Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

The Strand bookstore presents video footage of Kim Deitch's presentation there two weeks ago. (Note that there was a minor tech problem with the sound at the beginning, but the audio kicks in after a couple of minutes, when the on-screen clock hits 19:04.)

Sorry we're a day late with this! Scheduled to arrive at your local comics shop yesterday from Fantagraphics: • The Complete Peanuts 1967-1970 Box Set by Charles M. Schulz• Meat Cake #17 by Dame Darcy As usual you can view previews and get more info at the links above… you'll especially want to check out the preview for the Peanuts box set since that comes shrink-wrapped and your neighborhood comic shop clerk probably isn't going to want you peeling it open…

Robert Pollard and Hard Pressed Studios have released the first in a series of 5 limited-edition silkscreen prints based on Bob's collage artwork (as seen in our new book Town of Mirrors). The first, Greetings from Camp Confusion, is available now from Rockathon Records (Bob's official merch arm) or direct from the printer.

Today we're bringing you an advance look at Bill Schelly's upcoming biography of all-time comics great Joe Kubert, Man of Rock (coming next month). Click here if the slideshow doesn't appear above.

Before you watch the McCain/Obama debate in a few minutes, get yourself in the right frame of mind by taking an advance look at American Presidents, our upcoming volume of Presidential portraits by master caricaturist David Levine (coming next month). Click here if the slideshow doesn't appear above.

Here are the book reviews that turned up around the web on this relatively quiet week: • The incredibly-named I Love Rob Liefeld recommends Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 for fellow L&R newbies; the more sensibly-named Read About Comics looks at the issue as well; Johnny Bacardi gives it an "A" (scroll about halfway down) • Former Fantagraphics intern Michael Jewell recommends The Complete Love and Rockets in Savannah College of Art & Design's District • Brazilian blog Quadrinhos Coquettes takes note of Mome • Comic Book Bin looks at Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by…

Time for a new installment of Steven Weissman's in-progress pages from "Blue Jay," an epic 32-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures. In this week's episode: somebody gets Rocky Roaded! (Remember, you must be registered and logged in to read.)

Chicagoans! You've got 2 hours to hie ye'self down to Quimby's to see a reading by Anders Nilsen at 7 PM. Sez Anders on his blog, "I'll be showing a sort of preview of the forthcoming Monologues for Calculating the Density of Black Holes (Monologues II-Fantagraphics Books, due out in February) as well as a video-ized version of the strip Event, which first appeared in Mome, back in 2005, and was originally conceived as a video, not a comic strip. Which explains why it doesn't really look like one. Joe Meno and Arthur Nersesian are also reading."

Next week we'll be making a full announcement of all of our guests and programming at SPX (Oct. 4-5 in Bethesda, MD) — stay tuned! In the meantime, here's a 30-second YouTube commercial for the Expo to give you a glimpse of the scene:

We've got a brand-new selection of downloadable wallpapers featuring recent and upcoming Fantagraphics titles. Just click on the size that matches your monitor resolution and the image will open in a new window; if you're on a PC, right-click the image and select "Set As Background"; if you're on a Mac, control+click and select "Set As Desktop Background." (We don't know what the procedure is for iPhones, but if you have one, you probably do, right?) And for our complete selection of wallpapers, click right here! NEW: Ghost World: Special Edition by Daniel Clowes 800 x 600 | 1024 x…