Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Given a classroom assignment to create a toy design, Love and Rockets fan Ali Akbar sensibly thought, "Why not BEM?" Thus, this 3D rendering of everyone's favorite Gilbert Hernandez-created robo-gorilla-mecha-suit (as seen in the collection Amor y Cohetes). I'd buy wunna these… anna Roy action figure… anna Rocky & Fumble playset… anna Rena Titañon wrasslin' action doll… Thanks to Ali for sharing these images on the Love and Rockets Facebook page!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Originally appearing from 1958 to 1960, these insouciant, stylish, and thrilling dramas should appeal to readers of all ages. If they don't hook a whole new batch of bande dessinée fans, France needs to take back the Statue of Liberty in a huff…. Both stories zip by with nary a dull patch. Confections lacking in gravitas, they nevertheless own the supreme virtues of lightness and panache. Tillieux's art is always easy on the eye…. If Spielberg is looking for a second franchise after Tintin, he couldn't go wrong with Gil Jordan." – Paul…

Our weekly strips from Kupperman & Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web. Running a bit late this week due to your humble compiler being a bit under the weather. — Up All Night by Michael Kupperman (view at original size): Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (view at original size): And elsewhere: Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane: Cochlea & Eustachia by Hans Rickheit: Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit: Humblug by Arnold Roth (6 new udpates!): Keeping Two by Jordan Crane: Lucky by Gabrielle Bell (daily diary strips all throughout July!): Maakies by Tony Millionaire: Truth Serum by…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Commentary: We're pleased (really) to see Adult Video News picking up on our announcement of The Complete ZAP Comix, despite some glaring fact-checking errors in their report (see if you can spot 'em!) • Review: "The coolest reprints of the year have hit the shelves as Fantagraphics tears it up by releasing Floyd Gottfredson’s run on the comic strip Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse. To start with, this is a great edition of the material. It looks great, the black and white art is classically bold and pops right off the pages at you, and it’s…

We just announced our EC Comics Library series less than a week ago and already we're full steam ahead on the books: Straight from editor Gary Groth, here is the lineup of stories for the first book in the series, Corpse on the Imjin and Other Stories, collecting the war stories written by Harvey Kurtzman and drawn by Kurtzman and others: Drawn by Kurtzman: November – December 1950 – Two-Fisted Tales #18 – Conquest January – February 1951 – Two-Fisted Tales #19 – Jivaro Death! March – April 1951 – Two-Fisted Tales #20 – Pirate Gold! September 1951 – Frontline…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "…I’ll admit it: I did not expect to read a Frank book whose final panel made me go 'Awwww!' …[T]he journey [in Congress of the Animals] takes Frank so far afield that at some point (probably when he gets lost at sea and washes up on some distant shore) he ends up outside the Unifactor’s confines. New information can now enter his world… And at that point all hell breaks loose…which in a Frank comic is to say it doesn’t break loose at all." – Sean T. Collins, Attentiondeficitdisorderly • Review: "I don't…

Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter had first crack at reporting on our EC Comics Library series and talked to our chief and editor of the series, Gary Groth: "The intention, says the publisher, is to present the material to a new generation that may not have been exposed to the EC Comics except in fits and starts, and to better underline specific artistic achievements of creators like Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood and Bernard Krigstein…. 'I'm leaning toward treating each individual book as an individual book, customized to the individual artist,' Groth stated. 'I want to get away from treating…

The latest print available from Drew Friedman's online Fine Art concern is this magnificent portrait of one of Drew's artistic heroes and a subject near and dear to our own hearts: Will Elder, the Mad Playboy of Art himself. Drew depicts Villy in his studio, brushes at the ready. These suckers are limited-edition, signed by Drew and perhaps will provide you with your own artistic inspiration.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Macherot’s animals are cute and full of character, from the porcupine sheriff to the cigar-smoking, shop-keeping bird. Visually they resemble Walt Kelly’s Pogo, with backgrounds that will look familiar to anybody who ever watched The Smurfs cartoon…. There might be more slapstick than the average post-elementary school reader can appreciate, but the adorable art, amiable characters, and a thrilling late-story air battle will keep you interested until the end. Best of all are the brief glimpses at domestic country mouse mundanity, like Sibyl-Anne’s love for baking pies and the aside where she and…