Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

The latest limited-edition fine art print from Jim Flora Fine Art is a reproduction of a late-1960s uncirculated painting (first published in the 2009 book The Sweetly Diabolic Art of Jim Flora.)

This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators are saying about our releases this week, and contact your local shop to confirm availability. Fire & Water: Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner and the Birth of Marvel Comics by Blake Bell 192-page full-color 9" x 12" hardcover • $39.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-166-4 "This hardcover book by Strange and Stranger author Blake Bell features what looks to be substantial prose biography and appreciation, along with plenty of artwork from an artist who helped build the foundation for Marvel as both a publishing powerhouse…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: Carol Tyler, one of the coolest people in the U.S.A., is officially acknowledged as "Cool Illustrator" on the "Cool Cincinnati" list by CityBeat, whose Jason Gargano says You'll Never Know is "an unforgettable search for truth about what happened to her father during the war, simply yet expressively drawn. In many ways the You’ll Never Know series is the project Tyler has been building to her whole career, which has included autobiographically informed cartoons for a number of publications… and a well-received 2005 book, Late Bloomer. Let’s hope she keeps blooming, keeps giving…

Cartoonist & Fanta pal Bruce McCorkindale alerted us to his adorable Peanuts/Hellboy mashup sketch — see his original post for a larger image and who's who in the lineup.

Via Twitter, it's Matt Wiegle's response to Dustin Harbin's response to the graphic novel adaptation of Allen Ginsberg's Howl, using artwork by Deanna Staffo (and based on this design, of course).

In the spirit of the Covered blog comes Repaneled, with artists interpreting their favorite comics panels, such as Robert Goodin's version of Johnny Craig, top, and James Ward Edward Clark's version of R. Crumb, above. Give it a bookmark, and we'll be bringing you future entries by and of Fantagraphics artists in future Things to See posts.

As part of our "Tardi Tuesday" presentation, here is a "lost" preview of West Coast Blues , one of the batches of photos & video that we never got a chance to upload last summer. Better late than never! Click here if the embedded player isn't visible below or to enlarge it in a new window (recommended).

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec Vol. 1: Pterror Over Paris and The Eiffel Tower Demon by Jacques Tardi 96-page full-color 8.5" x 11.5"  hardcover • $24.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-382-8 Ships in: October 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Both a rip-roaring adventure series set in pre-World War I Paris and a parody of same, Adèle Blanc-Sec has been enchanting, thrilling, and puzzling readers worldwide through four decades. With various American attempts to publish Adèle having dribbled into nothing decades ago, Fantagraphics Books, fresh from its triumphs with Tardi’s West Coast Blues, You Are There, and It Was the War of…

A lot of catching up to do with this batch of clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing and possible artist commentary at the sources: • A couple of things Bill Griffith has recently shared on Facebook: the rejected first draft of the home screen for the Zippy Comix iPhone app, and a "lost" Wacky Packages design that Bill says is "almost sacrilegious" • Dr. Hermes Retro-Scans presents "The Photo-Finish!", a 4-page Kim Deitch story from Corn Fed, 1972 (via ¡Journalista!) • At Potrzebie, Bhob Stewart presents Roy Crane's 1920s Mexico sketchbook (via ¡Journalista!) • Jim Woodring presents "Spectacularly…

Here's a Facebook campaign we can get behind: "Let Noah Van Sciver Draw Howard the Duck for Strange Tales." Honestly, that sounds like about as ideal a match as Frank Santoro doing Silver Surfer.