The Copacetic Comics Company Jesse Reklaw

Jesse Reklaw

Title	Creator	Publisher	Series	Price
N.Y.D.I. #1	Jesse Reklaw	Self-published	N.Y.D.I.	$2.00 ($2.00 list)
Read more and comment...	This 16-page mini-comic by small press comics man-of-many-hats – writer, artist, editor, publisher and distributor – is part memoir of Reklaw's own personal experience in D.I.Y comics creating and part instructional guide / pocket-size mentoring program. Anyone involved in, or even interested in, any form of self-publishing – especially comics – should not hesitate to plunk down the two bucks for this pint-sized package of entertainment and edification.
Bound & Gagged	Andrice Arp, Marc Bell, Chris Cilla, Michael DeForge and more ...	Self-published		$10.00 ($10.00 list)
Read more and comment...	<<•>> curated by Tom Neely <<•>> This compendium of 71 single-panel gag cartoons from the world of independent comics is a genuine goldmine of unique comics work. Who's in this comical compendium? Well, hold on to your hats for this partial list: Andrice Arp, Marc Bell, Chris Cilla, Michael DeForge, Kim Deitch, Theo Ellsworth, Robert Goodin, Juliacks, Kaz, Anders Nilsen, Jason Overby, John Porcellino (whose lead-off contribution had us wondering if perhaps he hadn't missed his calling as a New Yorker cartoonist), Jesse Reklaw, Zak Sally, Josh Simmons, Matthew Thurber, Noah Van Sciver, Dylan Williams, Chris Wright and more!!! In full color and black & white. Anyone who misses out on this will be kicking themselves for years to come. Don't let yourself be one of them!
The Best American Comics 2010	Neil Gaiman, R. Crumb, David Mazzucchelli, Carol Tyler and more ...	Houghton Mifflin	Best American	$20.00 ($23.00 list)
Read more and comment...	edited by Neil Gaiman This time around, editor Gaiman provides a selection that is heavy on excerpts of graphic novels rather than self-contained works. His picks include, as one would expect, the most celebrated works of last year: R. Crumb's Book of Genesis and David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp.; but there are some surprises, as well. In fact, the book starts out with the biggest surprise of all: and actual Marvel Comic! But wait – hold on, it's not what you think. It's an excerpt from the seventh issue of the Omega the Unknown limited series that was later collected in book form. Written by Jonathan Lethem, this excerpt starts off with the sequence that was drawn by none other than Gary Panter. One can readily see how irresistible this choice was: how could you not include what may very well be the only Marvel comic ever drawn by Gary Panter? Other excerpted works include: the completely necessary Acme Novelty #19; the off-the-radar-for-many, Citizen Rex by Gilbert and Mario Hernandez; Lilli Carré's The Lagoon (Carré was also selected for this year's Best Non-Required Reading); Josh Neufeld's docu-comic, A.D: New Orleans after the Deluge; Carol Tyler's ongoing masterpiece, You'll Never Know; Derf's Punk Rock and Trailer Parks, which we've been trying to convince people to read since it came out; and several others. Every reader of this volume is sure to pursue the purchase – or at least perusal – of at least one of these works in its entirety, and there are bound to be a few who will want them all. In addition to these excerpts from these graphic novels, there are plenty of short pieces by the like of Ben Katchor, James Kochalka, Peter Kuper, Jesse Reklaw and Gabrielle Bell. Worthy of singling out, is the excellent 14-page "Trinity," by the sorely under-appreciated Michael Cho (who also executed this volume's cover), that originally appeared in the relatively obscure Taddle Creek, and so ran the risk of being missed by most, and so is perhaps Gaiman's single best call. And, finally, we can't go without mentioning that we are happy that a selection from Copacetic favorite, Capacity, by Theo Ellsworth, is also on hand in this volume, and, not only that, but Ellsworth was commissioned to produce original endpapers for this volume as well, providing a visual treat to its opening and closing. This series continues to be a great way to introduce the uninitiated to the wide world of comics, and makes an excellent gift.
Ten Thousand Things To Do	Jesse Reklaw	Self-published		$17.77 ($20.00 list)
Read more and comment...	And, speaking of cartoonists with strong work ethics, it would be impossible to pass over the Portland, Oregon-based indie-comics powerhouse, Jesse Reklaw. In addition to his long-running (now well into its second decade) independent newsweekly strip, Slow Wave, Reklaw regularly produces award-winning mini-comics (check out his now out-of-print classic, "Thirteen Cats of My Childhood" in the 2006 Best American Comics, and is a founder and co-manager of the invaluable Global Hobo Distribution. And, as if that weren't already enough, he has endeavored to provide his readership with an intensely (some might say obsessively) detailed comics diary accounting of a year in the life of a cartoonist: Jesse Reklaw, from 17 September 2008 to 16 September 2009. Many Copacetic regulars have already come across the mini-comics that collected this diary in two-month installments, but now one and all have the opportunity to sit down with this chunky tome and plow through the year in its entirety – along with an all-new five-page introduction and five-page epilog. This is a real "page-turner," from its Boggle™-inspired title page through to the final "make your own list" closing page. And, for any crazed comics completists among Copacetic customers, we feel compelled to point out that approximately a dozen of the 365 strips that make up this volume are by (fellow Portland, OR) guest cartoonists, including Andrice Arp, Theo Ellsworth, Sarah Oleksyk, Dylan WIlliams, Clutch McBastard, Aron Nels Steinke and others – and there's even a couple "comic con jam" strips involving way too many cartoonists to mention. Another fine, hard-to-pass-up Reklaw value, we'd say.
Papercutter #10	Dominic Jay, Jesse Reklaw, Minty Lewis	Tugboat Press	Papercutter	$3.50 ($4.00 list)
Read more and comment...	While perhaps not in quite the rarefied Olympian strata as Uptight, Papercutter nonetheless continues to get our vote as the best ongoing, regularly published (here is where it trounces Uptight - five issues of Papercutter have been published in the interregnum between the last two issues of Uptight), anthology comic book title currently on the market. High quality production and simple, spot-on design showcase uniformly excellent work by many of today's top independent comics creators (with a special focus on those in and around Papercutter-publisher, Tugboat Press's stomping grounds, Portland, OR). All for a quite reasonable price. And it's regular publication schedule (Well, they may miss a deadline once in a while, but the key fact is that they have a deadline in the first place, and that they actually care if they miss it; this sets them apart in the relatively lackadaisical world of indy comics publishing. #10 is a family affair of sorts in that it is primarily composed of two stories by the comics couple of Jay and Lewis, who are kept at arms length from one another by the centerfold executed by the one and only Jesse Reklaw.
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...
Best American Comics 2006	Jesse Reklaw, Joe Sacco, Anders Nilsen, Jaime Hernandez and more ...	Houghton Mifflin	Best American	$8.88 ($22.00 list)
Read more and comment...	edted by Harvey Pekar and Anne Elizabeth Moore This volume marks the first time that comics joins the well established "Best American Series." It is a surprisingly well produced book -- surprising in that it's from Houghton Mifflin, a major NY publisher, whose eyes are usually more closely set on the bottom line -- that contains a good cross-section of work published in North America in 2004 and 2005 and functions as a fine follow-up -- as a yearbook does to an encyclopedia (for those of you old enough to know what we're talking about) -- to both McSweeney's #13 -- which is clearly its inspiration -- and the just-released Brunetti-edited Yale anthology. This collection spans the generations, including new work from old-timers Kim Deitch, Gilbert Shelton and Robert Crumb, middle-agers Jaime Hernandez, Lynda Barry and Joe Sacco, and youngins' Anders Nilsen, Rebecca Dart and Jesse Reklaw, whose story, "13 Cats of My Childhood," we singled out for praise in our 2005 SPX report, when it appeared in it's original form as Couch Tag #2, stating at the time, "It is one of the best comics at this year's SPX... and deserving of a much wider audience than it will be able to find in this form." So, suffice it to say that we're quite happy to see it included here in this anthology. By far the longest piece included in this 320 page anthology, practically a graphic novella, "La Rubia Loca," by Justin Hall -- another SPX attending self-publisher -- is an engrossing story about a bunch of hippie slackers stuck on a bus tour through Mexico with a crazy woman. And keep in mind that these are just the highlights, there's plenty more. 2006 • full color • hardcover • 320 pages
The Night of Your Life	Jesse Reklaw	Dark Horse		$14.44 ($15.95 list)
Read more and comment...	In addition to having one of our favorite names, Jesse Reklaw is a talented cartoonist (he won this year's Ignatz Award for Outstanding Mini-Comic). He has been producing his Slow Wave comic strip for alternative newsweeklies for over ten years now and The Night of Your Life, a bargain-priced 244 page hardcover, is the second Slow Wave collection (We still have a few copies of the first, now out of print, 2000 collection, Dreamtoons, around here somewhere, if anyone is interested). The premise behind Slow Wave is simple and elegant: Reklaw solicits dreams from his readers, he picks one a week and converts that dream into a comic strip that is composed of four panels of equal size, two over two; each and every week. Here are the best of the last eight years. Learn more at www.slowwave.com.

Mon - Thu	11 - 5
Fri & Sat	11 - 7
Sun	12 - 4