Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Explore a world of comics! Columbus Day is upon us and we're celebrating the spirit of discovery (never mind the centuries of pillaging, genocide and other atrocities). From now through next Friday, October 14, 2011, take at least 30% off comics and graphic novels by international creators! From manga to bandes desinées, classic to cutting-edge, if it's "furrin" it's on sale. Our slogan is "Publisher of the World's Best Cartoonists Since 1976," and we mean it when we say THE WORLD. Beyond the U.S. and Canada our creators hail from such far-flung locales as Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico,…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: Jeff Newelt names Leslie Stein's Eye of the Majestic Creature to Heeb Magazine's "Best of 5771: Comics" list, saying "What a treat discovering a new 'voice' that speaks to you as much as longtime favorites." • Interview: Shannon Wheeler talks about Oil and Water in a Q&A with Portland Monthly: "Fishermen couldn’t fish, plants were dying, scientists didn’t know what the effects were, and tourism was crippled. In addition to the environmental damage, there was damage to people’s lives that is profound. We very much wanted to tell the human story."

Oops! Due to an inventory SNAFU the 2005 Special Edition issue of The Comics Journal was mistakenly thought to be sold out and removed from our online catalog. But we still have a bunch of 'em! This oversized (12" x 12") humdinger includes features on masters of manga Hideshi Hino, Suehiro Maruo, Saseo Ono, Osamu Tezuka and Yoshihiro Tsuge;  three great writers on Vaughn Bodé; Bill Blackbeard on Milt Gross; a report from the Montreal comics scene; and a star-studded anthology comics section on the theme of "seduction" with comics from (deep breath): Rick Altergott, Ho Che Anderson, Andrice Arp,…

Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson by Kevin AveryForeword by Nick ToschesCover illustration by Jeff Wong 512-page 6" x 9" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-475-7 Ships in: October 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now What happened to Paul Nelson? In the '60s, he pioneered rock & roll criticism with a first-person style of writing that would later be popularized by the likes of Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer as "New Journalism." As co-founding editor of The Little Sandy Review and managing editor of Sing Out!, he'd already established himself, to use his friend Bob Dylan's…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "We cannot commend Love & Rockets to you highly enough… 'Return for Me' will not disappoint…, and I was left speechless for hours…. There’s far more of Maggie in parts three, four and five of 'The Love Bunglers,' and I could begin almost any review of a Jaime Hernandez story with my 'Poor Maggie' refrain. Still, poor Maggie… Then there’s the delightfully mannered dance and duel from Gilbert Hernandez of 'And Then Reality Kicks In.' No one does comics like Gilbert. Sometimes it’s as if he’s never read another comic in his life…

The new Diamond Previews catalog is out today and in it you'll find our usual 2-page spread (download the PDF) with our releases scheduled to arrive in your local comic shop in December 2011 (give or take — some release dates may have changed since the issue went to press) and a selection of gift book suggestions. We're pleased to offer additional and updated information about these upcoming releases here on our website, to help shops and customers alike make more informed ordering decisions. This month's Featured Item is editor Michel Gagné's Young Romance: The Best of Simon & Kirby's…

Above, the cover for Randy Bradley, a novella by Jake Bohstedt Morrill from NYC small press Solid Objects, illustrated by Michael Kupperman. The book itself is described as "thrillingly crazed" and "cheerfully demented," which sounds like it's in Michael's wheelhouse. This is his second job for the publisher; we reported on the first one here.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions, good buddy: • Review: "…Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 is one of the best comics I’ve ever had the pleasure to read…. The potential hinted at in ‘Browntown’ and the first parts of ‘The Love Bunglers’ (all from last year’s Love and Rockets: New Stories #3) is developed here to a genuinely emotional and satisfying climax that, despite coming out of nowhere, feels utterly in-character and appropriate for the world of Locas, and is delivered with such virtuosic storytelling that I’m kinda choking up a bit right now just flicking through it again! The cartooning on display is…

We've had a small quantity of Eightball #22 (the original comic book version of Ice Haven) lurking unnoticed in our warehouse for a while, and we are finally bringing them to the light of day, offering them to you, our mail-order customers… …However! Due to demand for this out-of-print and highly sought-after item, we are limiting purchases to customers who order at least $50 worth of other stuff. See the product details page for more information and get shopping!