Fantagraphics Blog

While Stevie Weissman's kid is away at camp he's asking people like you and Johnny Ryan (above) to "do battle" with li'l Charles' Shark Team drawing. Check Weissman's blog for updates– so far there are three contributions. Here is the template so you can be a part of the action!

Every day in July we're spotlighting books from our month-long Hidden Gems Sale, wherein we're featuring some of our under-the-radar backlist titles and encouraging you to try them by offering them at a nice discount of 25% off! Today's installment features a great collection of classic '50s romance comics compiled and edited by John Benson: Romance Without Tears A first-time collection of the best romance comics of the 1950s. These bright, naturalistic tales (originally published by Archer St. John and written by unrecognized comics master Dana Dutch) are about high school girls who may be inexperienced but definitely have minds…

Where "The Spirit" failed, "The Dark Knight" dominates. THAT is a great teaser poster. You could bother with posting three separate images to make one weak image for a teaser campaign or you could do THAT. (Maybe without the bogus Photoshopping– I've never graff'ed a day in my life but those lines would be more upset by the mortar than what's happening here.) If you're anywhere near an Imax theatre then you should consider seeing the movie there: complete with a simulated fight and some drinks in Seattle.

Yesterday I found out one of my previous Flog posts about a dollhouse ended up linked to at least one honest-to-god porn site. Who are these people looking for childhood memories thrown in with their porn? Today it's Google. I work in comics so, from time to time, I may look for an image of "manga porn" in a search engine in order to send an obnoxious joke email to a coworker. On the very first page of results this is what I got:   That would be Chris Ware in the bottom row, which was surprising. At least until…

The Comics Journal #291 Edited by Michael Dean & Kristy Valenti; Gary Groth, executive editor This issue’s cover interview is with comics artist Tim Sale, the house artist for the television series Heroes. Sale’s artwork has also graced prestigious mainstream projects such as Batman: the Long Halloween, Spider-Man Blue and Superman Confidential. The Eisner winner chats about his stylized takes on characters such as Spider-Man, Batman, Daredevil, Catwoman and Superman, as well as his earlier work on comics such as Grendel, and elaborates on the dynamics of collaborating with writers such as Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke. The Journal queries…

Usagi Yojimbo Book 5: Lone Goat and Kid (New Softcover Edition) By Stan Sakai Now in a new softcover printing with a newly-designed cover! This fifth volume collects the epic-length "Blood Wings," in which Usagi battles a fearsome clan of ninja bats, while "Lone Goat and Kid" offers a cunning and affectionate parody of the famous "Lone Wolf and Cub" manga while doubling as one of Usagi's most dramatic and heartfelt adventures. "Frost and Fire" and "The Way of the Samurai" provide the psychological drama of this volume, which is rounded out by one of the most unique Usagi tales…

Every day in July we're spotlighting books from our month-long Hidden Gems Sale, wherein we're featuring some of our under-the-radar backlist titles and encouraging you to try them by offering them at a nice discount of 25% off! Today's installment features Swedish artist Max Andersson, whose work Charles Burns describes as "my kind of fun": Pixy Alka Seltzer and Angina Pectoris have all the luck — bad, that is. They've been ejected into the street because their apartment was put to sleep, Angina had to abort their child (the result of a malfunctioning Safe-Sex bodysuit) — how could it get…

Hey Canada, happy Canada Day! Canadians (specifically, Ottawans) can spend America's big national holiday on Friday, July 4, at the opening of an exhibit of Dave Cooper's preliminary pencil sketches for his paintings of pillowy women (see Overbite and Underbelly) at Galerie La Petite Mort from 7-10 PM.

Todd DePastino, editor of WILLIE & JOE: THE WWII YEARS by Bill Mauldin, appeared on the Mr. Media podcast on BlogTalkRadio this afternoon. Listen here!