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Luba: Collectors Edition By Gilbert Hernandez This exclusive, ultra-limited edition (just 30 copies are available) of the new 600-page hardcover Luba omnibus graphic novel features a special, deluxe cloth binding, and each copy will be signed and numbered with an original hand-drawn sketch by Gilbert Hernandez. See photos below — more images will become available when we receive the books back from Gilbert (if the edition does not sell out beforehand). The ultimate collectible for the elite Beto fan, available ONLY direct from Fantagraphics. Note: Despite previous indications that this edition would be a future convention exclusive, we have instead…

Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938 (Libri Impressi edition) By Hal Foster In February 2008 a Portuguese Prince Valiant fan published a special, English-language black and white edition of the first two years of Prince Valiant, shot from the very best proof sheets and carefully restored. Due to contractual limitations on territory this edition was NEVER made available in the U.S. — until now! By special arrangement with King Features Syndicate and the publisher, Fantagraphics has a little under 300 copies available for mail and website orders. They just arrived in our warehouse. Fantagraphics is the EXCLUSIVE distributors in North America….

Your Online Commentary & Diversions for today: • Review: "[Jason] has proven over the years that no character, no genre, no classic plot is safe when he is in the room… Once again, [in Low Moon,] Jason squeezes an abundance of tension from scenes stripped of background noise and faces drained of emotion… [C]ount me among those who feels lucky to return time and again to Jason's cartoons, wondering when and if his winning streak will ever end." – Steve Duin, The Oregonian • Review: "The King of Persia [by Walt Holcombe, collected in Things Just Get Away from You]…

Gabby and Drinky hurl Maakies swag to the masses on the cover of this week's Stranger in advance of Tony Millionaire's appearance on Saturday evening at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. The drinks are on us. See you all there. 

This weekend is the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, and I hope many of you will be able to attend. Sadly, we had to scrap our plans to officially exhibit due to a heavier than usual spring and summer publishing schedule for us and already-busy con season from May through July. Given the sluggish economy, we decided maybe this wasn't the best year for us to make our international convention debut. But if you're a comic fan, you don't want to miss it, and the show actually has a fairly stellar line-up of artists with ties to Fantagraphics, including:  Dash Shaw Ho…

Now available for preview and pre-order: Low Moon by Jason. This hardcover volume collects the titular serial strip from the New York Times Magazine, plus 4 more all-new short stories featuring murder, cavemen, sex, and alien abduction, all with Jason's trademark wry, deadpan sensibility. This book is scheduled to debut at the MoCCA Art Festival in NYC in June; it should be in stock and ready to ship in late June and in stores approximately 4 weeks after that. View a photo & video slideshow preview embedded here. Click here if it is not visible, and/or to view it larger…

Your Online Commentary & Diversions for the day: • Review: "…Supermen!: The First Wave Of Comic Book Heroes 1939-41 pulls together some of the goofiest, most innocent, most violent superhero comics ever penned… The forematter (a lovely, insightful, nostalgic essay by Jonathan Lethem) and the afterword (a collection of bibliographic and historical notes on each strip) make perfect bookends for the hot stuff in the middle. This is pure and unadulterated Id, the kind of thing that inspired a moral panic about the corruption of the young. It's every bit as potent today." – Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing • Review:…

In more "Mome-artist-with-a-new-t-shirt" news, Jon Vermilyea debuts this "goopy," Basil Wolverton-inspired new print and shirt design (in combo or separately, with a "3-D" print option) produced by Nakatomi, available in limited supply for this month only. There's more info here, and an interview with Jon here. Nakatomi looks like a company to keep an eye on; their last limited offering was from Mark Todd.

On her new blog, Lilli Carré previews a page from a new short story for a forthcoming issue of Mome. Click through for the larger, legible version. In a related development: Lilli Carré has a new blog featuring her lovely comics, illustration, artwork and inspirations. Must bookmark.

Scheduled to show up at finer comics shops this week (finer because they order our stuff): Monologues for Calculating the Density of Black Holes by Anders Nilsen. Ask for it by name! Explore all the details, previews and reviews at the link above, and check with your local shop to confirm availability.