(L-R) Robert Crumb, Kramers Ergot 7 contributors Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, and Adrian Tomine, and publisher Alvin Buenaventura; photo by Melissa P. Coats

On Friday, publisher Alvin Buenaventura announced he had shut down his imprint Buenaventura Press as of this past January, due to a single knockout legal/financial blow. Publicly available details are few, in keeping with the private way the move has been handled for the past six months. But comics creators and critics en masse are mourning BP’s demise and reading the tea leaves as to where its publisher, artists, and entire brand of comics will land.

Robot 6 reached out to several of the artists published by Buenaventura, as well as a few of his fellow publishers, for their reaction:

Working with Alvin over the years has been really amazing. He has introduced me to a lot of magical and influential artists and hooked me up with tons of inspiring and perverted books. His place has awesome shit scattered all over- mountains of crazy books, toys, memorabilia, gigantic figures, artwork- it’s like a bomb went off. Now that he’ll be taking a break from the business we’ll finally have more time to play Rock Band and trip out on weird TV shows.

–Matt Furie, writer/artist, Boy’s Club

Alvin has a sixth sense for Things That Are Good, and he knows exactly how to present those Things so that they are even Gooder. I don’t understand how he does it, but it’s one of the many reasons why working with him has been such an extraordinary privilege.

–Lisa Hanawalt, writer/artist, I Want You

I really liked working with Alvin. Being part of the whole Buenaventura press thing I felt like I was part of a whole new comics movement. It was all very exciting. It’s really fucking depressing that it’s all over. I don’t even like to think about it.

–Johnny Ryan, writer/artist, The Comic Book Holocaust and The Klassic Komix Klub

It saddens me to hear that Buenaventura Press has closed their doors.
They were a juggernaut of alt comix and art book production. I hope that
Alvin keeps a hand, or ear, or head in the biz and that all of us might
benefit from it. Thanks for all the great work.

–Chris Pitzer, publisher, AdHouse Books

I’ve known Alvin since well before he was a publisher, when he was just a guy that I would sell a lot of comics to at every west coast comic convention. Except he (and his wife, Carleen) were different. I would see them *every* time, and Alvin would buy a giant pile of books that almost exactly dovetailed with my own personal taste. You notice these things, when a guy comes to like every Rick Altergott signing you have. I don’t even remember when it happened, honestly, but at some point he became a friend, and eventually a “colleague,” and ultimately a publisher that I truly admired (this is a very select group in the comics world). His list was impeccable and he’ll have a place in history for things like Kramer’s 7 and Jack Survives. He also has introduced me to some outstanding cartoonists like Lisa Hanawalt and Matt Furie. Basically, he is a man of exceptional taste, and knowing that Buenaventura Press won’t exist anymore is a real drag, because what he did excited me. But I also know he’s not really going anywhere and will continue to have a hand in good shit. Recently, he helped Tim Hensley and myself pick the best possible paper and package for Wally Gropius. It had nothing to do with Buenaventura Press, but he helped make that one of my favorite books of all time. Thank you, Alvin.

–Eric Reynolds, associate publisher, Fantagraphics

What i liked about what Alvin was doing, and indeed, something i was jealous of, was that he had a fondness for screenprinting and true “small press” aesthetics. Prints, posters, little saddle-stitch mini-comics, etc. This is how i got my own start, but Buenaventura did it so much better. Also, BP was very good at digging up new talent and springing it on an unsuspecting world. One of my favorite new comics to come along in the last decade were the issues he put out of Matt Furie’s Boy’s Club. Bummer.

–Brett Warnock, co-publisher, Top Shelf Productions

Cartoonists and commentators around the web also weighed in on the closing. On his blog, Ted May, who published his series Injury Comics through BP, eyed the future for both Buenaventura and his own series:

Knowing Alvin, I’m sure this won’t keep him from doing more awesome work whatever that ends up being.

I’ve got three stories in progress for the next issue(s) of Injury (working with Jason, Mike and Jeff). I’ll release that stuff in one form or another once we get it wrapped up.

Over at Arthur Magazine, retailer Jason Leivian of Portland’s Floating World Comics noted the publisher’s influence, including on his own career:

Without Buenaventura Press it’s possible I wouldn’t have been inspired to start Floating World Comics….It’s the Velvet Underground effect. Their books have inspired new comic scenes all over the world.

The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald praised BP’s high production values and eye for quality, which she argues makes the closure even more troubling:

Looking beyond the obvious loss of a great publisher, it’s a bit disturbing that, quite simply, arguably the finest boutique comics publisher in America went out of business five months ago and…no one noticed. Buenaventura had announced something of a hiatus back at the end of 2009 so perhaps people were waiting for the comeback, which never came.

The Comics Reporter’s Tom Spurgeon noted Buenventura’s dual role as a publisher of both comics and prints:

It’s not that this was unexpected — BP’s quiet withdrawal from the comics industry over the last nine months has been the source of a lot of discussion in certain comics circles — but it’s still very sad because of the overall quality of their offerings, ranging from exquisite prints like the above work from Marc Bell to books like last year’s great Jerry Moriarty collection.

Though it’s hard to parse Young Lions cartoonist Blaise Larmee’s deadpan tone, his post on the impact of BP’s closure on the artcomics scene led to interesting comments from a several of its practitioners on the future of the form. Here’s Tom Neely (The Blot):

self publish. small is beautiful. stay within your means. keep yr dayjob. make comics forever.

Tim Hensley (Wally Gropius, Kramers Ergot 7):

I think Kramers 7 may have done Alvin in, but I think dealing with the printer more than the reception of the book was the problem.
It depresses me that it confirms the opinions of many still eager to abscribe nothing more than hubris to the whole endeavor, but there it is…

Frank Santoro (Cold Heat, Kramers Ergot 7):

“Will young creators find themselves accepted or adrift within this territory?”

Adrift. Start swimming. Art Comics are going to be remembered like Undergrounds. It’s already happening if you ask me.

Start working on that romantic comedy yaoi webcomic! At least you’ll get reviewed on TCJ.com

Santoro also reveals that Kramers Ergot 8 was intended to be a year-long series of 32-page magazine-sized monthly installments featuring two artists per issue. “It might still happen,” he notes, before adding that he was never paid for his work in issue 7.

Perhaps the best response to the news came from the Beguiling retailer and TCAF organizer Chris Butcher:

I don’t want to turn this into a polemic or anything, I’m not trying to guilt or badger you into giving up your money, but I know more than anything how easy it is to get swept along in the day-to-day-discussion of comics, the bullshit Blackest-Night-Siege-Heroic-Age-Brightest-Day nonsense is fun because you can be a part of the conversation online about how terrible it all is, but when it comes to spending money on good books that don’t get as much discussion–but are going to hold up on your shelves and in your comic boxes a helluva lot better down the road–it really is worth your time and effort to check out some of the smaller and boutique publishers out there, because they’re often doing amazing stuff.

And I’m not setting this up as a mainstream versus indie debate–that’s fucking stupid. That’s over. This is about buying comics you like versus buying comics you don’t. And there are a lot of great books out there getting left out of the discussion that are great, that are worth your time.

Butcher goes on to list 18 small publishers putting out excellent work, and recommends several favorite books for each of them. If you’re going to take anything away from this story, make it this shopping list.

Page from Injury #3

Like the subject line says, artist Ted May has a brief pdf-file preview of the third issue of his ongoing series Injury up on his Web site. The comic will be available from Buenaventura Press soon.

©2009 Bongo Entertainment, Inc. The Simpsons © & ™Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

I somehow missed this in Tucker Stone’s report from MoCCA last week, but luckily Heidi over at the Beat caught it — Stone spoke with John Kerschbaum about his future projects, and the creator revealed that he’s working on this year’s Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror book for Bongo Comics.

Kerschbaum isn’t the only one working on the book, though; as you can see below in the solicitation copy that Bongo was kind enough to send us, they’ve recruited a Murderer’s Row of creators, including Jeffrey Brown, Kevin Huizenga, Matthew Thurber and many more, and it’s edited by Sammy Harkham of Kramers Ergot fame:

Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #15
Edited by Sammy Harkham
$4.99
48 pages/standard format/color/humor
UPC: 01511 (7-98342-02851-5)

Guest edited by Sammy Harkham, the award-winning creator of the popular Kramers Ergot anthology, this year’s issue is a jam-packed with some of the most idiosyncratic (and weirdest) takes on “The Simpsons” universe ever. Among Halloween-inspired short strips by such visionary cartoonists as Jordan Crane (Uptight), C.F. (Powr Mastrs), Will Sweeney (Tales from Greenfuzz), Tim Hensley (MOME), and John Kerschbaum (Petey & Pussy), are four featured tales of inspired Simpsons lunacy: heralded artists Kevin Huizenga (Ganges, Or Else) and Matthew Thurber (1-800 Mice, Kramers Ergot) collaborate on a weird and wild story equal parts Lovecraftian eco-horror and Philip K. Dick identity comedy. Jeffrey Brown (Incredible Change-Bots, Clumsy) does a creepy and suitably pathetic story featuring Milhouse in a “Bad Ronald”-inspired tale of murder and crawl space living. Harkham and Ted May (INJURY) pull out all the stops for a tragic monster tale of unrequited love, bad karaoke, and body snatching at Moe’s Bar. Ben Jones (Paper Rad) does the comic of his life with an epic tale of how bootleg candy being sold at the Kwik-E-Mart rapidly spirals out of control into an Invasion of The Body Snatchers-like nightmare of a Springfield filled with cheap bootleg versions of familiar characters. And nobody does squishy, sweaty, and gross like up and coming cartoonist Jon Vermilyea (MOME), who outdoes himself with “C.H.U.M.M.,” a C.H.U.D.-inspired parody featuring everybody’s favorite senior citizen, Hans Moleman!

With a cover by Dan Zettwoch, Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #15 is like nothing you’ve ever seen, and is sure to be one of the most talked about comics of the year by alternative comic readers and Simpsons fans of all ages!

This goes on my “must buy” list.

The inspired bit is that these comics will be packaged together in what the company is calling “The BP Comics Revival Economic Stimulus 3-Pak.” In other words, BP will release two sets of three comics shrink-wrapped together, a la the drugstore packages of olden days.

The first three-pack includes Ted May’s Injury #3, Aviatrix #1 by Eric Haven and I Want You #1 by Lisa Hanawalt. The books cost $4.95 apiece, but will be available as a package for $11.95 and will be offered in the June issue of Previews.

As you may remember, May had expressed concerns online that the latest issue of his ongoing series would not meet Diamond’s new minimum cut-off requirements and thus not be available in most comic stores. It’s nice to see the publisher has found an inventive way around that problem.

Click on the link to read the full press release:

Despite the ‘industry trend’ of canceling comic books to focus on graphic novels, Buenaventura Press boldly plans to release half a dozen actual comics over the coming year. We love the serial format that gave us masterpieces such as Eightball, Frank, Acme Novelty Library, Optic Nerve, Yummy Fur, Zap, Dirty Plotte, Palookaville, and Love & Rockets–and we want to keep alive the stapled marvel that is the comic book.

As part of this mission, Buenaventura Press is excited to announce the first in a new series: The BP Comics Revival Economic Stimulus 3-Pak! This Diamond exclusive is a throw-back to the ol’ drugstore shrink-wrapped 3-packs, but with all new comics. Offered in the June 2009 Previews at $11.95, the first Pak includes two new series–Aviatrix #1 by Eric Haven and I Want You #1 by Lisa Hanawalt–plus the return of Ted May’s Injury, with the brand new issue #3.

Working with Diamond’s Jenny Christopher, a staunch supporter of independent comics and new cartoonists, we are offering the Economic Stimulus 3-Pak at a discount price. Diamond’s distribution system allows us to maintain significant print runs that keep the price affordable. The comics will also be available individually at the BP webshop, Last Gasp, and select retailers. Issues will be priced at $4.95 each, making the 3-Pak a 3 dollar savings!

Stay tuned to Buenaventurapress.com for information on forthcoming comics, such as Matt Furie’s Boy’s Club #3, and more news from The Comics Revival!

Injury #3

I’m not sure when I first came across Ted May‘s work — it was probably with It Lives — but I remember being delighted with his sly blend of rock and roll, monster mania, superheroics, and adolescent smartassery, all delivered with a wink and a nod. I was excited, then, when May recently began a new comic book series, Injury, published by Buenaventura Press. What other alt-cartoonist would dare to imagine a Slade pinball machine or unabashedly quote Nazareth lyrics?

Alas, it seems Injury and May have fallen victim to Diamond’s recent policy changes, as the third issue apparently won’t make the cut-0ff criteria, making distribution of the pamphlet a tricky issue at best.

I spoke with May over email last week about these issues and the future of the series. I’d like to take this moment to thank him profusely for taking the time to answer the list of poorly worded questions I threw at him.

How well or poorly did the first two issues of Injury sell?

They sold pretty well as far as I know. The first issue did a bit better – probably since it had that first issue cachet. We figured the book would start catching on a little better as it progressed.

Given the problems indie pamphlets (for want of a better word) face currently, what made you decide to go with a serial comic book series rather than say a graphic novel or Webcomic or other publishing option?

I think the pamphlet is the best way to put out comics. Books like Eightball and Dirty Plotte were very inspiring to me early on. I’ve always wanted to do a regulation comic book. Even when I was doing minis, it didn’t feel quite like the real thing. I guess Alvin [Buenaventura] and I were aware that a book like Injury was sort of a dicey proposition, but we both believe in the format. I’ve been hoping that more people would do ‘em actually. Get a critical mass going. I never entirely understood why the format should have to fail. I guess it’s because the whole system of distribution and sales is built on the back of the established superhero market and … most of that crowd just absolutely will not tolerate a book that isn’t in color. I’m not saying that’s the ONLY thing Injury lacks, mind you.

I do stuff online but it’s just not as rewarding as Injury. Same with anthology stuff. I don’t mind doing it, but to me, doing a published comic book is the best way to go.

Are you definitely still planning on releasing the third issue of Injury at some future date or is that simply not feasible now?

Yeah, it’ll get put out. It’s just a matter of getting it printed and all. This is really more of Alvin’s concern at the moment. [Note: I did contact Alvin Buenaventura but as of this moment he has not yet responded to my email salvo.]

Should someone manage to get their hands on that third issue, what wonders would they find inside?

Well, there’s another chapter in the ongoing semi-autobiographical tales of Jeff Wilson. I really like the story – I think it turned out very nice. Jeff gave me all kinds of red meat to work with: high school bullying, detention, heavy metal and a healthy dose of Carl Sagan. The other story is a collaboration I did with a cartoonist I’ve long admired called Mike Reddy. It’s about a skywriting werewolf adventurer called Beast Biplane. He runs afoul of an aggressive gang of cross dressers and – as one would imagine – mayhem ensues. Beyond that, Jason Robards and I did a two-page infographic detailing Manleau’s cyborg arm. This book is SICK from stem to stern.

What’s your perspective on Diamond’s new policies? Do you view them as overly harsh? A necessary step that unfortunately cuts you out of the picture?

It seems like they have decided to strictly adhere to their core competency which is selling superhero books to fans of that genre. I mean, selling a book like Injury is very different from selling a book like Ultimate X-Men. They have very different audiences with very different shopping habits. Your Ultimate X-Men fan will likely be showing up every Wednesday for new comics day and buying his regular stack of books. A fan of any of the indie pamphlets is more likely to shop sporadically and follow specific artists. So to expect an indie book to sell X amount of books within the first 60 days or whatever is to essentially say that you don’t want to sell that sort of stuff. And that’s totally valid. It doesn’t really make sense to me but I haven’t spent a lot of time worrying about it either.

What do you think this will mean for other indie comics artists like yourself? Do you expect to see others fall by the wayside as well?

Well – I don’t think you’ll be seeing publishers putting out any new indie pamphlets, which is a shame. But we’ll all keep doing comics. Anybody who’s able to clock in the amount of blood, sweat and tears it takes to crank out multiple issues of a series isn’t going to let something like this slow them down. It’s weird – on one hand I keep thinking that nothing’s really changed. Artists will just resort to self publishing (print or web) and working toward eventual collected volumes or graphic novels. But then – I dunno – I think it really sucks to be losing that published pamphlet format. Oh well. It’s a shame, but it’s also a really fun time to be reading and making comics, so unfortunately I’m not able to feel a lot of righteous indignation.