Fantagraphics Blog FantaBlog

We're thrilled to see that Mezzo & Pirus's King of the Flies Vol. 1: Hallorave has landed in the #5 spot on Amazon's Best Books of 2010: Top 10 Comics & Graphic Novels list. If this amazing book has slipped under your radar, here is your wake-up call! (And the wait for Vol. 2: The Origin of the World is almost over — it will be out in early January.) It's also great to see Jaime Hernandez in the top spot on Amazon's list (even if it's not our book). Hooray!

Ray Fenwick presents the first of a promised two live-action trailers for his forthcoming book Mascots, featuring a dramatization of the scene "What'd I Miss?" Go go Power Fenwick! EDIT: Oh, that’s Ben Jones as the teleporting man! EDIT AGAIN: Oh, but not “Ben Jones the cartoonist” Ben Jones but “Ben Jones Ray’s brother-in-law” Ben Jones.

Special Exits by Joyce Farmer 208-page black & white 8" x 10" hardcover • $26.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-381-1 Ships in: November 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Joyce Farmer’s memoir chronicles the decline of the author’s parents’ health, their relationship with one another and with their their daughter, and how they cope with the day-to-day emotional fragility of the most taxing time of their lives. Elderly parents Lara and Rachel, who have enjoyed a long and loving married life together, are rendered in fine, confident pen lines. Set in southern Los Angeles (which makes for a terrifying sequence as blind Rachel…

Jaime Hernandez & Joe Sacco will be special guests at Miami Book Fair International later this month. Jaime has a panel discussion on Saturday November 20 at 2:00 PM, and Joe speaks on the following day at the same time. It's all part of the festival's impressive "Weekend Cartoons" programming track. Much more info at the links above.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "So, big shit poppin’ in Mome 20. Good thing it’s also pretty good! …[W]hat works works really well thanks mostly to bravura cartooning. […] Here’s to 20 more volumes of this occasionally frustrating, occasionally fascinating, always worth reading series." – Sean T. Collins, Attentiondeficitdisorderly • Review: "Time travel is impossible but a good anthology can sometimes be ordered in such a way that we can get a better sense of how works of art looked to their earliest audience. That’s something Supermen! achieves, so it’s a book I’m holding on to." – Jeet…

Here's a cool thing that Ray Fenwick has done: pattern designs for a series of books from Houghton Mifflin in which two of an author's works are bound together as one volume. See them individually on Ray's Flickr. [A brief meta note: I'm trying a different approach to "Things to See," spotlighting certain things with individual posts, rounding up regularly-featured items in omnibus posts as before, and possibly moving some links to the "Weekend Webcomics" posts. Feedback is welcome.]

We are currently offering on eBay (go HERE for full listing and scan) a rare piece of original art by the great RUSS HEATH from page 27 of 1957's HUMBUG #4, edited by Harvey Kurtzman. The actual illustration measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" on a piece of illustration board measuring 12 3/4" x 16 3/4". A rare chance to own a piece of original art from one of the great comic magazines of all-time. This piece is being sold by Fantagraphics Books on behalf of Mr. Heath; all proceeds from this auction will go to Mr. Heath himself. Bid early and often!

This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators are saying about our releases this week, and contact your local shop to confirm availability. Bent by Dave Cooper 80-page full-color 10.25" x 9" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-378-1 "And on the other side of things, barring a continuation of Weasel (which by the end had basically turned into this), Fantagraphics brings a new 80-page, 10.25″ x 9″ hardcover collection of the best of Dave Cooper’s most recent paintings, drawings and photographs." – Joe McCulloch, Comics Comics "Bent is a new…

This handmade cover letter we recently received with a submission from Japan wowed everyone in the office:   

  Bilocal is an art project bringing together 12 writers from Seattle and New Orleans to present new original work on the theme of community. Each artist will present their own stories in their hometown. Cartoonist Megan Kelso will be one of the artists representing Seattle and will present a brand new work titled "The Golden Lasso" on November 13 at Seattle's Town Hall. Tickets are $20. The money raised from this project will be given to an a non-profit organization in New Orleans called The Lens that does investigative journalism in the Gulf region.  Read more about Bilocal HERE.