Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Feast your eyes — follow links for larger/complete versions: • A portrait of Fantagraphics' own Ambassador of Awesomeness, Janice Headley, drawn by Jaime Hernandez at APE 2008 (on the back of Daniel Clowes's name card), finally scanned • "This is only the first panel. There are literally hundreds more to follow…" Oh Jim Woodring, you had me at "This" (click for full version) • Ben Catmull has constructed a miniature of a stone hut • Two from Dash Shaw: the cover of his new zine Sundance, top (hmm, I wonder if it has anything to do with this), and "Volunteer…

Light Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: Kevin Bramer of Optical Sloth examines a sampling of comics by Ariel Bordeaux, including her work in Raisin Pie #1 • Interview: In an interview with The Beat's Michael Fiffe, artist Mark Badger talks about his participation in Abstract Comics: The Anthology: "It came out of nowhere. It was absolutely stunning." • Plug: "New from Fantagraphics Books, Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s. At 888 pages this is a substantial collection of the comix art of the New Wave mini-comix movement. Largely inspired by the Underground Comix movement of the 60s…

We missed this when we first ran our story about Michael Leavitt's fully-articulated hand-carved sculpture of R. Crumb (on exhibit one day only at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Feb. 13), but Comics Alliance caught it when they picked up our post. (YouTube link)

  We recently dumped a bunch of author/artist photos of various vintages from our files onto our Flickr page for the public to peruse. Most of them are at least a couple of years old, so if you're a blogger or member of the press looking for the most current images, please contact our Director of Publicity Jacq Cohen. 

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s By various artists; edited by Michael Dowers 892-page b&w/color 5" x 6.25" hardcover • $24.99 ISBN: 978-1-60699-313-2 Add to Cart • More Info & Previews Newave! is a gigantic collection of the best small press cartoonists to emerge in the 1970s after the first generation of underground cartoonists (such as R. Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, and Art Spiegelman) paved the way. These cartoonists, inspired by the freewheeling creative energy of the underground comix movement, began drawing and printing their own comix. The most popular…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: King: The Special Edition By Ho Che Anderson 312-page color/b&w 7.5" x 11.25" hardcover • $34.99 ISBN: 978-1-60699-310-1 Add to Cart • More Info & Previews (NOTE: For academic/volume discounts on this title, please call toll-free at 1-800-657-1100 or 206-524-1967 outside the U.S.) Ho Che Anderson’s biography of America’s great civil rights advocate Martin Luther King is both a monumental recreation of his tumultuous public life (and death) and an intimate portrait of the man as politician, friend, lover, husband, and father. With the triumphant ascendancy of Barack Obama to the…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1959-1962 Box Set By Hank Ketcham two 672-page black & white 5.5" x 6.25" hardcovers in a custom slipcase • $39.99 ISBN: 978-1-60699-312-5 Add to Cart • More Info & Previews slipcase also available separately, exclusively from Fantagraphics • $4.99 Add to Cart • More Info & Previews A swell custom-designed case containing the fifth and sixth volumes of Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace with strips from the years 1959 through 1962. (Sorry, case is not peanut butter or root beer resistant.) (Click the…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Chocolate Cheeks By Steven Weissman 112-page color/b&w 7.5″ x 7.5″ softcover • $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-56097-927-2 Add to Cart • More Info & Previews Hilarious, frightening, mysterious, adorable and utterly bleak, Chocolate Cheeks has arrived to disgust and delight comic-book readers of all ages. “Sweet” Chubby Cheeks and the Pullapart Boy (a 21st Century Frankenstein’s monster for kids) are driving each other crazy. Forced together by their dating parents, these two bitter enemies have alienated — or otherwise disposed of — most of their social circle, leaving them with plenty of quality…

Looks like these posts are pretty much daily, huh? • Three "lost" prints from Paul Hornschemeier's vaults have been found and are now for sale on his blog • Holy smokes, it's a multi-page Amazing Facts and Beyond with Leon Beyond epic by Kevin Huizenga, Ted May and Dan Zettwoch, from the pages of the Riverfront Times (with "DVD extras" on Zettwoch's blog)! Will someone in St. Louis PLEASE send us some copies of this? • Speaking of Huizenga, holy moly, he just opened up a memory that's been dormant in my head for around 30 years with this bit…