Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Our compadre Alberto "El Tio Berni" Garcia from Spain's premier comics site Entrecomics was at Comic-Con in San Diego and captured some video clips of  Jaime Hernandez's cartooning master-class panel — we've embedded one above and you can watch them all here. Also, even if you don't read Spanish you can still enjoy the photos in his Comic-Con recap post, including great shots of Gary Groth & Kim Thompson (caption: “Every time Gary Groth smiles, Kim Thompson (background) sacrifices a kitten”), somebody (possibly me) spinning our Eisner Award globes (it's irresistible!), all three Hernandez Bros., and this woman, a dead…

Tor! Tor! Tor! Drew Friedman has painted this heavenly new portrait of Swedish wrestler-turned-thespian Tor Johnson for the back cover of (drum roll) a new edition of his first comics collection (co-written by his brother Josh) Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead is Purely Coincidental, which we will be issuing in 2012!

Woo hoo! Congrats Ellen!

The new Diamond Previews catalog is out today and in it you'll find our usual 2-page spread with our releases scheduled to arrive in your local comic shop in October 2011 (give or take — some release dates have changed since the issue went to press), plus a full-page Featured Item spotlight on Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks! 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. In addition to our first Barks Library book you'll…

St. Louis TV station KPLR ran this brief profile of Bill Mauldin as part of a series spotlighting inductees into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. I'm not sure when this originally aired, but The Daily Cartoonist picked it up today — fortuitious timing, as our two Willie & Joe collections hit comic shops tomorrow!

This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about them (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability. Willie & Joe: The WWII Years (Softcover Ed.) by Bill Mauldin; edited by Todd DePastino 704-page black & white/color 8" x 10" softcover • $39.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-439-9 Willie & Joe: Back Home by Bill Mauldin; edited by Todd DePastino 288-page black & white 8" x 10" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-351-4 "Maudlin's…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: The Hooded Utilitarian, continuing to roll out the top 10 results in their International Best Comics Poll, reveals the Locas stories of Jaime Hernandez at #7, with an appreciation by Derik Badman • Review: "I am seriously finding it difficult, if not impossible, to review [Love and Rockets: New Stories #4] without simply hitting the bullets-and-numbering button and whipping up a list of everything in it that amazed me. It would be a long list, too…. The fact of the matter is that while reading this book I discovered that I’m at least…

The Armed Garden and Other Stories by David B. 112-page two-color 7.5" x 10.75" hardcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-462-7 Ships in: August 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now David B., the creator of the acclaimed Epileptic, gives full rein to his fascination with history, magic and gods, not to mention grand battles, in this literate, witty, and absorbing collection of stories — all based on historical fact, or at least historical legend, and delineated in a striking stylized two-color format. “The Veiled Prophet”: During the 8th century (the time of Harun al-Rashid, the Caliph of 1001 Nights fame), Hakim al-Muqanna,…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Setting the Standard: Comics by Alex Toth 1952-1954 edited by Greg Sadowski 432-page full color 7.5" x 10.5" softcover • $39.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-408-5 See Previews / Order Now Alex Toth’s influence on the art of comic books is incalculable. As his generation was the first to grow up with the new 10-cent full-color pamphlets, he came to the medium with a fresh eye, and enough talent and discipline to graphically strip it down its to its bare essentials. His efforts reached fruition at Standard Comics, creating an entire school of imitators and…

Love & Rockets from The Comics Journal on Vimeo. Courtesy of The Comics Journal, enjoy this video of the entire Love and Rockets panel at Comic-Con 2011 with Gilbert, Jaime and Mario Hernandez (moderated by a laryngitis-stricken Kristy Valenti of TCJ).