Fantagraphics Blog

So apparently every year there's "The Black List" of the most buzzed-about unproduced Hollywood screenplays and this year's new list (published at Nikki Finke's Deadline) has Ben Schwartz, editor of The Best American Comics Criticism, and his script Home by Christmas on it. The script, which tells the story of a young Larry Gelbart (who went on to bring M*A*S*H to television) going on the USO tour with Bob Hope during the Korean War, was inspired by interviews Schwartz did for The Lost Laugh, a book of comedy history which Ben is writing for us (release TBD). Anyone want to…

We'll be helping to distribute Rich Tommaso's forthcoming self-published graphic novel The Cavalier Mr. Thompson (as in Jim, not Kim), but before that can happen he's got a Kickstarter campaign going to help pay for the printing costs and help him finish it in time for its European publication deadlines. We've published a few of Rich's comics in the past and most recently you can see his stellar coloring work in our Carl Barks Library series! Kick in some bucks and you could get a signed copy of the book along with bonuses like prints, buttons, original art or even…

Yup, Tony Millionaire's 500 Portraits gets the nod from TV's Andy Richter. Sweet, sweet nepotism!

As you may know, next spring we are publishing Significant Objects, a collection of writing and images from the project of the same name wherein various writers created narratives inspired by various seemingly valueless objects which were then auctioned on eBay with their respective stories as the item description, to see if the accompaniment of the story would lead to an increase in the objects' value as measured by the bids. So, news comes via the Significant Objects blog that the students in an 11th-grade English class at Wm. E. Hay High School in Stettler, Alberta, Canada are embarking on…

Rolling Stone magazine has named Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson by Kevin Avery one of 2011's Best Rock Books. Nelson, of course, famously worked for and then quit RS, so one can only wonder what he would think of this. At any rate, it's very rewarding that this remarkable book, one of our occasional forays into non-comics publishing, is receiving the accolades it deserves, having already been named one of Library Journal's Best Books 2011 and tied for "Music book of the year" at Springfield, Massachussett's The Republican.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: At the Forbidden Planet International blog, comics creator Nick Abadzis names Jaime Hernandez's "The Love Bunglers" from Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 as one of his three favorite comics of the year: "Hernandez just keeps delivering stories of the highest calibre. There are no pyrotechnics or fancy-ass page layouts, just a slow burn of emotion and expression, presented in calmly immaculate style. The moments of his characters’ lives that Hernandez chooses to show in the telling of his tales are picked and deployed with such precision it betrays a wisdom and clarity…

Is anyone else hearing the Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist theme song in their head looking at this animated GIF illustration for The New York Times op-ed by Lilli Carré? Bravo to the Times for letting Lilli do her animated-loop-drawing thing that she does so well. [Follow our Tumblr blog for lots more Things to See every day.]  

Tastes like chicken, helps a good cause: This oversized frog-leg drawing done by Jim Woodring with his giant nib pen is being auctioned, along with signed books and other items from Jim and others, to benefit our Minneapolitan friends at the lit-review quarterly Rain Taxi. Starting bid's only 40 bucks, jeez!

There were plenty of exciting announcements at this year's San Diego Comic Con, but one of the most exciting ones for me personally was hearing that our own Ted Stearn was going to be a director on the new series of MTV's Beavis & Butthead! In fact, he's directed six of the stories in the revived season, which kicked off in late October to rave reviews! As someone who grew up watching the original series, I promise you, these new episodes are every bit as hilarious, dare I say, maybe even more so! There's still more episodes yet to air…

It's another action-packed week in Fantagraphics events!  Monday, December 12th • Brooklyn, NY: OHMYGOD, Lou Reed is signing in Brooklyn tonight! Join Lou at BookCourt at 7:00 PM for a signing and discussion of The Raven, his collaboration with legendary Italian illustrator and cartoonist Lorenzo Mattotti, based on the work of Edgar Allen Poe. You do not want to miss this. (more info) Tuesday, December 13th • Brooklyn, NY: And head back to BookCourt at 7:00 PM the next day for a signing and discussion with author/editor Kevin Avery for Everything is an Afterthought: The Life & Writings of Paul…