Unsinkable Walker Bean GNMedia Release -- The Cartoon Art Museum welcomes celebrated cartoonists Aaron Renier and Jason Shiga on Thursday, February 17, 2011 as Renier celebrates the release of his new book, The Unsinkable Walker Bean, published by First Second Books and Shiga presents his innovative graphic novel Meanwhile, published by Abrams ComicArts. Please join Renier and Shiga at 7:00pm for a discussion of their latest books, followed by a signing in the museum's bookstore. Copies of The Unsinkable Walker Bean and Meanwhile will be available for purchase onsite. Please call 415.227.8666, ext. 310 to reserve a copy. The suggested donation for this event is $5.

About Aaron Renier's The Unsinkable Walker Bean

Adventure on the high seas! A cursed skull! Fearsome pirates! Wicked sea-witches! And almost certain peril! Boy inventor Walker Bean and his scruffy new friends must summon their courage to face the direst scourges of the sea in this all-new graphic novel by Aaron Renier.

"So beautiful are the drawings that I can smell the sea salt and feel the spray as giant creatures of the deep draw near the ocean's surface. Outrageous and wonderful!" – Jeff Smith, creator of Bone

"Aaron's work makes me feel ten years old again. He makes me want to whip up a root beer float, climb into a pirate-ship-playhouse, slap on a record of sea chanteys and read Walker Bean over and over. The guys'a bit of a mad genius." – Lane Smith, illustrator of The Stinky Cheese Man

"The Unsinkable Walker Bean is gorgeous. Jump feet first into this rip-roaring, wild-eyed, high-sea adventure story. Join up with a young, pudgy, bespectacled hero, a brave powder monkey, a terrifying girl with the best red pigtails since Pippi Longstocking, and two seriously revolting sea witches. Be prepared. You're going to love it." – Brian Selznick, creator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret

About Jason Shiga's Meanwhile

"Crazy + Genius = Shiga" —Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics

Jason Shiga is the creator of the bestselling graphic novel Meanwhile, one of the ALA/YALSA 2011 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens. This May Abrams ComicArts will publish Shiga's new graphic novel, Empire State: A Love Story (or Not). In Empire State, Shiga's bold visual storytelling, sly pokes at popular culture, and subtle text work together seamlessly to create a quirky graphic novel comedy about the struggle for self-understanding and the vagaries of love and friendship. Shiga won the 2003 Eisner Award for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition. He lives in Oakland, California.