comics

Title	Creator	Publisher	Series	Price
Supermen	Greg Sandowski, Jonathan Lethem, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner and more ...	Fantagraphics		$22.22 ($24.95 list)
Read more and comment...	>> edited and designed by Greg Sadowski  >> introduction by Jonathan Lethem  >> Ladies and gentlemen!  Step right up and see the wonders of the ages!  This is where it all began:  the protoplasmic early days of the superhero comic book -- wild & heady, zany & crazy, fantastic & non-sensical, rough around the edges; all this and more.  Reading these stories is like witnessing history in the making, it is being present at the birth.  Sure, we've all read those original Superman and Batman stories along with other DC classics, as well as a those old Captain America, Submariner, Human Torch tales, and maybe a few other Golden Age Marvels (well, Timelys, actually), but these are usually presented in a self-promoting fashion by their corporate owners which mitigates and obscures the historical context in which these works need to be read to fully appreciate their novelty.  The work here spans the years 1936 to 1941, with the bulk of it originating in 1939 and 1940.  It is divided by publisher and includes the Comics Magazine Company, Chesler, Centaur, Fox, MLJ, Fiction House, Columbia, Your Guide/Rhoda and Novelty Press,  Some of the earliest work by the brightest stars of the Golden Age are collected here:  Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, Lou Fine, Jack Cole, Basil Wolverton, Bill Everett, Ogden Whitney, Dick Briefer, Fred Guardineer, and, yes, Fletcher Hanks.  It appears that this volume has been put together employing high quality scans of the original comic books which were then digitally restored and and enhanced and then crisply printed on flat (non-glossy) bright paper stock, and the results are excellent,  A minor quibble is that, for our money, we would have preferred an off-white paper that more closely matches the newsprint upon which these comics were originally printed, but this is negligible when stacked next to all that is right with the production.  While it should go without saying that no self-respecting comics scholar can pass this up, we hasten to add that anyone who misses the plain old fun that we associate with the term comic book, who wants a jolt of that good ol' four-color energy from back in the day, need look no further than this fine volume.
The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack	Nicholas Gurewitch	Dark Horse		$22.22 ($24.99 list)
Read more and comment...	This is a giant, 256 page, oversize, horizontally formatted hardcover volume collecting the bulk of the extant PBF strips as well as several appendices wherein are found "lost" unpublished comics accompanied by brief explanations as to the basis of their exclusion; sketches and thumbnails; and a fairly lengthy interview, which , taken together, go a fair ways into demonstrating Gurewitch's creative process.
Rumbling, Chapter 2	Kevin Huizenga	Self-published		$3.00 ($3.00 list)
Read more and comment...	This new self-published release marks the terminus of a round-trip of sorts.  Customers of long-standing will recall that Huizenga burst into Copacetic consciousness with the startlingly original work contained in his self-published series, Super Monster, which climaxed with the 14th issue, the one-of-a-kind masterwork entitled Gloriana Comics (which was reprinted as Or Else #2, see below).  It was not long after the publication of this issue that Huizenga was "signed" by Drawn & Quarterly, who went on to publish several new pieces in D & Q Showcase #1, a continuing series, Or Else - which combined material from Super Monster with newer material -- and then released a hardcover collection, Curses, which pulled this and other material together.  Huizenga's work has/is also been/being published by Fantagraphics (Ganges) and Buenaventura (Kramers Ergot, Fight or Run) as well.  Yet, while his star was rising over the field of contemporary comics, he continued to self publish smaller, more personal / less accessible works such as untitled, Sermons and New Construction.  Now, a combination of market realities, personal preference and artistic aims has brought about the cessation of Or Else and the bringing forward of Huizenga's self-publishing efforts.  Rumbling, Chapter 2 continues the "adaptation" (really, a massive inflation [reinflation?] of a work "from which all the air has been removed" – Manganelli's stated aim in creating one hundred novels each of forty lines) of Centuria: One Hundred Ouroboric Novels (#44) by Giorgio Manganelli that began in Or Else #5.  Rumbling, as we stated in our review of the first part, imagines a United States embroiled in a sectarian struggle which has metastasized into armed military conflict that simultaneously harkens back to the religious wars of pre-Enlightenment Europe as well as the present armed struggles in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.  It works to imagine how these wars might come about and what they might look like if they occurred on US soil.  This continuation is bracketed by a dense two-page lead-in that offers a different sort of speculation: that concerning a look back from the future brought about by the future imagined in Rumbling and the consequent technological evolutions that occur and how they in turn reformat consciousness; a sort of flash-forward within a flash-forward, or a speculation within a speculation...  Intellectually digesting the contents of this issue involves a fairly advanced level of abstraction in order to successfully process.  And a knowledge of the history of religious conflict certainly wouldn't hurt.  That said, Rumbling furthers Huizenga's unique employment of the language of comics to craft a hueristic exposition on the centrality of process in the contemporary historical dialectic.  In addition, by crafting narratives which delineate the steady erosion of our human being that is effected by the merciless march of history and so provide a cautionary tales by which to avoid the worst of it, while simultaneously trying to win back the heart of the matter by insinuating a morally guided reason inside the machine, Huizenga strives to remind us that there are many possible worlds and it's up to us which one we choose to live in.
Mother, Come Home	Paul Hornschemeier	Fantagraphics		$20.00 ($22.99 list)
Read more and comment...	Here's the work that brought Hornschemeier critical and commercial success when it was initially published, first in the pages of Forlorn Funnies #2 - 4 (2002-03), and then in a softcover trade from Dark Horse in 2004.  After being unavailable for the last year or so, it is now back in print in its first ever hardcover edition, from Fantagraphics Books.
My Mommy Is In America and She Met Buffalo Bill	Jean Regnaud, Émile Bravo	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$22.22 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	This volume represents a bit of a departure for Fanfare/Ponent Mon, who have to date primarily focused on translating and publishing the best of contemporary Japanese manga (most notably the work of Jiro Taniguchi) so that they may rest under western eyes.  My Mommy is a French graphic novel that is aimed at younger readers (In addition to winning the "Essentials Award" at the 2008 Angouleme Festival, it received the 2008 Tam Tam Literary Award from Salon du Livres er de la Presse Jeunesse, in the category of comic album, age group: 8-13 years old).  Readers of MOME will recognize Bravo's distinct style as it brings to life Regnaud's tale of a lonely five year-old boy who lives with his father and younger brother, but terribly misses his absent mother.  Take a quick look, here.
Alex Toth in Hollywood	Alex Toth	Pure Imagination		$19.99 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	This 160 page 8 1/2" x 11" collection contains some of Toth's finest.  In it we find four full-issue-length stories, all dating to the late 1950s, from the Dell Four Color series of one-shots:  The Wings of Eagles (#790), The Lennon Sisters (#951), The Law Trap (#992), and The FBI Story (#1069).  In addition there are three short stories of 6, 8 & 10 pages in length from roughly the same period -- two westerns and a comedy featuring Danny Thomas.  Classic stuff!
Funny Misshapen Body: A Memoir	Jeffrey Brown	Simon and Schuster		$14.44 ($16.00 list)
Read more and comment...	A brand new 200+ page Jeffrey Brown piece about, yes, his funny misshapen body, but also a whole lot more besides.  This book is composed of a chocolate box assortment of vignettes from many different periods of the life of Jeffrey Brown.  There is no immediately apparent order to the pieces, so this seems to be a good book to just open at random and dip in here and there as the mood strikes.  School days, from kindergarten through college gets the most ink here, with the usual focus on high school.  He definitely ranges beyond his usual obsessions of girls and sex (very little of which is on display in this Simon and Schuster publication), with  a special focus on his experiences with doctors and hospitals.  While it is possible that some might be put off by the body issues dealt with here, Brown's work is as engaging as ever here despite the topical differences, so we're confident that his long time fans will find much to enjoy (In addition, this might make a good gift book for anyone bedridden with a digestive disorder...).
I Saw You	Austin English, Keith Knight, Kazimir Strzepek, Joey Sayers and more ...	Three Rivers Press		$11.75 ($12.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Yes, it's a comics anthology entirely consisting of comics inspired by "real-life" missed connection ads posted on Craigslist.  These short tales range from sad to pathetic to depressing to funny to deranged to impossible-to-describe.  An astonishing 98 artists contributed to this anthology, including – but not limited to – Sarah Oleksyk, Jesse Reklaw, Sam Henderson, Peter Bagge, Liz Prince, Shannon Wheeler, Laura Park, Jeffrey Brown, Keith Knight, Elijah Brubaker, Greg Means, Gabrielle Bell, Alec Longstreth and Aaron Renier.  If nothing else, this massive array of talent testifies to the universality of Craigslist.  This book probably has something important to say about interpersonal relationships in the internet era, if we can only figure out what it is...
Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles Into Comics	James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, Alexis Frederick-Frost	(:01) First Second		$11.75 ($12.95 list)
Read more and comment...	This volume was produced under the aegis of The Center for Cartoon Studies.   It is by the Center's director, James Sturm, and two of his students.  It very simply provides the basic building blocks of comics while embodying core CCS principles of story-telling. It is primarily geared to encourage and empower youngsters to create comics of their own and is priced to encourage parents and relatives to buy it for them (or even for them to buy it themselves).  There's a swell 17 page excerpt on the web, here.  Check it out!
Papercutter #9	Hellen Jo, Aron Nels Steinke, Elijah Brubaker	Tugboat Press	Papercutter	$3.50 ($4.00 list)
Read more and comment...	TUGBOAT SEZ:  "The hauntingly beautiful ninth issue of the acclaimed anthology series dedicated to showcasing the best young, underexposed and emerging comic book artists is here. Aron Nels Steinke (Big Plans) presents the featured story about a young couple living in a haunted house and the strange dreams that plague the owners. Elijah Brubaker (Reich) tries to find hope while in line for the ATM. And Hellen Jo (Jin and Jam) tells the tale of the spookiest back street in San Francisco." Inside front and back covers by stalwart Tugboater, Nate Beaty.
Be a Nose! Three Sketchbooks	Art Spiegelman	McSweeney's		$25.00 ($29.00 list)
Read more and comment...	In inimitable McSweeney's fashion, this publication recreates three of Art Spiegelman's actual sketchbooks, accompanies them with a small stand alone guide that would make you think of an oversized CD booklet even if it wasn't titled "Liner Notes," and then secures them with an old fashioned book strap to create this one of a kind item that is sure to appeal to design fans . The first and smallest of the sketchbooks dates from 1979 and shows art just getting under way; the second and by far the most vital, engaging and intriguing, dates from 1983, at what may be the apogee of his creativity, during the Raw/Maus era, and shows him clearly (at least at times) under the spell of Gary Panter; the third, is amazingly recent, dating from 2007, is surprisingly deft, showing Spiegelman in more of a Crumb mood and thinking visually again.  It is doubtless this return to sketchbook-making that has led to this publication as Spiegelman was famously adverse to the idea in the past.  Any and all intrigued with the revolution in comics brought about by Raw would benefit by a trip through these, as would artists interested in learning Spiegleman's methodology, influences and development.
A Mess of Everything	Miss Lasko-Gross	Fantagraphics		$17.77 ($19.99 list)
Read more and comment...	Here we have the continuation of the memoir began in 2007's Escape from Special about the turbulent high school years of a troubled teenager.   As with the initial volume, this one is all about navigating the perils of growing up.  Drug (ab)use and shoplifting, rock 'n' roll and school scribblings, self-esteen issues and anxiety, friendship and alienation, comic books and cooking class, dealing with the 'rents and the first fumblings of romance -- it's all here.
Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5	Michael Kupperman	Fantagraphics	Tales Designed to Thrizzle	$4.00 ($4.50 list)
Read more and comment...	Yes, it's comics as only Michael Kupperman can do them.  Once you enter the pages of these thrizzling tales you can say good-bye to rationality, logic and all the rest of those old-fashioned ways of making sense of the universe.  Here you will discover that history is in the eye of the beholder and that when it's viewed through the eyes of Mr. Kupperman, well then, let's just say it looks a little bit different than you remembered it.  The centerpiece of this, the "Old People's Issue," is the adventures of Twain & Einstein, a compendium of mustachioed mayhem.  In addition we are treated to tall tales of Ben Franklin, Buzz Aldrin, and The Monkees™, as well as "Sherlock Holmes versus Jungle Boy," "Real Old-Timey Horror," "Legs To Die For," and so much more!
Boody: The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers	Boody Rogers	Fantagraphics		$17.77 ($19.99 list)
Read more and comment...	While some of the curatorial aspects of this publication leave much to be desired, the work on display here is 100% pure comic books, and we won't hesitate to deliver our thanks to Mr. Yoe and Fantagraphics Books for giving this work a second lease on life and bringing it before a whole new audience who can now get the chance to appreciate the quirky eccentricities and idiosyncrasies and just plain old personality that gets transmuted into four-color folk wisdom here through the magic of lines on paper.  This is an excellent companion piece to the the book, Supermen, also published by Fantagraphics and listed above.  Both publications employ the magic of scanning to provide readers with high quality facsimiles of the original comic book pages with all their inherent aesthetic qualities and quirks intact.  The comics work of Boody Rogers is thoroughly charming in its naive weirdness and is unique in so many ways that it's hard to know where to begin.  Let's just suffice it to say that Rogers's grasp of the vernacular of his time and place combined with his mastery of the craft of cartooning makes for an Americana that's loaded with insights into the quotidian quirks in our nation's character that you'd be hard pressed to find in such an easily assimilable form anywhere else. • edited by Craig Yoe
The Best of Simon and Kirby	Jack Kirby	Titan Books		$35.00 ($39.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Just say no to those horribly overpriced and poorly produced Marvel Masterworks and DC Archives editions and say hello to this sumptuous oversize hardcover edition that does it right.  Not only is this 240 page book, at 9" x 13", a full 30% larger than these volumes, but the images are taken from excellent resolution scans of the original comics and it is printed on high quality flat white stock, and, as if that weren't enough, it is priced 20% less!  Kudos to the fine folks at Titan Books for a job well done.  And then there's the work itself.  The over two dozen tales taken from this two-decade-long partnership that are contained in this volume amply display the breadth of vision and amazing ability of this dynamic duo.  The work is divided by genre and then presented chronologically within each of the categories, which are:   "The Heroes," "Way Out Science Fiction," "War and Adventure," "The Birth of Romance," "Crime Drama," "The Great Western," "Oh! The Horror!" and "Sick Humor."  Simon and Kirby really could do it all!  While we here at Copacetic will always maintain that the creative engine was primarily powered by Kirby while the business brains and marketing savvy were Simon's, Mark Evanier, working with the still living Simon to put out this volume simply repeats Jack's consummately diplomatic response to the question of who did what – "We both did everything" – and leaves it at that.  No matter how you look at it, though, this team was one of the most important in the history of comics, and this is a book that no self respecting comics fan should be without (unless, or course, they already own the original comics, in which case our hat's off to them). • edited by Steve Saffel, with essays by Mark Evanier and an introduction by Joe Simon

books

Title	Author	Publisher	Price
A Comics Studies Reader	Jeet Heer, Kent Worcester	Mississippi University Press	$22.22 ($24.95 list)
Read more and comment...	We knew it was only a matter of time until a book like this showed up on our shelves. To anyone interested in getting started in digging deeper into the amazing riches buried beneath the surface of the comics page, Heer and Worcester's A Comics Studies Reader is one of the best shovels money can buy.  Sure to become the default primary source text for many a Comics Studies 101 class -- as well as becoming the go to text for the comics unit in pop culture classes -- CSR is provides a number of different critical approaches to the subject, in the process providing its readers with some valuable interpretive tools.  Following the editors' introduction and Thierry Groensteen's overview essay, "Why Are Comics Still in Search of Cultural Legitimization?", the book is divided into four sections, each of which receives its own editorial intro: Historical Considerations; Craft, Art, Form; Culture, Narrative, Identity; Scrutiny and Evaluation.  While everyone will doubtless have their own ideas about what should constitute a volume such as this, and there are certainly writers whose work we were disappointed not to see included, second guessing is easy.  This is a fine survey of the burgeoning field of critical approaches to comics that serves its primary purpose quite well:  to stimulate the intellects of students and scholars of all stripes and hep the rest of the world to what we've known all along:  comics contain a motherlode of cultural treasures that will amply reward any and all who dedicate themselves to its study.

dvds

Title	Director	Publisher	Price
The Believer Magazine - March/April 09 (#61): The 2009 Film Issue	Jean Luc Godard	The Believer	$9.00 ($10.00 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	It's been awhile since we went out of our way to mention The Believer in this space.  It seems as though we've begun to take it for granted:  another month (or two), another Believer.  But this time around we were compelled to sit up and take notice.  The DVD that accompanies this issue would, in all likelihood, under normal circumstances command a price higher than that being charged for this entire issue. Titled JLG in USA, this 3+ hour disc contains what may possibly be the entirety of extant work documenting French filmmamker, Jean-Luc Godard's stateside forays.  It contains 2 not-quite-full-length documentaries – Two American Audiences (Mark Woodcock, 1968, 40 minutes) and Godard in America (Ralph Tranhauser, 1970, 50 minutes); Two 30-minute episodes of The Dick Cavett Show devoted to Godard that were taped on the occasion (circa 1980) of Godard's "come-back" film, Sauve qui peut (la vie); an eight-minute romp with Godard and friends at Del Mar Beach near San Diego – A Weekend at the Beacch with Jean-Luc Godard (Ira Schneider, 1979, 8 minutes, video); and a slideshow by Jeffrey Blankfort of Godard's visit to San Francisco and Oakland during Huey Newton's trial.  And that's just the DVD!  The issue itself is overflowing with film related contents, most notably interviews with key independent filmmakers Michael Leigh (a Copacetic fave), John Sayles, Julie Delpy and Sam Mendes; an illustrated feature on the wonder of Polish film posters; The Believer Book Award (always worth reading) and plenty more.  All for one amazinzgly low price! WELL, THIS IS NOW OUT OF STOCK - BUT WE'RE WORKING ON GETTING IT BACK IN - SO CHECK BACK!
Wholphin #8		McSweeney's	$17.77 ($19.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Well, a new Wholphin already!  Here's what the editors have to say about it:  "Wholphin No 8 features Lauren Greenfield’s deeply disturbing, hilarious, and timely documentary, kids + money, the 2009 Sundance Short Award winner, Short Term 12, Carlos D from Interpol’s gorgeously-shot, surrealist dreamscape, My Friends Told Me About You, Sam Taylor-Woods’ film adaptation of a Patrick Marber short story produced by the late Anthony Minghella, a series of bedroom-trashing menu films starring James Franco, Creed Bratton and Maria Bamford, films from Sweden, England and North Korea, and much more."  Liner Notes, Actor and director bios and clips for all the films on the disc are avaiable on line, here.

cds

Title	Artist	Publisher	Price
Laughing In Rhythm	Slim Gaillard	Proper Records	$29.75 ($33.95 list)
Read more and comment...	This is it:  The ideal antidote to these trying times.  Slim’s wit, style, charm, and grace will make the  world vout oroonee in no time.  As with all Proper Boxes, this one includes 4 CDs packed to the limit (102 tracks total!) for over 5 hours of music -- all remastered in the UK at the highest possible standards for music recorded during this period -- and a 44 page booklet containing a comprehensive history of Slim's career along with fab photos, old ads, record labels, and, best of all, complete track by track annotation -- where you’ll note the appearances of Slam Stewart, Ben Webster, Zutty Singleton, Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker among many others -- along with a bountiful biographical career history by the all-knowing Joop Visser.  All this for the copacetic price of only $29.75!  How!?!?!

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