THE BEST ARTS COVERAGE IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

With the publication of the Volcano's annual Best of Tacoma issue now a mere week away, even more of my time this week than last has been spent wading through the best of the best in Tacoma and Pierce County art over the last year. And, naturally, I'm reminded once again just how much amazing stuff happens right here in our neck of the woods.

This week is no different, out on the street, and in the pages of the Weekly Volcano.

Here's a look at the arts coverage waiting for you in print and online.

FEATURE: WALK TACOMA/WALK POETIC

(PHOTO: Courtesy Facebook/Downtown on the Go)

For an hour and a half on a Friday afternoon, why not get up off your booty and commune with Tacoma on foot? Walk Tacoma/Walk Poetic is a new event debuting this year that aims to put participants in touch with the Brewery District in a whole new way.

During Walk Tacoma/Walk Poetic, participants will join local poet Lucas Smiraldo as he leads the walk and guides his flock to think and write about their surroundings. It's  based on a similar event in Portland, Ore., and organized by Downtown on the Go - an organization set on reducing single-occupancy vehicles in downtown Tacoma and encouraging commuters to consider options beyond their cars.

Downtown on the Go, headed by Manager Kristina Walker, designed five walking maps of the downtown core, and it is one of these that Walk Tacoma/Walk Poetic will follow. Each participant will receive a swag bag with all five of the walking maps, some water and snacks for their journeys.

"We wanted to stick with our mission of reducing the drive into downtown Tacoma, while also getting people out and enjoying Tacoma on the ground level," says Walker.  - Kristin Kendle

FEATURE: COMIC BOOK INK HEADS TO COMIC CON (AGAIN)

(Courtesy Comic Book Ink/James Stowe)

A gangly, bespectacled teenager stares at his hands in disbelief.

"What's happening to me?" he asks himself. "I feel - different!"

So says Peter Parker in Amazing Fantasy #15, and just like that dumbstruck adolescent, the comic book industry finds itself in the midst of a radioactive growth spurt. From the corporate-owned publishers all the way down to the friendly neighborhood retailers nationwide, change is in the air. The San Diego Comic-Con (July 21-24 this year) - the world's largest and most-publicized geek gathering, known colloquially as the SDCC - is likewise evolving. The smartest comic book retailers, like John Munn of Comic Book Ink (CBI), are innovating and adapting in order to keep up. For the eighth year in a row, Comic Book Ink will be competing for the "Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award." In the hope of increasing the odds of winning the accolade at this year's Eisner Awards ceremony, Comic Book Ink has engineered a secret weapon: a 12-page narrative advertisement in pamphlet form, illustrated by graphic designer James Stowe. - Jason Baxter

FEATURE: BOBBY SLAYTON

When I call Bobby Slayton, he picks up and immediately starts talking. It takes him mentioning Tacoma for me to realize that I've not reached a voicemail. And then it's off to the races.

Bobby Slayton is a veteran comedian, a road warrior who's been at it for more than 30 years, a man given the moniker "Pitbull of Comedy" somewhere along the line - and it actually fits.

"How old are you?" says Slayton toward the beginning of what became a half-hour phone interview.

"I'm 22," I say.

"OK, so you're a kid," says Slayton. "Jimmy Olsen - let me call you Jimmy Olsen. Don't call me chief. ... What's really frightening is I've been married longer than you've been alive! Holy fuck, you're really making me feel old."

Slayton is a real pro. After a few minutes in conversation, it becomes abundantly clear to me that he's done a million interviews in his time as a comic, and that nothing could be more natural than speaking to a perfect stranger about the business. - Rev. Adam McKinney

THEATER: OLEANNA

"I just want to smack her!" Let's face it, you're unlikely to hear an audience member gasp anything like that at Summer in the Sixties or Godspell, but she wasn't complaining. In a way, she was cheering. I'll explain. The smack-worthy character in question was Carol, a student played by Deya Ozburn, who had just accused John, played by me, of a horrible crime. Was she right? Maybe so. It's a question every audience member must decide for him- or herself, because the answer will not be spoon-fed.

Look, this isn't a review. I'm in Oleanna, so I'm hardly unbiased, but I hope you'll take my word for it that this play has impact. ... - Christian Carvajal

VISUAL EDGE: HOT FUSION

(“Passage of the Americas-triptych”: Oil on canvas by Scott J. Morgan currently on display at B2 Fine Art Courtesy B2 Fine Art Gallery)

Hot colors in bold abstract configurations are the order of the day at B2 Fine Art Gallery/Studio in Hot Fusion: Explorations into Abstraction. Hot Fusion, part one of a two-part show, is currently on display and features works by Todd Clark, Yvette Neumann, Judy Hintz Cox and Scott J. Morgan.

The art is beautifully crafted and well designed, but a wee bit too perfect for my taste - a little too slick and commercial. I prefer a little more rawness, unless it's purposefully cold with a machine-made look such as in hard-edge abstraction, which is a whole different animal from what we see here.

Of the four artists, Neumann has the most expressive style. Her large, two-panel painting, "Inflection," is controlled action in bright colors, with organic shapes flowing as though in a fast-moving river from upper left to lower right. Less bombastic but more nicely unified are a group of three smaller pieces that are predominantly yellow in color. Best of all are a couple of paintings with fields of loosely brushed white and gray with little bits of jagged shapes in many colors of rough and gritty paint that look as if they've been covered with a blanket of snow with little hints of what's hidden underneath peeking out here and there. - Alec Clayton

PLUS: Arts & Entertainment Calendar

PLUS: Movies