De nieuwe jaargang van Stripgids is gelanceerd, en daarmee ook mijn derde reeks columns over strips en het internet. Deze keer starten we met traditionele uitgevers die ook online beginnen te publiceren.
Exactly ten years separate the two catalogues in this picture. In 1998 I received a little yellow envelope in the mail after sending Chris Staros a polite email. it listed all books Top Shelf had published at that time : 24 pages of them. The second book I got at my favorite comics store, and it counts no less than 255 pages, full of reviews, extracts and a complete history of Top Shelf Publishing, from The Staros Report up to Corey Barba’s Yam (and beyond).
Leafing through the Seasonal Sampler, I was completely awe-struck by the number of really good books Top Shelf has published so far — and of how much money I had already spent buying them. It would seem that every other book on my shelves bears the proud olive logo. And there is so much good stuff among them : James Kochalka, Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson, Craig Thompson’s Blankets (of course), anything by Matt Kindt and more recently Andy Runton’s Owly, Tim Sievert’s That Salty Air, Lars Martinson’s Tonoharu and Jeff Lemire’s Essex County trilogy.
It would seem that over the years, a special kind of comic has developed - the Top Shelf comic, with a particular, immediately recognizable style and a profound and meaningful story. But Top Shelf has also proven to be one of the few comics publishers who have really developed an all round catalogue, from children’s books (like Owly or Corgi) over autobiography to what can only be described as graphic literature for a mature audience (Lost Girls or From Hell).
Here’s to Top Shelf, for many, many more years !
My fellow Belgian Lode Devroe, blogged about before, is showcased on the Top Shelf Blog, taking the atom style to the limit (and beyond). he also turns out to have some webcomics at Top Shelf. Neat !
I was cleaning out what has become commonly known as the “comic closet” in the Ephemerist Mansions, and came across an old Top Shelf catalog, which featured a beautiful silk screened cover. On the back of the brochure I disocvered this amazing ad for Mars Ink Printing Productions by none other than Craig Thompson.
I guess this catalog must date from about 1997, and I didn’t have the faintest clue about who this Thompson was at that time. I do now, and I dig it.
Scott Saavedra bemoans the near demise of his beautiful Top Shelf coaster that was indeed beautifully designed, but, as coasters go, is severely susceptible to wear and tear.
Luckily, the Ephemerist is anal enough to have a pristine copy, which we present here for all your enjoyment.
I was cleaning out my “to be sorted” box, and found these pretty cool Christmas cards from Robot Publishing and Top Shelf, dating from 1997 ( I think). Art is by Andrew Brandou.
