Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review/Interview: "When Leslie Stein’s Eye of the Majestic Creature is summarized, it sounds too precious and odd for human consumption, like some horrible blend of Ziggy and Zippy. That’s far from the case, however. The first four issues of Eye, now collected in book form by Fantagraphics, never tip over into cutesy treacle or become mired in faux hipsterism. Far from it — there’s a sense of melancholy and awareness that, while never overwhelming the book, grounds it in a recognizable reality. Adopting a simple, rubbery style, Stein manages to create both a likeable,…

It's down to the last couple of days for Zak Sally's Kickstarter project for his self-published, self-printed edition of Sammy the Mouse Vol. 1, collecting the first 3 Ignatz Series issues. The project already met its funding goal a couple of weeks ago but Zak is making one last plea for additional funds so that he can make the book a little fancier, hire some promo help and maybe pay himself a little bit for the printing. And of course it's your last chance to get in on the nifty pledge incentives. If you haven't pledged yet, what are you…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Stein's cartooning is broad and trippy, and if she occasionally becomes intoxicated with her own gimlet-eyed sensibility, she's never afraid to turn that dark wit on herself. Eye of the Majestic Creature… is ultimately the tale of a young woman rejecting the things that shaped her and attempting to figure out what comes next for her. Thanks to Stein's loose, amiable approach, you'll want to know that, too." – Glen Weldon, NPR Monkey See • Review: "Readers needing their Peter Bagge and/or Hate fix will always get it, to some degree, in the…

We're resuming offering some finds from our recent clean-sweep of our attic on eBay. Our current offering: The Voyage of the Ayeguy, a 1980 limited edition set of painting reproductions from renowned sci-fi artist Josh Kirby. Bidding closes on Sunday.

A crew from MTV Geek was at the 2011 MoCCA festival filming creator interviews, and now they're up! Dig these fun chats with… Peter Bagge (part 1 embedded here; click thru for parts 2-4): Tags: Geek: Event Coverage, MTV Games Leslie Stein (part 1 embedded here; click thru for part 2): Tags: Geek: Event Coverage, MTV Games Gahan Wilson (part 1 embedded here; click thru for part 2): Tags: Geek: Event Coverage, MTV Games Bonus! Here's Charles Burns talking about X'ed Out (part 1 embedded here; click thru for parts 2-4): Tags: Geek: Event Coverage, MTV Games

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 August 2011 (give or take — some release dates have changed since the issue went to press). 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. (And we'll continue and hopefully improve this feature every month!) You'll find hotly-anticipated titles like the next Love and Rockets, Oil & Water (both "Certified Cool"!), the…

Back from the U.S. holiday with Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: Publishers Weekly's Laurel Maury reports that The Armed Garden and Other Stories by David B. was named one of the "Hot Fall Graphic Novels For Libraries 2011" by a panel of experts at BEA last weekend, with Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 1 by Floyd Gottfredson, Wandering Son Vol. 1 by Shimura Takako, Nuts by Gahan Wilson and Congress of the Animals by Jim Woodring all receiving Honorable Mentions • Review: "Jacques Tardi is pretty awesome, y’all. But then, you already knew that…. This sucker [The Arctic Marauder] is from 1974….

Our homeboy Marc Palm created this Filmation-style Prison Pit fan art, which Johnny Ryan posted over at his blog, where you can find out the inarguable reasoning behind Marc's color choices.

Like the Patterson-Gimlin film, here is your blurry evidence of the Fantagraphics panel at this past weekend's Oslo Comics Expo, showing (left to right) Dash Shaw, Dave Cooper and Kim Thompson, uploaded by Twitter user @Iselin_Evensen. (Not pictured: fellow panelists Tony Millionaire and Jason.) You can tell from the refreshments on the table there (presumably served from the festival's on-site bar, The Drinky Crow) that this was a European festival. We're hoping to wangle a show report and some photos out of Kim for Flog, and we're keeping our eye on the OCX site for more photos & media, so…

Congratulations to Joyce Farmer , whose graphic memoir Special Exits has received the prestigious 2010 NCS Division Award for Graphic Novels! The winners in all the divisions were announced at the 65th Annual NCS Reuben Awards banquet last night in Boston, MA. Special Exits is also nominated for a 2011 Eisner Award in the category of Best Reality-Based Work.