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"…[An] essential purchase for any collection that values comic-strip reprints … [T]he inventive wordplay, idiosyncratic swamp patter, and goofy slapstick are all in full effect right from the start, as is the broad cast of loony critters that would eventually number upwards of 500 distinct characters. Due to run 12 volumes, this collection completes the holy trifecta, along with Charles Schulz’ Peanuts and George Herriman’s Krazy Kat, of comic strips whose influence cannot be overstated." – Ian Chipman, Booklist "…[T]here’s simply no denying Kelly’s mastery: he evokes full characters with nothing but a few choice words, and the sprightliness of…

This week's triumphant trio of Online Commentaries and Diversions: Review: Gast by Carol Swain "Like the similarly peripatetic cartoonist Ben Katchor, she draws from, and at, unusual angles, beckoning the eye to travel across the story-world’s space to unusual nooks and crannies, dirty floors and empty skies." – Sean T. Collins, The Comics Journal   Review: Megahex by Simon Hanselmann "It would be easy to dismiss Megahex as another stoner comic. But there’s so much lurking beneath the seemingly superficial surfaces – questions about friendship, loyalty, love, drug addiction, sexual identity, and hopelessness." – Gareth Branwyn, BoingBoing   Review: An Age…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: The Complete Peanuts 1991-1994 Gift Box Setby Charles M. Schulz 688-page black & white 8.75" x 7.125" x 3" hardcover • $59.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-774-1 See Previews / Order Now A boxed set of the twenty-first and twenty-second volumes of The Complete Peanuts, designed by the award-winning graphic novelist, Seth. Shipping shrinkwrapped, with volumes 1991-1992 and 1993-1994 packed in a sturdy custom box designed especially for this set, it's the perfect gift book item.

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: The Complete Peanuts 1993-1994 (Vol. 22)by Charles M. Schulz 344-page black & white 8.5" x 7" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-773-4 See Previews / Order Now Even the most devoted Peanuts fan will be surprised by revisiting Schulz's last decade of work. Schulz's cartooning has never been more expressive, and his sense of humor never more unencumbered by formula or tradition. In one sequence, the gang waits… and waits… for a school bus that never comes. Another shockingly showcases Charlie Brown hitting a game-winning home run — off Roy Hobbs's great-granddaughter? Then,…

Our next Comics Journal Library book, Vol. 9: Zap The Interviews is in our hot little hands, and it is a thing of beauty. Densely packed with interviews, categorized by artist, and filled with illustrations, photos, and ZAP cover art, Zap The Interviews is the perfect companion to The Complete Zap Comix, though it also stands equally well alone. Either way, this is a must-have for any underground comix fan. Due out in December, Zap The Interviews is available for pre-order now!

  Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 29 at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery as we celebrate the publication of Sub Pop USA from Brooklyn publisher Bazillion Points. Longtime Seattle residents remember the humble beginnings of the legendary record label as a fanzine, cassette compilation, and broadsheet column by visionary indie music impresario Bruce Pavitt. His early efforts soon brought national attention to bands like Big Black, Sonic Youth, and the Wipers, while laying the foundation for an international pop culture phenomenon that gave us music by Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and more. This collection of the first 8 years of Sub Pop includes art…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: Set To Sea [Softcover Ed.]by Drew Weing 144-page black & white with color 5" x 6.25" softcover • $14.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-771-0 See Previews / Order Now The central character of Set to Sea is a big lug and an aspiring poet who runs up tabs at the local bars by day and haunts the docks by night, writing paeans to the seafaring life. When he gets shanghaied aboard a clipper bound for Hong Kong, he finds the sailor's life a bit rougher than his romantic nautical fantasies, but he learns to live…

On Saturday night, founder and co-publisher Gary Groth received the Genius Award in Literature from Seattle alt-weekly paper, The Stranger. (Photo above by Kelly O. of The Stranger). His competition was fierce but the force of the movement he created when he founded Fantagraphics with Mike Catron and soldiered on with Kim Thompson created a form of comics so prevalent. Paul Constant interviews Groth yet again after the event on comics at the Stranger's Slog: "Pop culture has become so stupefyingly banal that it's caught up with comics. It's kind of terrifying when you think about it," states Groth in reference to the…

DETROIT! Let's grease the wheels and get on down to the Jazz Cafe. Author Pat Thomas will be in Detroit on Wednesday, October 29th from 7:00pm-9:30pm at the Jazz Cafe at Music Hall, reading from his book, Listen Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 plus spinning rare "Black Power" recordings and showing unusual photos from the era. ML Liebler presents a special Detroit Tonight Live featuring Thomas that will also include special guests: poets Diane DeCillis & Dawn McDuffie plus fiction writer Brian Smith along with The Good Shepherd Poetry Blues Band.  Thomas is also working a new book coming out next year called Invitation to Openness, a book…

This weekend is THE Texas Book Festival in the heart of the state, Austin, on the grounds of the State Capital. Tim Lane of The Lonesome Go and Abandoned Cars will also be in attendence and holding court. Lane is known for his dense cartooning of American legends and dusty Route 66 tales. Stark washes of white and black pools of ink draw readers to the page while the mystery and mayhem leave them fraught with distress at each page turn. Here's were you can find Lane during the festival:    Saturday, October 25th Foxing Quarterly and Fantagraphics LitCrawl with Tim Lane – 9:30 PM The Volstead…