The first rain-free (HA!) day of Online Commentaries & Diversions: • Review: The Comics Journal looks at Ron Rege Jr.'s The Cartoon Utopia. Katie Haegel writes, "Almost impossible to categorize, the work in Cartoon Utopia is both fully realized in a formal sense and wonderfully idiosyncratic. Like, it’s really out there. . . to me the work is much stronger when it depicts magic in action, which Regé accomplishes by telling us stories about historical figures and their relationship to the natural world." • Review: Robot 6 reviews The Cartoon Utopia by Ron Rege Jr. Chris Mautner writes "with Rege drawing…
Jack Jackson’s American History: Los Tejanos & Lost Cause – Previews, Pre-Order
Jack Jackson's American History: Los Tejanos & Lost Cause by Jack Jackson 320-page black & white 7.5" x 10.25" hardcover • $35.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-504-4 Ships in: December 2012 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Jack Jackson loved American history and creating comics. He combined these into a single vocation and created a legacy of historical graphic novels that has never been equaled. Jackson is credited with creating what many consider the first underground comic, God Nose, in 1964. He co-founded Rip-Off Press in 1969, and made some of the most scathing satirical comics about contemporary America ever seen. But, Jackson was…
Seattle is CRAZY for Ellen Forney!
This past Saturday, the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery was proud to co-present an event at the Seattle Public Library Central Branch as Ellen Forney debuted her brand-new graphic memoir, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me, out now on Penguin Books' Gotham imprint. Thank you to everyone who came out! Comics readers are more good-looking that regular readers. No surprise to anyone, Ellen gave a fantastic, and brave, performance. Marbles is her graphic memoir about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She told the audience that she had hid this from her friends when she first found out, so for Ellen to…
Prison Pit 4 to rip the shit out of your iPad
Today marks the same-day release of Prison Pit Book 4 from Fantagraphics in bookstores and at comiXology, we're getting into the giving swing of things. In Johnny Ryan's latest 'raging flume of blood and cum' as Joe McCullough says, we find Cannibal Fuckface has just about had it with prisoners messing with him. He discovers the only way to escape the Caligulon is to brainfuck the Slorge and create a giant, brainless oafchild that only knows how to annihilate everything in its path. 116 gristly pages of smackdowns, foaming villians and unsympathetic bowel movements can be yours in the $12.99…
Fletcher Hanks Stardust figurine on Kickstarter
Have you ever wished for a miniature effigy of Fletcher Hanks's Stardust the Super Wizard (as seen in the hit books I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets and You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation), or, perhaps, desire one now that we've planted the idea in your head? You could help make it happen if you apply your willpower (and money)! Jared Zichek has created this 3D computer model of everyone's favorite godlike vengeance meter-outer clutching the literally disembodied head of the villain DeStructo, and is now taking pre-orders via Kickstarter to realize it as a cast-metal collectible…
Love and Rockets: The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S on comiXology
Fantagraphics and comiXology add to your digital Love and Rockets Library today with the release of Book 2 from Locas storyline by Jaime Hernandez, The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S. The 30th anniversary Love and Rockets celebration continues with this second of three volumes collecting the adventures of the spunky Maggie; her annoying, pixie-ish best friend and sometime lover Hopey; and their circle of friends, including their bombshell friend Penny Century, Maggie's weirdo mentor Izzy — as well as the aging but still heroic wrestler Rena Titaon and Maggie's handsome love interest, Rand Race. After Maggie the Mechanic, the first volume in…
Paul Hornschemeier Print at Tiny Showcase!
Yesterday, our friends at Tiny Showcase unveiled their latest print from our own Paul Hornschemeier! Titled "The Fading Fair," this poignant six-color boardwalk-inspired screen print measures 18" wide by 24" high, with each individual vignette measuring 5" wide by 7" high. Get yours before their availability, well, fades away! $10 of every print sold will go to the American Red Cross in support of ongoing Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
Hollywood lines up Manchette’s Sniper
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Jean-Patrick Manchette's novel The Prone Gunman, from which Jacques Tardi adapted the graphic novel Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot (we gave it a different name for our edition), is on the way to a major-motion-picture adaptation with Sean Penn in negotiations to play the lead, ruthless assassin Martin Terrier. No director yet; our own Kim Thompson suggests Nicolas Winding Refn or William Friedkin in French Connection flashback mode, if the producers are listening. We trust that Jefferey Wright is in talks for the Stanley role. Right?
New Comics Day: Charlie Brown, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Prison Pit
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. Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking by Charles M. Schulz 56-page three-color 5.75" x 5.75" hardcover • $9.99 ISBN: 978-1-60699-624-9 "WOW, CHARLIE BROWN – a pair of ’60s holiday treats for Good Housekeeping and Woman’s Day form the bulk of Charlie Brown’s Christmas Stocking, a 56-page, 5.75" x 5.75" seasonal fancy." –…
Shop Johnny Ryan in Johnny Ryan’s new shop
"Just a heads up that I’ve created an all-new online shop which features my books, prints, original art, etc., all in one place. Check it out here. This is the ONLY place I am offering original artwork for sale online, and the inventory will change from time to time as I dig up more originals and stuff to sell," says Johnny Ryan on his blog. So go do that!
