Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Our fearless leader Gary Groth will be traveling to Australia next week to participate in the GRAPHIC festival at Sydney Opera House. Gary will be presenting a special "Focus on Fantagraphics" talk on Sunday, August 8, at 11 AM, giving an overview of the company and its mission from the early days of The Comics Journal through the present day. Apparently there's currently a 2-for-1 deal on tickets for the session if you use the code "comic" when booking online or by phone at (02) 9250 7777. If any of our antipodean friends have any suggestions as to where in…

Brother Mario made a surprise appearance with the rest of the Hernandez clan for their Love and Rockets signing on Friday morning, which I only managed to capture with my crummy, crummy cameraphone. Moto Hagio was joined for the second half of her signing by Carol Tyler, who brought flowers swiped from outside the convention hall. Andrei Molotiu and Stephen DeStefano made their first Comic-Con signing appearances with us. Andrei, though best known for his work with abstract comics, is also a whiz with the representational sketch, as he proved in my sketchbook. Stephen obliged another fan with a 'Mazing…

Moto Hagio signed in for her second day at our booth with a drawing of her cat Leo, who also stars in her most recent Japanese release. It's a bit hard to tell here, but the line for Hagio-san goes all the way around the side of the booth. She's accompanied by translator/editor Matt Thorn. Joining Hagio-san for the first half of her two-hour signing was This Side of Jordan author Monte Schulz. Hagio-san drew many beautiful sketches for appreciative fans! Apparently this practice is rare at Japanese comics conventions, but Hagio-san was happy to do it.

As the con started getting busier on Friday, you might notice a few gaps in the photo coverage: Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s was a late-arriving con debut and, before too long, a con sell-out. Our annual visit with Matt Groening is always a highlight of the show. See ya next year, Matt! The only other celebs I spotted at the booth on Friday were Luigi & Mario here. We knew Prison Pit Book 2 would be a hit; we didn't anticipate being down to our last 2 copies by 4:30 on Friday! Thanks Johnny Ryan…

I thought I could keep up with Online Commentary & Diversions while at Comic-Con. Ha ha ha ha ha. • Coming Attractions: At Robot 6, Chris Mautner takes a look through the 46 (!!!) upcoming books listed in our Fall/Winter catalog (note: listed release dates may no longer be accurate and are all subject to change) • History/Profile/Review: "What A Drunken Dream reveals is an author whose childhood passion for Frances Hodgson Burnett, L.M. Montgomery, and Isaac Asimov profoundly influenced the kind of stories she chose to tell as an adult. … For those new to Hagio’s work, Fantagraphics has…

Peter Bagge makes his return to Reason Magazine with part 1 of a brand-new three part, 12 page comic biography of author and critic Isabel Paterson. Hooray!

"San Diego Comic-Con blah, blah blah … Preview clip of new Green Lantern movie yadda, yadda, yadda … Sure, all the bloggers are talking a blue streak about a big-deal comics convention in Southern California, and that’s just fine, but there’s a whole world out there beyond San Diego." Thus begins The Comics Journal editor Michael Dean's introduction to TCJ.com's new International Comics feature. Respected correspondents in Argentina, Australia, Italy, The Philippines, Sweden and Turkey will be reporting on their local scenes, with more to be added soon. We're very excited to announce this new globe-spanning initiative.

At the Comics Reprint Revolution panel at Comic-Con today, Gary Groth announced that Fantagraphics is partnering with Walt Disney Enterprises to publish the complete Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse strips. Techland's Douglas Wolk talked to Gary on the convention floor and got some exclusive details. There's also coverage at Comics Alliance, iFanboy, and Robot 6 (so far). Stay tuned for more details and a more formal announcement. (Image via The Inspiration Grab-Bag.)

We're pleased to present this brilliantly animated teaser video for the upcoming graphic novel Lucky in Love Book 1: A Poor Man's History by Stephen DeStefano & George Chieffet. The video was art directed by Stephen, no stranger to the animation industry, and brought to life by animator Miguel Martinez-Joffre. You can ask Stephen all about it today from 4:00-5:00 at Comic-Con when he signs with us at booth 1718 (plus Saturday 5:00-7:00 and Sunday 10:00-noon). We've uploaded the video to YouTube and Flickr. We hope to have a higher-def version available soon, but in the meantime, enjoy!

We had a flurry of exciting celebrity shoppers toward the end of the day: Above, Fire & Water author Blake Bell meets the television & movie actress of the oddly similar name Lake Bell and the world does not implode, possibly due to Lake's boyfriend, comedian Nick Kroll, executing the perfect photobomb. Here, Nick strikes a perfect mirror-image pose with one of two Drew Friedman books he picked up while Tom Spurgeon botches his photobomb. Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz, creators of the BBC comedy series Look Around You among other things, stopped by the booth after a friendly hint…