Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "…21’s eloquence is visual, and it is a very real eloquence. The character of Roberto Clemente is nearly hugged to death in this particular portrayal: he’s virtuous and charming and earnest and respectful to elders, and thus kind of dull. But the world around him is alive, and Santiago’s expressive (and occasionally, bracingly expressionistic) approach to portraying Clemente’s wild athletic genius ensures that it remains thrillingly present. Santiago’s art is impressively mutable and subtle, with the early scenes in Carolina in particular and the off-field action in general drawn with a clean, evocative…

Jason has been honored in his native Norway with his own postage stamp! It's one of a series of 4 featuring artwork by contemporary Norwegian cartoonists in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first comic to be published in Norway, as Jason explains on his blog. If we can just get the USPS to follow suit with some Love and Rockets or Eightball stamps, it might save them from bankruptcy!

The new issue of Booklist contains a review of Gil Jordan, Private Detective: Murder by High Tide by M. Tillieux, excerpted below: "Many fans have long known that there’s more to Franco-Belgian comics than Tintin and Asterix — and those who didn’t know will be delighted to learn it…. Dapper private detective Gil Jordan is the star of these funny adventure stories, aided by ex-burglar assistant Crackerjack, eccentric friend Inspector Crouton, and no-nonsense secretary Miss Midge. 'Murder by High Tide' sets an antiques dealer’s death at an irresistible location, on a tidal causeway leading to the decrepit Tower of the…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Another brilliant adaptation of a Jean-Patrick Manchette crime novel by Jacques Tardi. If you liked West Coast Blues, well, you absolutely will love [Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot]. If you are a crime fan and haven’t read that work yet, you really must as for whatever reason, it is something that tends to get overlooked. Yes, Tardi’s art style is completely unique and can take a little adjusting to if you’re only used to conventional American / UK styles, but give it a go because he brings gritty crime to brutal,…

(Photo via Theo Ellsworth) Larry's brief tribute has emboldened me to talk a little bit about Dylan Williams. I'd been reluctant to say anything here about Dylan's passing since my personal contact with him has been almost entirely as a customer of Sparkplug. I mostly know Dylan through people I work with who were close to him, and through his work as a publisher, which stands on its own as a tribute to his integrity, ethics, and love of the art form. Even knowing him second-hand I can't think of anyone I admire and respect more in this crazy business….

If you could color me excited I'd look a lot like the image above: the great Ron Regé Jr. is finishing up his new book The Cartoon Utopia, which (fanfare) we are publishing (tentatively planned for a late-2012 release, schedule TBD), and is looking for a little financial help to enable him to really buckle down on it. Slide him some cash and he will reward you with a drawing or somethin'.

This giant inflatable sculpture was created from a design by Jim Woodring by Pete Hamilton and company at Designs in Air, whose other work also has a decidedly Woodringesque flair. Via The Woodring Monitor.

(click for larger version) Word has slipped out and is spreading around the Twittersphere like wildfire, so we thought we'd make it official: following our wildly successful edition of A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio, we will be publishing Hagio-sensei's The Heart of Thomas (Thomas no Shinzō /トーマの心臓 ), edited and translated by Matt Thorn, next year. The book is planned to be a $35.00, 8" x 10" 480-page hardcover, black and white with 16 pages of duotone (as seen above), and is currently scheduled for August 2012, subject to change. We'll be posting more information about…

Today is the day that Major League Baseball honors the late great Roberto Clemente by naming the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, given each year to the MLB player who best exemplifies Clemente's legacy of athletic and humanitarian achievements, which you can read all about in Wilfred Santiago's beautiful and universally acclaimed graphic biography 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente. We still have the book available with a limited-edition signed bookplate for no extra charge, so get your copy now!  

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec Vol. 2: The Mad Scientist and Mummies on Parade by Jacques Tardi 96 page full-color 9" x 11.75" hardcover • $24.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-493-1 Ships in: October 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now After establishing the world of the prickly heroine with the first two episodes of this classic series (combined in Fantagraphics’ The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec Volume 1), Jacques Tardi plunges us back into Belle-Époque Paris for another double dosage of heroic derring-do, evil and crazy malefactors, mad actresses (yes, "Clara Benhardt" makes a return appearance) and monsters! In “The Mad Scientist”…