Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

The American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association has announced their final Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2012 list and Wandering Son Vol. 1 by Shimura Takako (translated and edited by Matt Thorn) is in the Top Ten! Additionally, Wilfred Santiago's 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente has been named to the overall list. Congratulations all!

Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 by Pat Thomas 204-page full-color 10" x 10" hardcover • $39.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-507-5 Ships in: February 2012 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Noted music producer and scholar Pat Thomas spent five years in Oakland, CA researching Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975. While befriending members of the Black Panther Party, Thomas discovered rare recordings of speeches, interviews, and music by noted activists Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Elaine Brown, The Lumpen and many others that form the framework of this definitive retrospective. Listen, Whitey! also…

A wonderful endorsement for Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle #7 from the lovely and very funny Robert Popper, creator of the BBC series Look Around You (along with Peter Serafinowicz, for whose self-titled comedy sketch show Kupperman wrote) which aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and Friday Night Dinner which aired on BBC America and of whom I'm a fan so shut up it's exciting (and we didn't even have to accost him at Comic-Con this time)!

Hey look, photos I took at Tony Millionaire's "Portraits" art show & book signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery a couple weeks ago! It's always a blast when Tony's in town and we had a fantastic crowd for the event — thanks to everybody who came out! The show continues for a couple more weeks so get on down to see it. Everybody who got their copy of 500 Portraits signed got a quickie portrait of themselves in it as well, with Tony barking instructions at the subjects ("DON'T SMILE!") — there's Tony working on one above. Below, Tony adds…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: On the Inkstuds radio programme's "Best of 2011 with the Cartoonists" episode, Aaron Costain, Dustin Harbin and John Martz discuss their favorite comics of 2011 with host Robin McConnell, including: Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot by Jacques Tardi & Jean-Patrick Manchette Approximate Continuum Comics by Lewis Trondheim Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson Prison Pit Book 3 by Johnny Ryan Mome Vol. 22 • List: Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 was the second-highest vote-getter in Forbidden Planet International's…

We love it when folks share their fan tattoos and it's even better when it's someone from one of our favorite comic shops: Julie from Secret Headquarters in L.A. just got this one based on a Jason illustration. Go buy some comics and ask to see it in person!

Our weekly strips from Mahler & Weissman — Kupperman is on a secret mission and has to miss this week — plus links to other strips from around the web: — Black Classroom by Steven Weissman (view at original size): Angelman by Nicolas Mahler (view at original size): And elsewhere: The All-New Cartoon Boy Adventure Hour by John Kerschbaum at ACT-I-VATE: Forming by Jesse Moynihan: Humblug by Arnold Roth (3 updates this week): Lucky by Gabrielle Bell : Maakies by Tony Millionaire: The Pain — When Will It End? by Tim Kreider: Les Petits Riens by Lewis Trondheim: Truth Serum…

Tomorrow is the first kick-off event for the 12 Beers of the Apocalypse brought to you by the Elysian Brewing Co. and Fantagraphics Books, featuring the art of Charles Burns! It's the debut of the first brew in the series, Nibiru Yerba Maté Tripel, with a cask-tapping, survival demo, and a piñata of Planet Nibiru to smash. It all takes place tomorrow, 4-7 PM at Elysian's Capitol Hill brewpub at 1221 E. Pike St. in Seattle!

It just wouldn't be Comic-Con without the Hernandez Brothers, and CCI has confirmed today that all 3 of the comics-creating bros., Gilbert, Jaime and Mario, will be special guests of the 2012 convention in July. This, of course, will be just one stop on their epic Love and Rockets 30th anniversary tour — stay tuned for lots more details and announcements!