Over the past week I've had the distinct pleasure to proofread the newly edited and exceptionally expanded The Strange Case of Edward Gorey by scribe extrodinare Alexander Theroux . When Gary first told me we would be publishing an expanded 2nd edition I was more than curious not only because I'm a student of Gorey but because I consider Theroux's first edition to be the definite prose representation of Figbash's father, Ogdred Weary. While you wait for the 2nd edition of The Strange Case of Edward Gorey (completely redesigned by Jacob Covey and presented as a hardcover!) I implore you to peruse Chris Seufert's amazing photographs  documenting O. Müde's house.

Here's a few photos from Carol Tyler's exhibit opening and book signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery last weekend. (See many more in our Flickr set.) Unfortunately your photographer was not able to capture moments like Carol boogie-ing to surf rock and Carol and Peter Bagge exchanging gang signs during a discussion about lettering. Just goes to show you: you have to be there!

A lively crowd, with Carol tucked away at far right.

Ellen Forney & friend, left, with Jim Woodring, right.

Detail of Carol's amazing original art — see the photo set for views of the entire exhibit.

Carol shows off her hand-appliquéd Army jacket liner as depicted in You'll Never Know, Book 2: Collateral Damage.

Carol, left, with Peter Bagge, right, and smilin' John Ohannesian of Georgetown Records, center. (This wasn't the gang-sign conversation.)

Tonight at 8 PM (Eastern/Pacific) on Cartoon Network is the debut of the new series Sym-Bionic Titan — our man Stephen DeStefano worked on it and drew the above promo art! I've got my DVR set and so should you.

(UPDATE: Just to clarify a bit, Stephen is Character Designer for the show, which is created & executive-produced by Genndy Tartakovsky.)

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship:

You'll Never Know, Book 2: Collateral Damage
by C. Tyler

104-page full-color 12" x 10.25" hardcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-418-4

Ordering Info & Previews

This book is available with a signed bookplate as a FREE premium! The bookplate has been uniquely designed for this book, and each bookplate is printed on acid-free cardstock and hand-signed by the author. (Click here for more books available with signed bookplates.) Please select your preference above before adding the item to your shopping cart. Note: Signature plates are VERY limited in quantity and available only WHILE SUPPLIES LAST.

The first volume of You’ll Never Know showed Carol’s initial, sometimes difficult attempts at grappling with her father Chuck’s traumatic World War II experiences by bringing them to light. As Book 2 begins, she is startled to discover that Chuck’s decision to suddenly, after 60 years, open up to her on the subject has motivations that go far beyond his desire to reveal his past — putting even more pressure on an already explosive relationship. In any event, Carol finally begins to delve into, and re-tell, Chuck’s horrific wartime experiences in Italy (which are worse than even she had imagined).

But back in the present, the cycle of family dysfunction continues as Carol’s own daughter runs into her own trouble, leading Carol into further exploration of her family’s buried traumas and sorrows — with an expanded reprinting of the out-of-print “The Hannah Story,” Tyler’s superb chronicle of the short life and accidental death of her older sister, a heart-rending story (named one of the “100 Best Comics of the 20th Century” in a Comics Journal survey) that in turn sheds light on her parents’ subsequent lives and patterns of behavior. Everything is connected, and the past is never just the past...

Bonus Savings: Order You'll Never Know, Books 1 & 2 together and save 20% off the combined cover price!

Well, you can read the graphic: After six wonderful years in the East Village, Giant Robot New York are closing their brightly-colored doors, and now's a great chance to pick up some of our titles at 40% off in their store, and snag some other great deals, too.

We here at Fantagraphics are sad to see this wonderful shop and gallery go.  Over the years, GRNY has hosted some great events featuring our artists, most recently, Paul Hornschemeier, during his tour with Jay Ryan. We've also been excited to have our artists featured in their exhibits, like the "Free Ice Cream Day" show back in 2007, which included original artwork from MOME artists like Anders Nilsen, Jeffrey Brown, and R. Kikuo Johnson.

And on a personal note, I'm sad to see GRNY go, because during my impoverished residence in New York, it was one of my favorite escapes: a place to see wonderful, inspiring exhibits (for free!), and peruse a well-curated selection of really rad merchandise. (Hey, are those Kozyndan sneakers still there? Size 6.5 right here, friends.)

COVET.

Only available from Japan? Rats!

Via The Daily Cartoonist.

Jen Vaughn of the Schulz Library at the Center for Cartoon Studies has a very nice blog post about receiving a care package from us...

...and her reaction to it:

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Profile: The Stranger's Paul Constant profiles the newsweekly's 2010 Literature Genius, Jim Woodring: "There are only a small number of medium-changing geniuses in the history of cartooning who have managed to develop a singular visual language, and Jim Woodring is one of them."

• Review: "...[D]amned if [Prison Pit: Book 2] isn’t one of the most entertaining, hilarious, and addictively fun comics I’ve read all year. [...] The violence itself is both brutish and ugly, but is direct and unapologetic, and drawn with such passion and beauty by Ryan. [...] It’s over-the-top, extreme, uncompromising, and very, very funny. It’s the sort of book you can’t put down even after you’re done; you just keep jumping around and admiring the stark viciousness that jumps off the page." – Chad Nevett, Comic Book Resources

• Review: "...[Mort] Meskin was and is one of the unsung greats of the Golden and Silver Ages, was influential on many of the later legends such as Joe Kubert and (especially) Steve Ditko (Ditko's style, especially early on, is VERY reminiscent of Meskin), and is definitely someone any right-thinking comics and/or illustration fan should get better acquainted with. [From Shadow to Light] is a very good place to start. It also works wonderfully as a snapshot of a time and a way of life in the comics industry that is gone, never to return." – Johnny Bacardi, Popdose

• Roundtable: Techland's panel of critics (Douglas Wolk, Evan Narcisse, Mike Williams, Lev Grossman and Graeme McMillan) has an opinionated (and spoiler-filled) discussion about Love and Rockets: New Stories #3

• Plug: "Jaime Hernandez’ stories in the new [Love and Rockets: New Stories #3] flat-out transported me. The moment young Perla saw the girl-mechanic on the parade float [link added – Ed.], I had a grin from ear to ear. My heart was broken after the story of her brother. I lost myself in his amazing storytelling, and I’m thankful for that. (I also may be the last reader of theirs to realize that Beto Hernandez is this generation’s Russ Meyer.)" – Gil Roth

• Coming Attractions: Library Journal's Martha Cornog spotlights Stigmata by Lorenzo Mattotti & Claudio Piersanti in the latest Graphic Novel Prepub Alert: "A hand-to-mouth lowlife makes do day to day, and then his palms begin to bleed. This apparent gift of sainthood brings certain benefits, but tragedy as well. The original Italian comic inspired a 2009 Spanish live-action film and was one of British comics guru Paul Gravett's 2004 picks for the 'twenty best untranslated European graphic novels you haven't read' and only the fifth to be translated since. Intense, swirly black-and-white linework."

• Interview: The San Francisco Chronicle's Peter Hartlaub talks to Jean Schulz about the Peanuts legacy and other topics: "I don't want to say the last 10 years have been an awakening, because I always felt that he was a genius. But the last 10 years have been a really wonderful experience for me. And without me realizing it, this museum has been the forum for me to explore all these things." (Via The Daily Cartoonist)

Filmmaker Gary VandenBergh is looking to raise funds via Kickstarter to complete Chicken Fat, his in-progress documentary on his late father-in-law Will Elder. Gary was a great help to us when we were putting together our book Will Elder: The Mad Playboy of Art, and we've been helping with the documentary by supplying digital images. We can vouch for Gary as, in Gary Groth's words, "a generally great guy."

They've already got a lot of great interviews in the can, including Art Spiegelman, Bill Griffith, Jay Lynch, Al Jaffee, Arnold Roth, Drew Friedman, the late Harvey Kurtzman, Bill Gaines and Will Elder himself, and many more; the additional funds will enable them to travel to California & England for more interviews (Hugh Hefner, Joe Dante, Daniel Clowes, William Stout, Terry Gilliam) and to complete the editing.

Pledge gifts include DVDs of the finished film, copies of our Elder books, and more, all the way up to a Producer credit in the film. See the Kickstarter page for much more info on the project.

Well shoot, I thought we'd already posted these details, but I was wrongo. Full announcement follows (taken from here):

FLOATING WORLD COMICS and FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS PRESENTS:

PRISON PIT 2: BOOK SIGNING WITH JOHNNY RYAN

Join us this October 7th to meet Johnny Ryan and celebrate the release of his latest book, Prison Pit 2. Ryan will sign books and present an exhibition of his original artwork, comix, colorful silkscreen prints, and sculpted figures. Also the main character from Prison Pit, Cannibal Fuckface, will make a special appearance [as portrayed by our own Ajax Wood – Ed.], performing a heavy metal set while covered in blood.

This event marks the launch of Ryan’s original graphic novel Prison Pit 2, combining his love for WWE wrestling, Gary Panter’s “Jimbo” comics, and Kentaro Miura’s “Berserk” Manga into a brutal and often hilarious showcase of violence like no other comic book ever created.

The balls-to-the-wall series returns this summer with more action and mayhem like only Johnny Ryan can deliver — again starring CF, the shirtless outer space barbarian antihero who remains damned to the Prison Pit (a vast wasteland beneath the crust of a barren planet, populated by the worst of the worst, where violence is the only law and evil creatures roam free). In this second volume, CF tries to get revenge against the evil behemoth that took his arm, and then winds up playing an unwilling participant in an elaborate escape attempt from the Pit.

LISTING INFORMATION:
WHO: Johnny Ryan
WHAT: Art exhibit, book signing, heavy metal performance by Cannibal Fuckface
WHEN: Thursday, October 7th, 6-10pm
WHERE: Floating World Comics, 20 NW 5th Ave #101

BIO INFORMATION:

The prolific Los Angeles-based cartoonist is best known for his outrageous 14-issue Angry Youth Comix series published by Fantagraphics Books. Ryan also pens the weekly comic strip Blecky Yuckerella, which has been collected in three volumes including the recently released Comics Are for Idiots.

Johnny Ryan’s utterly unpretentious taboo-tackling is an infectious and hilarious bombardment of political incorrectness, taking full advantage of the  medium’s absurdist potential for maximum laughs.  In an age when the medium is growing up and aspiring to more mature and hoity-toity literary heights, Ryan builds on the visceral tradition that cartooning has had on our collective funny bone for over a century. Johnny was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in shitty Plymouth, just a mile away from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant. He now lives in Los Angeles with his wife.

Artwork will be on display until November 1st.

Praise for Prison Pit: Book One

“This thing is great and an essential read. It is important. Buy buy buy.”
– Nicholas Gazin, Vice

“Probably too awesome for a lot of people to handle.” – Chad Derdoswki, Mania