From what little your editor knows regarding the sexy world of comic books, we had heard about a divide between Marvel Comics and DC Comics fans similar to that of the Catholics verses the Protestants. However, it turns out the difference between the two isn't that great an issue. "It's like Bing versus Yahoo, who gives a fuck," a comic book-reading friend tells us. But for you die hard Marvel fans, you will definitely want to check out Mrs. Vera's Massive Marvel Comic Book Sale, happening this Saturday. more ›

The Alternative Press Expo (or APE) was this past weekend at the Concourse here in San Francisco. The show, which is put on yearly by Comic-Con International, features indy and small press creators of zines, comic books, mini-comics, and more. After getting Larry Young's help to kick off our coverage, we attended on Saturday. We met so many cool people and saw so much neat stuff that we're breaking our experience into several posts. First up: the funny stuff. more ›

The Alternative Press Expo is this Saturday and Sunday, and hot damn we're psyched. Who better to help kick off our celebration of alternative press than one of the guys doing comics right? Larry Young is a fixture at APE -- his company, AiT/Planet Lar has been presenting there for years, exhibiting a diverse and interesting line of OGNs ("Original Graphic Novels") and other comic books. We spoke to Mr. Young about his company and pending projects. more ›

We're sure you're familiar with the brooding dark haired girl known as Emily the Strange. Clothing, shoes, comic books, calendars, CD's, you name it, Emily's done it. And Sfist is proud to call Emily a native to the Bay Area. Rob Reger and an illustrator for Emily, Buzz Parker, will be signing books at Things From Another World this Saturday at their Metreon location in San Francisco, be sure to go and get something signed. In case you don't already have an Emily book to bring, Chronicle Books has offered free books and journals to three lucky SFist readers. more ›

In case you haven't noticed, we're rather fond of comic books, particularly those written by locals. And parties! We like parties too. That why we said "yay" when we heard that our irreverent colleague Lev is throwing a release party to celebrate publication of "The Seven Habits of Highly Negative People," part three in his series. Lev's modestly drawn stories center around "stuff you think but don't talk about," and include such subjects as "What Life Will be Like as Soon as I Write the Great American Novel," "Twenty-Nine Reasons not to Expend Any Effort Today," as well as various awkward arguments and procrastinations that make up normal, terrifying, fascinating day-to-day life. more ›

are our other favorite reality shows.) more ›

Before we get to this week's comic books, we must first point out that Issue 2 of Kevin McShane's has, as the kids say, hit the stands. (We reviewed Issue 1 a few weeks ago.) This latest installment sees our heros standing in line to get into a club where, it turns out, everybody sucks. Poseurs and floozies and five dollar beers deflate their enthusiasm for Los Angeles, but just when all seems lost and parking tickets are chomping at their heels, Toupydoops makes a neato new friend who somehow seems to make everything seem okay. Good times. And we're still looking forward to the day that Teeter snuggles in with the other bears at Oil Can Harry's. more ›

Free comic books?!?! As Kool-Aid Man says, "OHHHH YEAH!" This past Saturday was Free Comic Book day throughout the world; a day when comics publishers send out random snippets of work, free of charge, for the public to gobble up, mull over, and hopefully consider purchasing in the future. Some years, the pickins are slim; but 2006 will be remembered as a banner year for free books. There were a slew of excellent titles up for grabs, not the least of which was a Scott Pilgrim story, an excessively entertaining tale called , and a riviting picnic with Tove Jansson's lovable Moomins. more ›

Oh, so you think you're SMART, do you? You think you're some kind of Poindexter? Some kind of Einstein? Some kind of vos Savant? Pah! Smarty-pants philosophical musing is no longer the provenance of the eggheads among us, now that Fred van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey are publishing "Action Philosophers!" ... a new series of comic books chronicling the explosive life and leanings of such thinkers as Machiavelli, Marx, Derrida, and Descartes. With their patented blend of plain-English explanation, actual quotes, and illustrative illustrations, soon you'll be nodding knowingly along with Marx's concept of commodities, and Satre's phenomenology ... rather than just nodding - but - hoping - the - professor - doesn't - call - on - you. more ›

This week's comic books bring us, Sherpa-like, into two worlds we know relatively little about: comic book conventions and Mormonism. If only there were a way to combine them. We find it difficult to discuss our favorite of the books because of its incredibly horrible title -- let's just say it once, just to get it over with, and then we'll never refer to it again. "Toupydoops," by Kevin McShane. There. It's done. Let us never speak it aloud again. more ›

Though we do tire, at times, of the alpha-male genre, few comic books or movies do it with more relish and gusto than Frank Miller's . So unless you're some kind of sobbing tree-kisser who doesn't like cartoonish violence and macho grandstanding, you'll be glad to hear that Frank Miller is hosting a screening of the film this Sunday at the Act 1&2 in Berkeley. The whole shebang benefits the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund; and audience-members and CBLDF-members get free invites to a post-screening chat with Mr. Miller at Comic Relief, a nifty Berkeley comix store. more ›

. HA HA HA HA HA HA!" We do love some good old fashioned postmodern irony, and Mantooth fits the bill, from the evil robot named "World's Greatest Grandpa" to a plot to make zombies out of the world's Nobel Prize winners. And the annotations -- inspired, we are told, by an annotated volume of Shakespeare -- reveal both the comic's script and the author's intentions, both of which make for an illuminating read. more ›

Theater isn't just theater anymore. Throw in some dance, circus, puppetry and even a bit of some horror and comic books, and you've come a long way since, say, Neil Simon. more ›

Oooooh, ... plus an internal monologue ... plus cartoons! more ›

Wait a minute, starf**ks! We're just reporting the news! Don't sue us like you did to local artist Kieron Dwyer when he produced the image at right for his comic book series . Though we don't know much about the terms of your settlement with him, we do know that it wasn't terribly favorable to the artist, and includes such stipulations as that he's never allowed to design a circular logo ever again. The republic certainly can sleep safe tonight thanks to you. more ›

"Our princess is in another castle!" remains protected speech at the moment, thanks to a ruling from Northern District Judge Ronald Whyte yesterday. The ruling placed a preliminary injunction on the law written by San Francisco Assemblyman Leland Yee and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger last month. more ›

Kablammo! Oh excuse us. We were just reading some comic books. This week, courtesy of Isotope's guidance, we're checking out Harvey Pekar's new book, . more ›

Musicals, musicals everywhere in this edition of Stage Fog. more ›

At the Alternative Press Expo (or APE), overstimulation is an understatement. There is a ton going on here. Held yearly in San Francisco, heretofore in February, APE took place this past weekend, April 9-10, at the Concourse Exhibition Center. more ›

"Straight guys really ought to know about this," we're told by Scooter, a local cartoonist and signmaker, "because, I mean, talk about a sure-fire place to pick up women." He's talking about Yaoi-Con, a yearly gathering of the mostly-female writers, artists, and fans of Yaoi (also known as "Boys Love"), anime-styled comic books about young affectionate men. (Actually, it's a bit more complicated than that; but for now let's forgo a discussion on the intricacies of manga. Okay?) Scooter's a soft-spoken fellow, with a pointy, Freudish beard; he started drawing Yaoi about six years ago when he was introduced to the genre. "I figured, how hard can it be? There's not too many lines to draw," he says as he flips through his sketchbook. Well, yes and no - flip through some of the featured artists in Shonen Comics Volume One (of which Scooter is one) and you'll see a range of artistic styles that you might not ordinarily expect from what is, on first inspection, a naughty-gay-cartoon zine. more ›