Fantagraphics Blog

My, oh my! Remember that Max retrospective exhibition showing in Mexico last year? It's moved to a museum in Madrid! Magnificent! Max wrote the following on his blog:  "I never dreamed one of my drawings could hang so big in a urban scenery, but there it is, on the wonderful neoclassical front of the Cervantes building in Alcalá street, facing the Bank of Spain. Hundreds of thousands of people walked right below it on last Sunday's demonstration against the new Work Reformation Law. Maybe some of them noticed that the figure on the first panel stands for an unemployed worker…

This month's Diamond Previews catalog came out yesterday and in it you'll find our usual 2-page spread (download the PDF) with our releases scheduled to arrive in your local comic shop in May 2012 (give or take — some release dates may have changed since the issue went to press). We're pleased to offer additional and updated information about these upcoming releases here on our website, to help shops and customers alike make more informed ordering decisions. This month's Featured item is our next Carl Barks Library volume, Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man! We've also got…

When I stumbled across "Crustache: The Mustache Sandwich Cutter by Fred & Friends" I immediately emailed Steven Weissman to contact his lawyer. He thinks it's cool though so he's letting it slide.

Delivered this morning: advance copies of Popeye Vol. 6: "Me Li'l Swee'Pea" — the final volume of our complete E.C. Segar Popeye collections. We're excited but also a little sad that the series is coming to an end. Stay tuned for more updates and more/better photos & previews, as always.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Besides a particularly gleeful dark humour, this collection of short stories by Norweigan artist Jason [Athos in America] is tied together by a certain obsession with Hollywood genres: science-fiction and crime are the main targets, and Jason infuses them with both a slightly tweaked pathos and a taste for melancholy macabre. His drawing style is sparse and uncluttered, but that works something like keeping an even tone during a dry remark: his punchlines and gut-punches are that much sharper for having played it cool. All of these stories have an underlying sadness —…

Our friends at BookSoup may be speechless, but our editor/curator Pat Thomas is not! And you can listen up on Wednesday, April 4th, as he gives a presentation on the "considerably grand" new book, Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975! He'll be giving an in-depth look at this fascinating collection from 7:00 to 8:30 PM, and lemme tell ya, Pat's presentations are fascinating, and you will not want to miss it! BookSoup is located at 8818 Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood, CA.

Take the plunge! What better way to spend your quadrennial extra day by loading up on comics! Today only (February 29, 2012), take 29% off every item in your order (including already-discounted items) by using the coupon code LEAPDAY at checkout on our website. (Or, just mention this offer if ordering by phone — 1-800-657-1100 or 206-524-1967 outside the U.S., 9 AM to 5 PM. Sorry, sale not in effect at Fantagraphics Bookstore.) Jump for joy and spread the word! Shop shop shop!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Awards: Jaime Hernandez's Speedy Ortiz dør (the Danish edition of The Death of Speedy from Aben Maler) was named winner of the Ping Prisen for "Best International Comic in Danish" • List: YALSA's blog The Hub spotlights their previously-announced Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten 2012: "Shimura Takako’s Wandering Son Volume 1 rounds out the Top Ten list for 2012 with a sensitive look at two fifth grade students struggling with gender identity: Shuichi Natori is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino Takatsuki is a girl who wants to be a…

“From Comix to Critiques” was the focus of seminal Seattle publisher Real Comet Press. Founded in 1981 by arts activist Cathy Hillenbrand, then owner the Comet Tavern, this prescient enterprise published an amazing array of books that foreshadowed Seattle’s ascendance to the forefront of international pop culture. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery celebrates the legacy of Cathy Hillenbrand with “Real Comet Press: A Retrospective” opening Saturday, March 10, continuing through April 10, 2012. This exhibition features art, graphics and book works by regional artists nurtured by Real Comet Press including Lynda Barry, Michael Dougan, Art Chantry, and Ruth Hayes, among others….

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Interview: Our own Eric Buckler talks to Wilfred Santiago at our own The Comics Journal: "Unlike working with someone else’s script, there’s no linear method when I work on my own. That is to say I write while I ‘toon, and I ‘toon while I write. So the most important step is editing–what’s left on the page before going to the printer and into the sweaty hands of readers. I do believe writing has improved my cartooning. I don’t think it’s an accident that some of the best cartoonists are writers. I’m not putting…