Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

As Wednesday warriors are likely aware, New Comics Day is on Thursday this week due to the U.S. holiday last week. Two highly anticipated Fantagraphics publications are scheduled to hit comic shops: Popeye Vol. 4: "Plunder Island" by E.C. Segar — we already quoted the critics calling this one "awesome" and "fantastic" and "practically seaworthy" and "the crown jewel in the Popeye crown" and "E.C. Segar's finest hour" and saying "If you only buy one volume in the series, blah blah blah"… check out our previews at the link above to sample the greatness. The Comics Journal #300 — the…

Rabbit rabbit Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: Paste Magazine names Daniel Clowes's Ghost World #6 on The 20 Best Graphic Novels of the Decade • List: At The SF Site: Nexus Graphica, Mark London Williams names Locas II: Maggie, Hopey & Ray by Jaime Hernandez as his #10 comic of 2009 (with the top 5 still TBA) • List: Comic Book Resources is counting down the Top 100 Comic Book Storylines as chosen by reader poll. On the list so far in the 90s: "Jimmy Corrigan" and "Blood of Palomar" • Gift Guide: At RevolutionSF, Rick Klaw includes Gahan…

Pour les design nerds francophones: French design magazine Étapes presents a video of designer Sylvain Lamy discussing the development of the typography for the French edition of Ivan Brunetti's Misery Loves Comedy from Editions Cambourakis. (Google can translate the page but not the video… yet.)

We've been remiss in reminding you that Jay Ryan, one of the many special guests at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery's 3rd Anniversary celebration on Saturday Dec. 12, appears as part of his current book tour for the new collection of his poster art, Animals and Objects In and Out of Water, published by our colleagues at Akashic Books. (You may recall from our previous announcement that this joint tour with Paul Hornschemeier and his new collection from Fantagraphics, All and Sundry, begins its West Coast leg in L.A. on Monday, Dec. 7.) Jay's posters have been a mainstay of the…

Online Commentary & Diversions, first of the week, last of the month: • Coming Attractions: Chris Mautner of Robot 6 got his hands on our Spring/Summer 2010 catalog and runs it all down for you • Review: "Of all the comics published in 2009, none has deserved more acclaim… than You Are There. … Tardi's art, which combines the liveliness and simplicity of the best cartooning with a well-observed realism is perfect for this kind of surreal tale. … His work deserves to be read and will endlessly reward readers who seek it out." – Robert Boyd • Review: "[Like…

To paraphrase Monty Burns, we've had one of our trademark changes of heart — the exclusive signed silkscreen print pictured above, previously only available with direct orders of the standard edition of Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons, will also be sent to people who order the Collectors Edition direct from us (including those who have already pre-ordered). That means that for a limited time while supplies last, the Collectors Edition will come with two prints: the silkscreen and the letterpress. See product listings for details. Supplies are very limited, and today's your only day to get either set…

Now available from Drew Friedman Fine Art Prints, a limited-edition art print of Frank Sinatra, who joins Dino and Jerry in Friedman's Rat Pack pantheon. (I vote for Sammy next.) UPDATE: Drew writes in to confirm that this portrait will indeed be included in his next book from Fantagraphics Too Soon? coming Summer 2010.

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons By Gahan Wilson OVER ONE THOUSAND CARTOONS SPANNING 50 YEARS OF A LEGENDARY CAREER Fifty-one, to be exact, but let’s not quibble. Gahan Wilson is among the most popular, widely-read, and beloved cartoonists in the history of the medium, whose career spans the 2nd half of the 20th century, and all of the 21st. His work has been seen by millions — no, hundreds of millions — in the pages of Playboy, The New Yorker, Punch, The National Lampoon, and many other magazines; there…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Popeye Vol. 4: "Plunder Island" By E.C. Segar With this fourth volume of our beloved series, Segar’s Popeye reaches one of its highest peaks in “Plunder Island,” the glorious, epic-length Sunday-continuity adventure that ran for eight months and pitted the intrepid sailorman against the malevolent Sea Hag and her terrifying, grotesque sidekick the Goon — helped, and sometimes hindered by, the easily corruptible J. Wellington Wimpy. “Plunder Island” is presented here for the first time in its complete, full-color, uncut glory! Meanwhile, in the “dailies” section of Popeye Volume 4, Popeye…

Huffington Post contributor Michael Giltz writes: "The best way to celebrate Schulz and his work is the ongoing series being published by Fantagraphics. The latest volume — The Complete Peanuts, 1973-1974 ($28.99; Fantagraphics) — is a lovingly produced volume that includes every strip from those two years in a handsome hardcover book designed by Seth. Like earlier editions, it's a thrill to read the strip chronologically and in one fell swoop. You get a far better sense of Schulz's creative zig-zagging as he suddenly and unexpectedly finds himself at the tip of a pop culture juggernaut." Read the rest here.