On Being a Good Parent

The End was just translated into French and published by Atrabile. The life of that book has been curious. The first half came out in 2007 to fairly limited notice as part of Fantagraphics' Ignatz series. I'd promised them a book in the series years before my fiancee Cheryl had even gotten sick. in 2007 my time was up and I had nothing to give them. So I turned to various scattered ruminations on grief I was filling my sketchbooks with. When The End #1 came out it felt very much like half a book to me, even then. Material already existed for the follow-up, but I just wasn't psychically prepared to wade back into the material for a second issue yet. So I let it languish. But as an author, there is something pretty uncomfortable to me in knowing I have a kind of crippled, half-finished child out in the world struggling to get by without my full care and attention. It's not really a fair thing to do to a story. Time passed. In 2013 I felt like I had enough distance to go back to it.

And it's done pretty well, without its handicap. It's an unusual book, even so. But people seem to respond to it. Voices as diverse as Zak Sally and my own mother have ventured that it may be their favorite book of mine. Which is saying something – it's probably also the piece most likely to make you dissolve into a puddle. It was nominated for an LA Book award, and now for the Selection Officielle at Angouleme (along with like thirty other books, it should be said). It's remarkable to see one's work grow up, leave home and have a life of its own out in the world. As someone who started out self-publishing in runs of 20 or 50 it still feels magical and inexplicable to me that something so deeply idiosyncratic, made for my own reasons without an audience in mind finds that audience nevertheless.

Anyway, I'm doing my best to help it out, now. I'll be heading to France a week before Angouleme to be in Besançon for Goat Without a Face an exhibition of artwork from PFC5, the residency I helped organize at MCAD last summer (see below). Then to Paris to be on hand for the opening of an exhibition at Galerie Martel honoring D&Q's 25th anniversary (January 26th, I'll have pages from Big Questions in the show), and do a signing at Super Heros (January 27th). Then to Angouleme, where I'll be doing some sort of talk or workshop or something, (exactly what is yet to be decided).

H\-

Conversation Gardening Guest Artist #2: Zak Sally

Back in 1999 I was just beginning to flirt with the idea of getting serious about making comics. As part of trying to figure out what that might mean I found myself picking up something called Recidivist #2 at a comic shop in Minneapolis. It sort of bowled me over. There were three stories in the little book, all of which felt finely observed and patient and pointed to something I didn't feel like I'd quite seen before, but wanted to see more of. But the third story was more than that. The third story, You Won't Let Yourself Be Touched, left me with the feeling that the author had reached into the depths of my mind and was clearly describing to me some part of myself that I had never really been able to quite make out before. That comic left me with the same feeling that you have when you wake up from a dream that has been profound and powerful and deeply specific and yet... indescribable. I'm not sure I've ever come across another work of art or literature that has done quite what that story did.

That's what Zak Sally is capable of. He continues to make mysteriously specific, ineffable stories that needle at you in your soul. He's also a brilliant musician, teacher, organizer and friend. He's joining Eleanor Davis in taking over the Conversation Gardening project, and I could not be more pleased or more humbled.

For what it's worth one thing I love about this project is the very different takes people have had on it, even if the bottom line is essentially the same (Eleanor's take is here, mine's here). Zak's pissed, and he lays it all out. Go here and read what he has to say – it is a conversation, after all – then buy a book and send him a question.

Show and Tell at the Twin Cities Book Fair on Saturday

I'm doing the official hometown book release for God and the Devil at War in the Garden at the Twin Cities Book Festival this coming Saturday. With Zak Sally and Jay Peterson.

Zak and I will be doing some Conversation Gardening drawings from 10:30-11:15 at the Magers & Quinn table. Then at 3:30 we'll be doing a public talk about our new books (Zak's Recidivist #4 will be debuting as well) and showing some of the drawings from the CG project (including yours if you come early enough). Jay will be moderating. We'll also be talking about independent publishing and why if Amazon was asleep on a train track and there was a train coming, we wouldn't push them out of the way.

Also we're both going to have some original artwork on display at the festival. Instant one-day art show. Stuff like this, perhaps:

So come hang out, look, listen and tell us what to draw. By the way this is what Zak's kind-of-amazing 10 color risograph masterpiece looked like a few weeks ago. Come high five him for getting it done. You're gonna get it done, right, Zak?

I might also have a few prints of Me and the Universe for sale. We'll see.

This is cool

So Zak Sally (Recidivist, Sammy the Mouse, Autoptic) and Dan Ibarra (Aesthetic Apparatus) are starting an experimental school for design and comics and printing and the like. As they say: Stop worrying and learn to love the halftone. I know Zak is a great teacher because I've heard the students at MCAD talk about him (and done a couple joint critiques with him, too). And Dan is one of the most ridiculously talented designers on the planet. The Winters here suck, but there are some really great things happening in Minneapolis.

That's right, God and the Devil were paired up at random.

Mostly PFC is about process, not results. But there has historically been one exception. In 2011 Icinori put together a beautiful accordion book collaboration (scroll way down) between the artists of that year, based around depictions of the 12 Tasks of Heracles:

We didn't have the benefit of Icinori's boundless energy, subtle skill and guiding hand this year, but we really wanted to make something of the kind happen again.

So with the help of June, Zak and I came up with the following project: we made a list of characters, made each of the artists choose one, then paired them up randomly (with an emphasis on pairing English and French speakers together), and then asked them to create a page in which their characters interact in some way, with the additional constraint that something, somewhere must get broken. Zak's chose 'an alcoholic', I chose 'escaped convict'.

The result is this three-color, screenprinted accordion book, hand-assembled by the participants, printed by the inestimable Dan Ibarra at Aesthetic Apparatus (also, as it turns out, of boundless energy and subtle skill). And this all happened in less than a week. Our undying gratitude to everyone involved for their patience, indulgence and enthusiasm.

The few remaining copies are available here, $45 each. Proceeds will go to make whole the tireless volunteers of ChiFouMi, without whom none of this could have happened, and to support future incarnations of PFC. Dan generously offered up the test prints as well, which we cut down into stacks of 5" x 6 1/2" "postcards", a few of which will get thrown in with every order. For me these cards complete the collaboration, because in addition to being in many cases surprising and jewel-like, they incorporate the work of Aesthetic Apparatus with imagery from the book. Which brings everything full circle.

And in case you are curious who got paired with who, the collaborators were as follows, in order: Marc Bell and Domitille Collardey, Lilli Carre and Emilie Plateau, Tom Kaczynski and Jean-Christophe Menu, Sandrine Martin and Kevin Huizenga, Lisa Hanawalt and Pierre Ferrero, Eugene Riousse and Jim Rugg, John Porcellino and Benoit Preteseille, Eleanor Davis and Max de Radigues, Genevieve Castree and David Libens, and Zak Sally and myself.

Put your ear to the tracks

I was driving around earlier today delivering posters and cards for the Saltwater Weather/Eyeworks event. At some point I got in the car, turned the ignition, and the radio came on and I thought: "I know that voice." Turned out it was Zak Sally talking to Euan Kerr about the new Xaime show he just put up at MCAD. Listen here, and then book your flight if you haven't already. The show is great and it's just the earliest rumblings of this giant freight train of awesomeness that is Autoptic.

46 Million plus 3

Three new items have been added to the auction in the last couple of days.

Tony Fitzpatrick donated an etching/aquatint titled Monument to a Standing New Yorker, 2001.


Zak Sally gave up the original art for a cover he did a few years ago for David Bazan (Pedro the Lion). If you haven't already, you should hear Zak's new record. It's really really good. He used to play bass for Low, though this is pretty different.

And lastly a listing was somehow lost when I was posting the first batch last week. And it's a good one, you should buy it. It's this giant photo book and picture disk EP by Mount Eerie (Phil Elverum). It's a beautiful beautiful book. Signed.


The recent subject matter of this blog notwithstanding, the benefit is not all I'm doing at the moment. I'll post some images from Big Questions #13 (which is almost done), and some sketchbook strips in the next few days.