Fantagraphics Blog FantaBlog

In Drew's own words: "This is the cover to my upcoming book HEROES of THE COMICS, designed by the great Jesse Marinoff Reyes. The book comes out in early July and officially debuts at the San Diego Comic Con." We got a great response to the preliminary cover we showed with Drew's portrait of Siegel & Shuster, but we went with the King, and for good reason, as you can see. Don't worry, Jerry & Joe are still inside the book, along with dozens and dozens more of the titans and pioneers of American comics, all gorgeously and expressively rendered,…

In the new Previews catalog at your local comic shop you'll find our solicitation for a new 32-page one-shot comic book by Dash Shaw. Cosplayers is a sweet & sour, sad & funny story that follows the adventures of Annie and Verti as they shoot homemade movies for YouTube, guerilla-style, and face some unexpected consequences. Read the first three pages of the story below, ask for it at your local comic shop, and look for it on the racks in April! (We'll be taking orders, too.) And yesterday, Dash broke this news on his blog:  Doctors comes out this October from Fantagraphics…

"Glenn's fabulous collection and the stories that go with it is the kinda stuff you can't make up." – Jaime Hernandez "The Bray Collection is a national treasure, a Fort Knox of astounding pop-culture holdings compiled with uncanny prescience and a singular, infallible eye for both the unassailably great and the otherwise overlooked. Bray and Zwalve have assembled a sum that is possibly greater even than its magnificent parts, and to experience the body of work in its entirety — finding connections, noting omissions, succumbing to the perfection of the vision — is to understand the visual world in a…

This February, Michigan State University will host their annual MSU Comics Forum, an event that brings together scholars, creators, and fans in order to explore celebrate the medium of comics, graphic storytelling, and sequential art. And this year's keynote speaker is noneother than the great Stan Sakai! On Friday, February 21st, Stan will be speaking from 7:00 to 8:30 PM in the Residential College of Arts & Humanities Theater. Sakai-san will be discussing his long-running anthropomorphic animal series, Usagi Yojimbo, and talking about his wonderful, highly-acclaimed 30+ year career!  MSU Comics Forum will take place at Snyder/Phillips Hall at Michigan…

The Blighted Eye: Original Comic Art from the Glenn Bray Collectionby various artists 410-page full-color 10.5" x 12" hardcover • $100.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-695-9 Ships in: February 2014 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now The Blighted Eye is the most copious, the most diverse, and the most lavish compilation of original comic art ever published — all from the mind-boggling collection of Glenn Bray. Bray was an enthusiast of marginal or outsider American pop culture when he started to collect original comic art in 1965 — a time when very few people, including the artists themselves, truly valued the original art. Bray…

If you love Kim Deitch as much as we do, you'll want to pile on Chance Press's Kickstarter campaign for A Deitch Miscellany, a limited-edition book compiling some stray comics and artwork which will come in Fancy and Even Fancier editions (that's not what they're actually called). There's an array of signed & limited prints to be had too. Jordan from Chance Press is a good fellow and a booster of ours, and we're happy to boost back.

We're very pleased to have had three books chosen by the American Library Association's GLBT Round Table for their two honors lists this year. 7 Miles a Second by David Wojnarowicz, James Romberger, and Marguerite Van Cook and Julio's Day by Gilbert Hernandez were both named to the 2014 Over the Rainbow List of recommended books for adult readers in the Graphic Narrative category, and Wandering Son Vol. 4 by Shimura Takako was chosen for the 2014 Rainbow List of recommended reading for younger readers under Graphic Novels. (This is the third year in a row on the list for the Wandering Son series.) Congratulations to…

Vip: The Mad World of Virgil Partch at Fantagraphics Bookstore on February 8. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is privileged to host an exhibition by Virgil Partch, one of mid-century America’s most influential humorists. A new book, Vip: The Mad World of Virgil Partch celebrates the legacy of this notorious cartoonist. An exhibition of art and artifacts from the book opens Saturday, February 8 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Virgil Partch (1916 – 1984) burst onto the pages of the nation’s magazines with his captivating cartoons virtually overnight. His irreverent observations inspired a new breed of post-war comedians and cartoonists. Known affectionately…

Wednesday, January 29th • New York City, NY: The wonderful Society of Illustrators will host a special Happy Hour event in honor of the exhibit, The Art of Rodrigues: An Exhibition of the Late, Great Charles Rodrigues! The reception goes from 5:00 to 10:00 PM. A $10 cover charge includes one free drink ticket, buffet included. (more info) Friday, January 31st • Portland, OR: It's your last chance to Jesse Reklaw's exhibit The Art of Couch Tag, an exhibit of original pages from his outstanding tragicomic graphic memoir, at Pony Club Gallery. Don't miss it! (more info) Saturday, February 1st…

Editor Michael Dowers reveals: "Here is a sneak peek at the cover for Treasury of Mini Comics Volume 2. Cover by Esther Pearl Watson…book is scheduled for a January 2015 release…not that far away…just around the corner…" Have you picked up Volume 1 yet?