Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Perfect Nonsense: The Chaotic Comics and Goofy Games of George Carlson by George Carlson; edited by Daniel Yezbick 320-page color/black & white 9.25" x 12.25" hardcover • $49.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-508-2 Ships in: January 2014 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Perfect Nonsense tells the complete story behind one of the most innovative and under-rated Golden Age artists, classic children's illustrators, and nonsense poets in American history. For more than 50 years, George Carlson created thousands of distinctive and dynamic cartoons, comics, riddles, and games that thrilled both children and adults with their fanciful spirit and nonsensical humor. There has never been a career…

We're pleased to present the enigmatic prologue to Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano as a free, downloadable preview. After a flash of disparate images (butterflies, twin babies, a notebook, a tunnel, a headless animal, a falling or floating body), the scene opens in a hospital as a young man attends to his ailing father, then meets a mysterious old man outside who seems to know him. A couple of quick scene shifts — a man in a lonely apartment, a couple having sex, a man interviewing a woman — and we flash back to a sad but curious schoolgirl, a found corpse, a schoolyard…

"Johnny Ryan has rewritten 'Bad Luck Blackie' with no kittens." – Gary Panter "Cheers Johnny! Thanks for the knife to the cock!" – Guy Davis "For those who find filthy, blotchy tactile ink clots, überviolence, or body horror even remotely appealing, you need to buy this and its predecessors immediately." – Slate "There's no point in trying to explain Prison Pit. You can only experience it to understand it. Start buy buying all of them at once if you haven't yet… It wears its intentional stupidness and violence on its sleeve while also showing off Johnny Ryan's sophisticated sense of…

Prison Pit Book 5 by Johnny Ryan 124-page black & white 6.5" x 8.5" softcover • $12.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-700-0 Ships in: December 2013 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Prison Pit is Johnny (Angry Youth Comix) Ryan's ongoing taboo-busting sci-fi-prison-planet-body-mutation-splatterfest epic extravaganza, beloved by everyone from the legendary Gary Panter ("GLOREGEFULL!") to Booklist ("Not to be missed"). In the latest installment, our hero Cannibal Fuckface still isn't dead, so the Prison Boss plays what may be his last card: The Holocaust Brothers. But before CF battles the Ho-Bros he's got to destroy his arch-enemy, the seemingly indestructible Slitt, who happens to be the…

Testimonials keep rolling in for Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable Vol. 3, coming this Spring: "Tammy's enchanting smile and dazzling eyes are a gift of grace from Esther Watson." – Pendleton Ward, creator of Adventure Time I'm so excited I dropped MY BEANS!

At last, all of Tony Millionaire's "Sock Monkey" stories (to date) are collected between two covers — and what covers they are, thanks to designer Jacob Covey — in one omnibus compendium. Sock Monkey Treasury swings into stores in February. Our downloadable excerpt comprises one complete story and then some. In "Heaven," Uncle Gabby makes a celestial discovery and enlists Mr. Crow to help him investigate. Will their expedition lead to paradise or folly? Plus, a chunk of the full-color "Uncle Gabby" story to marvel at, and the Table of Contents for your information. Why not go ahead and pre-order your copy right now? 

Our elves have been busy and 10 more of our Spring-Summer 2014 titles are now newly ready for pre-ordering action. More will become available as they're built into our bookkeeping system (which can be an irregular process) so continue to stay tuned… Batter Up, Charlie Brown! by Charles M. Schulz 64-page two-color 5.5" x 5.5" hardcover • $9.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-725-3 Buddy Buys a Dump by Peter Bagge 144-page full-color 6" x 9" softcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-745-1 The Amateurs by Conor Stechschulte 72-page black & white (with spot color) 6" x 9" softcover • $14.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-734-5 Arsene Schrauwen by Olivier Schrauwen 250-page full-color 8" x 10" hardcover…

The countdown to Zero Hour continues with this first glimpse of an advance copy of the upcoming volume in our EC Comics Library series. Artist Jack Kamen brings Al Feldstein's scripts to life with confident chiaroscuro brushwork in these spine-tingling sci-fi yarns. Mad scientists, creepy aliens, desperate criminals, beautiful women, cigar-chomping government types, apocalypse survivors, sideshow freaks… the classic EC stuff, reproduced in crisp black & white in our handsome, bookshelf-friendly hardcover presentation with scholarly bonus features. Secure your copy by pre-ordering today!

Our newest volume of Hal Foster's Prince Valiant opens mid-castle siege, and amid the clangor of battle, young love inspires a bold deed… but will one innocent act of bravery be enough to bring about peace between bitter enemies? Then Val and his band meet some barbarians and some monks, and Val runs into some trouble in the foothills of the Alps. Read all about it in our downloadable  excerpt, which presents the first dozen full-page Sunday strips in this volume, which is due to hit shelves next month.

“While most manga about cross-dressing involve lots of shrieking and embarrassment, Wandering Son takes a quieter, more introspective approach…. It’s a very sweet manga with realistic characters — no dead parents or crazy teachers, just ordinary, loving families and supportive friends. This manga is a beautifully produced, hardcover book, and… it’s worth every penny.” — Brigid Alverson, MTV.com “Wandering Son is meticulously accurate in its details, but universal in its emotions. Gay or not, readers shouldn’t find it too difficult to identify with kids who feel like their bodies and their friends are equally culpable in the worst kind of…