Fantagraphics Blog FantaBlog

Boasting one of the most PACKED signing schedules of SPX and Fantagraphics' we have FOURTEEN people signing at our table (and a few more Fantagraphics' cartoonists are tabling all by their lonesome) You can find all these sweet 'n' sassy cartoonists and book debuts at tables W57-6, along the very rightmost wall. Saturday Ed Piskor: 11-12:30pm, 3:30-5:00pmLeslie Stein: 11-12:30pmMichael Kupperman: 11am-1pmJanet Hamlin: 12:30pm-2:30pm (Saturday signing only!)Justin Hall: 12:30pm-1:30pmCarol Tyler: 1-2:00pm, 6-7pmCharles Forsman: 2-4pmGary Panter: 2-3pmDash Shaw: 2-3pmUlli Lust: 3-5pmPaul Hornschemeier: 4-7pmBen Catmull: 5-6pmPeter Bagge: 5-6pmMarc Sobel: 6-7pm SundayPeter Bagge: Noon-1pmLeslie Stein: Noon-1:30pmJustin Hall: Noon-1pmCarol Tyler: 1-2pmPaul Hornschemeier: 1-2pmEd Piskor: 1:30-3pmUlli Lust:…

With baseball’s pennant races heating up, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery looks back to an earlier era of the national pastime. Willard Mullin’s Golden Age of Baseball: Drawings 1934 – 1972 chronicles the game and its legendary players. The bookstore will display pages from the artist’s long career opening Saturday, September 14. As America’s premier sports cartoonist, Willard Mullin was in New York to record the careers of Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Lou Gehrig. He witnessed Jackie Robinson’s historic integration of the game and documented the departure of the Dodgers and Giants to the west. In many significant ways, the game of…

Treasury of Mini Comics Vol. 1 by various artists; edited by Michael Dowers 848-page black & white/color 5" x 6.25" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-657-7 Ships in: September 2013 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now BARGAIN COMBO: Newave! + Treasury of Mini Comics Gift Set Price: $54.98 $43.98 Fantagraphics’ 2010 Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s was such an unexpected hit that it inspired this first of a two-volume set chronicling the art of the mini-comic from the late 1960s to present — The Treasury of Mini Comics. The Treasury of Mini Comics charts the evolution of the art of mini…

The Stranger, one of our local alt-weeklies that shares many ties with Fantagraphics throughout the ages ran a tribute to Kim Thompson written by former employee Robert Boyd. Giving context to the comics world as the more commercial spoke the art world wheel, Boyd touches on Kim's job as a creative enabler and rabid music fan. "Kim encouraged and cajoled many cartoonists to produce art they never otherwise would have dreamed possible. I imagine that if Fantagraphics had not been there in 1982, Jaime Hernandez might have gone on to a successful, respectable career as a penciller for Marvel and…

You know you don't wanna miss our schedule of signings, our list of debuts, and our programming, and that's a'comin'… but, here are a few other things you don't wanna miss this SPX weekend! Saturday, September 14th • 5:30 PM: Carousel returns to this year’s SPX with a great line up of readers and drawers, including our own Michael Kupperman, Leslie Stein, and Anders Nilsen, along with Lisa Hanawalt, Sam Henderson, and Kriota Willberg. Hosted by your pal, and ours, R. Sikoryak. Sunday, September 15th • 1:30 PM: What does this poster mean?! Mark Twain as Val Kilmer?! Does this…

Ready for a detailed account of an often misrepresented slice of American publishing history and a revelatory examination of comics-industry lore that faces controversial topics head-on? Our downloadable sneak peek of Blake Bell and Dr. Michael J. Vassallo's new book The Secret History of Marvel Comics lets you read the Table of Contents, the authors' Introduction (in which they gut the 3 most common myths about Marvel), and the full first chapter ("The Way It Began," tracing the early life and career of Martin Goodman), illustrated with plentiful pulp covers by J.W. Scott and others.  This insightful tome arrives in or around late…

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.  Love and Rockets: The Covers by Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario Hernandez 144-page full-color 10.25" x 13.25" hardcover • $35.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-598-3 "As you might expect, Love And Rockets: The Covers is very attractive, very well-put together, and the fact that the production values on display flatter the work inside gives you…

We continue our comprehensive collections of Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko's 1950s work in this new 4th volume of The Steve Ditko Archives from editor Blake Bell. Impossible Tales finds Ditko ensconced at Charlton Comics and doing some of his best work for their horror and suspense titles. See for yourself in our downloadable excerpt, which contains the book's Table of Contents and three complete stories! Pre-order the book here for expected delivery in late October.

Oh, how ironic that Dave Cooper's pillowy female forms will be on display at the La Petite Mort Gallery in Ottawa… But indeed, they will, in a show titled Eddy Table and Other Misbehavers! So head over there on Thursday, September 19th at 7:00 PM for a wonderful show, affiliated with the great Ottawa International Animation Festival! (You might recall, another Fantagraphics artist Max Andersson will screen first feature-length film Tito on Ice at this animation festival, too!) Dave will have a ton of affordable drawings and doodles available, as well as a cool super-affordable, specially-priced inaugural fine art print…

  On Saturday, Jaime Hernandez was honored with the Harvey Award for Best Cartoonist during Baltimore Comic Con. The Harvey Awards are voted on by Jaime's fellow cartoonists and creative professionals in the comics industry. A great nod to a great cartoonist the same month as Love and Rockets: New Stories #6 is out. Pick up a copy at SPX in Bethesda, Maryland this week!