Fantagraphics Blog FantaBlog

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Uni Keratin's VIVIAN VAGICORN. 

Hans Rickheit is selling the original pages for his 2009 graphic novel The Squirrel Machine, so if you're a fan of exquisitely crafted, highly detailed, mind-bending artwork, go pick out your favorite page before it's gone.

Periodic clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing and possible artist commentary at the sources: • Jason presents two cover illustrations: one for a biography of Henrik Ibsen, the other for a 1989 issue of a Norwegian fanzine (oh yeah, and the cover for his next Fanta collection What I Did is in there too) • Steven Weissman's latest "I, Anonymous" spot and some sketchbook pages here and here • A couple of witty recent entries on the Covered blog: Valerie Fletcher's version of The Complete Peanuts 1969-1970 and Anthony Vukojevich's take on Eightball #2 • Dave Cooper gives…

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. Rip M.D. by Mitch Schauer & Michael Vosburg et al. 88-page full-color 7.5" x 9.25" softcover • $12.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-369-9 "[Rip M.D.] seems to be a comic more geared to a juvenile public, but should be pretty cool because there are a lot of monsters, really violent werewolves, zombies, and best of all, vampires that do not sparkle!" – Submundo Mamão (translated from Portuguese) "Rip M.D….

Quite possibly the world's first Beat Poet action figure, now available to order from Presspop in Japan! The figurine, packaging and accessories were all designed by Archer Prewitt (also responsible for their previous figurines of music pioneers Raymond Scott and Robert Moog) and feature a cloth jacket, glasses, beaded necklace, papercraft Uncle Sam hat and book, and a CD of live poetry readings. It's adorable!

Publishers Weekly presents a 10-page sneak preview of The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec Vol. 1 by Jacques Tardi with the first 10 pages of part 1,"Pterror over Paris"!

At About.com: Manga, Deb Aoki presents a gallery of photos of Moto Hagio taken at Comic-Con in San Diego, 12 preview pages from A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, and covers of some of Hagio's other books.

I recently had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of Charles Burns' amazing masterpiece X'ED OUT. As a fledgling art dealer 30 years ago, I mounted an exhibition of Burns' large-scale graphite drawings at my neo-Dada Rosco Louie gallery in Seattle. His imaginative portraits were strangely grotesque, yet sensuous and alluring. Burns' appeal has grown steadily from that point on, and he is rightfully considered a contemporary master of the comix medium. I can hardly wait for his slide talk, art exhibition and book signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, October 30. His eerie iconography is perfect…

Check out 5 images from Drew Friedman's brand new collection Too Soon? Famous/Infamous Faces 1995-2010 as presented at/on/in Flavorpill's Flavorwire's Daily Dose.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "This mammoth collection [What Is All This?] presents five decades of Dixon: sex, frustration, and attempts at deeper communication, mostly missed. The 62 stories evoke neuroses, delusion, banality, and everyday absurdities in deceptively simple sentences… There are echoes of Ernest Hemingway and prefigurings of Raymond Carver's lower-middle-class minimalism infusing tales of scrappers and scrapers… Usually sublime, sometimes sloppy, and occasionally bewildering, these stories are a testament to an impressive career spent too much under the radar." – Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) [Temporary link] • Review: "With its mix of sci-fi, romance, tragedy and…