This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators are saying about our releases this week, and contact your local shop to confirm availability.

Fire & Water: Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner and the Birth of Marvel Comics
by Blake Bell

192-page full-color 9" x 12" hardcover • $39.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-166-4

"This hardcover book by Strange and Stranger author Blake Bell features what looks to be substantial prose biography and appreciation, along with plenty of artwork from an artist who helped build the foundation for Marvel as both a publishing powerhouse and a fictional universe." – J. Caleb Mozzocco, Newsarama

"This is the next deluxe Fantagraphics hardcover/art book/biographical thingy by Blake Bell, of 2008′s Strange & Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko. The title suggests some focus on a specific period in the artist’s development and comic book history." – Joe McCulloch, Comics Comics

"A new one from comics historian Blake Bell; haven't read it yet, but it sure sounds interesting." – Douglas Wolk, Comics Alliance

"Bill Everett is one of my top three all-time mainstream comics industry figures, if not number one, and I can't wait to dig into this book." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"Then there’s Fire & Water: Bill Everett, the Sub Mariner and the Birth of Marvel Comics by Blake Bell, about the long-forgotten artist (and Daredevil co-creator) that I just finished reading and heartily recommend..." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s
by various artists; edited by John Benson and Greg Sadowski

320-page full-color 7.5" x 10.5" softcover • $29.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-343-9

"Oh man, it’s a good week for reprints, starting off with Four Color Fear, a collection of classic pre-code horror tales..." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"Editors Greg Sadowski and John Benson have collected 320-pages of horror comics and covers from the likes of Jack Cole, Reed Crandall, George Evans, Frank Frazetta, Jack Katz, Al Williamson, Basil Wolverton, and Wallace Wood, casting their net far wider than iconic horror comic purveyor EC for a wide variety of scary stuff." – J. Caleb Mozzocco, Newsarama

"My most anticipated reprint package in a while... – a new 320-page color compilation of non-EC, pre-Code horror comics, edited by John Benson (Squa Tront, Romance Without Tears) & Greg Sadowski (B. Krigstein, Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941). Featuring works by Jack Cole, Basil Wolverton, Joe Kubert, Bob Powell..., Jack Katz, Al Williamson, Wally Wood and others. Many treats are anticipated." – Joe McCulloch, Comics Comics

"...[A] collection of smaller-house scary comics from the glorious, mainstream past..." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"One of the more promising retro books this week... — this softcover selects lost books from the golden age of horror comics that had unique aesthetic merits." – Cyriaque Lamar, io9

"If I could splurge… to really stimulate the economy, I’d throw in Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s, from Fantagraphics, because I love good vintage comics—and bad vintage comics, for that matter." – Brigid Alverson, Robot 6

Zippy: Ding Dong Daddy from Dingburg
by Bill Griffith

216-page black & white/color 8.5" x 8.5" softcover • $18.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-389-7

"As long as Zippy is being published in some forms, comics will always be at least all right." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"That new collection of Zippy strips, Ding Dong Daddy, looks interesting..." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Carol Tyler, one of the coolest people in the U.S.A., is officially acknowledged as "Cool Illustrator" on the "Cool Cincinnati" list by CityBeat, whose Jason Gargano says You'll Never Know is "an unforgettable search for truth about what happened to her father during the war, simply yet expressively drawn. In many ways the You’ll Never Know series is the project Tyler has been building to her whole career, which has included autobiographically informed cartoons for a number of publications... and a well-received 2005 book, Late Bloomer. Let’s hope she keeps blooming, keeps giving us unique, heartfelt stories that are rare in any form, let alone the graphic kind."

• Roundtable: At The Factual Opinion, Tucker Stone and Michel Fiffe have a long (and spoiler-filled) discussion about Love and Rockets: New Stories #3, predicated on their "shared belief... that the most recent issue of Love and Rockets contains the greatest work of Jaime Hernandez' already legendary career."

• Interview: Is there a better name for a website to run a Q&A with Johnny Ryan than Fecal Face? "M: If you weren't drawing/making comics for a living, what would you be doing? J.R.: I’d probably be in jail."

Cartoonist & Fanta pal Bruce McCorkindale alerted us to his adorable Peanuts/Hellboy mashup sketch — see his original post for a larger image and who's who in the lineup.

Via Twitter, it's Matt Wiegle's response to Dustin Harbin's response to the graphic novel adaptation of Allen Ginsberg's Howl, using artwork by Deanna Staffo (and based on this design, of course).

In the spirit of the Covered blog comes Repaneled, with artists interpreting their favorite comics panels, such as Robert Goodin's version of Johnny Craig, top, and James Ward Edward Clark's version of R. Crumb, above. Give it a bookmark, and we'll be bringing you future entries by and of Fantagraphics artists in future Things to See posts.

As part of our "Tardi Tuesday" presentation, here is a "lost" preview of West Coast Blues , one of the batches of photos & video that we never got a chance to upload last summer. Better late than never! Click here if the embedded player isn't visible below or to enlarge it in a new window (recommended).

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec Vol. 1: Pterror Over Paris and The Eiffel Tower Demon
by Jacques Tardi

96-page full-color 8.5" x 11.5"  hardcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-382-8

Ships in: October 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

Both a rip-roaring adventure series set in pre-World War I Paris and a parody of same, Adèle Blanc-Sec has been enchanting, thrilling, and puzzling readers worldwide through four decades.

With various American attempts to publish Adèle having dribbled into nothing decades ago, Fantagraphics Books, fresh from its triumphs with Tardi’s West Coast Blues, You Are There, and It Was the War of the Trenches, launches a spectacular, newly retranslated, hardcover series that intends to collect every one of its nine (soon ten) volumes.

In this premiere installment, Adèle becomes involved in an interlocking series of mysteries that involve a revived pterodactyl, a frightful on-stage murder, a looming execution by guillotine, and a demon from the depths of hell — plus of course moronic gendarmes, loyal (or perhaps traitorous?) henchmen, and a climax atop the Eiffel Tower.

The Adèle Blanc-Sec series is currently being adapted into a series of films by the renowned action director Luc Besson (The Professional, The Fifth Element), bringing this quirky, very French series to a new worldwide audience.

"...Plot twists aplenty, including a murder or two, as well as a parade of mysterious characters and double-crosses... In crisp drawings with just the right combination of caricature and architectural precision, Tardi wonderfully captures turn-of-the-century Paris." – Publishers Weekly

Download an EXCLUSIVE 12-page PDF excerpt (2.7 MB) with the beginning pages of each story.

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

A lot of catching up to do with this batch of clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing and possible artist commentary at the sources:

• A couple of things Bill Griffith has recently shared on Facebook: the rejected first draft of the home screen for the Zippy Comix iPhone app, and a "lost" Wacky Packages design that Bill says is "almost sacrilegious"

• Dr. Hermes Retro-Scans presents "The Photo-Finish!", a 4-page Kim Deitch story from Corn Fed, 1972 (via ¡Journalista!)

• At Potrzebie, Bhob Stewart presents Roy Crane's 1920s Mexico sketchbook (via ¡Journalista!)

• Jim Woodring presents "Spectacularly unpleasant goings-on from CONGRESS OF THE ANIMALS, page 60"

• It's Stephen DeStefano's 'Mazing Man redux (and seemingly feminized)

• From Matthias Lehmann, one more work-in-progress photo and, above, the finished product 

• From Jason: promotional "bubblegum cards"; a catalog cover (one of ours? I don't have them handy to check); and a book cover illustration (with a different take on the dog-headed figure)

• From Steven Weissman: a new "I, Anonymous" spot; new stuff on sale at Comic Art Collective; the cutest damn sidewalk chalk drawing ever; "School Spirits" & "Series 3" Stinckers

• From Frank Santoro: more Silver Surfer art; something titled Pompe11; "Postcard from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania" for Internazionale, with translation

• A new batch of crafts & merch from Dame Darcy in her latest blog update

• 19 new illustrations by Eleanor Davis for a local organic farm newsletter and a letterpress print in the new edition of the Cloudy Collection

• A handful of vintage Richard Sala sketchbook pages

• The latest installment of Tim Lane's Belligerent Piano

• Now available, a licensed Jim Flora font complete with "Flornaments" dingbats

• From Debbie Drechsler's nature sketchbook: woodpeckers, turtles, fungi, squirrels

• From Lilli Carré: the cover of the Chicago Reader's Fall Arts Guide; animated loop drawings in progress, completed and projected

• Gabrielle Bell presents part 7 of her "San Diego Comic-Con Comicumentary" and her strip from the San Francisco Panorama

• More AMC Pacer studies for Freeway by Mark Kalesniko, including action/disaster shots

• A Sergio Ponchione illustration for a radio talent show (I think)

• A message from Noah Van Sciver, plus an announcement and other updates, and an excerpt from his Lincoln story at Top Shelf 2.0

• Laura Park documents a day in the life with chronic back pain

• From Josh Simmons: Rickles, swaying Quackers

• From Renee French: Bugatti toy photo, sculpt of slug masked girl, e's, Barry with stick, tongue mask, mitt dude, slug girl sketch, shadowy creature, turds, Otto

• Dash Shaw's Daily Drawings no. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, & 14

• Steve Brodner's latest newsmaker portraits with commentary: Marty Peretz, John Boehner, Christine O'Donnell, Hamid Karzai, Cantor Yosele Rosenblatt, Sarah Palin & Rupert Murdoch

• Anders Nilsen's Great Gatsby cover for Penguin UK, with preliminary studies; a car engine; and a portrait of Richard Brautigan

• A concert poster from Derek Van Gieson's archives

• The latest Maakies from Tony Millionaire 

• Jordan Crane's cover illustration for the latest Cinefamily newsletter

Here's a Facebook campaign we can get behind: "Let Noah Van Sciver Draw Howard the Duck for Strange Tales." Honestly, that sounds like about as ideal a match as Frank Santoro doing Silver Surfer.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "...Moto Hagio, whose work might officially be classified as shōjo manga, ...is apparently one important, daring renegade in the manga world. This handsome collection that encompasses almost four decades (from 1971-2007) of Hagio’s short stories comes complete with a thorough, illuminating interview with Hagio conducted by the volume’s translator, Matt Thorn. [...] Hagio’s collection of 10 short manga stories [A Drunken Dream and Other Stories is] filled with unexpected twists and endings." – Terry Hong, BookDragon (Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program)

• Review: "Malkasian weaves her story carefully [in Temperance], pulling the different narrative threads together in unexpected places, and while the parallels to the real world are clear, this is no simplistic fable. [...] Malkasian’s art is incredibly expressive, and her characters are filled with vitality..." – Brigid Alverson, Robot 6

• Review: "There are no great deeds in Tardi’s comic [It Was the War of the Trenches]. No Légion d’honneurs, no Croix de guerres, no Victoria or Iron Crosses. No suggestion that only the brave and courageous have the right to cry out in protest. No sense of fellowship, no pitched battles to gratify our base senses and desires, and certainly nothing of that most typical of war time sensations, boredom." – Ng Suat Tong, The Hooded Utilitarian

• Review: "In many ways, Ghita is like a female, uncensored Conan. ...Everything has its place in the script. The artwork, with excellent black ink, I do not need to explain that is excellent..." – Andreas Michaelides, Comicdom (translated from Greek)

• List: Feel the love as 50 comics pros each name their 5 favorite Fantagraphics releases (minus some ringers as determined by Tom Spurgeon) at The Comics Reporter; read some additional flattering commentary by participant Mike Sterling; Sean T. Collins comments "The result shows just how deep a bench that publisher can field. Greatest comics publisher of all time."

• Interview: Comic Book Resources' Shaun Manning gets all the latest scoop from Stan Sakai, including details about the long-gestating Usagi Yojimbo Special Edition set (coming in December): "It'll be all the Fantagraphics stories in a two-volume slipcase hardcover edition. I'm looking forward to it. It's also going to publish all the extras that were only in the hardcover [collections], with the exception of the full-color story that was published in the book 4 hardback, because that was reprinted recently in [Dark Horse's] 'The Art of Usagi Yojimbo.' But this is the sketches and covers and things that were included with the hardcover editions. So it'll be a lot more, plus it'll be about the same price as buying them in the trade paperback."