Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Trina Robbins wrote the book, literally, on the history of women cartoonists, and now she's back with a completely revised, updated and rewritten version. Pretty in Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896-2013 is an eye-opening, reader-friendly overview, loaded with illustrations and full comics pages in an oversized softcover format. From the early days of the art form, to the Golden Age, through the Underground, and into the present day, women's often-underappreciated contributions to the medium come under Robbins's spotlight to be given the recognition they deserve. This book will be available in November; we'll have more previews for you in the…

“Over the last few decades, Jim Woodring has been drawing a series of wordless, blissfully cruel slapstick fables, set in a world of grotesque entities and psychedelic minarets: half unshakable nightmare, half Chuck Jones cartoon filtered through the Bhagavad Gita.” – Douglas Wolk, The New York Times Book Review “When most people try to employ dream logic in their work they fail miserably but Jim Woodring is great at it. The closest thing to a peer he might have is David Lynch but even that’s a stretch. Jim Woodring is the only Jim Woodring and no one has done what…

Fran by Jim Woodring 104-page black & white 7.25" x 9.75" hardcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-661-4 Ships in: October 2013 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now For the past 20 years or so, Jim Woodring’s beloved trilobular chuckbuster Frank has enjoyed one mindbending catastrophe after another in the treacherous embrace of The Unifactor, the land into which he was born and from which escape seemed neither desirable nor likely. And then, abruptly, in 2011’s acclaimed Congress of the Animals (the second Woodring orginal graphic novel, following Weathercraft) Frank did leave the Unifactor for uncharted lands beyond — where, after a string of trials,…

"The Complete Crumb series is especially useful in reminding us that Crumb has continued to evolve through the sixties. His more recent work is quieter and more literary… The most recent installment, collecting material originally published in Weirdo magazine, contains some of Crumb's best work." – The National Post "The Complete Crumb Comics is an indispensable and beautifully executed effort." – L.A. Weekly "This collection is a fascinating insight into one of the most talented and intriguing cartoonists to have graced us with his art. The entire series is highly recommended." – Library Journal "This volume contains what, in my…

The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 17: Cave Wimp by Robert Crumb 136-page black & white/color 8.5" x 11" softcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-684-3 New 2013 printing! Ships in Ocbober 2013 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now The 17th volume of the comprehensive and multiple award-winning Complete Crumb Comics series — nominated for both 2003 Harvey and Eisner Awards — completes the 1980s and leads into the 1990s. This was a creatively fertile period for Crumb, who had given up the editorial reins of his own legendary Weirdo magazine, allowing him to get back to the proverbial drawing board. Included are Crumb's contributions to…

Oh my gosh, gang, the advance copies of Peanuts Every Sunday: 1952-1955 by Charles M. Schulz are here and they are GAWRJUS. Even if you think "meh, I already have these strips in black & white in The Complete Peanuts, I don't need 'em in color," one look at this lovely, lovely book will convince you otherwise. Some lucky, lucky folks were able to pick up early copies at SPX this past weekend and we'll have a very limited amount at APE next month — everyone else will have to wait until late October or early November. Get on the early end of…

Great news for Linda Medley fans: after taking a break, she's back to the drawing board sketching out storyboards for Castle Waiting Volume 3! Publishing details are still to be determined so we don't know quite yet in what format it will be available to readers, but we sure are excited! In the meantime, to limber up, she's dug up an unfinished project from 2003 to work on: a spin-off of Castle Waiting aimed at younger readers called "Twelve Witches," which you can see as a work in progress on our Tumblr blog. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of that in…

"Fantagraphics' Crumb project advances into wilder, woolier, scarier, more fantastic, and lewder and still lewder territory… This is definitely X-rated material — make that triple-X! — but it's brilliant, scabrously hilarious, absolutely basic to understanding the 1960s American counterculture, and authentically mind-blowing." – Booklist "I guess I ought to be talking about my artwork in these introductions, but how th' hell can I talk about my own work?? What can I say about it? My pissant little fame had made my life so completely crazy by this time. Circa 1970 was such a weird time anyway…  I'd rather brag about…

It's Peanuts! Every Sunday strip, in full color, together for the first time ever! What else do you need to know? OK, here are some other relevant facts: • Using the same archival sources as The Complete Peanuts series, the line art has been crisply restored to our usual standards. • The coloring is all-new, done by the lovely and talented Joanne Bagge (of the Seattle Bagges) and based on original tear sheets. As you can see in the excerpt, it's vibrant but slightly muted to give the same feeling as when the strips were originally printed on newsprint. • Designed by…

The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 6: On the Crest of a Wave (New Printing) by Robert Crumb 156-page black & white/color 8.5" x 11" softcover • $19.99978-1-60699-683-6 Ships in: September 2013 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Robert Crumb enters the '70s with this, the sixth volume in Fantagraphics Books' all-inclusive reprint series. This includes a couple of genuine rarities (some of them so obscure they didn't even make the Crumb Checklist), as well as all of Crumb's work from Big Ass #1, Zap #4 (including the legendary, much-busted, X-rated "Joe Blow" teen incest strip), the remarkably offensive Snatch #3 and Jiz…