THE COMPLETE PEANUTS
Fantagraphics Books will reprint the full, nearly fifty-year run of Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" as a series of hardcover books, representatives from the publishing company announced this week via the Comics Journal's message board. Beggining in April 2004, books in the series will be released twice yearly, each reprinting two full years of "Peanuts" strips. "Sundays will be printed in black and white -- by common consensus color brought very little to the strip, and this way every mark on the paper is Schulz's," writes Fantagraphics co-publisher Kim Thompson. "Source material is beautiful, clean syndicate proofs (or originals) for all but a very few strips." The books will be designed by Seth; each volume will cost $28.95. The project is expected to run 12 1/2 years.
INFO: The Comics Journal
posted by Egon on Wednesday, September 10, 2003

HIRSCHFELD'S SPEAKEASIES REOPEN
Playbill reports the impending republication of Al Hirschfeld's "The Speakeasies of 1932," due October 1 from Applause Books. The hardcover volume pictorially depicts New York's underground Prohibition-era bar scene with text by Hirschfield and Gordon Kahn. "The text for each picture is punctuated by the recipe for a drink favored by that speakeasy's owner or barkeep," Playbill reports. "Hirschfeld's drawing style will be unfamiliar to those who cherish his line-driven theatre work. The more shaded, robust, full-bodied figures are reminiscent of the work of Miguel Covarrubias, a Mexican-born caricaturist who reigned in the '20, working for magazines like Vanity Fair. (Ironically, the reissue was printed in Mexico.)"
INFO: Playbill
INFO: Applause Books
posted by Egon on Sunday, September 07, 2003

ABOUT THE BROWNIES
Gemstone Publishing's Scoop website details the origins of Palmer Cox's Brownies in the first part of a piece exploring Cox's life and work. The article describes the characters' 1883 first appearance in the pages of St. Nicholas magazine, in a story called "The Brownies' Ride." Four of Cox's illustrations from that story are included, along with two photographs of the artist.
INFO: Diamond
posted by Egon on Sunday, September 07, 2003

MARY KAY AESTHETICS
The Marin Independent Journal profiles cartoonist Mary Kay Brown upon an upcoming exhibit of her work at the Zedd Fine Art + Design gallery in San Francisco, CA. Brown currently splits her time between painting and cartooning and is revisiting her older cartoons towards the possible publication of a book collection. "People have been e-mailing me and saying, 'Where can I get a collection?'" Brown tells the Journal. "I've got so many, it's hard to choose." The cartoonist notes the change in tone from her earlier, more whimsical strips to her current, politicized material. "Sometimes it feels like somebody else did them." Brown's paintings and cartoons are on display September 11 through October 11.
INFO: Marin Independent Journal
LINK: M.K. Brown
posted by Egon on Sunday, September 07, 2003

FUSÉE NUMBER 9
French publisher Automne 67 announces the release of Fusée number nine. The 48-page anthology, with most pages in full color, includes contributions from Matthieu Blanchin, Blexbolex, Jochen Gerner, Loustal, Max, Lewis Trondheim and others. Marie Caillou's cover and sample pages by Max and Blexbolex can be viewed online.
INFO: Automne 67
posted by Egon on Sunday, September 07, 2003

NEW NEIL JAM
Neil Fitzpatrick announces "Neil Jam Invasion," the latest in his "Neil Jam" series of mini-comics. The 100-page issue includes the 68-page title story and "several other Neil Jam comics shorts, including Neil Jam comics and collaborations" with other artists. "Material is all original," and does not include material previously published online; "Neil Jam Invasion" can be purchased via Fitzpatrck's website.
INFO: Neil Jam
posted by Egon on Sunday, September 07, 2003

CATCHING UP WITH SLOWPOKE
Online magazine Young Waynesville interviews Jen Sorensen about "Slowpoke," her weekly satirical comic strip. Sorensen discusses the strip's characters and themes, her roots as a cartoonist, and the strip's relationship with other kinds of comics.
INFO: Young Waynesville
posted by Egon on Sunday, September 07, 2003

TALBOT: ALICE & LUTHER
Dynamic Forces' website runs a lengthy interview with Bryan Talbot. Talbot's current project is a graphic novel called "Alice in Sunderland," which will, according to the artist's website, appear in "Words and Pictures," a new monthly magazine debuting in Spring 2004 from James A. Owen's Coppervale International press. Upon the completion of "Alice in Sunderland," Talbot hopes to commence "another Arkwright story... I want it to be as different from 'Heart of Empire' as that was from the original Arkwright."
INFO: Dynamic Forces
INFO: Bryan Talbot
LINK: Coppervale International
posted by Egon on Sunday, September 07, 2003