Fantagraphics Blog

The gnarliest gnome of Online Commentaries and Diversions: • Review: Zack Davisson of Comics Bulletin reads the weighty Castle Waiting Vol 1 (softcover) by Linda Medley. "It is whimsical, unexpected, packed with a deep knowledge of folklore and fairytales, irreverent, interesting and a whole lot of other adjectives that add up to something great… I would rank it up there with Bone in terms of just being a sheer delight to read…I'm a 40-year old guy, and I don't really see gender issues coming into play here —  Castle Waiting is just a great comic, with interesting characters and an…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department:  Prince Valiant Vol. 6: 1947-1948 by Hal Foster 112-page full color 10.25" x 14" hardcover • $35.00ISBN: 978-1-60699-588-4 See Previews / Order Now Hal Foster's masterpiece of adventure enters its second decade as Valiant and Aleta journey to "The New World," a 16-month epic that allows Foster to draw some of his spectacular native Canadian backgrounds, and during which Aleta gives birth to Arn and acquires her Indian nurse, Tillicum. Most of the rest of the book is taken up with the action-packed five-month sequence "The Mad King," during which Val,…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department:  The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 3: Starring Fritz the Cat (New Softcover Ed.)by Robert Crumb 128-page black & white/color 8.5" x 11" softcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-0-93019-375-1 See Previews / Order Now Starring Fritz the Cat includes Crumb's classic original Fritz stories from 1965, including "Fritz Bugs Out" and "Fritz the Cat, Special Agent for the CIA," the first two "real" stories in the Fritz canon, as well as "Fritz the Cat, Ace Statesman," four pages of a previously unpublished Fritz story, and several Fritz illos never before printed in color. Plus:…

Wandering Son fans rejoice — the latest volume of Shimura Takako's highly addictive manga series has been bundled off to the printer for release this Spring! This final version of the cover isn't too different from the version that's already been floating around out there — we just went with brown instead of grey for the spine and title logo — but we're excited to share it with you nonetheless. In this volume things are starting to get a little more fraught as our cast edges into adolescence and feelings start to get more complicated. Don't forget, we're still offering our Vols. 4-6 subscription…

The great Gary Panter returns to the Fredericks & Freiser gallery in Chelsea for an exhibit of his paintings on Friday, January 25th! As Gary tells us, "The gallery flooded and has had a lot of repairs and toil to get back in business. My work luckily was on a high shelf and so was not destroyed in the flood and so you can still see it rather than blobs of flotsam." Support the arts and hurricane recovery, and take a trip to Chelsea for the opening reception from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.  Fredericks & Freiser is located at 536 West…

Friday, January 18th • Rochester, NY: The Nazareth College Department of Art launches their exhibit "Good Work," featuring our own Steve Brodner, Debbie Drechsler, Drew Friedman, and Richard Sala! (more info)   Sunday, January 20th • Buffalo, NY: It's your last chance to catch the exhibit, Spain: Rock, Roll, Rumbles, Rebels, & Revolution, an in-depth career retrospective on the late, great Manuel “Spain” Rodriguez at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. (more info)  

Oh, you know, just another masterpiece from one of the all-time greats. Our advance copies of Julio's Day by Gilbert Hernandez arrived late last week and we're still all abuzz with excitement. This magnificent graphic novel compresses the complexities of a century-long life into 100 pages, from birth to death (with a few sidetracks along the way). Collected from the pages of Love and Rockets but standing alone from Gilbert's post-Palomar continuity, it's the perfect introduction to the genius of Beto. This beautiful hardcover should be available in March. Stand by for more extensive previews; for now you can read a 9-page excerpt, and pre-order your…

As we reported last fall, the mighty Ron Regé, Jr. will be leading a week-long intensive workshop at SAW, the Sequential Artists Workshop, from March 4th through 8th, in Gainesville, Florida! Ron says, "If you are curious about, say, Jodorowsky's Psychomagic, surrealist revolution, alchemical archetypes, or other aspects of pulling spirits through the chaos of the ether (in relation to comics?) then come on over and we'll see what happens!" And who isn't curious about all those things? Friend Ron on Facebook, and you'll get a sneak peek at his upcoming curriculum! He's been sharing PDF's and YouTube clips related…

Join Fantagraphics Books in our hometown of Seattle from Jan. 25-28 at the American Library Association Midwinter show, taking place at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown. Fantagraphics will be exhibiting with our distribution partner, W.W. Norton & Co., in booth #2409. We'll be showcasing our first 2013 releases, including a few none of you have seen yet, and also hosting weekend signings and raffles with authors PETER BAGGE and JIM WOODRING! We'll also be giving away some freebies, including comic books by Carl Barks, Crockett Johnson, Woodring and Bagge, plus other surprises… Here's the schedule: PETER BAGGE: Saturday,…

This is sure to be a very special and poignant event: C. Tyler will be making a rare West Coast appearance to discuss her work at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles on Thursday, January 31st! Titled Scrapbooks, Army Surplus, Comics and Other Stuff: A Conversation with Graphic Storyteller C. Tyler, she will discuss her stunningly rendered and intensely personal series You'll Never Know: A Graphic Memoir, and will delve into comics, family memories, gender, and generations. This event is FREE and open to the public. The discussion starts at 7:00 PM in the Annenberg Auditorium [ 3502 Watt Way ]…