#Sean Tejaratchi

[cpasmbot6000]

I made these as a tribute to one of my favorite artists, Sean Tejaratchi, creator of Liartown USA. Go buy his book, "LiarTown: The First Four Years 2013-2017" if you appreciate true hilarity.

Here we have Diaper Horse preforming for Gary the Seagull at Clip-Clops Comedy Club.

[medveditsa]

If only these were real books.

[nathanpenlington]

Books of the year 2020

2020 was a hell of year for many - heartbreaking, full of worry and anxious distraction. For others it gave a bit of mental space, time away from the stress of normal routine, a chance to reflect. My year was more like the former, although I’m pleased to have finally been able to release the digital Boy in the Book, and I’ve had some brilliant full on time with my daughter.

That’s all a way of saying there hasn’t been much time or head room for reading this year, my pile of ‘to be read’ is bigger than ever - mostly of more newly published books. I realise this is a somewhat eclectic list, but it reflects where my current interests lie.

Same as previous books of the year posts date of publication is not relevant for this list. So, these are the best books to find me in 2020.

#1 - Killing and Dying – Adrian Tomine (2015)

As far a away as possible from superheroes we are living in the golden age of graphic novels and comics. This book contains six of the best short stories you’ll read anywhere. Adrian has completely captured the contemporary – a combination of loss and longing, the constant yearning for purpose and the need to be needed.

#2 - Wise Guy – Mike Caveney (1993)

Harry Anderson. If you don’t know who that is - go and lose yourself for a couple of hours on YouTube and then pop back here. Aimed squarely at magicians, the book chronicles Harry’s rise from street performing, the creation of Harry the Hat, to his legendary Saturday Night Live performances. If you perform magic the how-to’s are great, but it’s the inspiration behind the tricks that struck a chord.

#3 - Tales from the loop & things from the flood – Simon Stålenhag

This is kind of a cheat, as yes, these are two separate books and The Electric State was in my Top 5 last year – but hey, it’s my list. Tales from the Loop was adapted into an Amazon series, but film somehow fails to capture the scale, the uneasy world building, the tension between a familiar past and one which is purely imaginary. The text fragments bristle with humour, melancholy, nostalgia, and emotion, which alongside the stunning illustrations make a whole great than its elements.

#4 – The Books of Wonder – Tommy Wonder and Stephen Minch (1996)

This two volume set is up there among the best books on magic ever written. Tommy Wonder was a master at his art, and went to extraordinary lengths to achieve the perfect effect in the eyes and minds of his audiences. His legacy is not only in incredible magic pieces and his thorough analysis of deception psychology, but in the lesson to continue thinking about your work. Everything can always be improved, and if it can't, you're not thinking hard enough.

#5 – The Crap Hound Big Book of Unhappiness – Sean Tejaratchi (2019)

The seminal zine Crap Hound has finally realised a long held goal, two decades in fact, and it’s a staggering achievement. Think 12,500 images staggering. For those of you who don’t know – Crap Hound is dedicated to reproducing line illustrations from vintage magazines and ephemera. Taken collectively the book “documents pop-culture’s never ending quest to nurture and exploit our collective anxieties” – and I can’t think of a better time than now for the need to confront the propaganda we face on a daily basis.

A couple of 'almost made the top 5' entries - The Dairy Restaurant by Ben Katchor (2020), The Darkest Corners by Ben Hart and Neil Kelso(2020), and Memoirs of a Book Thief by Alessandro Tota and Pierre Van Hove (2019).

And finally, the best/most read kids book of 2020:

Story Path by Madalena Matoso (2016)

As it’s a kind of Choose Your Own Adventure book we’ve had this in our house since my daughter was born. But now she’s four, it’s come into its own. The format is a smart idea – each page offers you a choice of location, or character, along its illustrated paths. It’s up to the child and grown-up to elaborate and improvise a story - as you can imagine it’s often absurd, silly, and adventurous – which means repeated, repeated reading.

[the-birth-of-art]

This month’s entry in @liartownusa’s Social Justice Kittens calendar isn’t messing around.

[thecomedybureau]

Sean Tejaratchi, the man behind LiarTownUSA and Crap Hound, is the creator of some of the best outlandish, yet subtle satire of culture, both niche and pop. His art that wonderfully and absurdly riffs on the ads all around us and assembles the weirder, fun corners of the collective unconscious is something to be cherished.

So, take a chance to do so by purchasing his new Crap Hound Big Book of Unhappiness as well as meet him in person at the marvelously bizarre world that is Soap Plant/WACKO in Los Feliz.

Get more details here.

[forgottenbones]

[lighteyed]

cute cute witchy vibes for my halloween theme 🌙🔮

[humanoid-lovers]

Adventure Time: The Enchiridion and Marcy's Super Secret Scrapbook This book is great. This is the Enchiridion from Adventure Time and Marceline the Vampires Scrapbook. The book was bigger than I thought it would be which is a great surprise. This book is about double the size of the Adventure Time Encyclopedia (which this book is a great companion to) and I like that half the book is the Enchiridion and the other half (just flip the book over) is Marceline’s Scrap book. Both halves of the book get a good number of pages to impress and expand on the ever growing world of Ooo. Go to Amazon

So you wanna be a hero.... Before I had this book, I didn't know what it took to be hero. Now I know I'll need a sword at least, and a healthy distaste for wizards. Go to Amazon

Must have book for AT fans! The Enchiridion half: It has all the humor of the show with a few nods to the overall mythology of the show thrown in. It doesn't give you insight into individual characters, but you have the sense it was written from the perspective of someone important from the AT universe long ago. Fans will love the scrap book half of the book because it gives you insight into Simon before he wore the crown, his time in the apocalypse with Marceline struggling against the crown's influence, Marceline's adolescence, and her time spent vampire hunting as seen on the show. Go to Amazon

Perfect for Adventure Time fans Great great book! I am a HUGE Adventure Time fan and this book was simply fantastic. It's fun and helps you visualize what you'd be like as a hero in the land of Ooo :P And don't be bummed out about the whole two books in one thing. It's done in a way that isn't immensely cheesy and has a cute story behind it. Both books are beautiful with wonderful art and great characters. My only problem would be the inconsistency with Shwabl's coat color in the show/book and a little more in the hero section wouldn't have hurt :P Go to Amazon

Leaves nothing to be desired Very nice as a gift. Strangely my boyfriend and I got it for each other for Christmas. Just as awesome as expected. :D Go to Amazon

i highly suggest buying this if youre a fan THIS BOOL IS HUGE. id say maybe a foot or more tall and its pretty thick too. it came exactly the day i thought it would AND if youre worried about it not having a lot of the enchiridion like i was THERE IS TONS. the book is split in half so half of the enchiridion and half of the scrapbook and they filled it up!!!! I SUPER SUGGEST THIS BOOK. nothing wrong with it at all! Go to Amazon

Worthy Of The Title Enchiridion This is a Must Have if you are into Adventure Time. I am a SUPER fan and I love having this in the collection. Go to Amazon

Adventure Time: The Enchiridion & Marcy's Super Secret Scrapbook!!! Love the content in the book, especially Marcy's Super Secret Scrapbook!!!. It goes further into the backstory of Marceline and Simon/Ice King and their struggles after the war and how Marceline survived when they parted ways. Go to Amazon

Wow Five Stars Five Stars Great book for any adventure time fan Four Stars 5 Star material but... Not two separate books as implied. Five Stars Amazing! Five Stars Wish it was two separate books

[ringasunn]

Very cool stuff I've picked up in my two trips to @maudespaperwinggallery in Millvale! @lildebbysdelights lotion bar is fantastic and I can't wait to try to shower steamer. @krakenapothecary always has the best stuff, so of course their lip scrub is wonderful. Not pictured is @upinsuds spearmint soap which I've been using and LOVING and my whole bathroom smells like mint now! The David Rose & Morticia Addams stickers are by @citizenruthbrand who knows my heart. Patches will be going on my jacket (Eat the Rich from @thethirdarrow & Gaaaaaay kitty from @cat_coven), and the activist kittens are actually postcards by Sean Tejaratchi. Of course I got a bunch of awesome incense from Maude's and will be going back for a few books and candles I scoped out. Go check out the new storefront, #Pittsburgh! 🕯️🐈‍⬛🌟🧼🌈💜 (at Maude's Paperwing Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/CL5SxPAhWar/?igshid=c33371kfh4ar

[turnidoff]

Tagged by @frankenpagie​

Last Song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eOuR0MjNAI

Last Movie:

Current TV Series:

Just finished Cobra Kai which was better than it should have been and also Better Call Saul season 5.  Tense and amazing show.

Reading:

Not really a book book, but I just got Liartown: The First Four Years by Sean Tejaratchi.  It’s Photoshop GOLD...

Craving:

boobs.  always the boobs.

I tag everyone 

[librarycomic]

The Crap Hound Big Book of Unhappiness edited by Sean Tejaratchi. Feral House, 2019. 9781627310857.  544pp. http://www.powells.com/book/-9781627310857?partnerid=34778&p_bt

Tejaratchi's Liartown is one of the funniest, most thumbed through books on my shelf, so I'm primed to love whatever he publishes. This is a huge reference book without an index or table of contents in which images from 20th century ads, grouped together by theme (suicide, armageddon, accidents) and because of common graphic elements (handguns, grimaces, explosives). One set of images rolls into the next. The only context for each element is the other bits of advertising on the same and surrounding pages. It's not quite a history of 20th century negativity or graphic design, and it's kinda both. It is often hilarious and sometimes disturbing -- every time I flip the book open I need to see what came before and after the page I landed on. It's like playing a party game I don't know the rules to, and like shopping for a new tattoo.

Here are a few bits from Tejaratchi's introduction that explain the book:

"In thirty years of paging through old magazines and newspapers, clipping and saving reference material, I've found the unhappiest artwork is routinely the most striking."

"...this book is limited to what was visually rendered for commercial purposes in the 20th century."

The end of introduction also tells of two pieces of striking art he decided not to include, and it has a note on the sequencing.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

All hail The Crap Hound Big Book of Unhappiness by Sean Tejaratchi

The Crap Hound Big Book of Unhappiness is a 544-page compendium of vintage ads and archival ephemera  selected and arranged by designer Sean Tejaratchi, publisher of the Crap Hound zine. I've been a huge fan of Sean's work for many years, and have every issue of Crap Hound. I made the video above to give you a taste of just how astounding this book is - it will provide a lifetime of browsing enjoyment.

Sean and the publisher Feral House, kindly gave me permission to several spreads from the book.

https://boingboing.net/2019/10/26/all-hail-the-crap-hound-big-bo.html

[scumgristle]

in a another time and place i could have totally seen this becoming a source of aesthetic inspiration for the artwork of many grind/PV/noise rock bands. 

since i’m “friends” with many such bands, i posted about it with no limited enthusiasm on my ZuckSpace, where it sat collecting the social media equivalent of dust-mites for something like 2 hrs before i deleted the link out of frustrated petulance.  

but hey whatever. mining sassy death metal meme pages for ideas is cool too.

[witchyfashion]

The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil

With the appearance of the demonic Christmas character Krampus in contemporary Hollywood movies, television shows, advertisements, and greeting cards, medieval folklore has now been revisited in American culture. Krampus-related events and parades occur both in North America and Europe, and they are an ever-growing phenomenon.

Though the Krampus figure has once again become iconic, not much can be found about its history and meaning, thus calling for a book like Al Ridenour's The Krampus: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil. With Krampus's wild, graphic history, Feral House has hired the awarded designer Sean Tejaratchi to take on Ridenour's book about this ever-so-curious figure.

Al Ridenour has lectured on Krampus at the Goethe Institutes in Los Angeles. He became somewhat of an internet phenomenon himself due to the hilarious hijinks he coordinated with the controversial Cacophony Societies.

https://amzn.to/2KyjFUR

[worldfamousoriginal]

Okay real talk. Are these cards harmless juxtaposition of cute and serious that bring attention to social justice or do you think they are harmful? I don’t want people to feel hurt, but also perhaps it’s my position of privilege that thinks these aren’t doing that? I would like to see a real discussion below and if the consensus is they are harmful I will stop carrying them. (I did not create them these are the work of Sean Tejaratchi)

[thecomedybureau]

For years, Sean Tejaratchi has made some of best and funniest satirical art and design around via his blog, LiarTownUSA.

This book release event will not only give you a chance to celebrate his body of work, but you’ll actually get to to meet Tejaratchi in person. So, don’t miss out.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows, events, open mics, maps, and more can be found at www.thecomedybureau.com.