Fantagraphics Blog

I made brief mention of this in yesterday's "Things to see" but it deserves better notice than that. Congratulations to Mome contributor T. Edward Bak on being awarded a residency in Alaska (our second artist headed up there this year, hot on the heels of Jim Woodring)! He needs your help in covering his expenses and is selling original pages (I've seen them and they're beautiful) to raise funds. Here's his plea in his own words: "So, last week, I was awarded this artist residency in Talkeetna, Alaska, through Seattle's La Familia gallery. I'm planning on being up there through the month of July,…

Michael Kupperman, creator of the sensational TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE comic books and the animated cartoon characters "Snake ‘n' Bacon," appears in Seattle for the first time on Saturday, May 8, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. The book signing will include an exhibition of Kupperman's exquisite original art and will mark the debut of the 6th issue of Tales Designed to Thrizzle.  Kupperman's unique graphic sensibility combines elements of anachronistic pulp detective magazines textured with sophisticated references to contemporary art and popular culture creating a seductive and absurdist aesthetic. The most recent issue of Tales…

Artichoke Tales by Megan Kelso 232-page monochrome 6.75" x 8.25" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-344-6 Ships in: June 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Megan Kelso has proved herself a master of the cartoon short story with Queen of the Black Black (1998) and The Squirrel Mother (2006). With Artichoke Tales, six years in the making, Kelso expands her range (and her page count) by creating a family saga spanning three generations and an entire continent. Artichoke Tales is a coming-of-age story about a young girl named Brigitte whose family is caught between the two warring sides of a civil…

Daily clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources: • Spanish-language newspaper El País publishes a Joe Sacco cover for their literature supplement • The cover of Jon Vermilyea's forthcoming turtle-flavored minicomic Pizza Time • This is a photo John Pham posted on Facebook of a piece he has in the Poketo "Los Angeles I'm Yours" art show at Space 1520 in LA which opened on Saturday and which also features handmade minicomics by Jordan Crane • Also on Facebook, Bill Griffith posts this one-page story (excerpted above) which was recently published in a new book about…

Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Peter Bagge’s not-so-yearly update on the life and times of his signature character Buddy Bradley takes up about half of Hate Annual #8… It’s a funny story with a confident, natural progression and some keen observations to make… [T]his is… a welcome renewal of one of alt-comics’ most treasured series… [Grade] A-" – The A.V. Club • Review: "The mid-’70s found Schulz pushing the strip further and further into the oddball, mixing fantasy and reality in extended storylines… The strip as a whole feels less scrappy and more settled in this era, though it’s…

San Franciscans, catch Dash Shaw at Isotope tomorrow night — he'll be talking and signing from 7 PM to midnight.

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS AND ROSEBUD ARCHIVES ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP, LAUNCHING WEB SALES OF RARE AND BEAUTIFUL CARTOON ART IN A VARIETY OF FORMATS SEATTLE WA, / DUMONT NJ, APRIL 8, 2010 — Fantagraphics Books and Rosebud Archives have announced an agreement to market a wide variety of products related to vintage comics and posters, historical cartoons, advertising images, and illustration. The product lines will include prints, posters, framed art, books, stationery, and a hybrid format called the Rosebud PadFolio. The products are available for sale immediately on Fantagraphics.com: http://www.fantagraphics.com/rosebud  “We are proud to be allied with Fantagraphics, whose commitment to quality and…

Movieline has the scoop on Dash Shaw's animated feature film, THE RUINED CAST, going to the Sundance Directors Lab this June. This is huge news! The Director's lab has launched the careers of directors like Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson. We're pullin' for ya, Dash!