Fantagraphics Blog

Maggie Chascarillo (somewhat embarrassedly, it seems) dons (or doffs?) the Batgirl costume in this 2006 convention sketch by Jaime Hernandez recently posted on the Batgirl, Heck Yeah! Tumblr. UPDATED: Hey, there's one by Steven Weissman too!

St. Louis! Are you ready for a calvacade of whimsy and wonder?! Tomorrow night, Wednesday, April 20th, The Magic Dwindler, Esq. (aka Tim Lane!) kicks off a monthly series at Subterranean Books entitled The Whirling Gypsy Comicarouselesque Revue & Burlesque. As he explains on his blog, it's "loosely based on traditional carousel comic performances, but are also meant to facilitate explorations and experimentation in inventive ways of bringing comics – or I should say pictures and words – into the realm of performance." The Whirling Gypsy… will whirl every third Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm at Subterranean [6275…

 Today's Online Commentary & Diversions, continued: • List: In light of the impending end of the anthology, Robot 6's Chris Mautner names "The six best stories in Mome" (to date… there's one issue yet to go) • Review: "Hernandez of Love and Rockets continues his obsessive study of faux Z-movies featuring L&R character Fritz, a lisping, freakishly large-chested post-ingenue. This latest offering [Love from the Shadows] is imaginatively staged, beautifully drawn and deftly dialogued, with odd discordant undertones and psychosexual notes that include incest and insanity." – Richard Pachter, The Miami Herald • Review: "More stoner/fantasy silliness from Daly. There…

An unexpected technical glitch has necessitated the splitting of today's Online Commentary & Diversions in twain, so part 2 follows immediately: • Review: "Fantagraphics Books rolls on with their hardcover library collection The Complete Peanuts, with the latest installment spotlighting 1979 and 1980. […] In Charlie Brown, one sees a character with life still left ahead of him, so the myriad indignities he suffers are tempered by the thought that things could only get better. Had it been an adult character, the question would have been, 'Why hasn’t this guy drank himself to death by now?' …[T]he Complete Peanuts collection…

The Strand, who are obsessive about documenting all their events on video, bless 'em, have posted numerous clips from their pre-MoCCA "Strandicon" spate of comics-related panels and presentations, including The Comics Journal panel with (L-R above) Dan Nadel & Tim Hodler of TCJ.com, TCJ executive editor/Fantagraphics honcho Gary Groth, and token artist Kim Deitch. The Beat has already done all the heavy lifting of compiling and embedding the clips into a single blog post, so we'll throw it over there for all your viewing enjoyment.

Well here's some wonderful news, as reported by The Comics Reporter: the great Stan Sakai has received the 2011 Cultural Ambassador Award by the Japanese American National Museum. The news release is here, and on Facebook Stan says (with typical understatement) "Senator Dan Inouye was seated at the table next to ours. He is third in line for the presidency, so secret service was around. Food was excellent." Congratulations and well deserved, Stan! (By the way, this year's Stumptown Comics Fest is barely over but Stan has already been lined up as a special guest for 2012!)

On his Here Lies Richard Sala blog, Richard Sala posted this drool-inducing photo of original pages for his forthcoming graphic novel The Hidden, along with an update on the status of the book, which is now complete and undergoing production. He also points out an eerie incidence of life imitating comics, which, if you know his work, is rather ominous.

Hey, moneybags! A couple of original Daniel Clowes pages from David Boring are up for auction at Heritage. Links & info at the Daniel Clowes blog.

I was kinda bummed that the 8th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest just happened to coincide with National Record Store Day, but that just made me extra-happy to find this wonderful collaboration between Mome artist Laura Park and musician Neko Case, to commemorate the occasion! These limited-edition tees were printed by our friends at Poketo. If you're lucky, you can still find one at participating stores, but with a lovely illustration like that, don't be surprised if they're all sold out!

Shout it out! Johnny Ryan is winner of Best Letterer at the Stumptown Comics Awards for his mashup of techno, metal and horror letterforms in Prison Pit Book 2! If you're at the fest, swing by our table (#304) and pick up both volumes. Congrats Johnny!