Kickstarting Black Eye
by Jeet Heer
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Cover for Black Eye
Friend of Comics Comics Ryan Standfest is putting together an anthology called Black Eye which will “collect original narrative comics, art and essays by 42 international artists and writers, all focused on the expression of black, dark or absurdist humor.” All the art and writing for the book is done and now Ryan is raising money for the printing. He has a kickstart page devoted to this purpose, which can be accessed here. This page also has more information about the project, including the rewards that will be given to funders such as a limited edition of the publication. I’m involved with Black Eye but even if I weren’t I would say that this is a project worth supporting: Ryan has a great curatorial sensibility and the tradition of visually shocking material that he’s gathering together is an important one in comics history, although currently underrated in our fey and sensitive age.
Here’s a list of contributors to Black Eye:
With original comics and art by:
Stéphane Blanquet (France)
Ivan Brunetti (USA- Chicago)
Lilli Carré (USA- Chicago)
Max Clotfelter (USA- Seattle)
Al Columbia (USA)
Ludovic Debeurme (France)
Olivier Deprez (France)
Nikki DeSautelle (USA- Detroit)
Brecht Evens (Belgium)
Andy Gabrysiak (USA- Detroit)
Robert Goodin (USA- Pasadena)
Dav Guedin (France)
Gnot Guedin (France)
Glenn Head (USA- New York City)
Danny Hellman (USA- New York City)
Paul Hornschemeier (USA- Chicago)
Ian Huebert (USA- San Francisco)
Kaz (USA- Los Angeles)
Michael Kupperman (USA- New York City)
Mats!? (USA- Oakland, CA)
Fanny Michaëlis (France)
James Moore (USA- New York City)
Tom Neely (USA- Los Angeles)
Mark Newgarden (USA- New York City)
Paul Nudd (USA- Chicago)
Onsmith (USA- Chicago)
Emelie Östergren (Sweden)
Paul Paetzel (Germany)
David Paleo (Argentina)
Bruno Richard (France)
Martin Rowson (United Kingdom)
Olivier Schrauwen (Belgium)
Stephen Schudlich (USA- Detroit)
Robert Sikoryak (USA- New York City)
Brecht Vandenbroucke (Belgium)
Wouter Vanhaelemeesch (Belgium)
Jon Vermilyea (USA- New York City)
And original essays by:
-Jeet Heer (Canada), on S. Clay Wilson
-Bob Levin (USA- Berkeley, CA), on The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist by Michael O’Donoghue and Frank Springer
-Ken Parille (USA- Greenville, NC), on humor in the work of Steve Ditko
-Ryan Standfest (USA- Detroit), on Al Feldstein and “sick” humor at E.C. + interview with Al Feldstein
And a text by:
Roland Topor (France), 100 Good Reasons To Kill Myself Right Now, translated into English for the first time by Edward Gauvin
“BLACK EYE” is edited by Ryan Standfest and published by Rotland Press + Comicworks, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Labels: Black Eye, Ryan Standfest
This is a very exciting sounding book.
I’m wondering, given that they say there will be 1000 printed, is this likely to hit UK comic shops? (assuming it does get enough funding to reach print)
Like, what is a typical run for an indie project? Say, Crickets #3 or the If ‘n’ Oof book, just as two examples of things that I’ve actually been able to get hold of locally.
Obv, it’s down to what the shop orders, based on expected demand, but at this stage I’m just curious as to the basic probability of my grubby little mitts gripping this grubby little object.
I really want it.
I’m not sure what the average print run is for most indie projects, but I’m sure it is higher than “BLACK EYE,” which I wanted to treat as a more limited offering. There will be many possible ways to purchase “BLACK EYE,” however. There is a slim possibility of it appearing in some UK shops, but it will probably be easier to order it from any of the shops listed on the RP + CW site (http://rotlandpress.wordpress.com/), or directly from the publisher. Thank you for your interest!