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This coming weekend, Saturday, March 24th and Sunday, March 25th, New York City will celebrate their own with Comic New York: A Symposium, bringing together "creators and academics to discuss the intertwined histories of American comics and the town where they were born."  There is a stellar jam-packed schedule in place for the weekend, and here are a few panels featuring Fantagraphics' own that you should check out! Saturday, March 24th 3:00-4:00 PM: Alternative New York • Bill Griffith • R Sikoryak • Charles Brownstein • Julia Wertz • Moderator: Gene Kannenberg Jr. Sunday, March 25th 1:30-2:30: New York as…

We're excited to announce that Camille Rose Garcia (seen here with our own Gary Groth at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery) is returning to Seattle for a book signing with our friends at Roq La Rue on Saturday, March 31st! She'll be celebrating the release of her latest book Snow White, but be sure to bring your copies of her Fantagraphics release The Magic Bottle for signing!  And then later that night, Camille will be a special guest at our Emerald City Comicon Pinball Party at Shorty's, right down the street from Roq La Rue [ 2312 2nd Avenue, between Bell…

You'll actually want to go to Summer School when Ignatz-nominated artist Tim Lane is teaching! Professor Lane will be conducting a project-based workshop on the graphic novel and graphic short fiction for students seriously interested in producing their own graphic fiction. Participants will look at work from Tim's fellow Fantagraph-ians Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, Joe Sacco, Art Spiegelman, and Kim Deitch, among others. The class runs from May 21st through June 22nd at The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts [ 1 Brookings Drive ] at Washington University in St. Louis. Registration deadline is May 15th, and you…

Come say hola to Mario Hernandez, who will be a special guest at the 2012 Latino Comics Expo in San Francisco! On Saturday, May 5th, Mario will be signing copies of Love & Rockets from 1:00 to 2:30 PM.  And on Sunday, May 6th, from 1:15-2:00 PM, he'll be doing a very special reading from Love & Rockets, followed by a Q&A! Mario? Theatrical? Yes, it's true! Mario (yes, Mario!), Gilbert, & Jaime at the San Diego Comic-Con 2011 The Cartoon Art Museum [ 655 Mission Street between New Montgomery and Third Streets ] is around the corner from the…

Hoo boy, it's a busy week for Fantagraphics fans! Tuesday, March 20th  • DeKalb, IL: The Northern Illinois Unversity Art Museum debuts the exhibition “Graphic Novel Realism: Backstage at the Comics,” curated by our own Eisner Award-winning graphic novelist, artist and editor, Paul Karasik, and featuring work from Joyce Farmer, Jaime Hernandez, Mark Newgarden and Megan Montague Cash, as well as Jason Lutes, Seth and James Sturm. (more info)  Friday, March 23rd • Chicago, IL:  Zak Sally will be at Quimby's signing copies of Sammy the Mouse Vol. 1, a self-published, self-printed collection of the first three issues of his…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "The existence of serious rock criticism became central to the transformation of rock into art in the '60s; [Paul ]Nelson's artful criticism permitted this music to assume a high-culture position with swift ease…. His personal story defies alignment with the brilliance of the writings presented in this gorgeously designed book [Everything Is an Afterthought]. Nick Tosches writes in the foreword that Nelson 'never wrote about anything he didn't know to the full of its depths…' This book clearly supports what Tosches says. Avery has captured the mysterious life Nelson wound up living without…

Yet another honor for Wilfred Santiago's 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente — now it's been named one of Booklist's "Top 10 Graphic Novels: 2012" (so named even though it's all 2011 books), with Ian Chipman saying "Kinetic compositions washed with Pirate-yellow hues and a narrative that traces both Clemente’s personal and athletic triumphs combine in this biography of the pioneering Puerto Rican baseball great." We know it leads of the list because it's alphabetical, but we like the way it's part of the header graphic: The list appears in print in the new issue (cover dated March 15), which…

It's your new Nicolas Mahler Angelman page and a brand new Up All Night strip from Michael Kupperman: — Angelman by Nicolas Mahler (view at original size): Up All Night by Michael Kupperman (view at original size):

No, not that kind of doctor! Wonderful news via Gahan Wilson's official Facebook page: "Gahan Wilson is to receive an honorary PhD from his Alma Mater, The Chicago Art Institute, in May of 2012!" Congratulations Gahan! I can't think of a more well-deserved honor.

A typical Johnny Ryan fan // photo courtesy of H&M.com Yes, our Johnny Ryan puts the hurl and mucus in H&M with his brand-new collection for the Swedish fashion empire that is quickly sprouting up stores around the USA. (Think IKEA for clothes.) Johnny was one of four guest artists for the Spring 2012 Divided collection, and his work can be found on two tees (seen below) and that fetching tank top, above. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like online purchasing is available in the US, so you'll have to venture out to one of their locations to get one. I,…