Fantagraphics Blog

Secret Headquarters in Los Angeles has the event for you on Friday, March 20th. Johnny Ryan will be signing brand new copies of his newest collection with a gold embossed and genitalia-ed cover: ANGRY YOUTH COMIX. The party starts at 7pm so don't show at a quarter to ten like a jerk!   Angry Youth Comix follows the zany, infectious and hilarious bombardment of political incorrectness with your hosts Loady McGee, Sinus O'Gynus, Boobs Pooter and more. In an age when the comics' medium is growing up and aspiring to more mature and hoity-toity literary heights, Ryan builds on the visceral tradition that cartooning…

Jazz erupted onto the American music landscape in the 1900s, evolving rapidly and spreading internationally like wildfire. Les McCann, an American soul jazz musician whose first major album Swiss Movement was a huge Billboard pop chart success, always had a 35mm camera close at hand to capture candids of dozens of jazz artists, both on stage and off. This never-before-seen treasure trove of images provides a unique insider's perspective into the world of jazz and is collected here in Invitation to Openness: The Jazz & Soul Photography of Les McCann 1960-1980. Curated by Pat Thomas and Alan Abrahams, Invitation to…

Associate Publisher and bad-ass 'round the world, Eric Reynolds, just returned from Angouleme with this sweet newspaper and we immediately scanned it!This cover of the daily newspaper Libération graced every newsstand in Angouleme over the weekend. How many Fantagraphics-published characters can you identify? 

It's that time of year again! When sad boys and girls wait outside their mailbox for a letter, or constantly refresh their email for that higher mail number. Maybe it's someone waiting for a fresh-cut bouquet of flowers or (if you're like me and flowers are like giving someone a small pet to take care of) a box of chocolates. Maybe it's knowing others just suffer in the same universal waiting game, even though the waiting is what makes the receiving that much more delightful. Fear not. for Powell's City of Books in Portland, OR has the front of the store display…

In Solidarity — R.C. Harvey

Milan, Italy – Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea of Milan is hosting two American artists for its upcoming show entitled, "Family Lexicon", Esther Pearl Watson and Fred Stonehouse. Titled as such, the show sets out to explore personal symbolism and meanings that are born out of our families history and narrative. The exhibit will run from February 5th – March 21st 2015 with an opening reception on Feb. 5th, you know, if you happen to be in the Milan area, which we all wish we were. Juxtaposed against the strong Catholic icons of Stonehouse's paintings, Watson showcases her ossilating world between Texas and Italy in…

FEBRUARY 13th – At the book release party you won't want to miss next Friday, February 13th local comic book legend and raconteur, Peter Bagge, will be signing at Arcane Comics at 6pm. His newest book is a collection of the DC comic, Sweatshop, which discusses seedy underbelly of the comic book industry. Originally published as a six-issue series by DC Comics in 2003 this is one of the best and most undervalued works of one of the key voices of his generation. Sweatshop focuses on the unhappy, out-of-touch cartoonist, Mel Bowling. As the hand behind a very bad daily comic strip called Freddy Ferret (a cross between Dilbert…

Alexander Theroux is an award-winning writer whose notable achievements include the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, the Clifton Fadimon Medal for Fiction, a Fulbright Grant, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. We have curated a veritable tome of Theroux's poetry into this volume, appropriately titled Collected Poems. This 15-page downloadable excerpt provides just a taste of Theroux's wide array of poetic style. Give it a read, then head over to the book page to pre-order your copy today!

MILLENNIUM COURT ARTS CENTREJANUARY 23rd – FEBRUARY 28th 2015 Curated by Ben CrothersCurrently on display: YOUNG ADULT (or, a daring, urgent, malfunctioning age) exposes and investigates youth culture gone wrong. Fun, boredom, alcohol, sex, parties, drugs, gangs, violence and death collide in an array of video, photography, comic books and literature which straddles both sides of the Atlantic, exploring young adulthood in the UK and the United States, from Belfast and Manchester to New York and North Carolina. Featuring works by seminal cartoonists such as Daniel Clowes and Gilbert Hernandez in addition to the next generation of Charles Forsman and Noah Van Sciver, this show is a must see for the…

In Solidarity — Paul Karasik