Fantagraphics Blog FantaBlog

Please have your people call our people. It is… your destiny.

Jim Blanchard will be in Bellingham, WA with an exclusive blend of paintings on canvas and framed goodies at JINX ART SPACE from May 1 through May 31– The show is called Mutant Amour, and the opening night shindig this Friday, May 1 should be a corker: A belly dancing troupe and 3 electronic music bands in the downstairs area, and Jim's show upstairs with bro Richie Boyer spinning the punk and free jazz! Go get it on, god dammit!  JINX ART SPACE306 Flora St.Bellingham, WA 360.920.4216 http://jinxartspace.com/ http://beaf.org/ http://jimblanchard.blogspot.com/

  If you're anywhere near Ann Arbor on Free Comic Book Day (May 2nd), stop by Vault of Midnight and say hello to Paul Hornschemeier, who will be signing books, selling some odds and ends and trying to remember where he got those great pancakes last time he was in town.

Catch Esther Pearl Watson signing her graphic novel Unlovable Vol. 1 at the Unique LA design & gift sale, at the Narrow Books table (Booth 1009) at 2pm on Sunday, May 3rd! From the announcement on Esther & Mark Todd's website: "The event happens on the massive penthouse floor of the California Market Center (110 East Ninth Street, LA, CA) on May 2nd and 3rd. There's a whole lot of great stuff there, and you'll want to give yourself several hours to shop the wares of all the designers and vendors. Be prepared, admission costs $5, but it's well worth…

Be sure and drop by Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery this Saturday, May 2 between 11:30 and 8:00 PM to take full advantage of FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! Who knew? To celebrate, Fantagraphics Books is offering a free sampler of Love and Rockets: New Stories by eminent alternative cartoonists Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez. Included is a special preview of Gilbert's "Sad Girl" saga, which introduces the character "Killer." Also free is a limited supply of the coveted Unseen Peanuts comic from the 2007 Free Comic Book Day promotion, featuring rare strips by American master Charles M. Schulz. Not to mention the…

Slow day: • Plug: Corey Blake spotlights Blazing Combat • Things to see: Bob Fingerman posts a set of thumbnail sketches from the development of Connective Tissue • Oddity: Twitter-er mackbrad tells us "You guys should totally bid on this auction"

Courtesy of UGK featuring Akon (via Minneapolis City Pages).

Usagi Yojimbo Book 7: Gen's Story (New Edition) By Stan Sakai The seventh volume in this legendary series about a wandering rabbit samurai in feudal Japan is now available in a newly redesigned edition! This dense tome collects issues 32 through 38 of the original Usagi series as well as the Usagi strip from Critters #38. In addition to the novel-length "Gen's Story," which forms the centerpiece of this volume, and which relates the heretofore untold story of the mercenary swordsrhino Gennosuke, Usagi Yojimbo Book 7 includes "Kitsune" (introducing a new romantic interest for Usagi), "The Last Ino Story" (the…

The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 4 (New Printing) By Robert Crumb The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 4: Mr. Sixties! continues the multi-volume series comprising the complete works of the legendary cartoonist R. Crumb, one of America's most original, trenchant, and uncompromising satirists. The series includes the earliest, heretofore unpublished comic strips, as well as his sketchbooks, underground comix, dramatic and autobiographical strips, and his classic cartoon creations Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural. In this volume: Zap #0 & #1 ("Keep On Truckin'!"), Crumb's work from the East Village Other and Yarrowstalks, plus much rare art, some of Crumb's long-lost…

The Comics Journal #297 Edited by Mike Dean & Kristy Valenti; Gary Groth, executive editor This issue’s highlight is a career-spanning interview with Beetle Bailey/Hi & Lois creator Mort Walker, in which the veteran cartoonist gives you a front-row seat to post-WWII comic-strip history, with additional commentary from sons/collaborators Brian and Greg Walker, as well as fellow Sam’s Strip co-creator Jerry Dumas! Also: A conversation with Alan’s War author Emmanuel Guilbert (complete with a preview of his new graphic novel, The Photographer); a generous comics section featuring the work of pioneering British cartoonist Thomas Rowlandson, introduced with an essay on…