Fantagraphics Blog

Jim Blanchard brings his Icon Soup art show to fancy-pants pizza joint Snoose Junction Part Dieu here in Seattle. Jim says "I'll have 18 recent paintings on their walls from September 10 through October 7 — Opening night is Friday, Sept 10 at 7 PM, and it should be a cool scene!" More info at Jim's Info Barn blog.

Johnny Ryan announces on his blog: "I will be signing copies of my new book PRISON PIT BOOK 2 at MISHKA in Brooklyn on Friday, Sept. 10th at 7 PM. There will also be original art for sale (CHEAP), dolls, prints and this new shirt that I designed with MISHKA:" And coming in October: We've just confirmed the triumphant return of our own Ajax Wood as C.F.! More details on this one are To Be Announced.

Due to an inventory error we have 20 copies of the thought-to-be-sold-out Acme Novelty Library #12 by Chris Ware available to order at the cover price of $4.50! It's a 32-page full color 7.25" x 6" comic book. [UPDATE: Whoa there, they went fast! All gone now, sorry!] Who wrote this promo copy? It is magnificent: Loyal Acme readers who were disgruntled at the previous two issues, in which THINGS ACTUALLY HAPPENED (time shifts, sex, dream sequences, super-heroes, death, maiming, architecture — my God, it was like Bob Dylan going electric all over again) will be delighted to discover that…

Zippy: Ding Dong Daddy from Dingburg by Bill Griffith 216-page black & white/color 8.5" x 8.5" softcover • $18.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-389-7 Ships in: September 2010 (subject to change) – Pre-Order Now In Zippy’s latest collection of daily and color strips (with additional pages!), the tour of “Dingburg” continues; we drop in on dozens of Dingburgers and observe them in their natural habitat. The city “inhabited entirely by pinheads” can be seen as a metaphor for the world we live in today — or not. In any event, we watch as Zippy the Pinhead and his fellow Dingburg residents hunt and bag…

The funding drive for Jim Woodring's Giant Steel Dip Pen project via United States Artists ends tomorrow and there's still a ways to go to meet the goal. If you have the cash to spare and you believe in supporting bona fide geniuses and helping make the world more interesting and good, please help out! You can get original Jim artwork as a pledge gift for Pete's sake.

Periodic clips & strips, just under the wire (for the Pacific time zone anyway) — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources: • From Wilfred Santiago, a cartoon drawn for our 30th anniversary back in 2006 • A glimpse of Ben Catmull's current work in progress • From Jason: A 1981 cartoon; a couple of cover illustrations; a Mjau Mjau back cover painting; and I think "T.W." is Tom Waits • Steven Weissman's Truman Capote strip re-redux • Richard Sala presents selections from his Comic Art Collective offerings, including Peculia pinups and this 1991 illustration • The last page of…

Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "It's hard not to get swept away your first time reading this book through. The gentle tug of the stories' allure that keeps you reading is hard to ignore so it's recommended you give in. Read it all the way through at your own pace. Once you're done, wait a few days or a couple weeks even, and then read it again. A Drunken Dream and Other Stories is a collection of subtleties as much as it is one of short stories. While the plots themselves are straight-forward enough (taking to mind how strange…

Via multiple sources originating with Milo George comes word that Daniel Raeburn has put all 4 issues of his seminal zine The Imp online for free download. With issues on Daniel Clowes, Jack Chick, Chris Ware and Mexican pulp comics, this highly influential publication left behind quite a legacy.

Cartoonist and former Fantagraphics Art Director Pat Moriarity's artwork was all over last week's episode of Showtime's WEEDS series (making for one of the most obscure Buddy Bradley cameos ever, in the process), check it out:   Visit Pat's website HERE.