"Mr. Abobaziz & The Nancy" by Edward R. Beardsley is a graphic tale told in 137 drawings

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Jan. 4, 2015 - PRLog -- Before Mr. Abobaziz & The Nancy became a book it was something else, a storyboard for a film. This was in the mid-seventies in Riverside, California. After some experimentation with 16mm film at a studio in Canoga Park, the project was shelved. In 1989, Edward R. Beardsley cut up the sheets of the storyboard and arranged the drawings into a graphic novel. Again, the project was put in a box and went back on the shelf where it remained until 2014.

   "It's quite simple," says Beardsley. "I've combined and dressed up in an urban context two very old folk tales: the trickster and the mischievous spirit. Abobaziz is the classic trickster and shape shifter. He's alway out to make trouble and will go to any length to seduce the young and vulnerable. In modern parlance he is the dirty old man. The Nancy is based on a mischievous and sometimes dangerous spirit known in the Caribbean as Anansi and in some parts of the North American south as Aunt Nancy. She will look for the world an innocent, but she is anything but. Here in Mr. Abobaziz & The Nancy I have matched them up to go toe to toe. Poor Abobaziz, though, he can't seem to keep a hold on his magic in a moment of excitement. And, of course, like most such tales there is a strong erotic component."

   It is with pride and excitement that Pelekinesis is able to present this wonderfully inventive graphic work. Mr. Abobaziz & The Nancy by Edward R. Beardsley is available through Small Press Distribution, Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Bertrams, directly from the publisher's website, and at smart independent bookstores worldwide.

The page at Pelekinesis for supplemental material is here: http://pelekinesis.com/catalog/edward_beardsley-mr_abobaz...

About the author
   Edward R. Beardsley is a California artist known for his sardonic, sometimes caustic imagery critiquing the human condition.
   Beardsley has enjoyed a long and varied career including teaching stints at several prominent universities, serving as a staff writer for a paper in Oregon, and designing theatrical posters, scenery, and promotions for stage productions. Beardsley holds an MFA in painting and printmaking from the Claremont Graduate University. After serving three years in the U.S. Army in Europe he spent a year studying painting and drawing at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles.
   He served as Dean of the Division of Fine Arts at the University of California, Riverside where he was the founder and first director of the internationally renowned UCR/California Museum of Photography. In 1994 he was invited to join the working group for the digital image at George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, for which he produced two important white papers on the evolving social consequences of digital technologies.
   He is the author of three books: Ecce Homo: the paintings of Edward Beardsley, Monsieur Souris, and Doings in the Department of Azusa. His short fiction has appeared in online and print publications. His paintings have been featured on albums by Alice Cooper, Kaleidoscope, and Chris Darrow. His work has been exhibited across the country in various institutions and galleries.
   Beardsley currently resides and works at his home and studio in San Gabriel Mountains, east of Los Angeles.