Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Your daily Fantagraphics-related artblog links: • The penultimate installment of Steven Weissman's "This Already Happened" at What Things Do • Rick Veitch presents part 1 of a mid-1990s comic based on a dream he had while being interviewed for The Comics Journal #175 (via The Comics Reporter) • A censored cover by Marco Corona • This week’s episode of Belligerent Piano from Tim Lane

It's today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Commentary: At Manga Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson comments on our recent manga publishing news, saying "I’m expecting great things." • Interview: At The Comics Journal, part 3 of Matt Thorn's Moto Hagio interview from TCJ #269 • Interview: On KBOO Community Radio's "Words and Pictures" program, host S.W. Conser welcomes Dame Darcy for a half-hour chat • History: At Comics Comics, Jeet Heer gives a brief overview and critical commentary on Fantagraphics anthologies throughout the years: "Any complete history of Fantagraphics will have to tell the story of how they slowly learned…

Now arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Unlovable Vol. 2 by Esther Pearl Watson 416-page two-color 5.75" x 5.75" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-314-9Add to Cart • More Info & Previews Loosely based on a teenager’s diary from the 1980s found in a gas-station bathroom, Unlovable is the remarkable story of Tammy Pierce, as filtered through the pen of Los Angeles artist Esther Pearl Watson. This second and concluding volume picks up where the first volume left off (winter break) and finishes Tammy’s tragicomic sophomore year of high school in 1985. Tammy has built a devoted following over the…

Just a few of these today: • This week's "I, Anonymous" from Steven Weissman • Commemorating the birthday of jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke with some Jim Flora art • A bit of Kirby-ism from Derek Van Gieson

A healthy helping of Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: At The Manga Curmudgeon, David Welsh writes "So you’re among the legion of people who are grateful to Fantagraphics for their recently announced manga initiative, to be curated by Matt Thorn. Who isn’t? I know I am. And you may want to express that gratitude by buying something that Fantagraphics has published. If your comics interests rest primarily in titles from Japan, you may not have sampled other works published by Fantagraphics, so here are some books for your consideration." • Review: "Amazingly, I was sucked in by the whole…

With panelists including Paul Hornschemeier, Anders Nilsen, Jeffrey Brown, John Porcellino and other familiar names, this event at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago exploring "the stubborn work ethic of Chicago’s comic scene" seems like a no-brainer. It's all free and open to the public; full schedule and more info here.

Fallout: Teaser Trailer from tupaq felber on Vimeo. This is the teaser trailer for the pilot of Fallout, English producer/director Tupaq Felber's adaptation of Peter Bagge's Apocalypse Nerd which Felber's currently pitching to the BBC. It's officially described as "A new 6 episode comedy-drama, exploring the edges of genre and style with the unique voice that distinguishes the best of television today. Fallout is the story of Douglas and Gordon, two friends battling their quarter-life crisis, who come home from a weekend in the woods to find the world has come to an end. … Weird, funny, heartwarming and then…

Tim Lane graces the cover of the Seattle Weekly this week. Matt Silvie, who does double duty at Fantagraphics and the Weekly, offers a No-Prize to the first person who can name the classic Marvel Comics cover that inspired this.

On The Comics Journal website, Gary Groth writes: "In June, Fantagraphics Books will publish a collection of Norman Pettingill’s work. Comic fans may remember that Robert Crumb published some of Pettingill’s cartoon drawings in Weirdo in the mid-’80s. The idea of publishing an entire book collecting Pettingill’s work was first broached to me by Johnny Ryan, a Pettingill fan (and the cartoonist behind Angry Youth Comics and Prison Pit), a few years ago. The John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is the repository for most of Pettingill’s work, and agreed to help us put together a book. Johnny…