, … Continue reading PX80: Ma, can I be a feminist and still like men?

PX Stuff

(August 17, 2021)

Subterranean Modern with a cover by Gary Panter. Don’t worry — I’m not going to include all the album covers done by these artists in this blog series, but I’m gonna do a couple. This one is interesting because it was released by Ralph Records in 1979 — Ralph had included Gary Panter’s Rozz Tox … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX78: A Disturbing Evening and Other Stories

(August 16, 2021)

A Disturbing Evening by Mark Beyer (215x280mm) Look what I found! I’ve been trying to get a copy of this book for decades, and it finally popped up on ebay the other week. Serendipidee-doo. So I’ve never read this before, and my heart is actually racing — I’m all excited! Oh, wow. These comics were … Continue reading PX78: A Disturbing Evening and Other Stories

PX88: Bad News #3

(August 15, 2021)

Bad News #3 edited by Paul Karasik (206x260mm) This is the third and final issue of the magazine that started as a class assignment at the School of Visual Arts, but I think by this point, it wasn’t that at all… although it featured many people who had gone to the SVA (or been a … Continue reading PX88: Bad News #3

PX87: The Fun House

(August 14, 2021)

The Fun House by Lynda Barry (230x152mm) The previous Barry collection, Everything in the World, was a watershed — half the strips were about misc. adultish stuff, and half the stuff was about children’s lives. Both were good, but it seemed obvious that Barry was more inspired by the children’s stuff. So this collection is … Continue reading PX87: The Fun House

PX91: With Love From Hell & Greetings From Hell

(August 13, 2021)

With Love From Hell & Greetings From Hell by Matt Groening (188x122mm & 162x108mm) 87th Dimension, eh? Anyway, the first of these postcard booklets is published by HarperPerennial, not Pantheon (who did the strip collections). So on the front of the postcard we get a Life in Hell strip… … and the back is mostly … Continue reading PX91: With Love From Hell & Greetings From Hell

PX01: Skin Deep

(August 12, 2021)

Skin Deep by Charles Burns (235x313mm) This is the Fantagraphics reprint of the Penguin book published a decade earlier. I don’t know exactly how I ended up buying this edition, but I may just have forgotten that I had the Penguin book? In any case, the contents are identical, so see this for more about … Continue reading PX01: Skin Deep

PX92: Skin Deep

(August 11, 2021)

Skin Deep by Charles Burns (228x304mm) This is the second Burns collection — the first was from Pantheon in 86 (and apparently didn’t sell), and this one is from Penguin. This collects mainly Burns’ Big Baby strips, but Big Baby doesn’t appear a lot here: In the first story, he shows up to introduce us … Continue reading PX92: Skin Deep

PX86: Raw #8: The Graphic Aspirin for War Fever

(August 10, 2021)

Raw #8: The Graphic Aspirin for War Fever edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (266x360mm) I remember being disappointed when I got this in the mail as a teenager… I don’t really remember why now, but looking at the book now, it’s a less … special … object than the previous Raw issues. For … Continue reading PX86: Raw #8: The Graphic Aspirin for War Fever

PX Stuff

(August 9, 2021)

This is the back cover to a Steel Tips album by Mark Beyer. And the mind-boggling thing is that they put this amazing drawing on the back. Here’s the front. So now you’re all confused and wondering what it sounds like? You’re still confused? Me too. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX96: Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer

(August 8, 2021)

Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer by Ben Katchor (276x215mm) This book (published by Little, Brown) was exquisitely designed by Katchor himself. He sounded pretty disappointed with the design of his first book (from Penguin), so it’s understandable that he wanted to do it all himself this time around. The first book had a slightly gimmicky … Continue reading PX96: Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer

PX89: Akbar and Jeff’s Guide to Life

(August 7, 2021)

Akbar and Jeff’s Guide to Life by Matt Groening (229x229mm) All the previous Life in Hell collections had been themed (Work/Love/School/Childhood), and I guess this one is, too — but it focuses on these characters (“brothers or lovers or both?”, as the saying went in the early days of Life in Hell) instead of, er, … Continue reading PX89: Akbar and Jeff’s Guide to Life

PX12: Daltokyo

(August 6, 2021)

Daltokyo by Gary Panter (410x158mm) Hey! We’re back! I had another two week break from this blog series… which… er… happens in two weeks, according to how many are still in the scheduling queue… Confusing. But do I remember how to do these blogs now? Did I ever? If there’s one thing Fantagraphics isn’t known … Continue reading PX12: Daltokyo

PX92: Nozone #4: Utopia/Dystopia

(August 5, 2021)

Nozone #4: Utopia/Dystopia (202x202mm) I’ve vaguely seen Nozone around, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually read an issue before? But it seems pertinent to my interests, so I got this issue, and we can have a look at it together… This is a pretty nice little object… it feels well-thought-out and designed. And the … Continue reading PX92: Nozone #4: Utopia/Dystopia

PX79: Slash volume two number six

(August 4, 2021)

Slash volume two number six (295x383mm) Hey, no, don’t worry — I did one previous issue of Slash, and I’m doing this one, and then I’m not doing any more. And the reason I’m doing this one is that I had forgotten that I had bought the other issue, so I then had two. So … Continue reading PX79: Slash volume two number six

PX85: Raw #7: The Torn-Again Graphix Mag

(August 3, 2021)

Raw #7: The Torn-Again Graphix Mag edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (265x360mm) This is the infamous “torn” edition of Raw: Every cover is hand-torn… although this edition seems to be more torn than others. (I don’t think they’re usually torn in the left-hand bottom corner, too?) *gasp* This copy is incomplete! The torn-off … Continue reading PX85: Raw #7: The Torn-Again Graphix Mag

PX92: Hypnotic Tales

(August 2, 2021)

Hypnotic Tales by Richard Sala (213x276mm) OK, I seem to be digressing from the putative subject matter of this blog series more and more… I originally planned on focusing hard on the Raw period of comics (so, 1978-89… ish), and the artists around Raw, really. I wasn’t going to do anything newer than 1990, and … Continue reading PX92: Hypnotic Tales

PX Stuff

(August 1, 2021)

Devin and Gary Go Outside This is a CD by Devin Flynn and Gary Panter, published by Picturebox, apparently. It’s far out. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX80: World War 3 Illustrated #1

(July 31, 2021)

World War 3 Illustrated #1 edited by Seth Tobocman, Peter Kuper and Christof Kohlhofer (202x270mm) When starting this Raw-focused blog series, I wondered whether I should do some World War 3 Illustrated, too — it was another anthology started in New York around the same time, and with as much claim on the phrase “punk … Continue reading PX80: World War 3 Illustrated #1

PX86: Everything in the World

(July 30, 2021)

Everything in the World by Lynda Barry (230x149mm) “Love the hurly ding-dong.”!? Anyway, it’s been fun reading these early Lynda Barry books chronologically — I sorta knew that her style had changed a lot during her first (say) five years… but now we’re kinda getting near to the style she was going to use when … Continue reading PX86: Everything in the World

PX86: Hercules Amongst the North Americans

(July 29, 2021)

Hercules Amongst the North Americans by Mark Marek (218x279mm) Marek’s previous book was published by a New York design firm… but now “new wave” comics is starting to become a thing, commercially, so Penguin dips their toes into the waters with this book. Wow. That’s the most accurate map of the US ever. I like … Continue reading PX86: Hercules Amongst the North Americans

PX81: The Previous Future

(July 28, 2021)

The Previous Future edited by Pete Friedrich (215x275mm) This is published by Look Mom, Comics — the same people who published Psycho Comics. So I wasn’t going to cover this magazine in this blog series, but I had already bought it, and the cover looks pretty intriguing… so let’s give it a go. Oh, well: … Continue reading PX81: The Previous Future

PX87: Buzzbomb

(July 27, 2021)

Buzzbomb by Kaz (280x380mm) OK, here’s my deepest, darkest secret: I’m not really much of a Kaz fan. So I haven’t read this book since it was published, and I pretty much forgot that it existed — otherwise I would have covered it in the Fantagraphics blog series. So: This is a big (Raw-sized) saddle-stitched … Continue reading PX87: Buzzbomb

PX Stuff

(July 26, 2021)

Spy vs Spy by by John Zorn with a cover by Mark Beyer (1989). It’s Zorn doing hardcore/jazz versions of Ornette Coleman stuff. It’s fun! This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX84: Raw #6: The Graphix Magazine That Overestimates The Taste Of The American Public

(July 25, 2021)

Raw #6: The Graphix Magazine That Overestimates The Taste Of The American Public edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (269x359mm) This is it: This is the first issue of Raw I read, and I was 15, and I thought it was the most amazing thing ever in the history of ever. Sure; I’d read … Continue reading PX84: Raw #6: The Graphix Magazine That Overestimates The Taste Of The American Public

PX Stuff

(July 24, 2021)

Mark Beyer screen print. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX88: Childhood is Hell

(July 23, 2021)

Childhood is Hell by Matt Groening (228x228mm) I’m slightly fascinated by the relentless drive towards mainstream (i.e., bookstore) respectability for basically all the books I’m covering in this blog series. In the pre-mainstream era, there was a certain freedom with formats — mostly stapled things, and often oddball (too large/too small) formats. This is a … Continue reading PX88: Childhood is Hell

PX81: Boys & Girls Grow Up #2-4

(July 22, 2021)

Boys & Girls Grow Up #2-4 edited by Tom Campagnoli and Amy Crehore (216x280mm) I’m not quite sure where I happened onto these comics… I feel… I found them in a TAKE THEM AWAY WE HAVE TO GET RID OF THEM box at a comic book store. But those may be false memories. These are … Continue reading PX81: Boys & Girls Grow Up #2-4

PX88: Hard-Boiled Defective Stories

(July 21, 2021)

Hard-Boiled Defective Stories by Charles Burns (229x305mm) Pantheon had released only a handful of comics by this time: The Life in Hell collections, Maus I and the Read Yourself Raw collection. That is, their taste level was impeccable. Still, I remember happening upon this in a bookstore in 1988, and I was kinda… surprised? It’s … Continue reading PX88: Hard-Boiled Defective Stories

PX84: Kromalaffing

(July 20, 2021)

Kromalaffing edited by Michael Merrill (179x267mm) This is a catalogue: From February 4 to 25 of that year, Michael Merrill curated a gallery show called “ChromaZone/Chromatique Presents Kromalaffing” at Toronto’s Grünwald Gallery. The exhibition presented experimental and humorous comic artwork from American, Canadian and European artists. It was in 1984, and I think it had … Continue reading PX84: Kromalaffing

PX79: I’m in Training to be Tall and Blonde

(July 19, 2021)

I’m in Training to be Tall and Blonde by Nicole Hollander (210x137mm) I thought it might be amusing to include a few things that’s sorta “adjacent” to the putative subject matter of this blog series. Nicole Hollander was a friend of Lynda Barry’s, started working a few years earlier (Hollander 76; Barry 79), appeared in … Continue reading PX79: I’m in Training to be Tall and Blonde

PX Stuff

(July 18, 2021)

Amy + Jordan figure set published by Dark Horse in 1986 from a design by Mark Beyer. They’re soft and quite poseable — kinda like… silly puttyish, but retaining the shape? Probably lots of phthalates. I think they’re kinda cool — they look so much like Beyer’s artwork. This blog post is part of the … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX98: Burning Monster

(July 17, 2021)

Burning Monster by Gary Panter (216x160mm) This is a collection of stuff from 1983, but published by Le Dernier Cri in 1998. I think it’s all screenprinted? It feels that way, at least. It’s a stylish little book, with fold-in flaps and everything… Some of the pages look a bit like sketchbook work, but many … Continue reading PX98: Burning Monster

PX08: Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@꩜🟊!

(July 16, 2021)

Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@꩜🟊! by Art Spiegelman (260x363mm) Man, that’s a bad cover… Well, the front endpapers look OK… But then… yuck! OK, I should probably explain what’s with all this kvetching. I just read the original version of this book, and it was such a thrilling book — a … Continue reading PX08: Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@꩜🟊!

PX77: Breakdowns: From Maus to Now

(July 15, 2021)

Breakdowns: From Maus to Now by Art Spiegelman (260x360mm) I got this just a week ago, and I’m really excited to be fondling it now. I mean reading it! Reading it! Wow, the colour separation thing continues over the front endpapers, too… must have been so much work to do. Anyway, this is a collection … Continue reading PX77: Breakdowns: From Maus to Now

PX96: Amy + Jordan

(July 14, 2021)

Amy + Jordan by Mark Beyer (285x135mm) Beyer seldom talks directly to the reader, so this was a change. Anyway, this book reprints Amy + Jordan strips from 89 to 91. It’s pretty essential Amy + Jordan. It seems like publishers see Beyer’s work and they think “hey! let’s make an art object!” The focus … Continue reading PX96: Amy + Jordan

PX87: School is Hell

(July 13, 2021)

School is Hell by Matt Groening (229x229mm) Hi! Welcome back after that long, long pause in blog posts… what’s that you say? You didn’t notice any pause? Indeed! I was doing these with over a month’s lead time, and then I didn’t blog for almost a month, and now I’m back. Confused? Sure. Me too! … Continue reading PX87: School is Hell

PX Stuff

(July 12, 2021)

Four postcards by Joost Swarte printed by Françoise Mouly. This is kinda a random ebay find: I was just searching for stuff and then this popped up, and I couldn’t resist it. OK, perhaps I should just include all the postcards here, because they’re kinda nice: Heh heh. The back of the cards all look … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX05: Beyer’s Beasts

(July 11, 2021)

Beyer’s Beasts by Mark Beyer (148x223mm) This is published by Dark Horse, and I wonder what was going on there for a brief second: They did this, the Amy & Jordan figures, and the Jimbo action figures — and then nothing more. (And nothing in this area before this.) So this is a stationary set … Continue reading PX05: Beyer’s Beasts

PX03: The Asshole

(July 10, 2021)

The Asshole by Gary Panter (105x160mm) This was originally published as a photocopied mini by Panter in 1979 — what I have here is the reprint he did in 2003 with stiff cardboard covers. And I seem to have bought it in 2008? Possibly? Or later, I guess. I’m not sure I would have guessed … Continue reading PX03: The Asshole

PX86: Chemical Imbalance #4

(July 9, 2021)

Chemical Imbalance #4 edited by Mike McGonigal (215x275mm) I was so impressed by #6 of this magazine — it was basically like a music version of The Comics Journal (format wise) — that I got this issue, too. #6 had a bunch of comics relevant to this blog series. But this is a very different … Continue reading PX86: Chemical Imbalance #4

PX91: Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures of Urban Decay

(July 8, 2021)

Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures of Urban Decay by Ben Katchor (202x193mm) By this point, Penguin had taken over publishing Raw, so this is a kinda stealthy Raw One-Shot — it’s not presented as such on the front cover. This is a collection of Katchor’s alt-weekly comic strip Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer. (Which isn’t mentioned … Continue reading PX91: Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures of Urban Decay

PX Stuff

(July 7, 2021)

Silkscreen onto transparent acrylic by Mark Beyer. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX83: Raw #5: The Graphix Magazine of Abstract Depressionism

(July 6, 2021)

Raw #5: The Graphix Magazine of Abstract Depressionism edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (265x360mm) The Raw editorials started out pretty … er … abstract, but we’re solidly in chatty territory now. We’re told that the Pascal Doury piece in this issue has been censored — all the penises are replaced by white boxes, … Continue reading PX83: Raw #5: The Graphix Magazine of Abstract Depressionism

PX89: Flashmarks

(July 5, 2021)

Flashmarks by Carel Moiseiwitsch (212x274mm) I covered this comic in the Fantagraphics Floppies blog series, too, but I couldn’t do a “punk comics” series without Moiseiwitsch, now could I? I see that I drew some comparisons between this work and Sue Coe in that blog post, and… I totally agree with myself. But it does … Continue reading PX89: Flashmarks

PX83: Big Ideas

(July 4, 2021)

Big Ideas by Lynda Barry (216x139mm) I’ve got the reprint edition (from HarperCollins) of this book, but I assume the contents are pretty much the same as the Real Comet Press edition? Hm… “The Fun House”? I don’t have that book! Ebay shopping break! *two minutes pass* Yay! Got a copy. And I thought I’d … Continue reading PX83: Big Ideas

PX99: We’re Depressed

(July 3, 2021)

We’re Depressed by Mark Beyer (327x330mm) This is a physically pretty unique book — it’s square and has these very thick pages — like a children’s book, I guess. It’s published by Water Row Books, who’ve done a bunch of high end publications. Bruno Richard does a… unique… introduction to the book (which is a … Continue reading PX99: We’re Depressed

PX86: Picture Story 2

(July 2, 2021)

Picture Story 2 edited by Ben Katchor (214x276mm) Picture Story Magazine #1 was published by Katchor in 1978… and just eight years later, we have the second issue. This is a 64 page magazine sized book with cardboard covers and thick interior pages. Jerry Moriarty does the mysterious wrap-around cover. We start off with some … Continue reading PX86: Picture Story 2

PX99: Big Baby

(July 1, 2021)

Big Baby by Charles Burns (235x312mm) Oh, the edition I have has a glued-in signature sheet, as well as a screenprinted print. Anyway, this reprints all of the Big Baby things — starting with the first two-pager from ram #5. It’s definitely the creepiest one, and Burns says (in the back of this book) that … Continue reading PX99: Big Baby

PX Stuff

(June 30, 2021)

Drawing in ink and gouache? on paper by Mark Beyer. I remember where I got this one — it was at the Lambiek comics store, and it was the most expensive thing I had ever bought. I was a student, and I really couldn’t afford it, but I had to have it. I think. Or … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX86: Raw One-Shot #5: Big Baby: Curse of the Molemen

(June 29, 2021)

Raw One-Shot #5: Big Baby: Curse of the Molemen by Charles Burns (158x236mm) The end papers set the scene: We’re in a 50s child’s world. Well, that’s nice! “To my Big Baby — Jeffrey”. Or… is it? (I’m not sure whether snapping pics like this is an invasion of privacy or not, so I’ll just … Continue reading PX86: Raw One-Shot #5: Big Baby: Curse of the Molemen

PX80: Slash volume 3 number 4

(June 28, 2021)

Slash volume 3 number 4 edited by Claude Bessy and others (290x380mm) I thought it might be fun to have a look at a random issue of Slash — it is the birthplace of Gary Panter’s Jimbo, after all. Slash was published in LA, so we get a bunch of local in-jokes, like labelling pics … Continue reading PX80: Slash volume 3 number 4

PX81: Psycho Comics #1-2

(June 27, 2021)

Psycho Comics #1-2 edited by Daniel Clowes (216x280mm) What’s this then? Surely this book doesn’t fit the theme of this blog series? No, it doesn’t, but I’m including it for two reasons: It’s from New York in 1981, and, er, I kinda bought these by mistake recently. Both excellent reasons! It’s also a contrast to … Continue reading PX81: Psycho Comics #1-2

PX82: Dead Stories

(June 26, 2021)

Dead Stories by Mark Beyer (216x280mm) The odd thing about this book is that it looks so normal. It’s standard magazine-sized, with a heavier paper stock and white, matte paper. Beyer thanks Françoise Mouly, and she did have a printing press, but this surely can’t have been printed there? It’s so… professional. This copy is … Continue reading PX82: Dead Stories

PX87: Work is Hell

(June 25, 2021)

Work is Hell by Matt Groening (231x230mm) I seem to remember this sort of thing becoming a tradition in Life in Hell books? Anyway, this is the second Life in Hell collection, and it seems to be more considered commercially. We get an introduction to all the characters, and the characters now definitely have names. … Continue reading PX87: Work is Hell

PX82: Raw #4: The Graphix Magazine For Your Bomb Shelter’s Coffee Table

(June 24, 2021)

Raw #4: The Graphix Magazine For Your Bomb Shelter’s Coffee Table edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (265x360mm) This was the earliest issue of Raw I had as a teenager — but it wasn’t the first issue I laid my hands on. I think I started buying them with the next issue? And then … Continue reading PX82: Raw #4: The Graphix Magazine For Your Bomb Shelter’s Coffee Table

PX Stuff

(June 23, 2021)

Mark Beyer silk screened poster. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX84: Bad News #2

(June 22, 2021)

Bad News #2 edited by Mark Newgarden and Paul Karasik (270x390mm) The first issue of this magazine was published by the School of Visual Arts, but this issue was self-published by the editors. It’s in a similar format to Raw, but is a bit taller, which I guess means that it’s in tabloid format? It’s … Continue reading PX84: Bad News #2

PX17: 2016-17

(June 21, 2021)

2016-17 by Mark Beyer (144x210mm) Huh. Why do I have two copies of this? Oops. This is published by Le Dernier Cri, and I’m assuming this is … sketchbook stuff from Beyer? The covers are screen-printed and the interiors are offset, I think. This artwork is a lot rougher than Beyer’s usually meticulous style, at … Continue reading PX17: 2016-17

PX81: Raw #3: The Graphix Magazine That Lost Its Faith In Nihilism

(June 20, 2021)

Raw #3: The Graphix Magazine That Lost Its Faith In Nihilism edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (268x360mm) Huh. “Half-Raw (issue 3.5), a tabloid issue”? I don’t think that ever happened… Anyway, the first issue of Raw was stunning, and the second was a let-down (relatively speaking). One problem it had was just pacing … Continue reading PX81: Raw #3: The Graphix Magazine That Lost Its Faith In Nihilism

PX86: Raw One-Shot #6: X

(June 19, 2021)

X by Sue Coe with Judith Moore and Art Spiegelman (158x236mm) Sue Coe had previously illustrated How to Commit Suicide in South Africa, but this is also written by her. From the title you may have guessed that this book is about Malcolm X… but most of Coe’s pages don’t touch directly upon him. But … Continue reading PX86: Raw One-Shot #6: X

PX87: Chemical Imbalance #6

(June 18, 2021)

Chemical Imbalance #6 edited by Mike McGonigal (200x267mm) What’s this then? Isn’t this a blog series about punk comics, not punk music? Yes, but I’d thought it’d be fun to take a look at some of the more prominent zines of the time and see what’s up. So I went ebaying, and this was the … Continue reading PX87: Chemical Imbalance #6

PX Stuff

(June 17, 2021)

Mark Beyer screenprint. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX89: Corpsemeat 2

(June 16, 2021)

Corpsemeat 2 edited by Savage Pencil (300x405mm) This is a huge, all-screenprinted 24 page extravaganza — the printing is really superb. And since it’s screenprinted, they’ve helpfully included sheets of paper in between all the pages to keep the pages from melding into each other, as paint has a tendency to do. About half the … Continue reading PX89: Corpsemeat 2

PX87: Love is Hell

(June 15, 2021)

Love is Hell by Matt Groening (230x230mm) This is so weird — I’ve got the British edition of the expanded Pantheon edition of the Caplan collection. What’s so weird about it is that it’s from 1987, when I was 19, and I could have sworn that I had this book when I was like 16. … Continue reading PX87: Love is Hell

PX Stuff: Gary Panter in Slash

(June 14, 2021)

Somebody has scanned and uploaded the entire run of Slash Magazine to the Internet Archive. So I thought it might be fun to pick out the Panter pages from that huge PDF and see whether there were any differences between the various editions of Jimbo (in Paradise) and the first printing here… and there is, … Continue reading PX Stuff: Gary Panter in Slash

PX04: Jimbo in Purgatory

(June 13, 2021)

Jimbo in Purgatory by Gary Panter (314x445mm) This huge book took Panter a few years to make — started in 1997, and the introduction was written in 2001: And it’s obvious that Panter’s put a lot of work into this. It’s Panter’s most intricate work, certainly… But it’s totally not my kind of thing? Panter … Continue reading PX04: Jimbo in Purgatory

PX06: Jimbo’s Inferno

(June 12, 2021)

Jimbo’s Inferno by Gary Panter (285x388mm) I didn’t mean to turn this blog series into Jimbo All The Time (it’s been more than a week now?), but once I started on the first Jimbo book, it seemed natural to just look at them all, since they connect in various ways. Mostly by being partial reprints … Continue reading PX06: Jimbo’s Inferno

PX95: Jimbo

(June 11, 2021)

Jimbo by Gary Panter (168x242mm) A Simpsons comics publishing entity had been established a few years earlier (Bongo Comics), and Matt Groening apparently thought that was a good setup for publishing some of his friends, so the Zongo imprint was established. (It’s probably a good idea to keep these comics somewhat separate from the Simpsons … Continue reading PX95: Jimbo

PX Stuff

(June 10, 2021)

Jimbo action figure designed by Gary Panter. This was produced by Dark Horse Comics, of all people. And… it’s a bit odd? I mean, Jimbo was never that swole in the comics. Has he been pumping iron and going on the roids? And I know you’re wondering: Yes, there’s a penis under the loin cloth. … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX21: Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise

(June 9, 2021)

Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise by Gary Panter (230x305mm) This is a reprint of the Pantheon (1988) edition of this book by New York Review Comics. They wisely didn’t use the cover of that book, though, but went with the inner cover of the 1982 edition. We get an introduction by artist Ed Ruscha… … but … Continue reading PX21: Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise

PX88: Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise

(June 8, 2021)

Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise by Gary Panter (230x305mm) This Jimbo book is published by Pantheon Books in a less extravagant size than the previous two incarnations. And instead of being saddle-stitched, it’s squarebound, and both of those things make this seem like a more serious, less wild publication. Perhaps it’s to counter that that they’ve … Continue reading PX88: Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise

PX83: Jimbo: A Newwave Comic Art

(June 7, 2021)

Jimbo: A Newwave Comic Art by Gary Panter (260x364mm) This is a Japanese edition of the first Jimbo book, and was apparently published the year after. I don’t know what the story behind this was — somebody in Japan saw the book and were so enthused that they had to do an edition straight away? … Continue reading PX83: Jimbo: A Newwave Comic Art

PX82: Raw One-Shot #1: Jimbo

(June 6, 2021)

Raw One-Shot #1: Jimbo by Gary Panter (278x368mm) Let’s do a Jimbo mini-series in this blog series: The rest of the week we’ll be looking at various Jimbo permutations. The cover here is corrugated cardboard with a coloured inlay glued to it. And I guessed by looking at it on the intertubes that it was … Continue reading PX82: Raw One-Shot #1: Jimbo

PX Stuff

(June 5, 2021)

Painting on acrylic by Mark Beyer. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX84: Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Coloring Book

(June 4, 2021)

Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Coloring Book by Lynda Barry (278x355mm) I hope Steve liked the book. Is that an official designation? Anyway, I don’t think the “coloring book” thing is meant to be taken seriously, but this is a huge black-and-white book with drawings of naked ladies and Barry writing about her childhood … Continue reading PX84: Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Coloring Book

PX03: Panter Versus Beyer

(June 3, 2021)

Panter Versus Beyer by Gary Panter and Mark Beyer (322x465mm) I guess you could call this a portfolio? It’s got four folded sheets of paper in a slightly larger cover/folder. Each sheet of paper is printed on both sides — usually with two separate images on the “outer” side… … and one larger image on … Continue reading PX03: Panter Versus Beyer

PX83: Mark Marek’s New Wave Comics

(June 2, 2021)

Mark Marek’s New Wave Comics by Mark Marek (208x270mm) Mark Marek explains how this book came to be published. It’s striking how few of the books I’m covering in this blog series are published by… well… publishers. The alternative comic book market wasn’t huge at the time, but publishers like Fantagraphics did exist, and book … Continue reading PX83: Mark Marek’s New Wave Comics

PX79: Okupant X

(June 1, 2021)

Okupant X by Gary Panter (140x216mm) This is a most curious book. It was published in 1979 by Diana’s Bimonthly Press, with a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. It’s offset-printed (I think; very shiny ink) and stapled. I tried googling the publisher, and I’m finding things like: And: But nothing that says … Continue reading PX79: Okupant X

PX00: Lost Faces

(May 31, 2021)

Lost Faces by Mark Beyer (138x122mm) This little 12 page booklet (apparently drawn in 1995) comes in a little sleeve, making the book feel a little more luxurious. Amy & Jordan have gotten a bit chunkier? Other than that, everything is as usual: It all ends as well as you’d suppose. This was published in … Continue reading PX00: Lost Faces

PX83: Raw One-Shot #2: How to Commit Suicide in South Africa

(May 30, 2021)

Raw One-Shot #2: How to Commit Suicide in South Africa by Sue Coe and Holly Metz (268x360mm) I’ve had this book for a few years now, but I’ve never read it — I thought it would just be too depressing. Spoilers: It is. We start off with a poem by Bernadine… … but then the … Continue reading PX83: Raw One-Shot #2: How to Commit Suicide in South Africa

PX Stuff

(May 29, 2021)

Painting onto cel plastic by Mark Beyer. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.

PX80: Raw #2: The Graphix Magazine for Damned Intellectuals

(May 28, 2021)

Raw #2 edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (268x360mm) I love that cover by Joost Swarte. I had a subscription to Raw, but when they cancelled Raw after #8, they sent me this poster as a substitute for the remaining issue(s): The poster has a much better tag line than Raw #2: “Putting the … Continue reading PX80: Raw #2: The Graphix Magazine for Damned Intellectuals

PX81: Girls and Boys

(May 27, 2021)

Girls and Boys by Lynda Barry (218x139mm) My first exposure to Lynda Barry was in The Comics Journal #92: I was just fascinated by this, and I so wanted to read Ernie Pook’s Comeek. It’s not that these jokes are the funniest in the world (but they are funny) — it was the artwork. Her … Continue reading PX81: Girls and Boys

PX78: Picture Story Magazine #1

(May 26, 2021)

Picture Story Magazine #1 edited by Ben Katchor (215x276mm) A lot of the comics I’m covering in this blog series I’ve had since I was a teenager — but more obscure ones, like this book, I’ve picked up over the last few years while thinking about doing this blog series. (Believe it or not, picking … Continue reading PX78: Picture Story Magazine #1

PX84: Raw One-Shot #4: Invasion of the Elvis Zombies

(May 25, 2021)

Raw One-Shot #4: Invasion of the Elvis Zombies by Gary Panter (165x233mm) This was published in 1984, and I was 16 at the time. I remember being very puzzled by the book: I’d read a couple of issues of Raw at the time, but this was … something else? First of all, the format: It’s … Continue reading PX84: Raw One-Shot #4: Invasion of the Elvis Zombies

PX84: Raw One-Shot #3: Jack Survives

(May 20, 2021)

Raw One-Shot #3: Jack Survives by Jerry Moriarty (268x358mm) This is a book I wasn’t able to find when I was a teenager — I didn’t score a copy until about a decade ago… But I’d seen Moriarty’s pages in Raw, and I’d seen pics of the book itself on the interwebses. But I didn’t … Continue reading PX84: Raw One-Shot #3: Jack Survives

PX83: Bad News #1: World Ends

(May 19, 2021)

Bad News #1: World Ends possibly edited by Paul Karasik (210x260mm) According to comics.org, Bad News was: Started as a SVA class project assigned by Art Spiegelman in order to give his students some practical experience. Mark Newgarden confirms in The Comics Journal #161, page 84: KELLY; You used to edit a comic anthology, Bad … Continue reading PX83: Bad News #1: World Ends

PX Stuff

(May 18, 2021)

Painting on glass by Mark Beyer. Beyer’s done a bunch of paintings onto acrylics (“plexiglass”) and other kinds of transparent plastics, but this is the only one I’ve seen that’s painted onto real glass. I had this one mounted to that you could see the back, too: Neat, eh? The framer said she never wanted … Continue reading PX Stuff

PX79: Work and Turn

(May 17, 2021)

Work and Turn by Art Spiegelman (75x82mm) This curious little book (and it’s very small — 7.5x8cm) was presumably printed by Mouly and Spiegelman on their own press? It’s got one panel per page, but only on the right-hand page… I think it’s about sex and dancing? Some of the pages repeat… … like this … Continue reading PX79: Work and Turn

PX80: Raw #1: The Graphix Magazine of Postponed Suicides

(May 16, 2021)

Raw #1 edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (268x370mm) The immediately striking thing about Raw is its size: 27x36cm (or 10.5″ x 14.12″). It’s not quite tabloid size, which would be 11 x 17 inches, so quite a lot higher — the form factor is slightly taller than a European album, but larger. I … Continue reading PX80: Raw #1: The Graphix Magazine of Postponed Suicides

PX80: Ralph Records no. 5

(May 15, 2021)

Ralph Records no. 5 by Ralph Records (41x91mm) What? Wasn’t this supposed to be a blog series about comics? What’s this then? A record catalogue? Indeed, because it has this: The Rozz-Tox Manifesto. This may or may not be the first place Gary Panter’s manifesto was published. This page, for instance, says that it was … Continue reading PX80: Ralph Records no. 5