Arriving in mailboxes imminently: the 2013 edition (we've lost count of how many of these things we've put out) of the Fantagraphics Ultimate Catalog of Comics! It's jam-packed with our 2012 releases, a few upcoming 2013 releases, and a bunch of backlist stuff. It also has an update on our FBI•MINI mail-order bonus program and some surprise exclusive money-saving offers! And, of course, there's a handy order form for ordering everything. If you're not already on our mailing list, contact us to request your free copy, and if you just can't wait and/or want to have it on your computer or mobile…
Sexytime This Saturday In Seattle!
Never mind that it's winter — things are gonna be heatin' up this Saturday, December 15th as Fantagraphics celebrates the, uh, release of Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur! Editor Jacques Boyreau will be bringing the naughty and nice to the Northwest Film Forum at 9:00 PM. Boyreau kicks off the evening with a hilarious and tasteless compilation of outstanding 35/16mm porn trailers. The night concludes with a screening of Candy Von Dewd, where valiant, stoic astronauts of the Rocketship Leroy crash on a dune planet and encounter telepathic Amazons. Drugs, gladiators, robots, boobs and alien sex blow…
Ron Regé, Jr. Book Signing in Portland This Friday!
Portland's already a bit of a cartoon utopia, so it's only right to bring the lovely Ron Rege, Jr. to town for a celebration of his magnum opus, The Cartoon Utopia! Join him this Friday, December 14th at Floating World Comics for this very special signing from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. In The Cartoon Utopia, “Utopians” of the future world are attempting to send messages through consciousness, outside of the constricts of time as we understand it. These messages appear in the form of art, music and storytelling, three of the very things that Ron will be bringing to the…
Remembering Spain Rodriguez
The comics world lost a great cartoonist this month as Spain Rodriguez drove his wild hog one last time. As an influential members of underground comics, his reach was large. The New York Times wrote an excellent obituary on Spain and Bruce Weber profiled him as "part of a wave of artists — including R. Crumb, S. Clay Wilson and Bill Griffith, who created the character Zippy the Pinhead — who established the irreverent, profane, highly sexed, antiwar, anti-capitalist spirit of underground comics (often, in this context, spelled comix)." Below is a sketch Spain made for Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds….
Daily OCD 12/7/12
The cutest Carré animation of Online Commentaries & Diversions*: • Review: Chris Sims on Comics Alliance looks at the first story (and title story) of the latest Carl Barks collection: Walt Disney's Donald Duck "A Christmas for Shacktown." Sims says, "At 32 pages, it's a sprawling epic (By Barks' standards, anyway) that hits those beautiful Holiday themes of altruism and the spirit of giving. Although to be fair, it does get a little closer to cannibalism than most other Christmas comics. • Review: Speaking of Christmas comics, John Seven of the North Adams Transcript reads Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking by…
The Unexpurgated Swamp Talk Annotations from Pogo Vol. 2
R.C. Harvey, who seemingly knows everything about everything, once again shared the expanse of his knowledge in his annotations for our latest collection of Walt Kelly's Pogo strips and once again we had to bleed the red pen dry and carve Harv's original text down considerably from the original 10,000 (or so) words to print it in the allotted space in Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Vol. 2 – Bona Fide Balderdash. But again, since the internet knows no such space limitations, we are pleased to present the unadulterated, unedited Harv here on our website. (And if you've just picked…
Love and Rockets Rocks Seattle
To commemorate Fantagraphics Bookstore's 6th anniversary and 30 years of Love & Rockets, we commissioned Clone Press to publish a silkscreen print of the image pictured above. Signed copies of this 18" X 24" edition of 100 will be available at the event for only $25 on Saturday evening at 6:00 PM. Since the Hernandez Brothers appeared in Seattle at Fallout Records on their 10th anniversary tour, we thought it appropriate for the proprietor of that legendary establishment to DJ two decades later. Russ Battaglia will spin vintage punk rock vinyl and demented holiday hits. Don't miss what promises…
The Unexpurgated “Swamp Talk” Annotations from Pogo Vol. 2
The edited version of these annotations by R.C. Harvey appears in Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Vol. 2 – Bona Fide Balderdash by Walt Kelly. – Ed. Swamp TalkAnnotations and Historical DataBy R.C. Harvey lthough celebrated for his political allegory and satire, Walt Kelly laced Pogo with allusions to other aspects of contemporary life in America, plus literary references and snatches of poetry. In our less than literate society of 140-character communiques, many of Kelly’s nods at literature are obscure to the point of irrelevance, and the targets of much of his political sniping are no longer visible: sixty…
Daily OCD Extra: next month’s review with a star for Heads or Tails
In this January's issue of Booklist you can find a review of our recent releases, excerpted below: Heads or Tails by Lilli Carré: "Most of these stories are concerned with alternatives—overlapping realities, different explanations of a single phenomenon, evolving contradictions. . . As a graphic artist, Carré carries forward the design tradition that stems from the gossamer surrealism of Cocteau; as a verbal artist, she may be the most successful prose poet going. . . Her Wanda Gag-meets-Gene Deitch drawing style and new-weirdness literary bent make her work acutely interesting to both read and scrutinize." — Ray Olson (Starred Review)
Graham Chaffee blogs Good Dog
News of our upcoming Graham Chaffee book Good Dog has been warmly received by everyone who's been waiting for Chaffee's return to comics. For months now Graham has posting process art for the entire book on his blog, from rough character drawings to script notes to layouts done in his sketchbook. It so happens he just posted the last page (so spoiler warnings apply) so now's the time to dive on in! (final cover art may vary)
