How will hipster parents raise their groovy offspring to make umbrella drinks for their moms and dads when the wee beatniks don’t yet know how to spell vermouth? Something must be done—our thirst depends on it! And now it has been, thanks to SoCal illustrator Josh Agle (aka Shag) and his new book, Shag: A to Z (Fantagraphics, $14.95). For younger readers—and their parents, presumably—each letter of the alphabet is illustrated and defined, e.g., “I is for idol, once feared near and far. Today it’s simply décor in a tropical bar.” All 26 tiki-infused, rum-drunk panels of his newly defined alphabet will be on display through June 25—and it ain’t your daddy’s square old alphabet! Polynesian idols and bachelor pads emit radioactive color intensity; wasp-waisted floozies squirm just out of reach from penthouse sugar daddies; martinis pour by the ice-cold bucket; and everyone’s just waiting to cast off their shoes and cha-cha on the white bearskin rug. Maybe this monaural, hi-fi, pre-Hef world never really existed, even when Shag surveyed his parents’ cocktail parties from between the bars of his crib, but he’s fused his Jetsons memories with an invented glamour that is all his own. And he’ll be in attendance to sign your favorite letters. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, 1201 S. Vale St., 658-0110, www.fantagraphics.com. Free. 6–9 p.m. BRIAN MILLER

Sat., May 24, 6 p.m., 2008