Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is pleased to host a release party and art exhibition for Regina Schilling’s Hey Lady #7 on Saturday, February 11. The new issue focuses on Sylvia Rivera, a civil rights pioneer who was a crucial voice for people of color, transgendered, and low-income communities throughout her life. Hey Lady is a colorful celebration of women’s contributions to global art and culture. Olympia resident Regina Schilling selects a subject for each issue and invites women artists worldwide to contribute portraits. Past personalities include artist and musician Yoko Ono, actress Nichelle Nichols, Andy Warhol superstar Candy Darling, musician…
Al Columbia Comes for Your Tablets
Are you ready for even more existential dread? Great! Because today marks the digital debut of an Al Columbia classic, as well as two more back issue books from the Fantagraphics vault. Collecting more than a decade’s worth of art excavations, comic strips, animation stills, and more, this broken jigsaw puzzle of a graphic novel tells the story of two childlike imps. The brilliant backdrops hint at further layers of reality lurking under each gingerbread house and behind every sunny afternoon. Experience the lingering fear of reading Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days now digitally through comiXology and Google…
What’s in Store: Wood Work
The enduring influence of the late Wallace Wood can’t be overstated. From his work at EC, MAD, Marvel, and beyond, Wood left an indelible mark on American culture that resonates to this day. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery celebrates the legacy of this amazing artist through February 9. Wallace Wood came to prominence with his work for EC comic books, which enjoyed circulation in the millions, but were vilified by politicians, preachers, and crusading child psychologist Dr. Fredric Wertham. Together, they convinced the public that these comics were the cause of juvenile delinquency and social deviance. The establishment of the Comics…
2017 Eisner Hall of Fame Nominees
Congratulations to all of the 2017 inductees and nominees for the Eisner Hall of Fame! This years judges have already chosen four names to include in the induction including cartoonist Milt Gross, Golden Age Wonder Woman co-creator H.G. Peter, Spy vs Spy‘s Antonio Prohias, and underground cartoonist Dori Seda. Four more inductees will be chosen by voters from the following list of 17 nominees, and announced at the 2017 Eisner Awards Ceremony during Comic-Con International in San Diego. The Nominees: Peter Bagge Howard Cruse Steve Englehart Justin Green Roberta Gregory Bill Griffith Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez Francoise Mouly Jackie Ormes George Pérez P. Craig…
A Digital Dose of Elder and Sala
Today’s digital releases present us with a new look at old work by two of the all-time great cartoonists. The Million Year Picnic and Other Stories is another fantastic collection in our EC Library and the very first highlighting the work of Will Elder. The collection includes all 15 of Elder’s humorous Panic stories (“The Night Before Christmas” got the first issue banned in the entire state of Massachusetts!), all seven of his tales from the pages of Weird Science and Weird Fantasy, and a special horror story that hasn’t been seen since its original publication more than 60 years ago….
Re/Read: Like a Dog by Zak Sally
Re/Read is a periodic feature by Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery curator Larry Reid that examines backlist books you may have missed or are worthy of another read. I recently had a conversation with Fantagraphics editorial assistant (and Yeti Press publisher) R. J. Casey where we discussed our mutual admiration for pioneering small press publisher, musician, educator, and cartoonist Zak Sally. I was reminded of my fondness for his wildly entertaining and enlightening anthology, Like a Dog. Zak Sally is a modern Renaissance artist. A former member of indie rock band Low, he is also proprietor of the adventurous La Mano press in Minneapolis,…
First Digital Release of 2017
Welcome back for another year of tablet-tempting digital releases as well as backlist barnburners. This week, we’ve got both! Up first is the second giant collection in the Complete Crepax project: The Time Eaters and Other Stories. Spanning the 1960s–1980s, this science fiction themed volume features Guido Crepax’s adventuress Valentina as well as two more of the famed Italian erotic artist’s heroines. Marianna is a mysterious friend, Belinda is a motorcycle-driving, pop art action star, and in “The Time Eater,” Valentina meets a curious couple in an asylum and is caught in a Rube Goldberg-like death trap. All of this…
What’s in Store: The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood on January 14
Join us at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, January 14 as we celebrate one of midcentury America’s most influential artists. The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood debuts with an exhibition and slide talk by J. Michael Catron. Wallace Wood was among the most prolific and diverse artists of his era. His work included colorful covers for 1950s science fiction magazines and romance comics before contributing to the wildly popular war, crime, horror, and suspense comics on the notorious EC imprint, prior to its demise as result of the draconian restrictions imposed by the Comics Code Authority. He went…
Re/Read: No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics
Re/Read is a regular feature by Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery curator Larry Reid drawing attention to backlist books you may have missed or deserve another look. This time we’ll discuss No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics, edited by Justin Hall. Comics frequently play a prominent role in social justice movements. Such is the case in the LGBTQ community, as demonstrated by No Straight Lines. Cartoonist Justin Hall carefully curated a comprehensive anthology of contemporary comics covering themes of coming out, the response to the AIDS crisis, and current issues and attitudes facing the LGBTQ community. His insightful introduction…
The Year’s Last Digital Backlog Bonanza
We’re in the last week of the year, but we’ve got time for one more backlog dump before you hang up the new calendars. Working with comiXology and Google Play, we’re attempting to provide you with the best of our back catalog including these four books that are available digitally for the very first time: Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead is Purely Coincidental by Drew Friedman and Josh Alan Friedman From Shadow to Light: The Life and Art of Mort Meskin by Steven Brower Mascots by Ray Fenwick HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU…
