Fantagraphics Blog Jen Vaughn

Tony Millionaire is everywhere! Coming this March, just in time for Spring Break, the man himself will be appearing at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery to sign the brand-monkey-spanking new Sock Monkey Treasury: A "Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey" Collection on Saturday, March 8th from 6-9pm.    For the first time, all twelve of multiple Eisner Award-winner Tony Millionaire's acclaimed Sock Monkey all-ages comic books (1998-2007) are collected under one cover, as well as the full-color graphic novella "Uncle Gabby" full-color illustrated storybook, "The Glass Doorknob", and the only full-length Sock Monkey graphic novel "The Inches Incident." 336 pages are lovingly bound and…

On Monday, the fine folk at Peanuts let me grace their campus for a rather incredible visit. Nomi Kane, former Fantagraphics intern, Center for Cartoon Studies' 2011 alum and Donna Almendrala, CCS 2012 alum, were kind enough to show OSU librarian Caitlin McGurk and me around!   The waiting room was chock full of Peanuts paraphenalia including some VERY familiar reprints of Peanuts. One could even call them the COMPLETE PEANUTS. Vicki works on some of the ad and the pencilling the graphic novel Peanuts produces (Paige Braddock inks). She also could make ANYTHING out of anything — her chair was refurbished with a…

The best-seasoned pan that your friends accidentally cleaned with soap of Online Commentaries and Diversions:        • Review: Comics Bulletin looks at Charles Forsman's latest: "Celebrated Summer works as an excellent examination of what remains unspoken between close friends and what it means to feel trapped in your own skin." –Geoffrey Lapid, Comics Bulletin   • Review: Santa Barbara News Press in PRINT, baby reviews "Unexpectedly, almost secretly lovely, Celebrated Summer has a sadness and listlessness at its core that resonates much louder…Forsman gets in and out quickly, not making more of this tale of suburban apathy than needs making, which only makes his story that much…

Next month's issue of Booklist will include reviews of two recent releases by Fantagraphics creators, excerpted below: Hip Hop Family Tree Vol. 1 by Ed Piskor "Hip-hop devotee Piskor was one of Harvey Pekar's last collaborators and here shows himself to be Pekar's true disciple as a chronicler of popular culture… Piskor's artwork seems equally indebted to the looks of golden-age DC superhero comics and Pekar's greatest collaborator, R. Crumb." -Ray Olson    VIP: The Mad World by Virgil Partch, edited by Jonathan Barli "His drawings (under his famous "VIP" signature) stood out not just for their immediately recognizable, wildly peculiar look (once…

Fantagraphics and comiXology continue to bring you the thrills and chills via techonological frills with Sucker Bait and Other Stories illustrated by the amazing Graham Ingels (written by Al Feldstein). 25 classic horror stories involving swamps, maniacs, and dismemberment by the artist so good at gruesome, grisly depictions of the endless corruption of flesh and nature he earned the nickname "Ghastly." And as with our other EC comics, you can also try out a few stories for just 99 cents! That's not EVEN a dollar like the picture states below (but let's get real, pennies are worthless — unless you've…

This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about them (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability.   Sucker Bait and Other Stories (The EC Comics Library)Illustrated by Graham Ingels; written by Al Feldstein et al. 216-page black & white 7.25" x 10.25" hardcover • $28.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-689-8  "Even sixty years on Ingels grisly pages still hold the power to shock and delight in equal measure. Not for the faint of heart, but anyone…

Ted Stearn, the cartooning mastermind behind Fuzz & Pluck 2 has won his own prize at Angouleme! On Saturday night this album published in French by Cornélius, brought home the award for best series. This second volume follows the bizarre further adventures of an irritable plucked rooster and an awkward but lovable bear take them on separate paths to the gladiatorial ring and a Quixotic task, with an unlikely climactic convergence. Grab a copy of the international award winning book today (from us if you want to read it in English)!  "This epic tale of a hapless li'l bear and his defeathered…

This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about them (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability.   Prince Valiant Vol. 8: 1951-1952 by Hal Foster 120-page full-color 10.25" x 14" hardcover • $35.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-699-0   "Medieval swordplay and adventure have never been as glorious as in Foster's Sunday-only comic strip…. Prince Valiant is one of the best-drawn comics ever, and this new edition does ample justice to its achievement." –…

  This Tuesday, editor and designer Jonathan Barli will give a talk on cartoonist Virgil Partch, aka VIP.  Barli recently edited and designed the recent collection The Mad World of Virgil Partch. The seventy-second meeting of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium will be held on January 28, 2014 at 7:00 PM at Parsons The New School, 2 West 13th Street, in the Bark Room (off the lobby). Free and open to the public, just make sure not to flask it publically. From the symposium website: Jonathan Barli on The Mad World of Virgil Partch. An in-depth look at the life and art of one…

  As reported by the Oregonian, the 2014 Oregon Book Award short lists have been announced. Oil and Water, a graphic novel about the cleanup of Deepwater Horizon oil spill, by Steve Duin and Shannon Wheeler is up for the Pacific Northwest College of Art Graphic Literature Award.   Duin and Wheeler are in line with Barry Deutsch ("Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite"), Natalie Nourigat of Portland ("Between Gears"), Joe Sacco of Portland ("Journalism") and Craig Thompson of Portland ("Habibi"). Good luck to all but mostly Duin and Wheeler!   For those wanting to attend the Oregon Book Awards ceremony is…