In just over a week, we’ll be heading to Bethesda, MD for SPX – the USA’s premiere small press convention.
At tables W21-W22 you’ll find the full SelfMadeHero spread: new releases, limited edition prints, discounted masterpieces from the backlist… Plus, we’ll be joined by two very special guest creators, Frederik Peeters (Aama) and Peter Kuper (Ruins).
Following his event at Busboys & Poets Takoma on Thursday evening (details here), Frederik Peeters will visit SPX to mark the launch of the fourth and final volume of his Angoulême-winning series Aama, You Will Be Glorious, My Daughter.
He’ll be signing all day Saturday, as well as joining Jennifer Hayden (The Story of My Tits) and Derf Backderf (My Friend Dahmer) on a panel. “Life, Death, Comics, & Everything in Between” takes place on the Sunday, 12.30-1.30pm, in the White Flint Auditorium.
What’s more, we’ll be giving away this rather lovely series book plate with every copy of Aama:
Peter Kuper, whose brand new graphic novel Ruins we publish this month, will also be joining us. Jules Feiffer, last year’s guest of honour at SPX, has said of the book, “With a monarch butterfly serving in the role of all-seeing observer flying poetically above it all, the constantly remarkable Peter Kuper details the travels and travails of a creative New York couple who move to Oaxaca to find inspiration and revitalize their lives. Kuper’s art is, page after page, astonishing.”
Kuper will also appear alongside Ted Rall (Snowden) and Chris Kindred (The Response) on a panel: “Drawing the News: Comics Journalism” takes place on Saturday, 5.30-6.30pm, in the White Flint Auditorium.
The aforementioned butterfly features on these two beautiful book plate designs, created by Peter Kuper and available for the first time at SPX. We’ll be giving away a signed, numbered plate with every copy of Ruins.
The Small Press Expo takes place on Saturday 19th (11am-7pm) & Sunday 20th (noon-6pm) September at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel. See you there, I hope!
This month, Frederik Peeters visits Washington DC to launch the final volume of his award-winning science fiction series Aama. Ahead of his first US convention appearance at The Small Press Expo, the Swiss graphic novelist will discuss his work at an exclusive book store event.
On Thursday 17th September, he’ll be speaking at Busboys & Poets Takoma at an event co-hosted by Washington’s finest book store Politics & Prose. Chaired by SPX coordinator and Comicosity writer Sam Marx, the event takes place at 18:30 and will be followed by a signing. Full address: Busboys & Poets Takoma, 235 Carroll Street NW, Washington, DC, 20012. Nearest metro: Takoma (Red Line).
Frederik Peeters has received five nominations in the Best Book category at Angoulême. In 2013, he won the Best Series prize at the same event for the first two volumes of Aama. Peeters is also the author of Blue Pills, Pachyderme and Sandcastle (with Pierre-Oscar Lévy). The event marks a unique opportunity to see one of Europe’s most gifted comics artists discuss one of the landmark series of recent years.
A gripping blend of existentialism, mystery and action, Aama follows the story of Verloc Nim, an amnesiac and addict, who wakes up in the middle of nowhere. As Verloc begins to piece together the events of his recent past, the misery of his former life reveals itself – but also the beginnings of something new and unexpected. Because on the last inhabitable planet to be discovered, at a forgotten scientific colony, impossible things are happening.
Culminating in an incredible final volume, You Will Be Glorious, My Daughter, Aama is a beautifully realised and intriguing vision of the distant future.
Watch this space for more information on SelfMadeHero’s activities at the Small Press Expo, which is happening at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel on Saturday 19 (11am-7pm) and Sunday 20 September (12pm-6pm).
For more information about the book store event, and to order your copy beforehand, click here.
Our first release of the autumn, One Year Wiser by Mike Medaglia, is hot off the press – and it looks beautiful! You can join us at Gosh! Comics to celebrate its release on Wednesday 9th September, 7-9pm.
Mike Medaglia is the creator of oneyearwiser.com, where he’s been posting weekly illustrated meditations since January this year. A practicing Zen Buddhist, Medaglia also tackles subjects from presentness to self-doubt in a Meditation Comic for The Huffington Post.
One Year Wiser collects 365 of Medaglia’s illustrated meditations, bringing the wisdom of the world’s great thinkers to life through beautiful hand-drawn illustrations. From Rumi to Roosevelt, the Buddha to Martin Luther King Jr., the meditations that fill this book will help you beat stress, be positive and appreciate the moment.
So, join us from 7pm at Gosh!, 1 Berwick Street, London, W1F 0DR. There’ll be all the usual Gosh! trimmings – free booze, incredible company – but also… cupcakes!
Ok, the summer may be vanishing and the days getting shorter, but it’s not all bad. In fact, we can prove without doubt that there are at least six reasons to be looking forward to the autumn.
Confectionary storms? Check. Pearls of cinematic wisdom? Check. Out-of-control biotech experiments? Check. That’s right, folks: our autumn list is here, and it has it all.
In One Year Wiser, the wisdom of the world’s great thinkers is brought to life by the beautiful hand-drawn illustrations of Huffington Post blogger and Zen Buddhist practitioner Mike Medaglia. From Rumi to Roosevelt, the Buddha to Martin Luther King Jr., the meditations on Mike’s blog, oneyearwiser.com, are inspiring, thought-provoking and beautifully illustrated. For your daily benefit, we’ve collected a single illustrated meditation for every day of the year. Plus, there’s a launch event at Gosh! Comics on Wednesday 9th September. Come along – there will be cup cakes!
The final volume of Frederik Peeters’ Angoulême-winning science fiction series, You Will Be Glorious, My Daughter, is mind-bending and brilliant. Following the loss of his companions in the anarchic crucible that used to be Ona(ji), Verloc Nim has merged with the rogue biotech experiment Aama. Exploring the limits of this remarkable new relationship, he sets his sights on the one place that might hold some answers: home.
Peter Kuper’s long-awaited new graphic novel is finally here – and it was definitely worth the wait. Ruins is the story of a young, creative New York couple who take a sabbatical year in Oaxaca, Mexico. For Samantha, it is the opportunity to revisit her past. For George, it is an unsettling step into the unknown. For both of them, it will be a collision course with political and personal events that will alter their paths and the town of Oaxaca forever. In tandem, the remarkable and arduous journey that a monarch butterfly endures on its annual migration from Canada to Mexico is woven into Ruins. This creates a parallel picture of the challenges of survival in our ever-changing world. It also makes for some stunning spreads.
Jules Feiffer has said of Ruins, “Kuper’s art is, page after page, astonishing.” Seriously, when you see it, you’ll agree!
The second title in our Graphic Freud series, Hysteria follows the early career of Sigmund Freud, from his training in neurological research to his establishment of a therapeutic practice in Vienna. Taking in the psychoanalyst’s earliest clinical experiences, his studies alongside Charcot at La Salpêtrière and his interest in the work of his friend and colleague Joseph Breuer, Richard Appignanesi and Oscar Zarate introduce the characters and case histories that inspired the development of a revolutionary new clinical therapy.
If you want to learn about the strange and fascinating characters that populate Freud and Breuer’s Studies in Hysteria, the founding text of psychoanalysis, then this is the book for you. If you want to gain an insight into the life and mind of a genius, or simply to admire some incredible artwork, this is also the book for you.
Klaxonis different. It’s also difficult to explain. Tank Girl creator Alan Martin puts it thus: “[It’s] an urban nightmare of finely balanced dialogue and artwork, as if Raymond Briggs teamed up with Daniel Clowes and they dropped the bad brown acid. Which is my idea of an evening well-spent.”
Three wasters, high on wax and cavity wall insulation, fall under the malign influence of their neighbours’ landlord, the grim, grinning embodiment of evil Mr Stapleton. Milk binges, metamorphoses, freak falls of liquorice allsorts ensue. I’ll say no more for now, except…this book is amazing!
In Filmish, Edward Ross uses comics to uncover the magic and mechanics behind our favourite movies. Exploring everything from censorship to set design, Filmish spotlights the films and film-makers that embody this provocative and inventive medium, from the pioneers of early cinema to the innovators shaping the movies of today, from A Trip to the Moon to Inception and beyond. Filmish is as much a paean to the enduring medium of cinema as it is is a lucid and lively guide to the stars and stories that have shaped our lives for more than a century.
Of course, there are other reasons to be looking forward to the end of summer – Thought Bubble, The Lakes, Christmas – but these are six of the best.
It’s that time of year again: the Edinburgh International Book Festival is nearly upon us. It begins this Friday, 15th August, and as ever there’s plenty to whet the appetites of graphic novel fans.
Friday 28th August, 14:00: Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal
When Poland Made its Mark (Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre): The 1970s was a dramatic period for Poland. While many East European citizens traveled west, two young art students went the other way. Behind the Curtain is the story of Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal’s formative years, spent studying and working within an artistic community that flourished despite the realities of the Communist State.
Separately, Klimowski and Schejbal will lead a Reading Workshop focussed on The Master and Margarita (Fri 28th, 11:00), which they adapted into graphic novel form for SelfMadeHero, as well as taking part in Amnesty International’s Imprisoned Writers event on the theme of Crime and Unusual Punishment (Fri 28th, 17:30).
Friday 28th August, 19:00: Rob Davis and Karrie Fransman
Unique Voices Telling Strange Stories (Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre): Rob Davis discusses his Eisner-nominated graphic novel The Motherless Oven – an unsettling and fiercely original coming-of-age story. In a world where there are no birthdays – only deathdays – and household appliances have souls, three teenagers strike out into the unknown.
Rob Davis is joined by Karrie Fransman. Her latest book, Death of the Artist, is published by Jonathan Cape. It’s an innovative and surprising book – you should buy it immediately.
Sunday 30th August, 17:45pm: Martin Rowson and Jean-Pierre Filiu
Taking a Strip Off Governments (Garden Theatre): Illustrated by David B., Jean-Pierre Filiu’s Best of Enemies is a graphic history of US and Middle East relations – a series of graphic novels which documents with clarity and conviction the tense relationship between the two regions since 1783.
Filiu is joined by the Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson, whose The Coalition Book is a cartoon catalogue of Britain’s worst government in 200 years. Learn how the era of Cameron and Clegg inspired some of his most successful and scathing satire.
To find out what else is happening at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, visit their website.
