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December 30th, 2009


apod
05:54 am - Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula

Double, double toil and trouble; Double, double toil and trouble;



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December 29th, 2009


fantagraphics
11:20 pm - Notice: Inventory time - shipping delays
Please be advised that our warehouse is beginning their annual inventory count tomorrow, which means that we won't be shipping orders for the next 7-8 days. In most cases we should still be able to meet the 2-4 weeks estimated time for orders with Standard shipping (as outlined on our Shipping Info page), but we can't make any promises. Please keep this in mind when placing your order!

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11:20 pm - Mome 17 release party alternate poster

Mome 17 release party flyer

Derek Van Gieson drew another poster for this event.


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11:20 pm - Daily OCD: 12/29/09

A nice short Online Commentary & Diversions update:

• List: Comicdom continues their Top 100 of the 00s with Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library at #3: "Whatever the format, or content of the story, each issue of Acme Novelty Library is a special 'objet d'art,' which is part of the vision of an author who redefined what can be considered 'comics' and provided us new ways of storytelling." (from Google translation)

• List: At ComicsDC, Mike Rhode reviews the year in comics, with nods to Blazing Combat ("Kudos to Fantagraphics for putting this together"), Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1 ("You must have this"), and You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! ("Highly recommended")

• Review: "The list of excellent graphic novels released in 2009 seems to grow with every other book read, and [You'll Never Know, Book 1: A Good and Decent Man]... stands out even in its crowded field. Carol Tyler really makes a name for herself with this 'graphic memoir,' as the cover calls it, demonstrating an incredible grasp of storytelling structure and a layering of personal and historical incident into a complex, cohesive whole that illuminates her own life along with her subject's. It's an impressive achievement, and as the first volume of a projected trilogy, it's indicative of the quality to come." – Matthew J. Brady

• Coming Attractions: The bloggers at Comics And... Other Imaginary Tales comment thoughtfully on a couple of titles from our February solicitations

• Things to see: Josh Simmons has compiled a handy list of his comics that are available to read for free online


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fantagraphics
06:30 pm - David Levine, R.I.P.

  

I was very sorry to read this morning that the great David Levine passed away yesterday. Fantagraphics was fortunate to publish Levine's AMERICAN PRESIDENTS last year, and it's a wonderful showcase of his singular talent. Our heart goes out to Mr. Levine's family. For more on Mr. Levine, I highly recommend this excellent VANITY FAIR feature from last fall. 


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06:30 pm - New Comics Day 12/30/09: Indy Comic Book Week

Indy Comic Book Week logo

As most Wednesday Warriors are aware, this is a bye week in the Diamond Comics shipping schedule, so no new comics from us or other publishers distributed by Diamond will be arriving in shops. Some enterprising folks have declared this Indy Comic Book Week, seizing the opportunity to promote independent, local, and small press publishers and creators. While we won't be participating directly, by gosh do we ever support this effort in spirit, so visit the website for the list of participating shops and more information, and go support the independent spirit with your wallet — Fantagraphics readers tend to be the adventurous sort, and you never know what you might discover.


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fantagraphics
06:30 pm - Allen Ginsberg action figure

Allen Ginsberg vinyl figurine illustration by Archer Prewitt

Okay okay, "vinyl figurine." Designed by Archer Prewitt, coming soon from our pals at Presspop.


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06:30 pm - Discovered: More Fletcher Hanks

Moe M. Down by Fletcher Hanks

We published You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! with the sincere belief that it, combined with the previous volume I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!, comprised the complete comics work of Fletcher Hanks. Lo and behold, on Christmas day Seattle-based comics writer Frank M. Young posted scans of two heretofore undiscovered stories on his blog Trick Coin which have been positively identified by Hanks expert Paul Karasik:

"The second story is taken directly from the final Big Red McLane tale with the captions rewritten and the faces re-rendered (possibly by another hand).

"But the first story really had me stumped, so many of the compositions are un-Hanksian but ultimately tiny details such as hair-rendering, crowd-rendering, and big details like, yes, anatomy have made me change my mind.

"I knew that sooner or later it would happen: the undiscovered Fletcher Hanks has been discovered."

A third story is said to exist but has not been scanned; Young comments "In the meantime, the mere existence of these two odd stories is certainly a wonderful effed-up Yuletide gift to the universe!" Head here to see the scans and to read Young and Karasik's commentary in its entirety. Plans to collect and reprint these stories remain undetermined at this time. Pipe that beef trust, slick!


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fantagraphics
06:30 pm - Daily OCD: 12/28/09

Gird yourself for an epic installment of Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Critic Robert Boyd names his top 15 Best Comics of 2009, with You Are There by Tardi & Forest at #2, Popeye Vol. 4 at #7 ("top-notch, Segar at his greatest"), Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me by Peter Bagge at #12 ("very, very funny") and You'll Never Know, Book 1 by C. Tyler at #13 ("a glorious mess, but a moving and beautiful one")

• List: Comic Book Resources columnist Greg Hatcher names his Best Reprint Collections of 2009, including The Complete Peanuts ("truly wonderful... not to be missed")

• List: Joe Gross of the Austin American-Statesman names notable comics of 2009, including Pim & Francie by Al Columbia ("It's a bit like peeking at J.D. Salinger's notebooks, if his notebooks were pure nightmare fuel") and You'll Never Know, Book 1 by C. Tyler ("A terrific addition to the canon of literature about baby boomers, their parents and their children")

• List: Hillary Brown and Garrett Martin of SHAZHMMM... both include Tales Designed to Thrizzle by Michael Kupperman in their top 5 comics of the year

• List: On the Forbidden Planet International Blog Log, comics writer Mike Carey (Unwritten) names Boody: The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers one of his favorite comics of 2009 ("utterly fantastic")

• List: The Oregonian's Steve Duin places The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book by Joe Daly  at #6 on his top-10 list of The Best of 2009: Comics and Graphic Novels

• List: Greek site Comicdom names Ivan Brunetti's Schizo #4 to the #4 spot on their Top 100 of the 00s countdown. From the Google translation: "With words or silence, with an excellent sequence between the panels and embroidered with punchlines, reading this comic becomes a personal matter, even though the association, the painfully honest confession, is more or less familiar to everyone."

• List: Fústar awards The Clanging Gong of Doom for "Weirdest & Most Brain-Searingly Wonderful Book of the Year" to You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! by Fletcher Hanks, which "might be testament to rage-filled, borderline psychosis – but it's thrillingly vital and magnificently (uniquely) strange for all that."

• List: Christopher Allen of Comic Book Galaxy informally lists some Best of 2009 choices, including the year's Love and Rockets releases, Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1, and Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938

• Review: "...[T]he great pleasures of each story [in The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book] are the odd, idiosyncratic details Daly includes, and the way in which he reveals them. ... I’ve never read anything like it—and now I want nothing more than to read more of it." – J. Caleb Mozzocco, Newsarama

• Review: "Sublife Vol. 2... is John Pham’s gorgeously designed one-man anthology book, including about a half-dozen stories of various genres, formats, sensibilities and even art styles, each impeccably laid out on longer-than-it-is-high, 8.5-by-7-inch rectangular pages. ... They’re all pretty great on their own, and taken all together, they make up a downright remarkable book." – J. Caleb Mozzocco, Newsarama (same link as above)

• Review: "...[C. Tyler's] autobiographical comics display a shocking, unruly wholesomeness: they are visually and morally beautiful, suffused with a scrap-doodle amateurism and palpable maternal love... You’ll Never Know, Tyler’s newest book, is modeled on a scrapbook and is a tribute to craftsmanship, much like the home repair and plumbing we see her father, the 'good and decent man' of the title, often undertaking. ... Tyler mitigates this directness of heart with a dynamically pesky drawing style, splattering each panel with the democratic debris of life." – Ken Chen, Rain Taxi

• Review: "While we’re torturing geeks, I have to put in a good word for Andrei Molotiu’s Abstract Comics: The Anthology... The collection has a wealth of rewarding material, some of it awkward, some groundbreaking — on the whole, it is a significant historical document that may jump-start an actual new genre." – Doug Harvey, LA Weekly

• Review: "Some of the writing [in Humbug] may seem a bit quaint in our ‘irony coming out our asses’ present day, but the artwork is uniformly mind-blowing. ... This collects the whole ill-fated run in a luxurious hardbound package including top-notch background material. Worth it for the mammoth Arnold Roth & Al Jaffee interview alone." – M. Ace, Irregular Orbit

• Review: "The Education of Hopey Glass... [is t]he proverbial artist at the peak of his powers — except he keeps taking that peak higher every time." – M. Ace, Irregular Orbit

• Plug: "...Willie & Joe: The WWII Years... might make a veteran in your life very happy." – David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

• Plugs: In an interview with Newsarama, Chris Ureta Casos of Seattle comic shop Comics Dungeon gives a nice shout-out to our recent reprint efforts and names Paul Hornschemeier's Mother, Come Home as a personal all-time favorite

• Plug: Robot 6's Chris Mautner got our collection of Jerry Dumas and Mort Walker's Sam's Strip for Christmas ("you can sense the two of them having fun")

• Plugs: "Fantagraphics (again) certainly delivered big-time on the second (and probably final) collection of primitive comic savant Fletcher Hanks’ You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation!, as well as with the almost-as-weird Supermen!: The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941." – Doug Harvey, LA Weekly 

• Interview: The Wall Street Journal's Jamin Brophy-Warren has a brief Q&A with Gahan Wilson: "The other thing that dawned on me was we were destroying the planet or at least we were destroying it as a feasible environment. There’s a little grandiosity in saying we’re destroying the earth — we’re just screwing it up so we can’t live. For one, that was hilarious that we’d be determined to continue and it keeps getting worse and worse."

• Interview: The Daily Cross Hatch's Brian Heater continues his conversation with Carol Tyler: "I…can’t…the secret of life? I’m not giving away the secret! I’ll just tell you this — it’s funny around here, because I have to go and pick up dog poop or something. And I’ve heard something like, 'Robert and Aline [Crumb] are in the New Yorker, this week. Oh, they’ve got ten pages.' And I’m just picking up dog poop, but I’m happy, for some reason. I’m happy!"

• Interview: It's the Comics Journal #300 conversation between Stan Sakai and Chris Switzer at TCJ.com

• News: Polish blog Kolorowe Zeszyty reports that Joe Sacco's Safe Area Gorazde is about to be published in their country by Mroja Press

• Things to see: Gabrielle Bell's latest strip co-stars Anders Nilsen and Barack Obama

• Things to see: Kevin Huizenga's "Postcard from Fielder" part 4; also, a kitty!

• Things to see: Hans Rickheit's Ectopiary page 4 (with commentary)

• Things to see: Robert Goodin's first-ever record-cover art

• Things to see: Anders Nilsen, still killing it in his sketchbook


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fantagraphics
06:30 pm - Devil Doll teaser from Derek Van Gieson

from Devil Doll by Derek Van Gieson

Derek Van Gieson is posting sneak peeks of upcoming projects including part 3 of his story "Devil Doll," which should appear in Vol. 19 of Mome this coming summer (part 1 debuts in the just-out Vol. 17).


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06:30 pm - Merry Christmas to Me

My totally awesome and amazing wife commissioned this "jumble" of iconic cartoon characters from our good pal Jeremy Eaton as a Christmas gift to me. I am a lucky man. Can you name them all? Sorry for the glare. 

 


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06:30 pm - Lunch with Tony Millionaire

(YouTube link)



UPDATE: Johnny Ryan writes in to state: "Baby Johnson is my character from XXX Scumbag Party. Scott 'Tony' Richardson stole it. He's a thief and a fraud." Ooooooo!


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06:30 pm - Colonel Groth in the Boudoir with an Xacto Knife

Shortly before Christmas, we had a Fantagraphics holiday party hosted by yours truly and Mrs. Truly. I forgot to take any pictures, which is a shame, because a splendid time was had by all. Most of the Fanta staff was in attendance, with the noticeable exception of Ms. Kristy Valenti, although her presence was most certainly felt, thanks to a gift delivered via partner-in-crime Gavin Lees (apologies in advance for the crappy photo evidence): 

Kristy created a Fantagraphics-themed custom version of the ol' CLUE board game, featuring representations of most of the Fanta office staff and set in the palatial mansion of FBI HQ. As the story begins, Kristy herself has been the victim of foul play, and one of these characters done it:

The remaining questions are of course WHERE and HOW did he/she do it? The board was redesigned to feature all of the main rooms in the office. These two are my favorites:

Gary's Boudoir of course needs no explanation; Kim's office is called the kennel because he shares his office with Ludwig, the Fanta dachshund. The game is rounded out with various potential weapons from the office and custom location cards featuring locations in the mansion.

What else can I say? Kristy rules.  


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fantagraphics
06:30 pm - Now in stock: The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. by Dash Shaw

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship:

The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. by Dash Shaw

The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D.
By Dash Shaw

One part MOME collection, one part authorized IFC Channel spinoff, the first quarter of this jacketed hardcover collects the work — storyboards, scripts, character designs, etc. — that Shaw has created for a series of original shorts for IFC.com. The latter 3/4ths collect his acclaimed short stories from MOME, as well as several little-seen stories from elsewhere, and a new 20 page story.

The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. is Shaw’s first book since his breakthrough graphic novel of 2008, Bottomless Belly Button, which was named Publishers Weekly’s best graphic novel of 2008, one of Entertainment Weekly’s top ten books of 2008, and one of Amazon.com’s top ten graphic novels of the year, amongst numerous other accolades. The book also collects Shaw’s acclaimed, genre-bending short stories from MOME, including “Look Forward, First Son of Terra Two,” a remarkable story of two lovers traveling in opposite directions... in time. Also featured: “Galactic Funnels,” the 2008 Ignatz Award nominee for “Outstanding Story,” about the parasitic relationship between an artist and his lover/mentor; “Satellite CMYK,” a sci-fi mindwarp that ingeniously drives the narrative through Shaw’s masterful control of color, and “Making the Abyss,” a fictionalized story of a surreal film set filled with nuclear tanks, hot tubs, and blind ambition.

Befitting the restless experimentation and innovation of Shaw's work, this slim hardcover features a first for Fantagraphics: a clear acetate overlay dust jacket, meant to evoke an animation cel.

Watch The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. Web series at IFC.com.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 10-page PDF excerpt (8.8 MB), which includes the first five pages of two stories.

104-page full-color 7" x 9" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-307-1
Add to CartMore Info & Previews


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fantagraphics
06:30 pm - Now in stock: Mome Vol. 17 - Winter 2010

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship:

Mome Vol. 17 - Winter 2010 by Various Artists

Mome Vol. 17 - Winter 2010
By Various Artists; edited by Eric Reynolds

The acclaimed anthology continues with the concluding chapter of Paul Hornschemeier's third graphic novel "Life with Mr. Dangerous" (following his acclaimed books The Three Paradoxes and Mother Come Home), which has been running in MOME since the first issue. Meanwhile, Bottomless Belly Button creator Dash Shaw and MOME regular Tom Kaczynski collaborate on a mind-bending science-fiction story, "Resolution," where "reality" exists as a virtual world and people live through their avatars. Olivier Schrauwen delivers a surrealistic gem titled "Chromo Congo"; Derek Van Gieson delivers a horrific WWII story, "Devil Doll"; Renee French's "Almost Sound" returns, as does Ted Stearn's "The Moolah Tree" starring Fuzz & Pluck; plus new work from Kurt Wolfgang, Laura Park, Rick Froberg, Sara Edward-Corbett, and T. Edward Bak. Covers by Paul Hornschemeier.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 11-page PDF excerpt (3 MB) with a page from every artist in the issue.

120-page color/b&w 7" x 9" softcover • $14.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-302-6
Add to CartMore Info & Previews


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06:30 pm - First Look: The Sanctuary by Nate Neal cover art

Cover of The Sanctuary graphic novel--due out in August/September 2010!

Hey looky, the cover art for Nate Neal's graphic novel The Sanctuary, coming in August/September 2010. Mayhap you remember this amusing promotional video for the book from a few months ago.


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fantagraphics
06:30 pm - What Things Do

from Only a Movie by Jordan Crane

Your first order of business is to head to whatthingsdo.com right now and gape at the jaw-dropping array of entirely free comics on view from Jordan Crane (including all 3 issues of Uptight in their entirety, The Last Lonely Saturday and much much more), Sammy Harkham, and Ted May. Oh heavens this is BIG, people.


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06:30 pm - Petey & Pussy & Puzzle

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Inside the Museum Puzzle by John Kerschbaum

As we've mentioned in passing previously, The Metropolitan Museum of Art "Inside the Museum" poster by John Kerschbaum has been turned into a jigsaw puzzle, which is now available online from The Met Store. They're a hot seller in the gift shop according to this TV news report!

Don't forget we still have a few copies of the original poster to give away as part of the Amazing Petey & Pussy Super Bonus Comics & Poster Pack!


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fantagraphics
06:30 pm - Cannibal Christmas

Cannibal Fuckface Christmas ornament

This appears to be a needle-felted Christmas ornament of C.F. from Prison Pit: Book 1. Creator unknown — posted by Johnny Ryan without explanation on Facebook.

UPDATE: Oh, of course, Johnny's talented and crafty wife (and former Fantagraphics employee) Jenny made it! Nicely done, Jenny. More at Johnny's blog.


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06:30 pm - Daily OCD: 12/24/09

Online Commentary & Diversions will return next week. Have a great holiday!

• List: From Alan David Doane of Comic Book Galaxy's not-technically-a-best-of end-of-year roundup: "...[O]f course Fantagraphics continued to make life better with its ongoing Complete Peanuts collections, and their Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1 was also one of the treasures of the year, filled with tons of the master's weird and wonky comics."

• Review: "...I enjoyed the hell out of this book. ... Not only did Portable Grindhouse remind me of ye olden days, it also gave me quite a laugh. You won’t believe some of the ridiculously schlocky movies that are included in this book. I honestly can’t recommend it enough. It’s the perfect book for anyone who understands the art of the guilty pleasure and the joy in a terrifically bad movie, as well as those who took great joy in the hunt for home video entertainment. Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box gets two thumbs WAY up!" – Chad Derdowski, Mania

• Review: "...Tales Designed to Thrizzle, whose first four issues have just been anthologized as a hardcover... bring[s] a slick, hyperreal illustrative consistency that amplifies the already dreamlike mixture of familiarity and strangeness, which permeates [Kupperman's] deadpan surrealist slapstick." – Doug Harvey, LA Weekly

• Interview: The latest in this week's series of Dash Shaw interviews is with Entertainment Weekly. Interviewer Darren Franich calls Bottomless Belly Button "a genuine masterpiece" and says the stories in The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. are "gut-punchingly wondrous." Teaser quote from Dash: "Unclothed Man, to me, is about figure drawing and figure drawing classes and what it’s like to be a figure drawing model. If you pick up an old How to Draw the Figure Book, it’s always Pin-Up girls. Like, How to Draw This Reclining Hot Chick. The sexual undertones are obviously there in the drawing, but the classroom is such a weird academic repressed environment."

• Profile: Wider Screenings presents a video profile of Australian artist and Abstract Comics contributor Tim Gaze

• Things to see: Good heavens, what has Jim Woodring done to Manhog this time?


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