Floating World Comics reboot. It was like Flashpoint with ladders for about three days while we moved from one side of the Goldsmith building to the other. Now the dust has settled. Some of it is still there.

Recently voted “Favorite Comic Shop” in the 2011 Portland Mercury Reader’s Poll, we’ve expanded into a bigger and better location. Same building; we’ve moved just a block away to the corner of NW 4th and Couch (400 NW Couch St).

Grass Hut will be joining us and gaining a lot more square footage. Previously known as “the record store of comics stores” because of the way we sold books, we will finally be selling actual records. Paul Anson (from Discourage Records) is selling new and used vinyl as Landfill Rescue Unit.

To celebrate, we’re proud to host a book release party and art exhibit with multiple Eisner award winner, Matt Fraction. Casanova: Avaritia is the long anticipated third volume in Matt Fraction’s acclaimed creator owned series. The world’s sexiest and savviest superspy is back, killing his way from dimension to dimension in a high-stakes, action-packed adventure. The true identity of megasuperdupervillain NEWMAN XENO is now known to Casanova Quinn and E.M.P.I.R.E. – which means our man Casanova is now a pan-dimensional killer with one target hiding in an infinitely complex sprawl of realities.

TIMELINE UPDATE: Book signing with Matt Fraction rescheduled for Wednesday September 14th, 6-10pm.

Original art from the Casanova series by Gabriel Bá and Fabio Moon will be on display from Sept. 1st until Sept. 30th.

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Artwork by Gabriel Bá and Fabio Moon (not in attendance)
WHAT: Casanova: Avaritia #1 art exhibit
WHEN: Thursday, September 1st, 6-10PM

WHO: Matt Fraction
WHAT: Casanova: Avaritia #1 book release & signing
WHEN: Wednesday, September 14th, 6-8PM

WHERE: Floating World Comics
400 NW Couch St.
Portland, OR 97209
(503)241-0227

Bio info:

Matt Fraction – Matt Fraction is a recent PDX implant that, aside from CASANOVA, writes FEAR ITSELF, THE MIGHTY THOR, and the Eisner-Award winning INVINCIBLE IRON MAN.

http://mattfraction.com/

Gabriel Bá is the Eisner-award winning artist behind THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY and BPRD: 1947. His twin brother Fábio Moon is the Eisner-award winning artist of PIXU, SUGARSHOCK, and DAYTRIPPER, which his brother also writes.

http://fabioandgabriel.blogspot.com/

Casanova: Avaritia preview pages:
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/07/11/casanova-avaritia-preview/

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Come join creator Ed Luce for the release of a brand new issue of Wuvable Oaf and an exhibition of art and prints, including paintings, original pages from WO #3 and his new BUNGOOL the WUVABLE OGRE story (to be seen in an upcoming issue of Elf World from Portland publisher Family Style).  Ed will also be debuting a new a Wuvable Ogre print!

THE FIRST 25 ARRIVALS GET A FREE WORLD PAINTED GOTEBLÜD MINI POSTER!!!

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Ed Luce

WHAT: Book signing, art exhibit, and free print giveaway

WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 4th, 6-10PM

WHERE: Floating World Comics

20 NW 5th Ave #101

Portland, OR 97209

(503)241-0227

Bio info:

Ed Luce is the creator of Wuvable Oaf, a comic “fairy” tale chronicling one big, scary looking dude’s search for romance in a city that looks suspiciously like San Francisco.  The character stars in several books, as well as on an ever-expanding line of merchandise, including shirts, mugs, records, prints, posters and stickers.  Whitney Matheson, writing about the Oaf for USA Today’s Pop Candy section, describes the comic as “fast-paced, funny and chock full of pop-culture references”, concluding,  “whether you’re gay/straight/something in between, I think you’ll find yourself rooting for the Oaf and his quest for somebody to wuv.”

Wuvable Oaf has also made appearances in Decibel Magazine, Maximum RocknRoll, Prism’s Guide to Comics 2008-2010 editions, BEAR Magazine, Pride Magazine ’09, The San Francisco Bay Guardian, The Book of Boy Trouble 2, UK’s Gay Times and Instinct magazine.

Ed and Oaf had the very great honor of being named co-recipient of Prism Comics 2010 Queer Press Grant.  They have also been nominated for a 2009 Ignatz Award in the “Promising New Talent” category.

While currently pouring his energy into the comics world, Ed leaves a lengthy trail of art debris behind him, including published features in the UK’s Bearflavoured artists’ catalog and LA gay men’s health magazine Corpus. This past  February, he had the honor of participating in the “Henry & Glenn Forever” group exhibition at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, (aka WACKO on Hollywood Blvd.) one of his favorite places on earth.

http://www.wuvableoaf.com/

http://bearbait.livejournal.com/

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A haunting postmodern fable, BIG QUESTIONS is the magnum opus of Anders Nilsen, one of the brightest and most talented cartoonists working today. This beautiful and minimalist story, collected here for the first time, is the culmination of ten years and over 600 pages of work that details the metaphysical quandaries of the occupants of an endless plain, existing somewhere between a dream and a Russian steppe. A downed plane is thought to be a bird and the unexploded bomb that came from it is mistaken for a giant egg by the group of birds whose lives the story follows. The indifferent and stranded pilot is of great interest to the birds–some doggedly seek his approval, while others do quite the opposite, leading to tensions in the group. Nilsen seamlessly moves from humor to heartbreak. His distinctive, detailed line work is paired with plentiful white space and large, often frameless panels, conveying an ineffable sense of vulnerability and openness.

BIG QUESTIONS has roots in classic fable–the story’s birds and snakes have more to say than their human counterparts and there are hints of the classic hero’s journey, but the easy moral that closes most fables is left here as open and ambiguous. Rather than lending its world meaning, Nilsen’s parable lets the questions wander out to go where they will.

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Anders Nilsen

WHAT: Book signing and slide show reading

WHEN: Friday, July 29th, 6-9PM

WHERE: Floating World Comics

20 NW 5th Ave #101

Portland, OR 97209

(503)241-0227

Bio info:

Anders Nilsen was born in northern New Hampshire in 1973. He was weaned on a steady diet of comics, stories and art, from Tintin and the X-Men to Raw, Weirdo, punk rock, zines, graffiti and regular trips to art museums. He currently lives with his cat in Chicago, Il.

Anders’ comics have been translated into a number of languages. He has exhibited his drawing and painting internationally and had his work anthologized in Kramer’s Ergot, Mome, The Yale Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Best American Comics and Best American Non-Required Reading, as well as The Believer, the Chicago Reader and elsewhere. Other titles by Nilsen include Dogs And Water, Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow, Monologues for the Coming Plague, Monologues for Calculating the Density of Black Holes, and The End #1.

Anders Nilsen also received Ignatz Nominations for Outstanding Artist for Big Questions #7 & #8, Outstanding Series (Big Questions), and Outstanding Comic (Big Questions #7) at the 2006 Small Press Expo. Dogs and Water won an Ignatz for Outstanding Story in 2005, and his graphic memoir Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow won an Ignatz for Outstanding Graphic Novel in 2007.

http://www.andersbrekhusnilsen.com/

http://themonologuist.blogspot.com/

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Papercutter was launched in early 2005 by editor Greg Means as a showcase for emerging and underexposed cartoonists from Portland and across the country. Drawing from his background as librarian at Portland’s renowned art hub The Independent Publishing Resource Center, Means has put together sixteen issues featuring dozen of comic book artists that cut their teeth in the world of zines and minicomics. Stories from Papercutter have gone on to be included in Best American Comics, been turned into graphic novels from major publishers, and have won four straight Ignatz Awards (the comics equivalent of winning a Sundance Film Festival prize).

“We’ve been lucky to work with some amazing artists, and we’re proud to help introduce them to a larger audience. We are quite pleased with our status as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.” – Greg Means, editor

To celebrate the release of the latest issue of Papercutter we are hosting an art exhibit featuring an all star cast of Portland cartoonists who have been featured in previous issues of the local anthology.

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Greg Means (editor), Graham Annable, Elijah Brubaker, Lisa Eisenberg, Jonathan Hill, Sarah Oleksyk, Jesse Reklaw, Bwana Spoons, Joey Alison Sayers (not in attendance), Aron Steinke,
WHAT: Papercutter #16 book release
WHEN: Thursday, July 7th, 6-10pm
WHERE: Floating World Comics, 20 NW 5th Ave #101

BIO INFORMATION:

Papercutter #16 is the latest issue in Tugboat Press’s long running anthology series dedicated to showcasing the best young, underexposed and emerging comic book artists. This issue features a darkly compelling cover story by Joey Alison Sayers (Just So You Know), that follows the life of a middle school science teacher as his noble ideals about his profession start to crumble around him. Liz Prince (I Swallowed the Key To My Heart) returns with a brief look at the inner workings of her mind and finds it’s all to be pretty cool actually. Alexis Frederick-Frost (The Courtship of Miss Smith) wraps up the issue with a lush tale of a hunter who finds some of her prey to be adorable. Additional art by Nate Beaty.

http://tugboatpress.com/

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Somewhere in the Midwest, Amy Breis is going nowhere.

Amy has a job she hates, a creep boyfriend she’s just dumped, and a best friend she can’t reach on the phone. But at least her (often painfully passive-aggressive) mother bought her a pink unicorn sweatshirt for her birthday. Pink. Unicorn. For her twenty-sixth birthday.

Gliding through the daydreams and realities of a young woman searching for definition, Life with Mr. Dangerous showcases acclaimed cartoonist Paul Hornschemeier’s gift for deadpan humor and dead-on insight with a droll aftertaste—an unlikely but welcome marriage of the bleak and the hopeful.

LISTING INFORMATION:
WHO: Paul Hornschemeier
WHAT: LIFE WITH MR. DANGEROUS book release and signing
WHEN: Thursday, June 16th, 6-8pm
WHERE: Floating World Comics, 20 NW 5th Ave #101

BIO INFORMATION:

Paul Hornschemeier was born in 1977 in Cincinnati, reared in rural Georgetown, Ohio, and began self-publishing his experimental comics series SEQUENTIAL in college. Graduating with a degree in philosophy, he moved to Chicago and began his series FORLORN FUNNIES producing the graphic novels MOTHER, COME HOME, THE THREE PARADOXES, LIFE WITH MR. DANGEROUS, and the short story and illustration collections LET US BE PERFECTLY CLEAR and ALL AND SUNDRY.

Hornschemeier’s work, translated into multiple languages, has won international acclaim and awards, including honors at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He currently resides in Chicago, where he is still at work on FORLORN FUNNIES as well as various illustration, prose, and film projects.

http://forlornfunnies.com/

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