Bridging Past and Present with Jeremy Bastian

“The Griffon” (Ink on paper, 2009) is but one example of Jeremy A. Bastian’s love of the mythical and necessity for detail.

Unless you’re a diehard comic book enthusiast or an avid student of art history, it might at first be difficult to imagine what comics and fine art really have in common.  Comics tend to be denigrated as merely pop culture kitsch or kids’ stuff.  And with all of the superheroes in colorful costumes, the Saturday morning cartoons, and the whole hub of merchandising aimed at children and adolescents, it’s not hard to see why someone might arrive at such a conclusion.  On the other hand, fine art has been elevated to the pinnacle of creative innovation and self-expression for most cultures around the globe.

Another example of Bastian’s detailed and whimsical take on classic mythical creatures: “The Manticore” (Ink on paper, 2009).

If you ask any true comic book fan if there’s more to the medium in terms of artistic or literary merits, they will promptly and adamantly attempt to persuade you of the cultural and social significance of comics.  Similarly, not all comic fans may have an appreciation or understanding on the finer points of classical art much to the chagrin of art critics.  Yet, there is a strong correlation between the two, though neither group of enthusiasts will necessarily admit to it.  So, how does one bridge antiquity with modernity, the past with the present, and unite two groups of people who may have more in common than either recognize?
The answer is simple:  Jeremy A. Bastian.

Michael Zulli on Kickstarter!

You might remember my post some time back about Michael Zulli’s masterwork graphic novel Fracture of the Universal Boy.  The part of my earlier post that’s been circulating as promo for the fundraiser (via Bleeding Cool) is this:

What Michael Zulli has crafted with his masterpiece The Fracture of the Universal Boy is- and I say this without the slightest hesitation- more aligned with Symbolist literature such as Joris-Karl Huysman‘s 1891 novel Le Bas (“Down There” or “The Damned”) than anything else I can think of. The poet Stéphane Mallarmé articulated the scope of the term Symbolism, stating “Suggestion, that is the dream”, and the dream/awake//surreal/hyper-real elements that make up The Fracture of the Universal Boy have absolutely NOTHING to do with anything I’ve ever seen happen in comics.

I don’t know yet how to sum it up in a brief passage, but the random fragments in my head are this:

(1) People- “comic readers” especially- will generally hate this book. Angel raping? Check. Drug fiends under the swamp water? Check. False “happy” endings, and eviscerated eye sockets? Oh, yes… Seriously, it’s commercial suicide.

(2) Like Schiller said (and Klimt repeated), it is the artist’s duty to RAISE and EXPAND the consciousness of the public, not to feed them whatever smooth flavors they order. See #1.

(3) This is not an easy read. It’s harsh, melodramatic, overbearing, passionate… and captures in crystalline fashion EXACTLY the experiences of the artist- saying everything, while revealing nothing. In short- this is, by definition, a perfect piece of ART. Its sentiments are literally timeless, but it could only have been created today. Its message would be equally as potent in 1810, 1910, 2010, and 2110.

Zulli has done a rare thing, which is brought the elements that made Symbolism an important movement, and found a way to make it relevant and contemporary. Even if you feel the Pre-Raphaelite leanings of his commercial stories with Neil Gaiman are too saccharin, if you are honest with yourself when you read The Fracture of the Universal Boy you will be forced to admit that in this book the ink brush has cut completely past the velvet, through the twitching muscle, cracked the bone, and gone down to the very marrow of the artist-

And THAT is a RARE and PRECIOUS thing.

I’m happy to report that Michael has renewed interest in releasing the book!!!  Century Guild (Olympian Publishing) is not affiliated with the new edition, however Ryan Graff is an elegant and tasteful man and he has started a Kickstarter campaign to finance the production via his Eiodolon Fine Arts.  I maintain that this is a brilliant volume that will NOT disappoint.  $45 for a quality book- and I would feel very confident that Misters Graff and Zulli will be top-notch on this front- is a small price to pay for the physical thing, and when you take into account the METAphysical… the resultant volume is priceless.

Spend $45, your soul (and I!) will thank you:

MICHAEL ZULLI FRACTURE OF THE UNIVERSAL BOY- ON KICKSTARTER!

"How small can you be and still have your heart broken...?"

The past that haunts you.

Such stuff that dreams are made of...

And Miles To Go Before We Sleep. (2: In which we are brought up to date.)

We’ve added another voice to the Cursed Pirate Girl radio play… joining Stephanie Leonidas (Cursed Pirate Girl), Robert Boulter (Narrator and Mister Spekle), Dave McKean and Grant Morrison (the Swordfish Brothers), and Randy Couture (Sharky)- in the role of the indomitable Captain Holly…  John C. Reilly!  Yay!

After a wonderful day including armor, Dungeons & Dragons, vintage guitars, and… wait for it… CLOWN PAINTINGS!  John lay down the voice for the surly villain with a delivery that exceeded my already high expectations.

Thomas Negovan with John C. Reilly, reading the part of Captain Holly.

"Yer a cruddy little stowaway!!!"

After San Diego Comic Con last summer, we’ve been going SO nonstop I haven’t had even a moment to post a “real” blog update.  We had gallery construction:

Lyta may not have opposable thumbs, but has found that her snaggletooth makes an excellent demolition tool.

An amazing opening night party:

Barbara Staples, Gillian Hastings, and Lady Jack at the opening night Grand Guignol event.

Lady Jack lounges amidst some of the more macabre artworks...

Opening night at Century Guild: Grand Guignol. Because Good Taste shouldn't be a subculture.

Then a bunch of shoots for a TV show that we can’t talk about (but whose premiere commanded four million viewers…), travelling to negotiate some fabulous artifacts away from Shaolin monks and Parisian bordello owners, and preparing for our next show: LOVE AND OTHER VIOLATIONS, this coming weekend!  Celebrate love and lust with us on February 19th if you’re in Chicago.  6-9 pm, we’re feeling the Valentine’s Day spirit!  Here are some of the artworks for this weekend’s show:

Ekstase by Dave McKean

Eve by Gail Potocki

Yolanda, Los Angeles 2000 by Steve Diet Goedde

Original poster advertising Les debauches d'un confesseur, a seminal S&M novel from 1883

Danae by Gustav Klimt (period lithograph, produced by Klimt)

Please note:

ARTISTS GAIL POTOCKI AND STEVE DIET GOEDDE WILL BE PRESENT AT THE OPENING.

LOVE AND OTHER VIOLATIONS

Saturday, 19 February 2010 at Century Guild

6-9 pm

Finis by Gail Potocki

 

San Diego Comic Con 2010 SCHEDULE

I feel like I should begin as if I were in a confessional: “Forgive me, it’s been sixty-eight days since my last blog post…”

Lots of great things happening.  Which I DO want to talk about.  I mean, like YOU-WOULD-NOT-BELIEVE-IT level coolness.  And when I say that, I mean, like, you can’t even imagine.  But I must get this post out before the event has come and gone!

We’ve put together the best exhibition yet for this year’s San Diego Comic Con.  Haute Campe, our division of drive-in movie posters, has made some fantastic poster recreations featuring top models, and they’ll be appearing in our booth to sign them!  Plus, we’re happy to add some new artists to the Century Guild stable (BOOTH 2845)… PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES.

Century Guild – Special Guests

Melissa Auf der Maur

Melissa Auf der Maur

Signing   Thursday 22 July 2010   2-3 pm

Musician Melissa Auf der Maur has served as bassist for the bands Hole and Smashing Pumpkins, and contributed to albums by artists including Rufus Wainwright and Ryan Adams.  While Blender magazine lists her as “one of the hottest women in rock”, I assure you that Melissa is much more than just a pretty (ok, gorgeous) face:

Last Fall, Melissa Auf der Maur’s film Out Of Our Minds (with collaborator Tony Stone) was featured as an installation piece in the J. W. Waterhouse exhibition at the Montreal Museum Of Fine Arts.  First shown at Sundance in 2009, her film is noteworthy as the sole contemporary interpretation of the Pre-Raphaelite vision to be included in this landmark exhibition.

Out Of Our Minds is part of a larger vision, including a record and other soon-to-be-revealed aspects.  Melissa is a true conjurer and fine artist, and you MUST come and meet her!  Please note: Due to concert obligations, Melissa will be at Comic Con Thursday only!

Lee Moyer

Lee Moyer

Signing   Thursday 22 July 2010   2-3 pm

Continuing the Melissa Auf der Maur festivities, Lee Moyer will be signing alongside Melissa copies of his not-yet-revealed Art Nouveau-inspired MAdM poster!!!  Lee has been in the public eye this past year as the artist bringing Michael Kaluta’s vision for an expanded Starstruck to completion, inking the expanded images and meticulously painting the entire book.  We love Lee and are happy to have him behind the table this year!  Please note: Due to prior commitments, Lee will only be at Comic Con on Thursday as well.

Michael Zulli

Michael Zulli

Signing Thursday 22 July 2010 2-3 pm

Signing Friday 23 July 2010 12-1 pm

FRIDAY 1-2: SPOTLIGHT ON MICHAEL ZULLI PANEL UPSTAIRS (Room 4)!

Signing Saturday 24 July 2010 1-2 pm

Signing Sunday 25 July 2010 1-2 pm

IN HIS FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE IN OVER DECADE. One of Neil Gaiman’s “go-to” illustrators, Zulli created the popular “man who could not die” Hob Gadling for The Sandman comic, and illustrated the epic final story arc, The Wake.  Gaiman was so moved by Zulli’s sensitive linework, that this story arc were the first books to be published directly from an artist’s pencils. Following his work on The Sandman, Zulli retreated from the public eye and spent years sculpting his deeply personal graphic novel The Fracture of the Universal Boy, coming in Fall 2010 from Olympian Publishing. We are proud to announce that Michael Zulli is a Featured Guest of the 2010 San Diego Comic Con.

Annaliese Nielsen

Annaliese Nielsen and God’s Girls

Signing   Thursday 22 July 2010 4-5 pm

Signing Friday 23 July 2010   2-3 pm

Signing Saturday 24 July 2010   2-3 pm

Signing   Sunday 25 July 2010   2-3 pm

God’s Girls has become synonymous with tattoed-and-alternative-model culture, and they are featured models on the Haute Campe drive-in poster recreations!  Founder Annaliese Nielsen will be on hand, along with popular models Jenna Valentine, Tyler Christ, London and Toryn to sign copies of the posters… and surprise guests!

Jim Rose and Bébé Aschard-Rose

Jim Rose and Bébé Aschard-Rose

Signing   Thursday 22 July 2010   3-4 pm

Signing Friday 23 July 2010  3-4 pm

Signing Saturday 24 July 2010   3-4 pm

Signing   Sunday 25 July 2010   3-4 pm

Homer Simpson might have called him “boss” on The Simpsons, Mulder and Scully might have called him “Dr. Blockhead” on The X-Files, but we call Jim Rose “legend”.  With his Jim Rose Circus, Rose revitalized the entire sideshow culture, and became a worldwide sensation from the moment they were invited by Jane’s Addition founder Perry Farrell to shock the crowds on the first Lollapallooza tour back in 1991 and paved the way for an entire generation of tattooed and pierced performers. “Today you see acts on prime time television that I was being thrown in jail for in ’91 and ’92,” marvels Rose.

Jim and his wife, Bébé the Circus Queen, have collated the notes taken over a lifetime’s worth of circus travels around the world on the luck rituals they encountered in different cultures into an encyclopedia of all things lucky titled- appropriately enough- Your Lucky Book.  Illustrated in a nineteenth-century style by Jeremy Bastian, both authors will be on hand to sign limited edition copies of the book with a special cover, hand-stamped in metallic inks.

Steve Diet Goedde

Steve Diet Goedde

Signing   Thursday 22 July 2010   3-4 pm

Signing Friday 23 July 2010   2-3 pm

Signing Saturday 24 July 2010   2-3 pm

Signing   Sunday 25 July 2010   3-4 pm

Century Guild is proud to announce representation of Steve Diet Goedde- a world-recognized photographer and one of the leading names in contemporary fetish photography.

Models Goedde “discovered” include such icons as Dita Von Teese, Masuimi Max, Aria Giovanni, Justine Joli, and Emily Marilyn. His work was compiled in two hardcover monographs, The Beauty of Fetish: Volumes I & II, by renowned photography publisher Edition Stemmle.

Steve will be signing DVDs of his interactive film Living Through Steve Diet Goedde: Photographic Anthology 1990-2004, with over 700 images digitally rescanned from the original negatives by Steve Diet Goedde himself, including hundreds of never-before-seen images.

Jeremy Bastian's Cursed Pirate Girl

Jeremy Bastian

Signing   Thursday 22 July 2010   10 am- 7 pm (all day!)

Signing Friday 23 July 2010 10 am- 7 pm (all day!)

Signing Saturday 24 July 2010 10 am- 7 pm (all day!)

Signing   Sunday 25 July 2010 10 am- 5 pm (all day!)

The success of Jeremy Bastian’s Cursed Pirate Girl has reached levels of appeal that very few contemporary comics can claim.  In the year since its first issue was published, Jeremy Bastian’s creation has amassed a cult-like following, its followers ranging from comic book fans, children, industry legends and celebrities.  The first issue has already reached a 4^th printing!  Jeremy will also be signing the above mentioned limited edition copies of Your Lucky Book by Jim and Bébé Rose.  This weekend will also mark the announcement of Cursed Pirate Girl moving to a major publisher. “Jeremy Bastian is a genius” -Mike Mignola (Hellboy)

Thomas Jane

Thomas Jane

Signing Friday 23 July 2010 1pm-2pm

Signing Saturday 24 July 2010 2pm-3pm

Hung.  The Punisher.  The Mist.  As if that wasn’t enough, add that the man was the director of the brilliantly creepy The Dark Country and the mastermind behind some of the hottest comic books to hit the shelves in the last couple of years, and you have more reasons than you need to come and see the take Sioux Sinner has conjured up of a certain 1970s Italian movie poster— recreated with Tom in the lead role!  Thomas Jane will be signing his Haute Campe recreation and will be more than happy to sign any copies of his comics Bad Planet or Alien Pig Farm 3000 you might happen to have bought before those things were sold out everywhere!

Gail Potocki

Gail Potocki

Signing Friday 23 July 2010 4-5pm

Signing Saturday 24 July 2010 4-5pm

Symbolist painter Gail Potocki is an anachronism: an artist who studied in the manner of the Old Masters… but grew up listening to Punk Rock.  Gail is currently working on a series based on the Freaks of the 1920s sideshows, and her environmental paintings have become hauntingly relevant again this season.  Stay tuned for details on a special charity supporting animal rescue efforts in the Gulf.  “More than just paintings, Gail Potocki conducts seances on canvas.” -Grant Morrison

Sioux Sinner, Andi Lyn, Linda Le

Sioux Sinner, Linda Le, Andi Lyn

Signing   Sunday 25 July 2010 2-3pm

Signing Haute Campe poster recreations: three of the most popular Alt Models!  Doctor Who, Tattoo, and Anime Nerds everywhere will rejoice now that they know where to stalk these ladies.

EXHIBITING

Dave McKean

Dave McKean (appearing by chance)

Nitrate artworks and edition prints, including the above painting of Metropolis.

Dave McKean has illustrated and designed covers for the most respected comics of the late 20th century (including Arkham Asylum and Sandman), has worked on film and book projects with John Cale, The Rolling Stones, Jonathan Carroll and Stephen King and has seen his work brought to life by The National Theater of Scotland (The Wolves in the Walls).   McKean was also a conceptual artist on the Harry Potter films and created and directed the movie MirrorMask for the Jim Henson Company.   A longtime aficionado of silent film, McKean’s current body of work is inspired by the era and is titled Nitrate.  His second film, Luna, is currently in post-production.

Lisa Black

Lisa Black (artworks only)

Last year, Lisa Black’s taxidermy artworks were a runaway hit of the show, and were featured on Wired and Boing Boing, and were the subject of more blog posts than anything we’ve ever seen.  This year will certainly have the crowds equally enthralled!

Malleus

Malleus (artworks only)

Italian artists Malleus are a “three-headed hydra” of creativity, and they make some of the BEST silkscreened concert posters in the world.  Described as “Dark Nouveau”, we are fans- and you should be too…!

CENTURY GUILD DECORAITVE ARTS – BOOTH 2845

San Francisco and Wondercon 2010: recap

I’m not a good blogger.  I haven’t even finished two sentences, and I want to get off of the computer.  I like living outside of the Tron world!  For example, taking trips to… San Francisco!

Thursday night we kicked off the weekend by taking Jeremy somewhere unmentionable.  Well, not unMENTIONABLE, but unprintable.  Suffice to say the high edge of my tolerance threshold for debaucherous peculiarity was finally- and FIRMLY!!!- delineated.

Sioux Sinner and a disapproving Jack Absinthe.

 

Friday, Sioux Sinner kicked off the show by dressing as Sally Bowles. Needless to say, she ran into trouble with the authorities within the first hour.

Something about this is funny to you, young... and I use the next term loosely... 'lady'?

 

By the end of the first day, Sioux wishes that Sally Bowles had sported more sensible footwear.

 

Can you spot the Freak in this picture? Jeremy Bastian with our FREAKS magazine!

 

Day two brought with it sunshine, a lovely early morning, and a riding crop.  Sioux dressed as Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS and the results were… ummm… let’s just say we’re digging a moat to separate Haute Campe and Century Guild for all future shows.  The number of people constantly surrounding the booth, snapping photos (including a large group of Japanese businessmen clamoring to get photos of each other- and their kids- being whipped-)  was… a lot.  Like, almost got nothing done quantities.  Fun, but CHAOTIC…

Sioux Sinner is a harsh taskmaster.

 

An SS Officer's only weakness???????? P-U-P-P-I-E-S.

 

 
Sioux is currently losing sleep over a particular bunny:

Linda 'Vampy' Le... and Sioux 'Campy' Sinner

 

This was meant to be a blackmail photo, but this girl is beautiful even when she sleeps with her mouth open. (No inappropriate jokes, please.)

 

We met a ton of great people this trip: ex Go-Go Jane Wiedlin was a favorite, Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon was a true gentleman, and of course it is always a joy to see dear friends like dinosaur maven William Stout and the event organizers Justin, Rod, and Sam.  (Not to mention Robots and Donuts artist Eric Joyner as the best neighbor you could ask for…)  Also, this guy made us laugh out loud:

Chris Gore and Sioux Sinner

 

Sioux and Jack ended the show by getting onstage to demonstrate the Nintendo Wii’s new dance game Just Dance by performing New Kids on the Block’s epic masterpiece of rock and roll glory, the powerful “Step By Step”.  It was only a moment into the song when things took a turn for the strange, as the event inappropriately transformed into a 1939 Political Rally:

Jack Absinthe, proudly (and foolishly) wearing the Haute Campe armband outside of the booth...

 

Finally, some personal photos:

Thomas Negovan in San Francisco, Apr 2010

 

Sioux Sinner in San Francisco, April 2010

 

Jack Absinthe in San Francisco (Haight-Ashbury), April 2010

ARKHAM ASYLUM’S GRANT MORRISON and DAVE McKEAN REUNITED!!! Plus, Gail Potocki’s Freaks: a sneak peek

Yes, Grant and Dave were kind enough to lend their voices to the Swordfish Brothers- Sir Haftu the Magnificent and Sir Halek the Significant- on the audio recording of Jeremy Bastian’s Cursed Pirate Girl! It’s wildly funny that the brothers now have one very very Scottish and one very very British accent.

The Swordfish Brothers.

Grant Morrison and Dave McKean reading Cursed Pirate Girl

There is a great article just posted on BrokenFrontier.com that beautifully recaps everything on the Cursed Pirate Girl recording, to date HERE.

Plus……

FREAKS magazine!

This 9″ x 12″ magazine (16pp) will be released at Wondercon in San Francisco the first weekend in April, or available soon on the Olympian Publishing website.

Includes never-before-seen artwork by Gail Potocki and Jeremy Bastian, interviews with Stephanie Leonidas, Gail Potocki, Jeremy Bastian, Jim Rose (of the Jim Rose Circus), plus an interview with Sioux Sinner on the launch of Haute Campe, and an interview and artwork with the elusive and charming Michael Zulli (The Sandman, Alice Cooper: The Last Temptation) on the forthcoming Fracture of the Universal Boy!

Dave McKean, Grant Morrison, and Thomas Negovan read Cursed Pirate Girl

THE SIMPSONS, NINE INCH NAILS, THE X-FILES, MARILYN MANSON… AND CURSED PIRATE GIRL

PRESS RELEASE: THE SIMPSONS, NINE INCH NAILS, THE X-FILES, MARILYN MANSON… AND CURSED PIRATE GIRL

Jim Rose (of the Jim Rose Circus, named “One of the Twenty Most Outrageous Acts of the 20th Century” by SPIN magazine) has been called on to press his unique fingerprint onto a great number of pop culture happenings that could only be called historical and iconic: The Simpsons and X-Files TV shows, tours with Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson… the list goes on, and in 2010 includes the role of Grandpa Alice on the cast recording of Jeremy Bastian’s comic Cursed Pirate Girl, which is not-for-sale and will only be played at select bookstore and library events this Fall.

Jim Rose as Grandpa Alice in Cursed Pirate Girl

“There are many things in my career that I’m proud of. I was hand-picked by Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell for his very first Lollapalooza tour. Homer Simpson ran away and joined my circus as The Human Cannonball. I was investigated, poked, and prodded by Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. I went the full Downward Spiral tour with Trent Reznor and came out alive on the other side. I can call the finest artistic minds on the planet my friends, from the late William Burroughs to Bowie, Bono and Bob Dylan. But for pure emotional joy, nothing matches what I felt when I read Cursed Pirate Girl for the first time. Gail Potocki nailed it when she called it ‘Our generation’s Alice in Wonderland’. This isn’t pop culture, this is something timeless. When I heard about the cast recording I made the calls to get myself involved.”

Cursed Pirate Girl #1 (of 3), third printing, available online from Olympian Publishing.

Cursed Pirate Girl is one of the most talked-about books in the comic industry: Mike Mignola (Hellboy) exclaimed the book to be “truly original… Jeremy Bastian is a genius!”; David Petersen (Mouse Guard) calls it “classic storytelling that any age can enjoy… (it) makes other artists jealous- and comic readers drool!” Gerard Way (The Umbrella Academy, and singer for the rock band My Chemical Romance) says “Cursed Pirate Girl is totally ahead of its time. I wish I’d thought of it!”
Jeremy Bastian’s Cursed Pirate Girl is available online at http://www.olympianpublishing.com and ask your local retailer to contact Haven Distribution at http://www.havendistro.com
For more information contact media@centuryguild.net .

Jim Rose as Grandpa Alice in Cursed Pirate Girl

UFC LEGEND RANDY COUTURE CAST IN COMIC BOOK ADAPTATION!

UFC LEGEND RANDY COUTURE CAST IN COMIC BOOK ADAPTATION!

Randy Couture conjures up the image of flexing muscles, the smell of blood, and the taste of… salt water?  Because this time, in addition to “fighter”, “champion” and “actor”, Randy Couture adds “pirate” to his resumé.

Thomas Negovan coaches Randy Couture on the art of piracy for Cursed Pirate Girl.

 

Reading the role of the vicious henchman “Sharky” in the cast recording of Jeremy Bastian’s comic Cursed Pirate Girl wasn’t that far of a stretch for the three-time heavyweight champion.  In the story, his character is the pirate muscle who causes serious trouble for Cursed Pirate Girl, played by Stephanie Leonidas (Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s cult film MirrorMask, BBC’s Dracula).  Couture is the second voice actor to be named in the audio drama.

This Cast Recording of the book will not be for sale, but will be played at select library and bookstore events this Fall.

Adapting a book to a cast recording isn’t a new idea, but it is something unseen in comics in America since the Superman serials in the Golden Age of Radio, and is the first time it’s being developed specifically with the intention to inspire new comic readers.  “This really is the first time something like this has been done,” says Olympian Publishing’s Thomas Negovan.  “Cursed Pirate Girl is a rare book that appeals equally to children and adults, and we’re thrilled that this cast recording will be an opportunity for long-time comic readers to experience a book alongside newer ones, and help to get a new generation excited about comics!”

Randy Couture laughs during the recording of Cursed Pirate Girl

 

Cursed Pirate Girl is one of the most talked-about books in the comic industry:  Mike Mignola (Hellboy) exclaimed the book to be “truly original… Jeremy Bastian is a genius!”; David Petersen (Mouse Guard) calls it “classic storytelling that any age can enjoy… (it) makes other artists jealous- and comic readers drool!”  Gerard Way (The Umbrella Academy, and singer for the rock band My Chemical Romance) says “Cursed Pirate Girl is totally ahead of its time.  I wish I’d thought of it!” 

And most succinctly, summed up by award-winning Symbolist painter Gail Potocki: “Cursed Pirate Girl is our generation’s Alice in Wonderland.”

The complete three issue storyline of Jeremy Bastian’s Cursed Pirate Girl is available online at http://www.olympianpublishing.com or ask your local retailer to contact Haven Distribution at http://www.havendistro.com

For more information contact media@centuryguild.net .

Cursed Pirate Girl #1 (of 3), third printing, available online from Olympian Publishing.

STEPHANIE LEONIDAS (MIRRORMASK, DRACULA) IS CURSED PIRATE GIRL!

STEPHANIE LEONIDAS (MIRRORMASK, DRACULA) IS CURSED PIRATE GIRL! (Press Release 2 March 2010)

Stephanie Leonidas, star of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s film for the Jim Henson Company MirrorMask and the BBC’s award-winning production of Dracula, adds a new role to her resumé this fall: the title character in a cast recording of Jeremy Bastian’s comic book Cursed Pirate Girl.  This cast recording is not for sale, but will be played at select library and bookstore events this Fall.

Cursed Pirate Girl #1 (of 3), third printing

 

Adapting a comic book to a cast recording isn’t a new idea, but it is something unseen in comics since the Superman serials in the Golden Age of Radio, and is the first time it’s being developed specifically with the intention to inspire new comic readers.  “This really is the first time something like this has been done,” says Olympian Publishing’s Thomas Negovan.  “Cursed Pirate Girl is a rare book that appeals equally to children and adults, and we’re thrilled that this cast recording will be an opportunity for long-time comic readers to experience a book alongside newer ones, and help to get that next generation excited about reading comics!”

Stephanie Leonidas is the Cursed Pirate Girl

 

Cursed Pirate Girl is one of the most talked-about books in the comic industry:  Mike Mignola (Hellboy) exclaimed the book to be “truly original… Jeremy Bastian is a genius!”; David Petersen (Mouse Guard) calls it “classic storytelling that any age can enjoy… (it) makes other artists jealous- and comic readers drool!”  Gerard Way (The Umbrella Academy, and singer for the rock band My Chemical Romance) says “Cursed Pirate Girl is totally ahead of its time.  I wish I’d thought of it!” 

And most succinctly, summed up by award-winning Symbolist painter Gail Potocki: “Cursed Pirate Girl is our generation’s Alice in Wonderland.”

Stephanie Leonidas reading Cursed Pirate Girl

 

The entire three-issue story arc of Jeremy Bastian’s Cursed Pirate Girl is now available online at http://www.olympianpublishing.com or ask your local retailer to contact Haven Distribution at http://www.havendistro.com

For more information contact media@centuryguild.net .

Stephanie Leonidas

TECHNORGANICA

I have successfully entered the 21st century, and I am now wired in to post on Twitter and Facebook remotely!    Look for Century Guild on Facebook, and at twitter.com/centuryguild as I’ll be posting updates from the Dave McKean signing and the Nitrate and Kinogeists exhibition in Los Angeles this weekend…!

xO

T