Fantagraphics Blog

  I was very sorry to read this morning that the great David Levine passed away yesterday. Fantagraphics was fortunate to publish Levine's AMERICAN PRESIDENTS last year, and it's a wonderful showcase of his singular talent. Our heart goes out to Mr. Levine's family. For more on Mr. Levine, I highly recommend this excellent VANITY FAIR feature from last fall. 

As most Wednesday Warriors are aware, this is a bye week in the Diamond Comics shipping schedule, so no new comics from us or other publishers distributed by Diamond will be arriving in shops. Some enterprising folks have declared this Indy Comic Book Week, seizing the opportunity to promote independent, local, and small press publishers and creators. While we won't be participating directly, by gosh do we ever support this effort in spirit, so visit the website for the list of participating shops and more information, and go support the independent spirit with your wallet — Fantagraphics readers tend to…

Okay okay, "vinyl figurine." Designed by Archer Prewitt, coming soon from our pals at Presspop.

We published You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! with the sincere belief that it, combined with the previous volume I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!, comprised the complete comics work of Fletcher Hanks. Lo and behold, on Christmas day Seattle-based comics writer Frank M. Young posted scans of two heretofore undiscovered stories on his blog Trick Coin which have been positively identified by Hanks expert Paul Karasik: "The second story is taken directly from the final Big Red McLane tale with the captions rewritten and the faces re-rendered (possibly by another hand). "But the first story really…

Gird yourself for an epic installment of Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: Critic Robert Boyd names his top 15 Best Comics of 2009, with You Are There by Tardi & Forest at #2, Popeye Vol. 4 at #7 ("top-notch, Segar at his greatest"), Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me by Peter Bagge at #12 ("very, very funny") and You'll Never Know, Book 1 by C. Tyler at #13 ("a glorious mess, but a moving and beautiful one") • List: Comic Book Resources columnist Greg Hatcher names his Best Reprint Collections of 2009, including The Complete Peanuts ("truly wonderful… not…

Derek Van Gieson is posting sneak peeks of upcoming projects including part 3 of his story "Devil Doll," which should appear in Vol. 19 of Mome this coming summer (part 1 debuts in the just-out Vol. 17).

My totally awesome and amazing wife commissioned this "jumble" of iconic cartoon characters from our good pal Jeremy Eaton as a Christmas gift to me. I am a lucky man. Can you name them all? Sorry for the glare.   

(YouTube link) UPDATE: Johnny Ryan writes in to state: “Baby Johnson is my character from XXX Scumbag Party. Scott ‘Tony’ Richardson stole it. He’s a thief and a fraud.” Ooooooo!

Shortly before Christmas, we had a Fantagraphics holiday party hosted by yours truly and Mrs. Truly. I forgot to take any pictures, which is a shame, because a splendid time was had by all. Most of the Fanta staff was in attendance, with the noticeable exception of Ms. Kristy Valenti, although her presence was most certainly felt, thanks to a gift delivered via partner-in-crime Gavin Lees (apologies in advance for the crappy photo evidence):  Kristy created a Fantagraphics-themed custom version of the ol' CLUE board game, featuring representations of most of the Fanta office staff and set in the palatial mansion of…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. By Dash Shaw One part MOME collection, one part authorized IFC Channel spinoff, the first quarter of this jacketed hardcover collects the work — storyboards, scripts, character designs, etc. — that Shaw has created for a series of original shorts for IFC.com. The latter 3/4ths collect his acclaimed short stories from MOME, as well as several little-seen stories from elsewhere, and a new 20 page story. The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. is Shaw’s first book since his breakthrough graphic novel…