Fantagraphics Blog

Thanks to Fabiano Teles for sending us a link to this loving video tribute to the work of Johnny Ryan he produced for Cultura da Açao, a weekly alt-culture TV program out of Rio de Janeiro. Johnny tells us that Fabiano also plays in a Brazilian death metal band and is currently penning a Prison Pit ballad. Awesome! How does "Cannibal Fuckface" translate into Portuguese, anyway?

Newly-rechristened Vancouver-based culture website The Snipe (formerly Guttersnipe) is celebrating their new name by giving away a copy of Dave McKean's new graphic novel Celluloid to one lucky reader! See here for contest rules and more info.

Publishers Weekly presents an exclusive 7-page excerpt from The Armed Garden and Other Stories by David B., in which the creator of the acclaimed Epileptic gives full rein to his fascination with history, magic and gods, not to mention grand battles, in a literate, witty, and absorbing collection of stories.

Just arrived in our warehouse & ready to ship: The Raven by Lou Reed and Lorenzo Mattotti 166-page full-color 9" x 9" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-444-3 See Previews / Order Now In 2000, veteran rock 'n' roller Lou Reed, legendary director Robert Wilson, and a cast of singers and actors premiered Reed's musical POEtry in Hamburg's Thalia Theater. An ambitious combination of Edgar Allen Poe's poems and stories and Reeds reinterpretations of same (with a few classic Reed songs such as "Perfect Day" and "The Bed" integrated for good measure, POEtry bridged the centuries to provide a unique vision of…

Ran out of time to finish yesterday's Online Commentary & Diversions so here's a two-fer: • Review: "With skill, restraint and a deep sensitivity to the roiling emotions involved, Shimura relates the tale of fifth-grade boy Shuichi, who wants to be a girl, and his classmate Yoshino, a girl who wants to be a boy. This is the first volume of the Japanese saga [Wandering Son] to be published in English, and translator Thorn does great work parsing the complex gender honorifics of the Japanese language. We only just begin to get to know our two leads, but Shimura's approach…

At Forbes magazine's Booked blog, Vanna Le shares a slideshow of images from Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons, our collection of the great writer's early graphic work coming in December, saying "The entire collection has just the right amount of charm you would expect from a young and witty O’Connor. But it’s more than just a book for laughs — it offers some insight into O’Connor’s personal life as well as her mockery towards the pretensions of her social environment."

Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956), Architecture II (The Man from Potin) [Architektur II], 1921. Oil on canvas, © Lyonel Feininger Family, LLC./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photograph © Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Throughout his career, Lyonel Feininger had one foot in fine art, as a leading figure of German expressionism and the Bauhaus.  But, as we all know, he had his other foot planted in the world of comics, with his ground-breaking strips in the Chicago Sunday Tribune, The Kin-Der-Kids and Wee Willie Winkie's World. This summer, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City celebrates Feininger with his very…

Mome Vol. 22 – Fall 2011 by various artists; edited by Eric Reynolds 240-page full-color 7" x 9" softcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-395-8 Ships in: July 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Special double-sized FINAL issue! After 6 years and over 2500 pages of comics, MOME heads into the sunset with an all-star, jam-packed farewell bonanza. Several past MOME favorites return for the swan song, including Kurt Wolfgang, Tom Kaczynski, Joe Kimball, Eleanor Davis, Anders Nilsen, Tim Hensley, Paul Hornschemeier, Gabrielle Bell, and Zak Sally (those covers!). Meanwhile, several newcomers get in just under the wire: Jesse Moynihan, Malachi Ward,…

Point your browsers here to tune in live tomorrow (June 13, 2011) at 3PM Eastern/noon Pacific as Johnny Ryan is the featured guest on the Sara Tea Time podcast on BlogTalkRadio. You can call in with your questions, insults, and indecent proposals: (909) 362-8230.

Wow! The Usagi Yojimbo exhibit just opened at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles this past weekend, and the rave reviews are already pouring in!  We got some great photos from our friends at Dark Horse that we just had to share… like THIS ONE: Why, that's no evil ronin! That's Sergio Aragonés! Gak, indeed! Our friends at Giant Robot were also on the scene! They posted some beautiful shots of the show on their website, including a loving tribute sketch from Stan Lee, ha!  Don't forget: Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo runs until October…