THE FLEMISH LANDSCAPE
Pascal Lefèvre announces a new publication from the Flemish Literature Fund profiling contemporary Flemish comics. "Flemish Comics Today," a 58-page booklet available in French and English, "comprises a concise historical account of comics in Flanders. The second part of this publication consists of a selection of 22 young and established comic artists," writes Lefèvre to the Comics Scholars' Discussion List.
LINK: Flemish Literature Fund
LINK: Comics Scholars' Discussion List
posted by Egon on Thursday, March 20, 2003

RON REGE WEEKLY
Tom Hart announces the addition of Ron Rege Jr.'s "Narragansett Grange #1" to his Serializer.net comics anthology website. The full-color, weekly feature debuts today and will be updated every Wednesday; as with all Modern Tales websites, current episodes are freely available while archived episodes are only accessible to subscribers. The title of the strip refers to Rege's current one-year residency at the Narragansett Grange Hall art collective in Wakefield, RI. Rege has recently completed "Yeast Hoist 11 - Does Music Make You Cry?", a 48-page comic due for debut at the MoCCA comics festival, and excerpts from which currently run in Arthur Magazine, according to the Secret Stars website. "Yeast Hoist 10 will be appearing in the art journal The Ganzfeld, due out in early April."
INFO: Serializer.net
INFO: Secret Stars
posted by Egon on Wednesday, March 19, 2003

WHERE'S THE WILD THINGS ART?
Philadelphia's Main Line Times notes Maurice Sendak's early stint drawing "Mutt and Jeff" backgrounds in a career survey prompted by two exhibits of the artist's work. "Monsters, Mickey, and Mozart: The Art of Maurice Sendak" is on show at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA and runs through May 18. Philadelphia's Rosenbach Museum and Library marks its reopening next month with "Let the Wild Rumpus Start!", an exhibit showing all of the original artwork for "Where the Wild Things Are" and running April 6 to June 29. "The exhibition will also feature the creator's preliminary sketches and 'dummy' books, alternate drawings, manuscripts and proof materials, many of which have never before been exhibited." The two exhibits celebrate Sendak's 75th birthday and the 40th anniversary of "Where the Wild Things Are."
INFO: Main Line Times
INFO: Sendak at the Brandywine and Rosenbach
posted by Egon on Tuesday, March 18, 2003

WARE UNITES COASTS, BRINGS FRIENDS
Two comics-related exhibits, both including work by Chris Ware, open coincidentally on March 27. San Francisco's Jack Hanley Gallery opens a dedicated exhibit of Ware's work on that date. "The show includes a poster designed by Ware that is available for sale," according to Fantagraphics' newsletter. Meanwhile, New York's Adam Baumgold Gallery debuts "The Ganzfeld (unbound)," featuring the work of over thirty artists who have contributed to the Ganzfeld, including Peter Blegvad, Richard McGuire, Gary Panter and Ware. The Baumgold Gallery's website displays selected images from the upcoming exhibit. Both galleries will host opening night receptions at their respective locations.
INFO: Jack Hanley Gallery
INFO: Adam Baumgold Gallery
posted by Egon on Monday, March 17, 2003

REDESIGNED & UPDATED
Drawn & Quarterly's website has been entirely redesigned and updated with a substantial amount of new material. The site now previews upcoming books including "Acme Novelty Datebook," a collection of material from Chris Ware's sketchbooks, Joe Sacco's upcoming 140-page graphic novel, "The Fixer," and a re-issue of R. O. Blechman's "The Juggler of Our Lady." The site also includes sketchbook and other ancillary material by D&Q's roster of artists.
INFO: Drawn & Quarterly
posted by Egon on Monday, March 17, 2003

HARVEY PEKAR'S MODERN LIFE
Fifteen pages of comics by Harvey Pekar and Gary Dumm appear in its latest edition of Modern Tales' "Longplay" website. The subscription-based comics anthology includes "a series of stories... which were originally printed in various alternative papers around the country, such as 'The Gambit,' which is based in New Orleans. Most of them deal with music," according to Comicon.com's "Pulse" website. Pekar's current work includes "reviews in comics format" for Entertainment Weekly magazine as well as "his usual slate of music and book reviews."
INFO: Comicon.com
posted by Egon on Monday, March 17, 2003

CARTOONISTS ON DISSENT
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin's March 16 edition examines political dissent as expressed in comics, focusing particularly on material in the Comics Journal's Winter Special 2003 and in World War 3 Illustrated. "Both publications offer a mixed bag of contributions, but the better offerings are as succinct and pointed in their anti-war stance as anything you could find on the op-ed page," writes columnist Gary C.W. Chun. "Drawn & Quartered" is a semi-regular column in the Star-Bulletin highlighting "graphic arts as literature."
INFO: Honolulu Star-Bulletin
posted by Egon on Monday, March 17, 2003

TCI CRACKS COCOON
After a months-long gestation, the first issue of The Comics Interpreter's second volume has gone to press and is available for order. "The copies are still at the warehouse as distribution matters are hashed out, but individual copies can now be ordered via PayPal from the website," says TCI publisher Robert Young. The 64-page magazine features interviews with Glenn Fabry, Paul Pope and Hans Rickheit, who provides the issue's full-color wraparound cover.
INFO: The Comics Interpreter
posted by Egon on Monday, March 17, 2003