Fantagraphics Blog FantaBlog

Tom Spurgeon has the story. I know I speak for Kim and Gary as well, when I simply say: We miss you, Rory. 

One more new arrival in our warehouse among the deluge we informed you of yesterday — the first Fantagraphics edition was published in 2007, and now this perennial bestseller is already in its 5th printing: Kafka by Robert Crumb & David Zane Mairowitz 176-page black & white 6.25" x 8.5" softcover • $14.95ISBN: 978-1-56097-806-0 Ordering Info & Previews "What do I have in common with the Jews? I don't even have anything in common with myself." Nothing could better express the essence of Franz Kafka, a man described by his friends as living behind a "glass wall." Kafka wrote in…

Love from the Shadows by Gilbert Hernandez 120-page black & white 5.75" x 8.5" hardcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-406-1 Ships in: March 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now The third in Gilbert Hernandez’s line of original hardcovers featuring Love and Rockets’ “Fritz” in her guise as a Z-movie actress (the first two were Chance in Hell and The Troublemakers) is a trippy thriller that stars Fritz in no fewer than three roles. A beautiful waitress (Fritz, of course) and her hospital nurse brother (also Fritz) visit their estranged father, a once successful but now retired writer (amazingly enough, also Fritz),…

Now that The Strange Case of Edward Gorey by Alexander Theroux is out, Johnny Ryan reminds us of his own encounters with Gorey, as recounted in Vice back in 2006. It's an oldie but well worth revisiting. And I don't think I noticed before that the Goreyesque illustration is by John Kerschbaum!

• Magnificent new album cover illustration by Tony Millionaire • Wonderfully lurid book cover illustration by Wilfred Santiago for Outside the Bones by Lyn Di Iorio • Tributes to St. Ogan and more sketching by Kevin Huizenga at STL Drawing Club and New Construction • Renee French, still great on a daily basis • New sketches & watercolors by Sophie Crumb • I'm at a loss to describe this by Josh Simmons • Jason T. Miles continues his hall of laughing Presidents • Oliver Reed by Jim Blanchard And more Things to See from the past week: • Strips, illustrations…

Instead of Cold Heat blogging from Pittsburgh, Frank Santoro is now Tumblr blogging from New Mexico. Here's his comics introduction to his new living space.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "What Is All This? is a potent, refreshing collection of previously uncollected short stories by Stephen Dixon. Though the music world might label this an 'odds-and-sods' collection, this volume cannot be dismissed so lightly. This? is a book that reminds us fans why we enjoy Dixon’s writing and gives inquiring neophytes an excellent opportunity to sample the kinds of things he has gotten up to over the last five decades." – Darby Dixon, The Quarterly Conversation • Review: "A la hora de comentar Frank , resulta imprescindible hacer referencia a uno de sus…

Look at this treasure unearthed by Evan Dorkin: a flyer for a 1987 San Diego Comic-Con afterparty with crazy artwork by Gilbert Hernandez. Love it! (Via The Comics Reporter.)

Fantagraphics Bookstore is pleased to present Aaron Renier in conversation with Jason Shiga on Wednesday, February 23 at 6:30 PM. Renier will discuss his new graphic novel, The Unsinkable Walker Bean, on the acclaimed First Second imprint. His previous book, Spiral Bound (Top Shelf, 2005), was widely heralded as a book that appealed to sophisticated readers of all ages. Oakland artist Jason Shiga's award-winning books also attract an all ages readership. In addition to self-published comics, his work has appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly. Shiga's next effort, Empire State, is due later this year from Abrams Comicarts. A limited number of…

* Other People's Publications** Yeah, You Know Me.  For this special Valentine's Day edition of "Down with OPP," I'm spotlighting one of the most romantic books we have in stock at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery:  Scenes from an Impending Marriage by Adrian Tomine (Drawn & Quarterly). I had read an interview with Tomine in ReadyMade magazine a few years ago where he talked about how he'd made this mini-comic for wedding guests.  And since my invitation got lost in the mail… (cough, cough — no, I'm just kidding), the publication of this book meant I could stop trolling eBay…