Literary Comics

Although hampered by the lack of electricity at their offices, Publishers Weekly has managed to release their Best Books lists for 2012. Leading the list...

After gaining huge mainstream attention for BOTTOMLESS BELLY BUTTON and BODY WORLD—both formally experimental graphic noels that remained emotionally true—Dash Shaw has kept a...

Remember that Harvey Pekar Memorial Statue that was Kickstarted and planned to be installed in the Cleveland Public Library? Well, i's going to be dedicated...

By Steve Morris Currently under way despite Nevada's attempt to suck the entirety of comics inside Las Vegas, The Morley Literature Festival is yet another...

“How does it feel to be here, surrounded by cats?” The moderator’s already off to an auspicious start, given his (what I believe to have been, given my complete lack of German comprehension) promise not to discuss “why mice, why the holocaust.” It’s the proverbial gorilla in a room full of cats, of course, and while Spiegelman has visited the country a number of times in the past 25 years or so, it seems an odd choice not to discuss it the day before the opening of a retrospective on the cartoonist’s work. And here we are, like clockwork, dipping our toes in the water, the moderator asking how it feels sitting in this room, being, you know, the guy who got famous by writing a comic book about the Holocaust.

Much has been written and lauded about this year's SPX, and I'm late to the game but I have a few thoughts I wanted to put to pixel before the memories fade. It was a great time for just about everyone, I think. I had a blast at TCAF this year and came away from it completely optimistic about The State of Comics. That mood was only deepened by SPX, and I don't expect it to fade any time soon. A few little notes:

Photo via @eee Possibly the best SPX ever—and definitely the most financially successful one. That's what everyone was saying last night. By 4:30 Fantagraphics had...

This weekend The Small Press Expo takes place in North Bethesda, MD, offering what seems to be a once in a lifetime lineup of guests: Dan Clowes. Chris Ware. Both Hernandez Brothers. No one ever seems to remember seeing them all in one place before. They won't all be on the same panel, but there is one featuring Clowes, Los Bros and Adrian Tomine. Get there early.

Meanwhile, in Chicago it was the all-time greatest cartoonist confab, the Comics: Philosophy and Practice event, which was overshadowed a bit by the presence of a NATO summit in Chicago at the very same time—apparently traffic and security were taxing. Christopher Borelli's report is written contrasting the two summits, while noting the enormity of the attendees:

While any noteworthy comics events are taking place this weekend, the not notable—and perhaps the most notable in recent comics history—is taking place at the University of Chicago's new $114 million Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts: the Comics: Philosophy and Practice symposium organized by Hilary Chute. The lineup?

Garen Ewing has been working on his three volume graphic novel The Adventures of Julius Chancer: The Rainbow Orchid for over a decade. The final volume was recently released by Egmont in the UK, and it seemed a good time to talk to him about his influences, his process, and his future plans.

The marvelous Gabrielle Bell has just announced her new book, VOYEUR, to be published by Uncivilized Books later this year. She announced it in comics form so here's the money panel: