Fantagraphics Blog

At the risk of making Nate Neal uneasy, reluctant self-promoter that he is, we'd like to point out that he's made three collections of his work available as downloadable comics — each is well over 50 pages for just $3.99.  There's a collection of his Mome stories to date (pictured), a collection of his stories from the Hoax anthology, and a collection of his work predating that. More info and links to purchase and preview the collections can all be found here.

Online Commentary & Diversions are not slowing down, no sir: • List: New York Magazine's Dan Kois names You'll Never Know, Book 1: A Good and Decent Man by C. Tyler one of the ten Best Comics of 2009 • List: The Daily Cross Hatch posts "The Best Damned Comics of the Decade Chosen by the Artists" — among the wide-ranging choices are I Killed Adolf Hitler by Jason, The Three Paradoxes by Paul Hornschemeier, Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco, The Complete Peanuts 1952-1953 (which doesn't exist, but 1950-1952 and 1953-1954 do), Ghost World and Eightball #22…

Join a bunch of Mome contributors for a party celebrating the release of the 17th volume of the anthology at Bergen Street Comics. Flyer by Derek Van Gieson. More details TBA.

If you want your order to arrive before Christmas, tomorrow (Monday, December 21) is the FINAL day to get your order in and you MUST select the 2nd Day UPS shipping option! Hop to it! Our handy Holiday Gift Guide will help you find lots of gift ideas for every interest and budget!

Friday webcomics are off next week due to Christmas (and possibly the week after due to New Year's). Enjoy! Tears of a clown in this week's The House of No by Derek Van Gieson… …we've all been there, am I right, in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan…. …and a festive booze recipe in this week's Barack Hussein Obama strip from Steven Weissman!

Live in Seattle? Like Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box? Tonight and tomorrow night at 9:30 at Central Cinema catch VIVA VHS, a rollicking compilation of tape-only rarities and oddities organized and curated by our pals at Scarecrow Video, who co-sponsored and participated in our Portable Grindhouse panel discussion at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery last weekend. Local synergy! Dig it!

Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: Critic John Seven names Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco one of the Decade's Best Graphic Novels, in a list focused on "graphic novels for people who don’t want to read comics." (via The Comics Reporter) • List: Matthew Price of The Oklahoman gives Ganges #3 the 9th position on his 10 Best Periodical Comic Books of 2009: "Kevin Huizenga continues to be one of comics' brightest indie creators… Huizenga uses his talents to immerse the reader inside Ganges' head." • List/reviews/analysis: On the Inkstuds radio program, a roundtable of prominent critics (Sean T….

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Sublife Vol. 2 By John Pham The acclaimed graphic novel anthology continues with Sublife, Volume 2. Creator John Pham enlarges the scope and expands the style of his series with an all-new collection of stories and strips. “The Kid” is a self-contained short story set in an eerily familiar post-apocalyptic future. Bloodthirsty marauders roam the blasted desert. A nomad and his dog, scavenging the road for gas and supplies, stumble upon a sealed bomb shelter, the contents of which will test whatever humanity he has left, as the marauders pursue him…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: The Great Anti-War Cartoons Edited by Craig Yoe For centuries, cartoonists have used their pens to fight a war against war, translating images of violent conflict into symbols of protest. Noted comics historian Craig Yoe brings the greatest of these artists together in one place, presenting the ultimate collection of anti-war cartoons. Together, these cartoons provide a powerful testament to the old adage, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” and remind us that so often in the last couple of centuries, it was the editorial cartoonist who could say the…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: The Definitive Prince Valiant Companion (Softcover Edition) Compiled by Brian Kane Out of print for over a decade, The Prince Valiant Companion has become a Holy Grail for collectors of the series. Now, in anticipation of the seventy-fifth anniversary of comics’ longest-running adventure strip, and to celebrate our own just-launched reprinting of the strip’s classic earliest years, Fantagraphics is proud to present an expanded version of this hard-to-find collector’s item. Compiled by award-winning Foster biographer Brian M. Kane, The Definitive Prince Valiant Companion beautifully showcases the careers of artists Hal Foster,…