Fantagraphics Blog FantaBlog

Here’s a little preview of some of the wonderful artworks you’ll find at the phenomenal BEASTS exhibition opening at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery this Saturday, December 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Cryptozoology at its finest. Behold the seductive “Deer Woman” by Thomas Allen (in a rare group show appearance). According to The New Yorker, “Pop up art ascends to sublime heights” in Allen’s work. You have to experience this sensational piece up close to fully appreciate its alluring beauty. The predatory beast “Chonchonyi” as imagined in this painting by Peter Bagge. Legend has it that this monster produces a…

The 2008 Best-Of lists are rolling in fast and furious: • Bookmunch goes Fanta-crazy this week with reviews of Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw ("graphic novel of the year"), Funeral of the Heart by Leah Hayes ("dazzling") and Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane ("spirited") • The Independent counts the Love and Rockets reprints Perla La Loca, Beyond Palomar and Amor Y Cohetes among the best comics of the year • Critic and commentator Alan David Doane names The Education of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez his Graphic Novel of the Year; Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane is his Debut…

Holy figs, this daily link post looks like one of my weekly roundups of old: • PopMatters takes a quick look at Robert Pollard's Town of Mirrors • PopMatters again, on Bill Mauldin's Willie & Joe: The WWII Years • Iconoctlán examines The Comics Journal #293 (en Español; Google translation) • The Austin American-Statesman's lengthy roundup of coffee-table book holiday recommendations includes Bill Mauldin's Willie & Joe: The WWII Years and Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell • NuVoid wraps up the 2008 output of Robert Pollard, including Town of Mirrors • Did you know that…

Martin Ontiveros shot this photo of a giant Superman that's for sale in the Mission in SF. I know someone out there has been looking for one.

• The Daily Vanguard gives Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga the #1 spot on its Top 10 Graphic Novels and Comics of 2008, a list which also includes Mome Vol. 12, The Education of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez, and Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw • The Daily Cross Hatch calls Beasts! Book 2 "downright stunning" • Ward Six looks at The Portable Frank by Jim Woodring • USA TODAY Pop Candy is excited about the Brian K. Vaughn interview in The Comics Journal #295 • There's a great illustration by Max in this New York Times article about…

  Anders Nilsen has a solo show opening tomorrow at Little Bird Gallery in Los Angeles. "It's my first proper solo show. It's mostly a bunch of drawings and paintings I've been doing over the last year or so, of various sizes, and a few covers from issues of Big Questions." Seeing a collection of Nilsen's original work would surely be a great experience. Jim Woodring fans might want to check out the Kaiju Invasion at Art Center South Florida. Jesse LeDoux show in Rhode Island Saturday. Also, TONIGHT: Portland's Grass Hut has a grasshutgang show. Le merde, Scrappers, Bwana…

Time for the new installment of Steven Weissman's in-progress pages from "Blue Jay," an epic 32-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures. In this week's episode: aha, now the title makes sense! And don't forget to catch up on our current 5-day chunk of Martin Kellerman's Rocky (a genuine pop culture smash in its native Sweden), updated Monday-Friday!

EDIT: Oops, I jumped the gun — this isn't quite in stock yet, but will be soon.  We're still taking pre-orders for it, though. Nocturnal Conspiracies By David B. The best-selling author of Epileptic and Babel, and a member of Europe's leading new generation of comics artists, invites us to share in nineteen explorative and most imaginative dreams he has experienced. Strange, scary, beautiful, funny and with an inner logic all their own, these are tales of the inner psyche, rendered in his exquisite neo-clear line style supplemented with a cool second color (much like his Mome work). Published by…

Our pal Steven Weissman would like you to know that the shipping is free on anything you buy from him on Comic Art Collective through Sunday, December 7. Give the gift of Ribs for the holidays! Jim Woodring (also our pal) has been adding more original art to his CAC page, too. It's mostly sold by now, but it's still there for the lookin'.