This is going to be GOOD

If you're in town and have any interest in self publishing, mini comix, zines, art, whatever... you should check this out!

NEWAVE! Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s exhibition and publication party.

Featuring Jaimie Alder, Jim Blanchard, Wayne Gibson, David Lasky, Wayno, Steve Willis, Dennis Worden, XNO. Mini comic demonstration and giveaway by Michael Dowers. Music by iji.

Saturday, January 30, 6:00 – 9:00 PM

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 – 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM.



More spiel:

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to host an exhibition and publication party for NEWAVE! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s on Saturday, January 30 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. This event promises to be both entertaining and enlightening. The public is invited to join us for this festive reunion of influential independent cartoonists.

Self published mini comics in the 1970s and 1980s were the direct descendants of the Underground Comix movement of the 1960s hippie era. Early practitioners photocopied, stapled and distributed their miniature zines at comic book conventions and emerging comic book specialty shops. The immediacy and independence of these publications gave rise to today’s popular alternative comics movement.

Mini comics creator Michael Dowers, former publisher of Starhead Comix and editor at Fantagraphics Books, compiled this impressive anthology. Included are interviews and commentary by the artists as well as the rare mini comics themselves.

The exhibition will feature original art and graphics by underground mini comix pioneers Jaimie Alder, Jim Blanchard, Wayne Gibson, David Lasky, Wayno, Steve Willis, Dennis Worden, and XNO. NEWAVE editor Michael Dowers will produce and distribute a mini comic on site. A comix jam by contributing artists will be accompanied by music from local indie rock band “iji.”

Don’t miss this splendid occasion on Saturday, January 30. Fantagraphics Bookstore is located at 1201 S. Vale Street at Airport Way in the heart of Georgetown.

Seattle's NANCY and Martine Workman!

I'M FIRED UP! I just got home from walking all over Seattle and things are happening! Potential lurking everywhere! Construction! Seattle's lousy with construction! Forget driving! It's impossible! You now have to walk Seattle!

I'm swooning over all the forgotten alleyways! and all the haunts still hanging. Dormant memories sprouting years after the fact... Each street corner gathering rain and making all the debris mush... But I'm getting distracted (First & Pike News still yields hidden discoveries!), the reason I'm writing is because of 2nd Avenue's NANCY! Same block as the Moore Theater (did you know the Moore used to have a swimming pool in the basement? My Grandpa used to swim there when he was a boy.), NANCY is a treasure full of handmade treasures, and they've got a zine rack! and they're currently showing the work of local Martine Workman. While I was there I picked up every Workman zine they had and they're fantastic!


Each zine bats at the eyes with a perfect balance. Workman's line work is straight forward and joyous and her insights run the gamut of imagination and experience. Never stop!

Martine Workman's website is here.

NANCY is here.

INKSTUDS interview

I'M NOW AN INKSTUD! Topics discussed: Steve Ditko, Tom Devlin, Fantagraphics, Arcane Printing Process, PROFANITY HILL and more! Songs Played: Got Your Money by Ol Dirty Bastard, Hamburger Lady by Throbbing Gristle and Bore Now Bore by Boredoms.

Local art show at ZAPP on Capitol Hill

Large, Hairy and Literate: Zinesters and Artists Celebrate Bigfoot
Thursday, January 14, 5–8 p.m. in ZAPP (at the Richard Hugo House)

Well before "Harry and the Hendersons" hit the big screen, the Pacific Northwest has had an obsession with Bigfoot, beginning with Lummi tales of ape-like, cannibalistic wildmen to the Sonics' former fur-balled mascot, Squatch.

Continuing the legacy, ZAPP presents a group exhibit featuring new work that draws upon both visual and literary interpretations of Bigfoot lore by local artists David Lasky, Kinoko, Kelly Froh, Greg Hofmann and Darin Shuler, among others, in conjunction with Blitz!: Capitol Hill's Art Walk.

In addition to the exhibit, ZAPP will showcase zines and comics from the archive that focus on tales or histories of the Bigfoot phenomenon in the Pacific Northwest. Visitors are encouraged to donate their own Bigfoot zines or comics and are invited to participate in on-site drawing and storytelling. For more information about the ZAPP gallery, email zapp@hugohouse.org.