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The sweetest tea of Online Commentaries & Diversions:  • Review: The Atlantic writes on The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio. Noah Berlatsky looks at it from every angle, "The boys' love genre, then, freed Hagio and her audience to cross and recross boundaries of identity, sexuality, and gender…Bodies and character flicker in and out, a sequence of surfaces, tied together less by narrative than by the heightened emotions of melodrama—jealousy, anger, trauma, desire, friendship, and love in the heart of Thomas." • Plug: David Brothers and Comics Alliance posts a preview of The Heart of Thomas plus a few…

1) Make your very own comics. 2) Learn about graphic novels.3) Party at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. It's the perfect weekend plan! So, join us on Saturday, January 26th for the Graphic Novel Panel 2013, held by our friends at the Seattle Graphics Arts Guild!  The day begins at 10:30 AM with a panel on "How to Make Your Own Mini-Comic," led by beloved local cartoonist David Lasky, who will guide you through the book-constructing and storytelling process. And then at 1:00 PM, learn the ins and outs of the Graphic Novel with a panel of local artists including our…

Time for your first new-release recap of 2013, and we've got a fine variety for you (as usual). In the past month we've received the new paperback edition of Vol. I of Linda Medley's Castle Waiting, the hardcover collection of Richard Sala's Delphine, the eagerly-anticipated The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio, Jim Woodring's sketchbook art book Problematic, and classic vintage Joe Kubert in Weird Horrors & Daring Adventures. Creepy! Fantastical! Romantic! Sometimes all three! What's more, you can get these books — and everything else we offer — for 20% off right now during our New Year's Deja Vu Sale! Just use coupon code DEJAVU when checking out. Don't delay…

Hey Luuuucy! She's got her dander up about something on Seth's cover design for The Complete Peanuts 1987-1988 by Charles M. Schulz. It's the 19th volume in the series and we've reached the milestone point where Schulz switched from 4 uniform panels to a variable layout. And this volume's Foreword is by another comic strip legend, Garry Trudeau. You won't want to miss it when it comes out in March! We're giving you a sneak peek excerpt with all the strips from January 1987 which you can read right here.

Residents of Santiago, Chile: get ready to say "Bienvenido" to The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008! On Friday, January 11th, co-editor Nico Vassilakis — along with Crystal Curry, José Luis Bobadilla Acevedo and Gregorio Fontén — will host an evening of readings, and the launch of an accompanying exhibition! Books will be available for purchase on site for signing by these wonderful poets! The launch party will be held at 19:00 at Taller Bloc at the Jose Manuel Infante located at No. 1428, Providence.

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department:  Problematic: Sketchbook Drawings 2004-2012 by Jim Woodring 364-page black & white 5.25" x 8" hardcover • $28.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-594-5 See Previews / Order Now Order this book and receive this FBI•MINI comic shown here as a FREE bonus! Click here for details. Limit one per customer while supplies last. If you are one of the fortunate thousands who enjoy untangling the enigmatic images that fill Jim Woodring's comics and drawings, Problematic is just the book for you to put under your pillow and dream on. Woodring is a devotee of the pocket-sized Moleskine…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: The Heart of Thomas (トーマの心臓 / Thomas no Shinzō) by Moto Hagio 528-page black & white (with some color) 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $39.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-551-8 See Previews / Order Now The setting: A boys' boarding school in Germany, sometime in the mid-20th Century. One winter day, fourteen year-old Thomas Werner falls from a lonely pedestrian overpass to his death, immediately after sending a single, brief letter to another boy at the school: To Juli, one last time. This is my love. This is the sound of my heart. Surely you…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department:  Castle Waiting Vol. 1 (Softcover Ed.) by Linda Medley 472-page black & white 5.5" x 8" softcover • $24.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-602-7 See Previews / Order Now Castle Waiting is the story of an isolated, abandoned castle, and the eccentric inhabitants who bring it back to life. A fable for modern times, it is a fairy tale that’s not about rescuing the princess, saving the kingdom, or fighting the ultimate war between Good and Evil — but about being a hero in your own home. The opening chapter tells the origin of the…

We missed this in the holiday rush of making sure you got those beautiful Peanuts books but Saturday Night Live created a laugh-and-fart-out-loud parody of the beloved characters created by Charles M. Schulz. Hats off to Bill Hader's Al Pacino as Charlie Brown and Martin Short's Larry David as Linus. Also, a friend sent us this odd text-based adventure of a future society that learned how to be through a Peanuts filter. Walk around the world in your mind (live an hut made of baseball gloves)! Read a little bit of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang before immersing yourself.

The forthcoming exhibit Good Work looks, well, great! The Nazareth College Department of Art is celebrating the country’s top commercial illustrators, such as our own Steve Brodner, Debbie Drechsler, Drew Friedman, and Richard Sala, along with about 50 other leading artists in the field. Curators Kathleen Calderwood, associate professor, and David Cowles, lecturer, invited each participant to choose the illustration they think is their best work to date. Here's what Drew chose, but really, how can you possibly choose?!!: The opening reception for the show is Friday, January 18th from 5:00 to 8:00 PM, and the exhibit runs through March…