Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

These two books are available at comic shops today — and to order direct from us — at new reduced prices! This is not a sale but a permanent price reduction! They're the exact same books as before — the only thing that's changed is the price tag. We've lowered the price of Ghost World: Special Edition by Daniel Clowes from $39.99 to $25.00! This deluxe hardcover includes the original graphic novel, the Oscar-nominated screenplay of the film adaptation, and tons of bonus artwork and ephemera. And we've slashed Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons by 40%, from $125.oo…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Popular culture historian Rick Marschall and biographer/researcher Warren Bernard have compiled here [in Drawing Power] a captivating potted history of the rise of the art of commercial cartooning in an increasingly advertising-aware America (…and make a strong argument that one could not have thrived without the other) whilst providing a glorious panoply of staggeringly evocative, nostalgic and enduring picture-poems which shaped the habits of a nation…. Stuffed with astounding images, fascinating lost ephemera and mouth-watering photos of toys and trinkets no fan could resist, this colossal collection is a beautiful piece of cartoon…

The Frank Book (New Softcover Edition) by Jim Woodring 352-page black & white/color 8.5" x 11" softcover • $34.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-500-6 Ships in: September 2011 (subject to change) – Pre-Order Now The Frank Book (New Hardcover Printing) by Jim Woodring 352-page black & white/color 8.75" x 11.25" hardcover • $45.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-513-6 Ships in: September 2011 (subject to change) – Pre-Order Now eaders who haven't discovered Jim Woodring's Frank stories will find a treat waiting for them in the pages of this book. Since publication in 1991 of the award-winning, epoch-making "Frank in the River," these lusciously hypnotic fables have dazzled cartoon…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: At his High-Low blog Rob Clough posts his belated Top 50 Books of 2010 list, with Megan Kelso's Artichoke Tales at #1, 4 of our books in the top 5, 5 in the top 10, 8 in the top 20, and 14 overall in the top 50 — it's a long but worthwhile read • Review: "Calling Congress of the Animals recommended reading is a bit misleading. It’s definitely recommended, but it doesn’t technically involve reading. The entire book doesn’t feature a single word bubble. The only words are on the book jacket….

Jason shares his artwork for the back cover of his upcoming story collection Athos in America and it makes a fine counterpoint to the front cover.

When someone at Staten Island comic shop Comic Book Jones tweeted about their tattoo of the NYC cityscape based on a Tony Millionaire drawing, we knew we had to see it and share it with all our Flog readers. And look what else we found in their Twitpic archives: one of their customers with a neck tattoo (!) of Michael Kupperman's Snake 'n' Bacon and a panel from Tales Designed to Thrizzle #6 on his arm!

Brazilian publisher Gal Editora put together this spiffy trailer for their translated edition of our Blazing Combat collection (Combate Inglório). It works pretty well as an advertisement for our edition too, even if you don't read Portuguese. Perhaps someday I'll teach myself how to make trailers like this; in the meantime you can check out our video preview too. (Via Bleeding Cool.)

Our weekly strips from Kupperman & Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web: — Up All Night by Michael Kupperman (view at original size): Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (view at original size): And elsewhere: Forming by Jesse Moynihan: Humblug by Arnold Roth (3 new udpates): Maakies by Tony Millionaire: Truth Serum by Jon Adams:

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "It would take Gottfredson a few years to hit his stride: Many of his best Mickey stories appeared in the later ’30s and ’40s. But the basic characteristics that would make the print version of Mickey popular after the studio curtailed his animated antics can clearly be seen in these first installments…. Race to Death Valley is the latest entry in Fantagraphics’ reprints of classic comic strips, and is sure to delight fans of Mickey Mouse as well as comic strip aficionados. The strips are clearly printed in a readable size, and editors…

Another reveal of an amazing art book today! Art Director Tony Ong just turned in this fabulous cover design for Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture – A Career Retrospective, coming out during the holidays. Hope you've got some extra shelf space in your bookcase because you'll want to display this (and the other one we revealed today, Tony Millionaire's 500 Portraits) face-out! Click the image for a larger version so you can bask in all that amazing detail.