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- News Archive:
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The Times of London just announced their Best Books of the Decade with Pantheon titles in abundance: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi coming in at #2and Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware at #79.
Three independent area booksellers visited The Brian Lehrer Show this morning and left their recommendations for holiday gift suggestions.
Christina Onorati of WORD Bookstore chose our own Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli!
Be sure to stock up in time for the holidays!
The holidays are just around the corner and if you’re like me, you can’t even begin to think about what to buy each person on your list. When you’re stumped about what to purchase this holiday season, consider this—
BOOKS MAKE GREAT GIFTS!
Just think about it:
- You can buy 10 hardcovers for the price of an iPhone
- A book costs less than a movie and popcorn
- A book has the potential to change someone’s life
- Reading a book lasts longer than wearing a new sweater (and you never grow out of it)
- A book is the easiest gift to wrap
- A book is the easiest item to re-gift!
These are some of the books I plan to give as gifts this holiday season. And don’t forget to get something for yourself while you’re browsing!
Until next time, happy holidays and happy reading!
Lauren Helman
Pantheon@randomhouse.com
HOLIDAY GIFT DIRECTORY
For the activist
The perfect gifts for your politically and socially conscious friends!
I Live Here (Mia Kirshner) is a visually stunning narrative - told through journals, stories, images, and graphic novellas - in which the lives of refugees and displaced people become at once personal and global. Bearing witness to stories that are too often overlooked, it is a raw and intimate journey through crises in four corners of the world: war in Chechnya, ethnic cleansing in Burma, globalization in Mexico, and AIDS in Malawi.
- Order your copy here
Cancer Vixen (Marisa Acocella Marchetto), now available in paperback, is the groundbreaking graphic memoir that has inspired breast cancer patients to fight back - and do it with style. One of Time.com’s top ten graphic novels of the year, with a taboo-breaking sense of humor, Cancer Vixen tells the story of Marchetto’s eleven-month, ultimately triumphant battle against breast cancer - from diagnosis to cure, and every challenging step in between.
- Order your copy here
- Read an interview with the author
- Watch an inspirational video for The Cancer Vixen Fund
- Visit the author’s website
After spending three weeks as an American Red Cross volunteer in Biloxi, Mississippi, cartoonist Josh Neufeld created A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, a masterful portrait of a city under siege. Depicting seven extraordinary true stories of survival in the days leading up to and following Hurricane Katrina, A.D. presents a city in chaos and shines a bright, profoundly human light on the tragedies and triumphs that took place within it.
For the teen
Everyone is familiar with the name Marjane Satrapi these days, and now you can have both volumes of her best-selling, internationally acclaimed comic memoir in one package - The Complete Persepolis. Edgy, searingly observant, and candid, often heartbreaking but threaded throughout with humor and wisdom - Persepolis is a stunning work from one of the most highly regarded graphic artists at work today.
- Order your copy here, and be sure to check out Marjane’s other graphic novels: Chicken with Plums and Embroideries.
A memoir that should be read in every school, here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” (Wall Street Journal) and “the first masterpiece in comic book history” (The New Yorker). It now appears as it was originally envisioned by the author: The Complete Maus.
- Order your copy here
Hailed by Time as “another of his hilariously slightly off-center worlds that have a vague sense of dread about them. Kind of like where you live,” Ice Haven is a brilliant graphic novel by Daniel Clowes, author of Ghost World (for which he received an Oscar nomination for the screen adaptation!).
For the superhero fan:
Attention collectors!! The two hottest genres in comics gleefully collide head-on, as the most beloved American superhero gets the coolest Japanese manga makeover ever in Geoff Spear & Chip Kidd’s Bat-Manga! This is The Dynamic Duo as you’ve never seen them: with a distinctly Japanese twist as they battle aliens, mutated dinosaurs, and villains who won’t stay dead. And as a bonus: Jiro Kuwata, the manga master who originally wrote and drew this material, is interviewed by Chip exclusively in this book. More than just a dazzling novelty, Bat-Manga! is an invaluable, long-lost chapter in the history of one of the most timeless figures in comics.
The deluxe, expanded, and limited hardcover edition has a distinctive cover, full-color printed endpapers, and an amazing extra adventure written by Jiro Kuwata (not included in the paperback), about a band of rogue alien robot art thieves at large in Gotham City.
- Order your copy of the limited edition hardcover
- Order your copy of the trade paperback
For the sci-fi geek:
Meet Cole: hapless space rogue, part-time smuggler, on a path to being full-time dead. Follow his adventures through a delightfully absurd science-fiction universe, where the artificial intelligence is stupid, dust motes carry branding messages, and middle-management zombies have overrun a corporate training satellite. In the spirit of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, The Sheriff of Yrnameer is sci-fi comedy at its best—mordant, raucously funny, and a thrilling page-turner.
- Order your copy here
The setting: suburban Seattle, the mid-1970s. We learn from the outset that a strange plague has descended upon the area’s teenagers, transmitted by sexual contact. The disease is manifested in any number of ways - from the hideously grotesque to the subtle - but once you’ve got it, that’s it. There’s no turning back. Winner of the Eisner, Harvey, and Ignatz Awards, Black Hole (Charles Burns) is as hypnotically beautiful as it is horrifying.
- Order your copy here
For the New Yorker
We still can’t get you a seat at The Waverly Inn, but we can bring you the wonderful, witty mural by Edward Sorel that graces its walls. Sorel - whose caricatures and drawings regularly appear in The New Yorker and on its cover - chose forty Greenwich Village greats from the past 150 years to cavort in bacchanalian splendor. Each of the 40 makes a solo appearance in these pages alongside a charming, telling vignette of his or her life by Dorothy Gallagher. Then, the entire mural appears in a foldout at the back of the book. Here you will find Edna St. Vincent Millay, Jackson Pollack, James Baldwin, Thelonius Monk, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Andy Warhol, Fran Lebowitz, Margaret Sanger, Marlon Brando, and many others.
The Mural at the Waverly Inn is an enduring delight to treasure, and the perfect gift for this holiday season.
- Order your copy here
Perfect for your coffee table - big gift books that are guaranteed to be enjoyed:
“It’s as if John Updike had discovered a bag of art supplies and LSD. Elegant, deceptively simple line work and nearly subliminal color symbolism make everything go down like candy.” —Entertainment Weekly
The triumphant return of one of comics’ greatest talents, Asterios Polyp is an engrossing story of one man’s search for love, meaning, sanity, and perfect architectural proportions. An epic story long awaited, and well worth the wait. This is David Mazzucchelli’s masterpiece: a great American graphic novel.
- Order your copy here
One of the most promising young talents in cartooning makes his debut with a dazzling collection—part freakish dreamlife, part quirk-o-rama autobiography, all genius. My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down is David Heatley’s life story told in six different but connected narrative threads. Every inch of this book is filled with visceral art and emotionally resonant storytelling, that is at once stunning, truthful, and uncomfortably hilarious.
- Order your copy here
Free Pizza at B&N Greenwich Village
Marisa Acocella Marchetto will be reading from Cancer Vixen, now on sale from Pantheon Books, on Friday, October 23 at 7:30 pm at Barnes & Noble Greenwich Village. Featuring a PowerPoint presentation, book signing, and free pizza from Greenwich Village’s Scuderia, this event is not to be missed.
“Marchetto is an inspiration, and her story is one that is definitely worth reading” (Sacramento Book Review).
THE CANCER VIXEN HERSELF!
Listen to author Marisa Acocella Marchetto on Conversations LIVE! Radio as she discusses her graphic novel Cancer Vixen, now on sale in paperback from Pantheon Books.
On National Mammogram Day (Friday, October 16), Marisa will be at St. Vincent’s Hospital in NYC handing out free signed copies of Cancer Vixen to the first 10 women in line for their free mammograms.
Also, be sure not to miss Marisa’s appearance at B&N Greenwich Village on Friday, October 23.
Buy a copy here!
Reckoning with Torture: Memos and Testimonies from the “War on Terror”
When: Tuesday, October 13
Where: The Great Hall at Cooper Union, 7 East 7th St., NYC
What time: 7 p.m.
With Matthew Alexander, Jonathan Ames, K. Anthony Appiah, Paul Auster, Ishmael Beah, Don DeLillo, Eve Ensler, Jenny Holzer, A.M. Homes, Jameel Jaffer, Susanna Moore, Jack Rice, Amrit Singh, and Art Spiegelman
Tickets: $15/$10 for PEN/ACLU Members and students with valid ID at www.smarttix.com. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.
PEN and the ACLU will join forces to address the acts of torture and abuse carried out on behalf of the United States government since 9/11. At a time when the world’s eyes are on America and the Obama administration has taken some important steps toward addressing the abuses that have occurred over the past eight years, writers and artists will take the stage with lawyers, a former U.S. interrogator, and other special guests.
In an evening of readings and responses, these Members and friends of PEN will read from the recently-released secret documents that have brought these abuses to light—memos, declassified communications, and testimonies by detainees—and reflect on how we can move forward as a nation.
This event is a first step in the long process of national reflection and reconciliation.
Watch a rare video of David Mazzucchelli, author of the “haunting and beautiful” (Los Angeles Times) Asterios Polyp, as he discusses his writing process and inspiration for the graphic novel that has the world buzzing.
REMINDER!
Thursday, September 24th at 7:00 p.m.
Josh Neufeld event happening tonight in Brooklyn! Be sure to stop by Bergen Street Comics (470 Bergen Street, Brooklyn NY 11217) for your chance to chat with Josh and buy a copy. Josh will be signing books and refreshments will be served. Donations to benefit Common Ground Relief would be appreciated, but are not mandatory.
For more info on Bergen Street Comics, click here
Coming soon from Pantheon: THINGS WE DIDN’T SEE COMING, the debut story collection from Steven Amsterdam set in a not-too-distant dystopian future is one to keep a close eye on. Amsterdam has already received fantastic praise in Australia and the Aussies are so fanatical about the book, they recently named it The Age Book of the Year (A major honor)! Random House’s own Field Rep, Ann Kingman, raved about the book on Booksonthenightstand.com: “I began a new book the other night, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it….I can’t seem to get the landscape out of my head….There are moments of light and humor in this book even amidst the bleak, and perhaps that is why I can think about it as I go about my day. I’ve been rationing my reading: a story a night. I’m savoring it as it haunts me.”
Richly imagined, dark, and darkly comic, these nine stories follow the narrator over three decades as he tries to survive in a world that is becoming more savage as cataclysmic events unfold one after another. In the first story-set on the eve of the millennium, when the world as we know it is still recognizable-we meet the then nine-year-old narrator fleeing the city with his parents, just ahead of a Y2K breakdown of the grid, signaling the world’s transformation and decline. The remaining stories capture the strange- sometimes horrific, sometimes unexpectedly funny-circumstances he encounters in the no-longerso- simple act of survival. Yet, in each story, we see that despite the violence and brutality of his days, the narrator retains a hold on his essential humanity.
Send the words “DIDN’T SEE IT COMING” in an email to pantheon@randomhouse.com and the first 3 responses will receive an early galley of the book!
THINGS WE DIDN’T SEE COMING will be available in stores on February 10, 2010, but in the meantime, preorder your copy here.
Watch David Heatley’s (author of MY BRAIN IS HANGING UPSIDE DOWN) new music video “Suburban White Girls”. It features the work of 34 artists from all over the world. The song is from my “My Brain is Hanging Upside Down” EP, released by WonderSound Records in 2008 on iTunes. The original song was written when Heatley was 19 years old and recorded on a 4-track tape recorder in his bedroom in Teaneck, NJ.
Check out this trailor for Dash Shaw’s new graphic novel BODYWORLD, a darkly fantastical graphic novel about a small town, a lowlife botanist, and a mysterious plant with strange powers. You can read the original webcomic here. Or preorder your copy here
Nominated for a 2009 Eisner Award and with a bold, innovative design, BodyWorld is a mind-blowing blend of science-fiction, classic high school drama, and futuristic what-if. It is at once funny and fearless-and sure to be the graphic novel event of the year.
SAVE THE DATE: October 28th, 6:30-9:30 at Saint Vincent’s Hospital
Have fun. Raise Funds. Help benefit uninsured and underinsured women
AND get to meet the CANCER VIXEN herself: Marisa Acocella Marchetto
If you’d like to buy a copy of CANCER VIXEN before the event, click here
Enter the world of:
Denise, a sixth-generation New Orlinean artist and counselor
The Doctor, who, while not directly affected by the storm, stays behind to help those less fortunate
Hamid and Mansell, who face the storm from the roof of Hamid’s family-run market
Kevin, a pastor’s son just entering his senior year of high school
Leo and Michelle, a twenty-something couple that grew up in the city.
All of whom face the terrifying and increasingly universal reality that home is not an immutable fact, and question what it would mean to stay or to evacuate. With beautiful illustrations, A.D. presents the characters’ stories as they unfold, frame by frame, alongside the building storm, vividly portraying what it means to have to decide to leave everything you know behind.
And here’s the best part:
Email the phrase AFTER THE DELUGE, along with your mailing address to pantheon@randomhouse.com and you will automatically enter yourself into a drawing to win a free copy of the book! There will be 3 lucky winners selected at random. Please note: U.S. mailing addresses only.
Be sure to stop by the following events for your chance to chat with Josh and pick up a copy of the book:
Wednesday, September 16, 7:00 p.m.—McNally Jackson, 52 Prince St, NYC. Panel with Josh, Lisa and Jeff Newelt.
Thursday, September 247:00 p.m.—Bergen Street Comics, 470 Bergen Street, Brooklyn NY 11217
Visit Josh Neufeld’s website here.
And buy a copy of the book here.
Praise for A.D.:
“A.D. is a sterling example of comics with a social consciousness, and is exactly the kind of thing we need to keep the human dimension of this unimaginable disaster and its ongoing aftermath in the public eye.”— Wired.com
“Referring to A.D. as a ‘comic book’ is a bit like calling Schindler’s List a ‘talkie.’”
— The Los Angeles Times
“A.D.’s … stunning panels … retell the harrowing experience of what it was like to live through the disaster.”—Rolling Stone
“[A.D.]’s stirring images are sure to linger in memory, perhaps even longer than hours of news footage already have.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Josh Neufeld’s cultural and class observations are enormously rare in the world of comix subject matter.”— The Comics Journal
For the first time ever, Pantheon will have a booth at the Brooklyn Book Festival this Sunday, 9/13 from 10am - 6pm. Make sure to stop by and check it out (I’ll be working there all day, so come say hi)!
To find out more about this year’s Brooklyn Book Festival, click here.
You can also follow the Brooklyn Book Festival on Twitter: @bkbf
Some panels that may be of interest:
11:00 a.m. The International Graphic Novel. Three acclaimed graphic novelists who tackle big social and political themes in their work discuss what the form can accomplish, from an international and domestic perspective. Featuring Guy Delisle (The Burma Chronicles), Peter Kuper (Diario de Oaxaca: A Sketchbook Journal of Two Years in Mexico) and Sarah Glidden (How To Understand Israel In 60 Days Or Less). Moderated by Matt Madden.
NEW YORK COMIC CON AT THE BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL
10:00 a.m. Comics Get Syncopated: Memoir, History, Biography and Reportage in Comics Today. Brendan Burford (editor, Syncopated: An Anthology of Nonfiction Picto-Essays), comics editor at King Features Syndicate, moderates panel with other Syncopated contributors as they discuss how the comic format has opened new doors in nonfiction storytelling. Syncopated collects memoirs, profiles and reports from comics creators in a graphic novel format.
11:00 a.m. Fact vs. Fiction in Action-Adventure Comics. Comics artists and writers Matt Loux, Fred van Lente, Chris Giarruso, Kevin Pyle and Barry Lyga discuss how they are inspired by real events, scientific research and even math and physics to come up with action-packed adventure stories. They give a behind-the-scenes look at the process of creating comics. For kids of all ages. Moderated by Alex Simmons.
12:00 p.m. Sci Fi and Fantasy in NYC. Is there anything hotter than sci-fi and fantasy right now? We don’t think so. Join authors S.C. Butler, Peter Brett, Anton Strout and Dave Roman as they discuss all that is paranormal in NYC.
1:00 p.m. Marvel Writers. How do they do it? Some of Marvel’s hottest writers talk about their work on your favorite comics. Moderated by Jim McCann.
2:00 p.m. Spotlight on Tom DeFalco, Phil Jimenez and Dennis O’Neil. Veteran artists Tom DeFalco, Phil Jimenez and Dennis O’Neil gather to speak about their common influences, current projects and the trends that are shaping the future. Moderated by Danny Fingeroth.
3:00 The ACT-I-VATE Renaissance. There is a comic book renaissance happening in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and members from both DEEP6 and XOXOs Studios, featuring Dean Haspiel, Mike Cavallaro, Tim Hamilton, Joe Infurnari, Simon Fraser, Molly Crabapple and Mike Dawson (among others) will discuss the genesis of ACT-I-VATE, their premier webcomix collective, and sneak-peek their upcoming print anthology, THE ACT-I-VATE PRIMER. Moderated by Jeff Newelt, who will also announce two new members to ACT-I-VATE.
4:00 p.m. Hip Hop Hearts Anime. A conversation on the cross-pollination of urban culture in Japan and hip hop into popular anime. Our group of anime fanatics, hip hop artists, activists and social entrepreneurs will come together based on their love for anime culture to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of this cultural exchange and how it will stay with our youth in the years to come.
1:00 p.m. Comics Jam with Jessica Abel and Matt Madden A jam comic is an improvised collaborative comic. One person draws a single panel and then passes it on to the next person, who draws a new panel that continues the story. Get ready to draw and collaborate! For teens and adults. Participation limited to 25.
Directions:
Festival Site Address
Brooklyn Borough Hall
209 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
By car from Manhattan: Coming over the Brooklyn Bridge, stay straight on Adams Street. Turn right on Joralemon Street.
By car from New Jersey and Staten Island: Verrazano Bridge to 278West. Take Exit 27/Atlantic Avenue and turn onto Atlantic Avenue. Turn left on Boerum Place. Turn left on Joralemon Street.
Public Transportation: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Borough Hall; R to Court Street; A, C, F to Jay Street/Borough Hall
For the latest information about subway service visit www.mta.info
To plan your trip to the Brooklyn Book Festival, visit www.hopstop.com
See you there!
~Lauren
Conversational Comics Concludes on August 15
Conversational Comics, the three-panel speaker series sponsored by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, concludes at host venue Union Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Saturday, August 15 at 2:00 pm.
Austin English (Windy Corner, Christina and Charles), Lisa Hanawalt (Stay Away From Other People, I Want You) and Dash Shaw (Bottomless Belly Button, Bodyworld) will talk with comics critic Bill Kartalopoulos (Parsons, Print Magazine) about the relationship between image-making and drawing for comics. How do pictures work differently in comics than they do on gallery walls?
Then stick around to get a book signed, hit the taco truck, and sip a summer drink with the featured cartoonists. This is the concluding event in a three panel series of live conversations with contemporary cartoonists. Do not miss this final opportunity to listen to and mingle with artists currently changing the face of comics!
All events take place at 2:00 pm in the back room at Union Pool. Union Pool is located at 484 Union Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211, one block from the Lorimer-Metropolitan G and L stop.
Suggested donation for each event is $5. All proceeds go to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Audio of the first installment in the series, Autobiography: My Life in Comics with David Heatley, Lauren Weinstein, and Julia Wertz is available here.
CALLING ALL SCI-FI COMEDY LOVERS!
Meet Cole: hapless space rogue, part-time smuggler, on a path to being full-time dead. His sidekick just stole his girlfriend. The galaxy’s most hideous and feared bounty hunter wants to lay eggs in his brain. And the luxury space yacht Cole just hijacked turns out of be filled with interstellar do-gooders, one especially loathsome stowaway, and a cargo of freeze-dried orphans.
Enter Michael Rubens’ hilarious world of YRNAMEER (short for Your - Name - Here). In the spirit of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, The Sheriff of Yrnameer is sci-fi comedy at its best—mordant, raucously funny, and a thrilling page-turner. Even Stephen Colbert is already a fan: “Finally, a science-fiction book your grandmother will love, if she’s a lustful, violent lady.”
And here’s the best part:
Email the word YRNAMEER, along with your mailing address to pantheon@randomhouse.com and you will automatically enter yourself into a drawing to win a free copy of the book! There will be 3 lucky winners selected at random. Please note: U.S. mailing addresses only.
Be sure to stop by the SHERIFF OF YRNAMEER launch party at BookCourt, TUESDAY, AUGUST 11 at 7pm (at 163 Court Street in Brooklyn). For more info, click here.
Visit Michael Rubens’ website here.
And buy a copy of the book here.
Praise for THE SHERIFF OF YRNAMEER:
“A rocket-fast, knee-slapping narrative… . Lighthearted [and] adventure-filled… . Cole’s ludicrous exploits keep the laughs coming.” —Publishers Weekly
“Rubens hits the jackpot with a zanily humorous parody of sf adventure, with tributes to space-opera and Western classics along the way… . Recalling the volatile and irreverent humor of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, this madcap journey through space will appeal to Pratchett’s readers and fans of such sf film parodies as Galaxy Quest and Space Balls.” —Library Journal
“Broadly amusing.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A tremendously fun and surprisingly touching read.” -Alison Laubach, BookPeople
“Really, really funny.” -BJ Bloebaum, Powells
“An enjoyable sci-fi/comedy/pastiche/parody/adventure…a fun, fast-paced flight through regions of space where men have gone before, most notably Douglas Adams; however, unlike others who owe Adams their lifeblood, Rubens is genuinely funny—I especially enjoyed the universe’s stupidest computer (he likes pebbles!). There are even moments of actual character development amongst the wackiness, and—points again—Rubens gives his female characters more to do than Adams ever did. This book won’t change your life, but it might brighten it for a few hours.” -Allison Kaufman, Diesel, a bookstore
“There is a great big bucket somewhere (probably in Houston) from which all great sci-fi/comedy novelists drink. And though Sheriff will no doubt be compared (favorably) with both Hitchhiker’s and Discworld, Rubens really has his own thing going here. There’s the standard stuff, the stuff you’d expect in a top-tier genre novel—the richly textured universe; the hapless, oft-misbehaving protagonists; the perpetually amusing adversaries—but Rubens’s sense of humor (which tends toward the absurd) seems more biting and incisive than that of others currently milling about near the bucket. In fact, as you flip the final page you might find you’ve learned more about our own world than Yrnameer. Plus, there are zombies in it—so it’s automatically awesome.” -Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Josh Neufeld’s A.D. NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE DELUGE Book Launch Party and Benefit in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina:
All are invited!
Date: Tuesday, August 25th
Time: 6-9 pm
Location: Idlewild Books (12 West 19th Street, NYC, 212-414-8888)
Featuring: Live music starting at 7pm by Mary McBride, cold drinks & snacks, limited-edition Giclee prints for sale (to benefit Common Ground Relief)
Cover charge: $5 (to benefit Common Ground Relief)
CALLING ALL DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI FANS!
You will have just 2 chances to meet David and hear him talk about his new graphic novel, ASTERIOS POLYP:
TONIGHT:
Thursday, July 16—NYC
7:00 pm — Event at MoCCA with Dan Nadel. Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, 594 Broadway, Suite 401.
Wednesday, August 19—NYC:
12:30 pm — Graphic Novels and Comics from Every Angle panel. Featuring Chip Kidd, David Mazzucchelli and two more TBD. Moderator: Danny Fingeroth. Bryant Park Reading Room, 42nd Street, between 5th and 6th . Rain Venue: Library of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, 20 West 44th Street (between 5th & 6th Avenue).
The rave reviews continue to pour in:
“So … we can all stop reading comics now, because David Mazzucchelli’s crafted the ultimate comic book statement. Just take everything on your reading pile right now and chuck it out. Asterios Polyp is the new standard bearer. Mazzucchelli has somehow managed to jam just about everything great about comics into 340 pages of humanity, soul-searching, graphic design, philosophy and humor.” ~ News-a-rama
“Asterios Polyp is crammed with big ideas and classical allusions (in fever dreams, Asterios is imagined as both Odysseus and Orpheus), but the book never feels overstuffed. Mazzucchelli’s masterwork is by no means an easy read - there is so much to process here, the mind verily reels - but it is a transcendent one.” ~ Austin Chronicle
“As Polyp struggles toward reconciliation and redemption, his backstory is gradually revealed, and Mazzucchelli employs every artistic tool in his well-outfitted kit to illuminate his quest for self-knowledge. It’s a remarkable, bravura achievement - funny, harrowing and thought-provoking.” ~San Francisco Chronicle
“The amount that Mazzucchelli hurls at his protagonist—and, by proxy, his readers—is staggering. What’s even more impressive in the frequency with which his trials and experiments succeed. Asterios Polyp is the work of a veteran artist firing on all cylinders, who, despite having worked his way through the sequential art ringer for a few decades now, has managed to craft something remarkably fresh. Something that is sure to be borrowed from the libraries of plenty of self-appointed graphic novel ambassadors.” ~ Daily Cross Hatch
Ok readers….Here is your ONE chance to win a FREE COPY of ASTERIOS POLYP - don’t blow it! Send your answers to the 3 questions below to pantheon@randomhouse.com and if you’re the first to reply with the correct answer, I will let you know. Please note: this contest is only for US residents. And no googling answers allowed!
The questions:
1) At what school did David Mazzucchelli receive his BFA?
2) What is the name of the four-issue series that Mazzucchelli worked on with Frank Miller?
3) What is the name of Mazzucchelli’s own independent anthology?
BONUS question just for fun: What city is Asterios Polyps apartment located in? (the one that goes up in flames)
Respond ASAP! This is the most in demand graphic novel right now. According to Newsarama, “we can all stop reading comics now, because David Mazzucchelli’s crafted the ultimate comic book statement. Just take everything on your reading pile right now and chuck it out. Asterios Polyp is the new standard bearer. Mazzucchelli has somehow managed to jam just about everything great about comics into 340 pages of humanity, soul-searching, graphic design, philosophy and humor.”
Readers,
I know I’ve been going on about ASTERIOS POLYP for awhile now, but here at Pantheon we just can’t wait for the publication of this book! Every single day this week, I have received a rave review in my inbox for ASTERIOS POLYP.
I just had to share a few with you:
Portland Mercury called it “An absolutely incredible piece of visual communication. high-concept integration of image, text, and color that, for all its intellectual swagger, is ultimately a perceptive, funny, and empathetic case study of the book’s title character.” To read this review, click here.
In their “Graphic Spotlight / ComicCon issue”, Kirkus Reviews stated that “this is graphic narrative at its most virtuosic….Yet nothing in his previous work—or anyone else’s—prepares the reader for the creative peaks and philosophical depths achieved here. Polyp may only be a hero in his own mind, where much of this story takes place, but he serves as an unlikely protagonist for a narrative that is provocative and compelling.”
Richard Pachter at the Miami Herald raved that “There’s no costumed crime fighting, just the small moments of life, though Mazzuchelli’s extraordinary sense of design and drama ascends to heroic heights. This absorbing, idiosyncratic tale of love, ambition and opportunity marks the return of one of the modern masters of graphic storytelling.”
The Contra Costa Times insisted that “You’ll be in awe of how perfect it is and certainly envious of it if you are a writer. What a beautiful, staggeringly brilliant piece of literature.”
Well, my friends, I think we all know what this means. Run, don’t walk, to the nearest bookstore TODAY and hope that they are not yet sold out of ASTERIOS POLYP. Or, if you want to just play it on the safe side, simply click here and preorder a copy.
Happy 4th of July!
-Lauren
Below is an excerpt from the Comic Books Resources review of ASTERIOS POLYP. To read the full review, click here.
The “about the author” blurb on the inside back cover of “Asterios Polyp” says only this: “David Mazzucchelli has been making comics his whole life. This is his first graphic novel.” That last sentence seems wrong, doesn’t it? How can this be his first graphic novel if many of us — most of us — have volumes on our shelves with his name along the spine? Though originally serialized, “Daredevil: Born Again” is surely a graphic novel. So is “Batman: Year One.” They may be genre graphic novels, but that doesn’t mean they should be disqualified.
Yet, those two collaborations with Frank Miller are decidedly different than what we get in “Asterios Polyp.” And if the “about the author” blurb was written by Mazzucchelli himself, which is highly likely, than it’s telling that he would boldly differentiate between what he’s done in the past, “making comics,” and this hardcover “graphic novel.” But “Asterios Polyp” is different, and as Mazzucchelli’s first major solo project, it deserves to be treated differently.
It is, undoubtedly, a major work of graphic narrative. A true graphic novel in a way that so few comics-with-spines really are.
I don’t want to get into the old debates about the inaccuracy of the term “graphic novel,” because everyone knows that it’s used to mean anything from a thick collection of “X-Force” comics to “Maus” I and II. But if “graphic novel,” as a concept, bears any resemblance to the idea of a literary novel, then very few would actually qualify. If we exclude the graphic memoirs, what are we left with for great true graphic novels? Graphic novels that don’t rest comfortably inside the confines of “genre fiction”? “Jimmy Corrigan”? “Bottomless Belly Button”? “Stuck Rubber Baby”? It’s a small list indeed.
“Asterios Polyp” deserves a spot on that list, and after reading it a second time, I’m convinced that no matter how you define the term “graphic novel,” Mazzucchelli’s first graphic novel is one of the great comics of all time.
To order a copy of ASTERIOS POLYP, click here.
CBLDF Launches “Conversational Comics,” a Summer Speaker Series at Union Pool, Brooklyn
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund proudly presents Conversational
Comics: a new summer speaker series taking place on three separate Saturday afternoons at Union Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Join them for lively panel discussions with artists currently changing the face of comics, all moderated by comics critic Bill Kartalopoulos. Then stick around to get a book signed, hit the taco truck, and sip a summer drink with the featured cartoonists.
All events take place at 2:00 pm in the back room at Union Pool. Union Pool is located at 484 Union Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211, one block from the Lorimer-Metropolitan G and L stop.
June 27 @ 2:00 pm
Autobiography: My Life in Comics
David Heatley (My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down, Kramers Ergot), Lauren Weinstein (Girl Stories, The Goddess of War) and Julia Wertz (Fart
Party) will discuss the process, pleasures, and problems of making comics based on their own personal lives and observations.
July 11 @ 2:00 pm
Telling Stories: Fiction in ComicsJessica Abel (Artbabe, La Perdida), Jason Little (Shutterbug Follies) and Matthew Thurber (1-800-Mice, Kramers Ergot) will talk about the nature of narrative and fiction in comics. We’ll consider forms of storytelling that comics can adapt, and others that comics can generate.
August 15 @ 2:00 pm
Lines on Paper: Drawing and Cartooning
Austin English (Windy Corner, Christina and Charles), Lisa Hanawalt (Stay Away From Other People, I Want You), and Dash Shaw (Bottomless Belly Button, BodyWorld) will discuss the relationship between image-making and drawing for comics. How do pictures work differently in comics than they do on gallery walls?
Suggested donation for each event is $5. All proceeds go to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Bill Kartalopoulos teaches classes about comics and illustration at the New School. He is a Contributing Editor at Print Magazine, where he frequently writes about comics.
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. For additional information, donations, and other inquiries please visit www.cbldf.org
Enjoy!
Watch this video of Josh Neufeld discussing the transition from web comic to printed comic:
According to Dave Eggers, “A.D. is one of the best-ever examples of comics reportage, and one of the clearest portraits of post-Katrina New Orleans yet published. An essential addition to the ongoing conversation about what Katrina means, and what New Orleans means.”
Make sure to pencil these special dates into your schedule if you’d like to meet Josh Neufeld:
A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge Book Tour (times and dates are subject to change)
Wednesday, August 19: Josh commemorates A.D.’s release with a presentation and signing in Austin, Texas, @ Book People. 603 N. Lamar, Austin, 7pm.
Thursday, August 20: A.D. presentation & signing with Josh @ Domy Books in Houston, Texas. 1709 Westheimer, Houston, 6 pm.
Friday, August 21: A.D. hits New Orleans. Release party with Josh and some of the book’s subjects, live and in person! Plus an art show, live music, and refreshments. The Canary Collective, 329 Julia Street, New Orleans, 7pm.
Saturday, August 22: Josh signs books at the Maple Street Book Shop,
7523 Maple St, New Orleans, 1pm.
Tuesday, August 25: A.D.’s New York release party @ Idlewild Books, co-sponsored by Teachers & Writers Collaborative and Smith Magazine. Live music, refreshments, and an art auction to benefit New Orleans relief organizations. 12 West 19th St., New York City, 7pm
Friday, August 28: Josh presents A.D. and signs books @ The Book Cellar, in Chicago. 4736-38 North Lincoln Ave., Chicago, 7pm.
Saturday, August 29: Katrina’s fourth anniversary. Josh will be doing an author coffee @ Writers Workspace Chicago. 5443 N. Broadway St., Chicago, 11am.
Wednesday, September 16: Josh, Pantheon editor Lisa Weinert, and SMITH comics editor Jeff Newelt discuss the evolution of A.D. from web to print. McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince Street, New York City, 7 pm.
September 26-27: A.D. hits D.C. for the annual Small Press Expo (SPX). Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, Maryland.
October 8-11: Josh will be a guest of Portland’s Wordstock Literary Festival, “the largest celebration of literature and literacy in the Pacific Northwest.” Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon.
November 14-15: Josh will appear at one of the biggest book festivals in the country, The Miami Book Fair International: http://www.miamibookfair.com/
Some Highlights from MoCCA 2009:
- David Mazzucchelli was the hit of the show. He was there on both Saturday and Sunday signing early copies of his new graphic novel, Asterios Polyp, and chatting with fans. We sold out of 100 advance copies so quickly that people were offering us huge sums of money just to “book” their copy before the signing. Apologies to anyone who wasn’t able to get their hands on a copy, but the book will be out in stores on 7/7 and you can preorder a copy here. Also, the retrospective is still happening at the MoCCA site and they are selling one-of-a-kind, signed ASTERIOS POLYP posters!
- Josh Neufeld stopped by and signed early galleys of his new graphic novel A.D., which is due out in stores 8/18! Preorder a copy here.
- Charles Burns visited our booth, as promised, and signed a bunch of copies of BLACK HOLE.
- I bought a copy of TRICKED by Alex Robinson - one of my favorite graphic novelists!
Check out the 6/10 issue of Entertainment Weekly, in which David Mazzucchelli’s new graphic novel ASTERIOS POLYP receives a rave review. Here’s a taste:
“When we first meet the brilliant and bullheaded professor Asterios, just before his New York City apartment is destroyed by fire, he’s glumly watching sex tapes of himself and his ex-wife. He flees the building and heads out of town as flashbacks show him, 20 years earlier, blithely tossing off obnoxious cocktail-party bons mots and sleeping with students. His youthful self’s slicked-back hair and ever-present smirk recall one of Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy villains, and the stuffy middlebrow conversations that swirl around him bring to mind Woody Allen’s favorite targets. …Elegant, deceptively simple line work and nearly subliminal color symbolism make everything go down like candy. The narrative comes back to earth for a profoundly satisfying climax, but you’ll want to keep turning pages — all the way back to the beginning, for another read.”
My personal favorite quote from the review: “it’s as if John Updike had discovered a bag of art supplies and LSD.”
Go Asterios (and David)!
MOCCA 2009!!
Hopefully you’re all pumped for the annual Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art festival! This year it’s being held the weekend of June 6-7 at the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Avenue and 25th Street in New York City. The festival will be open to the public from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. both days. General admission is $10/day or $15/weekend, but is only $10/weekend for MoCCA members.
Here are some Pantheon highlights:
Keep your eyes peeled for Pantheon author Josh Neufeld, whose new graphic novel A.D. is already getting rave reviews. With quotes pouring in from all over (fans include comics legend Harvey Pekar, author Dan Baum, activist Cornel West, and producer/director Tia Lessin) and huge buzz at NY Comic Con, A.D. is sure to be one of the titles to watch out for at MoCCA. Neufeld will also be doing a meet n’ greet at the Pantheon booth on Saturday from 3-4 p.m.
David Heatley will also be there on Saturday signing copies of his book My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down at the Pantheon booth.
Keep a look out for Kim Deitch, Jessica Abel, and Charles Burns, who will be attending the show and stopping by the Pantheon booth to chat with fans.
Look forward to seeing everyone!
-Lauren
Pirates! fans everywhere: We are proud to announce the 4th installment of Gideon Defoe’s madcap PIRATES! series. If you’ve never read Gideon Defoe’s books before, we strongly suggest you start now!
For those of you who are familiar with the series, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon does not disappoint. Publishers Weekly insists that “lovers of Monty Python and the novels of Cabin Boy star Chris Elliott will appreciate this sendup of swashbuckling sea adventures.”
Kirkus raves that PIRATES! is “relentlessly, aggressively, inventively and often hilariously silly.”
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon is a swashbuckling tale of lavish tea parties, planning regulations, educational museum exhibits, and naked political ambition. And—unlike all of its thrilling predecessors—there is not much ham involved.
And the best part: the first 2 people to email pantheon@randomhouse.com will receive a *free* copy in the mail!
NEWS ALERT: ROUGH JUSTICE to be published in March 2010!
Superstar Alex Ross is back at Pantheon, with all-new DC Comics drawings, featuring his exquisite pencil work. As beautiful as the Alex Ross paintings in Mythology were, the most surprising revelation to many fans were the preparatory sketches, brilliantly rendered in graphite.
This book allows fans to peer over Alex’s shoulder and see his thought process: What makes a composition work? What doesn’t? How many different poses for these characters can you try, to keep making them look fresh? And just how do you reinvent the most beloved and most depicted comics icons in the world?
In Alex’s case, you use a little (actually, a lot) of rough justice…
Attention David Mazzuchelli fans!!!
In celebration of the release of his highly-anticipated book, Asterios Polyp, The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art will present David Mazzucchelli’s first retrospective exhibition in the U.S.
Mazzucchelli’s career encompasses early groundbreaking work in Daredevil and Batman: Year One; idiosyncratic short stories in his self-published anthology, Rubber Blanket, and elsewhere; the graphic novel adaptation of City of Glass; and his new graphic novel, Asterios Polyp. For over 25 years, Mazzucchelli has distinguished himself with articulate storytelling and emotive drawings in service to comics in a variety of genres.
The Comics of David Mazzucchelli presents over 80 original comic pages, drawings, prepatory sketches and covers from the artist’s archives, allowing an invaluable look at Mazzucchelli’s artistic journey. The exhibition will be curated by Dan Nadel.
The opening reception will be Saturday, June 6th, 7-9pm at the festival, but the exhibition will run through August at the MoCCA location.
For more info, visit www.mocca.org.
PANTHEON winners in the 2009 PubWest Book Design Awards!
Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*! received a Gold Award in the 2009 PubWest Book Design Awards Graphic Album - Previously Published Matter category.
BAT-Manga: The Secret History of Batman in Japan received a Silver Award in the 2009 PubWest Book Design Awards Art / Photography Book category.
Congratulations to the winners!
Calling all Craig Thompson fans!
Craig will be making several appearances in Portland throughout the month of April:
1 - On April 17, he’ll be a Guest of Honor at the Stumptown Comics Charity dinner. Proceeds going to the non-profit Stumptown Comics Foundation and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. A few tickets remain for this pop culture event of the season in Portland. You can find out more at Stumptown Comics.
2 - Throughout the month of April, there will be a gallery show at the Portland Center for Contemporary Arts. (1111 SW Broadway). Craig is showcasing pages from BLANKETS, CHUNKY RICE, and a world premiere page unveiling from his pending book, HABIBI.
3 - On April 19, Craig Thompson is making a one-day appearance at the Stumptown Comics Fest.
Dash Shaw received an Eisner “best web comic” nomination for his upcoming graphic novel BODYWORLD, which Pantheon will publish in 2010. BODYWORLD is currently a webcomic posted here.
Shaw will be giving two readings next week:
—-April 12, 7:00 pm at the KGB bar - information can be found here.
—-April 15-17: Emerging Writers Festival at Franklin & Marshall College.
Some more info:
Dash Shaw is the cartoonist of Bottomless Belly Button. He is also a regular contributor to the Fantagraphics quarterly comics anthology Mome. Besides making comics, he also dabbles in animation and painting. He was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1983; grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. To find out more about Dash Shaw, check out his website.
NEWS ALERT!
Recognized as the ‘Oscars’ of the American comic book business, the Eisners are presented annually before a packed ballroom at Comic-Con International in San Diego, America’s largest comics convention. Pantheon has four nominations in the 2009 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards:
Art Spiegelman’s BREAKDOWNS has been nominated in the categories of Best Archival Publication and Best Publication Design.
Joan Sfar’s The Rabbi’s Cat 2 has been nominated in the category of Best U.S. Edition of International Material.
A short story from I LIVE HERE called “Chechen War, Chechen Women,” by Joe Sacco, has been nominated for Best Short Story.
I’m sure most of you know about ASTERIOS POLYP, the new graphic novel coming from comics superstar David Mazzucchelli.
We’re not the only ones who are fans. According to a rave review fromKirkus, “even by the standards of the graphic novel, this cosmic epic pushes the creative envelope. With previous credits including superheroes for Marvel Comics and the transformation of Paul Auster’s City of Glass into a graphic novel (2004), Mazzucchelli returns with a title that suggests a mid-period Pink Floyd song and an illustrated narrative that is every bit as mind-blowing…In this graphic novel of fate, chance and shooting stars, Polyp insists that ‘I am the hero of my own story,’ yet the art provides plenty of evidence to the contrary…A visual and even philosophical stunner.”
Mazzuchelli will be appearing at the MoCCA festival this year, so stay tuned for further details.
-Lauren
I’m excited to introduce myself as your new Pantheon blogger. My name is Lauren and I’m the one who sends out those fantastic graphic novel e-newsletters - so if you’re not registered to receive one, sign up here!
This week, I have some very exciting news! As most of you may already know, we’ll be publishing Marjane Satrapi’s CHICKEN WITH PLUMS as a trade paperback on April 14th. According to Newsweek, “CHICKEN WITH PLUMS is a feast you’ll devour!”
How many times was Marjane’s grandmother married?
Hint: The answer is in the beginning of Embroideries.
Good luck! And in the meantime check out Marjane’s other books:
Happy Reading!
Well team PGN, though my tenure on the soapbox has been short, I must say it’s been great talking to you. One of the coolest parts of working here at Pantheon is getting to work with some of the most iconic, most innovative, and most evocative graphic novelists on the scene. We also get to work with rising stars and quiet legends- ever expanding the reading community’s understanding of what ideas graphic novels can take on, and what tools graphic novelists have at their disposal. Stay tuned for more updates from more of the Pantheon crew; we all love talking about our books.
~Vanessa
Alright PGN fans, it’s about time that I put you to work.
The first five people who send the correct answers to these three questions to PantheonPublicity@randomhouse.com will receive a free copy of BAT-MANGA! created by our very own Chip Kidd. Now pull out your number two pencils!
1. Who is Jiro Kuwata?
2. Who is the artist who created Batman: Year One?
3. In what year were Batman manga comics released in Japan?
Good luck everyone! I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Yours in caped crusades,
Vanessa
Hello Team PGN!
If the photo gallery from last week wasn’t enough for you, listen here for a recording of the entire lecture that Marjane Satrapi and Chris Ware gave at NYU on February 27th. It’s a fascinating and often hilarious dialogue.
And because I love being able to provide you with material you may have missed, you should also click here for the audio file from the New York Comic Con panel discussion about Josh Neufeld’s A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.
Here’s to happy ears!
~Vanessa
Hello again PGN fans!
Today I’m writing to you with three fun tidbits:
1. Kim Deitch, author of Alias the Cat is now accepting friends on Facebook, and posting previously unseen artwork. So as soon as you’re done reading my post, go ahead and send him a friend request!
2. New York Magazine has put together a great list of recommended New York City comics, featuring suggestions from David Heatley, Jessica Abel, and Dash Shaw, who gives a nod to Amy and Jordan by Mark Beyer. Better make sure you have all these titles on your bookshelf!
3. Did you miss the lecture that I posted about last week? C’mon…tell the truth. If you did, don’t worry; you can check out an entire slide show of photographs taken by Beowulf Sheehan at the Chris Ware and Marjane Satrapi lecture that was part of the Festival of New French Writing here in NYC.
Whew! That’s a lot of stuff. But what can I say, things are hoppin’ here at Pantheon.
Stay tuned for more updates, info and content you may have missed.
~Vanessa
Hello Pantheon Graphic Novel lovers!
It is with great excitement that I introduce myself to you as your new PGN blogger. Howdy! Hello! Hi there…my name is Vanessa. For my first post I’m writing to let you all know about an event here in NYC that is sure to knock your socks off:
This Friday, February 27 Marjane Satrapi (of Persepolis fame) and Chris Ware (the creator of Jimmy Corrigan) will be speaking at the Skirball Center, as part of NYU’s Festival of New French Writing. The Skirball Center is at 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South) and doors open at 7:45pm. Get the skinny here.
Stay tuned for more updates from me with event listings, contests, and sneak peaks at our upcoming releases. I’m looking forward to talking comics with you.
~Vanessa
It seems that we’re not the only ones getting excited about A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.
The blogosphere has been buzzing! Check out this post from Booksonthenightstand.com and read an interview with Josh Neufeld from Newsarama’s blog.
Want more updates? Join the A.D. group on Facebook. And, stay turned here for footage from the panel at New York Comic Con.
Last, but not least, preorder your copy here.
We’re still recovering from New York Comic Con here at Pantheon Comics, and, still marveling at how Chip Kidd seems to have so much energy!
First, there was his panel in which he discussed his latest work, Bat-Manga!, followed shortly by a signing that lasted over an hour. Then, there was the guided tour of NYCC that he provided to the folks at Salon.com.
And, as if all of that wasn’t enough, Chip wrote an essay for The New York Times Magazine.
We’re tired just thinking about all of it!
Calling all Francophiles! And, all graphic novel fans!
Now’s your chance to combine two great loves: French writing and graphic novels!
That’s right: On Saturday, February 28, Pantheon authors Marjane Satrapi and Chris Ware will be appearing together in an onstage conversation at Mew York’s Festival of French Writing.
The event will take place at 4:30 PM in New York University’s Tishman Auditorium in Vanderbilt Hall at 40 Washington Square South.
For more details, click here.
Today Chip Kidd appears on NPR’s Day to Day to discuss Bat-Manga. Worried you’ll miss it? Don’t fret!
Instead, listen to the interview here.
The holidays seem like they were ages ago, don’t they?
Well, except for the credit card bills, which have only now started coming in…
Can you imagine what it must have been like for a couple of artists? Check out this Op-Art piece from The New York Times by David Heatley and his wife, Rebecca Gopoian, to find out.
Then, get your copy of David’s debut work, My Brain is Hanging Upside Down.
Calling all David Heatley fans!
Now’s your chance to see what kind of work comes out of the man whose brain is hanging upside down.
That’s right, starting on January 22, Espresso 77 in Jackson Heights, Queens, will be displaying an exhibit featuring David’s cartoons and drawings.
For event details, click here.
Are you obsessed with all things Chip Kidd?
Well, lucky for you, the team at his official site has embarked on the herculean task of cataloging all of the book jackets that Chip has ever designed. (Seriously. Do you know how many there are? Here’s a hint: more than enough to fill a book.)
Curious to see some of the iconic images, which include covers for Jurassic Park, The Secret History and many of John Updike’s books?
New York Comic Con is only a month away!
If you haven’t already gotten your tickets, now’s the time to do so. After all, where else can you meet Chip Kidd and hear him speak about his latest book, Bat-Manga!?
Click here for more information.
Are you looking for something cultural to do amidst all of the holiday related gluttony?
Then get yourself to the Brooklyn Public Library! From now until January 10, they are showing an exhibition about Josh Neufeld and the making of A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.
The exhibition, which features original artwork from the book, is one you don’t want to miss!
And, be sure to check out PantheonComics.com for more updates about the book.
Looking for a last-minute gift for your friends and family? Why not get them Chip Kidd’s Bat-Manga!?
It’s certainly the gift that’s on everybody’s wish list!
Observe:
According to the LA Times it’s the perfect gift for “someone with a slight ironic distance from their fanboy (or fangirl) roots” since it’s a book about comic books.
And, The Village Voice lavishes praise on Geoff Spear’s photographs which appear in the book.
See? There really is something for everyone!
Still not convinced? Check out this video.
Happy holidays!
As The New York Times notes, there’s something about graphic novels that attracts really, really confessional work.
Case in point: My Brain is Hanging Upside Down and Breakdowns.
So, what did The New York Times think about these two books?
Good things! Read for yourself here.
You already know that we here at Pantheon Comics are big fans of all things Chip Kidd, especially Bat-Manga! . In fact, we’ve been singing its praises for months now.
So what does the man himself have to say about the book?
Check out this video from the kind folks at Vimby.com to find out.
Calling all Chip Kidd fans!
Take note: Tuesday, December 16 is the very last Bat-Manga! signing.
The event starts at 7 at Brooklyn’s Rocketship Comics. There will be a Q&A, a presentation, and an open bar. So, get there early.
For more information, click here.
And, if you can’t make it, have no fear! You can still get a limited edition hardcover copy of Bat-Manga. All of those copies are signed by Chip.
By now, you’ve heard David Heatley’s father sing and seen his animated music video.
Hopefully you’ve even read My Brain is Hanging Upside Down, David’s stunning debut.
If not, what are you waiting for?!? Seriously.
Perhaps a little more information about the man himself is in order.
Well, you’ve come to the right place!
Check out I Need Some Intervention, a documentary about David and his work that was directed by Luca Dipierro. The first part can be viewed below:
Follow the links for Part 2 and Part 3.
Enjoy!
We still can’t help you get a table at the Waverly Inn. But, that hasn’t stopped the raves for The Mural at the Waverly Inn from pouring it…
Check out this review from The New York Observer, then get your copy
Were you unlucky enough to miss David Heatley’s appearances on his book tour for My Brain is Hanging Upside Down?
Don’t worry - all is not lost!
Now you can see the video that David shared during his presentation. It’s of his father singing “People Who Need People” in the family living room. Watch it. Then, check out the section of My Brain is Hanging Upside Down that’s all about Michael Heatley.
Still curious for more? You’re in luck! You can also watch footage from David’s presentation on the Google Campus. Enjoy!
You’ll have to wait until 2009 to get your copy of David Mazzucchelli’s new book, Asterios Polyp, but you can see him a lot sooner.
On Wednesday, November 19. David will be moderating a discussion with several preeminent European graphic novelists, including David B. as part of the New Literature from Europe Series. The talk, which starts at 6:30 pm, will be taking place at the School of Visual Arts. A book signing will follow.
For more information, click here.
Hope to see you there!
Calling all Kim Deitch fans!
If you haven’t yet gotten to MoCCA to see the Kim Deitch retrospective, here’s yet another compelling reason to do so: this Thursday, December 13, Kim Deitch will be speaking with Bill Kartalopoulos, the exhibits curator, about his career and will be previewing images from his current works in progress.
What are you waiting for? Get down there!
2010 seems years ages away, doesn’t it?
Sadly, you’ll have to wait until then to get your hands on a hardcover copy of Body World by Dash Shaw.
But, that shouldn’t stop you from getting excited. After watching this video for the book here how could you not be?
Sign up for the Pantheon Comics e-newsletter to keep getting updates about Dash Shaw and all of your other favorite artists!
If you’re lucky enough to be in San Francisco on November 13, stop by Minna Gallery to see Chip Kidd read from Bat-Manga! Hosted by independent publishers Last Gasp. The event will include a chance to get your books signed.
Of course, as you may know, Chip has already signed 7,000 copies!
-from guest blogger Caitlin Harpin
Consider this your neighborhood-friendly-reminder: the Miami Book Fair kicks off today, and this year, comics are taking center stage!
That’s right: comics are being highlighted as part of Comix Galaxy, a program that includes panel discussions with editors, publishers, authors, distributors and others in the comics industry.
Pantheon’s very own Chip Kidd, David Heatley, and Art Spiegelman will all be in attendance. In fact, Art is this year’s featured guest!
To read more about Art Spiegelman, his thoughts on Breakdowns, which was just published by Pantheon or about the Miami Book Fair , check out this article from the Sun Sentinel
You may be familiar with Kim Deitch’s work from reading Alias the Cat for from The Boulevard of Broken Dreams. But, have you ever wondered how he got his start?
Well, wonder no more! Now you can see all of Kim Deitch’s work at New York’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. The exhibit, which features rarely seen work, including hand-colored originals, lithographs and other prints, runs until December 5, 2008.
For more information, click here.
Curious to find out more about I Live Here?
New York Magazine has peek inside I Live Here, a collage of stories, journals, art, and comix detailing the lives of displaced people in four crisis regions. Read a selection from “Chechen War, Chechen Women”, a heart-breaking graphic novella from Joe Sacco.
Says the super-stylish DailyCandy, “Reading these stories…makes your own plight seem pretty slight.”
To keep up-to-date with news, reviews, and tour information about the authors and The I Live Here Foundation, become a fan on Facebook (or, if you prefer, MySpace).
- from guest blogger Caitlin Harpin
At last, it’s Bat-Manga! day!
Yep - after hearing me talk about the book for months, you’ve actually made it to the on sale date.
So, read an interview with Chip Kidd from this week’s Time Magazine, and then reward yourself with a copy.
Or, if you’re feeling really lucky, you can even enter to win one.
And, while you’re at it, sign up for the Pantheon Comics News to find out about more sweepstakes and great books. (Really, did you not see that plug coming?)
If you’ve been lucky enough to score a table at New York’s exclusive Waverly Inn, you know how amazing the mural is. As Vanity Fair states, “What keeps the amber-hued dining room of The Waverly Inn swarming with swells each night may be the three-paneled mural by renowned illustrator Edward Sorel that adorns the restaurant’s west wall.”
Lucky for you, now you can take home that same witty mural. Order your copy of The Mural at the Waverly Inn here. Sadly, we still can’t help you get a table.
But, because we’re nothing if not kind, click here for a sneak peek of images from the book, which is on sale tomorrow.
Thinking of heading to Miami? Well, what better reason to do so than the Miami Book Fair?
Stop by and see your favorite Pantheon authors, including Art Spiegelman who will be a featured guest and will be designing this year’s festival poster.
What could be better than winning a signed copy of My Brain is Hanging Upside Down, a copy of David Heatley’s new cd, and your very own Pantheon Comics t-shirt?
Not much, really.
Click here to find out how to win.
And, check out David’s blog post about his launch event.
In case you missed David Heatley’s event last week at the Slipper Room, here’s what it looked like:
And, here’s what you missed: David. Singing. And. Dancing.
But, have no fear. There are still plenty of stops on David’s tour for his debut, My Brain is Hanging Upside Down. Click here to see if there’s an event in a city near you. You’ll be glad you did!
You be the judge…
Check out the portraits that Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge created of themselves and their I Live Here co-authors below.
from l to r: Mia Kirshner, J. B. MacKinnon, Paul Shoebridge, Michael Simons
Then, see how it compares to their actual appearances.
from l to r: Michael Simons, Paul Shoebridge, Mia Kirshner, J.B. MacKinnon
And, for good measure, find out what’s on their minds as they navigate the launch of I Live Here.
Click here to read the I Live Here blog.
Photo courtesy of the authors
Ready for more I Live Here news?
Good! There’s plenty.
You can hear more about the book in Mia Kirshner’s own words. Click here to see her October 15 appearance on KTLA’s Morning News.
Then, look at these photos from the LA Book Party.
Still want to hear more? You’re in luck! You canread a piece on the book from DailyCandy.com, too.
Be sure to stay tuned here and visit the official website for more news.
I Live Here is finally here!
Then, check out this video where Mia Kirshner explains the project.
Congratulations are in order for Josh Neufeld. Heeb Magazine has named A.D.: After the Deluge one of the best comics of this year.
You’ll have to wait until 2009 to get the book - which will contain all sorts of new material. In the meantime, you can read the web comic here.
T-minus two days until the David Heatley’s big kick off event!
If you’re in or around New York City, come on down to the Slipper Room, get a copy of My Brain is Hanging Upside Down, watch David perform with slides and live music and hang out!
You don’t want to miss it!
Another day, another David Heatley video.
And this is one you won’t want to miss - it’s as if David’s graphic memoir, My Brain is Hanging Upside Down has literally come to life. The video comes from Black Arrow, an independent studio created by Luca Dipierro and Rachel Bradley.
Enjoy!
At long last, David Heatley’s debut, My Brain is Hanging Upside Down, is on sale!
After leafing through your copy, check out this clip from Oh God My Heart is Ready, a documentary by Luca Dipierro, to learn more about David’s influences.
I Live Here is in the news again!
Click here to read an interview with Mia Kirshner, one of the book’s authors.
Enjoy!
It’s fall in New York, which can mean only one thing: it’s time for the The New Yorker Festival. And this year’s promises to be as exciting as ever. In fact, two of Pantheon’s own— Art Spiegelman and Charles Burns—are getting into the act.
Art’s talk, titled “Breakdowns: Comix 101” is taking place at 4:30 on Saturday, October 4. Click here for more information. Then, Read this Q&A with Art to whet your appetite.
And, at 10 pm, following a screening of Fear(s) of the Dark, Charles Burns and Lorenzo Mattotti, who are two of the film’s director’s, will be speaking with Françoise Mouly about their work on the film. For more information about the event, click here.
Tickets for both events are available here.
Enjoy!
What’s David Heatley up to these days?
He’s been keeping busy, that’s for sure.
First, there’s the 10-page comic strip that he has running in the latest issue of Granta. Curious to know more? Click here.
And, he won a grant from The New York Foundation for the Arts. Read the interview with David here.
As if all of that isn’t enough, he’s been busy working on My Brain is Hanging Upside Down which is out this fall (not that we’re counting down or anything…)
Read an excerpt of My Brain is Hanging Upside Down here.
Whew!
On sale for I Live Here is now just one month away!
Here’s a sneak peek, which contains images from the book’s Ingushetia section:
Watch it. Then, preorder your copy.
Calling all Chip Kidd fans!
Now’s your chance to see Chip’s in a rare gallery show.
The show which will be at the at the Freyberger Gallery of the Berks Campus branch of Penn State, opens on Friday, September 12 with a reception that is open to the public where you’ll have the chance to meet Chip Kidd in the flesh. The exhibition will run until October 16.
For more details, click here
| Just because Bat-Manga! is still a few months away doesn’t mean that you can’t see Chip Kidd.
He’ll be appearing at Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival on September 30. Find out more information here. |
You’ve already heard me sing the praises of Josh Neufeld’s web-comic, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. I’m anxiously awaiting spring, when I’ll be able to get my hands on a printed copy. With any luck, you are, too.
Lucky for us, there’s no dearth of information about the work. Check out this article from The New York Times which discusses the political art of Martha Rosler, Josh Neufeld’s mother, and Josh’s own experiences volunteering after Hurricane Katrina.
Because jealousy isn’t such a horrible emotion…
Read Pantheon staffer Peggy Samedi’s take on the arrival of early copies of Bat-Manga!
Her musings can be found here.
You’ll have to wait until October to get your hands on a copy of I Live Here, the stunning paper documentary which examines crises in four corners of the world: Chechnya, Burma, Mexico and Malawi. The book, which sheds light on refugee crises on a personal, human scale, combines journals, graphic novellas, stories and images to form a completely unique project. It’s something you won’t want to miss.
Here’s an interview with Pheobe Gloeckner whose work appears in the Juarez, Mexico section of I Live Here to tide you over.
And, be sure to check the book’s official site for more information.
For all of you design nuts, there’s an interesting post about how the jacket design for Broccoli and Other Tales of Food And Love, which Pantheon published this summer, turned out. (Here’s a hint: The designer was thrilled!)
Read it here.
What do fashion designers like Giorgio Armani and Viktor & Rolf have to do with the likes of Spiderman and Wonder Woman? Find out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibit Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, going on now until September 1.
Pantheon’s very own Alex Ross made an appearance at the Met to talk about the challenges of designing costumes for Superman, Captain America, and other favorite heroes. Check out the article here.
And for more tights, capes, and masked avengers, be sure to pick up Mythology: The D.C. Comics of Alex Ross.
Are you one of unlucky ones who didn’t get to hear Bat-Manga! at this year’s Comic-con?
Have no fear!
Clips of the talk are now available.
Check out this one, where Chip introduces the project:
Then, preorder your copy.
And, be sure to check out Suvudu.com where I’ll be making clips available each Monday.
The official site for I Live Here is live!
You’ll still have to wait 2 months for the book, but it’s well it.
The book—which is actually 4 books in one—is a stunning paper documentary that combines journals, graphic novellas, stories and images which shed light on refugee crises around the world on a personal, human scale.
And, it’s a purchase you can feel good about: a portion of the procceeds goes to Amnesty International. Preorder your copy here.
While you wait you for it to arrive, you can become a fan and join the cause on Facebook.
Just in case you missed it, here’s this month’s e-news.
It looks like Chip Kidd is gearing up for the publication of Bat–Manga!
In fact, he just spent 2 days signing pages to be inserted into 7,000 copies of the limited edition.
And, be sure to read Chip’s post about the logistics of the signing.
Sure, Chip Kidd is an amazing designer and accomplished author. But, did you know that he could sing and dance, too?
Watch him in action here.
Josh’s Neufeld’s stunning web comic A.D.: New Orleans After The Deluge is getting raves, including one from Newsweek.
Read the review here, and then read A.D.: New Orleans After The Deluge from the beginning on SMITH Magazine.
If that’s not enough, you can also watch this video about the making of A.D.: New Orleans After The Deluge.
And, be sure to sign up for our e-newsletter to get the latest updates on the graphic novel (based on the web comic), which Pantheon will be publishing in Summer ‘09.
Sometimes it’s hard to describe books that teeter on the boundary between art and story. See Brian Greene’s latest, Icarus at the Edge of Time, designed by PGN’s editor-in-chief Chip Kidd. Is it a children’s book? A graphic novel? Or something more conceptual?
Check out the thought process behind Icarus at the Edge of Time, a futuristic fable about a boy astronaut who flies too close to a black hole. Instead of going for a more conventional approach, Chip decided to illustrate the tale with images from the Hubble Telescope.
Stay tuned for more of Chip Kidd’s imaginative inventions in the much-anticipated Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan coming out in October!
We’re blushing over all the nice things Heeb Magazine had to say about Austin Grossman’s Soon I Will Be Invincible, a novel “full of insight into the trials and tribulations of a superhero—ones that are strangely parallel to the human experience.”
Check it out in Heeb’s summer issue, on stands now.
Then be sure to pick up your own copy of Soon I Will Be Invincible—now out in paperback!
Congratulations to Dan Clowes and Chris Ware! Both were awarded Eisners at San Diego Comic-Con 2008. For more information, check out this article. And, then, of course, be sure to get their books!
And, be sure to check your email in the upcoming days. We’ll be sending a full Comic-Con update your way. If you’re not signed up for the e-news yet, sign up here.
The release of Bat-Manga! is still a few months away, but buzz is already building. If you missed Chip Kidd’s talk at Comic Con last week, have no fear! You can read some of his thoughts on the project in this interview.
Fans of Austin Grossman take note! He’ll be appearing at Comic Con San Diego, ready to discuss his critically acclaimed novel Soon I Will Be Invincible, which is now out in paperback this month.
And, if you can’t get enough of Chip Kidd, you’re in luck! He’ll be sharing slides from his newest work, Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan. The talk takes place on Thursday, July 24 at 3:30.
For more information, visit the Comic-Con website or check back here for more updates!
- guest blogger, E.C.
It seems that comics are getting a lot of attention—and acclaim—as serious works these days.
Papercuts takes a look at graphic novels and the movies in this review of Marjane Satrapi’s well-loved and steadily growing body of work. Her latest book, Chicken With Plums, is praised for Satrapi’s “warm humanity and compassion, her free-wheeling wit and her sensitivity to insurmountable frustration and unredeemed happiness.”
Check out the discussion on Papercuts and find your own copies of The Complete Persepolis, Embroideries, and Chicken With Plums here at Pantheon.
Plus, did you notice? Persepolis, the animated film, is now out on DVD!
Pantheon Comics hits the road next week. We’re headed to the bright lights of California for Comic-Con 2008. Get your tickets here.
We here at Pantheon know we publish amazing books, and we’re not the only ones.
That’s right: Entertainment Weekly has just released their list of the top 100 books published in the past 25 years.
And, topping that list?
Pantheon, of course!
Maus, which Persepolis , which is hailed as “another sign that comics have matured” comes in at #37. Rounding out the list is Jimmy Corrigan, coming in at #54.
For the complete list, click here. And, be sure to check out
Entertainment Weekly’s list of 25 New Classic Covers. On that list? Why, our very own Chris Ware.
We couldn’t be prouder!
You’ve heard it here first: in Spring 2009, Pantheon will be publishing a graphic novel by Josh Neufeld. We couldn’t be more excited.
Of course, a year is a long time to wait. Luckily, Smith Magazine has been posting installments. Enjoy them! And, keep checking back here for news about the book.
If you’re like me, you’re counting down until the release of Breakdowns, Art Spiegelman’s latest book.
Although we’ll have to wait several more months, all hope isn’t lost, yet. Click here for a sneak peek. And, keep checking the Art Spiegelman and your other favorite Pantheon authors.
Fresh on the heels of the paperback release of La Perdida, Pantheon’s own Jessica Abel and her husband, Matt Madden, will be an intensive comics workshop at the Pacific Northwest College of Art June 21-23.
For more information, or to register, visit the official website of the Pacific Northwest College of Art.
