Fantagraphics Blog

Ivan Brunetti presents: Hellzapoppin'Tuesday, February 16 – 9:35 p.m.H.C. Potter, 1941, 84 minArchival 35mm print from the Library of Congress   On February 16, Doc invites comic artist Ivan Brunetti to curate and introduce an evening of anarchy, featuring a screening of the zany 1941 classic Hellzapoppin'. Originally produced by vaudeville duo Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson as a long-running Broadway revue, Hellzapoppin' is unlike any other film from the period, featuring an indescribably absurd barrage of gags, musical numbers, and special effects – which even includes a descent into Hell. Ostensibly about an aspiring scriptwriter played by a pre-Stooges…

Stranger Books Editor Paul Constant conducted a great interview with Gahan Wilson in anticipation of his Seattle appearance this weekend. 

  It's an exciting day here at the office, as Gahan Wilson is about to get on a plane in New York and fly to Seattle for his first visit to Fantagraphics (don't miss his appearance at the Fantagraphics Bookstore on Saturday night!). Tomorrow morning, I will have the great pleasure of taking him to our local NPR station, KUOW, where Wilson will be a guest on their "Weekday" morning program with host Steve Scher. Don't miss it!

Steven generously let us paw all over his incredible sketchbook when he was in town for his Chocolate Cheeks book signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery last Saturday. Check out our Flickr photoset for a few more views of the event; we should have more photos to share as soon as Jacob gets 'em to me.

Seattle Public Library has posted an MP3 (64.2 MB) of Peter Bagge's Jan. 30 talk at the Central Library. Synch it up with the photo slideshow (which autoplays, but you can pause and navigate manually — skip ahead to the third image to start) and it's almost like you were there!

Here's your first glimpse at the final cover art for the new collection of Dame Darcy's Meatcake, coming 'round about May or so. Stay tuned for more details.

We're a bit late with this update but perhaps your comics will be too, due to East Coast Snowpocalypse '010? It's a big day for Fantagraphics releases at comic shops across the land today, with the following titles scheduled to ship: Chocolate Cheeks By Steven Weissman Newsarama calls it "adorably dark — or perhaps darkly adorable," Robot 6's Chris Mautner asserts "If you like the Our Gang comics or Archie or the general 'kids pal around, go on adventures and make each other miserable' type of comic, chances are you'll really like this," The Stranger's Paul Constant called it "a…

Point your peepers (and your clickers): • How long has Kaz had these animated Underworld strips up at mylittlefunny.com? Am I late to the game? They're super well done — animation, music and voice talent, all spot on (link via Tony Millionaire) • A latter-day sketch by Jim Flora • Happy Family, 2005, Josh Simmons • Wednesday means a new installment of Steven Weissman's "This Already Happened" at What Things Do

Just a few Online Commentary & Diversions links: • List: I'm a little short on time so I'm afraid I'll just have to link to Rob Clough's Top 100 Comics of the '00s Part One at The Comics Journal without quoting or outlining the Fantagraphics entries but rest assured there's plenty of them • Review: "[King of the Flies Vol. 1: Hallorave] features a series of short stories which at first seem completely unrelated but eventually begin to tie together to reveal a larger picture of depravity, lust, drug abuse and other sinister events taking place in a town that…

Well, today was the first of many Waffle Wednesdays here in the Fantagraphics office. We had two kinds of waffles: regular Belgian waffles and gluten free waffles (for our wheat-free designer). Steph, our new office manager, brought in a myriad of fruits and three different kinds of syrup! Even our very own Kim Thompson brought two types of orange juices, no pulp and some pulp. I used Emeril Lagassse's recipe of waffles, because it was the first one to pop up in my Google search. In the coming weeks I plan to spice things up by adding special ingredients. My…