Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Jim Woodring explains the engineering behind his proposed giant pen nib, with the above diagram. There's still a few hours to donate!

TIME.com's Techland brings you an exclusive 7-page preview of Lucky in Love Book 1: A Poor Man's History by George Chieffet & Stephen DeStefano, on sale now here and at finer comic shops nationwide!

Visitors to the "Counterculture Comix" exhibition at Bumbershoot in Seattle this weekend will get a preview of the latest installment of Hooked on Comix. Director David P. Moore will attend all three days of the festival and screen clips from the new volume, featuring Fantagraphics favorites Dame Darcy and Tony Millionaire [seen below together at Comic-Con – Ed.], who will be at Bumbershoot on Monday. The show features continuous screenings of classic early volumes of Hooked on Comix. The exhibition celebrates Seattle's legacy of alternative comix awesomeness. It's free on Friday, and the holiday weekend includes giants of pop music…

I shot a photo & video preview of the 2009 first softcover edition of Charles Burns's Skin Deep last summer, but never had time to upload it, and it slipped through the cracks for many months — until now! You get to ogle this amazing book and I finally get to cross it off my to-do list. Click here if the embedded player isn't visible below or to enlarge it in a new window (recommended).

Ghost World just recently went into its 17th softcover printing, so we thought we'd take the opportunity to create one of our world-famous video & photo preview slideshows for our most famous graphic novel and — why not? — offer it for 17% off for a limited time! Ghost World by Daniel Clowes 17th Softcover Edition, 201080-page duotone 7" x 10" softcover • $11.95 $9.92 for a limited timeISBN: 978-1-56097-427-7 Add to Cart • More Info & Previews Ghost World has become a cultural and generational touchstone, and continues to enthrall and inspire readers over a decade after its original…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Lucky in Love Book 1: A Poor Man's History Script by George Chieffet; art by Stephen DeStefano 120-page monochrome 6.5" x 8.5" hardcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-354-5 Ordering Info & Previews This book is available with a signed bookplate as a FREE premium! The bookplate has been uniquely designed for this book, and each bookplate is printed on acid-free cardstock and hand-signed by the author. (Click here for more books available with signed bookplates.) Please select your preference above before adding the item to your shopping cart. Note: Signature plates are VERY…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: From Shadow to Light: The Life & Art of Mort Meskin by Steven Brower (with Peter and Philip Meskin) 220-page full-color 9" x 12" hardcover • $39.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-358-3 Add to Cart • More Info & Previews From Shadow to Light: The Life & Art of Mort Meskin is a coffee table art book, biography, and critique of one of the 20th century’s most influential and unjustly neglected Golden Age comic book artists. Mort Meskin’s comics career spanned almost 30 years, from the 1940s to the 1960s. His drawing, chiaroscuro technique, and…

The cover illustrations are by Charles Burns, as usual, and check out this month's Alvin Buenaventura-edited comics lineup (full details here): Hot Stuff by Jonathan Bennett Random Access by Charles Burns Anemone and Comics masthead by Lilli Carré Boy’s Club by Matt Furie Eric Gill’s Busy Day by Tom Gauld Giorgio & Dimitrius by Leif GoldbergI Have No Idea by Lisa Hanawalt Race Murdock by Eric Haven Sketchbook by Anders Nilsen Plut by Emelie ÖstergrenGoof Ballz by Andrew Jeffrey Wright Them's good comics. The issue is also the only place you'll find interviews with both Wallace Shawn and "Weird" Al…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Reviews: "Both of these books — Blake Bell's Fire and Water: Bill Everett, The Sub-Mariner, and the Birth of Marvel Comics and Steven Brower's From Shadow to Light: The Life and Art of Mort Meskin — do fine jobs of chronicling the artists' lives and careers. […] The Everett book… is beautifully designed by Adam Grano and as much an art book as biography. Filled with great examples of Everett art — some of which is from the Everett family's own archives — this book opens up a whole new arena for appreciation of…

One of our most anticipated books of the year is scheduled to hit comic shops this week. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators are saying about our releases this week, click the book links for more info and previews, and contact your local shop to confirm availability. A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio 288-page black & white/color 7.25" x 9.75" hardcover • $24.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-377-4 "…[T]his much-anticipated 288-page hardcover Fantagraphics collection of assorted short comics by Japanese girls’ comics pioneer Moto Hagio is functionally (if not intentionally) a corrective of sorts. […] This… is a new gold-hued…