Fantagraphics Blog

Here are the book reviews that turned up around the web on this relatively quiet week: • The incredibly-named I Love Rob Liefeld recommends Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 for fellow L&R newbies; the more sensibly-named Read About Comics looks at the issue as well; Johnny Bacardi gives it an "A" (scroll about halfway down) • Former Fantagraphics intern Michael Jewell recommends The Complete Love and Rockets in Savannah College of Art & Design's District • Brazilian blog Quadrinhos Coquettes takes note of Mome • Comic Book Bin looks at Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by…

Go read: Gilbert Hernandez does the Simpsons!  

Time for a new installment of Steven Weissman's in-progress pages from "Blue Jay," an epic 32-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures. In this week's episode: somebody gets Rocky Roaded! (Remember, you must be registered and logged in to read.)

Good or bad, they don't make trading cards as intriguing as this anymore.

Because no one demanded it! Peter Bagge & I reunite on the Inkstuds Hour of Power to talk about our old band, The Action Suits. But not before Pete and the Inkstuds crew talk about just how fucked up America is! Above comic by Jaime Hernandez.

  This is the first time I've seen this cover large enough to make out the structure of the speech and thought balloons and it kills me. This is brilliant. I want to write an essay about the concept of this one panel as it relates to marketing this subject to the varied audience it is reaching out to in the era that it is doing so but I'm not gifted at essay writing. Dan Clowes is genius and I begrudgingly understand why my wife has a goddamn "celebrity crush" on him.

Chicagoans! You've got 2 hours to hie ye'self down to Quimby's to see a reading by Anders Nilsen at 7 PM. Sez Anders on his blog, "I'll be showing a sort of preview of the forthcoming Monologues for Calculating the Density of Black Holes (Monologues II-Fantagraphics Books, due out in February) as well as a video-ized version of the strip Event, which first appeared in Mome, back in 2005, and was originally conceived as a video, not a comic strip. Which explains why it doesn't really look like one. Joe Meno and Arthur Nersesian are also reading."

Tarzan Menko Cards.

Next week we'll be making a full announcement of all of our guests and programming at SPX (Oct. 4-5 in Bethesda, MD) — stay tuned! In the meantime, here's a 30-second YouTube commercial for the Expo to give you a glimpse of the scene:

09.25.2008 Bottomless: Dash Shaw Art ExhibitionDuke University, John Hope Franklin Center2204 Erwin Road, Durham, NC 27708 17:30-19:30 09.26.2008 Discussion between Dash Shaw & Gary PanterDuke University, John Hope Franklin Center, Room 2402204 Erwin Road, Durham, NC 27708 12:00 Bottomless, an exhibition of original drawings, storyboards, color background overlays and a video animation by Dash Shaw will be on display at the John Hope Franklin Center, 2204 Erwin Road from Thursday, September 25 through October 31. The exhibition is curated by Diego Cortez. The opening is September 25, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. At noon on Friday, September 26 in Franklin Center 240, Shaw will be joined by noted graphic…