Fantagraphics Blog

Congratulations to Monte Schulz, whose 2009 novel, THIS SIDE OF JORDAN, published by Fantagraphics, was the Award Winner in the "Fiction: General" category of the 2010 Best Book Awards sponsored by USA Book News!  Look for Schulz's next novel, THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER, in December from Fantagraphics.  

Michael Kupperman dukes it out with a gaggle of other NYC-based cartoonists in FISTICUFFS!, a cartoonists battle royale at 92YTribeca on November 18 at 9 PM. "It’s like Iron Chef, but the secret ingredient is punch lines instead of asparagus," says the description. Click here for more info & tickets.

Thanks to Love and Rockets fan "Endometria Jones" for sharing this snap of "my old chevy wagon, circa early 90s" on the L&R Facebook page!

Thanks to Charles Burns fan Harris Smith for sharing this pic of his tattoo based on the cover of Black Hole #7! Show us your Burns tattoos at his exhibit opening & signing on Saturday!

SPX 2010 – Spotlight – Jaime Hernandez from Small Press Expo on Vimeo. Bill Kartalopoulos provides the intro and Jaime & Gary take it from there. 'Nuff said!

The Littlest Pirate King by David B. 48-page full-color 8.5" x 11.25" hardcover • $16.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-403-0 Ships in: November 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now For decades they have roamed the seas, this shipload of undead pirates. They are desperate to die, but every time they try to dash their ship to splinters and end their miserable existence, a malevolent God scoops them out of danger. And so they have no choice but to continue to sail the seas, looting and killing. Until one day, having exterminated yet another ship of the living, they come across a little pink…

Toys in the Basement by Stéphane Blanquet 32-page full-color 8.5" x 11.25" hardcover • $14.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-402-3 Ships in: November 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now http://www.fantagraphics.com/toysinthebasement With appearances in such anthologies as Zero Zero, Blab! and Kramer's Ergot, Stéphane Blanquet has been delighting and terrifying American readers with his superslick, ultradetailed creepiness. So it makes perfect sense that his first graphic novel to be published in the U.S. would be… a children's book? Yes indeed. Our hero, attending a Halloween party in an embarrassing pink bunny costume (he wanted to be a pirate) stumbles across a secret underground society…

Online Commentary & Diversions from Friday to today: • Review: "In The Sanctuary, Nate Neal traces back the history of manipulation, power battles and betrayal to a single cave, thousands of years ago. The story unfolds entirely in a Paleolithic language Neal created, rendering the action subtle as a tribe careens toward possible chaos amidst the battles contained. […] In the dynamics that Neal presents, you can see your country, your town, your work place and your family, all rolled into one cautionary tale. In stark black and white, Neal’s art exhibits much sophistication, while still maintaining a required roughness,…

Dame Darcy & Paul Hornschemeier both recently wrote stories for Marvel — and not for the Strange Tales series! Dame Darcy's story is drawn by Robin Ha and will be available online as a "Women of Marvel Digital Comics Exclusive" next week. So reports Marvel editor Ryan Penagos, via Sean T. Collins. Which reminded me, I happened to glance through Marvel's Halloween horror anthology one-shot Tomb of Terror at ye olde comick shoppe last week and noticed Paul's writing credit on the lead-off story starring Man-Thing (with art by Mark Texiera). That was a cool surprise!

Ray Fenwick presents a selection of 13 pages from his forthcoming book Mascots (coming in December) at his newly-redesigned website. Ray's follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Hall of Best Knowledge is comprised of text and images painted on found book covers. (Oops, sorry about the broken link! Fixed now.)