Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Now that The Strange Case of Edward Gorey by Alexander Theroux is out, Johnny Ryan reminds us of his own encounters with Gorey, as recounted in Vice back in 2006. It's an oldie but well worth revisiting. And I don't think I noticed before that the Goreyesque illustration is by John Kerschbaum!

• Magnificent new album cover illustration by Tony Millionaire • Wonderfully lurid book cover illustration by Wilfred Santiago for Outside the Bones by Lyn Di Iorio • Tributes to St. Ogan and more sketching by Kevin Huizenga at STL Drawing Club and New Construction • Renee French, still great on a daily basis • New sketches & watercolors by Sophie Crumb • I'm at a loss to describe this by Josh Simmons • Jason T. Miles continues his hall of laughing Presidents • Oliver Reed by Jim Blanchard And more Things to See from the past week: • Strips, illustrations…

Instead of Cold Heat blogging from Pittsburgh, Frank Santoro is now Tumblr blogging from New Mexico. Here's his comics introduction to his new living space.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "What Is All This? is a potent, refreshing collection of previously uncollected short stories by Stephen Dixon. Though the music world might label this an 'odds-and-sods' collection, this volume cannot be dismissed so lightly. This? is a book that reminds us fans why we enjoy Dixon’s writing and gives inquiring neophytes an excellent opportunity to sample the kinds of things he has gotten up to over the last five decades." – Darby Dixon, The Quarterly Conversation • Review: "A la hora de comentar Frank , resulta imprescindible hacer referencia a uno de sus…

Look at this treasure unearthed by Evan Dorkin: a flyer for a 1987 San Diego Comic-Con afterparty with crazy artwork by Gilbert Hernandez. Love it! (Via The Comics Reporter.)

Fantagraphics Bookstore is pleased to present Aaron Renier in conversation with Jason Shiga on Wednesday, February 23 at 6:30 PM. Renier will discuss his new graphic novel, The Unsinkable Walker Bean, on the acclaimed First Second imprint. His previous book, Spiral Bound (Top Shelf, 2005), was widely heralded as a book that appealed to sophisticated readers of all ages. Oakland artist Jason Shiga's award-winning books also attract an all ages readership. In addition to self-published comics, his work has appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly. Shiga's next effort, Empire State, is due later this year from Abrams Comicarts. A limited number of…

Just arrived in our warehouse & ready to ship: Prince Valiant Vol. 3: 1941-1942 by Hal Foster 112-page full-color 10.25" x 14" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-407-8 Previews & Ordering Info With this volume, Foster reaches (by common critical consensus) the peak of his drawing and storytelling prowess – a peak at which he will remain for most of the run of this glorious strip. Almost the entirety of 1941’s strips feature a single ten-month epic entitled “Fights for the Singing Sword,” a globetrotting adventure fueled by Valiant’s obsessive search for his bride-to-be Aleta throughout Northern Africa, with stops in Jerusalem,…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Popeye Vol. 5: "Wha's a Jeep?" by E.C. Segar 168-page black & white/color 10.5" x 14.75" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-404-7 Previews & Ordering Info Remember last volume’s cliffhanger? The penultimate installment of this acclaimed reprinting of E.C. Segar’s masterpiece begins with “Popeye’s Ark: Part Two,” the tale of Popeye’s eventful reign over Spinachovia — a bleak island populated only by men and lacking all “femininity” — even as Olive Oyl controls the country of Olivia (not to mention the men of Spinachovia). Then in “War Clouds,” the two monarchies come tumbling…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Freeway by Mark Kalesniko 420-page black & white 7" x 10" softcover • $28.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-356-9 Previews & Ordering Info Alex Kalienka is in an awful jam. Literally, a traffic jam — but figuratively, his whole life is a mess. A dream job turned nightmare at the biggest animation studio in the world. A love affair that is not what he imagined. And possibly someone with a life-threatening grudge against him… In his first new graphic novel since 2001’s acclaimed Mail Order Bride, Mark Kalesniko compresses an entire life into a single…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: The Last Rose of Summer by Monte Schulz cover illustration by Cathy Malkasian 332-page 6" x 9" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-401-6 Previews & Ordering Info With the Great Depression looming and about to define America's next decade, three strong-minded women related by marriage form an uneasy household in the summer of 1929. Forced by her husband Harry to uproot their two small children from Illinois and take up residence in East Texas, Marie Hennessey struggles to find a place not only within her mother-in-law's home but in a Southern town whose…