Cartoonist Steve Lafler teams up with publisher CO2 to release Ménage a Bughouse. a 408-page volume collecting Lafler's trilogy of Bughouse graphic novels, Bughouse, Baja and Scalawag.
Bughouse is the story of Jimmy Watts and his band of jazz playing bugs. The character driven story is set in a stylish “insect-noir” world, invoking an indigo-toned Manhattan of the early 1950s. Be-bop is king, and the alluring substance “bug juice” threatens to destroy the players against a backdrop of romance and intrigue.
Lafler puts the creative life and the pitfalls of addiction under the microscope in this tour-de-force collection, tossing his name into the hat for contention as the Great American Cartoonist.
“I was inspired by The Autobiography of Miles Davis as well as the movie adaptation of William Burroughs Naked Lunch” quips Lafler. “The post-war Be-bop jazz and Beat literature scenes of New York called to me as an apt setting for an extended work”.
Critic Rob Clough named Bughouse to his top 100 graphic novels of the first decade of the new century at number 22.
Lafler will be touring the U.S. during July to promote Ménage a Bughouse.
The Bughouse tour comes to MoCCA in New York City at 7 p.m. on July 12, with a panel discussion of Lafler's new book. The panel will be moderated by critic Rob Clough, and will feature rising art-comics star Austin English and CO2 publisher Gerry Giovinco.
Lafler follows the panel with a brief set of “Oaxacabillly” music, performing his country-influenced punk songs.
Ménage a Bughouse retails for $24.99. A hardback edition will be available for $39.99. The large format book (8.5 x 11) showcases Lafler's fluid brushwork.
“Steve Lafler is a master cartoonist and his work is in a class by itself; an unpredictable amalgam of fun, intelligence, breeziness and glorious strangeness that keeps your eyes fed and your synapses sizzling.” —Jim Woodring
Tour Dates
July 11, Ada Books, Providence, RI
July 12, MoCCA, New York City
July 14, Locust Moon Comics, Philadelphia, PA
July 17, Boxcar Books, Bloomington IN
July 18, Daydream Comics, Iowa City, IA
July 20, Time Warp Comics, Boulder, CO
July 25, Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
July 28, Cosmic Monkey Comics, Portland, OR
Bughouse is the story of Jimmy Watts and his band of jazz playing bugs. The character driven story is set in a stylish “insect-noir” world, invoking an indigo-toned Manhattan of the early 1950s. Be-bop is king, and the alluring substance “bug juice” threatens to destroy the players against a backdrop of romance and intrigue.
Lafler puts the creative life and the pitfalls of addiction under the microscope in this tour-de-force collection, tossing his name into the hat for contention as the Great American Cartoonist.
“I was inspired by The Autobiography of Miles Davis as well as the movie adaptation of William Burroughs Naked Lunch” quips Lafler. “The post-war Be-bop jazz and Beat literature scenes of New York called to me as an apt setting for an extended work”.
Critic Rob Clough named Bughouse to his top 100 graphic novels of the first decade of the new century at number 22.
Lafler will be touring the U.S. during July to promote Ménage a Bughouse.
The Bughouse tour comes to MoCCA in New York City at 7 p.m. on July 12, with a panel discussion of Lafler's new book. The panel will be moderated by critic Rob Clough, and will feature rising art-comics star Austin English and CO2 publisher Gerry Giovinco.
Lafler follows the panel with a brief set of “Oaxacabillly” music, performing his country-influenced punk songs.
Ménage a Bughouse retails for $24.99. A hardback edition will be available for $39.99. The large format book (8.5 x 11) showcases Lafler's fluid brushwork.
“Steve Lafler is a master cartoonist and his work is in a class by itself; an unpredictable amalgam of fun, intelligence, breeziness and glorious strangeness that keeps your eyes fed and your synapses sizzling.” —Jim Woodring
Tour Dates
July 11, Ada Books, Providence, RI
July 12, MoCCA, New York City
July 14, Locust Moon Comics, Philadelphia, PA
July 17, Boxcar Books, Bloomington IN
July 18, Daydream Comics, Iowa City, IA
July 20, Time Warp Comics, Boulder, CO
July 25, Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
July 28, Cosmic Monkey Comics, Portland, OR
