The Copacetic Comics Company AdHouse Books

AdHouse Books

Title	Creator	Publisher	Series	Price
Pope Hats #2	Ethan Rilly	AdHouse Books	Pope Hats	$6.25 ($6.95 list)
Read more and comment...	We at Copacetic do indeed generally embrace the old adage that "you can't rush quality." Following at least two years after the first issue, Ethan Rilly certainly can't be accused of rushing to get this second issue of his series onto store racks , but it's so good we sort of wish – against our better judgement – that he'd, if not rush exactly, perhaps then devote a little more time to it, so we won't have to wait three years for the next issue. It's no coincidence that we've listed Pope Hats immediately below Optic Nerve. Rilly's strong delineation of character and setting puts us in mind of Tomine, and, certainly, puts him in the lineage that begins with the Hernandez brothers, and flows through Clowes. One thing that links all these creators is that they are highly skilled artists who produce organically rich characters that the reader trusts and believes in; and this takes time. BACK IN STOCK!
Lone Pine	Jed McGowan	AdHouse Books		$13.75 ($15.00 list)
Read more and comment...	A tale of silence and redemption, printed in black and white and pale blue; from AdHouse. Download a PDF preview, here.
Duncan the Wonder Dog, Show One	Adam Hines	AdHouse Books		$22.22 ($24.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Duncan the Wonder Dog is an extremely ambitious work that comes from out of blue via the good graces of publisher AdHouse Books. Anyone picking this up is sure to ask themselves the same questions we did: "Who the heck is Adam Hines, and how the heck did he manage to sneak up on the comic world with this 400 page graphic novel?" Some quick answers are provided in this brief interview he did with Publishers Weekly. We strongly encourage you to check out this quite generously portioned preview (please note that you can click on the "continue" at the bottom of the preview page and be taken to another where you can indeed continue).
Afrodisiac	Brian Maruca, Jim Rugg	AdHouse Books		$12.75 ($14.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Well, here's a work that sets the table for multi-course feast that will appeal to folks of different stripes for different reasons. First and foremost, it is the most ample display to date of the pop culture prowess of the Pittsburgh-based artist/writer team of Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca, who here have given a virtuoso performance. Afrodisiac is an homage to the last gasp of traditional comic book values; specifically, those that were embodied by the comic books of, roughly, 1972 - 1985. These were the final years of the newsstand comic book market – its decade of irrevocable decline. Beginning in 1986 it was permanently eclipsed by the direct market, a turn of events which not only forever altered the perception and reception of comic books, but simultaneously led to a a substantial and equally permanent change in their values and production. The work contained in this compact, full color, hardcover volume demonstrates a deep intuitive understanding of the the tropes and formulas of traditional newsstand comic books, as well as, and perhaps most significantly, the role played by the wide variety of production and reproduction processes and techniques through which the raw language of comics passes en route to becoming the actual physical end product comic book that transmits its content through the readers' sensory apparatus, and thereby promulgates its meaning to the end consumer: human consciousness. Conscious manipulation of the denotative capacities of production processes has a history that goes back at least thirty years, to Art Spiegelman's work in Breakdowns, and it continues to be employed successfully in works such as Paul Hornschemeier's The Three Paradoxes. Afrodisiac is, however, unique in that, here, this conscious manipulation is the driving force behind the entire project, and is encoded in the texts as well as the images, with the character of The Afrodisiac acting as a cypher – one that is simultaneously a celebration and an elegy – for the uncritical creation of unabashed power fantasies that was no longer possible in the wake of The Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen. Jim Rugg is a one-man production house and he has put the pedal to the metal in his reclamation of a panoply of production processes in this pandemonium procuring panegyric to the blaxploitation genre (that was itself an embodiment of the last gasp of the classical Hollywood values that vanished in the wake of the blockbuster onslaught of Spielberg, Lucas & Co.). It is here, in this nostalgic conflation of blaxploitation's own uncritical creation of unabashed power fantasies with those of comic book superheroes, by, let it be said, a couple of middle-class white guys, that another layer of signification transpires. Certainly, an exploration of the text's Playing in the Dark is warranted, and an old Lou Reed song may come to the mind of readers of a certain age; and, the fact that the power fantasy on display in these pages is of a distinctly sexual nature and is employed in the domination and exploitation of women cannot be ignored. Yet, all is rendered with a clear sense of humor, and where level, intellectually engaged heads prevail, there are sure to be some interesting and potentially valuable correlations made (cultural anthropologists, please take note). In other words, Afrodisiac is one of the densest texts one is likely to come across; and while many will doubtless find it a source of uncritical enjoyment, those who do so will be doing themselves a disservice and missing the work's essential character. To get a head start processing this sucka', download this PDF preview.
Driven By Lemons	Joshua Cotter	AdHouse Books		$17.77 ($19.99 list)
Read more and comment...	This book took us quite by surprise, as it will anyone who has read or is even familiar with Cotter's previous and best known work, Skyscrapers of the Midwest. Skyscrapers, was a widely lauded work which originally appeared in a series of comic books before being collected as a hardcover graphic novel. It presented a relatively straightforward tale in which fantasy intertwined with reality that hewed closely to narrative norms. In other words, it is a work that in no way prepares any of its readers for the free flowing stream that is Driven By Lemons. Cotter, along with Adhouse Books publisher, Chris Pitzer, have here created a book that is, by all appearances, a facsimile of Cotter's 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" hardcover Moleskine sketchbook (although it is highly unlikely that it is actually a true facsimile, the conceit that it is is important to its meaning – Hold on a second there! According to this interview [which comes complete with a lengthy manifesto-like preamble by Cotter] it actually is a facsimile of his sketchbook, and he planned it all out in advance.). While some of the work it contains will be clearly recognizable to readers of Cotter's earlier work, most boldly charts new territory. In a nutshell, Driven By Lemons is a shining example of self-discovery through sketchbooking. Clearly, something has changed in Cotter's life since he completed Skyscrapers, and as he tried to adapt to his new environment – physical, emotional, psychological, or some combination of these – he kept a record of his travails in his sketchbook, tried to cohere it into some sort of narrative, and Driven By Lemons is the result. There is some truly adventurous comics work here; you can feel the inspiration. Make sure to crack this one open and take a look.
Project Recess, Volume 3	James Jean	AdHouse Books		$28.75 ($34.95 list)
Read more and comment...	The third installment in the elegantly designed and much demanded (the first two were quick sellouts) series of the art of James Jean provides an intimate look at the working methods of this talented, stylish and popular artist. A plain black die-cut cover hints at the informal sketchbook/scrapbook contents within. Fans who have been waiting to get an up-close and personal look at the creative core of James Jean now have their chance. Check this out for an idea what's in store (but only a hint, as the cumulative effect of a book full of work can't be captured in a preview).
Skyscrapers of the Midwest Skyscrapers of the Midwest	Joshua Cotter	AdHouse Books		$17.77 ($19.95 list)
Read more and comment...	All four issues of the highly praised series that focused its creative energies on overcoming the difficulties of childhood and adolescence though comics are at last collected along with 32 bonus pages of sketchbook drawings -- and more -- in this nicely put together 282 page hardcover volume published by AdHouse Books.
Forlorn Funnies #5	Paul Hornschemeier	AdHouse Books		$10.95 ($10.95 list)
Read more and comment...	With this issue, Hornschemeier answers the question, "What do you do for an encore?" After his critical success of the past three issues which have been subsequently collected by Dark Horse as a TPB titled, Mother, Come Home, this issue is a bit of a departure -- but not too much. It is, purposively, a bit on the schizophrenic side. Structured as a flip book (i.e. two separate comics which start at each end and meet in the middle, forcing you to "flip" the book to read the second story, regardless of which you start with), the issue is composed of two distinct comics titled "My Love Is Dead" and "Long Live My Love." These two stories are clearly intended to each comment on the other, with the hope (forlorn?) that the whole will be greater than the some of its parts as a result. Thesis + Antithesis => Synthesis. Yes, it's a bit on the despondent side, but it offers up the ususal high production values that we've come to expect from Hornschemeier, and will certainly be appreciated by most if not all fans of his previous work. WIthout doubt, the work here is some of the most challenging being produced today. 80 pages; full color; square bound; 6 1/2" x 7 1/2"
Project: Romantic	Ash Wood, Hope Larson, Jim Rugg, Nick Craine and more ...	AdHouse Books		$25.00 ($40.00 list)
Read more and comment...	This is the final installment of the "Project Trilogy" which provides the up-and-coming generation of cartoonists to work with traditional comics themes. Inititated by Project: Telstar, which dealt with science fiction themes with a focus on robots, and continued by Project: Superior, which had super heroics as its unifying theme, this time around, as the title suggests, the same generation of cartoonists is given a chance to tackle the romance comics genre. As with the first two anthologies, the works assembled here bear little semblance to their generic progentiors in the mainstream comics of yore, a guided tour of which we are given in the introductory essay by Bill Boichel (which is currently available online as a downloadable .pdf). "True" romance seems mostly a thing of the past in the stories that follow, which here primarily focus on -- at best -- snatching a moment of happiness with a fellow being. Many of the pieces center on unrequited love, heartbreak, romantic disaster, murder, mayhem and confusion. Sometimes it's played for laughs and sometimes for tears. Exceptions include Aaron Renier's "Reflectors and Rutabegas," which comes closest to being a traditional romance, and McGovern & Leandri's Dr. Id story, which employs a 1960s-Dr.-Strange-as-sex-therapist narrative that is certainly traditional in its form, if not in its content. As with all AdHouse Books, the production values are excellent and the quality of the artwork is uniformly high. Stand-outs for us include the contributions of Paul Rivoche, Hope Larson, Roger Petersen and Junko Mizuno, but doubtless every reader of this anthology will find their own favorites. And there's no way we can avoid singling out Robert Goodin's contribution: if there were an award for excellence in the service of perversion, this one would have the comics category all wrapped up. PLEASE NOTE: This is the limited edition hardcover edition that we are offering here. Limited to 500 individually numbered copies, it features front and back covers, as well as endpapers that consist of four apocryphal romance comic book covers featuring Afrodisiac, all by Pittsburgh's own megatalent, Jim Rugg! We are offering this at half off it's original price – need we say it? – while supplies last! (LIMIT: ONE PER CUSTOMER)
The Aviary	Jamie Tanner	AdHouse Books		$11.00 ($12.95 list)
Read more and comment...	This 312 page trade paperback collects fourteen of Jamie Tanner's idiosyncratic mini comics into one fat volume, for a great price. Copacetic regulars who've spent time going through our self-published comics section are sure to have come across his work, as we've been stocking it for years. Tanner's quirky aesthetic is hard to peg, but it has a strong narrative component flavored with a sense of the absurd, a tendency towards the bizarre, and a predilection for birds and robots. Fans of Richard Sala might want to check this out, as well as anyone looking for a great comics entertainment value.
Pulphope: The Art of Paul Pope	Paul Pope	AdHouse Books		$25.00 ($29.95 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	It's here: the Paul Pope coffee table book. Who would've thunk it? There's everything from comics to posters to CD covers to prints to sketchbooks and more. The book is divided into sections grouping the work in a variety of categories including the just stated formal divisions as well as thematic units such as Ukiyo-e and erotica. Connecting it all together is an ongoing exegesis of the works by Pope himself. It turns out that he has quite a bit to say as the text roves far and wide: personal reminiscences, ruminations on art and literature, technical explications, insights into the processes of artistic creation, manifestos and more amply fill the spaces between the artwork on display.

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