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Every so often, I host an event called Verse Chapter Verse, where I pair a visiting author with a local band to see what happens. (Past pairings included Sherman Alexie and Fly Moon Royalty, Colson Whitehead and the Curious Mystery, and China Mieville and Tomten.) I only throw these events with authors I think will shine in the format and bands that I really love, and I think I've got a pretty great lineup for this next one.

Over six volumes, Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series attracted a large, passionate audience. O'Malley's voice—a curious mix of manga, superhero comics, Archie comics, and a host of cinematic influences—was unlike anyone else working in comics. The series attracted a number of young readers who had never before even opened a comic book. The Scott Pilgrim saga ended in 2010, and fans have been waiting patiently ever since for O'Malley's next work. It's finally here, it's called Seconds, and it's a standalone comic about a young chef trying to start her life over again. I'll be interviewing O'Malley about Scott Pilgrim's success, the process of beginning again with a completely new book, and, you know, where he gets his ideas from.

There's only one band I wanted to pair with O'Malley, and I'm so lucky that they agreed to play this show. I was the first Stranger staffer to write about Tacocat, back when they were first starting out in 2007, and I've loved watching them grow from a great party band to a great band, period. (For the sake of full disclosure: Emily Nokes, The Stranger's music editor, is a member of Tacocat.) Their mix of pop and punk feels like it could've been ripped out of an O'Malley comic. Nobody else could've worked for this bill.

The structure for the evening will be as follows: Tacocat will play a few songs, O'Malley and I will talk for a while, O'Malley will take audience questions for a while, and then Tacocat will play some more songs. This Verse Chapter Verse will be happening in the downstairs room at Town Hall, and, yes, booze will be available for sale throughout the evening. So save the date for what's sure to be a fun time: Saturday July 19th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are just five bucks, and they're on sale right now. If you're into telling the world about your plans more than a month ahead of time, there's a Facebook listing for the event that will help you do that. I'll see you there.