Fantagraphics Blog FantaBlog

Not comics, but a lot of us Seattlites will miss him greatly.  Photo from the Fantagraphics Warehouse we just moved out of, located a few blocks south of Safeco Field.

Free fun! Celebrate the ronin rabbit and the impending release of Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition by putting some gorgeous Stan Sakai artwork (and design elements based on Jacob Covey's stellar book design) on your desktop. Just click on the size that matches your monitor resolution and the image will open in a new window; if you're on a PC, right-click the image and select "Set As Background"; if you're on a Mac, control+click and select "Set As Desktop Background." (We don't know what the procedure is for iPhones, but if you have one, you probably do, right?) For lots…

Look what just turned up: a handful of copies of the first hardcover edition of The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 11: Mr. Natural Committed to a Mental Institution! This means that we now have all 3 editions of this volume in stock and available to order: the original hardcover, the deluxe signed hardcover, and the 2008 softcover reprint. Quantities are very limited so act fast if you want it.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Punk and the movies met when the former was very young. When punk eventually grew up, the movies still insisted on viewing it as a child. Their union, nowadays perverted by mutual materialistic bloat, has been rather like an arranged marriage: long-lasting, with moments of real understanding, but fundamentally fraudulent. Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly's hefty new tome Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film chronicles this tragicomedic marriage in A-Z encyclopedic form encompassing more than 1,100 movies, 450 pages, and lots of vintage promotional imagery." – Dennis Harvey, San…

Destroy All Movies!!! contributing writer and former Scarecrow Video employee Andrew Toms writes about his involvement with the book on the Scarecrow blog: "Let me start off by saying that it’s not a requirement to have a fondness or even familiarity with punk or new wave music to really appreciate this book. While Destroy All Movies is rooted in being the ultimate (and only) record of punk appearances in film, this hilarious premise is more a testament to the decade and its influence on the films that were born from it. The 80′s, along with the few years that bled…

Femke Heimstra, High Priestess of European Low Brow, opens a new exhibition, "The Bone Shaped Bone," at Roq la Rue in Seattle this Friday, November 12 [along with "Super Things" by Ryan Heshka, whom you may remember from Blab Vol. 18 – Ed.]. I was able to get a preview of the show on Monday, and her new work is breathtaking. While the entire exhibit is already sold out — natch — Femke will be on hand to sign a limited number of copies of her wonderful picture book, ROCK CANDY, which includes an introduction by Roq la Rue proprietor…

ALTERNATIVE PRESS EXPO 2010 from chris anthony diaz on Vimeo. Chris Diaz is back with another adorable video from the floor of APE 2010. See me and Janice acting goofy, Tony Millionaire, Dan Clowes and a bunch of other happy comics people. Ah, nostalgia. Thanks Chris!

The only thing possibly harder than being a parent is being an adult child watching your parents' health deteriorate.  On this Sunday, Nov. 14 at noon, graphic novelist JOYCE FARMER and author Beth Harpaz will discuss their roles in this "Sandwich Generation" at the Painted Bride Art Center as part of the First Person Arts Festival in Philadelphia. Go HERE for further details and ticketing information. Attendees will enjoy a lunch of bánh mi (Vietnamese hoagies) from Bridget Foy's. This should be a very special event. In her new graphic memoir SPECIAL EXITS, Joyce Farmer chronicles the decline of her parents' health, their relationship with one another…

Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition by Stan Sakai 1160-page black & white/color 2-volume hardcover 7.5" x 11" x 3" slipcased set • $100.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-154-1 Ships in: December 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Created in 1984 as a supporting character for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo has vaulted to the very forefront of iconic modern comics characters and is a perennial favorite amongst young boys and adult fans. Usagi Yojimbo chronicles the action-packed wanderings of a masterless samurai (a “ronin”) in feudal Japan — as told with funny-animals. (If PIXAR and the late Akira Kurosawa…