Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Plugs: The bloggers at Comics And... Other Imaginary Tales look at and comment on our upcoming August releases

• Profile: Tom Mason of Comix 411 asks "Where in the World is Spain Rodriguez?"

Looky what made an appearance on last night's episode of the Bravo network's latest reality competition show Work of Art: it's Daniel Clowes's cover for the Penguin Classics edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, as part of a book-related challenge. I haven't watched the episode yet (shut up) so I don't know if there's more to it than this cameo appearance. Thanks to TCJ's Kristy Valenti for alerting me to this screencap from Project Rungay (episode spoilers at the link).

Multifaceted cartoonist, musician, performance artist, fortune teller and neo-Victorian culture maven Dame Darcy appears at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on July 10 to celebrate the publication of MEAT CAKE, a collection of stories from the first decade of her popular comic book series of the same name. The event features an exhibition of Dame Darcy's original comic art and other creations, an enchanting music recital and a fortune telling session with each book signed.

MEAT CAKE is like a peek into an imaginative, deranged dollhouse filled with fractured fairy tales. An expanded version of the long out-of-print hardcover book, this new paperback assembles the very best of Darcy's work from the first 11 issues of the beloved comic (including "Hungry Is the Heart," the legendary collaboration with Watchmen creator Alan Moore). According to the New York Times, "Darcy's comics are aesthetic manifestos... Darcy is a star. Meat Cake will prevail, as luxury takes over America. And the world beyond." The Los Angeles Times observes, "[Darcy] has created a childlike, otherworldly realm, a land that hovers in the twilight space between the whimsical and the macabre. Ghosts and goblins, foul-tempered stepmothers, lovesick mermaids and charmed forests are all rendered in Darcy's distinctive hand, loose and flowing lines reminiscent of the work of Edward Gorey."

Dame Darcy's appearance on Saturday, July 10 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM coincides with the colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack featuring challenging visual and performing arts presentations throughout the historic industrial arts corridor. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport way S.) only minutes south of downtown Seattle. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone 206.658.0110.

Listing Information

Dame Darcy's MEAT CAKE

Art exhibition, book signing and performance

Saturday, July 10, 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Exhibition continues through September 8, 2010

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 98108
Phone 206.658.0110
Open Daily 11:30 - 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "The graphic novel King of the Flies: Hallorave... gives us a glimpse of internal mayhem inside a controlled environment, executed with elegance and a touch of mystery. ... King of the Flies has been compared to the work of Charles Burns for its graceful depiction of adolescent suburban horror. This is a weird tale that’s easy to get drawn into..." – Irina Ivanova, The Indypendent

• Plugs: At Largehearted Boy, Atomic Books owner Benn Ray lists his picks of the week, including Artichoke Tales by Megan Kelso ("Beautiful, expansive, lyrical") and The Book of Mr. Natural by Robert Crumb ("Did reading R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis leave you now craving more? The Book of Mr. Natural is your natural (heh-heh) next step").

• Plugs: The Gosh! Comics Blog spotlights Billy Hazelnuts and the Crazy Bird ("Tony Millionaire’s special brand of Odd abounds in a second instalment of the Billy Hazelnuts saga") and Temperance by Cathy Malkasian ("this sounds like a hefty, rewarding read").

• Plugs: Douglas Wolk includes a goodly number of Fantagraphics releases on his Summer Comics Preview list at TIME / Techland.

• Interview: At TCJ.com's Guttergeek, Chris Reilly says "Billy Hazelnuts and the Crazy Bird is a tie for best graphic novel of the year with Jim Woodring’s Weathercraft" and proceeds to talk to Tony Millionaire: "Sometimes the story will present opportunities I hadn’t thought of (the personality of the cat for instance), and I’ll go with it if it feels right. Then I jam it all into an ending and hope it doesn’t all end up in a big pile of shit. I’m often nervous that I’m writing a crappy book. I’ve done it before and you can’t tell till it’s done and it is disappointing. So far I’m very happy with the Billy Hazelnuts books, but I’ll have to give the Crazy Bird one more read before I’m convinced of its greatness."

• Interview: Masters of Manga talks to Moto Hagio about the Year 24 Group (via ¡Journalista!)

Seattle-based zine distro Profanity Hill (run by our own Jason T. Miles) has updated with a huge number of new acquisitions from local artistes, including some oldies-but-goodies from Peter Bagge and Jim Blanchard — click the images below for ordering info on each item and for goodness sakes browse the site and pick up some other stuff too.

It's the final stop on Jim Woodring's WEATHERCRAFT tour! 

WHO: Jim Woodring 
WHAT: Multimedia talk and book signing
WHERE: Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR
WHEN: Friday, June 25, 7:30 PM

WHO: Megan Kelso 
WHAT: book signing
WHERE: Desert Island, 540 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn, NY
WHEN: Friday, June 25, 7PM 

WHO: Megan Kelso and Kim Deitch 
WHAT: Multimedia talk and book signing
WHERE: The Strand Bookstore, 12th & Broadway, New York, NY
WHEN: Thursday, June 24, 7PM

Fantagraphics Books and New York's The Strand Bookstore are proud to present an evening with acclaimed graphic novelists Kim Deitch and Megan Kelso on June 24, talking about and signing their new graphic novels THE SEARCH FOR SMILIN' ED (by Deitch) and ARTICHOKE TALES (by Kelso).

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship:

Werewolves of Montpellier
by Jason

48-page full-color 7" x 10" softcover • $12.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-359-0

Add to Cart • More Info & Previews

Sven, a semi-aimless Scandinavian artist who has ended up in Montpellier, France on a futile romantic pursuit, enjoys nocturnal raids into other people’s homes, disguised as a werewolf. The way he figures it, the disguise will give him an extra few moments’ advantage vis-à-vis any startled home owner if things get ugly... but he hasn’t taken into account the existence of a society of real Montpellier-based werewolves who do not take kindly to this new pretender.

So while Sven spends his days playing chess and poker with his friends, sketching his way through his picturesque chosen hometown, and coping with romantic dilemmas — both his and those of his best friend, the Breakfast-at-Tiffany’s-obsessed Audrey, who has girl troubles of her own — little does he realize that a genuine threat to his life, and for that matter his humanity, is closing in on him.

Werewolves of Montpellier is a lycanthropic thriller, a romantic comedy, and an existential drama — basically, your typical Jason book. Beware the full moon!

“Another werewolf story to warm the cockles of your heart!” – John Landis

Download an EXCLUSIVE 6-page PDF excerpt (936 KB).

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

Also arrived:

The Last Musketeer (3rd Printing)
by Jason

48-page full-color 7" x 10" softcover • $12.95
ISBN: 978-1-56097-889-3

Add to Cart • More Info & Previews

Now available in a new 3rd Printing with a recolored cover!

After his existential thriller (Why Are You Doing This?), his Parisian famous-writers crime caper (The Left Bank Gang), and his time-travel story (I Killed Adolf Hitler), Jason's fourth full-color album may feature his loopiest premise yet. Set in the present time, The Last Musketeer stars the by-now centuries old musketeer Athos, who has been reduced to a suavely dressed but useless near-panhandler trading on his now almost extinct fame. All this changes when one day the Martians attack Earth. Suddenly there is a need for swashes to be buckled, and Athos leaps back into the fray with a vengeance. The Last Musketeer is a vintage sci-fi adventure with a unique twist from an internationally acclaimed cartoonist.

2009 Eisner Award Winner: Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Official Selection, 2008 Festival International de la Bande Desinée de Angoulême (French edition)

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

Bonus Savings: Order both books together for the great discounted price of $19.99 — over 20% off the combined cover prices!

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship:

Prince Valiant Vol. 2: 1939-1940
by Hal Foster

112-page full-color 10.25" x 14" hardcover • $29.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-348-4

Add to Cart • More Info & Previews

For 35 years, Hal Foster created epic adventure and romantic fantasy in his legendary Sunday strip, Prince Valiant. Realistic in its visual execution and noble in its subject, depicting a time in which the fabled warriors of history and legends fought together for the greater good, it remains one of the great masterpieces of the medium.

In this second volume, Prince Valiant helps his father reclaim his throne in the kingdom of Thule, fights alongside King Arthur, and is made a knight of the Round Table in recompense for his bravery and wit. Bored by the peace he helped to create, Val decides to independently pull together the forces to battle the Huns’ descent on Southern Europe. When Val’s army breaches the Huns’ stronghold, however, he discovers that corruption reigns still further west in Rome. Thus Val sets off with Sir Gawain and Tristam of Arthurian legend fame, and the familial kinship of the trio sees them through chivalrous escapades, false imprisonment and daring escapes. By the end of this volume, they go their separate ways, and Val boards a ship to Sicily—yet a storm approaches, throwing him off-course, as adventure follows him everywhere.

Fantagraphics is proud to present these strips, which, thanks to the use of original proof sheets and advances in printing technology, are even brighter and crisper than when they were originally published 70 years ago. Foster’s work, painterly and sweeping, is finally treated to the grand depiction it deserves. These illustrative, time-honored comic strips will enthrall old readers and just as easily awe new ones.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 12-page PDF excerpt which includes Mark Schultz's Introduction and 9 strips (6.55 MB). Also, read editor Kim Thompson's Afterword from Vol. 1, detailing the production and restoration of these new editions, right here on our website.

Bonus Savings: Order Prince Valiant Vols. 1 & 2 together for a discounted price of $47.99 (a savings of about 12 bucks)!