Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s (2nd Printing) by various artists; edited by John Benson and Greg Sadowski 320-page full-color 7.5" x 10.5" softcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-343-9 Ships in: April 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now After the first printing, released in Fall 2010, sold out in a matter of months, we went back to press with a brand-new cover design for the 2nd printing! Of the myriad genres comic books ventured into during its golden age, none was as controversial as or came at a greater cost than horror; the public outrage it incited almost…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "In the serialized adventures of Buz Sawyer, ace World War II Navy pilot and clean-cut ladies man, Crane expertly mixes high action in the Pacific with just the right amount of romance, creating a storytelling engine as sturdy and reliable as Sawyer’s SBD Dauntless. Crane’s gorgeous art, with cleanly drawn figures, extensive shading, and a slightly cartoonish style, took full advantage of the space provided comic strips back in the day. […] Rating: 9.0 [out of 10]" – Garrett Martin, Paste • Review: "Depending on who you are and your social outlook this…

Comic-Con International announced today the 2011 inductees into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame, including Ernie Bushmiller (Nancy) and Jack "Jaxon" Jackson! We, as you probably know, are collecting Nancy beginning late this year; we've published several Jaxon books in the past and (announcement!) we will be publishing Jack Jackson's American History: Los Tejanos & Lost Cause in early 2012. In addition to the inductees selected by the judges, the nominees to be selected by voters and announced at Comic-Con this summer include comics scholar Bill Blackbeard, who edits our Krazy & Ignatz series, and Kim Deitch. You…

Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi has confirmed Tim Kreider as a Justice in his newly-formed Supreme Court of Assholedom, an august body that will hear cases and judge, once and for all, who is an asshole. Kreider, of course, knows a thing or two about assholes, having just published a whole book of them, which, conveniently, Taibbi wrote the introduction for. We look forward to the Court's rulings.

You're invited to "like" the official Facebook page for 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago. There you'll find our previews of the book, links to reviews and interviews, updates on appearances by Wilfred and more. Find it all at: http://www.facebook.com/21thestoryofrobertoclemente (As a reminder, we have a full portfolio of Facebook pages for ourselves and various related artists and projects, as well as other social networking destinations where you can connect with us, links to all of which can be found here.)

Here's a nifty piece of recent Daniel Clowes artwork you mightn't've seen before: the wraparound cover for the Japanese edition of Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, put out by our esteemed colleagues over at Presspop! Click the image for a high-res version that would look pretty smart as a desktop background.

Safe Area Gorazde: The Special Edition by Joe Sacco 272-page black & white 7.75" x 10.25" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-396-5 Ships in: April 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now First released in 2000, Safe Area Gorazde confirmed Sacco as one of the pre-eminent journalists of his time, and earned him a 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship. Now for its 10th anniversary, Fantagraphics is releasing an expanded hardcover edition which, much like 2007’s Palestine: The Special Edition, supplements the original work with page after page of special features, listed below. In the wake of his acclaimed Palestine, Joe Sacco spent four months…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Anyone who ever got into fantasy role-playing games during their early adolescence no doubt remembers how those early forays into heroic adventuring could be fraught with profane characters, ludicrous moments during breaks from the quest at hand, and the strange, often puerile creations of a hormonally charged dungeon master. All of those elements fuel the entertaining world that Daly drops readers into with [Dungeon Quest Book 2]… There are encounters with monsters, violent battles, magical items to be gathered, eerie dungeons, and so on, but we are also treated to a hilarious bit…

Here's your first look at the final cover art for The Raven by Lou Reed and Lorenzo Mattotti, coming this Summer. Book design by Fantagraphics art director Jacob Covey. Find out more about the book here. AUGH! CORRECTION: This book was designed by Grammy-nominated designer Jesse LeDoux! Thanks Jesse! Sorry Jesse!

Daily OCD Extra: At Publishers Weekly, John Seven writes about Wilfred Santiago's new graphic biography 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente and talks to Santiago about the creation of the book: "'I tried to look from the outside,' said Santiago. 'I wanted to tell the story as if you asked me about somebody that I knew and I just started rambling and telling you about him. I wanted the book to have that free flow to it.' In doing so, it gave Santiago a chance to look back at his culture and realize that the distance between it and life…