Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

witzendby Wallace Wood and various artists 656-page black & white/color 9" x 12.5" x 2.75" two-volume slipcased hardcover set • $125.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-744-4 Ships in: June 2014 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now When the formulaic constraints, censorious nature, and onerous lack of creator's rights in mainstream comics got to be too much for the brilliant cartoonist Wallace Wood in 1966, he struck out on his own with the self-published witzend. It became a haven for Wood and his fellow professional cartoonist friends where they could produce the kind of personal work that they wanted to do, without regard to commercial…

A lovely book filled with depraved, degenerate art and the colorful story of the man who made it, Pirates in the Heartland: The Mythology of S. Clay Wilson Vol. 1 is due out in about 2 months, and we've got our advance copies to begin showing off. Above, one of the only borderline-SFW comics spreads we can show you from the book, and the beginning of a middle chapter of this volume's part of the biography by underground comix historian Patrick Rosenkranz, who also compiled the comics. This book is An Event and we're excited to get it out into…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department:  The Complete Peanuts 1991-1992 (Vol. 21)by Charles M. Schulz 344-page black & white 8.5" x 7" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-726-0 See Previews / Order Now Love takes many shapes and shades in The Complete Peanuts 1991-1992. Charlie Brown's interest in the Little Red-Haired Girl is rekindled; Linus fails to impress Lydia; Sally hoorays for Hollywood; Marcie pines for the World War I Flying Ace, who becomes lost in his cups (of root beer); Peppermint Patty and Marcie try to make Charlie Brown choose between them; and Snoopy is dangerously obsessed… with…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department:  The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952 (Vol. 1) – Paperback Ed.by Charles M. Schulz 298-page black & white 8.25" x 6.5" softcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-763-5 See Previews / Order Now The Complete Peanuts: 1950-1952 launches the definitive collection of Charles M. Schulz's masterpiece, introducing the strip's beloved characters — Lucy, Schroeder, Snoopy, Linus, and, of course, Charlie Brown. "Charles Schulz was an innovative genius of American comics and also the marathon man, drawing strip after strip, writing the storyboards for the TV specials, creating a fantasy world that connected kids as well as…

It's a happy day for the Love and Rockets fans in the office (i.e. all of us): advance copies of Luba and Her Family are in the house! This is the latest Gilbert Hernandez volume in the Love and Rockets Library softcover omnibus series and the first to collect Gilbert's work from the post-Volume 1 era. Whether you're the kind of completist who needs all the books, or the kind who just wants to read all the stories in the proper narrative order, or a new reader who wants to jump on with a good, more recent starting point, you…

Momotaro, pen & ink and watercolor with acrylic glazes, 1987 Castle Waiting creator Linda Medley asked us to pass along the following message, and we are more than happy to oblige! The painting I donated to the CAPS auction to benefit the Sakai family back in December is now up for bids! Here’s some info about the painting, if you are interested: the illustration is from the Japanese folktale Little Peachling and was originally done for the front cover of one of my earliest children’s books, Favorite Tales from Many Lands, written by Walter Retan and published by Grossett & Dunlap in 1989. This was painted on illustration…

Bomb Run and Other Stories (The EC Comics Library)by John Severin, Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder et al. 264-page black & white 7.25" x 10.25" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-749-9 Ships in: June 2014 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now The team of Harvey Kurtzman and John Severin was one of the most fruitful collaborations in the history of comics. The work they did combines the taut emotional and psychological insights of Stephen Crane with a verisimilitude so gritty that it seems as if they are reporting from the scene. Together with inker and friend Will Elder, whose own obsession for detail…

We didn't really change the cover art for Wandering Son Vol. 7 by Shimura Takako from the preliminary mockup before we sent it to press, but let's make it official anyway. Don't Takatsuki-san and Nitori-kun look adorable in their winter outfits? The book will be out in the dog days of summer, so this snowy scene will help you think cool thoughts. Zits, a ski trip, drama club, and just plain drama are in store for our gender-questioning teen heroes in this seventh installment of the beloved series. As always, be on the lookout for future previews, put in your…

"Charles Schulz was an innovative genius of American comics and also the marathon man, drawing strip after strip, writing the storyboards for the TV specials, creating a fantasy world that connected kids as well as adults, and all based on powerful iconic characters who express deep feelings of loneliness and resentment and despair." — Garrison Keillor, from his introduction The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952 (Vol. 1) – Paperback Ed.by Charles M. Schulz 298-page black & white 8.25" x 6.5" softcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-763-5 Due to arrive in about 2-3 weeks. Click the thumbnails for larger versions; get more info, see more…