Johnny Ryan has a pointed new comic up at Vice. It's actually SFW!

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Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "...[L]ike Herge, another exemplary creator who made comics primarily for kids and later found an audience of devoted adults, Barks’ duck stories are richer, more compelling and smarter than a cursory glance might suggest... Most reprint projects worth their salt these days require some thoughtful essays and supplemental materials and [Walt Disney's Donald Duck:] Lost in the Andes is no different.... In short, this is exactly the book that Barks fans and the curious have been waiting for. ...Barks remains an exemplary cartoonist. His work is thrilling, funny and rather knowing about human nature without ever seeming trite or obvious, and despite the occasional pop culture reference it hasn’t aged much over the decades either. How good was Carl Barks? Pretty goddamned good." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

• Reviews: "First and foremost, Willie & Joe are funny. Fantagraphics has put the WW II years out in paperback, but I've got the also available hardcover, a great looking slipcase in army green with two fat volumes of his captivating artwork. Never having served (or even fired a gun), it's an absorbing glimpse into the day to day life of soldiers while it was happening and the end not known. It's easy to identify with: employees in any capacity gripe about their bosses. But the more specific Mauldin is, the more biting and fascinating his work is.... Finally, it's Willie & Joe: Back Home that moved me the most.... Mauldin is always funny, but those with a rosy image of WW II will be surprised by the complex world shown here... Fantagraphics has captured Mauldin's most enduring characters in two releases that do him justice." – Michael Giltz, Huffington Post

• Review: "Trondheim is my favorite cartoonist.... it made me feel good to see Trondheim waste time playing video games and fail repeatedly to deal with his growing belly [in Approximate Continuum Comics]." – Gene Ambaum, The Unshelved Book Club

• Commentary: On Amazon's books blog Omnivoracious, Alex Carr looks at Amazon's list of Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2011 and comments, "Perhaps most rewarding, though, are Jaime Hernandez’s short stories in Love and Rockets: New Stories Vol. 4. The longtime creator completes a long-running narrative without grandiose preening, and the art is full of expression and effortless charm. The final pages speed toward a finish that will satisfy new readers and bring bittersweet conclusion for fans. It’s the best feeling for a Love and Rockets devotee: not wanting the decades-long love story to end but being so pleased with the way it may have (if this truly is the conclusion)."

• Interview: Comics Bulletin's Jason Sacks talks with Kevin Huizenga about the new issue of Ganges: "I don't like [the term] 'experimental,' because it gives the impression that the usual qualities of a good story are less important to me than formal trickery. I'm trying to draw something that I want to read, that I haven't seen before and that is still nicely designed and readable."

• Plug: At Buzzfeed, J.P. Moore spotlights our upcoming publication of Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons

• Plug: "I have just received my review copy of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: 'Trapped on Treasure Island' and as amazing as it sounds David Gerstein and Fantagraphics have managed to do it again: they have produced at the same time the best Disney comic book of 2011 and one of the best Disney history books of the year." – Didier Ghez, Disney History

Steven Weissman is taking the week off, but we have Mark Kalesniko's Veterans Day comic (more about which here) to take up the slack, our weekly Kupperman, and links to other strips from around the web:

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"Uncle Bob" by Mark Kalesniko:

Up All Night by Michael Kupperman (view at original size):

And elsewhere:

The All-New Cartoon Boy Adventure Hour by John Kerschbaum at ACT-I-VATE:

Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane:

Forming by Jesse Moynihan:

Humblug by Arnold Roth (3 new strips this week):

Maakies by Tony Millionaire:

Les Petits Riens by Lewis Trondheim (scroll down at the link for one more update):

What's in the Backpack by Victor Kerlow:

In commemoration of Veterans Day we present "Uncle Bob," a two-page story by Mark Kalesniko, which is loosely based on a relative of Mark's who fought in World War II. It originally appeared in the out-of-print 2003 Comics Journal Special Edition. Thank you to Mark for allowing us to host it. Read it here.

We've aquired a small stock of this out-of-print comic — these are some of the last copies available anywhere!

Babel #1
by David B.

32-page 2-color 8.5" x 11" comic book • $9.95
Published by Drawn & Quarterly, 2005

Back in Stock - Order Now!

The first installment of the breathtaking series by French cartoonist David B. A boy's world is shattered by his brother's epileptic seizures and his growing awareness of turmoil in warring countries. The stunning two-color artwork evokes an extraordinary range of influences, from the boldness of primitive art to the lyricism of Winsor McCay.

This comic is notable as being the precursor to the Ignatz Series line, which includes the second issue of the series.

Gilbert Hernandez "High Soft Lisp" Exhibit Print - Signed

16" x 22" three-color silkscreen print • $20.00

Order Now!

The signed, limited-edition 3-color silkscreen print for Gilbert Hernandez's Spring 2010 exhibit at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery features Rosalba "Fritz" Martinez, star of the Love and Rockets collection High Soft Lisp. Signed by the artist, in an edition of 75. We are pleased to now offer this item to our mail-order customers!

Printed in black, red and mint green on white heavy bond paper. Designed by Jacob Covey.

Special Offer: Order this print together with High Soft Lisp and save $5.00! Make your selection when ordering either item.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "If you've never heard the name Carl Barks, then you probably see this book [Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes] and wonder, 'What makes this Donald Duck comic so great? Is this, like, an ironic VICE thing? Did I just get VICEd?' This is no goof, this book is the first in a series of volumes collecting some of the best examples of comic bookery ever produced.... In many ways these comics feel more similar to European adventure comics like Tintin or the Smurfs than they do with other American comics. The lines are so clean and bouncy and the stories all seem weirder and more sophisticated than run-of-the-mill children's shit from that era. ...Fantagraphics made my dreams come true with this perfect book. For $25 you get 200 pages of some of the most important comics ever made and about 30 pages of the story of Carl Barks' life along with story notes and annotations. This is a fucking steal. Thank you, Fantagraphics! Your books continue to give me bright bursts of joy even in the grimmest of times!" – Nick Gazin, VICE

• Review/Scene: Pulp Serenade's Cullen Gallagher shares some great photos of Kevin Avery's appearance at the Strand Bookstore in NYC last night, saying of the book: "Kevin’s biography, Everything Is an Afterthought, tells the whole sad story. It’s heartbreaking as hell, but I couldn’t put it down. Paul was a compelling and complex as any of the artists he wrote about — and just as talented.... One of the nicest touches to Everything Is an Afterthought (aside from making the book resemble a box of Nat Shermans, Paul's favorite) is its organization: part one is the biography, and part two is filled with some of Paul’s best pieces (including his Ross Macdonald obit). First you get to know the man through his life, and second you get to know the man through his art. When you finish the book, you begin to realize how Paul’s biography would be incomplete without his own writing."

• Commentary (Audio): Jason's I Killed Adolf Hitler is one of the varied topics of discussion on the latest episode of The Ink Panthers Show podcast

• Commentary: Love & Maggie has the beginnings of a reader's guide to Love and Rockets for those who started with New Stories and now want to backtrack

You can all have Female Trouble this coming Friday, November 11th as our friends at Meltdown Comics kick off their latest exhibit, Pretty? Pretty? A Divine Art Show -- a tribute to the one-and-only John Waters ingenue!

That's a sneak peek of one of Johnny Ryan's pieces above,  and as he mentions on his blog, the other "is a 'mixed media' piece [he] can’t reveal just yet." (Mike Baehr to me, "I hope it's Johnny in drag!")

The opening reception for Pretty? Pretty? A Divine Art Show is from 8:00 - 11:00 PM, featuring a live DJ, free booze, drag’s finest performers and more special Divine-themed surprises. The exhibit runs through November 17th at Meltdown Comics [ 7522 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles ].

UPDATE: More info now at the Meltdown blog!

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship to our mail-order customers:

Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes
by Carl Barks

240-page full-color 7.5" x 10.25" hardcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-474-0

See Previews / Order Now

Carl Barks's Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics are considered among the greatest artistic and storytelling achievements in the history of the medium.

After serving a stint at the Walt Disney studios as an in-betweener and a gag-man, Barks began drawing the comic book adventures of Donald Duck in 1942. He quickly mastered every aspect of cartooning and over the next nearly 30 years created some of the most memorable comics ever drawn — as well as some of the most memorable characters: Barks introduced Uncle Scrooge, the charmed and insufferable Gladstone Gander, the daffy inventor Gyro Gearloose, the bumbling and heedless Beagle Boys, the Junior Woodchucks, and many others.

Barks alternated between longish, sprawling 20- or 30-page adventure yarns filled with the romance of danger, courage, and derring-do, whose exotic locales spanned the globe, and shorter stories that usually revolved around crazily ingenious domestic squabbles between Donald and various members of the Duckburg cast. Barks’s duck stories, famously enjoyed equally by both children and adults, are both evanescent celebrations of courage and perseverance and depictions of less commendable traits — greed, resentment, and one-upmanship.

Our initial volume begins when Barks had reached his peak — 1948-1950. Highlights include:

• The title story, “Lost in the Andes” (Barks’s own favorite). Donald and the nephews embark on an expedition to Peru to find where square eggs come from only to meet danger in a mysterious valley whose inhabitants all speak with a southern drawl, and where Huey, Dewey, and Louie save Unca’ Donald’s life by learning how to blow square bubbles!

• Two stories co-starring the unbearably lucky Gladstone, including the epic “Race to the South Seas,” as Donald and Gladstone try to win Uncle Scrooge’s favor by being the first to rescue him from a desert island.

• Two Christmas stories, including “The Golden Christmas Tree,” one of Barks’s most fantastic stories that pits him and the nephews against a witch who wants to destroy all the Christmas trees in the world.

• In other stories, Donald plays a TV quiz show contestant and ends up encased in a giant barrel of Jell-O, a truant officer who matches wits with his nephews, and a ranch hand who outwits cattle rustlers.

Lost in the Andes also features an introduction by noted Barks scholar Donald Ault, and detailed commentary/annotations for each story at the end of the book, written by the foremost Barks authorities in the world.

These new editions feature meticulously restored and re-colored pages in a beautifully designed, affordable and accessible format. Discover the genius of Carl Barks!

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship to our mail-order customers:

Pogo - Vol. 1 of the Complete Syndicated Comic Strips: "Through the Wild Blue Wonder"
by Walt Kelly

308-page black & white/color 11.25" x 9.25" hardcover • $39.99
ISBN: 978-1-56097-869-5

See Previews / Order Now

Walt Kelly started his career at age 13 in Connecticut as a cartoonist and reporter for the Bridgeport Post. In 1935, he moved to Los Angeles and joined the Walt Disney Studio, where he worked on classic animated films, including Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Fantasia. Rather than take sides in a bitter labor strike, he moved back east in 1941 and began drawing comic books.

It was during this time that Kelly created Pogo Possum. The character first appeared in Animal Comics as a secondary player in the “Albert the Alligator” feature. It didn’t take long until Pogo became the comic’s leading character. After WWII, Kelly became artistic director at the New York Star, where he turned Pogo into a daily strip. By late 1949, Pogo appeared in hundreds of newspapers. Until his death in 1973, Kelly produced a feature that has become widely cherished among casual readers and aficionados alike.

Kelly blended nonsense language, poetry, and political and social satire to make Pogo an essential contribution to American “intellectual” comics. As the strip progressed, it became a hilarious platform for Kelly’s scathing political views in which he skewered national bogeymen like J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy, George Wallace, and Richard Nixon.

Walt Kelly started when newspaper strips shied away from politics — Pogo was ahead of its time and ahead of later strips (such as Doonesbury and The Boondocks) that tackled political issues. Our first (of 12) volume reprints approximately the first two years of Pogo — dailies and (for the first time) full-color Sundays.

This first volume also introduces such enduring supporting characters as Porkypine, Churchy LaFemme, Beauregard Bugleboy, Seminole Sam, Howland Owl, and many others. And for Christmas, 1949, Kelly started his tradition of regaling his readers with his infamously and gloriously mangled Christmas carols.

Special features in this sumptuous premiere volume, which is produced with the full cooperation of Kelly’s heirs, include a biographical introduction by Kelly biographer Steve Thompson, an extensive section by comics historian R.C. Harvey explaining some of the more obscure current references of the time, a foreword by legendary columnist Jimmy Breslin, and more.