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The Psychedelic Furs dropped by Fantagraphics Bookstore on Saturday to stock up on records and comix ahead of their set at the Showbox. It was amusing to hear Chicago-born saxophonist Mars Williams, a Krazy Kat enthusiast, attempt to explain the decidedly American brickbat humor of the strip to his British bandmates. Mars graciously agreed to a photo op next to Krazy Kat book designer and fellow Chicagoan Chris Ware's Building Stories display. Thanks to the band for putting us on the guest list. Fun show (below).  

Johnny Ryan and Monster Worship are proud fathers of these new GLOW-IN-THE-DARK figurines based on Prison Pit characters. These sweet-but-mostly-sour vinyl figures are coming out this weekend at NYCC. Now you can scare yourself at night when you stumble to the bathroom as a luminescent Cannibal Fuckface or Rottweiler Herpes (above) greets you. Want to read the fan-fucking-tastic adventures of CFF and RH? Check out Prison Pit in print or as ebooks via comiXology.

Guess what, L.A. — horror won't be ending on Halloween night. The terror actually begins on Friday, November 2nd as Johnny Ryan unleashes the beast that is Prison Pit 4!  Be one of the first to wrap your slorge around the highly-anticipated latest volume in Ryan's sci-fi-prison-planet-gore-fest-slugfest-a-thon serial at Meltdown Comics. And yes, it's true: Cannibal Fuckface goes to Hollywood. Ajax Wood IS Cannibal Fuckface // Photo credit: the amazing Jonas Seaman We're sealing up his crate, plastering those "Caution: Dangerous Animal" stickers on the outside, and sending Cannibal Fuckface to the signing. God forgive us. Chances are, you've heard…

The weekend's newest Online Commentaries & Diversions: • Plug: The best footnote IN THE WORLD? appeared on Grantland's excerpt of Marvel Comics: The Untold Story written by Sean Howe. It refers to Marvel's idea of hiring Gary Groth. . . Look for footnote 7. •Review: Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit: Book 4 is reviewed on Nick Gazin's Comic Book Love in #73 and Mr. Ryan himself is interviewed. . . via text. "There's no point in trying to explain Prison Pit. You can only experience it to understand it. Start buy buying all of them at once if you haven't yet….

The Bros, circa 1982! // photo credit: Carol Kovinick Hernandez Thirty years ago, those three badasses you see above created the most influential comic of the alternative age. This Saturday, October 13th, we raise a toast to the Hernandez Brothers! Join us for the opening reception of Love and Rockets: A 30th Anniversary Celebration at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, CA! This career-spanning retrospective exhibition will include more than 50 pieces of original artwork from their groundbreaking comic.  From 8:00 to 11:00 PM, there will be food and drink from local vendors, live drawing events, and, of course,…

  Ready to horrify Tom Spurgeon and many other people, Josh Simmons's short film, The Leader, is out for a frightful October. We couldn't even make this post at night, we were worried about the repercussions of night-time viewing. Don't say we didn't warn you.

In addition to a free concert by Berlin-based recording artist Molly Nilsson, visitors to the opening of "The Horror: Selections from the EC Comics Library" next Saturday, October 13 at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery will be treated to a short slide presentation by series assistant editor J. Michael Catron. Expect some wondrous EC insights from this veteran comics professsional. The splash page above is from our Jack Davis EC sampler Tales From the Crypt, which will be distributed free at the event while supplies last.

Heads or Tails by Lilli Carré 200-page full-color 7" x 9" softcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-597-6 Ships in: November 2012 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now SPECIAL OFFER: Add Lilli Carré's acclaimed debut The Lagoon to your order for just $9.99 ($5 off)! Use the option menu when ordering. The creator of 2008’s acclaimed graphic novel The Lagoon — named to many annual critics’ lists including Publishers Weekly and USA Today’s Pop Candy — is back with a stunningly designed and packaged collection of some of the most poetic and confident short fiction being produced in comics today. These stories, created…

Hey, we got our hands on some more copies of last year's hardcover reprint of Jim Woodring's classic The Frank Book! These went fast when we first offered them and we don't expect these copies to last long either, so get yours while you can.

Okay everybody, here's what we're going to do: since we went on record saying we weren't going to do slipcased Pogo sets when Volume 1 came out, and then we were convinced otherwise (with the first set out soon), we're gonna throw in the slipcase at no extra charge for everybody who orders Volume 2 from our mail-order outfit (unless you opt out). We'll even eat the extra packing and shipping costs! So no matter where you bought your Volume 1 from, you can get a slipcase for FREE, but only if you order Volume 2 from us — you…