Fantagraphics Blog Eric Reynolds

Barely a month after Bill Griffith graced our emerald city with a fantastic exhibition and book release party, less than a week after he published an homage to our quirky town and his visit, the Seattle P-I has returned the favor by unceremoniously dropping Zippy the Pinhead from its daily print edition, effective this morning. This should be considered an affront to Mr. Griffith, to Seattle's own Fantagraphics, and to all remaining conscious and literate readers of the newspaper. With Zippy gone, enjoy your Funky Winkerbean when you're stuck waiting somewhere with nothing to read but that section of the paper.  We would be most grateful if you would consider writing…

This cover totally pissed me off when I was a kid and perhaps single-handedly introduced to me the notion of "false advertising":

This month I've mostly been home with my six-month-old daughter, which doesn't leave a lot of time for heavy reading (or watching, for that matter). Short attention span entertainment is where it's at. To the point where I've found myself doing something I haven't done in years: re-reading a bunch of old (mostly Marvel) comics from my youth that have been gathering dust in the basement for 20 years. Comics by John Byrne, Michael Golden, Bill Sienkiewicz, etc. I think I was partially inspired by Frank Santoro's effusive love for the comics he grew up with. He and I are about exactly…

From Fantastic Four #263 (1984): P.S. If this post makes no sense to you, be grateful.  UPDATE: My pal Robert Goodin pointed out to me that the name of the character referred to in this panel, a Mr. Alden Maas, is an anagram for Neal Adams. John Byrne was a good 20 years ahead of the curve of the science community when it came to dismissing a crackpot! I knew re-reading these comics would pay dividends.

I haven't been posting much this month because I'm working from home part-time and taking some time off to spend with my six-month-old daughter. Plus, we're buried in nearly a foot of snow right now. Earlier this month, a number of comics pundits invited me (along with everyone else in their address books) to contribute to their blogs' "Best of the Year" features, and although I wanted to contribute and prove my good taste — and oh yeah, love — for comics, I blew each and every deadline. But I did attempt to create one and so I thought I'd…

… spot Fred the Clown in this Futurama Comics #39 page?   Thanks to Chris Reilly! 

  First Dave Stevens, then Forrest J. Ackerman, and now Bettie Page. 2008 has been a brutal year for some of the icons of my Southern California adolescence.

  Effective this week through Monday, Dec. 15, all of Jeremy Eaton's original artwork currently available at Comic Art Collective is available for just ONE-HALF the listed price.