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The latest fluffy love-concoction of Online Commentaries and Diversions: Review: Pirates in the Heartland: The Mythology of S. Clay Wilson edited by Patrick Rosenkranz "Part biography, part retrospective, part collected chronicles of a comic legend, this is a huge undertaking that pays off in every way you could expect, and a million ways you couldn't." – The Daily Planet   Interview: How to Be Happy by Eleanor Davis "It's a stunning body of work that brings together loosely personal and wholly fictional stories about joy, anguish, fear and loneliness – emotions all motivated by that essential quest to be the best you…

Seattle photographer Lance Mercer has captured some truly gorgeous photos throughout the years of musicians from all walks of life. From the official photographer for Pearl Jam in the 90's to Beck, from The President of the Unites States to the chapter breaks in grunge-rock memoir by Danny Bland, In Case We Die, drama and action and life ooze from shots. Recently, our friend Lance was diagnosed with lymphoma. The doctors caught it early, he's been through chemo treatment but as with most freelancers, the medical bills are rather weighty. Lance's family created a GoFundMe account to help cover the bills, that are still totalling…

Shipping now from our mail-order department: Twelve Gemsby Lane Milburn 248-page monochrome 5.75" x 8.5" softcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-751-2 See Previews / Order Now This comedic, sci-fi space epic stars three heroes enlisted to travel the galaxy in search of twelve magical gems. Their benefactor — an eccentric and reclusive scientist named Dr. Z — doesn’t actually know what the twelve gems do once obtained, but myths, theories, and rumors abound throughout the galaxy. The three heroes — with some reluctance — choose to undertake the mysterious task and regard it as a sort of paid vacation and an escape…

It's one harebrained adventure after another when Donald Duck and his incorrigible nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie are at the helm. While aboard a kelp-harvesting boat in the West Indies, the entrepreneurially-minded ducks find themselves in the middle of a centuries-long mystery: a kidnapping every fifty years by a ghost in armor. This time, the ghost is after one of Donald's nephews! This and other short stories are collected in the first of our new line of half-height, kid-sized Donald Duck books. Ghost of the Grotto is slated for an October 2014 release. Check out our downloadable 18-page excerpt (2.7…

Joe Sacco — renowned cartoonist and journalist of such works as Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde — has a new book due out in November 2014: the unapologetic, no-holds-barred, often puerile, and utterly satirical BUMF Vol. 1: I Buggered the Kaiser. Here we present to you the finalized cover art, an initial taste of what's to come. Intrigued? We've got more sneak peeks to come – for now, check out the book page where BUMF Vol. 1 is available for pre-order!

Cartoonist from Sammy the Mouse, Le Mano Press and one of the Autoptic Festival organizer, Zak Sally is currently running a Kickstarter to create an interdisplinary experiment in art education! With all the heavy-wallet-hitting schools like SCAD, SVA and CCS (which I love, don't get me wrong), seeing education programs like SAW, Frank Santoro's low-residency Comics Workbook program and now SchoolHaus are very encouraging for the highly-ambitious, hard-working people without a lot of extra dough. When the choice is eat dinner or new bristol? Sometimes that's a tough choice.   Along with Dan Ibarra of Aesthetic Apparatus, Zak Sally aims to create an educational…

  Barnaby, the comic strip that welled up from the infamous inkpot of Crockett Johnson, who also greated Harold and the Purple Crayon, is chock fulla World War 2 information and allusions. Being a newspaper strip intended for children though, it's not a barrier to reading the comic.  "You don't need to get all of Crockett Johnson's allusions to enjoy his classic strip, Barnaby. But I'm the sort of person who wants to know these things," writes Philip Nel, co-editor of the Barnaby series and Johnson's biographer. For those who like a little inside baseball, Nel has posted a few corrections that readers have sent in…

Images not on the bottles courtesy Charles Burns and The Believer magazine. Actually, images on the bottle are also courtesy Charles Burns and The Believer. Fancy that. On behalf of Charles Burns, The Believer and Fantagraphics Books, we say: Fuck you, Agua Castello of Portugal, and the shitty idea-bankrupt ad agency you hired.

Earlier this week, we posted a list of books with LGBTQ themes in honor of Pride Weekend. Now through Sunday, June 29th, we're offering a sale on those very same books, with both discounts and bundled deals (and, in the case of Wuvable Oaf [edit: and MASSIVE!], beginning pre-orders)! Extend your Pride celebration into next month by picking up a new summer read, completing your Wandering Son collection, or finding the perfect gift for the near, dear, and queer friends in your life. Julio's Day by Gilbert Hernandez The life of a man, the span of a century. There is…

[The Umpteen Millionaire Club is our series which puts forth book club discussion questions for Fantagraphics titles. The Comics Journal interns Caroline Sibila, Lucy Kiester, and Daniel Johnson put together this set of questions. As this is intended for those who have read the book and contains spoilers, questions can be found behind the jump. – Ed.]

Jaime Hernandez's The Love Bunglers focuses on Maggie (a.k.a. Perla) Chascarrillo: the graphic novel is full of her old friends, estranged family members, and visits to art exhibitions. Maggie's present is interspersed with flashbacks to the Chascarrillo family's brief move to Cadezza and fraught return to Hoppers. Hernandez's expressive art depicts relationships evolving, and adds new dimensions to older stories. The Love Bunglers serves as both an extension of and an introduction to the Love and Rockets universe.