Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

A must for animation fans, reproducing carefully preserved art and artifacts from Gene Deitch's archives with lively commentary about the production of his Oscar-nominated series of animated shorts! "Best known as the creator of 'Tom Terrific' from Captain Kangaroo, Deitch is also an Oscar-winning director with more than a thousand cartoon films to his credit." – Los Angeles Times "Deitch achieves what only the greatest cartoonist can — a deep spiritual resonance with minimal representation." – New York Press "I was particularly impressed with Nudnik because it combined so well, a style of drawing and a style of animation…[Nudnik] should…

You can tell by the way they use their walks, they're a horse and bird, no time to talk. Linda Medley made these animated walk cycles of two Castle Waiting characters just for fun!

Paul Hornschemeier knows we're all eagerly awaiting new material from him, and while he's been working away at Forlorn Funnies he's accumulated a bunch of odds and ends that don't fit in other publications, so he's created a new outlet for them: Bygone, a new self-published series slated to come out 3 times a year. "What's inside? Some of the contents will be from upcoming projects, projects that fell through the cracks, discussions of various processes, and interviews with nonexistent people. There will be scripts, short stories, gags, enlarged arms, and links to secret things you otherwise won't get to see….

Nudnik Revealed! by Gene Deitch 128-page full-color 12.25" x 9.25" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-651-5 Ships in: August 2013 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Inspired by a real-life incident — getting his tie caught in a moving Moviola editing machine — Gene Deitch, cartoonist, animator, memoirist, renaissance man, created Nudnik, his Everyman character, a cross between Candide and Godot. The star of 12 Paramount-produced animated shorts that ran in theatres as an opening to the main movie in 1964 and 1965, Nudnik was one of Deitch's most creatively personal and commercially successful creations in a long career of innovative and successful work,…

Certain books have a gravity just by their presence, and things are just a bit more weighty around the office since we got our advance copies of Janet Hamlin's Sketching Guantanamo: Court Sketches of the Military Tribunals 2006-2013. Hamlin's artwork is the only official visual record of the legal hearings of suspected terrorists, including those accused of being responsible for the attacks on 9/11, taking place at the offshore military installation that houses the world's most controversial prison. These drawings are history, and this is the first time they have been published together, along with commentary and background from Hamlin and…

“Flora was one of those rare beasts: a killer illustrator/designer who could trigger powerful brain-invasive joy with thought-provoking art and unexpected design.” — Gary Panter “There was one Flora cover in the record cabinet when I was growing up, and I was almost afraid to play it — maybe because the art came from a mad party in the Twilight Zone, or because nothing in the grooves could possibly have the energy and crazy glee of the cover. These manic little masterpieces belong framed on the wall in the Flora wing of a modern art museum.” — James Lileks “Jim Flora is the…

The High Fidelity Art of Jim Flora edited by Irwin Chusid & Barbara Economon 180-page full-color 11" x 10" softcover • $34.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-655-3 Ships in: August 2013 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Since the 2004 publication of The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora, the once-forgotten illustrator has gained recognition as one of the foremost pioneers of a raucous, cartoonish style of commercial art that defines the Mid-Century aesthetic. Two follow-up volumes, The Curiously Sinister Art… (2007) and The Sweetly Diabolic Art… (2009), captured Flora's largely unseen fine art works, spotlighting a variety of themes such as architecture, cats and dogs,…

Here's your first sneak peek at a printed copy of the new annual issue of Love and Rockets: New Stories! 50 pages of new Gilbert! 50 pages of new Jaime! What else do you need to know?? "When can I see more?" Okay, read a 10-page excerpt here, and be on the lookout for more previews. "When can I get it?" Pre-order your copy at the same place and be among the first to read it in late September or so; pick up a copy and get it signed by Jaime at Autoptic in Minneapolis; or wait until October when it's in stores — the…

"Anyone with a love for fantasy art can only marvel at [Foster's] ability to capture both the gritty down-to-earth feeling of the times as well as those sweeping moments that kindle our sense of wonder…. These books are wonderful — rich and comprehensive…" – Charles de Lint, Fantasy & Science Fiction “A witch named Horrit once prophesied that Val would never know contentment, but fans of the strip will find it here.” – Vanity Fair “Prince Valiant opens up a world that I wanted to stay in — a wide-eyed early 20th century approach to fantasy with a now-vanished sincerity…

Recently arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department:  BARGAIN COMBO: Eye of the Majestic Creature Vol. 1 + 2 Gift Set Price: $38.98 $31.18 Eye of the Majestic Creature Vol. 2 by Leslie Stein 144- page black & white 8" x 11.5" softcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-672-0 See Previews / Order Now Eye of the Majestic Creature Vol. 2 is the second book collecting Leslie Stein's loose, funny and charming autobiographical narratives that combine idiosyncratic fantasy and stark reality. Larrybear, our hero, has moved from the countryside to the city, where she finds work as a shop girl. Quotes from Theodore…