Another Islands Fold gem, a comic by Jim Stoten in two tape-bound 1/4-page volumes held together by a printed band. Volume 1 has a cut-out on the cover, and the diamond is colored in by hand, for that extra special touch. I think this is from 2006 or 2007. I keep meaning to see if Jim Stoten has other work around, since the stuff in here is really great… but I guess I’m lazy.
Matt Furie originals from a show at Giant Robot SF a few years ago. I got into Matt Furie’s art after seeing his table at APE, and I’ve been a major fan ever since. Now he doesn’t go to APE anymore, Giant Robot SF closed, and more and more cartoonists skip SF on their book tours, and I’m sad. But at least I have Brett and Andy to cheer me up.
Original Al Columbia drawings from the special edition of Pim and Francie (yes, I bought two). These are small (the top one is around 3” x 4” and the bottom one is around 2” x 4”), but still so worth it.
Original Frank Santoro sketch of Yummy Fur #1. Frank was selling these along with “curated multi-packs” from his back issue bins a few years ago. I think I paid $20 for the sketch, 8 comics, and a handwritten explanation of why each one was so great. Frank rules.
Original artwork by Neil Farber. This is one of the drawings that will be in the Neil Farber | Carol Es book we’re releasing in a couple months. Pretty much the only reason that we started a small press was to someday own art like this.
Now for something completely awesome - an original woodcut print by Jacques Carelman to accompany the deluxe edition of the illustrated Exercices de Style by Raymond Queneau. Carelman was a founding member of the OuBaPo (the comics branch of the literature-by-constraint group “OuLiPo” headed up by Queneau and others), although I’m not too familiar with his work outside of his collaborations with Queneau. I could write at length (and I have indeed done just that on my blog) about the Queneau/Massin/Carelman edition of Exercices, but suffice it to say that if you’re an art enthusiast and you haven’t seen this book, you’re missing out on one of the greatest typographic and graphic masterpieces ever published. Yes, it’s worth the hyperbole.
(Also, this print was released in 1963, making it easily the oldest piece of comic art in my collection.)
Original art purchased from Tim Hensley. I’m pretty sure this comic ran in the Believer at one point. There’s a collection of this type of stuff that desperately needs to be published - I would by hundreds of Hensley’s originals if I could afford to.
The really cool thing about this artwork is that the newspaper bits in the corner and the striped pattern on the jacket and plant have been applied by hand, which I would never have realized just seeing it in printed form.
When Justine ordered the Mebemewebe zine for me for my birthday, she asked Luke Ramsey if he would do a little drawing in it for my birthday, and he went above and beyond by including this birthday card.
This one is for puzzleoverit. Justine bought me the Mebemewebe for my 27th birthday, back when we were in the initial stages of our relationship (which was trans-Pacific at this point) and were digging like crazy discovering new art and artists together. This was published by Islands Fold as a showcase for many of the artists they had worked with, and its comparatively high price ($40) was intended to raise funds to keep them going. Each copy came with an original collaborative drawing by Luke Ramsey and and Islands Fold artist. No matter how seasoned an eye you have, there will be pages and pages of stuff in here that’s new to you, and miraculously, it isn’t sold out.
I got this for $3 at an art fair for graduating CCA students. I don’t know anything about the artist, and she has a pretty common name, but I love LOVE LOVE this piece.
