Fantagraphics Blog

One of Seattle’s most celebrated artists, Ellen Forney, will discuss her courageous new graphic memoir Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me at the Seattle Public Library central branch on Saturday at 7:00 PM. Her slide presentation in the Microsoft Auditorium will be followed by a book signing. Copies will available at the event. Admission is free. Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me, from Penguin Books’ Gotham imprint, chronicles Forney’s experience with bipolar disorder in the context of her career in comix. She documents her symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment with both sensitivity and humor. Forney has 3 previous comix collections from…

In November, we are thankful for many things like a re-elected President, food and family coming together, power and heat slowly returning to New York. Fantagraphics and comiXology present a timely story to make you feel thankful for what you do have with the incredible graphic novel by visionary Chris Wright (Inkweed, 2008 from Sparkplug) called Blacklung. One of the most impressive graphic novel debuts in recent years, a sweeping, magisterially conceived, visually startling tale of violence, amorality, fortitude, and redemption, one part Melville, one part Peckinpah, all in 130 pages. In a night of piratical treachery when an arrogant…

Thursday, November 8th • Brooklyn, NY: Desert Island presents Lips and Crumbs: Works by Lilli Carré! She'll also be signing her new collection Heads or Tails from 8:00 to 10:00 PM. (more info)  • Eugene, OR: The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR is hosting the exhibit GOOD GRIEF! Original Art from 50 Years of Charles M. Schulz's PEANUTS, and our own Gary Groth will discuss the importance of Charles Schulz's work within the larger tradition of newspaper strip comics. This event begins at 5:30 PM, and is co-sponsored by the UO School…

Castle Waiting Vol. 1 (Softcover Ed.) by Linda Medley 472-page black & white 5.5" x 8" softcover • $24.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-602-7 Ships in: December 2012 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Castle Waiting is the story of an isolated, abandoned castle, and the eccentric inhabitants who bring it back to life. A fable for modern times, it is a fairy tale that’s not about rescuing the princess, saving the kingdom, or fighting the ultimate war between Good and Evil — but about being a hero in your own home. The opening chapter tells the origin of the castle itself, which is…

This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new title. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about it (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the link, and contact your local shop to confirm availability. Blacklung by Chris Wright 128-page black & white 9.25" x 12.25" hardcover • $24.99 ISBN: 978-1-60699-587-7 "…Chris Wright’s oversize debut graphic novel [is] a bloody seafaring tale about a man determined to do what it takes to meet his dead wife in hell. Wright’s first book, the short story collection…

Steven Weissman's Barack Hussein Obama has been about as enthusiastic about his campaign as Walt Kelly's Pogo, seen here learning of his first Presidential nomination in 1952 (in our 2nd Pogo volume, Bona Fide Balderdash, coming soon): Pogo was a favorite write-in candidate during Kelly's run on the strip; we couldn't find data on his standing in the 2008 election. However, according to one source, Mickey Mouse received 11 votes last time around (and found himself in executive office under unusual circumstances in the 1938 "Monarch of Medioka" storyline included in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 4: House of the…

Hurricanes can't stop comics! Visit Fantagraphics at the Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival this Saturday, November 10th from 12:00 – 7:00 PM! Our lovely Marketing, PR and Outreach Fiend Jen Vaughn will be bringing you the fun! SIGNINGS:12:30-2:30 PM      Josh Simmons 1:30-2:30 PM        Olivier Schrauwen 2:30-3:30 PM        Tom Kaczynski / Gary Panter 3:30-4:30 PM        Charles Burns / Olivier Schrauwen And though they won't be at our table, you can also seek out signings from Lilli Carré, Jordan Crane, John Pham, Tim Hensley, Gabrielle Bell, Charles Forsman, Jon Vermilyea, and more! UPDATE 11/7: We're sorry to report…

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department: Walt Disney's Donald Duck: A Christmas for Shacktown by Carl Barks 240-page full-color 7.5" x 10.25" hardcover • $28.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-574-7 See Previews / Order Now The third volume of Fantagraphics’ reprinting of Carl Barks’s classic Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge work, like the previous volume Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man, focuses on the early 1950s, universally considered one of Barks’s very peak periods. Originally published in 1951, "A Christmas for Shacktown" is one of Barks's masterpieces: A rare 32-pager that stays within the confines of Duckburg, featuring a storyline…

No need to flip a coin about it — you simply don't want to miss the new exhibit from Lilli Carré! Desert Island presents an exhibition of work by Lilli, celebrating her new short story collection Heads or Tails. Join them this Thursday, November 8th from 8:00 to 10:00 PM for the opening reception. Desert Island is located at 540 Metropolitan in Brooklyn. And don't forget, you can also visit Lilli at the Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival this Saturday, November 10th!

 The most feathered pom-pom of Online Commentaries & Diversions: • Interview: Steven Weissman is a popular man with his presurrealidential comic, Barack Hussein Obama. Comic Book Resources and Alex Dueben interviews Weissman on the evolution of a comic and re-engaging your audience.  • Interview: Comics Alliance's J. Caleb Mozzocco interviews Steven Weissman on Barack Hussein Obama. "The Barack Hussein Obama that ultimately emerges from the book is a pretty regular guy trapped in a comic strip, struggling to be all things to all people," states Mozzocco.  • Review: Jim Woodring's sneak peek at his sketchbooks that eventually became Problematic was…