Fantagraphics Blog Blog

30 Years. Three. Zero. In 1982, Gilbert, Jaime and Mario Hernandez published their first comic with Fantagraphics, which debuted at that year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. In 2012, Fantagraphics Books announces the best anniversary present you can give the comics making trio: a year of celebrating Love and Rockets. Jaime Hernandez remembers his first Comic-Con well. “The first time we spotted Love and Rockets some guy was already selling it for half-off.” Fellow professionals took an interest in the Hernandez brothers’ creation. “Chris Claremont walked up and joked that all the women on the cover should have ‘X’es on…

In an ongoing effort to nurture young talent and provide a showcase for emerging artists, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery presents “The Massive World of Mini Comics.” This exhibition features art created by young students who attended an 826 Seattle workshop devoted to comic zines taught by Seattle cartoonists Max Clotfelter, Ben Horak and Tim Miller, and facilitated by Fantagraphics Books and Alex Bleecker, program coordinator for 826 Seattle. The opening on Saturday, July 14, and the work will remain on display through August 9. Instructors Clotfelter, Horak and Miller are active participants in Seattle’s lively small press and self-publishing comics…

In an ongoing effort to nurture young talent and provide a showcase for emerging artists, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery presents “The Massive World of Mini Comics.” This exhibition features art created by young students who attended an 826 Seattle workshop devoted to comic zines taught by Seattle cartoonists Max Clotfelter, Ben Horak and Tim Miller, and facilitated by Fantagraphics Books and Alex Bleecker, program coordinator for 826 Seattle. The opening on Saturday, July 14, and the work will remain on display through August 9. Instructors Clotfelter, Horak and Miller are active participants in Seattle’s lively small press and self-publishing comics…

[In in the return of our Editors Notes series, Kim Thompson interviews himself (in a format he's dubbed "AutoChat") about New York Mon Amour by Jacques Tardi , now available to order from us and at a comics shop near you. – Ed.] This is going to be a particularly discursive and rambling one, so reader, be forewarned. I don’t want to see any complainin’ in the comments section about how self-indulgent this is; you’re being told that going in. That said… Okay, so… New York Mon Amour. This is what, your eighth? Ninth Tardi book? I’ve reached the point…

Graphic artist Dale Yarger was at the center of activity in Seattle throughout the 1980s and '90s as our city prepared to engage popular culture on a global scale. Yarger's tenure at The Rocket magazine in the 1980s included designing Bruce Pavitt's monthly Sub Pop column, where he refined the look and the ubiquitous logo of the future record label. He moved from there to the position of head art director at Fantagraphics Books during the formative period of alternative comix. He later left to become art director of The Stranger and helped guide that magazine to regional prominence and…

The public launch of SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS: THE BOOK is coming up at the Strand on Tuesday, July 10! Join contributors LUC SANTE, MATTHEW SHARPE, MIMI LIPSON, BEN GREENMAN, ANNIE NOCENTI, SHELLEY JACKSON, JASON GROTE and Editors JOSHUA GLENN and ROB WALKER as they read their stories from and celebrate the release of SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS: 100 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES ABOUT ORDINARY THINGS. Can a great story transform a worthless trinket into a significant object? The Significant Objects project set out to answer that question once and for all, by recruiting a highly impressive crew of creative writers to invent stories about an…

Fantagraphics is proud to announce it has obtained the rights to the first two books by award-winning cartoonist Charles Forsman. The first book, The End of the Fucking World, will be released during the 2013 Spring / Summer season (exact release date t.b.a.). The 128 page black and white graphic novel, which will include all twelve issues of the critically-acclaimed minicomic series, follows the unfeeling, sociopathic teen James and his earnest girlfriend, Alyssa, on the brink of adulthood. The second book, to be released during our 2013 Fall Season, is an original graphic novella titled Celebrated Summer. This funny and…

Please join us at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery as we welcome two of the country’s most acclaimed contemporary cartoonists: Jeffrey Brown on Saturday, June 2 and Joe Sacco on Saturday, June 9. These remarkable artists represent the current diversity of alternative comix and their potential to impact both popular and political culture. Upon graduating from the Art Institute of Chicago, Jeffrey Brown came to the attention of comix readers with works dealing with relationships and romantic misadventures. His primitive rendering style complemented his candid observations in a series of accessible graphic novels comprising the “Girlfriend Trilogy.” His recent work has…

A movement is emerging of resourceful young artists and cartoonists forming regional associations to publish and distribute small press comix and zines. Portland, Oregon is home to some of the most promising participants in this developing approach to contemporary comix production. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to present a group show of these cartoonists with “Study Group,” curated by Portland cartoonist and small press publisher Zack Soto. The “Study Group” exhibition features original art, prints and book works by a diverse group of cartoonists including Aidan Koch, Jennifer Parks, Farel Dalrymple, Kazimir Strzepek, Levon Jihanian, David King, Malachi Ward,…

Don’t miss Free Comic Book Day at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle. On Saturday, May 5, the Georgetown shop will be giving away free copies of specially produced comic books by master cartoonists like Carl Barks, Crockett Johnson and, while supplies last, the coveted Unseen Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. Celebrating its 10th year in 2012, the annual Free Comic Book Day promotion is a national effort on the part of publishers and retailers to attract new readers to the medium as well as show appreciation to loyal customers. Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books offers two new titles for Free Comic…