Seattlest Visits Fantagraphics--Round One

Admission: We don't know shit about graphic novels (we were more baseball cards than comic books in our day)

We read Maus in the mid 90's and the Watchmen for a college class, and that's it. But as we were down in Georgetown for a work function, we thought we'd check out the new store. The lovely and charming Rhea (pictured at right) picked something out for us based on the bibliography just mentioned and our assurance that we "like humor."

That book we're holding is Joe Sacco's But I Like It, a compilation of Sacco's work about the rock and the roll. The heart of the book is a reproduction of “In the Company of Long Hair,” a graphic novelette Sacco created about touring Europe in the early 90s with a punk band. And somehow managing not to get laid. Here's the CBC interviewing Sacco about it.

Gives you a good sense of the way a touring band swings between lassitude and mania. And it's funny. The book includes a CD with some live recordings of the band--The Miracle Workers--which we're afraid to listen too.

Then there are some pieces about Sacco's obsession with the Rolling Stones, and a longer series about R.L. Burnside and some of the other Fat Possum artists. Good pick, Rhea.

Even though we read a graphic novel twice-decadely, it's cool that the nation's best comics publisher is in our backyard. Next time, Editor Dan visits.