“Most museums don’t like to show works that are unfinished,” Terrence Brown explained as he introduced me to the exhibition of artwork from Fantagraphics Books’ first 30 years of publishing independent comics, but the Society of Illustrators was delighted to host the retrospective, which was suggested by political cartoonist Steve Brodner, even though some of the artwork was still a few steps away from their printed versions, with captions missing or pasted over after rewrites. It didn’t take long for the room to fill up with many of the leading names in alternative comics; thankfully, The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald was kind enough to tell me who was who. Bob Fingerman (leaning against the wall) talked to a group of fellow creators about the exhibit, while children’s book author/illustrator Cambria Evans and her husband, Kari Christensen, proudly showed a copy of Martha Moth Makes Socks to Arkady Roytman. Then I got to meet two of my favorite writer/artists ever, Evan Dorkin (in the red shirt) and Stephen DeStefano. (Note to DC Comics: Absolute ‘Mazing Man; it’s the right thing to do.)
More pictures from the evening can be found in my Flickr photostream.
