Over here at PC-S we are heavy fans of Paul Pope, as an artist and a person, having been a fan since the days of Sin Titulo and sometimes an acquaintance (spoken outside the confines of a convention). This exhibit spanning his comics should be amazing to behold.
Curated in Collaboration with Felix Comic Art, The Show Features Work From Batman: Year 100, Battling Boy, THB, Heavy Liquid, and More
June 4, 2025 – This June, New York City’s renowned Philippe Labaune Gallery will host a career-spanning exhibit of work by acclaimed artist, designer and Eisner-award winning cartoonist Paul Pope. Created in collaboration with Felix Comic Art, the exhibit will present original pieces from seminal comics, including Batman: Year 100, Battling Boy, THB, Heavy Liquid, alongside homages to European artists such as Hugo Pratt and Moebius, commercial art including illustrations for the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and The Grateful Dead, and Pope’s personal works.
“Paul Pope is a singular force in contemporary comics — a comics destroyer, who pushes the boundaries of traditional comic art, “ said Philippe Labaune. “His distinctive style brings together the dynamism of Japanese manga with the narrative depth of European Bande Dessinee, and the spirit of American pulp. Pope blends a manga awareness with a European attention to mood and form. Moebius, Hugo Pratt, and Enki Bilal are all clear touchstones.”
Like those iconic artists, Pope is more interested in evoking a feeling than hitting plot points. “When I do something, I want it to be timeless,” says Pope. “I don’t want to chase the zeitgeist—I want to create something that will feel relevant in 10 or 20 years.”
The exhibition coincides with the release of Pulp Hope 2: The Art of Paul Pope, a comprehensive 300+ page art book published by BOOM! Studios. This volume offers an expansive look into Pope’s artistic journey, featuring previously unpublished works, personal sketches, and insightful commentary that illuminate his creative process and influences. It serves as both a retrospective and a testament to his enduring legacy on comics.
“Pope has consistently oscillated between high and low culture, East and West, traditional draftsmanship and a punk-rock sensibility,” said Philippe Labaune. “Trained in printmaking and painting, and possessing adept technical skills as well as a breadth of knowledge that would rival any classically trained art historian, Pope’s stories, often set in dystopian or mythic worlds, are deeply personal explorations of identity, rebellion, and survival.”
The Paul Pope Exhibit will be open to the public from Thursday, June 19th until Saturday, July 26th. There will be an opening reception on June 19 from 6 PM to 9 PM.
The Philippe Labaune gallery is located at 534 West 24th Street in New York and is open from Thursday through Saturday, from 10am to 6pm. The roots of Philippe Labaune Gallery have a strong European influence: among the artists are esteemed creators such as Lorenzo Mattotti, Nicolas de Crécy, Guido Crepax, Dave Mckean or François Schuiten. In recent years, American artists such as Landis Blair, Rebecca Leveille Guay, Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, and Peter de Sève have helped Philippe Labaune Gallery to foster a community of overlapping art collectors and comic fans from all over the world.