Fantagraphics Blog

Yesterday's Los Angeles Times Book Review features Blake Bell's Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko on the cover, and Geoff Boucher's review inside says "the book is an extremely satisfying archive of the artist's work, both famous and obscure, and… it intensely documents the twists and turns of his career." Blake is keeping track of more reviews on his own website, including the "A+" the book received from Sci-Fi Magazine, who call the book "an essential tribute to one of pop culture's most essential creators."

  The comics world has a new heir. Arriving just one day before her daddy's birthday, Clementine Bean Reynolds was born Saturday afternoon (June 21) at 3:15 PM in Ballard's Swedish Hospital in Seattle. She weighed 7lbs, 2 oz, and is 20 inches long. And totally cute. Congratulations to Fantagraphics' right-hand man (and its kind face), Eric Reynolds, and his wife Rhea Patton. 

On his blog, our good friend Neil Gaiman declares his love for Jules Feiffer's Explainers, reprints his introduction from our 1997 edition of Feiffer's Tantrum, and confirms that yes, he still has this Feiffer print.

Here are reviews and other items of interest that we found around the web this week: • In The New York Times Sunday Book Review, Steven Heller gives Ray Fenwick's Hall of Best Knowledge a very nice mention • Art Blog By Bob looks at Comic Arf • Alan David Doane delves into Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button, as do ComicMix and Sequart • The Comics Reporter on Jason's Pocket Full of Rain • If your dad is a veteran and you didn't get him a copy of Willie & Joe for Father's day, reading this will make you feel…

Once again it's time for your weekly installment of Steven Weissman's "Chocolate Cheeks"! In this week's strip: laying an age-old controversy to rest. (Remember, you must be registered and logged in to read.)

Put some Boobs (Pooter) on your computer screen! We've just added a new desktop wallpaper to our collection of free downloads, based on the cover to Angry Youth Comix #14: 800 x 600 | 1024 x 768 | 1152 x 864 | 1280 x 960 | 1280 x 720 | iPhone And hey, why not in avatar form, too? And why not another new avatar featuring a character from Jason's Pocket Full of Rain? Well here you go (and here's our avatar collection):

Tyler Stout taught me how to silkscreen when we were in school together. I shoulda paid more attention to what he was doing instead of polishing up my latest  "design a menu for a fictional restaurant" assignment or whatever. Now he's doing some of the most mind-blowing poster work around. If you like the Flight of the Conchords or maybe just his crazy great illustrations for their latest album and tour, you may want to pick up this very limited edition glow-in-the-dark x-ray poster. DETAILS HERE. And check out his film posters while you're there.

Courtesy Will Eisner, drawn on the now-legendary 2000 CBLDF Cruise:

Jules Feiffer gives a nice one-on-one to Chris Mautner. 

  Newsarama talks to Kim Deitch about his new book, Deitch's Pictorama, debuting at Comicon this summer.