THE BOOK
Black Eye No. 3 is a departure from the previous two volumes in the series. Gone are the essays, the short fiction, the fake advertisements and the proliferation of gag panels. The focus here is on the comics form. This newest volume includes ten longer form sequential narratives, from four to ten pages in length, and a number of single page strips. The majority of the material was created specifically for this book and there are stories translated into English for the first time. Black Eye No. 3 continues a deep concern with all things dark and absurd, but builds from the premise that once you receive your third black eye, you will achieve a shameful enlightenment.
The contributors include:
Alexis Beauclair / Tom Bunk / Andy Burkholder / Max Clotfelter / Mark Dancey / Kayla E. / Vincenzo Fagnani / Penelope Gazin / Julia Gfrörer / Anna Haifisch / Corinne Halbert / Eric Haven / Ian Huebert / Alejandro Jodorowsky / Clara Bessijelle Johansson / Francis Kulikowski / Meghan Lamb / David Lynch / John Maggie / Nicolas Mahler / Jérôme Mulot / Erik Nebel / Paul Nudd / Onsmith / Pierre La Police / Helge Reumann / Josephin Ritschel / Martin Rowson / Florent Ruppert / Johnny Sampson / David Sandlin / S. William Schudlich / Santiago Sequeiros / Sammy Stein / Brecht Vandenbroucke / Chris Wright
The cover is by Joan Cornellà.
The book is edited by Ryan Standfest.
Black Eye No. 3 will be handsomely printed in a run of 1000 copies using offset lithography to preserve the richest blacks.
Select sample pages from a low-resolution mockup of the book:
Frontispiece image: Das Kapital, by Vincenzo Fagnani.
Excerpt of story by David Sandlin.
Excerpt of Black Medicine Skills by Helge Reumann.
Excerpt of story by Clara Bessijelle Johansson and Flies by Paul Nudd.
Excerpt of a story by Ruppert & Mulot and a page by Sammy Stein.
Excerpt of a story by Nicolas Mahler.
Excerpt of a story by Chris Wright.
Excerpt of story by Kayla E. & Meghan Lamb and a page by Corinne Halbert.
Excerpt of a story by Martin Rowson.
From the back cover.
WHAT WE NEED + WHAT YOU GET
As with previous campaigns, Rotland Press is making use of crowdfunding as a means to publish this project when it is most needed, by those who feel strongly that it needs to be seen. Black Eye No. 3 is a labor of love and is designed and packaged accordingly. It is the hope of Rotland Press that there is a growing audience for this material, who will fund it into existence out of a similar sense of urgency and care.
The proposed funding will cover the following:
- Offset lithograph Printing costs for a 1000 copy print run: $3,500
- Packaging to ship all books out to customers: $200
- Risograph printing of a 100-run edition by UK artist Ben Jones, hand-signed and numbered by Jones, and available as an exclusive perk: $300
- Printing of 200-copy run chapbook The Sightseer's Compliment, an ultra-limited, companion publication available ONLY to backers of Black Eye No. 3 : $400
- Letterpress printing of a 100-run, letterpress edition by Chicago artist and Black Eye No. 3 contributor Paul Nudd, hand-signed and numbered by Nudd, available as an exclusive park: $400
Unique and exclusive perks include:
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A Shameful Enlightenment : 100 copies of this risographed print, editioned by Jeffrey Evergreen at Cache Printing Services of Detroit, Mich. USA, will be hand-signed and numbered by the UK artist Ben Jones, who previously created the covers for BLACK EYE 2. This print was created exclusively for the Black Eye No. 3 campaign. Measures 8 x 10 inches on a newsprint grey paper. More on the work of Ben Jones: http://benjonesillustration.com
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Tongue Stumped : 50 copies of this letterpressed print, editioned by Lee Marchelonis at Signal-Return of Detroit, Mich. USA, will be hand-signed and numbered by the Chicago artist Paul Nudd, who is a contributor to Black Eye No. 3. This print was created exclusively for Rotland Press. Measures 8 x 10 inches on a soft cream paper. More on the work of Paul Nudd: http://www.westernexhibitions.com/nudd/
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The Sightseer's Complement : 200 copies of this 32-page chapbook will be made available ONLY to backers of the Black Eye No. 3 campaign, making this a true rarity. The Sightseer's Complement is a lavishly illustrated companion to Black Eye No. 3, presenting the work of 22 renowned international cartoonists creating pornographic works under a nom de plume. The book is intended as an homage to The Traveller's Companion, the series of cheaply-produced paperbacks edited by Maurice Girodias and his Paris-based publishing house Olympia Press, resulting in the publication of Henry Miller, Lawrence Durrell, Anaïs Nin, William S. Burroughs, Terry Southern, Vladimir Nabokov, Samuel Beckett and other much less reputable authors. Olympia's output was one that was equal parts smut and art. The Sightseer's Complement will be black and white, stapled and measuring an intimate 4.35 x 7 inches, so that it may be carried about on a walk or on the subway, with great ease.
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Humour Noël Card Set : Just in time for the holiday season, nothing would go better with a copy of Black Eye No. 3 slipped into a nailed-up red stocking, than a pack of 11 Humour Noël cards from Rotland Press. A previously unpublished and appropriately dark Christmas image adorns the front, and a postal compliant back allows you to mail these to unsuspecting friends and relatives during the holiday season. Undated so that they can be used any year. Highest quality printing on a matte cardstock. Cards by: Chris Cilla, Hugleikur Dagsson, Andy Gabrysiak and John Maggie, Gregory Jacobsen, Francis Kulikowski, John Lurie, Meredith Miotke, Onsmith + Nudd, Johnny Sampson and Stephen William Schudlich. Printed in an edition of 200; 4.25 x 5.5 inches each.
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"Follow Your Bliss" Print by Johnny Sampson : An 18"x24" 4-color screen print on Manilla paper. Edition of 100, signed and numbered by the artist. Only 10 available.
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The Trilogy : For those that have not purchased Black Eye 1 and 2, you have the opportunity to obtain those first two volumes plus the third, while helping to fund Black Eye No. 3. There are only 60 copies of Black Eye 1 remaining in stock before it goes out of print.
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Tom Bunk Drawing : This is an original ink drawing created by artist Tom Bunk in 2015, prior to his creating the endpages for "Black Eye No. 3." It measures 9 x 8 inches on grey board. About Bunk:
Born Tomas Maria Bunk in Split, Croatia, he studied stage design and fine art at the Academy of Arts in Hamburg, Germany. In 1973, he moved to Berlin, where he began rendering humorous subjects in oil paintings. After selling these paintings in three successful shows, he turned to cartooning and contributed to underground comics in 1976.
His cartoon creations appeared monthly in the satirical magazine "Pardon," other European comic magazines and comic anthologies. After collecting his comics in three books, he moved to New York in 1983 and began drawing for Raw, the graphic story magazine edited and published by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman. He drew Topps trading cards, including "Wacky Packages" and "Garbage Pail Kids." In 1993, he became a regular "Mad cartoonist", and his contributions have led some to regard him as the modern-day replacement at "Mad" forWill Elder.
TIMELINE
The campaign for Black Eye No. 3 will last only 30 days. At the end of this period, pending successful funding, the following production sequence will unfold:
- The completed PDF of the book will be delivered to the printer. Printing time is estimated to take three to five weeks, as the proofs will be delivered and inspected, with any needed corrections made, and the books will be transported from the printer to the press.
- The prints are currently in production to allow enough time for them to be sent to the artists for signing.
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The Sightseer's Complement will be sent to the printer following the successful completion of the funding campaign.
- Books and accompanying printed ephemera are estimated to ship during the months of November and December (in time for Christmas). An email will be sent to verify and update all postal addresses. Time will be needed to package all orders and to ship out in groups as the press is operated by a small number of people.
- Updates regarding every step of the process will be posted in the "Updates" section of this campaign, regularly.
THE CHALLENGE
Crowdfunding always relies on the openness and goodness of those who believe in the project they are committing to fund. Rotland Press is dedicated to funding Black Eye No. 3 and getting it and all of the perks that accompany it to you, as soon as the funding is complete. Should there be any delay in the timeline as outlined above, all contributors will receive notification.
The primary challenge is to fund the publication of Black Eye No. 3. The secondary challenge is for the campaign to fund and generate additional printed projects that find their way into your hands and help sustain the longterm efforts of Rotland Press.
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP
If you are unable to contribute funds to Black Eye No. 3, then the most immediate and important contribution you can make is to spread the word about this project and to help generate interest in supporting it. You will have the gratitude of all involved.
ABOUT ROTLAND PRESS
"Rotland Press seems to have its roots in The Realist and Grove Press c. 1960s more than in the Hippy UG press that followed or in the gentrified graphic novel presses that have come along since. Nihilists and other marginally socialized types will be as glad to discover their satirical publications as I've been."
—Art Spiegelman, co-editor ofArcade and RAW, author of MAUS
Founded in 2010 by editor-in-chief and publisher Ryan Standfest (www.ryanstandfest.com), Rotland Press is a small publishing house located in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is a publisher of printed projects that promote subversive humor— be it black, dark, gallows, satirical or absurd. Rotland Press aims to occupy a place between the mainstream and the avant-garde, the philistine and the genteel, industriously manufacturing the finest in despairing entertainment.
Visit Rotland Press at http://rotlandpress.com/