Ready to horrify Tom Spurgeon and many other people, Josh Simmons's short film, The Leader, is out for a frightful October. We couldn't even make this post at night, we were worried about the repercussions of night-time viewing. Don't say we didn't warn you.

In addition to a free concert by Berlin-based recording artist Molly Nilsson, visitors to the opening of "The Horror: Selections from the EC Comics Library" next Saturday, October 13 at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery will be treated to a short slide presentation by series assistant editor J. Michael Catron. Expect some wondrous EC insights from this veteran comics professsional. The splash page above is from our Jack Davis EC sampler Tales From the Crypt, which will be distributed free at the event while supplies last.

Heads or Tails
by Lilli Carré

200-page full-color 7" x 9" softcover • $22.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-597-6

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

SPECIAL OFFER:

Add Lilli Carré's acclaimed debut The Lagoon to your order for just $9.99 ($5 off)! Use the option menu when ordering.

The creator of 2008’s acclaimed graphic novel The Lagoon — named to many annual critics’ lists including Publishers Weekly and USA Today’s Pop Candy — is back with a stunningly designed and packaged collection of some of the most poetic and confident short fiction being produced in comics today. These stories, created over a period of five years, touch on ideas of flip sides, choices, and extreme ambivalence.

Carré’s elegant short stories read like the gothic, family narratives of Flannery O’Connor or Carson McCullers, but told visually. Poetic rhythms — a coin flip, a circling ferris wheel — are punctuated by elements of melancholy fantasy pushed forward by character-driven, naturalistic dialogue. The stories in Heads or Tails display a virtuosic breadth of visual styles and color palettes, each in perfect service of the story, and range from experimental one-pagers to short masterpieces like "The Thing About Madeline" (featured in The Best American Comics 2008), to graphic novellas like "The Carnival" (featured in David Sedaris’ and Dave Eggers’ 2010 Best American Nonrequired Reading, originally published in MOME), to new work created for this book.

23-page excerpt (download 12.4 MB PDF):

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

Hey, we got our hands on some more copies of last year's hardcover reprint of Jim Woodring's classic The Frank Book! These went fast when we first offered them and we don't expect these copies to last long either, so get yours while you can.

Okay everybody, here's what we're going to do: since we went on record saying we weren't going to do slipcased Pogo sets when Volume 1 came out, and then we were convinced otherwise (with the first set out soon), we're gonna throw in the slipcase at no extra charge for everybody who orders Volume 2 from our mail-order outfit (unless you opt out). We'll even eat the extra packing and shipping costs! So no matter where you bought your Volume 1 from, you can get a slipcase for FREE, but only if you order Volume 2 from us — you won't be able to purchase the slipcase separately. Deal? Deal! But this is a limited-time offer so don't delay!

Our production department has been cranking away and all the rest of our books coming out in 2012 (and one for next year) are now at the printer. I have a bunch of new cover images and excerpts to share, so let's take a peek, shall we?

Castle Waiting Vol. 1 (Softcover Edition) by Linda Medley — the beloved, best-selling fantasy classic, now in paperback! Read the full first chapter for free! Available online in late November, in stores in December!

The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio — a foundational manga classic, published in English for the first time in a single, gorgeous hardcover volume! Read the full first chapter for free! Available in December!

Jack Jackson's American History: Los Tejanos & Lost Cause — two masterful and unflinching recountings of Texas history by an underground comix legend! Sample both stories in a free 26-page excerpt! Available in December!

Problematic: Sketchbook Drawings 2004-2012 by Jim Woodring — a massive survey of the heretofore-private sketchbooks of one of comics' greatest visionaries and visual stylists! Sample 20+ pages for free! Out in December!

Beta Testing the Apocalypse by Tom Kaczynski — heady (and sexy, and suspenseful, and funny) comics short stories reflecting on society, the individual and the man-made environment! We already revealed the cover but now you can read the short story "Music for Neanderthals" in its entirety for free! Avaliable online in mid-December, on shelves late December/early January!

Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 2 by Michael Kupperman — the 2nd hardcover collection of the hit series that sets the standard for contemporary humor comics, collecting issues 5-8 plus a full issue's worth of new material! Yuk your way through a free 16-page sample! Avaliable online in mid-December, in stores late December/early January!

Weird Horrors & Daring Adventures: The Joe Kubert Archives Vol. 1 (edited by Bill Schelly) — early, pre-Comics Code work by one of the all-time greats! Check out our 22-page excerpt to browse the Table of Contents and read 3 full stories for free! Avaliable online in mid-December, on shelves late December/early January!

Delphine by Richard Sala — collecting the acclaimed "Ignatz" comic series, with Sala's twisted take on the tale of Snow White from the "Prince Charming" point of view, in a beautiful hardcover. Read the first 9 pages (plus gorgeous full-color chapter-break pages) for free! Out in January!

Holy moly! We're busy!

...cover:

There's the kitty! Following yesterday's reveal of the front cover art for his May 2013 graphic novel Lost Cat, Jason now unveils the back cover art.

We are happy to reveal these first glimpses of Pogo - The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Vol. 2: "Bona Fide Balderdash" by Walt Kelly and the Pogo Vol. 1-2 Box Set! (Another, "CGI" view of the box set is below.) And that's not all we have to share! Check out a big 34-page excerpt from Vol. 2 including the detailed Table of Contents, 16 pages of dailies, 5 Sunday pages, and incidental artwork right here. These pics are of advance copies; these megillahs will be arriving in 4-6 weeks, though why not pre-order yours right now? (And yes, box set slipcases WILL be available one way or another — details forthcoming!)

This month's issue of Booklist reviewed two recent releases by Fantagraphics creators, excerpted below:

The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln by Noah Van Sciver

Lincoln’s forlorn early years as a struggling lawyer and neophyte politician are sympathetically depicted in this graphic novel. Arriving in Springfield in 1837, the 28-year-old Lincoln starts a law practice . . . and becomes engaged to Mary Todd against her wealthy family’s wishes. But following a series of setbacks—his legal practice collapses, his debts accumulate . . . the melancholia, insecurity, and loneliness that had long plagued Lincoln spiral into a life-threatening nervous breakdown. Lincoln’s struggles to overcome the crippling depression he calls “the hypo” and . . .  his career back on track are no less heroic than the political courage he would display as president during the Civil War. Van Sciver’s heavily crosshatched drawing style, a bit reminiscent of early Crumb with a touch of Chester Brown, is well suited for the material, conveying a slight awkwardness that mirrors Lincoln’s personal discomfort and a rough-hewn, old-fashioned quality reflecting the story’s era.  —Gordon Flagg

The Crackle of the Frost by Jorge Zentner and Lorenzo Mattotti

With his strong coloration and curvy figuration, Mattotti can galvanize less-than-extraordinary scripts. . . He works his magic again on fiction writer turned psychotherapist Zentner’s text, the case history of a psychological breakdown. When Alice tells him she wants to have a baby with him, Samuel starts hearing “the noise”—which Mattotti, without cue from Zentner, strikingly depicts as manta ray . . . and drives her away. A year passes; she sends a note; he leaves to find her. Injured in bizarre circumstances en route and vastly delayed by recuperation, he finally proceeds to find Alice. . . The legend-like tales Samuel tells amid his travails provide Oriental fodder for Mattotti’s imagination, but, visually alluding to Cezanne, Chagall, Munch, Picasso, Botero, and others, the artist already dazzles us by employing so much modern Western art to make Samuel’s story come alive. —Ray Olson

Check out Chris Ware's monumental new work Building Stories, now available at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. And don't miss his joint appearance with Northwest legend Charles Burns on Monday, October 22 at 7:30 PM at Town Hall in Seattle. Be sure to "Like" Fantagraphics Bookstore on Facebook to keep up on all the comix action.