Fantagraphics Blog

Explainers: The Complete Village Voice Strips (1956-66) – 2nd Printing By Jules Feiffer (The first printing of Explainers was a rapid sellout! The second edition is, apart from a few typographical corrections and a new cover price, identical to the first.) In 1956, a relatively unknown cartoonist by the name of Jules Feiffer started contributing a strip to the only alternative weekly published in the US, a small radical newspaper called The Village Voice. His strip tackled just about every issue, private and public, that affected the sentient American: relationships, sexuality, love, family, parents, children, psychoanalysis, neuroses, presidents, politicians, media,…

  Chris Irving has a great profile of the legendary MAD and HUMBUG cartoonist Al Jaffee up at the Graphic NYC site.

Now available for preview and pre-order: the new, first-ever hardcover edition of Paul Hornschemeier's acclaimed graphic novel debut Mother, Come Home. Praised by everyone from Will Eisner to Entertainment Weekly when it was first released, this book has been out of print for quite some time. Mother, Come Home is scheduled to be in stock in late February and in stores approximately 4 weeks later. View a photo and video slideshow preview above (click here if it is not visible, and/or to view it larger in a new window), and visit the product details page for a downloadable 14-page PDF…

Now available for preview and pre-order: Ho! The Morally Questionable Cartoons of Ivan Brunetti. Compiling the panels that put the "gag" in "gag strip" from past volumes Hee! and Haw!, plus a smattering of new material, Ho! is discreetly presented in an uninviting, funereal package of unglamorous black and white. Ho! is scheduled to be in stock in late February and in stores approximately 4 weeks later. View a photo and video slideshow preview above (click here if it is not visible, and/or to view it larger in a new window), and visit the product details page for a downloadable…

Scheduled to arrive at your local comic shop this week: Castle Waiting Vol. II #14 by Linda Medley. As previously noted, Castle Waiting comics arrive in comic shops before we have the issues available here on the website, so hit your area brick-n-mortar if you want the issue now! Here's a first look at the cover: (A small meta note: from now on we'll only be posting New Comics Day updates on weeks when we actually have new titles shipping to comic shops. No update means nothing new from us that week.)

• List: Rina Ayuyang posts her Best of the Year comics list, with Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga and Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane on it • Review: Vice gets a 5 year old kid's verdict on Johnny Ryan's Angry Youth Comix dolls • Blurb: Precocious Curmudgeon looks at this week's new comics, recommends Castle Waiting Vol. II #14 by Linda Medley (which will be in stores before we have it for sale here) • Interview: Optimum Wound gets all kinds of information out of Ho Che Anderson • Things to see/interview: The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog posts a trove…

From photographer Jennifer Juniper Stratford, behind the scenes at Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable video shoot, starring Leslie Hall!

NOTHING SAYS LOVE LIKE COMIX! Looking for a perfect Valentine’s gift for that special someone? Or just want to catch up on your reading during dreary winter weather? You’re in luck! Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle is mounting a special sale of lovely comix and graphic novels this Thursday through Saturday, February 12, 13 and 14. Hundreds of new and slightly damaged books are reduced from 20% to 50%. While bargain hunting, you can view our delightful new exhibition, UNLOVABLE by Esther Pearl Watson, and check out new offerings by some of your favorite Fantagraphics artists. And don’t miss…