FLOG! Entries - December 2008

25% off sale - FINAL HOURS!

mike

Oh my word, you have just a few hours left to get in your order and save 25% by using the coupon code 25OFF08, plus get free standard U.S. shipping! End your year right: with an orgy of comics shopping! Click here for more details about the sale.

Daily links: 12/31/08

mike

• The Seattle Times casts a well-deserved spotlight on the often-overlooked writing in Beasts! Book 1 and Book 2

• The Daily Blog's "10 for '08" includes Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers

• Comic Book Resources, counting down the "Best 100 Comics of 2008," slots in Sublife Vol. 1 by John Pham at #72 and Tales Designed to Thrizzle by Michael Kupperman at #70 (with #60-1 still TBA)

• The Beat presents the Metro's R. Sikoryak's Frank Miller's Archie

• The Stranger points out a recent in-strip visit to Seattle by Zippy the Pinhead

New Comics Day 1/2/09

mike

Note that new comics are scheduled to arrive in comic shops on Friday this week, rather than the traditional Wednesday, due to the holiday. From us you can expect the new softcover edition of Beasts! Book 1 -- as always, you can find more info and previews of the book at the link.

Daily links: 12/30/08

mike

A shorty today:

• The Oregonian presents excerpts from Beasts! Book 2

• Angry Asian Man looks at John Pham's Sublife Vol. 1

• Here's a Lilli Carré illustration in The Chicago Reader (hat tip: Paul Hornschemeier)

Now in stock: Beasts! Book 1 (Softcover Edition)

mike

Beasts! Book 1 (Softcover Edition)
By various artists; curated by Jacob Covey

After selling out two hardcover editions, Beasts! returns in a beautiful new softcover edition. Beasts! is a classic mythological menagerie, comprised only of creatures that were thought at one time to actually exist, depicted by about a hundred of the most acclaimed artists and cartoonists coming from the most avant-garde ambits of the art world. The Beasts project has fired the imaginations of luminaries such as Tony Millionaire, Souther Salazar, Jeff Soto, Dave Cooper, Tim Biskup, Seonna Hong, Jeremy Fish, James Jean, and Jay Ryan, who will present never-before-seen art completely original to this book, superbly laid out in breathtaking, full-color two-page spreads. Beasts! collects many of the best visual artists from the worlds of comics, skateboarding, rock graphics, science-fiction, children's books, commercial and fine art. The book is conceived and designed by Jacob Covey, lead art director for Fantagraphics (Dennis the Menace, Popeye, Willie & Joe, etc.) and a well-regarded designer and artist in his own right in the Northwest rock and arts community. Other contributors include: Amanda Visell, Anders Nilsen, Andrew Brandou, Art Chantry, Brian Ralph, Bwana Spoons, Dave Cooper, Deth P. Sun, Esther Pearl Watson, Jason, Jesse LeDoux, Johnny Ryan, Jordan Crane, Keith Shore, Little Friends of Printmaking, Marc Bell, Martin Cendreda, Martin Ontiveros, Mat Brinkman, R. Kikuo Johnson, Richard Sala, Sammy Harkham, Seonna Hong, Stan Sakai, S. britt, Stella Im Hultberg, Steven Weissman, Tom Gauld, Tyler Stout and many more.

200-page full-color 8" x 8" softcover • $24.99
Add to Cart • Read More...

Shipping alert

mike

Attention customers: Be advised that our warehouse has begun their annual inventory count and therefore we will not be able to ship any orders until next week. Please keep this in mind before you select rush shipping!

To help take the bite out of any potential delays, remember that we are currently offering FREE Standard U.S. shipping (UPS Ground or USPS Media Rate to P.O. Boxes) through the end of the year! And of course, don't forget to use the 25OFF08 coupon code for 25% off your order, also through the end of the year!

Signed bookplate update: Sala, Weissman

mike

Thanks to Steven "Ribs" Weissman for supplying us with a batch of signed book plates for his book Mean, now available for the first time, and to Richard Sala, for replenishing our supply of signed bookplates for The Grave Robber's Daughter. As always, these are available exclusively from Fantagraphics when you order their accompanying books, at no extra charge! Some conditions apply; click here for more details and the complete list of books available with this FREE premium!

Mark Todd art show in L.A.

mike

Mark Todd
fragments
new works
La Luz De Jesus Gallery
Los Angeles, CA
January 2nd - February 1st, 2009
artist reception Jan. 2nd 8-11 PM
www.laluzdejesus.com
www.marktoddillustration.com

Official announcement:

In this new exhibition Mark Todd shows an ever deepening interest in deconstructing comic art from his childhood. "The main difference between 'Fragments' and my last showing at La Luz de Jesus is that the works seem to be getting more abstracted and there is more collage elements working into the pieces on paper," states Todd who took his first creative cues from comic books and Star Wars. In this collection of works it is apparent that these two worlds of inventive fantasy still inform his art. Todd references the past, waxes nostalgic about it, and simultaneously lends his own post-modern sensibility to it by employing a limited palette, repetition, distortion and mixed media materials including spray paint, cel-vinyl, glossy varnishes and dusty stains. Todd lives in Southern California with his wife and fellow artist, Esther Pearl Watson and their daughter Lili, an avid artist herself. Todd also co-teaches with Esther at Art Center College of Design.

Daily links: 12/29/08

mike

• Entertainment Weekly ranks Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw #5 on their "Best Fiction of 2008" list

• The Oklahoman's Nerdage blog names Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw and The Education of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez two of the top ten of "2008's best graphic novels"

• comiXology's "Top Ten Comics of 2008" includes Tales Designed to Thrizzle #4 by Michael Kupperman (#8), Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw (#3) and Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga (#1)

• Newsarama's "Top 5: Best Archival Comics, 2008" includes Jules Feiffer's Explainers (#3) and E.C. Segar's Popeye Vol. 3: "Let's You and Him Fight!" (#2)

• The Synesthetic Fugue Incident looks at Explainers

• The Daily Cross Hatch presents the first of a three-part interview with Bob Fingerman

• Now Read This! loves Sublife Vol. 1 by John Pham

• Mr. Thirsty delves into Blood of Palomar by Gilbert Hernandez (also collected in Human Diastrophism)

Our staff poet

mike

As part of a series highlighting Seattle poets, The Stranger features the work of Nico Vassilakis, who daylights as Fantagraphics' warehouse manager. (Above, Nico's most recent book, Text Loses Time.)

Frank pinball machine??

mike

Gary Panter video interview

mike

Above, part 1 of a 4-part VBS.TV interview with Gary Panter (wherein he discusses, among other things, the status of our long-delayed collection of his Dal Tokyo strips). Link to part 2, part 3 and part 4, plus a bonus clip.

Daily links: 12/26/08

mike

• In The Patriot-News, Chris Mautner bestows his "Moxie Awards" for best comics of 2008, with several of our titles awarded top honors or runner-up status, including Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw, Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin, Explainers by Jules Feiffer, Where Demented Wented by Rory Hayes, Love and Rockets: New Stories by the Hernandez Brothers, Most Outrageous by Bob Levin and more

And some holiday greetings from:

• Tom Kaczynski

• Steven Weissman

• Steve Brodner

End of year clearance: 25% OFF + FREE SHIPPING!

mike

From now through the end of the year, take 25% OFF EVERYTHING on Fantagraphics.com by using the following coupon code at checkout:

25OFF08

PLUS, select FREE STANDARD U.S. SHIPPING (UPS Ground or USPS Media Mail to P.O. boxes) on all orders of $50 and over!

It's our biggest and best sale ever and it only lasts through December 31, 2008! The discount is applied only at checkout and you must use the coupon code when you order to get it, so spread the word and write yourself a sticky note so you don't forget!

Daily links: 12/24/08

mike

Only one today:

• Duncan Cumming looks at Joe Sacco's Palestine

New Comics Day 12/24/08

mike

I thought I saw one source say that Beasts! Book 2 was going to arrive in comic shops this week, but it's not on the official list. Maybe give a call to your local shop -- you'll want to do that anyway, to confirm their holiday hours. Otherwise, nothing from us is scheduled to ship this week.

Snow, please stop.

covey

Daily links: 12/23/08

mike

• USA TODAY Pop Candy names Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw the top comic of 2008, with The Lagoon by Lilli Carré at #6

• Rob Clough has a typically thoughtful review of The Lagoon

• The Miami Herald casts a favorable eye on Strange & Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell and Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert by Bill Schelly

• Tim O'Shea interviews Ivan Brunetti

• The Daily Cross Hatch presents part 2 of their interview with Kevin Huizenga

• A last-minute Christmas gift from Ellen Forney: free sexy-elf desktop wallpaper!

A Snowy Salute

mike

I just want to give a public salute to our intrepid Fantagraphics staffers who have been braving Seattle Snowpocalypse 2008 for the past week or so (nearly a foot of snowfall in parts of the city, where 2 inches is considered a blizzard, with more coming tomorrow), risking life and limb in hazardous driving conditions and enduring wretched public transportation hassles to keep our office running, our customer service phone line manned (1-800-657-1100, call in your order today), and our bookstore open and staffed, while the rest of us work from home in comfort and safety. Kudos to you, brave souls!

My Best of 2008

Eric

I haven't been posting much this month because I'm working from home part-time and taking some time off to spend with my six-month-old daughter. Plus, we're buried in nearly a foot of snow right now. Earlier this month, a number of comics pundits invited me (along with everyone else in their address books) to contribute to their blogs' "Best of the Year" features, and although I wanted to contribute and prove my good taste -- and oh yeah, love -- for comics, I blew each and every deadline. But I did attempt to create one and so I thought I'd post it here rather than let it go to waste. This is a hardly comprehensive, fairly stream-of-consciousness list, deprived of any helpful links because I don't have time. But you're all savvy web surfers, I'm sure, should you be inclined to search for any of these. In fact, many are conveniently available on this very website. I tried to limit the number of Fanta titles for obvious reasons, but still included somewhere around ten. I'm a homer, sue me. I could have easily included twice as many. I also know I forgot a slew of things, especially minis, that I'll kick myself for as soon as I remember.

Powr Mastrs 2 by C.F.: The graphic novel Henry Darger never got around to. I like this book/series a lot. It's beautiful.

Most Outrageous by Bob Levin: The most underrated comics-related book of the year. I failed this book in my promo efforts. It's one of the best books about a cartoonist ever written and you probably haven't even heard of it.

Where Demented Wented by Rory Hayes: At least we live in an era where Rory Hayes collections come out. Things aren't all bad.

Night Business by Benjamin Marra: This comic makes me miss the 1980s. That's a mean feat.

Kramer's Ergot 7 edited by Sammy Harkham: What it is, is a really big comic book with a bunch of really great cartoonists. That's all, and it's totally awesome. I put my daughter in her bouncy chair the other day and laid this on the floor in front of her and slowly turned the pages and she was completely mesmerized. That's not why it's good, but it was still awesome.

Love & Rockets New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers: These guys *are* American comic books to me, and their greatness only comes into more stark relief every year. I can't imagine a world without Love & Rockets. Jaime's superhero epic is so sublimely perfect that I have no doubt it will go down as one of the most popular comic stories of all-time.

Omega the Unknown by Lethem, Dalrymple, Panter and Hornschemeier: I don't know if this comic was one of the ten comics I liked more than any other in 2008, per se, but I have to list it just for being the first Marvel or DC comic book series I've gone out of my way to buy in a decade. The Gary Panter issue alone was worth it.

Rasl by Jeff Smith: Same as Omega, except for the Marvel or DC part. Just a good, straight-ahead serial comic, the likes of which are increasingly rare, at least from my vantage point.

Tales Designed to Thrizzle #4 by Michael Kupperman: The most densely funny comic book I've ever read. Dollars to laughs, this is one of the greatest entertainment bargains of a lifetime.

"Mister Wonderful" by Daniel Clowes: Another canonical piece from my favorite living cartoonist. Comic of the year. I have to stop now or I'll write a dissertation.

Wacky Packages by various: If I would have told 9-year-old Eric that one day Wacky Packages would hold such cultural esteem as to warrant a fancy hardcover art book, I would have totally believed it, but by any other measure at the time it would have been an absurd thought.

Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw (along with Shaw's stories in MOME and his webcomic Bodyworld): I knew going in that this could be Dash Shaw's year, because I had read BBB in 2007 before it was published. But what I didn't quite realize was how inevitable it was and exactly how much I would come to appreciate what this young man is doing. He is as much the future of comics as anyone in the business right now, and I know that statement will annoy a lot of people, including probably Dash.

Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin: Archival collection of the year, and the only book Fantagraphics has ever published that brought me a little closer to my father and also my grandfather-in-law.

ACME Novelty Library #19 by Chris Ware: One of the most artfully constructed comics ever created. A dead heat with Love & Rockets New Stories and "Mister Wonderful" for the most perfectly constructed comics of the year. Bonus points for Ware's Kramer's Ergot piece, which is centered around an illustration of a life-size infant bigger than my six-month-old daughter.

Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga: Like Daniel Clowes or Chris Ware before him, Huizenga is so innately well-versed in the language of comics that he can't help but expand the vocabulary of the medium with virtually everything he does, and this was no exception. Comics and cartooning are clearly in his blood. He and Dash Shaw are perhaps the two most exciting formalists to make a name for themselves in recent years. Huizenga's recent work is approaching that impeccable harmony I look for in comics, a harmony of art and craft, story and cartooning, vision and voice. The dude can cartoon, and his Segar-ish cartooning, in the service of a much more internal voice makes for one of the most handsome stylists and compelling voices in comics. I adore comics that read AND look perfect. The writing, the illustrations, the storytelling... it's all perfect. Every drawing is a wonderful illustration but not in a distracting way, because it also must act in the service of a compelling narrative, illuminating and revealing as a small piece of a larger puzzle, playing with and against the words it shares space with. The work becomes something exquisitely and uniquely comics, untranslatable into any other language. This is the fully-realized work of true "graphic novelists". Dan Clowes and Chris Ware are the current masters at this, hands-down. Also works like "Black Hole" or "Frank". Huizenga has it in him to approach that.

Little Orphan Annie Vol. 1 by Harold Gray: One of my three all-time favorite strips along with Peanuts and Thimble Theater, and this collection from IDW features the most gorgeous reproductions of Gray's woefully underrated cartooning that I've ever seen. It's breathtaking.

The Complete Peanuts 1969-1970 by Charles M. Schulz: At its peak, as this series is right now, there's not a better read in the history of strip cartooning, if not comics as a whole. Please don't take this series for granted.

Popeye Vol. 3 by E.C. Segar: Sometimes I read these Segar Popeye volumes and truly think they are the Greatest Thing Ever. What else can I say? I inducted E.C. Segar into the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame and it will remain one of the coolest honors of my life forever.

Gary Panter by Gary Panter: Art book of the century, with 92 years to go. This book completely fucked with my head more than any other book this year.

Hall of Best Knowledge by Ray Fenwick: There are great graphic novels every year at this point, but this completely sui generis work of hand-crafted storytelling really fueled my love for comics earlier this year.

Fuzz & Pluck: Splitsville by Ted Stearn: When I started dating my wife, this was (and remains) one of her favorite comics (from their early adventures in Zero Zero). How can I not revere it? But it's so much more than that. Everything I said about what makes a great comic before applies to Ted Stearn's work, and this is his greatest yet. I don't understand people who aren't charmed by Fuzz and Pluck.

Speak of the Devil by Gilbert Hernandez: One of my favorite Gilbert stories of the last decade or more, with bonus points for being one of the few great serial comics of the last couple years. Can you tell I enjoy old-fashioned comic book serials?