Thursday, August 9th

• Portland, OR: Our lovely editor Justin Hall will be signing No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics at Floating World Comics with special guests Erika Moen, Robert Triptow, and Vaughn Fricke! (more info)

Friday, August 10th

• Brooklyn, NY: The great Lewis Trondheim is coming all the way from France to help Bergen Street Comics celebrate the world premiere of Ralph Azham Vol. 1: Why Would You Lie to Someone You Love?!!! (more info)

Saturday, August 11th

• Seattle, WA:  Join Fantagraphics at Booth 214 at the 2nd annual GeekGirlCon! Signing with us today will be Ellen Forney, Megan Kelso, Justin Hall, and Roberta Gregory! (more info)  

• Seattle, WA: To celebrate GeekGirlCon and PAX Prime, Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery presents “GAME OVER,” an exhibition of “box art” of some of our most famous graphic novels reimagined as failed videogame adaptations. (more info) 

 • Montreal, QB:  He just can't stay away from Canada! Beloved artist Jason will be signing at the Planète BD! (more info) 

Sunday, August 12th

• Seattle, WA:  It's your last chance to visit Fantagraphics at Booth 214 at the 2nd annual GeekGirlCon! Check it out! (more info)   

How will you celebrate this year? (This strip can be found in this book.)

The newest (and one old one*) Online Commentaries & Diversions:

•Review: The Hypo by Noah Van Sciver gets the Boing-Boing treatment. Brian Heater states,"The Hypo's relatively limited scope afford the cartoonist the ability to approach the historical giant as a human, offering an empathetic examination of a troubled individual destined for greatness."  

•Review: Heidi MacDonald is excited about The Hypo as well. On The Beat she thinks,"This could be one of the sleeper books of the fall."

•Review: NPR gives Jaime Hernandez's God and Science the run-around and Glen Weldon states, ". . .a book that gleefully grafts a gee-whiz superhuman sensibility onto a set of nuanced, all-too-human relationships. Within its breezily charming pages, the pointless battle between capes-lovers and capes-haters subsides: detente at last."

•Review: The Tearoom of Despair reviews Love and Rockets #28 from a loooong time ago because as Bob Temuka says it is "the perfect comic."

•Plug: The Huffington Post uses some panels from Love and Rockets story "100 Rooms" to illustrate making art in New York and Daniel Maidman says "it changed my life."

•Plug: Graeme McMillan of Robot 6 at Comic Book Resources is adding Gilbert Herandez's graphic novel Julio's Day to his buy list for October. ". . . this never-collected Gilbert Hernandez strip from the second series of L&R is one of those things that goes on my 'Want' list almost as soon as I discovered it existed."

•Plug: Old Spock drawing by Jaime Hernandez on Comics Alliance in Best Art Ever (This Week) by Andy Khouri.

•Interview: Brokelyn interviews three indie cartoonists on 'making it' and sacrifices. Eye of the Majestic Creature's Leslie Stein tells Brad Pearson, "I love drawing New York; it provides so many details for street scenes, from all the shops and people to seemingly insignificant things like takeout menus shoved in doorways and gum spots on the cement. The energy of New York is very inspiring. Everyone is here for a reason; everyone is creative."

•Review: CBR recently found the original Mark of the Bat, Josh Simmons' made before it was compiled in The Furry Trap. Matt Seneca states". . . the violence here is far from entertaining.  It hits like real violence does, as something that shouldn’t be happening, and by forcing the audience to recognize it as such, it casts our gaze back from Simmons’ bootleg onto all the “real” Batman comics we’ve read. . .The proof is here: comics isn’t about “creating IP” or “managing franchises,” and it never will be.  It’s about making as bold a statement as you possibly can with nothing more than ink and paper."

•Plug: The Comics Reporter talks about the state of our interns, L&R and Tom Spurgeon is rather obsessed about Dal Tokyo by Gary Panter: "It seems like that we should be freaking out about this a little bit. I used to dream about reading that work. Granted, I don't have much of a dream life, but Dal Tokyo is basically out."

•Review: Out.Com can't stop talking about No Straight Lines. Jerry Portwood says "You won't find erotic comics or manga, so don't even start. But you will find everything from 'lesbian underground comix, to gay newspaper strips, to bi punk zines, to trans webcomics, and dealing with everything from coming out, to marriage equality, to the AIDS epidemic, to hilarious dance styles, and bad choices for a one-night stand'."

•Interview: No Straight Lines editor Justin Hall and Canadian queer comics historian, Ken Boesem, join Robin McConnell for an excellent Inkstuds podcast.

•Commentary: Projects of Design posted photos and recipes for their Significant Objects drinks from the release party. "It was only fitting that we fête the culmination of the Significant Objects project by honoring the supposed junk items that were raw material for this experiment. Faculty member Emilie Baltz invited three mixologists to have their own hand in creating drinkable odes to some of the items found in the book."

* Did you figure out the older review? Winners receive smug sense of self-worth!

It's no lie! Get ready for the world premiere of Ralph Azham Vol. 1: Why Would You Lie to Someone You Love?, the brand new English-translation from French artist Lewis Trondheim!

And, yes, it's true! Lewis Trondheim himself will be in attendance at the book release party on Friday, August 10th at Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn, NY!  Don't miss this rare opportunity to meet one of the greatest living cartoonists of our time!

The signing starts at 8:00 PM and is open to the public. Bergen Street Comics is located at 470 Bergen Street, between Flatbush & 5th Avenues. Bubbly will be served 'cause an appearance from Trondheim is definitely something to toast!

UPDATE: We just learned today (Fri. Aug. 10) that, due to a last-minute delay at the printer, Ralph Azham Vol. 1 will unfortunately not be debuting at the signing. Bummer! Lewis has many, many other fine titles so there will still be plenty of other books available to get signed.

2ND UPDATE: We've now learned that Lewis will be signing special bookplates for the store to put into books next week and have people pick up. So you'll still be able to pre-purchase a signed edition of Ralph Azham Vol. 1, hooray!

We're so excited to have the west coast tour for No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics running (not-)straight through the Pacific Northwest!

Join editor Justin Hall for a signing and reading at Floating World Comics in Portland, OR on Thursday, August 9th!  He'll be joined by cartoonists Erika Moen, Robert Triptow, and Vaughn Fricke from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.

Floating World Comics is located at 400 NW Couch St. in the the heart of the Pearl District. Tell 'em we say hi!

The Crackle of the Frost
by Lorenzo Mattotti & Jorge Zentner

120-page full-color 8" x 10" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-543-3

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

When confronted with his girlfriend’s request that they have a child together, Samuel fled that relationship. But now, a year later, when he receives a letter from Alice announcing she is expecting a baby, old emotions flare up and he embarks on a long journey to see Alice again — to re-open, or perhaps close forever, that important chapter of his life. The Crackle of the Frost is the story of what he sees, hears, experiences, and learns during that journey.

In 2011, Fantagraphics presented the extraordinary Stigmata, a stunning display of Mattotti’s whirling, emotional, black and white linework put in the service of a devastating story — as well as his painted illustrations for Lou Reed’s The Raven. The Crackle of the Frost ups the visual ante even on those masterpieces, combining the narrative drive of the former with the lush color illustrations of the latter to create a graphic-novel masterpiece with panel after panel of sumptuous full-color paintings, as if Edward Hopper had suddenly decided to jump into comics.

"Mattotti is a master. It's obvious at one glance. His colors are music one can't help but dance to. Draw in closer, and Zentner's story conjures the psychic and emotional depth of Marguerite Duras and Murakami." – Craig Thompson (Blankets, Habibi)

10-page excerpt (download 3.4 MB PDF):

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

In December of 2006, the Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery opened its doors. Several hundred signings, shows and new comic Wednesdays later, alt-weekly comic The Seattle Weekly awarded this Georgetown storefront as the Best Comic-Book Store in this year's "BEST OF SEATTLE" issue. Above, the Best of Seattle mascot reads Love and Rocket: New Stories #1 as comic book store curator and impresario Larry Reid looks on in the  fantastic photo popping from the newsprint. Gwendolyn Elliot says, "With current and vintage titles at times political, whimsical, or just downright dirty, this isn't some geeky, grimy comic book store—it's a gallery, bookshop, and thriving arts community all in one."

In addition to the Seattle Weekly, NY Mag.com's The Urbanist lists the Fantagraphics Store as a place to browse obscure comics while in Seattle. The Venn diagram below illustrates just how hip Georgetown is by way of New York neighborhoods.

So pick up a nice copy of The Seattle Weekly for a list of great places to see and visit the "Best Comic Book Store" today! We have a new gallery show coming up next week and a whole fall schedule full of the best cartoonists coming by the store.

The book might not be out until October but you can peruse the table of contents of The Best American Comics 2012, edited by Françoise Mouly, now!

Created by series editors, Jessica Abel and Matt Madden, this year's Best American Comics honors many Fantagraphics authors. Not only is there a Gary Panter cover but the inclusion of Jimbo, Joyce Farmer's Special Exits, Jim Woodring's Congress of the Animals, Jaime Hernandez's Love Bunglers from Love and Rockets, Michael Kupperman as well as Charles Burns, Blab's Nora Krug, Hotwire's David Sandlin, Jordan Crane, Jonathan Bennett, Renee French, David Collier and Chris Ware.

We're proud to announce the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery Fall Schedule! Come find out why New York Magazine listed us in their Urbanist's Guide to Seattle! See why the Seattle Weekly named us Seattle's Best Comic Book Store, adding "it's a gallery, bookshop, and thriving arts community all in one." But, hopefully, you know how great we are already, so just c'mon out and buy some books!

• Saturday, September 8th: GARY PANTER Dal Tokyo exhibition and book signing. Exhibition continues through October 10.
 
• Saturday, October 13th: THE HORROR: EC Comics Library exhibition with music performance by MOLLY NILSSON. Exhibition continues through October 31.
 
• Saturday, October 20th: CHARLES BURNS signing The Hive in association with Elysian Brewing’s Great Pumpkin Brew Festival.
 
• Monday, October 22nd: CHRIS WARE, CHIP KIDD, and CHARLES BURNS artist talk and book signing at Town Hall.

• Friday, November 2nd: NOAH VAN SCIVER The Hypo with DAVID LASKY The Carter Family exhibition and book signing. Exhibition continues through November 22.
 
• Saturday, November 10th: ELLEN FORNEY Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me presentation and book signing at Microsoft Auditorium, Seattle Public Library.
 
• Saturday, November 24th: NICO VASSILAKIS The Last Vispo Anthology exhibition, book signing and performances.  Exhibition continues through December 6.
 
• Saturday, December 8th: Spectacular 6th Anniversary Celebration with very special guests, including musical guest GENEVIÈVE CASTRÉE.

You won't want to miss a minute of the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery Fall Schedule! We're located at 1201 S. Vale Street at Airport Way South. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. 

A+ B, Down, Down + Forward, Down + Back, Pencil, Ink, Fail. GAME OVER.

To celebrate Geek Girl Con and PAX Prime, Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery presents “GAME OVER.” This exhibition, opening on Saturday, August 11th, will feature the “box art” of some of our most famous graphic novels reimagined as failed videogame adaptations. No set of killer button combos or brute force could make these “graphic novels as games” playable, but Prison Pit for Nintendo 64 is even gorier than Mortal Kombat, and you can bemoan Pete Bagge's Hate-come-to-virtual-life as a CD-ROM. You can even draw your own failed videogame adaptation!

The opening on Saturday, August 11, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, coincides with the Georgetown Art Attack, which features visual and performing arts presentations throughout the historic arts community.

Come see why readers voted Fantagrahics Bookstore & Gallery “The Best Comic Book Store” in the current “Best of Seattle” edition of the Seattle Weekly. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street at Airport Way S. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone 206.658.0110.