The final issue of macabre master (and birthday boy!) Richard Sala's modern-day reimagining of the Snow White story told from the "Prince Charming" point of view, Delphine #4 brings our hero into an inevitable confrontation with unspeakable evil!

Italian artist Sergio Ponchione's series is becoming a cult hit in the U.S., and he returns with the eagerly-awaited Grotesque #3, containing the second half of the wildly surrealistic "Cryptic City" epic.

Both titles, part of our Ignatz Series of deluxe oversized comics, are now available for pre-order! They are scheduled to be in stock and ready to ship any day now and in stores approximately 4 weeks later (subject to change).

Don't miss the preview pages we've posted for each issue -- just click "View More Images" on each product detail page. Photo and video previews are still in the works -- watch this space.

You're all invited to the amazing after-party following Peter Bagge's book launch event at Fantagraphics Bookstore in Seattle next Saturday, July 11. The line-up for this free show at neighboring Jules Maes Saloon includes Peter Bagge's latest power pop combo, Can You Imagine? The evening will feature a special reunion of Bagge's 1990s easy listening sensation The Action Suits whose members include current and former Fantagraphics staffers Andy Schmidt and Eric Reynolds, joined by illustrious musician and producer Steve Fisk. Also on the bill are Reynolds' Fox Hollow (featuring Fantagraphics graphics ace Adam Grano and the lovely Rhea Patton) and Schmidt's new group Hank Adams. Jules Maes is located at 5919 Airport Way South, just one block north of Fantagraphics Bookstore. Heavy mental mayhem man! See you there.  

[Ed. note: Yes, we have Action Suits records for sale!]

Celebrate independents this weekend at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle. Drop by and browse our hot new summer reading selections. It's also your last chance to view the amazing exhibition by international comics sensation Jason. And check out Larry and Bella's badass Spongebob piñata outfitted with a suicide blast belt that'll blow him back to Bikini Bottom (in very small pieces.)

The store is open 11:30 to 8:00 PM on Friday, 11:30 to 4:00 PM on Saturday the 4th, and 11:30 to 5:00 PM as usual on Sunday. Located at 1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.) only minutes from downtown. Phone 206.658.0110. See you all soon.

Online Commentary & Diversions will return Monday. Have a great holiday in the US of A.

• Review: "Like many mysteries, there's something initially frustrating about the end of 'Emily Says Hello,' but it's the best by Jason for a while... it's in the new Low Moon collection... Worth it for 'Emily' alone." - Graham Linehan (The IT Crowd, Father Ted), via Twitter (part 1, part 2)

• Review: "A thin line exists between [Basil] Wolverton’s jokey grotesqueries and the horrors of disfigurement and mutilation that appear in his postwar illustrations of the Book of Revelations (recently published in The Wolverton Bible)... Wolverton’s unsparing depictions of nightmarish prophecies are relentlessly grim but absorbingly so. There are hints of Goya’s crazed, melancholic Saturn and predictions of Charles Burns’s brooding mutant teens." - Nicole Rudick, Artforum (reviewing the Wolverton exhibit currently on view at Gladstone Gallery; hat tip to Drew Friedman)

• Review: "Oh my god. It’s like someone wheeled my senile, racist grandfather onto a metropolitan sidewalk and let him free associate. Unfortunately, my grandfather’s psychosis might have more acuity and humor than Everyone is Stupid [Except for Me]." - Ashley Cardiff, CC2K (via Reason link below; don't say we never post negative reviews)

• Review: "Michael Kupperman is the funniest cartoonist alive, and Tales Designed to Thrizzle is his funniest comic book... Thrizzle has the manic joy of a really good sketch-comedy series... Thrizzle was originally published as four comics, and Kupperman has recolored the series for its hardcover release... [It] should amuse just about anyone who can read." - Paul Constant, The Stranger

• Review: "[Fletcher] Hanks's stuff burns itself into and onto the brain like a giant scalding iron of dementedness." - fústar

• Review: "Certainly nobody takes umbrage with the claim that these are four awesome comics, collected in one hardcover edition [Blazing Combat]... Fantagraphics have done us a big favor by reprinting them all." - The Comic Book Haters (streaming video)

• Plug: "...Reason's own beloved Peter Bagge has a fantastic collection of a near-decade's worth of political cartooning coming out from Fantagraphics [Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me]. The content is king but the actual production is nothing short of stunning, filled with the bright, bright colors that Paul Simon used to sing about back when Kodak was still making film." - Nick Gillespie, Reason

• Plug: "Some good stuff that came out this week includes... Tales Designed to Thrizzle hardcover (the first four issues, now with the black and white bits in color, but still just as fantastic and funny), Prince Valiant Volume 1 (a new and gorgeous hardcover reprinting the Hal Foster original strips from 1937 and 1938)..." - Mike Sterling

• Interview: Michael Fiffe presents outtakes from his interview with Trevor Von Eeden from The Comics Journal #298

• Interview: At comiXology, Tucker Stone interviews The Comics Journal online editor, the ista! in ¡Journalista!, my comrade-in-linkblogging-arms, Dirk Deppey. Pull quote of all pull quotes: "I got the job at Fantagraphics by making fun of The Comics Journal's website on its message board, basically."

• Things to see: Drew Friedman's Monkey Girl

• Things to see: Further proof that Roger Langridge is awesome

• Oddity: The Beat offers sartorial advice for those proportioned like a Gilbert Hernandez character

• Apropos of nothing: Here's a disturbing photoshopped image of Thora "Enid Coleslaw" Birch, submitted by The Comics Journal's Matt Silvie

Jim Woodring has 3 mind-flaying new posts up on his blog. I'm so excited I can only blurt:

1. New teaser images from the forthcoming Frank book Weathercraft!

2. A 3-D manifestation!

3. Hot dog immortality!

Well, not directly, or literally: Paul has been doing some fantastic packaging design and artwork for releases on the Byrne-founded Luaka Bop label (to be collected in Paul's forthcoming odds-and-sods collection All and Sundry), and the label has created an animated storybook (screenshot above) and a "memory" game (embedded below or play on Paul's blog) based on Paul's designs. Pretty dang snazzy!

Latest con report ever... And the most anticlimactic one, too. 

Our last day at BEA 2009 in NYC was a fairly uneventful one, but one simple pleasure was seeing Abrams' preview of the forthcoming Art of Jaime Hernandez book, edited by Todd Hignite and designed by Jordan Crane. Here's a couple sample shots: 

After the BEA, Jason Miles and I traipsed around Manhattan a bit, including a stop at two of NYC's finest bookstores, The Strand and Forbidden Planet. Was pleased to see Jason's Dead Ringer (from La Mano) proudly on display at FP:

You should go buy this now.

At the Strand, it was a thrill to see Fantagraphics widely represented in the store, including a few books in the window, and more. Here's a few samples:

But the absolute highlight of my trip was Sunday evening, connecting with two of my oldest and dearest comic pals, Joe Sacco and Thom Powers. Thom invited me to a barbeque at a friend's house, and texted me the directions. "Tell the doorman you're there for Leslie and Shoba's party," he wrote. I assumed Leslie and Shoba were two female pals of Thom's. I was half-right. Lo and behold, the barbeque was actually at the apartment of none other than Soba, star of Joe Sacco's fantastic graphic novel of the same name. Turns out "Shoba" is the new, Americanised spelling of his name. We had a great time and consumed a lot of beer. The details are hazy. But here's a pic a Joe and Shoba, together again for the first time in awhile:

Let me tell you, Shoba is a mean chef.

That's it for BEA 2009, a full month after it ended. It's beautiful here and summer is in the air, Flogging goes better when it's cold and wet out. I'm outta here! Happy 4th, all!

You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation!, subtitled More Comics of Fletcher Hanks, is the follow-up to the surprise smash-hit volume I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! and concludes the publishing of the complete comics work of Golden Age visionary Fletcher Hanks. Edited and with an introduction by Hanks maven Paul Karasik, this volume is nearly twice as big as the last one! This book is scheduled to be in stock and ready to ship any day now and in stores approximately 4 weeks later (subject to change).

On our product detail page we've got a free 13-page PDF preview with 2 complete stories starring Fantomah and Space Smith! Photo and video previews are still in the works -- watch this space. We've also adapted the striking cover image (designed by Jacob Covey) into a series of desktop wallpapers -- put a little Fantomah on your screen! Download the size matching your monitor resolution at the links below:

800 x 600 | 1024 x 768 | 1152 x 864 | 1280 x 960 | 1280 x 800 | 1280 x 720 | iPhone

UPDATE! We've decided that everyone who orders this book from us will get a FREE copy of our exclusive Color Me or Die!! Fletcher Hanks coloring book minicomic (with cover by Charles Burns), pictured below with the dashing Mr. Karasik!

An Evening of Art, Music, and Social Commentary with Cartooning Legend Peter Bagge on July 11 at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery

June 30, 2009 - SEATTLE, WA. Celebrated cartoonist Peter Bagge's diverse talents are featured in an art exhibition and book signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery followed by a musical performance at nearby Jules Maes Saloon on Saturday, July 11 in Seattle's lively Georgetown arts community. This event marks the debut of his newest book Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me and Other Astute Observations, a collection of cartoon reporting on social, political and cultural issues for Reason magazine.

Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me chronicles the artist's Libertarian leanings in comics published in the party organ Reason. Bagge, a longtime resident of liberal Seattle, is hardly dogmatic. Many of the pieces undermine traditional Libertarian party lines in favor of a personal, rational and informed approach to controversial issues that will force partisan Democrats and Republicans alike to rethink them. Bagge's well-researched comic strip "essays" crackle with the same colorful energy and wit that propelled him into the collective Gen X consciousness with his amazing comic book series Hate. As always, his work remains seriously funny.

To celebrate the publication of this thought-provoking book, Bagge will be on hand from 7:00 to 9:00 PM for an exhibition of his original comics art and to sign copies of the new anthology. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.) only minutes south of downtown. This event coincides with the Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack featuring exciting visual and performing arts presentations throughout the historic neighborhood.

Following the reception, guests are invited to a free performance of Peter Bagge's latest power pop combo, Can You Imagine?, at neighboring nightclub Jules Maes Saloon. Featuring prominent Northwest musician and producer Steve Fisk, this delightful band combines elements of anachronistic new wave, girl-group pop and punk to create an accessible and exciting sound. The evening's musical entertainment will feature a special reunion of Bagge's 1990s sensation The Action Suits whose members include current and former Fantagraphics staffers. Also on the bill are current projects by Action Suits members: Eric Reynolds' Fox Hollow and Andy Schmidt's group Hank Adams. Jules Maes is located at 5919 Airport Way South, just one short block north of Fantagraphics Bookstore.

Listing Information

PETER BAGGE
EVERYBODY IS STUPID EXCEPT FOR ME and Other Astute Observations
Opening reception and book signing
Saturday, July 11, 7:00 to 9:00 PM

Exhibition continues through August 5, 2009

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 98108
206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM
www.fantagraphics.com

Don't miss the free after-party action at neighboring Jules Maes with arena rock by

Hank Adams
Fox Hollow
Can You Imagine?
... with a special reunion of The Action Suits!

It's today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me is as combative, iconoclastic, and embittered as its title suggests it would be. It is also smart, thought-provoking, and funny as hell. Disconcertingly, you'll agree with at least half of what [Peter] Bagge says. Then, gratifyingly, you'll realize that everybody is stupid except for you, too." - Tim Heffernan, Esquire

• Review: "There’s a bittersweet quality to You’ll Never Know, C. Tyler’s disarming memoir about attempting to learn what her father went through in World War II... Tyler’s impressive drawings and inks [are] vividly colored in an amazing array of fluidity... You’ll Never Know is so compellingly honest and unself-conscious that it makes its point all the more poignant." - John Hogan, Graphic Novel Reporter

• Review: "Both visually and narratively, [C.] Tyler keeps [the] threads [of You’ll Never Know] nicely wound into an account that carries readers along and shows how various pasts inform the present, how vulnerable parents can be, and how wartime can create minefields later in life. Her gently colored artwork is expressive and goes far to bring eras of the past to life through dress, hairstyles, and dance moves... [T]he story here will touch those who are just realizing that the older people they think they know have their own burdens and secrets." - Francisca Goldsmith, School Library Journal

• Review: "The cruelties, indignities, rebellion, and lack of self-confidence that form the high school experiences of many teens are well captured in [A Mess of Everything]... This is a spot-on portrait of one girl's struggle for intellectual and emotional honesty... [which] will touch teens who themselves have just succeeded in negotiating the mess of learning to be a mature social being." - Francisca Goldsmith, School Library Journal (same link as above)

• Review: Rui Gonçalves of Portuguese blog Crónicas da (e depois da) Califórnia calls Eightball #22 & #23 "the last two issues of the American comic written by one of the most imaginative and schizophrenic creators of comics from the other side of the Atlantic." (Translation help from Google)

• Plug: "As painful as it is to wait a year for new Love and Rockets now that the Hernandez brothers have switched to an annual format, it’ll be worth the wait if each issue is going to be as good as this one [L&R: New Stories #1]. Jaime Hernandez created the best superhero story of 2008 for this issue, and it should be required reading for anyone who reads or creates comics." - Corey Henson, Newsarama

• Interview: I can't wait to listen to the Inkstuds interview with one of the best and most outspoken artists in comics, Mr. Jordan Crane