Broken Frontier

THE EVENT: Dame Darcy, cartoonist, illustrator, animator and writer will sign copies of her latest book, Gasoline, Thursday, December 18 at 6 PM at CounterMedia bookstore. An accomplished musician, Darcy will also play sea shanties on a banjo. CounterMedia. 927 SW Oak St., Portland OR 97205. 503-226-8141.

THE BOOK: In a post-apocalyptic world filled with dangers both human and natural, a family of orphans has achieved some measure of power because they own the only working automobile. But their constant search for precious gasoline pits them against savages who lurk in the decaying urban landscape, and their survival depends on their re-learning the old ways of coexistence with Nature. That they are witches can only be helpful.... A fanciful tale with subtle eco-messages, Gasoline is part illustrated book, part graphic novel, and even a manual of sorts, with an illustrated how-to section on alternative and creative living. (Merrell, 2008, hardcover, color and b&w, $24.95)

THE AUTHOR: Dame Darcy has been one of the most beguiling presences on the comics scene for the last few years, making an immediate splash in 1992 with her wry, neo-Victorian, very goth comic book series, Meat Cake (Fantagraphics Books), now in its 17th issue. Her book Frightful Fairytales (Ten Speed Press, 2002) presents five twisted fables, each of them adorned with her wickedly elegant artwork. And her forty illustrations for The Illustrated Jane Eyre (Viking Studio/Penguin, 2006) have delivered a whole new audience to the classic novels.

PRAISE FOR DAME DARCY:

"There are artists who let loose and there are those who are let loose. Thank God Dame Darcy is both. Comics have become so rigid and predictable, but not Darcy's. Love and imagination and a little madness (in the best sense of the word) inform her highly original and eccentric comics. And that's the way I like them!" Gilbert Hernandez, co-creator of Love and Rockets

"Dame Darcy is one of the most entertaining people I've ever met. She has a hilarious way with words, and that, plus her fascination with all things Victorian, is reflected in her eccentric and endlessly amusing  work. She's one of my most favorite comic creators!" Peter Bagge, creator of Hate

"She is the Earth's manifestation of true love. Her desires are delivered through the sensual art of music and visual magic. Dame Darcy is an artist worthy of obsession." Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth