See you in the funny pages

North Bay Letterpress Arts celebrates the art of cartooning

From Maia Kobabe’s graphic novel “Gender Queer.” Kobabe is appearing at fundraiser for North Bay Letterpress Arts.

Walking into North Bay Letterpress Arts is like walking through a time machine: you’re instantly transported to an earlier time when the world moved more slowly and even machines were works of art.

Last year, NBLA Director Andrew Mecum decided to hold a series of events celebrating the work of well-known letterpress artists. He kicked off with an exhibit of the work of Mexican cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada last November.

This month, NBLA continues its celebration of the art of cartooning and printing with several events, including:

• An evening fundraiser, called “Sunday Funnies,” featuring a conversation between Benjamin Clark, the curator for the Schultz Museum, and graphic novelist Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer, which happens to be one of the most banned books in America right now. 

• A month-long exhibit of the political cartoons and letterpress prints of the late California cartoonist Dennis Renault, the longtime political cartoonist for the Sacramento Bee.

• Sunday morning open studios with donuts, coffee, books of cartoons to read and printing exhibitions.

Mecum says that there is only a loose correlation between the world of letterpress printing and cartooning.

“Cartooning came into vogue just as letterpress printing was being replaced by more industrial means of production. I really wanted there to be more of a connection,” he said with a laugh, “but I finally had to admit that there just wasn’t. It’s more like overlapping timelines.” (Posada, who printed his cartoons on a handpress machine in his own small print shop, is an exception to this rule.)

But Mecum, an amateur cartoonist as well as a printer, has always been interested in the art of cartooning, and he’s learned over time that some well-known cartoonists—like Renault and Kobabe—have also done letterpress printing. Kobabe used to be a member of NBLA, which also has a very tangible connection with Renault: one of their most beautiful letterpress machines—the black and red Ostrander Press—used to belong to Renault, who restored it to its original glory. Renault’s cartoons and letterpress prints will be on display at NBLA throughout the month.

Drop by any Sunday in April between 10 am and 2 pm to learn about and see examples of Renault’s work, read the Sunday funnies, and see an exhibition of letterpress printing. Reserve a spot at the “Sunday Funnies” fundraiser with Clark and Kobabe here.