Remember when we used to sometimes post reviews and little essays on here. Well, we’re sort of too busy pulling together Comics Comics 3, our biggest and best issue yet and features a collaborative cover by Sammy Harkham and Guy Davis, as well as Kim Deitch on the meaning of life and a list by Renee French. Tim is slowly (?) losing his mind while finishing his essay on Steve Gerber and I’m having paranoid thoughts while finishing my “What Went Wrong With the Masters of American Comics Exhibition” diatribe. It’ll be out in June, debut at MoCCA, and blow your minds.

In the meantime, I’m please to write that last Wednesday’s event at the fabulous Issue Project Room was amazing. Amy Lockhart’s films wowed the crowd and then Matthew Thurber’s Ambergris blew the doors off the place. While Thurber and compatriot Rebecca Bird warbled and whistled I unrolled a spectacular scroll drawn by the Thurber himself. Those of you who haven’t bought the first issue of his 1-800 MICE should run out and get it now.

After Ambergris came Gary Panter and Devin Flynn. Now, Gary hadn’t played in public in a few decades, but as some of you may know, has released a couple of records and a handful of seven inches. Fun fact: Ian McClagen of The Faces played in Gary’s first record, Pray for Smurph (1983). It’s a stone cold classic of skronk psych-country music. Devin Flynn is half of Pixeltan and an accomplished animator whose work can be seen on big and small screens. Together, well, they laid it down, man. While Devin thumped and keyed and bass-ed Gary let loose on the guitar with some serious Texas-style chops and a dry, high plains yelp. When he sings “I fought the Lord” I kinda think he might’ve, inbetween painting, drawing, and duding. One audience member called the performance “masculine”, and I think it kinda was. Well, when his big books comes out maybe we’ll send him on tour with his gee-tar.

Anyhow, it was a fine night, and we hope to do it again real soon!

Labels: Ambergris, Devin Flynn, Gary Panter, Lockhart, Matthew Thurber, PictureBox