Just as we received our office copies of the new issue of Previews, we've already submitted our March 2010 releases for the next issue, and as always we just can't wait to give our website readers an exclusive first look at our offerings! It's another big month — heck, I guess they all are — with 9 books & comics headed your way. We've got us another Jacques Tardi masterpiece (pictured above), the next volume of The Complete Peanuts, a brand new Hate Annual from Peter Bagge, another great collection of Walt Kelly's Our Gang, our new collection of the…
Previews: Fantagraphics Releases for March 2010
As seen in the pages of Previews, these are the books and comics slated for release by Fantagraphics Books in March, 2010. Please note that all details, including cover art, prices, specs, contents, and release dates are preliminary and subject to change. IT WAS THE WAR OF THE TRENCHES by Jacques Tardi 128 pgs / BW / 7.75 x 10.5 / HC / $24.99 ISBN 978-1-60699-353-8 World War I, that awful, gaping wound in the history of Europe, has long been an obsession of Jacques Tardi’s. It Was the War of the Trenches is Tardi’s defining, masterful statement on the…
New Comics Day 12/9/09
Well technically it's not comics, but arriving in comic shops across the land this week (hot on the heels of its arrival at our warehouse) is Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box. Newsarama says "it looks totally awesome," and who are we to argue? Of course, the BEST comic shop at which to pick up this book (up at which?) is Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery this weekend at our Portable Grindhouse launch/3rd Anniversary Party & Portable Grindhouse panel discussion! Barring that, though, I'm sure your local shop would love to see you. (Also out this week and…
Daily OCD: 12/8/09
Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: The American Book Center in Amsterdam names Rock Candy: The Artwork of Femke Hiemstra one of its Books of 2009 • Review: "…[T]here’s one reason why Pim & Francie pulls off the unlikely feat of being more than the sum of its fragmented, disconnected, half-inked parts: it’s terrifying. … The book… hangs in your head long after you close your eyes." – Martyn Pedler, Bookslut • Plug/Name Drop: Whitney Matheson of USA TODAY's Pop Candy blog calls Dash Shaw's IFC.com web series The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. "colorful and captivating" (and…
C. Tyler: Comic-Con Special Guest
The Comic-Con organization has announced the Special Guests for Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego, and we're pleased to report that among them is C. Tyler. We're going to do our darnedest to debut You'll Never Know, Book 2 at the con. Stay tuned for future announcements.
Abandoned Cars softcover back covers
At his blog, Tim Lane reveals the back covers for the paperback edition of Abandoned Cars coming next year (note that the bar code and ISBN have yet to be added). Head over there for larger images and Tim's inspiration for the design. Let me just say that he totally nailed that flea market/used bookstore price handwriting, which seems to be the same wherever you go. Previously: the front covers.
Virtue & vice
Do a good deed, and then gamble with the results: Donate $20 to The Stranger's annual "Strangercrombie" charity fundraising effort and get a set of Stranger playing cards featuring artwork by Stranger illustrators such as Steven Weissman (King of Spades above). Hopefully Jeremy Eaton is in there too. Find the donation link on the right side of this page. UPDATE: You can also bid on an auction including a $50 gift certificate to Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, and The Stranger's sister publication the Portland Mercury has their own charity auctions, one of which includes a selection of our best-selling essentials….
Happy birskday, E.C. Segar
Popeye creator and cartooning all-time great E.C. Segar would have been 115 today. Even Google is getting in on the celebration on their homepage today! I'm going to celebrate by reading Popeye Vol. 4: "Plunder Island". (The "Google doodle" is uncredited, but I wonder if it's by Stephen DeStefano, who's done Popeye work in the past…)
The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. debuts on IFC.com
Dash Shaw's animated web series for IFC.com, The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. (to which the book of the same name is the companion), is now online for your viewing pleasure! (Don't be thrown off by the preceding "sponsor messages.") There are 4 episodes plus a "making-of" segment with interviews with Dash, animator Jane Samborski, and soundtrack artist James Lucido. And as a bonus, IFC has put Dash's story "Look Forward, First Son of Terra Two," along with some exclusive wallpapers and “buddy icons,” under "Extras."
Portable Grindhouse at Scarecrow Video
How rad is this: the folks down the street at Seattle's rightly venerated Scarecrow Video have gone through Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box and put together a special rental section of titles found in the book. (Take a close look at the image above.) Scarecrow's Marc Palm, who will appear on Sunday's Portable Grindhouse panel at Fantagraphics Bookstore, explains on the Scarecrow blog.
