Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: School Library Journal names Linda Medley's Castle Waiting Vol. 2 one of "39 Graphic Novels That Kids Can't Resist": "Both volumes of Castle Waiting are vivid and enchanting, as any good fairy tale should be. Handsomely bound and printed on rich, creamy paper, the most important element — the story — is charming, filled with slowly building plots and compelling characters, and the slow pace means readers can spend the summer hours with some good company…. With clean black-and-white art and impeccable pacing, Castle Waiting remains a favorite for older kids and younger…

The nominees for the 2011 Harvey Awards are announced and we are pleased to report that we picked up a handful of nominations for a couple of titles, and to celebrate we're offering them at 25% off for the rest of the week! It Was the War of the Trenches by Jacques Tardi • Best American Edition of Foreign Material Love and Rockets: New Stories #3 by Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez • Best Continuing or Limited Series• Best Cartoonist — Jaime Hernandez• Best Single Issue or Story We're happy to share the ballot with illustrious pals and colleagues such as…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Wandering Son Vol. 1 by Shimura Takako 208-page black & white/color 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-416-0 See Previews / Order Now The fifth grade. The threshold to puberty, and the beginning of the end of childhood innocence. Shuichi Nitori and his new friend Yoshino Takatsuki have happy homes, loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates. But they share a secret that further complicates a time of life that is awkward for anyone: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Queen of the Black Black by Megan Kelso 168-page black & white 7" x 9.25" softcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-459-7 See Previews / Order Now Before her comics were serialized in the New York Times Sunday Magazine (“Watergate Sue,” 2007) or released by Fantagraphics Books (Artichoke Tales, 2010), Megan Kelso was a classic DIY cartoonist/publisher, who crafted and self-published her popular minicomic Girlhero from 1991 to 1996. Queen of the Black Black, which collects these early Girlhero strips (as well as a few from other sources) and was originally published in a…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: The Comics Journal #301 Edited by Mike Dean & Kristy Valenti; Gary Groth, Editor in Chief 640-page black & white/color 6.75" x 8.5" softcover • $30.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-291-3 See Previews / Order Now The Comics Journal has been, for almost 35 years, the standard bearer of critical inquiry, discrimination, debate, and serious discussion of comics as art, and the object of love and devotion among the comics cognescenti — and hate and scorn among the philistines, natch. We published our 300th issue in late 2009 and spent the ensuing year-plus re- conceptualizing…

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: Amazing Facts… and Beyond! with Leon Beyond by Kevin Huizenga: Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane: Cochlea & Eustachia by Hans Rickheit (recommended by Scott McCloud and Robot 6!): Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit: Humblug by Arnold Roth (3 new udpates!): Keeping Two by Jordan Crane: Maakies by Tony Millionaire: Les Petits Riens by Lewis Trondheim:

Canada Day Online Commentary & Diversions: • Plug: "Fantagraphics has put together a great-looking collection of cartoon advertising from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century: Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising 1870s-1940s." – Carlos Bergfeld, Quispologies • Plug: "Finally got my hands on Jim Woodring’s Congress of the Animals hardcover… and it’s just as beautifully-dreamlike and nightmarish as much of Woodring’s work." – Mike Sterling, Progressive Ruin • Commentary: At TCJ.com, R.C. Harvey comments on the "vicious fun-packed" video roasting his book Meanwhile… A Biography of Milton Caniff received at this year's Reuben Awards ceremony

Peter Bagge goes to jail — women's jail! — for his latest piece of comics reportage for Reason magazine.

We're offering this copy of Karikatur, the 1997 German edition of Caricature by Daniel Clowes, on eBay right now — find this and more collectibles in our eBay store.