Election season getting you down? Think no more of it as you download the latest in Fantagraphics and comiXology's digital storm, The Hypo by Noah Van Sciver. We can all agree that President Abraham Lincoln was a great man and leader of the country but what were the seeds that sprouted this enormous forest of a man? 

The debut graphic novel from Noah Van Sciver follows the twentysomething Abraham Lincoln as he loses everything, long before becoming our most beloved president. Lincoln is a rising Whig in the state's legislature as he arrives in Springfield, IL to practice law. With all of his possessions under his arms in two saddlebags, he is quickly given a place to stay by a womanizing young bachelor who becomes his friend and close confidant. Lincoln builds a life and begins friendships with the town's top lawyers and politicians. He attends elegant dances and meets an independent-minded young woman from a high-society Kentucky family, and after a brisk courtship, becomes engaged. But, as time passes and uncertainty creeps in, young Lincoln is forced to battle a dark cloud of depression brought on by a chain of defeats and failures culminating into a nervous breakdown that threatens his life and sanity. This cloud of dark depression Lincoln calls "The Hypo."

Dense crosshatching and an attention to detail help bring together this completely original telling of a man driven by an irrepressible desire to pull himself up by his bootstraps, overcome all obstacles, and become the person he strives to be. All the while unknowingly laying the foundation of character he would use as one of America's greatest presidents. Available for purchase at comiXology today!

"Noah Van Sciver has brought new soul to this hard, weird time in Lincoln's life. The Hypo is a story of suffering & yearning, artfully told." -Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln's Melancholy

"A thoroughly engaging graphic novel that seamlessly balances investigation and imagination." -Publishers Weekly

"[Van Sciver renders] an American icon as a lumpen everyman, fighting through the same fog that many people find themselves in—even if few of those ordinary folks wind up in the Oval Office." -Noel Murray, AV Club

 

Another entertaining evening at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery last Saturday for the launch of our EC Comics Library line. Thanks to series associate editor J. Michael Catron and the enchanting Molly Nilsson for providing a focus to the festivities. If you missed it, you have through October 31 to view the display. No better time than this Saturday, October 20 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, when the bookstore welcomes the incomparable Charles Burns with special guests Gabrielle Bell and Tom Kaczynski. Pick up brand new graphic novels by Burns and Bell, and preview Kaczynski's forthcoming Fantagraphics title Beta Testing the Apocalypse.

Speaking of the apocalypse, we'll be serving complimentary samples of Elysian Brewing's Black Hole-inspired "12 Beers of the Apocalypse," including "Blight" Pumpkin Ale and a preview tasting of "Omen" - not released to the general public until the following day. This event coincides with Elysian's "Great Pumpkin Brew Festival" up the street at their Georgetown bottling facility. Taste dozens of pumpkin beers from regional boutique breweries. Yummy. All this plus massive Halloween surprises make this another event not to be missed. See you then.

 

Entrecomics, a Madrid-based comic book company, recently put out a call for Cannibal Fuckface Fan Art, the main fucktagonist of Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit series. Entrecomics and Fulgencio Pimentel co-edited the Spanish edition, Pudridero, that combines Books 1 and 2.  So far the response to the contest has been overwhelming, both in volume and ability. The contest winners will recieve copies of Prison Pit, other comics and it sounds like there is an exhibition or two in the works. Maybe even a print booklet?

To size up the competition and enjoy the entries, check out the work posted on Tumblr so far! The winners will be chosen THIS FRIDAY by Johnny Ryan himself. 

More than one person at Fantagraphics can read Spanish but the Google translation of the Entrecomics site is rather perfect: Johnny Ryan (Boston, 1970) is one of the authors of the most renowned American alternative scene and disgusting. So choice, Johnny would be proud.

Drew Friedman continues to pay tribute to the Legends of Comics with this wonderful new portrait of the great Al Jaffee, which is now available as a limited-edition print. Does not ship folded.

In the face of the election season, voters on both sides of the issues and firmly encamped in their parties were shocked at the turn of events from the first Presidential Debate and the only Vice-Presidential debate. But it was a shock to no-one at Fantagraphics for we have all read Steven Weissman's graphic novel Barack Hussein Obama. He managed to capture the essence of America so well that he even predicted the future.

This is how Obama was reacting on the sidelines during the VP debate as Biden laid down the law:

 

 

This is what Biden was thinking by the end of the debate:

 

 

But this is what Biden said:

 

 

When interviewed later by the media, all he could say was this:

 

 

How contrary of him! But don't take my word for it. Check out Barack Hussein Obama out for yourself and see all the pickles he gets into with Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and the Obama girls. And tune in Tuesday to see what happens in the debates next!

Vapor, the long-awaited new graphic novel by Spanish master of surrealist comics Max, comes out next week in his home country from our fine colleagues at La Cúpula (in Spanish and Catalan editions, shown above), and our English-language edition is now rescheduled for June of next year. To celebrate (and promote) the book's arrival, Max has started a new blog exploring the creative process of the book, posting developmental artwork, inspirations, and other behind-the-scenes info. It's all in Spanish but Google Translate does a pretty fair job with it if you're not multilingual.

Prison Pit Book 4
by Johnny Ryan

116-page black & white 6.5" x 8.5" softcover • $12.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-591-4

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

Order this book and receive this FBI•MINI comic shown here as a FREE bonus! Click here for details. Limit one per customer while supplies last.

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As always, a plot summary of the latest installment of Johnny (Angry Youth Comix) Ryan’s hugely popular sci-fi-prison-planet-gore-fest-slugfest-a-thon serial must, in order to be presentable to normal, decent human beings, be cut into fine Belgian lace. And so, with apologies:

“Cannibal F***face discovers the only way to escape the Caligulon is to brainf*** the Slorge and create a giant, brainless oafchild that only knows how to annihilate everything in its path. And what happens when the Slugstaxx show up and use their nightj*** to turn this mindless monster against CF? Total F***ing Mayhem.”

Advance Praise: "You know you're reading Prison Pit when there's a character called Undigestible Scrotum and someone tries to see if he lives up to his name... Prison Pit is what you read when no one is home and you're not eating." – Chris Mautner

14-page excerpt (download <1 MB PDF):

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

A convincing case can be made that Harvey Kurtzman was as influential as Andy Warhol or the Beatles in shaping youth culture in the last half of the twentieth century. His work with EC comics and MAD magazine emboldened a generation to question authority and employ art in the service of degenerate discourse. American society was never quite the same in his wake. Please join us this Saturday, October 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery to celebrate the legacy of Kurtzman and his EC cohorts with "The Horror: Selections from the EC Comics Library."

Visitors to the reception will receive free copies of Tales From the Crypt EC sampler by Jack Davis. A display of pages from the first two EC Comics Library collections by Kurtzman and Wallace Wood will be supplemented by a short slide presentation by series associate editor J. Michael Catron. Complimentary beverages and seasonal snacks will be served. A highlight of the evening is a free concert by Berlin-based recording artist Molly Nilsson. Her lyrical approach and haunting vocal delivery perfectly reflect the EC aesthetic. Here's Molly performing live in Prague earlier this year. Sheesh! Talk about seducing the innocent...

A couple of weekends ago, I was in Vancouver, BC to take a writing workshop with Lynda Barry (eeeeee!!!!), and my friends and I made a stop to Lucky's Comics!

Lucky's is a wee store, but totally jam-packed with amazing books! I didn't even know where to start looking! I was really impressed with their wide variety of kid-friendly books, from classics to Nikki McClure. 

Hey, it's Robin McConnell of Inkstuds and Kelly Froh of Short Run fighting over a copy of Dal Tokyo! And over Kelly's shoulder, I spy an anthology edited by Fanta's very own Jen Vaughn! 

Naturally, I was thrilled to see so many Fantagraphics titles on the shelves -- and they didn't even know I was stopping in, so it's not like any of this was staged! I was also excited by the boxes of self-published mini-comix (not shown, but seriously pillaged), and they've even got a gallery room in the back, although they were between shows on the weekend we were there.

So, if you're ever in Vancouver, get lucky and stop by Lucky's Comics, located at 3972 Main Street! Thanks to shopkeeper, Will, for the Canadian hospitality, and to Robin & Kelly for taking me there! (Postcard above, by the register, designed by my old pal Vicki, aka Meomi!)

It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right, and a stop at Time Warp Comics for a signing of The Hypo with our own Noah Van Sciver!

He'll be signing this Sunday, October 14th from 12:00 to 3:00 PM. Get your copy of the acclaimed graphic novel that NPR's Glen Weldon called "achingly familiar, relatably human and — most of all — profoundly real." 

Time Warp Comics is located at 3105 28th Street in Boulder, Colorado. Don't be jealous West Coast — Noah's heading our way soon!