Fantagraphics continues its commemoration of 40 years of publishing the world’s greatest cartoonists with an event focusing on one of the founders of the alternative comix movement. Charles Burns appears at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, October 8 at 7:00 to discuss his graphic novel masterpiece Black Hole and other seminal works. Seattle native Charles Burns emerged from the Evergreen State College in nearby Olympia with Lynda Barry and Matt Groening in the mid-’70s. Together, this trio of gifted cartoonists popularized a new approach to contemporary comix. Burns came to the attention of future Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman, who…
Forbidden Humble Bundle Supports CBLDF
In honor of Banned Books Week, Fantagraphics has teamed up with Humble Bundle to offer a collection of controversial comics by some of our most popular artists including Jaime Hernandez, Simon Hanselmann, Matt Furie, Johnny Ryan, R. Crumb and more! When you purchase a bundle, not only do you get great digital comics at an amazing price, you also get to choose what portion of the proceeds will benefit our friends at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! How Does Humble Bundle Work? Pay What You Want— Name your price. Pay more than the average to upgrade your bundle and unlock additional…
SPX 2016: The Signing Schedule
In all its glory, here is the signing schedule for Fantagraphics Books at SPX 2016! Find us hugging the wall at booth W56-61 on September 17-18th at the North Bethesda Marriott Hotel and Convention Center
Re/Read: Big Baby by Charles Burns
Re/Read is an occasional column by Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid that examines backlist titles you may have missed or are worthy of another read. This week we’ll focus on Big Baby by Seattle native Charles Burns. Big Baby collects four stories created by Burns between 1983 and 1992 from works published in RAW comix anthology and his syndicated “Big Baby” comic strip. Much like the Hernandez Brothers‘ Love & Rockets stories of this period, science fiction plays an important role, though Burns’ EC horror comics influences are more evident. His primary protagonist is a peculiar little boy with an…
SPX 2016: The Panels
In celebration of our 40th Anniversary, SPX has generously put together a slate of panels and workshops that feature our artists in a wide variety of topics that’ll inform and spark inspiration. Panels Saturday, September 17th, 2016 Comics Journalism with Joe Sacco and Sarah Glidden 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM White Oak Room Comics journalism is a form of journalism crafted by Joe Sacco in his award-winning graphic novels (Palestine, Safe Area Goražde, Fixer, Footnotes in Gaza, The Great War) and explored in depth by Sarah Glidden in her new release, Rolling Blackouts. Join these two amazing comics creators as…
What’s in Store: An American Treasure
Only rarely is there discovered a significant body of work by an artist as important as Robert Crumb. The drawings and related artifacts found in the forthcoming exhibition R. Crumb: Early Works, 1965 – 1967 represent a rare opportunity to experience the evolving aesthetic of a prominent American artist. Join us this Saturday, September 10 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery as we unveil this exceptional collection of seminal works by one of history’s most gifted cartoonists. Below is a narrative explaining the origin of this work by Crumb confidant Mimi Currier, who will attend the…
Re/Read: Daishu Ma’s Leaf
Welcome back to Re/Read, an occasional column by Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid drawing attention to books that you may have missed or merit another look. This time we’ll focus on Chinese artist Daishu Ma’s graphic novel, Leaf. This wordless story is set in a bleak urban village in the Chinese countryside where an inhabitant discovers a mysterious illuminated leaf amid the congested industrial landscape. His search for meaning leads him through a maze of mechanization that serves as a metaphor for traditional Chinese culture conflicting with contemporary ecological concerns and social identity. Ma’s sublime narrative and alluring rendering…
Digital Madness!
We’re especially excited about this week’s digital releases, which feature new reprints, old favorites, and an Argentine debut! More rage per page! More slaughter for your dollar! Real Deal, a self-published independent comic book created by Lawrence “Rawdog” Hubbard and H.P. “R.D. Bone” McElwee, in finally collected in all its glory. Combining classic Mad magazines with Blaxploitation films, Real Deal is full of convicts, hustlers, drug addicts, and murderers and straddles the line between satirizing and showing the harsh realities of urban life. The entire collection can now be found on comiXology. The Longest Day of…
R. Crumb: Early Works 1965 – 1967 opens September 10
Fantagraphics Books launches an exciting series of events celebrating its 40th anniversary with “R. Crumb: Early Works, 1965 – 1967,” opening Saturday, September 10 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. This important exhibition features over thirty previously unseen original drawings and arcane artifacts, which demonstrate the development of the artist’s signature style. The show remains on view through November 2, 2016. Robert Crumb is widely considered America’s greatest living cartoonist. His work was recently featured in the Seattle Museum’s “Graphic Masters” exhibition alongside Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, Hogarth, and Picasso. The seminal work on display at…
Re/Read: R. Crumb’s Kafka
Welcome to Re/Read, an occasional column by Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid drawing attention to comix that you may have overlooked or are worthy of another read. We’ll begin with a classic by the great Robert Crumb. Kafka is among the most compelling books by R. Crumb. A collaboration with writer David Zane Mairowitz, this book seamlessly weaves Franz Kafka’s complex stories into a biographical narrative of his life in Prague as Europe descended into turmoil at the turn of the twentieth century. Many of Kafka’s stories foreshadowed the unspeakable horrors that would soon befall his fellow Jews at…
