I should've photographed them together to give the proper sense of scale, but here are your first glimpses of companion volumes The Lost Art of Ah Pook Is Here: Images from the Graphic Novel and Observed While Falling: Bill Burroughs, Ah Pook, and Me, both by Malcolm McNeill. In the former, see the stunning artwork McNeill created for his great "lost" unpublished collaboration with William S. Burroughs; and in the latter, read all about their collaboration in McNeill's own words — a story so great it had to be contained in its own book. Both books will debut at SPX next month and should arrive in stores in October; we'll have more previews to share before then. You can pre-order each book from us now and save $14 by purchasing them as a set.

The final book in Carol Tyler's Eisner and Ignatz-nominated, Los Angeles Times Book Prize-finalist You'll Never Know trilogy, Soldier's Heart, will be debuting at SPX next month and arriving in stores in October. We received our advance copies here at Fantagraphics HQ late last week and let me tell you, even just at first glance, Carol's artwork is even more breathtaking than the first two volumes, which, if you've seen them, is saying something. Stay tuned for more previews and pre-order your copy today.

* Other People's Publications
** Yeah, You Know Me.

Hark! It's Kate Beaton calendars! And, you can get them now, only at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, fresh from their debut at the Drawn & Quarterly booth at San Diego Comic-Con!

Before you scoff and say, "No one uses calendars anymore," I want to point out that at my day job, my officemate and I each have paper calendars at our desks, (his, a boring Office Max one; mine, an excellent Apak Little Otsu one) and we work in the same room!!! Everyone needs a calendar!

There are two different designs to choose from: one has a literature theme and the other has a more general theme. Both feature page after page of Kate's delightful strips that landed her on the New York Times Bestselling Graphics Novels list and on the Best of 2011 list in Time Magazine!

Get 2013 off to a great start, and get one today! The Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street in Seattle's Georgetown district. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: (206) 658-0110.

Naked Cartoonists: Drawers Drawing Themselves Without Drawers
by various artists; edited by Gary Groth

156-page full-color 6.25" x 8.25" hardcover • $22.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-538-9

Ships in: September 2012 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

At last!

Cartoonists — Naked!

In an irreverent twist to the fine art tradition of The Nude, this unique and original collection presents a “stripped” down version of the infamous “Gallery of Rogues” exhibit of cartoonist self-portraits at Ohio State University.

Here you’ll find a cornucopia of cartoonists’ nude self-portraits from the collection of Mark J. Cohen and Rose Marie McDaniel.

The cartoonists inside aren’t afraid to bare all. Here you’ll find: Scott (Dilbert) Adams, Sergio (Mad) Aragonés, Will (The Spirit) Eisner, Will (Mad) Elder, Jules (Village Voice) Feiffer, Al (Mad Fold-Ins) Jaffee, Lynn (For Better Or For Worse) Johnston, Bil (Family Circus) Keane, Russell (Broom-Hilda) Myers, Charles (Peanuts) Schulz, Jeff (Bone) Smith, Art (Maus) Spiegelman, Mort (Beetle Bailey) Walker, Gahan (The New Yorker) Wilson and over 50 more!

13-page excerpt (download <1 MB PDF):

Video & Photo Slideshow Preview (view in new window):

Gary Groth shares a recent personal accomplishment:

I made this shot at about 40 yards, so not exactly Olympics-level marksmanship. Still, I was pretty elated. My Errol Flynn moment.

Now, you might say that it was pure luck or happenstance, like making a hole in one -the law of averages insists that if I shoot enough, I'm eventually going to nail it- and I wouldn't argue. But I would say, in my favor, which is that if the grouping weren't as tight as it was, and it was mighty tight lemme tell you, it would've been less likely to occur. So, here's to a very tight grouping. You may congratulate me on my Facebook page, thank you very much.

The list of nominees for the 2012 Ignatz Awards was announced today and we are pleased to report that our artists and publications received a total of 6 nominations in 4 categories:

Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 by the Hernandez Brothers:
• Outstanding Artist — Jaime Hernandez
• Outstanding Story — "Return for Me" by Jaime Hernandez
• Outstanding Series

Ganges #4 by Kevin Huizenga:
• Outstanding Series

The Man Who Grew His Beard by Olivier Schrauwen:
• Outstanding Anthology or Collection

"Keith or Steve," Mome Vol. 22, by Nick Drnaso:
• Outstanding Story

In addition to these nominees with our logo on them, Leslie Stein's self-published Eye of the Majestic Creature was nominated for Outstanding Series (Vol. 1 collection, with our logo on it, out now; Vol. 2 out next year) and Noah Van Sciver's The Death of Elijah Lovejoy, which ties in to his debut graphic novel The Hypo, was nominated for Outstanding Mini-Comic! Additional congrats to Kevin Huizenga for sharing another nom with Dan Zettwoch and to Gabrielle Bell & Anders Nilsen for their respective noms. Winners will be announced on Saturday, September 14 at SPX.

Cartoonist Josh Simmons of The Furry Trap, House and the on-going Jessica Farm recently got behind the camera. Soon to be released, The Leader features the same home-brewed style of horror as Simmons' comics, the kind that happen in  your backyard or the parking lot of your local grocery store. Watch the trailer now and start counting your sleepless nights until this short film is released.

Today the loverly interns, Matt and Mike, helped me set up the Geek Girl Con table. YES, we do have geek girl interns but they were working on some comic book stuff at home base. Ain't I lady enough?

Geek Girl Con is from 9am-6pm on Saturday and 9-5 on Sunday. Stop by the booth 214 for some EXCELLENT Saturday signings at Noon to 2pm with Megan Kelso and Ellen Forney and from 3-5pm with  Justin Hall, Roberta Gregory. GGC is at The Conference Center, located at 8th and Pike in downtown Seattle, WA, right across the street from the Washington State Convention Center (where Emerald City Comicon is held).

Later that night is GAME OVER at the Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery featuring game box art of 'failed video game adaptations' of your favorite graphic novels. You never knew a MEAT CAKE video game could look so good, did  you? See you there!

Everybody wants the Love and Rockets Northeast Tour flyer! And who can blame them? That iconic Jaime Hernandez artwork and our design wunderkind Tony Ong's coloring and typography are a killer combo. It's not for sale, but here's a free PDF download so you can print your own copy! Let's just say that it's licensed for individual non-commercial use, so no selling your printouts, OK? But if you live in one of the tour cities and want to print out a bunch to give away or even do a little volunteer street-teaming, we and the tour venues would dig that very much. (Please obey local statutes regarding flyering.)

This much:

That's our pal Gavin Lees in Reykjavik at Nexus, the only comic shop in Iceland, with their giant sign for Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks! Thanks Gavin for sending the pic (and for the post title and lead-in which I stole from his email).