Fantagraphics Blog FantaBlog

Holy moly there's a lot of links today! There's a few major interviews in today's Online Commentary & Diversions, so let's lead off with those: • Interview: At Amazon's Omnivoracious blog, Heidi Broadhead talks to our own Kim Thompson about translating the works of Jason ("His latest collection, Low Moon… has filmic moments and comic pathos that have set a new standard for me for short fiction") and other Eurocomics. Sample quote: "But I'm also more invested in these books because I work so hard on them, and in many cases, of course, such as Tardi, I'm literally fulfilling a…

ICv2.com has an exclusive 6-page excerpt from the new Fletcher Hanks book You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation!, featuring an entire story starring everybody's favorite omnipotent vengeance-seeker… no, not God, silly: Stardust the Super Wizard! This is in addition to our 13-page excerpt which is available for download from this page. Feast your eyes on Fletcher's feverish fantasias!

Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 8:00pm Le Poisson Rouge158 Bleeker StreetNew York, NY

  On Saturday, July 11th at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Trina Robbins will be signing "The Brinkley Girls," following the 2:30 pm screening of Wild Rose. It should take place around 4:15.

"One of the most weirdly funny writers around." — New York Magazine   "This guy may have one of the best comedy brains on the planet right now." — Conan O'Brien "Michael Kupperman is the funniest cartoonist alive, and Tales Designed to Thrizzle is his funniest comic book." — The Seattle Stranger Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle Volume 1 is out, and the launch party is this Friday, 7-9 at Desert Island in Williamsburg. Desert Island is at 540 Metropolitan Avenue. 

The final issue of macabre master (and birthday boy!) Richard Sala's modern-day reimagining of the Snow White story told from the "Prince Charming" point of view, Delphine #4 brings our hero into an inevitable confrontation with unspeakable evil! Italian artist Sergio Ponchione's series is becoming a cult hit in the U.S., and he returns with the eagerly-awaited Grotesque #3, containing the second half of the wildly surrealistic "Cryptic City" epic. Both titles, part of our Ignatz Series of deluxe oversized comics, are now available for pre-order! They are scheduled to be in stock and ready to ship any day now…

You're all invited to the amazing after-party following Peter Bagge's book launch event at Fantagraphics Bookstore in Seattle next Saturday, July 11. The line-up for this free show at neighboring Jules Maes Saloon includes Peter Bagge's latest power pop combo, Can You Imagine? The evening will feature a special reunion of Bagge's 1990s easy listening sensation The Action Suits whose members include current and former Fantagraphics staffers Andy Schmidt and Eric Reynolds, joined by illustrious musician and producer Steve Fisk. Also on the bill are Reynolds' Fox Hollow (featuring Fantagraphics graphics ace Adam Grano and the lovely Rhea Patton) and…

Celebrate independents this weekend at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle. Drop by and browse our hot new summer reading selections. It's also your last chance to view the amazing exhibition by international comics sensation Jason. And check out Larry and Bella's badass Spongebob piñata outfitted with a suicide blast belt that'll blow him back to Bikini Bottom (in very small pieces.) The store is open 11:30 to 8:00 PM on Friday, 11:30 to 4:00 PM on Saturday the 4th, and 11:30 to 5:00 PM as usual on Sunday. Located at 1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.) only…

Online Commentary & Diversions will return Monday. Have a great holiday in the US of A. • Review: "Like many mysteries, there's something initially frustrating about the end of 'Emily Says Hello,' but it's the best by Jason for a while… it's in the new Low Moon collection… Worth it for 'Emily' alone." – Graham Linehan (The IT Crowd, Father Ted), via Twitter (part 1, part 2) • Review: "A thin line exists between [Basil] Wolverton’s jokey grotesqueries and the horrors of disfigurement and mutilation that appear in his postwar illustrations of the Book of Revelations (recently published in The…

Jim Woodring has 3 mind-flaying new posts up on his blog. I'm so excited I can only blurt: 1. New teaser images from the forthcoming Frank book Weathercraft! 2. A 3-D manifestation! 3. Hot dog immortality!