(Mark Pickerel)

We'd like to thank the big crowd that braved a biblical deluge to attend the fabulous fourth anniversary at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle on Saturday. Thanks to our talented musician friends Mark Pickerel and Zak Sally — who escaped a biblical blizzard in Minneapolis to appear. Kudos also to Jason T. Miles and Max Clotfelter for organizing the amazing "Medieval Thinkers" art exhibition. Another magical evening at Fantagraphics Bookstore!

(Zak Sally)

If you weren't able to make it, be sure to drop by the store to see the art show, peruse hand crafted publications by exhibiting artists, check out amazing new releases from Zak Sally's La Mano 21 imprint, and wonderful new offerings from Fantagraphics books, natch.

(Jim Woodring)

The store is open every day 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. We have delightful and affordable gifts to suit just about any taste. Ask our friendly staff for suggestions. See you all soon.

[Photos by "Medieval Thinkers" contributor Matt Tamaru — see more on his Flickr page. – Ed.]

Ray Fenwick will be in attendance at a launch/exhibit/signing party for his new book Mascots at the 84 1/2 gallery in Winnipeg on Thursday, December 23, 7:00 PM-11:00 PM. Do go... Winnipeggers? Winnipegians? Winnipegites? ...Manitobans!

Click image to enlarge

Drew Friedman has turned in his cover art for Even More Old Jewish Comedians, the third book in the OJC oeuvre which is currently finding its place in our Fall 2011 schedule, and ooh it's gawjus. Here's what Drew says about it:

"It's comedian Stewie Stone, still alive, but sadly I just learned dying of cancer. He's the quintessential OJC, not well known but a great Old Jewish face, a trooper, and dedicated to his craft."

Stigmata
by Lorenzo Mattotti & Claudio Piersanti

192-page black & white 7.25" x 9.25" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-409-2

Ships in: January 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

He lives day to day and hand to mouth, this shambling lug of a man, wrestling with his demons, picking up work where he can, and drinking himself into oblivion. Until one days his palms begin to bleed… These newfound stigmata lose him his job, and he ends up as part of a traveling carnival, where he even finds love. But his past catches up with him — violently so. Has he lost his last chance at redemption?

This stunning graphic novel, executed in a mad, expressionistic swirl of black lines, is the result of a unique collaboration between the preeminent Italian cartoonist/graphist Lorenzo Mattotti (RAW, The New Yorker, and the graphic novels Fires and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) and the award-winning Italian screenwriter Claudio Piersanti.

"Wondrous... The reader can feel the main character's pain and redemption through Mattotti's raging fury of intense linework... A moving and thoroughly modern morality play." – Paul Gravett

Download an EXCLUSIVE 16-page PDF excerpt (8.8 MB).

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

Special Offer: Add Lorenzo Mattotti's Chimera #1 to your order for just $3.98 — that's 1/2 price! Make your selection with the menu above.

Chimera, with its intricate, hyper-expressive swirls of crisp line work, is a wordless fantasia of birth, death, gods, monsters, and humans, and one of the most astonishing visual narratives you'll ever see.

If you want your order shipped within the U.S. to arrive before Christmas via USPS Priority Mail, tomorrow (Tuesday, December 14) is the deadline to get your order in! Orders placed with the Standard shipping option right now will most likely arrive after the holiday. After tomorrow, you'll have until next Monday, Dec. 20, for orders shipped by 2nd Day UPS. We'll post a reminder for that deadline as well.

Don't forget to check out our handy Holiday Gift Guide for lots of gift ideas for every interest and budget!

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Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (view at original size):

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And elsewhere:

Lucky by Gabrielle Bell:

Maakies by Tony Millionaire:

(Past years' Maakies Christmas decorations here — print, color & hang, as shown here!)

Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit:

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Erich Redson of LA TACO ("Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, California") names their Comic of the Year: "Johnny Ryan is a long-time TACO favorite, but he has really outdone himself this year with the release of Prison Pit Book 2. Pure, unmitigated ultra-violent filth has never been drawn so cleanly. This comic makes an excellent Christmas gift for that special sadist in your life."

• List: Tim Hensley's Wally Gropius is one of Blog Flume's Ken Parille's top 3 "Books I Really Liked and Wrote About Twice in 2010"

• Review: "With The Littlest Pirate King, David B. applies the same skills and angle of attack that served him so well in a naturalistic, personal mode to a highly fantastical tale, one in fact penned by another writer. [...] The story... is weird, gory, mythic, transgressive, surreal, satirical, anti-bourgeoise and nihilistic. It is also cute, sentimental, cheery and heartening. [...] What makes the book an enjoyable success are David B.'s pinwheeling, vibrant, colorful drawings. Echoing elements from the allied work of Richard Sala and Tony Millionaire, he creates both intimate moments and big dramas with eye-catching color, character design and composition. [...] The true king of these manic, antic pirates is David B." – Paul DiFilippo, The Barnes & Noble Review

• Review: "...The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec... is quite fun... A large dose of whimsy is injected into the proceedings, making the dashing also daft. Tardi has the feel of old-school French funnies down pat; if you didn’t know any better... you might think they originated several generations ago, rather than one (they were first published in France in 1976). As is, with its cerebral gags and secret tunnels, the work carries a slight burst steampunk in a knowing, winking vein of Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. [...] The book makes me look forward to seeing Luc Besson’s forthcoming film adaptation, but even more forward to Volume 2." – Rod Lott, Bookgasm

• Review: "Fantagraphics and editor Matt Thorn have ably stepped up to the plate here, compiling a career-spanning collection of Hagio's short stories [A Drunken Dream], one which demonstrates her acumen with stunning visuals and deft characterization, and especially a nice grasp of human relationships. It's like a quick class in what we've been missing out on for all these years. [...] While much of her work remains to be revealed to Western audiences, this book makes for a wonderful primer on what she has accomplished throughout her career. Hopefully it will be far from the extent of what we will get to experience." – Matthew J. Brady, Warren Peace Sings the Blues

• Review: "Front and center [in Low Moon] is [Jason's] quirky subversiveness, the beguiling, eccentric perspective on whatever his subject might be. Delivery is an irresistible syncopation of narrative stresses and visual beats further enlivened by the double take: 'Wait. Did I really see what I just saw?' Whatever a story’s content, era, tone or genre, the narrative is always built up from observed human nature, pared and mounted for easy identification. [...] The book Low Moon contains three more tales, not a clunker in the bunch. They all are ripe with Jason’s sublime nonsense, deadpan hilarity, laconic (if not completely silent) expressiveness and brazen commandeering of genre devices." – Rich Kreiner, The Comics Journal

• Review: "Whether in romantic stories or stories of the West, and especially in the horror, Ditko continuously breaks new ground... Despite all the limitations that Ditko first evidences in these stories, despite the distance in time and the nearly six decades that could be moth-eaten stories, reading Strange Suspense is, at least for the writer, a morbid and pleasurable enjoyment..." – Álvaro Pons, La Cárcel de Papel (translated from Spanish)

• Commentary: At Attentiondeficitdisorderly, Sean T. Collins posts an index and acknowledgments for his now-completed "Love and Rocktober" review series and adds his suggestions for where to start reading the series (not too different from ours)

What th'...? I just found out via the great Dan Zettwoch's blog that the new issue of Desert Island's essential broadsheet comics anthology Smoke Signal is out! Above, the stunning cover by Jordan Crane; the full contributors list isn't posted yet but it includes "new work by Charles Burns, Sammy Harkham, Edie Fake, Tim Hensley, Dan Zettwoch, Michael DeForge, Tim Lane, and tons more!" You can pick up a free copy at Desert Island in Brooklyn or buy it online here. Gimme!

UPDATE: Gabe from Desert Island points out the full contributor list on Facebook — thanks Gabe!

At his Cats Without Dogs blog, Jason posts another page (before his colorist Hubert has at it) from his in-progress book Athos in America, a short story anthology in the style and format of Low Moon which will be out in about a year. In fact, "yes, it's the return of the two main characters from '&,' one of the stories in Low Moon, this time involved in some kidnapping scheme that naturally goes wrong," writes Jason. Can't wait!

Watch Zack Carlson & Bryan Connolly talk abut Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film on last night's episode of IFC's The Grid. As for Zack's suggestion on how to acquire the book, we have a two words of advice: "mall cops."