Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Recently arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics (Softcover Ed.)by various artists; edited by Justin Hall 328-page black & white/color 7.5" x 10" softcover • $35.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-718-5 See Previews / Order Now For the first time, the entire spectrum of four-plus decades of queer cartooning is collected under one cover. Featuring groundbreaking crossover successes like Alison Bechdel, Howard Cruse, Ellen Forney, Dan Savage and David Wojnarowicz, as well as international superstars like Ralf König and Nazario and dozens of others cartoonists who have rarely been read outside the greater queer community….

Naughty, the new novel by Monte Schulz, is a fictionalization of a sordid and sensational true crime story. Combining the best aspects of pulp noir and literary fiction, Schulz weaves a vivid and compelling tale of sociopathy, seduction, deceit and murder, and the ensuing courtroom drama, all dressed in authentic Eisenhower-era detail. The lurid jacket paintings are by artist Debbie Faas. The book is due on shelves in October; see here for more info and stay tuned for more previews between now and then!

Prince Valiant Vol. 7: 1949-1950 by Hal Foster 120-page full color 10.25" x 14" hardcover • $35.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-645-4 Ships in: August 2013 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now You might think that birth of Prince Valiant's son Arn at the end of the previous volume would have slowed down Val's adventuring, but you would be wrong. After the baby has been christened, Valiant and Gawain are dispatched to investigate reports of black magic in Wales, ending up in pitched battle at the aptly-named Castle Illwynde. Then it's off to Scotland to battle the Picts, and then home yet again for Val to…

Our other EC Comics Library volume due out later this month, Fall Guy for Murder and Other Stories, is another auteur turn, featuring Johnny Craig's writing and artwork (for the most part; Al Feldstein scripted a couple). Crime, suspense and horror were Craig's forté, as these 23 delightfully fiendish tales attest, and Craig was responsible for some of EC's most shocking and notorious images. This is the first of four projected volumes to showcase, for the first time, the full chronological run of Craig's EC stories from Crime SuspenStories, Vault of Horror, and elsewhere, with our trademark bonus features and…

One of two new volumes in our New York Times best-selling EC Comics Library series coming later this month, Child of Tomorrow and Other Stories finds prolific EC scripter (and longtime MAD editor) Al Feldstein behind both the typewriter and the drawing board for 16 tales of spine-tingling sci-fi suspense, plus 7 more stories drawn by other EC short-timers and stalwarts. The influence of Feldstein's writing and brushwork can be seen in the work of contemporary cartoonists like Charles Burns, Dan Clowes, and Gilbert Hernandez, who provides an intro ot this volume. Our usual historical features are joined by a new interview with Feldstein. Another indispensible entry in…

One of 2009's most visionary graphic novels, The Squirrel Machine by Hans Rickheit, is coming back into print in paperback in just a few weeks. Hailed by critics and adored by fans, it's a surreal, visually sumptuous collision of body horror, steampunk fantasy and dream logic that would make Sigmund Freud's head spin. If you like gorgeously discomfiting comics, this is the book for you. Read most of the first chapter (also downloadable), and pre-order your copy right here.

In just a few weeks Gene Deitch's Nudnik Revealed! will hit shelves and animation fans will not want to miss it. Deitch, a living legend in the animation field, created a series of theatrical shorts in the mid-1960s starring a prototypical lovable-loser type, Nudnik. The series lasted one "season" of 12 episodes and garnered an Oscar nomination. Now, for the first time, Deitch has delved into his archives and gathered all of the artwork he produced for the cartoons into this oversized coffee-table art book, along with his own entertaining commentary. We were thrilled to have Gene himself on hand to debut the…

The landmark 20th volume of The Complete Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is charging up on us like Snoopy going after Linus's blanket, and we have the advance copies to prove it! You got Chuck there on the cover (designed, as always, by Seth), and who better to introduce the series of unfortunate events that tends to befall the gang than mysterious author Lemony Snicket? Each volume collects a full two years of strips, daily and Sunday, in crisp black & white with a handy and entertaining Index and a brief bio of Schulz in the back. This will also be available in a box…

Lookit this cute li'l guy! Treasury of Mini Comics Volume 1 collects a wild-n-wooly assortment of mini comics from the past 4 decades or so in the Newave tradition, with faves and rarities from the '70s through the '10s from a roster too big to list here. You got your Ron Regé, Jr. there on the cover (and inside) and the spread shows some mid-'90s action by Jim Blanchard & Chris Cilla. It's all lovingly assembled by editor Michael Dowers along with creator interviews spanning the history of the art form. 848 pages! It'll be out around late September or so — keep 'em peeled for more sneak…

Here it is, a fresh advance copy of Fran, Jim Woodring's new prequel/sequel to the acclaimed Congress of the Animals. Return again to the Unifactor, where the laws of nature diverge from what we know and mysteries and paradoxes abound. Such as: who, and what, is Fran, and what does her introduction in Congress mean for Frank — and the Unifactor? Find out in these pages. And, of course, prepare to have your eyeballs dazzled by Jim's breathtakingly rich, immersive artwork — some of his best ever. Read the start of the story here, where you can also pre-order your copy for delivery…