Fantagraphics Blog

• Convention sketches inspired by song lyrics is a pretty great idea, and an Atlanta comic fan named Erich collects them and posts them on his blog. Above: Lisa Leavenworth + Mudhoney by Peter Bagge (hat tip: CBR) • Noah Van Sciver illustrates the Denver Westword's "hipster's guide to sports" • More Jack Davis fun from Will Pfeifer's Today's Inspiration blog, as Pfeifer presents a bunch of Davis-illustrated "Funny Valentines" Topps cards (hat tip: The Comics Reporter) • Victor Kerlow draws Julie Hagerty and Albert Books in Lost in America for The New Yorker • Eleanor Davis presents a preview…

As we pointed out a week or 2 ago, Jason has been posting some rough sketches and handwritten dialogue, along with brief comments on background and storytelling technique, for each of the stories in his upcoming book Athos in America on his Cats Without Dogs blog. Here's the complete set: "So Long, Mary Ann," "The Brain That Wouldn't Virginia Woolf," "Tom Waits on the Moon," "A Cat from Heaven," "The Smiling Horse" and the title story "Athos in America."

A double dose of Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: Race To Death Valley by Floyd Gottfredson will be warmly received by comics aficionados but should also intrigue Disney animation buffs who aren't necessarily plugged into comic strip history. Editors David Gerstein and Gary Groth have not only scoured the planet for the best surviving artwork on Gottfredson's first epic continuity, which ran in newspapers from April to September of 1930; they've provided background essays (by a raft of experts), vintage press materials and artwork to put it into the context of Walt Disney's burgeoning career,…

The Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival in Seattle has come and gone, and I'm still recovering from the three-day whirlwind of bands, comedians, and shishkaberries, but for those of you who weren't able to attend, I thought I'd share some snaps from the "Bumber By Number" exhibit, which ran during Bumbershoot weekend! Curators Marlow Harris and Jo David gave vintage paint-by-number kits to local artists, who were encouraged to customize the works and "paint-outside-the-box," as it were. Here's Jim Blanchard's vibrant piece, which looks like it should be hung in a wood-paneled basement, or perhaps screened on the side of…

Earlier this month, the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery was thrilled to host a preview screening of the alt-comix documentary series "Hooked on Comix 3," spotlighting our very own Dame Darcy and Tony Millionaire!  We were very fortunate to have directors David P. Moore and Audry Mandelbaum in attendance, and you can check out an interview David did with Dan Morrill of ComicsForge.com below (or on YouTube)! It's a great look around at our bookstore & gallery, and there's even a lo-fi preview of Tony's interview at the end: Come visit the Fantagraphics Bookstore and get hooked on comix yourself! We're…

Somewhere out there is an incredibly lucky lady named Susan who received a half-dozen of these one-of-a-kind hand-drawn t-shirts from Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez back in 1982! Gilbert's awesome wife Carol just shared these pics on the Love & Rockets Facebook Fan Page with the note: "I am amazed that she still has them." Whaaat?! I would've been amazed if she didn't!!! Become a "fan" of the Love & Rockets Facebook Fan Page and see more of these incredible tees, and stay in the loop with The Hernandez Brothers, past and present!

Some Small Press Expo staff and guests visited the Library of Congress to check out some of their cartoon archives on Friday before the show — these photos are all ganked from the SPX twitter feed: L to R: Jim Woodring, Diane Noomin, Jonathan Barli of Rosebud Archives, and our pal Bill Kartalopoulos L to R: Roz Chast, a Library of Congress staffer identified only as Martha, and Jim Woodring checking out some William Steig cartoons SPX Executive Director and Drawing Power co-editor Warren Bernard Here's a slightly embarrassed-looking Jim at the show modeling the highly-covetable SPX tote bag which…

Our weekly strips from Kupperman & Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web (Super late! Totally my fault, sorry!): — Up All Night by Michael Kupperman (view at original size): Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (view at original size): And elsewhere: Amazing Facts… and Beyond! with Leon Beyond by Kevin Huizenga: Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane: Cochlea & Eustachia by Hans Rickheit: Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit: Humblug by Arnold Roth (3 new udpates): Maakies by Tony Millionaire: What's in the Backpack by Victor Kerlow:

Word comes over the Twitter wires that "Browntown" by Jaime Hernandez, from Love and Rockets: New Stories #3, has won the 2011 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Story at tonight's ceremony at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD. Congratulations to Jaime for this richly-deserved recognition! And they better get another brick ready for Jaime next year for "The Love Bunglers Parts 3-5" in New Stories #4. Just saying. Updated to add: Additional congratulations to new Mome contributor Joseph Lambert for picking up 2 big awards, Outstanding Cartoonist and Outstanding Anthology or Collection for I Will Bite You!

Do not miss this! On Wednesday, October 5, Fantagraphics Bookstore, in association with the Seattle Public Library Foundation, welcomes Craig Thompson. He'll be discussing his eagerly anticipated graphic novel Habibi, followed by a book signing. Free admission in the Microsoft Auditorium at the downtown library branch.