With Halloween approaching, it's a good time to consider some spooky favorites from Fantagraphics Books.
The formative work of Charles Burns in Big Baby foreshadows the brilliance that would follow. Alluring stories like "Curse of the Molemen," "Blood Club," and "Teen Plague" remain creepy and compelling while exploring themes of adolescent angst. Ghost World by Daniel Clowes is a similarly insightful examination of the otherworldly imaginations of its youthful protagonists. It remains among the greatest graphic novels – and film adaptations – of all time.
Al Columbia's Pim & Francie is at first blush a collection of meticulously rendered drawings, but a closer examination reveals a seductive narrative involving a cute cartoon couple caught in a world of horrific nightmares.
Ghost of the Grotto by comics genius Carl Barks is a playful adventure set in an exotic island locale, sure to appeal to kids and adults alike. See also The Old Castle's Secret for more fowl frights.
A misanthropic witch wrestles with real world issues in Simon Hanselmann's Megahex and surreal horror unfolds in The Amateurs by Conor Stechschulte as two butchers are afflicted with a mysterious case of amnesia. Meat these amazing artists this Saturday at Fantagraphics Bookstore.
More terrifying tales can be found in Ben Catmull's Ghosts and Ruins, Gary Panter's Jimbo in Purgatory, the EC Comics Library from midcentury America's masters of macabre, Weird Horrors & Daring Adventures: The Joe Kubert Archive Vol. 1 edited by Bill Schelly, Blacklung by Chris Wright, R.I.P by Thomas Ott, and everything by Richard Sala.