Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Peter Bagge presents a "Lost Scene" from Reefer Madness at the Turner Classic Movies website (warning: Flash interface).

Explainers: The Complete Village Voice Strips (1956-66) By Jules Feiffer In 1956, a relatively unknown cartoonist by the name of Jules Feiffer started contributing a strip to the only alternative weekly published in the US, a small radical newspaper called The Village Voice. His strip tackled just about every issue, private and public, that affected the sentient American: relationships, sexuality, love, family, parents, children, psychoanalysis, neuroses, presidents, politicians, media, race, class, labor, religiion, foreign policy, war, and one or two other existential questions. It was the first time that the American public had been subjected to a weekly dose of…

Comic Arf By various artists; edited by Craig Yoe Another great Arf book for 2008, and it features one of the greatest comickers of all: Milt Gross! The Gross-ness starts off with a stunning cover painting done in the 1930s but, as they say, ripped from today’s headlines. It’s all about immigration: Uncle Sam grinds up a sea of immigrants and out come… classic comic strip characters! Milt Gross drew a 1920s comic that left the last panel blank for aspiring cartoonists. Editor Craig Yoe drafted a who’s who of contemporary cartoonists to complete Gross’s unfinished masterpieces. Art Spiegelman, Seymour…

Buy this from Comic Art Collective. Steven's latest "Stinckers," only 20 bucks! You will treasure it, seriously.

Presenting a random flip through the pages of the new softcover edition of Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution 1963-1975 by Patrick Rosenkranz, coming soon. We also have a gallery of detailed still photos you can browse or view as a slideshow on Flickr. (We'd love to get your feedback on presenting sneak peeks in video format like this, so please leave a comment here if you have any thoughts. Thanks!) 

It's Free Comic Book Day tomorrow, so head on down to your participating local comic shop (especially if it's the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery) and pick up a copy of our offering, I.G.N.A.T.Z. ("International Graphic Novels At Their Zenith")! This 32-pager contains exclusive, never-before-seen excerpts from upcoming installments in our premium Ignatz Series, plus a couple of other goodies, including Babel #3 by David B., Baobab #3 by Igort, Grotesque #2 by Sergio Ponchione, Sammy the Mouse #2 by Zak Sally, Niger #3 by Leila Marzocchi, Interiorae #3 by Gabriella Giandelli, Delphine #3 by Richard Sala, and Ganges #2 by…

It's time for your weekly installment of Steven Weissman's "Chocolate Cheeks"! In this week's strip: more thoughts on parenting, plus cosplay. (Remember, you must be registered and logged in to read.)

Richard Sala provides illustrations for Gallery Ghost, which looks like a nifty edumacational book for the grade-school set. Via Sporadic Sequential, who get kudos for their blog post title.

Attention MySpace friends, Facebook fans, Flickr contacts, Twitter followers etc! It's your second annual opportunity to save 20% off all your online purchases at Fantagraphics.com for the entire month of May — and this time we're giving you a chance to save 25% by participating in some fun interactivity! Here's how it works: MySpace: We have posted a 20%-off coupon code in a post in our MySpace blog that only our friends can see! For extra savings, leave a comment on our profile with one of the following: a picture with your favorite Fantagraphics book or comic, a list of…

This week's free preview is a downloadable 20-page excerpt from The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8, the upcoming book from Swiss horror master Thomas Ott — his first full-length graphic novel. These previews are exclusive to registered Fantagraphics.com users, so sign up and/or sign in to view. (As a reminder, 20/20 Club members receive these previews two weeks before we post them on the website, just one of many great reasons to join up…)