We were flattered by the Seattle Weekly headline describing Saturday’s 3rd annual Hot Off the Press Book Fair as “Seattle’s Biggest Little Book Festival.” This effort demonstrates our continuing commitment to the local comix community. This year’s installment includes tables of handcrafted publications by cooperative presses and comix collectives, as well as feature presentations by Simon Hanselmann and Coin-Op Books. Complimentary beverages and pizza from Sizzle Pie will be served. Come out and support independent artists from Seattle and beyond. The book fair runs from 5:00 to 9:00 PM on July 8 at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Arrive…
What’s in Store: Hot Off the Press Book Fair!
Please join us at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery for our 3rd annual Hot Off the Press Book Fair on Saturday, July 8. This year’s edition features an array of accomplished regional, national, and international artists in the fields of comix, printmaking, and graphic art. Participants will engage in interactive art activities inside and outside the bookstore from 5:00 to 9:00 PM. The festivities will include an exhibition and book signing by bi-coastal siblings Peter and Maria Hoey of Coin-Op Books. Their postmodern approach to comix and graphic art combines elements of Art Deco, Dada, and Pop Art with current indie…
Digital Releases from Some Heavy Hitters
Whoa, what a week! We’ve got brand-new books from some of our best-sellers and crowd-pleasers, plus even more backlist titles at insanely low prices! One More Year continues to cement Simon Hanselmann as one of his generation’s defining graphic novelists. Megg the witch, Mogg the cat, and their friends Owl and Werewolf Jones are imbued with far more pathos and depth in One More Year, as Hanselmann’s protagonists never fail to surprise, delight, and horrify. You can now treat your tablet to this gorgeous new book through both comiXology and Google Play. Jason is back! On…
What’s in Store: Comic Book Day
This Saturday, May 6 marks the 15th anniversary of Free Comic Book Day. Or, as we at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery like to call it, Comic Book Day. We’ll offer complimentary copies of Fantagraphics Books’ World’s Greatest Cartoonists collection featuring new work by Noah Van Sciver, Simon Hanselmann, Jason, Ed Piskor, Liz Suburbia, Matt Furie, Anya Davidson, Dash Shaw, Richard Sala, Emil Ferris and more! We couldn’t help but notice over the years that calling this Free Comic Book Day seems to discourage patrons from purchasing any products. This situation has been accentuated coming on the heels of successful celebrations…
What’s in Store: Days to Remember
For the past decade, we’ve been privileged to share space with our retail partners at Georgetown Records. The shop specializes in vintage vinyl – everything from early punk, power pop, prog, soul, industrial, electronica, garage, psychedelic, rock n roll, and more. This Saturday, April 22 marks the 10th annual Record Store Day, a national celebration of record shops. To commemorate the occasion, Georgetown Records presents live music by two Seattle bands: the blue-eyed soul of Bonneville Power featuring our own Martin Bland on drums, and roots rockers Paper Dolls. The music starts a 4:00 PM, but drop by early to…
What’s in Store: Top Ten of 2016
It’s come time for Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid to select my favorite comix of 2016. A tough task this year with so many wonderful new books – a little like choosing which of my children I love the most. The choices are so close this list could easily be reversed. 10. Hey Lady. With a button affixed to the cover of each issue, I was immediately attracted to Regina Schilling’s zines. When I was able to fully absorb the contents, it became clear there was more to these creations than a clever premise and seductive artwork. Schilling selects a…
Re/Read: Buddy Buys a Dump by Peter Bagge
Re/Read is an occasional column by Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery curator Larry Reid examining backlist books you may have missed or merit another look. This time we’ll focus on Buddy Buys a Dump by Peter Bagge. A generation of comix enthusiasts came of age following the foibles of Buddy Bradley and his crew of lovable losers in Peter Bagge’s Hate. This work came to define the youth movement associated with Seattle’s “grunge” counterculture. Bagge became a central figure in illustrating the attitudes and aesthetics of this global phenomenon. A truly remarkable achievement. Buddy Buys a Dump collects the 9 issues…
What’s in Store: 40 Years of Comics As Art
Fantagraphics Books commemorates its 40th anniversary with a series of talks, exhibitions, book signings, performances, and parties celebrating four decades of publishing the world’s greatest contemporary cartoonists. The impressive record of accomplishment and immeasurable influence of this Seattle-based enterprise are chronicled in the new book, We Told You So: Comics as Art, An Oral History of Fantagraphics Books. The festivities begin with a panel discussion on Fantagraphics’ first 40 years on Friday, December 9, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the elegant Folio library, located at 384 Marion Street in downtown Seattle. Moderated by Fantagraphics publisher and co-founder Gary…
What’s in Store: Pirates! Mice! Witches! Comix!
Be sure to join us at the University of Washington’s Henry Art Gallery on Sunday, June 5 for a rare public appearance by legendary Seattle cartoonist Shary Flenniken. Counterculture Comics and the Semiotics of Disney Icons will attempt to clear the apocryphal haze from one of pop culture’s most intriguing episodes. Flenniken was a central figure in the Air Pirates comix collective. After meeting at a rock festival near Seattle in 1970, the group took up residence in a prop warehouse owned by Francis Ford Coppola in San Francisco’s Mission District. They created a sensation by appropriating Walt Disney’s signature…
Digital Debauchery
Werewolf Jones is back, baby! And so is everyone else in New York Times best-selling author Simon Hanselmann’s entire gang. Load up your tablet and get cozy with the crew because today marks the digital release of Megg & Mogg in Amsterdam. Megg the witch, Mogg the cat, their friend Owl, and Werewolf Jones struggle with depression, drug use, sexuality, poverty, lack of ambition, and other complex emotions in this new collection. It’s a laff riot! Megg & Mogg in Amsterdam assembles Hanselmann’s work from Vice, the Ignatz Award-nominated story “St. Owl’s Bay,” and other surprises, and can now be…
