Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Here we go! We've overcome some hurdles that knocked it down the schedule a bit, but Walt Disney Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Son of the Sun, the first volume in the Don Rosa Library, is now on track for release in early Fall. We're pleased to unveil the official final cover art for the first time! Rosa's take on the Disney Ducks is jam-packed with action and detail, clever plotting, and laughs for all ages. Demand for this series is high, and we'll do our best to print enough for everybody, but you still might want to get…

As more and more people discover the certified Genius of Jim Woodring through his recent Frank graphic novels, a vital and revealing portion of his work has been unavailable for years, until now. Jim presents the "autojournal" material previously collected the now-obsolete The Book of Jim along with new and previously uncollected material in a definitive new hardcover package scheduled to arrive in July. In our downloadable excerpt you'll find a sampling of contents including: Jim comic cover art; the Table of Contents; a couple of fake ads; a handwritten text piece; some unsettling charcoal drawings; a tale of Big…

Now on (and hanging off the edge of) our desks: advance copies of Hal Foster's Prince Valiant Vol. 9: 1953-1954! Yet another oversized hardcover to immerse you in Val's colorful, dramatic, funny, cleverly plotted and beautifully illustrated world. It's hard to believe we've reached the halfway point of Foster's solo-billed run on the strip… but it's true! Astute followers of our updates will recall that advance copies mean the book is about 2 months from being available and know that more previews are in store, and savvy consumers know that early pre-orders mean you get the book sooner than it's…

We just sent the files off to the printer for Dash Shaw's new graphic novel Doctors, so now's a good time to show you the elegant all-new cover design by our capable newbie Keeli McCarthy. (If you liked the old version with the can-can line of doctors, don't worry, that artwork is inside the book now.) A heady sci-fi tale that explores the human impact and ethical implications of advanced technology on an intimate level, in the vein of movies like Primer or Moon, Doctors posits a neurological afterlife and a machine that exploits it to revive the dead. The…

Coming in August, Film Noir 101: The 101 Best Film Noir Posters from the 1940s-1950s is what it says in the title and more. After a foreword by director William Friedkin and author Mark Fertig's introduction, this oversized coffee-table book presents pristinely restored vintage poster art in lush full color — magnificent examples of mid-century design and illustration — followed by Fertig's commentary on all 101 films. The whole show features cinematography — art direction, that is — by the estimable Jacob Covey. We'll have some interior sneak peeks for you in a week or two, and the book is…

Joy! The first advance copies of How to Be Happy by Eleanor Davis are in the office and they look bee-yoo-tee-ful! From a family drama set in a lushly colored science fictional milieu to a sketchy, playful ode to superhuman strength and masculinity, from fables to slices of real life, Davis's stories are as deeply human and emotionally resonant as they are stylistically diverse. Richly deserved acclaim for Davis's work has come from awards committees (the Eisners & Society of Illustrators), critics (Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, etc.), editors & art directors (Best American Comics, Lucky Peach, The New York Times, The…

Ghost of the Grotto Starring Walt Disney's Donald Duck kicks off our new line of books designed to introduce the brilliant and wildly entertaining Disney comics work of the great Carl Barks to a younger generation. While parents have been sharing their Complete Carl Barks Disney Library hardcovers with their kids, we thought it would be nice for the kids to have books made just for them! These affordable softcovers present the greatest adventures of Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie in a kid-friendly landscape format which accommodates small hands without shrinking the artwork. We got the…

"There's no way Jack Kerouac, along with every other self-consciously cool person in New York, wasn't reading this. O'Malley turns into Neal Cassady, the guy who's not quite human, who never shuts up, who drives you crazy, and who can make anything happen, just like that." – Griel Marcus, The Believer "…[Barnaby] radiates human warmth and whimsy… The artist's brilliantly-written characters… keep their feet planted in the all-too-real world of 1940s America while flying off on pink wings into one of the greatest fantasy strips ever made." – Art Spiegelman “Yes, there are dozens of other strips worth rereading, but…

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 5: Outwits the Phantom Blotby Floyd Gottfredson 288-page black & white/color 10.5" x 8.75" hardcover • $34.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-736-9 Ships in: June 2014 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Disney’s greatest villain steals the spotlight! The vile Phantom Blot — dressed head-to-foot in his ghostly black cloak — is turning Mouseton upside down and leaving a trail of danger and destruction behind! Can Mickey thwart his plans? Our latest book also finds Mickey battling "Mighty Whalehunter" Pegleg Pete on the high seas and meeting a powerful genie! Lovingly restored from Disney's original proof sheets, this volume…

We're deep in production on The Complete Eightball box set and there's a piece of the puzzle missing: We want to reproduce this cover, to Eightball #7, scanned from the original, but we can't track down the owner of the piece. (This low-res scan was found online, but was uploaded over 10 years ago and the source is MIA.) Any and all tips are appreciated — see the danielclowes.com blog for all the details.