<<•>>  edited by Sammy Harkham  <<•>>  Starting out way back in 2000 as a plain ol' self-published, black and white comic book (copies of which have recently been unearthed and are now once again being offered for sale; see below), Sammy Harkham's Kramers Ergot has been through some serious changes over the years.  In 2003, when Sammy went for broke (literally) and switched to a massive full-color book format with the fourth issue, Kramers was transformed from a simple comic book to a synecdoche/catch phrase for the exploding art comics scene.  The subsequent two issues followed suit and were published by art house publisher, Gingko Press.  Then, with the seventh issue the stakes were raised again with the gigantic, full-blown, original-old-school Sunday page size – a whoppin'' 16" x 21" – full color, hardcover published by Buenaventura Press that knocked people's socks off the world over; not least folks here in Pittsburgh, where we hosted the Kramers Tour at The BrilloBox to much acclaim.  Now, with the eighth issue, Kramers is being published by our pals at PictureBox and has entered yet another phase.  This time out – perhaps in keeping with its maturation – Kramers takes the form of an unassuming standard size hardcover sporting a tan cloth cover of deceptively straightforward design by Robert Beatty; one which nonetheless provides both visual and tactile pleasure to the reader and hints at what is to come, which is another all-star anthology featuring some of today's top cartoonists working in an environment where they feel comfortable taking risks.  An essay by Ian Svenonius, "Notes on Camp, Part 2" sets the tone with a hyperbolic sequel to Susan Sontag's famous essay, in which Svevonius traces a lineage for pop, camp and comics that centers on Warhol and goes back through to the Roman Empire. Then we are treated to a brand new Jimbo adventure by Gary Panter followed by new stories by C.F., Kevin Huizenga (who redraws the story "The Half Men" from the classic ACG series of the 1950s & '60s, Mysteries of Unexplained Worlds), Gabrielle Bell, Johnny Ryan, Time Hensley, Leon Sadler, Chris Cilla, Anya Davidson, Ben Jones and Sammy Harkham, himself.  The clear standout of Kramers Ergot 8 is the collaboration between Dash Shaw and Frank Santoro, "Childhood Predators."  This sixteen page story is a masterpiece of layout which was consciously composed as a series of eight two-page spreads by someone who really knows what they're doing.  Santoro displays his mastery of the medium by employing a host of techniques and methods to deliver a highly textured, subtly nuanced, and deeply felt look at an emotionally complex and politically fraught scenario that will amply reward repeated readings.  In addition to the comics, there are a pair of art portfolios featuring Robert Beatty's "retro-future" airbrush art, as well as a series of freakishly photorealistic digital artworks by Takeshi Murata, all of which are reproduced on bright glossy stock, in contrast to the flat off-white stock of the comics work.  The 40-page dose of Oh, Wicked Wanda! comics that closes out this issue is also printed on glossy stock to mimic its original appearance in the pages of Penthouse Magazine back in the 1970s.  Oh, Wicked Wanda was created by the British artist and writer duo of Ron Embleton and Frederic Mullalley as Penthouse's answer to Kurtzman and Elder's Little Annie Fannie, which ran in Playboy Magazine.  As with everything Penthouse, it is the same as Playboy, only more so; and in this case, the humor is decidedly British (as was Penthouse) with its international settings and casual conflation of kinky sex with Nazis.  We'd be curious to learn why the largest hunk of this issue of Kramers was devoted to these comics, so we hope Harkham will go on record as to his rationale and motivation here.  Regardless of what they may be, Kramers remains in the vanguard of contemporary comics and is indispensable reading for anyone who likes their comics challenging.

ONE COPY ONLY  - SEALED, UNOPENED, ORIGNAL

<<•>>  original listing  <<•>>  
–– edited by Hugh Frost & Leon Sadler  ––
One of the most anticipated works of 2013 makes its debut as the first major (Copacetic) comics release of 2014.  The anthology's declared theme is: "An exploration of the ways in which network technologies mediate our experience of each other and our surroundings."  Fans of Kramers Ergot in specific and PictureBox publications in general will find much to engage them here in this 224 page, 9 Pantone colour anthology featuring  all new work  from 35 leaders of contemporary narrative art locked in struggle with the dominant cultural paradigms.  This struggle takes place in comics work of all stripes, from erotic embrace to violent rejection, from formal deconstructions to fun-filled fantasias.  Take a minute to peruse the contributor list:  Aidan Koch — Amalia Ulman — Angie Wang — Ben Mendelewicz — Blaise Larmee — Brenna Murphy — CF — Cody Cobb — Daniel Swan — Dmitry Sergeev — Gabriel Corbera — GHXYK2 — Hugh Frost — Jacob Ciocci — James Jarvis — Joseph Kelly — Jonas Delaborde — Jonathan Chandler — Jonny Negron — Julien Ceccaldi —Karn Piana — Kilian Eng — Lala Albert — Lando — Leon Sadler — Matthew Lock— Noel Freibert — Olivier Schrauwen — Robert Beatty — Sam Alden — Sammy Harkham — Simon Hanselmann — Stefan Sadler — Viktor Hachmang & Yuichi Yokoyama.  Then head over to the original Kickstarter site for the project, where you can feast your eyes on plenty of preview art and further details.  ADDED BONUS:  Each copy of Mould Map 3 comes packaged together with 3 large posters and 3 prints.  

(original release: December 2013)

ONE COPY ONLY  - SEALED, UNOPENED, ORIGNAL – GONE!~

PLEASE NOTE: Our PayPal buttons do not currently incorporate an inventory function and so are not capable of automatically registering that an item has sold out; this must be done manually.  Thus, it is within the realm of possibility that this item may appear as still available when it has actually sold out.  We will make every effort to mark this as sold as soon after the fact as possible, but should it sell in the middle of the night, then the item won't be marked sold until morning.  That said, should someone "buy" this item after it is no longer available, that person will receive a full refund within 24 hours (along with an apology for our lack of technical proficiency).

 

OK, we finally got our hands on this UK import (courtesy of Retrofit Comics Distro).  Here's what the publisher has to say about it:

"A book about Europe and its possible futures.

Featuring newly commissioned comics, art and graphics from; Leon Sadler, Edwin Burdis, Daniel Swan, Michael Willis, Patrick Crotty, Grace Wilson, Dan Mitchell, Will Sweeney, Ed Fornieles, Brecht Vandenbroucke, Yannick Val Gesto with Eva Munz, Sany, Amalia Ulman, Hanna K, MOSA, Gwenaël Rattke, Stathis Tsemberlidis, Yuri Pattison, Suzanne Treister, Jody Barton, New Scenario, Stefan Sadler, Jonathan Djob Nkondo, Gabriel Corbera, Pierre Vanni, Roope Eronen and Viktor Hachmang.  Contextualised by features on both near-future speculative / design fiction and historical counterculture movements including; Huw Wahl on 60s inflatable art collective Action Space, Federico Pagello on Frigidaire Magazine and comics of the radical left in 70s Italy, a selection of activist ephemera from the stock of Mayfair dealer Carl Williams at Maggs Brothers, Ingo Niermann in conversation with Matilda Tjäder about the origins and development of the Sternberg Solutions series, Dunne & Raby and the use of illustration within their United Micro Kingdoms project and finally a selection of works from the 2014 White Cube exhibition by Gilbert & George — Scapegoating Pictures For London.   Edited by Hugh Frost & Leon Sadler. Graphic design by Hugh Frost."

Visit their page for a nice preview of what's in store: http://www.landfilleditions.com/mould-map-4

One Left!

According to Breakdown Press, Berserker #1 is:

by Jon Chandler, Anya Davidson, Lando, Benjamin Marra, Lane Milburn, Hardeep Pandhal, and Alexander Tucker -- cover by Robert Beatty -- articles by Peter Bebergal, Adham Faramawy, Sammy Harkham, Joey Holder, Alan Jefferson, Phillip Serfaty, and Jamie Sutcliffe -- design by Leon Sadler -- edited by Tom Oldham and Jamie Sutcliffe

168 x 260mm -- 68 pages -- offset printed -- saddle stitched

Prepare your pathetic attempts at brains for the unfettered, multidimensional extra-sensory data blast that is Berserker! Join editor-in-chief, Low Priestess Kleax Nix Vizz, as she subjects your laughable mammalian forms to the manifest genius of cartoonists such as Jonathan Chandler, Anya Davidson, Benjamin Marra, Lane Milburn and Lando in a cosmic celebration of genre fiction in contemporary art, European science fiction comic anthologies, and The Mighty GOM the Galactic Gut. With contributions from Peter Bebergal and Adham Faramawy, Hardeep Pandhal and Jamie Sutcliffe, interviews with artists Robert Beatty and Joey Holder and design by Leon Sadler, Berserker is unchallenged in its universal dominance. ALL HAIL GOM! ALL HAIL GOM!

Berserker 1 was printed by offset lithography at Crystal Press in the UK.