Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: Black is the Color by Julia Gfrörer 72-page black & white 6" x 9" softcover • $14.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-717-8 See Previews / Order Now Black is the Color begins with a 17th century sailor abandoned at sea by his shipmates, and as it progresses he endures, and eventually succumbs to, both his lingering death sentence and the advances of a cruel and amorous mermaid. The narrative also explores the experiences of the loved ones he leaves behind, on his ship and at home on land, as well as of the mermaids who jadedly…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: Artists Authors Thinkers Directors by Paul Hornschemeier 112-page full-color 6" x 6.5" hardcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-698-0 See Previews / Order Now One hundred influences — one hundred portraits from The New York Times best selling author of Life with Mr. Dangerous and Mother, Come Home. Culled from cartoonist Paul Hornschemeier's drawing blog, The Daily Forlorn (one of Tumblr's featured illustration blogs), Artists Authors Thinkers Directors is as stylistically varied as the subjects it explores. A scrawled, single line drawing of Lenny Bruce, a triangular Heisenberg… A stippled Stanley Kubrick, a bubbly Billy…

"Crane’s work is sheer energy." – Art Spiegelman “Crane’s art is stunning, combining simple cartoony figures with richly detailed backgrounds in clever, colorful layouts. It isn’t even necessary to read the dialogue or captions to follow the action; just scan Crane’s dynamic lines, which make every panel look like a unique work of pop art. [Grade:] A-.” – The A.V. Club "Though he was one of the genre’s pioneers, Roy Crane’s Captain Easy is arguably the most idiosyncratic of all the adventure strips. But it’s this blend of loud slapstick, young-boys-styled adventure and blatant sex appeal that make Captain Easy…

Friends, we've just received a whomper of a blurb for Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable Vol. 3, coming this Spring: "Esther's consistently original, hilarious and heart-felt work evokes the travails of puberty with painful accuracy. After perusing Unlovable Vol. 3 we immediately broke out in zits and had clumsy beginner sex." — Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman SQUEEEEE    For a Kickstarter pledge of $40 or more, pre-order this book signed by Esther Pearl Watson while supplies last!

Our campaign to support our Spring-Summer 2014 season on Kickstarter is ongoing, and we're continuing to spotlight the books in question, a couple at a time. We've also put our season catalog online for you to browse. (Please note that all artwork, contents, prices, specs, and release dates are preliminary and subject to change.) Bomb Run and Other Stories (The EC Comics Library)by John Severin, Will Elder, Harvey Kurtzman, et al. 264-page black & white 7.25" x 10.25" hardcover • $28.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-749-9  The team of Harvey Kurtzman and John Severin was one of the most fruitful collaborations in the history of comics. The work they…

Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune: The Complete Sunday Newspaper Strips Vol. 4 (1941-1943) by Roy Crane 144-page full-color 10.5" x 14.75" hardcover • $49.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-698-0 Ships starting next week! — Pre-Order Now In the fourth volume of Fantagraphics' Captain Easy series, our eponymous hero and his loyal sidekick Wash Tubbs answer a newspaper ad that they don’t know is years out of date, and wind up stranded in Guatemala with a busted landing gear and only five dollars to their name. Whoops! They need all their wits and ingenuity to get them out of this fix. Which they manage to do by…

Embedded here and in downloadable form is a substantial smattering of pages from our upcoming book Perfect Nonsense: The Chaotic Comics and Goofy Games of George Carlson. The most amazing early 20th century illustrator, comics artist, and creator of absurd whimsy you've probably never heard of, Carlson is finally getting his due in this beautiful and hefty volume. Our excerpt includes portions from throughout the book to give you a sampling of his gorgeous and delightful work for various media. One look and you're certain to fall in love! Pre-order now for projected delivery in mid-to-late January.

Our campaign to support our Spring-Summer 2014 season on Kickstarter is ongoing, and we're continuing to spotlight the books in question, a couple at a time. We've also put our season catalog online for you to browse. (Please note that all artwork, contents, prices, specs, and release dates are preliminary and subject to change.) Sock Monkey: Into the Deep Woods by Tony Millionaire and Matt Danner 80-page two-color 6" x 9" hardcover • $16.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-746-8  The precocious sock monkey Uncle Gabby, his innocent pal Mr. Crow, and their tiny doll-friend, Inches, are the heroes of this funny, unsettling, and all-new Sock Monkey storybook….

Our campaign to support our Spring-Summer 2014 season on Kickstarter is ongoing, and we're continuing to spotlight the books in question, a couple at a time. We've also put our season catalog online for you to browse. (Please note that all artwork, contents, prices, specs, and release dates are preliminary and subject to change.) Pirates in the Heartland: The Mythology of S. Clay Wilson Vol. 1by S. Clay Wilson; edited by Patrick Rosenkranz 224-page color/black & white 7.5" x 11" hardcover • $34.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-747-5  This is the definitive account of the boldest and most audacious of the legendary underground cartoonists: the taboo busting, eyeball…

Tally ho, adventure lovers, another volume of Hal Foster's masterpiece is coming your way in a couple of months, as heralded by the appearance of advance copies of Prince Valiant Vol. 8: 1951-1952 in our hallowed halls. A theological thread runs through this volume with storylines about the coming of Christianity to Val's Nordic homeland (see Val getting a lesson on the Norse pantheon with a pre-Lee/Kirby Thor on the cover) along with all the usual derring-do, epic battles, domestic comedy, and dramatic life changes. Pre-order now for your express ticket to comics Valhalla!