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Drawn and Quarterly need your help too

  
 
sleazenation
16:19 / 09.04.02
Before we get to the press release from drawn and Quarterly I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I think Jason Lutes Berlin, a historical drama set in between the wars Berlin, is one of the best comics being produced today... every one with a few bucks t spare should check it out...


Like Top Shelf, Drawn and Quarterly is another very fine publisher of some of the greatest comics has to offer. We've reprinted their entire press release below and highlighted books in the included list that we think will appeal to CBR visitors. If you've got the resources we highly recommend picking up any one of these books and helping Drawn and Quarterly through this difficult period.


Shortly after its book distributor filed for Chapter 11, Drawn & Quarterly announced it will be having an online sale to "fill in the gaps" left by the anticipated shortfall in cash. The sale runs until midnight April 17th and as a special bonus, orders of at least $150. USD will receive the new Chris Ware sketchbook for free when it is published in September. D&Q's online catalogue features extensive descriptions and graphics of everything we have in print and a "shortlist" (title/author) is provided at the end of this e-mail (thanks to Jeff Mason!). D&Q's secure online ordering catalogue can be accessed by going to our home page and clicking on the "order" icon at the bottom.

NEW PROJECTS FOR 2002/2003

Although many people may be familiar with the core group of cartoonists we already publish (Chester Brown, Adrian Tomine, Seth, Julie Doucet, etc) there are a number of exciting new projects planned for the next 12 months that are just about to be announced:


* D&Q will be co-publishing art books with esteemed Dutch publisher Oog & Blik. The first in this series will be the Chris Ware sketchbook, planned for autumn release, and a new art book by R. Crumb is in the works for later this year.
* D&Q will also be co-publishing books with Italian publisher Coconino Press, first with the Baru collection "Road To America" this June and followed by the book "5 is the Perfect Number" by great new Italian cartoonist Igort.
* In perhaps its most ambitious plans ever, D&Q will soon begin publishing a series of fifteen annual books collecting the comprehensive Frank King "Gasoline Alley" b/w newspaper dailies beginning with 1921 and running until approximately 1950. Each book edition will be about 320 pages and will collect 2 years worth of strips (for example, Book One will collect 6 days per week of the years 1921 and 1922; Book Two will collect 6 days per week of the years 1923 and 1924, and so on). Joe Matt lent me photocopies of some of these years and I can attest that King's "Gasoline Alley" is truly one of the greatest (and until now, sadly undiscovered) strips of the 20th Century. Plans are also in the works to publish separate full-color editions of the "Gasoline Alley" Sundays.
* D&Q will also publish the work of several promising new talents over the coming year, including a new book by 21-year-old Quebec native Genevieve Castree, whose exquisite line drawings is somewhat reminiscent of Tove Jannsen and Julie Doucet. As well, "Drawn & Quarterly Showcase", a new semi-annual book focusing on the work of new talents, will be launched in early 2003. D&Q commissioned three cartoonists to each write and draw an approximately 40-page self-contained story for this 120 page book. The three cartoonists for the first edition are Kevin Huizenga (who self-publishes "Super Monster"), Anders Brekhus Nilson (who self-publishes "Asomatognosia"), and Nicolas Robel (published many books with Bulb Graphics in Switzerland and has a new story in the recent Drawn & Quarterly Volume 4).

Here is a short list of books from Drawn and Quarterly. A full list of their available books can be found on the Drawn and Quarterly Web site.

CHESTER BROWN
Louis Riel #1-6; $2.95 ea
Underwater #1-11; $2.95 ea
Yummy Fur #25-32; $2.95 ea
Ed The Happy Clown (serialized in Yummy Fur #1-18); $12.95
The Playboy (serialized in Yummy Fur); $12.95
I Never Liked You (serialized in Yummy Fur); softcover $15.95
I Never Liked You (serialized in Yummy Fur); signed hardcover $27.00
The Little Man Short Strips 1980-1995; softcover $14.95
The Little Man Short Strips 1980-1995; hardcover $24.95
The Little Man Short Strips 1980-1995; hardcover signed $34.95


DAVID COLLIER
Surviving Saskatoon; $3.50
Just The Facts; $11.95
Portraits From Life; $12.95
Collier's Volume 2, #1; $3.50

JULIE DOUCET
Dirty Plotte #1-12; $2.95 ea
My New-York Diary; softcover $13.95
My New-York Diary; hardcover $24.95
My New-York Diary; hardcover signed $34.95
My Most Secret Desire; softcover $11.95
My Most Secret Desire; hardcover signed $34.95
Lift Your Leg, My Fish is Dead! (Leve Ta Jambe, Mon Poisson Est Mort); softcover $10.95
Lift Your Leg, My Fish is Dead! (Leve Ta Jambe, Mon Poisson Est Mort); softcover $27.00
The Madame Paul Affair; $7.95
Long Time Relationship; cloth edition $19.95
Long Time Relationship; signed cloth edition $29.95

MAX
The Extended Dream of Mr. D #1-3; $3.50 ea
The Extended Dream of Mr. D (book); $12.95

DEBBIE DRECHSLER
Nowhere #1-5; $3.75 ea
Daddy's Girl; softcover $9.95
Daddy's Girl; signed hardcover $29.95

JOE MATT
Peepshow #1-6, 9, 11; $2.95
Peepshow #12; $3.50
Peepshow #13; $3.95
The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt; $14.95
The Poor Bastard; signed hardcover $29.95

JASON LUTES
Berlin 3-color silk-screened poster; $19.95
Berlin #1, 3-8; $2.95
Jar of Fools; $13.95
The Fall; $3.95
Berlin: Book One; $15.95

ARCHER PREWITT
Sof'Boy Econo-Combo (collects #1-2); $5.95
Sof'Boy 2001 Calendar; $6.95

JOE SACCO
Stories From Bosnia #1 (Soba); $3.95
Safe Area: Gorazde; hardcover $28.95

SETH
Palooka-Ville #1 (10th Anniversary Edition); $3.75
Palooka-Ville #3-9, 11-13; $2.95
Palooka-Ville #14-15; $3.75
It's A Good Life, If You Don't Weaken; cloth hardcover $29.95
It's A Good Life, If You Don't Weaken; cloth hardcover signed $39.95
Vernacular Drawings: The Collected
Sketchbook Drawings of Seth; hardcover $34.95
Vernacular Drawings: The Collected
Sketchbook Drawings of Seth; hardcover SIGNED $48.95
Clydes Fans Part One; $7.95

JAMES STURM
The Revival; $2.95
Hundreds of Feet Below Daylight; $3.95
The Golem's Mighty Swing; $19.95

ADRIAN TOMINE
Optic Nerve #1-7; $2.95
Optic Nerve #8; $3.50
Optic Nerve Poster; $8.95
Optic Nerve T-Shirt One (bullet logo); extra-small; small, medium, large, extra-large $12.95
Optic Nerve T-Shirt Two (photographer); extra-small, small, large, extra-large $14.95
32 Stories; $12.95
Sleepwalk and Other Stories; softcover $12.95

DYLAN HORROCKS
Hicksville; $19.95
Atlas #1; $3.95

MICHEL RABAGLIATI
Paul In The Country; $3.50

DRAWN & QUARTERLY (the anthology)
Drawn & Quarterly v1 #7-10 (magazine format); $3.95
Drawn & Quarterly v2 #1-3; $5.95
Drawn & Quarterly v2 #4-5; $6.95
Drawn & Quarterly v2 #6; $9.95
Drawn & Quarterly Volume 3; $24.95
Drawn & Quarterly Volume 4; $24.95
The Best of Drawn & Quarterly; $10.95
 
 
sleazenation
23:26 / 09.04.02
*bump*
 
 
videodrome
01:11 / 10.04.02
OK. I've got to take a minute here.

[rant]
I've had a few discussions with one of the people beleagured by this. The first took place after Top Shelf raised 60 of the 80 grand they needed. In twelve hours.

And this isn't meant to be sour grapes.

But can't people buy the fucking books in the first place? Why do Chris Staros and D&Q and everyone else have to beg? Why do a whole bunch of great publishers and people, who put out books better (or at least more interesting) than all but the cream of Marvel and DC's crop have to face extinction? It's not like people don't know about their books. The people who bought 60 thousand dollars worth of Top Shelf product in twelve hours didn't suddenly have an epiphany, like "Holy Christ! Look at all these great comics that have been staring me in the face for years!" The people who spent sixty grand knew those books were out there, knew they were good, wanted them, even, but were still spending most of their cash on fucking Kevin Smith Daredevil books. This audience didn't suddenly materialize. It's been there, but it's been bloody lazy.

So all I'm asking - and this isn't even targeted specifically at people here, it's a general thing - all I'm asking is that people think about where they put their money. Sure, buy Grant's books. They're good. Buy the major label stuff that deserves to be bought. But before you spend five or eight bucks a week on books that, month in and out, have proved to be subpar, buy a couple of books by any of the publishers listed on the Top Shelf thread. Spread it around. Understand that the peole who run these small presses do it because they love comics and are trying to push things along, and the only way they can do it is if we all reward their work with cash. Don't make them beg. This didn't need to happen.
[/rant]

Oh, and Jason Lutes, Chester Brown and Joe Sacco represent three of the best ways you can spend your money in any medium. Help them off their knees.
 
 
Steve Block
04:52 / 10.04.02
Just to softly answer your rant, videodrome. As someone who bought a few books from Top Shelf in the wake of LPC and as someone considering buying a few books from D&Q as well, the reason why I don't own a lot of these things is cost. The books are expensive. There are about 100 books on my wants list. Each time I go in a shop, about once a month, I buy one or two. But getting a copy of Daredevil, something I don't want in book form, each month, is cheap. At the moment I'm caught in a do I buy The Filth as it comes out or wait for it in a book trap? I'd rather own books now, they just hold the medium better if you ask me, but then I think of Flex Mentallo and figure I'll have to buy it monthly. With the Small Press stuff, if you get into that after the first few issues, you have no choice but to wait for a collection, as the back issue market is minimal for that sort of stuff. I've been waiting 15 years or so for a Transit collection. Although you're right. If more people bought this stuff than the monthly big guns books, Transit would've been collected ten years ago.

I guess in my case I'm paying for my teenage years when I didn't like stuff that was black and white or that wasn't a bit mainstream but a bit wierd. I wouldn't buy Yummy Fur, I liked Shade and Doom Patrol and so on, so now I have to go back and slowly pick up Chester Brown's stuff. SO the fact tht D&Q need help bumps the Chester Brown stuff to the top of the list. Whilst I already own a lot of Top Shelf, the recent news bumped Baja and Bughouse to the top of the list. I guess cost is maybe one reason in my case.
 
 
Steve Block
05:16 / 10.04.02
I also want to recommend Hicksville and It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken as essential graphic novels for any fan of comics.
 
 
sleazenation
08:19 / 10.04.02
Hmmm interesting

Firstly i'd dispute the fact that topshelf was in trouble before LPC went into chapter 11, they have been doing phenomanally well, AND they offer sale or return on all their books something that none of the so called big publishers do...

The comics readership is lazy?

Well, yes, but so is a large portion of the readership of any magazine or book- the harder it is to buy a title (and lets face it there are a large amount of comic shops that won't get in top shelf books unless you specifically order them and sometimes not even then...) the fewer readers will buy it.

Actually I'm more interested to know how many people who placed orders on recommendations from people such as warren ellis will go back for more once the crisis is over...
 
 
mondo a-go-go
09:44 / 10.04.02
not sure if this should be posted in this thread or flux=ronald's thread:

getting comics out of the ghetto. discussion by small-press publishers. might be of interest.
 
  
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