Fantagraphics Publication Dates for April-May 2008

These are release dates to the bookstore market. Release dates in the direct-sales (comic book store) market may occur a couple of weeks earlier. Dates are not final and subject to change; please direct press inquiries to Eric Reynolds. WEEK OF APRIL 9 The Clouds Above softcover edition by Jordan Crane Daddy's Girl by Debbie Drechsler The Education of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez Most Outrageous by Bob Levin WEEK OF APRIL 23 Funeral of the Heart by Leah Hayes Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin The Complete Peanuts 1967-1968 (Vol. 9) by Charles Schulz Hall of…

Leah Hayes Hits New York & Austin with New Book & CD

Presenting FUNERAL OF THE HEART, the new graphic novel by LEAH HAYES and Scary Mansion’s debut CD, EVERY JOKE IS HALF THE TRUTH. WHO: Leah Hayes WHAT: Art Exhibition and Book Signing WHERE: Rocketship WHERE: 208 Smith St. WHERE: Brooklyn, NY 11201 WHERE: 718.797.1348 tel. WHEN: Friday, March 7, 8PM WHO: Leah Hayes & Scary Mansion WHAT: South By Southwest Music Festival Showcase WHERE: The Hideout WHERE: 617 Congress Ave. WHERE: Austin, TX 78701 WHERE: 512.443.3688 tel. WHEN: Wed., March 12, 10PM WHO: Leah Hayes & Scary Mansion WHAT: In-Store Music Performance and Book Signing WHERE: Austin Books WHERE: 5002…

Daddy’s Girl – Exclusive Preview

A New Edition of a Long Out-of-Print Fantagraphics Classic {product_snapshot:id=1442,true,false,true,left}Fantagraphics Books is proud to re-release one of the most powerful and moving books in its distinguished publishing history: Debbie Drechsler’s first collection of short comic stories, Daddy’s Girl. Originally published in 1995 and distributed only to comic book specialty stores, Daddy’s Girl was ahead of its time: Two years before The Kiss, Kathryn Harrison’s critically acclaimed story of her incestuous relationship with her father, Drechsler’s account of her abuse at the hands of her father, told from the point of view of an adolescent, is one of the most searingly…

Hall of Best Knowledge – Exclusive Preview

A Bold New Direction in Comics {product_snapshot:id=1444,true,false,true,left}Ray Fenwick has pioneered his own medium of storytelling, one best described as “typographical comics.” Hall of Best Knowledge is presented as a handsome, personal journal written by an unnamed voice, referred to only as “The Author.” Little is known about him; he makes occasional, derogatory references to a twin brother and younger sibling, but reveals little else. He clearly fashions himself a genius, writing with a faux-aristocratic air, and it is presumably his belief in his own genius that leads him to want to share his knowledge with the world. Each page features…

MOME Interview 6: Tim Hensley

This interview is reprinted in its entirety from MOME Vol. 6. Tim Hensley was born in 1966 in Bloomington, Indiana. Besides a familiarity with his comics, this is everything I knew about him before I spoke to him on September 2. He filled in the details: He moved to LA (where he still lives) at age 3. His father was a successful musician who had a psychedelic rock band in Indiana called Masters of Deceit. In LA he did session work for such unpromising acts as Pia Zadora and Pink Lady, but went on to become Neil Diamond’s piano player…

MOME Interview 5: Andrice Arp

This interview is reprinted in its entirety from MOME Vol. 5. Andrice Arp was born in 1969 in Altadena, California, where she grew up in the ’70s and ’80s. Her mother was an artist — a sculptor, performance artist and, most recently, a novelist — and probably influenced her future vocation. Her father is an astronomer, whose profession apparently did not influence her quite as much. She was by no means a comics geek. She remembers reading beautiful childen’s books when she was a little girl, as well as the work of Edward Gorey, Charles Addams, B. Kliban, and Tove…

MOME Interview 4: Jonathan Bennett

This interview is reprinted in its entirety from MOME Vol. 4. It was practically inevitable that Jonathan Bennett would become a cartoonist: Growing up in Syosset, a suburb on Long Island, he was a comics geek at an early age, reading newspaper strips first (Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Ziggy), then graduating, if that is the word, to shitty Marvel comics at the age of eight or nine. I use the word ‘shitty’ advisedly since Jonathan admitted to loving Marvel’s Secret Wars II series, one of the most incontestably awful comics series ever conceived. But apparently nothing could stop the young…

MOME Interview 3: Kurt Wolfgang

This interview is reprinted in its entirety from MOME Vol. 3. Kurt Wolfgang, the old man of MOME, was a late bloomer, which may be why he’s the old man of MOME. He always drew and always drew comics, but he never read comic books as a kid, much less obsessed over them. He read a handful of newspaper strips, but as he sagely put it, most of the strips in the ’70s were “crappy,” so he didn’t read many of them — though he did manage to take one of Joe Kubert’s ancillary weekend comics courses when he was…

MOME Interview 2: Gabrielle Bell

This interview is reprinted in its entirety from MOME Vol. 2. {mosimage}Gabrielle Bell was born in London, England in 1976, but was raised in Mendocino County, California, with three siblings. Many cartoonists, especially of the alternative stripe, relate a stereotyped childhood of alienation and anomie; Gabrielle had a leg up on most of them: She was raised in an isolated, bohemian mountain enclave. Her parents grew and sold pot for a living, as did many of her friends’ parents. It probably didn’t help that the community was split between pot entrepreneurs and rednecks who worked at the local wood mill….

MOME Interview 1: Paul Hornschemeier

This interview is reprinted in its entirety from MOME Vol. 1. My first exposure to Paul Hornschemeier‘s work was Mother, Come Home, which I read sometime in late 2003. It impressed me enough to start the gears churning, and I remember thinking that the three-issue comics series would make a good graphic novel; I made a mental note to contact this Hornschemeier fellow and inquire about the possibility of collecting it. I didn’t know that copies of the collected graphic novel were en route to America from an Asian printer and would be in stores within weeks. But at least…