Fantagraphics Blog

"As Hernandez matures, he's expanding his style of storytelling into something close to the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Harumi Murakami and other creators of haunted landscapes where reality becomes a question of perception rather than a set of objective facts." – San Francisco Chronicle "Some of Gilbert's loveliest art ever." – The Comics Reporter "This may be Gilbert Hernandez's best work so far. Minimal without seeming spare and a huge argument for the 'comics as literature' thing having some traction." – Kevin Church "You don't need to know the backstory of Love and Rockets to love these [stories]… (In…

This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about them (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability.    Ghosts and Ruins by Ben Catmull 84-page black & white 10.25" x 8.5" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-678-2 "an 84-page landscape-format hardcover wedding new illustrations of haunted houses to creepy blisters of background and trivia" -Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal   Willard Mullin's Golden Age of Baseball: Drawings 1934-1972 by Willard Mullin; edited…

The Children of Palomar by Gilbert Hernandez 108-page black & white 8.25" x 10.75" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-625-6 Ships in: August 2013 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now BARGAIN COMBO: The Children of Palomar + Julio's Day Gift Set Price: $42.98 $34.38 Order this or any other Love and Rockets book and receive this FBI•MINI comic shown here as a FREE bonus! Click here for details. Limit one per customer while supplies last. The Children of Palomar is Gilbert Hernandez's much-anticipated return to the small Central American town of Palomar, more than a decade after his last "Heartbreak Soup" story. Originally released…

So we missed the deadline to give the new issue of Love and Rockets: New Stories its traditional Comic-Con debut in San Diego. Instead we're planning on it to debut at the Autoptic festival in Minneapolis, with Jaime there to sign copies. And we can at least give you this glimpse at the final cover art (don't let the setting and the hammer fool you; it's not Luba, but her granddaughter "Killer") and tease you with 10 pages of the contents  — 5 from Jaime and 5 from Gilbert. Gilbert's "Killer" begins to delve into her family's twisted history, in Palomar and beyond. It's a…

All board, Richmond, Virginia! Dash Shaw is coming your way August 8th with his animation presentation. Bring your well-loved copies of Bottomless Belly Button and buy a brand-spankin' new copy of New School for Dash to sign. Velocity Comics is the place to be! The boat to the mysterious island in New School is leaving the dock soon so make sure you're on time Thursday, August 8th. Velocity Comics is located at 819A W Broad St Richmond, VA 23220.

OH MAN! Are you kidding me?! During the recent Sub Pop Silver Jubilee, the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery was thrilled enough to host a day of events celebrating comics and our role in Sub Pop's history.  But to have the store captured on film by world-renowned photographer Charles Peterson himself?!  Holy hell!!! (And, it goes without saying, all photos are copyright Charles Peterson, so be cool, for real.)  Here Charles takes a crowd shot during our panel with him, Peter Bagge, Danny Bland, and Sub Pop founder Bruce Pavitt. It's like one of his classic Nirvana crowd shots, but y'know,…

It may be summer, but celebrated artist Ben Catmull will bring the darkness with the hometown launch of his latest work, Ghosts and Ruins! On Thursday, August 1st, at 7:00 PM, we'll celebrate the release of this beautiful book at Diesel, A Bookstore. Take in the wonder of the haunted houses within the pages, each lovingly and exquisitely rendered in scratchboard on masonite, with a short, nightmare-inducing description of the scene. In Ben's words, it is "…a compendium of old, forgotten haunted houses, their strange histories, and the experiences of those brave enough to visit. It is highly recommended that you…

"A tour of strange and sinister places only the very brave or the very foolish might be tempted to explore, the kind where ghostly apparitions glide by attic windows, crawl across ancient carpets, or leap out at you from darkened doorways. Ben Catmull is an exceptional artist who has crafted a singularly macabre experience, both frightening and funny." – Richard Sala "Ben Catmull's drawings are mind-blowing and this book is a velvet nightmare you never want to wake from." – Renée French Ghosts and Ruins by Ben Catmull 84-page black & white 10.25" x 8.5" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-678-2 Available now!…

“Morbid merriment. Tender cruelties. Risible frailties. Sincere hypocrisies. Of such oxymorons is the art of famed cartoonist Gahan Wilson made. Ever since the ’50s, Wilson has proudly carried aloft the moldering, web-festooned banner first hoisted by Charles Addams.” – Paul De Filippo, The Washington Post Gahan Wilson Sunday Comics by Gahan Wilson 176-page full-color 12" x 6.25" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-612-6 Due to arrive in about 2-4 weeks. Click the thumbnails for larger versions; get more info, see more previews and pre-order your copy here: http://www.fantagraphics.com/gahansundays

Ghosts and Ruins by Ben Catmull 84-page black & white 10.25" x 8.5" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-678-2 See More Previews / Order Now Who doesn't love a good ghost story? This gorgeous, coffee-table art book is a compendium of old, forgotten haunted houses imagined by artist Ben Catmull, along with the stories and rumors of who haunts them, and why. Each spread features a different haunted house, lovingly and exquisitely rendered in scratchboard on masonite, with a short, nightmare-inducing description of each scene. In "Drowned Shelley," for example: A chorus of frogs surrounds the house where young Shelley was drowned headfirst…