Fantagraphics Blog

Today' Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: Flashlight Worthy polls various online critics for The Best Graphic Novels of 2010: "Moto Hagio is to shojo manga what Will Eisner is to American comics, a seminal creator whose distinctive style and sensibility profoundly changed the medium. Though Hagio has been actively publishing stories since the late 1960s, very little of her work has been translated into English. A Drunken Dream, published by Fantagraphics, is an excellent corrective — a handsomely produced, meticulously edited collection of Hagio's short stories that span her career from 1970 to 2007." – Katherine Dacey (The Manga…

Cartoonist Jim Rugg blogs about some striking similarities he noticed between man-god hero Miracleman (né Marvelman) and Fletcher Hanks's man-god hero Stardust. (Via Sean T. Collins.)

Peter Bagge sends word that the self-titled debut CD from his band Can You Imagine? is now available on CD Baby. Hooray! (And don't forget, there's more CYI merch available right here.) CYI is playing a show this Friday, Dec. 4, at the Sunset Tavern in Seattle to celebrate. Also on the bill: the great singer-songwriter (and known comics fan) Barbara Manning (playing her first Seattle show in almost 10 years!) and Seattle's Midday Veil. Get more info on the show and RSVP on Facebook. Don't miss it!

GROUPON Seattle is offering a sweet deal on Fantagraphics Books TODAY ONLY, so get 'em while they're hot. The Groupons are redeemable at our brick and mortar store in Seattle or online at fantagraphics.com, so you don't need to be local to enjoy the deal! 

  We paid tribute to the sudden death of our friend and Sub Pop executive Andy Kotowicz in October, and those of you who live in Seattle know how much Andy's story has reverberated throughout the community. This Saturday night, the Showbox at the Market is hosting an all-star benefit show that reflects how much Andy meant to the community. In addition to appearances by legendary SubPop mainstays Mudhoney (featuring Rock God and former longtime Fanta employee Mark Arm) and recent signees Shabazz Palaces, many acts that Kotowicz was instrumental in signing are stepping up, including Pissed Jeans, Wolf Eyes, Michael Yonkers, A-Frames/AFCGT, Fruit Bats,…

[The Comics Journal interns Andrew Davis and Chi-Wen Lee put together a series of discussion questions about Stephen DeStefano & George Chieffet's Lucky in Love Book 1: A Poor Man's History for use in book clubs. As these questions are intended for those who have read the book, please be warned that they may contain mild spoilers. – Ed.] Synopsis: At age 15, the only things on Lucky's mind are women, sex, movies, and, to some degree, the war. He fantasizes about being a hero, much like in the Tex Stengler films his friends and he watch. When he does…

Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly will be signing copies of Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film, with musical performances by local bands The Creamers and Cruddy, at a release party at Austin, TX record store End of an Ear this Saturday, Dec. 4, 6-8 PM. More info/RSVP on Facebook here!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: East Bay Express's Anneli Rufus names Jim Woodring's Weathercraft one of the Best Books of 2010: "It's a wordless masterpiece from a Harvey Award-winning autodidact who executes his rhapsodically weird yet somehow relatable surrealistic visions with a lush, lifelike, retro-tinged precision that recalls Edward Lear and Winsor McCay. In an age when too many cartoonists draw with a lazy, defiantly fuckoffish lack of skill, Woodring's museum-quality mastery puts most of his colleagues to shame." • Review: "Comic book historians Greg Sadowski and John Benson edited this fun time capsule [Four Color Fear], compiling…

Anders Nilsen is cleaning out his flat files and offering a bunch of prints and whatnot in a new online shop, just in time for the holidays.