Fantagraphics Blog

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "…Shimura Takako tells this story in such a gentle, unobtrusive way, one might believe that this story flows naturally – as if it simply spun itself from nature and is the way it is supposed to be. I think Matt Thorn’s tidy translation, which goes down the mental gullet with such smoothness, is a big reason for how readable this is. Wandering Son is not flashy or aggressive, nor does it pander or try to be hip and stylish. Takako draws the reader in so quietly that some may be surprised to find…

Portland and environs! If you've been planning on buying any of our books — or any comics, period — this coming Monday and Tuesday, August 29-30, is the time and Floating World Comics is the place to do it. They're having a benefit sale with 100% of the proceeds being donated to Dylan Williams's medical care. My good colleague Tom Devlin at D&Q explains in succinct and eloquent fashion why you should care about Dylan if you care about comics at all.

Noah Van Sciver is selling some framed drawings to raise rent money. Get in on the ground floor now before we publish his Abe Lincoln graphic novel The Hypo and he blows up and you can't afford him anymore!

Jason has revealed the beautiful cover illustration for his next forthcoming book, Athos in America. At his blog he includes the initial thumbnail sketch, which I recall falling in love with when he first posted it a little while back. Title treatment and coloring are TK. The book will be in the same clothbound hardcover format as Low Moon.

This Fall, Fantagraphics presents Estonia: A Ramble Through the Periphery, a travelogue from author Alexander Theroux as he follows his wife — artist Sarah Son-Theroux — on her Fulbright Scholarship to Estonia.  (That's her work on the book cover, right up there.) And this coming Tuesday, August 30th, Sarah Son-Theroux will present a talk at the Cahoon Museum of Art, in conjunction with her work in the exhibit "So What's In a Bog?" Son-Theroux's talk begins at 11:00 AM.  The Cahoon Museum of Art is located at 4676 Falmouth Road, Cotuit, MA.

Open reception! Open critique! It's Open Ending, a show opening and closing this weekend, Saturday, August 27th and Sunday, August 28th, featuring new works by CalArts MFA students and recent graduates, such as our very own Esther Pearl Watson!  Esther tells us she's been working on some larger paintings in this space, so if you're in the L.A. area, head to The Farley Building this weekend at 1669 Colorado Blvd. They'll be doing a 12 hour marathon critique on Sunday, with participating artists and the general public. Go tell Esther her stuff rocks! And if, like us, you live far…

Join Warren Bernard tonight at the esteemed Politics & Prose Bookstore, in Washington, DC as he presents Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising! Starting at 7:00 PM, Bernard will show you work from the 1870s to 1940, documenting how popular cartoon characters like the Yellow Kid, Little Orphan Annie, and Popeye have figured in advertising campaigns, and how their creators were highly sought-after pitchmen, selling products alongside the best movie stars in Hollywood. As part of his presentation, Bernard will have on-hand original ads and other advertisting items from the era. But wait! There's more! (See what I did…

The Cabbie Vol. 1 by Martí 80-page black & white 9" x 11.75" hardcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-450-4 Ships in: September 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Sergio Leone’s retooling of classic westerns for his “spaghetti westerns”… Stieg Larsson’s striking take on the serial killer/mystery thriller in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo… And for that matter ABBA’s fiendishly catchy appropriation of American pop music. Sometimes it takes Europeans to make gold of tuckered-out American tropes. Add to those instances of inspired global cross-pollination the Spanish cartoonist Martí’s eye-popping The Cabbie, which spins off Martin Scorsese’s sordid urban-justice drama Taxi…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Celluloid is a challenging work, not so much in how it is read, but in how it pushes at the boundaries of what we call a graphic novel and what we consider erotica…. Considered as a visual ode to the erotic imagination, Celluloid is a powerful work of grace and deviance in its explorations. McKean has crafted a new grammar for comic book storytelling, bringing the printed page as close to a live performance as possible while still using the graphic narrative form to accomplish what no other medium can." – Greg Baldino,…

Russ informs us that punk legend Exene Cervenka of X fame dropped by Fantagraphics Bookstore on Monday evening with Phil Alvin of the Blasters to do some record and comix shopping. Visiting Seattle to perform at Neumos with X bandmate John Doe, Exene was reportedly pleased to find a copy of Talk to Her, a collection of interviews conducted by Krisitne McKenna. Exene is interviewed, along with counterculture celebrities like Lou Reed, Joey Ramone, Allen Ginsberg, Johnny Rotten, Joe Strummer, Chrissie Hynde, Joe Sacco, Elvis Costello, Walter Hopps, and Richard Hell, among others. The book includes portraits of interview subjects by Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, Tony Millionaire and more. Pick…