Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Austin! Tonight at Mondo Gallery from 7-9 is the opening of "It Didn't Rot Our Brains," an art exhibit in tribute to EC Comics and Tales from the Crypt! The undisputed star of the show: this brand new piece depicting Bill Gaines and the Crypt Keeper palling around by legendary TFTC artist Jack Davis! Also included: work by Jim Rugg, Chris Wright, our pals Eric Skillman and Mark Todd, and numerous others. See more sneak peeks and get more info at Collectors Weekly.

2012 Eisner Award Winner: Best Archival Collection/Project – Strips 2012 Harvey Award Nominee: Best Domestic Reprint Project "Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse… by Floyd Gottfredson will be warmly received by comics aficionados but should also intrigue Disney animation buffs who aren’t necessarily plugged into comic strip history… I have a feeling that this book, crafted with such obvious care, will earn Gottfredson a new legion of admirers." – Leonard Maltin "Gottfredson drew Mickey with a nosy snout and the bright eyes of an adrenalin junkie. The mouse’s diminutive size inspired Gottfredson to have the character attempt daredevil races, leaping stunts, and…

"Great lover, scholar, soldier, sailor, singer, toreador, tycoon, jockey, prizefighter, automobile racer, aviator, farmer. Mickey Mouse lives in a world in which space, time, and the law of physics are nil. He can reach inside of a bull's mouth, pull out his teeth and use them as castanets. He can lead a band or play violin solos; his ingenuity is limitless; he never fails." – Time (1931) Praise for Vol. 1: "What I really took away from this book… was Gottfredson's considerable (and very nuanced) compositional and storytelling skills…an entertaining read and still a thrill to see what Gottfredson work out…

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Color Sundays Vol. 2: Robin Hood Rides Again by Floyd Gottfredson 280-page full-color 10.5" x 8.75" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-686-7 See More Previews / Order Now   He's faster than a speeding arrow… more powerful than the Sheriff of Nottingham… able to leap high taxes in a single bound! He's Mickey Mouse! He's back in color — and traveling back in time: battling evil medievals in our second book of Floyd Gottfredson's Sunday classics. Donald Duck, Goofy, and mischievous Morty and Ferdie are invited along too… if they dare! Standout stories in this volume include "The Robin…

"I consider [Carl Barks's comics] to be the best form of storytelling I’ve ever read. My father always made sure to leave the comics page open in the newspaper in the morning so we kids could read them. I think that without my father, I wouldn’t have ended up on the career path that I’m on." – Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Disney Dads "It’s probably one of the least sentimental Christmas stories around (and thus a favorite of many fans). It features an early example of Scrooge’s lack of charity, counterbalanced by his steadfast work ethic…I can’t…

"One of comics' revered masters gets a fresh new reprinting worthy of his work and accessible to kids…. Despite the dark undertones, the comic expressions and dialogue is still laugh-out-loud funny. A wonderful project that should put Barks’s name in front of new generations of admirers." – Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "Even the silliest premise, when executed by an artist in perfect control of his gifts, can land with deftness and grace — that's something that strikes you again and again as you read Barks' work. And it's a lesson that won't get lost on any kid with whom you…

Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Christmas on Bear Mountain (The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 5)by Carl Barks 216-page full-color 7.5" x 10.25" hardcover • $28.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-697-3 See More Previews / Order Now Scrooge McDuck is now such a fixture in the Disney universe that few remember Carl Barks had been writing and drawing Donald Duck stories for half a decade before he cooked up the miserly multiplujillionaire — for what he thought would be a one-time Christmas yarn involving Donald, the nephews, Scrooge in a bearskin, and (inevitably) a couple of real bears. "Christmas on Bear Mountain" is one of…

“Fans are not interested in quality.” “This field is full of pirates.” “If you get a title that catches on, then add a few more, you’re in for a nice profit.” —Martin Goodman “No other field of endeavor is so populated with the get-rich-quick boys.” — Literary Digest “[Martin Goodman] used to split my salary up into six different checks.” “The guys who published were monsters.” — Vince Fago, Timely Comics editor-in-chief “We want plenty of sex, horror, and gore.” — Gene Fornshell, a Goodman editor “I felt that we were a company of copycats.” — Stan Lee Fans and the public…

The Secret History of Marvel Comics: Jack Kirby and the Moonlighting Artists at Martin Goodman's Empire by Blake Bell & Dr. Michael J. Vassallo 304-page black & white/color 7.25" x 10" hardcover • $39.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-552-5 See More Previews / Order Now   Marvel Comics is home to such legendary super-heroes as Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man, all of whom have spun box office gold in the 21st century. But Marvel Comics has a secret history hidden in the shadows of these well-known franchises. The Secret History of Marvel Comics digs back to the 1930s when Marvel Comics wasn’t…

Hee, hee! Here comes the Old Witch with a foul feast of fetid features cooked up in her cruddy cauldron! Over two dozen terrifying tales from the putrescent pen of the gourmand of gore, "Ghastly" Graham Ingels, are collected in the tomb — er, tome — we call Sucker Bait and Other Stories! It's the next vile volume in our EC Comics Library series and it's due just as the end of the year plunges you into the pit of despair. In our execrable excerpt you'll learn what atrocities await you in the Table of Contents and read a torturous trio of nauseating…