Fantagraphics Blog FantaBlog

  Don't miss the apocalyptic Dead Baby Bike party this Friday, August 1 in Georgetown. Live music, BMX daredevils, beer gardens, and bike jousting right outside Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. The party begins at the conclusion of the reckless Dead Baby Bike Downhill Race about 7:00 PM and continues into the wee hours.   Arrive early to the Dead Baby Bike Party on Friday for a front row seat to the big Boeing Air Show. Watch vintage Spitfires, Thunderbolts, Mustangs, and Tomahawks, along with breathtaking Boeing F-18 Blue Angels and more fly right over the store.   Join us on Wednesday,…

Tied loosely together by the experience of wandering, the collection of short stories in The Lonesome Go represents Tim Lane's continued exploration of "existential Americana." And the richly-drawn, detailed pages invite contemplation, rereading, and a wandering experience for the reader as well. In our 22-page downloadable excerpt (12.9 MB), we are introduced to a bleakly introspective train passenger, a fourteen-year-old train hopper, and an unexpected, unwelcome Christmas guest. Read on, and perhaps wander over to our presale afterwards. We are expecting an early October 2014 release, with more previews on the way until then!

At Comic-Con last week, we completely sold out of our booth copies of Lucy Knisley's upcoming travellogue, An Age of License! For those of you who weren't able to snag a copy then, here is a peek inside Knisley's latest memoir. More photos and video to come soon, and the book is due to land on bookstore shelves and at our warehouse in September. Until then, grab a croissant, sip an espresso, and keep your eyes peeled for further updates on the Flog! An Age of License is also on presale, so you can reserve your copy now.

This week's of Online Commentaries and Diversions: Review: An Age of License by Lucy Knisley "…the in-process method of writing and drawing her adventures as they happen gives a vibrant immediacy to situations and sensations. Belying her relatively simple but charming cartooning style, Knisley pages are a cornucopia of information and detail: oversized seagulls, bilingual schoolchildren, and lying sat-navs populate her travels." – Publishers Weekly   Review: Twelve Gems by Lane Milburn "In Twelve Gems, Milburn has created a playful homage to the genre that also incorporates some of the “Marvel-isms” that were injected into the form in the '60s…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: Gastby Carol Swain 176-page black & white 7.5" x 10" softcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-755-0 See Previews / Order Now Helen is an amateur bird watcher and naturalist who lives in a rural community in Wales. When local farmer Bill tells Helen that a "rare bird" named Emrys killed himself at Cuddig farm, she decides to investigate. One of the dogs at the farm tells her, by way of explanation, that Emrys "had no feathers and couldn’t fly." She plucks an old cosmetic kit from a dumpster and discovers it belonged to…

It was bound to happen with 32 years of comics in the making. On Friday at the Eisner Awards Ceremony, the two cartoonists Fantagraphics has grown up with received their due. In the category of Best Writer/Artist, Jaime Hernandeznbsp;received an Eisner for his work on Love and Rockets to be followed quickly by Gilbert Hernandez for his standalone story "Untitled" in Love and Rockets: New Stories #6 (page 59 for those of you at home).  Gilbert gave a touching speech and we even snapped a photo of his notes. Jaime juggled his Eisner a bit, speechless yet very endearing.   AND Félicitations are due to Jacques Tardi and Jean-Pierre Verney! The…

Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko / 放浪息子) Vol. 7 by Shimura Takako 220-page black & white (with some color) 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $24.99 ISBN: 978-1-60699-750-5 Ships in: August 2014 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Shimura Takako’s groundbreaking, critically acclaimed, and beloved Wandering Son continues to explore gender identity among its cast of middle school students in our 7th volume. Nitori-kun gets his first signs of acne. This may well be the end of the world. But when he turns to nationally famous model Anna-chan for help, events take an unexpected turn. Meanwhile, Nitori-kun and Chiba-san are scouted by…

ComiXology is celebrating 45 years of Comic-Con International this week by discounting a different graphic novel or collection every day! Today, you can get Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 for just 45¢! Sale goes until 11:59 EST.  

The internet is abuzz with Comic-Con tweets, status updates, instagram photos, and #SDCC hashtags, which means it must be time for our 4th Annual Not-at-Comic-Con Sale! Lusting after Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree Vol. 2, Lucy Knisley's travel memoir An Age of License, Jim Woodring's Jim, or the other new releases debuting at our booth? Been meaning to pick up that next volume for your Love & Rockets collection? Looking for a gift to cheer up your comics-loving friend who is bemoaning not being in San Diego? Starting today and for the duration of Comic-Con—until midnight PST on Sunday,…

Heroes of the Comics: Portraits of the Legends of Comic Booksby Drew Friedman 184-page full color 9" x 12" hardcover • $34.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-731-4 Ships in September 2014 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Featuring approximately 75 full-color portraits of the pioneering legends of American comic books, including publishers, editors, and artists from the industry's birth in the '30s, through the brilliant artists and writers behind EC Comics in the '50s. All lovingly rendered and chosen by Drew Friedman, a cartooning legend in his own right. Featuring subjects popular and obscure, men and women, as well as several pioneering African-American artists. Each subject…