The Copacetic Comics Company Ignatz

Ignatz

An ongoing series that is a joint publishing effort of Fantagraphics Books, Italy's Coconino Press and France's L'Association. The Ignatz series combines the focus on production values of the European graphic novel tradition -- superior grade, heavy interior stock, sharp duo-tone printing, full color wraparound dust jackets -- with the saddle stitched format and periodical release schedule of American comics, to forge a new hybrid with which to drive the medium forward at this time of globalization and artistic transition. Each is printed in duo-tone on high quality, heavy gauge, magazine size -- 8" x 11" -- cream stock and comes with a full color wrap-around, French-fold dust jacket.

Title	Creator	Publisher	Series	Price
Ganges #4	Kevin Huizenga	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$7.50 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Here's the one Copacetic customers have been ringing the phone off the hook about. And not without reason. Each issue of Ganges has managed to make something new with the comics form. Huizenga pretty much picks up here where #3 left off – it may very well be the very same evening, diegetically speaking – and continues exploring the twilight zone of consciousness that lies between waking and sleeping, where memory and fantasy mix with all kinds of thought: this time around, from list-making to self-analysis to pondering the nature and meaning of being and time and space and... well, you get the idea. Ever the innovator, Huizenga has here incorporated the unique Ignatz format into the body of the work by making the extended French-flaps serve as a novel form of "infinity cover" – using them to create a "hall of mirrors" effect that provides the sense that the work continues ad infinitum in either direction, both forward and backward, in time and space. There are many major intellectual riffs being explored on these pages, which are more densely packed with ideas than any other comic book on the market. Foremost among them here is the compositional dynamic created by playing off the innate tension between the utopianism of the collecting/hoarding impulse and the harsh reality of mortality. This modulates seamlessly back and forth between rock solid ruminations on temporal scales – geological, historical and personal – and the human urge to collect and organize time itself in modular units. All of which folds back in on itself in dealing with the quandaries presented by memory storage and retrieval systems, both organic and technical. These are heady comics, but let there be no mistake, they are still comics, and a sense playfulness suffuses all: Huizenga is a master craftsman – all the aforementioned is made possible by the combination of his stone cold grasp of the fundamentals of the medium with his relentless explorative urge. In keeping with the comics tradition, there are many lighthearted asides, comical juxtapositions and flat-out fun cartooning interwoven through the main themes that provide many a mirthful moment. Notable are the various confusions and misconceptions that result from the semi-conscious state and, especially, the delicious yet not unfriendly skewering of the often overblown philosophizing of continental intellectuals of the 20th century, particularly Jean Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger and their intellectual progeny - Jean Baudrillard and Jacques Derrida come to mind. A comic book to remember.
Ganges #3	Kevin Huizenga	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$7.25 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	It's time for comics connoisseurs to crank up their cogitation once again, as a new issue of Ganges is in stock and on sale here at The Copacetic Comics Company. And the verdict? Kevin Huizenga once again delivers the goods! This time around we have the inner workings of an agitated mind – that of Glenn Ganges, to answer your question – at the edge of sleep, visually embodied as its own cartoon being, distinct and separate from – if in many respects identical to – the body housing this mind. All readers who have ever had a rough time falling asleep and have had their mind wander to and fro seemingly of its "own" accord will have plenty to relate to here, and there are indeed many comic moments in this comic book, BUT there is also much food for thought, along with a poetic evocation of middle-American suburban landscapes as dreamscapes that shows Huizenga slowly feeling his way towards integrating some weightier emotional content into his analytics. In dissecting the mechanics of consciousness on the precipice of sleep, as the waking mind gradually lets go of sensory input and transitions to a period of internal synaptic data transfer, Huizenga once again strives to put the language of comics to novel uses. The layers of consciousness are first depicted and then explored as metamorphic strata composed of distinctly variant degrees of abstraction; memories transform into imaginings which then turn in on themselves in auto-analyses all prompted by the slightest shifts in the tectonic plates of self-awareness. This is a comic that not only can, but demands to be read over and over again. There is so much going on here that each reading will turn up something that was missed before. Here is work that is powering comics forward, and that should not be missed by anyone who want to see where it's going. Anyone interested in delving further into this work is encouraged to read Rob Clough's in-depth review for The Comics Journal, HERE.
Delphine #3	Richard Sala	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$6.75 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	One of the two latest installments (the 29th, for those who like to keep track of these things) of the Ignatz series of comics provides it's own brand of frisson.
New Tales of Old Palomar #3	Gilbert Hernandez	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$6.75 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	According to Gilbert, this is the last issue; at least for now.
Grotesque #2	Sergio Ponchione	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$6.75 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	One of the two latest installments (the 30th, for those who like to keep track of these things) of the Ignatz series of comics provides it's own brand of frisson.
Babel #2	David B.	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$6.75 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Here they are, the next three installments of that swellegant line of superior quality pamphlet comics, the "Ignatz", that is a co-production of Fantagraphics Books and Italy's Coconino Press. The main attraction is Babel 2 which is the second installment (the first was Babel 1, published in 2004 by Drawn & Quarterly in what was the prototype for the Ignatz line) in the continuation of the epic tale begun in Epileptic. Babel is a graphic tour de force that no comics connoisseurs will want to miss. In the second installment of Insomnia, Broersma lightens his palette and turns in what is, in our estimation, the strongest work of his career. Gipi continues the sombre, rain-washed tales of Italian outcasts in They Found the Car that he offered up in the first installment of "Wish You Were Here", The Innocents. All three of these are recommended, as are all of the previous installments Ignatz line. Do yourself a favor and check these out.
Babel #1	David B.	Drawn and Quarterly	Ignatz	$7.77 ($9.95 list)
Read more and comment...
Insomnia #1	Matt Broersma	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$6.75 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Introducing the Ignatz line -- new from Fantagraphics Books in conjunction with Coconino Press in Italy. This new, ongoing series is a joint publishing effort of Fantagraphics Books, Italy's Coconino Press and France's L'Association. The Ignatz series combines the focus on production values of the European graphic novel tradition -- superior grade, heavy interior stock, sharp duo-tone printing, full color wraparound dust jackets -- with the saddle stitched format and periodical release schedule of American comics, to forge a new hybrid with which to drive the medium forward at this time of globalization and artistic transition. Each is printed in duo-tone on high quality, heavy gauge, magazine size -- 8" x 11" -- cream stock and comes with a full color wrap-around, French-fold dust jacket. We applaud this encouraging development and wish it much success. The first three are now in stock: Insomnia #1 by Matt Broersma, whose work we just saw in the third volume of Drawn & Quarterly Showcase, is a creepy "occult-o-noir" (what do you think, should we trademark the term?) tale set on the US/Mexican border.
Baobab #1	Igort	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$6.75 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Introducing the Ignatz line -- new from Fantagraphics Books in conjunction with Coconino Press in Italy. This new, ongoing series is a joint publishing effort of Fantagraphics Books, Italy's Coconino Press and France's L'Association. The Ignatz series combines the focus on production values of the European graphic novel tradition -- superior grade, heavy interior stock, sharp duo-tone printing, full color wraparound dust jackets -- with the saddle stitched format and periodical release schedule of American comics, to forge a new hybrid with which to drive the medium forward at this time of globalization and artistic transition. Each is printed in duo-tone on high quality, heavy gauge, magazine size -- 8" x 11" -- cream stock and comes with a full color wrap-around, French-fold dust jacket. We applaud this encouraging development and wish it much success. The first three are now in stock: Baobab, Volume 1 by series editor, Igort, is a beautifully rendered tale of international mystery.
Ganges #1	Kevin Huizenga	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$7.25 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	This comic book, the latest addition to the burgeoning Ignatz Comics line from Coconino Press and Fantagraphics Books, asks the question, "Is it possible to intelligently examine domesticity in a comic book?" The five all new pieces in this deluxe magazine format edition by one of the strongest talents on the comics scene today provide the answer, and the answer is, "Yes." All five pieces focus on the quotidian reality of Kevin Huizenga's graphic alter ego, Glenn Ganges, and his wife, Wendy. Thoughts, concepts and stories are converted to images in Huizenga's trademarked fashion, and combined with text and dialogue commentaries to create a dialectical rendering of the tension between subjectivity and objectivity and various attempts -- characterized by their youthful callowness and longing curiosity -- at locating a harmonious balance between the two. Underlying it all is Huizenga's perennial concern with time. Specifically, with the irreconcilable divide between our individual, human, subjective experience of time, and its universal, inhuman, objective reality. Recommended.
New Tales of Old Palomar #1	Gilbert Hernandez	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$6.75 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	The two latest issues in the wonderful Ignatz series of Euro-American hybrid comics also happen to be two of the best -- and are only the second and third by Americans (the first being Ganges by Kevin Huizenga).This series of high quality comic books/graphic albums features some of the finest regularly published comics work currently available and, by virtue of its periodical status, is both constantly giving us something to look forward to and bringing back the fun of collecting. This time we have that titan of titans, Gilbert Hernandez delivering exactly what the title states: the first of what promises to be a number of brand new, never before seen stories featuring the sprawling cast of characters we know and love from the original issues of Love and Rockets. As with all of Gilbert's tales this one is really a patchwork quilt of stories of all shapes and sizes sewn together into one snug and comfortable whole.
Delphina #1	Richard Sala	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$6.75 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	The two latest issues in the wonderful Ignatz series of Euro-American hybrid comics also happen to be two of the best -- and are only the second and third by Americans (the first being Ganges by Kevin Huizenga). This series of high quality comic books/graphic albums features some of the finest regularly published comics work currently available and, by virtue of its periodical status, is both constantly giving us something to look forward to and bringing back the fun of collecting. Delphina presents the first installment of one of another of Richard Sala's trademarked tales of eerie mystery rendered in his unmistakable, angular pen and ink style. This one concerns a clean-cut boy who, in search of his apple-cheeked girl, finds himself in a small town whose inhabitants... well, we don't want to give too much away. Suffice it to say these are folk who put the strange in strangers, and you wouldn't want to have to depend on them.
The Innocents	Gipi	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$6.75 ($7.95 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	Introducing the Ignatz line -- new from Fantagraphics Books in conjunction with Coconino Press in Italy. This new, ongoing series is a joint publishing effort of Fantagraphics Books, Italy's Coconino Press and France's L'Association. The Ignatz series combines the focus on production values of the European graphic novel tradition -- superior grade, heavy interior stock, sharp duo-tone printing, full color wraparound dust jackets -- with the saddle stitched format and periodical release schedule of American comics, to forge a new hybrid with which to drive the medium forward at this time of globalization and artistic transition. Each is printed in duo-tone on high quality, heavy gauge, magazine size -- 8" x 11" -- cream stock and comes with a full color wrap-around, French-fold dust jacket. We applaud this encouraging development and wish it much success. The first three are now in stock: The Innocents by Gipi, another single-name European cartoonist, is about growing up on the streets of Italy; delinquent, yes, but also pure of heart.
Interiorae	Gabriella Giandelli	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$6.75 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Ms. Giandelli's Interiorae is a fanciful exploration of the "life" of a block of flats that is largely successful in its attempt to capture an elegiac aspect of the spirit of urban living.
Chimera	Lorenzo Mattotti	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$7.95 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	This is one of the latest entries in the Ignatz line of comics currently being published collaboratively by Fantagraphics Books in the USA and Coconino Press in Italy. Mattotti's Chimera, the first major black and white work by an artist closely associated with his lush pastel palette, is a textless pen and ink tour de force that employs a highly expressive line to render the subtle give and take between perception and conception, and mediate a rapprochement between the consciousness of dreaming and that of waking.
Ganges 2	Kevin Huizenga	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$7.50 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	It's been almost a year (more?) since we've seen anything new by Kevin H. (not counting the self-published mini, Sermons #2), so it was with no small trepidation that we cracked open the second issue of Ganges. which is the 27th in the Ignatz series. What surprises will it hold? Well, we certainly don't want to rob you of this experience, so we're not going to go into too much depth here, but we will say this much: This issue has a bipartate structure. The opening section is a bravurra performance on Huizenga's part, in which he takes on a challenge that is dear to many cartoonists of his generation (Brinkman, Chippendale and Paperrad foremost among them): that of portraying the inner vision of the inveterate videogamer. Huizenga ups the ante here by going one step further and attempting to depict the ideational transformations that are brought about by continual gaming. Employing a (nearly)purely visual approach that is in places reminiscent of the work of Jim Woodring and Ron Regé, Jr., he presents his vision in such a way as to imply that these transformations may involve actual organic restructuring -- although this latter implication is somewhat undercut by the conclusion of the piece, which is not so much a story as it is an experiment in visualization. The following part, "Pulverize," which takes up 2/3 of the issue, is a more mundane piece. Another of Huizinga's fictionalized, semi-autobiographical accounts of the type that dominated the first issue of Ganges, it provides an enjoyable, straightforward account of time spent working in a dotcom startup that involved a lot of after hours videogaming. Here, however, it serves the additional (one might even say primary) function of providing the "real world" context -- the objective outer vision -- for the subjective inner vision of the opening pages that precede it. Suffice it to say there's plenty of food for thought here; the only question is, will it be enough to sustain readers until the next Huizenga release?
The End	Anders Nilsen	Fantagraphics	Ignatz	$7.50 ($7.95 list)
Read more and comment...	The End finds Anders employing his comics-as-art skills to work through his personal pain, creating a diary of loss in the process. This is, for our money, the best stand-alone work by Nilsen currently available. Recommended.

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