Fantagraphics Blog

Another short Online Commentary & Diversions update: • Feature: Publishers Weekly spotlights King: The Special Edition. Calvin Reid talks to King creator Ho Che Anderson and Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth about the development of the book • Review: "Whatever the case, [The Squirrel Machine] is a compelling, fascinating journey through an often creepy and always striking world, one that's regularly quite hilarious… What can one make of that sort of thing? You might be able to attempt an interpretation, one that will be just as valid as any, but it's just as legitimate to go along for the ride and…

Blake Bell is plowing ahead with his forthcoming, highly-anticipated book Fire & Water: Bill Everett, The Sub-Mariner, and the Birth of Marvel Comics (preliminary cover art shown above subject to change), and you can track his progress on his Bill Everett Facebook page. In this update, he outlines the contents of each chapter and gives a general idea of what to expect in the book, which is on track for a September release.

Michael Kupperman is featured on Desktops of the Stars — look closely for what appears to be a teeny tiny icon of what might possibly be the cover to Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5 of course I meant #6 (enlarged above).

Yeah, you.  We need a publicity & marketing intern.  Although this is an unpaid gig, what you don't receive in money, you'll gain in knowledge.  Ah, doesn't knowledge sound like a good time? There are lots of perks…like…umm…well…fancy office, fun coworkers, free coffee!   Just follow this link and get some details.  I promise to be really nice to you.  :•D 

Tim Lane's posted another page from his next book, Folktales, on his blog. That's a heck of a splash page — click through for the whole thing.

A bit late with the Online Commentary & Diversions today due to being a touch under the weather: • Review: "OK, [Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons] is very expensive, but Wilson's a lot cheaper than Zoloft. Some people fly their inner freak flags as a sign of liberation. This strange dude isn't sure there's another type of flag out there. In his world, there's always something over the horizon ready to eat you, blow you up or turn you into a homicidal maniac. Sounds a lot like life." – Laurel Maury, San Francisco Chronicle • Review: "…[An] exemplary…

One of the trickiest things about selecting interns is finding just the right balance of a person who will be helpful, but who will also gain something useful from the experience. I was put in mind of this when Claire Burrows, a graduate student and an awesome winter intern, just sent a lovely goodbye e-mail which included this line: "I feel like I achieved what I came for, plus had some excellent conversations (my next blog: talking cats who use sex as a weapon)." Ah, Claire, you've learned your lessons well. Thank you for your help and good luck with…

Sand & Fury: A Scream Queen Adventure By Ho Che Anderson 144-page two-color 7.5" x 9" softcover • $16.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-321-7 Ships in February 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Sand & Fury is a story of blood, of sex, of death — of sound and retribution. It opens as a girl by the side of a desert road accepts a ride from a stranger. How could she know that behind that wheel sits the angel of death? Of course, even the angel of death once had a life. During that life, death was a successful business woman, with a…

King of the Flies Vol. 1: Hallorave By Mezzo & Pirus 64-page full-color 9" x 12.5" hardcover • $18.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-320-0 Ships in February 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Set in a suburb that is both nowhere and everywhere, King of the Flies is a glorious bastard, combining the intricacy and subtlety of the best European graphic novels with a hyperdetailed, controlled noir style derived from the finest American cartoonists. Mezzo and Pirus, previously best known in Europe for a series of cynical, brutal gangster stories, have abandoned their guns and gals for this cycle of suburban stories, but…