Jason Pettigrew of Alternative Press Magazine rocks what is undeniably one of the best comic covers AND t-shirts ever. He'd better watch out though, Cynthia Luna might do what it takes to get that shirt. Fear not, Cynthia, for Graphitti Designs STILL has this shirt in stock in addition to the other five shirts. Head over to Graphitti Designs and search for the "Love and Rockets" shirt you'll wear until the end of time.

Reserve your tickets on-line now for "Building Comix" with Chris Ware, Charles Burns, and Chip Kidd at Town Hall in Seattle on Monday, October 22, co-sponsored by Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Only $5! This modest admission fee can be redeemed on the purchase of any book by these amazing artists at the signing following the presentations. (One discount per customer.) It promises to be an entertaining and enlightening discussion with three of the most compelling figures in contemporary comix.

Save the visit to the Library of Congress, which will come up later, these are THE pictures and thoughts on Small Press Expo 2012. We honestly were so busy that there was little time to make the rounds to other aisles and buy books or snag pics of our friends at this family reunion of a show. So please accept my apology for no SWEEPING landscapes of the table set-up as it was busy, busy, busy. SPX'sExecutive Director, Warren Bernard, ran a good show and David Michael Thomas could not have been better with convention previews and making sure we were comfortable throughout.

The Washington alt-weekly newspaper or insert covered the special guests of the con including the Hernandez brothers. Love and Rockets tattoos are the ink du jour as you can see along with Jughead hats and SUPER short skirts (even though we all know leggings that look like wormholes or intestinal tracts are really in this year). Drawing by Thomas Pitilli.

The signing at Politics and Prose in D.C. kicked off the 30th Anniversary Northeast Tour. With trusty escorts like Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds, PR Director Jacq Cohen and myself, what could go wrong? First things first though, toothpicks to make sure teeth are clean.

Lilli Carré's new book Heads or Tails was a smash hit and the first to sell out followed by Chris Wright's Blacklung, The Hypo, Ron Regé's Cartoon Utopia and many more. Here Carré and Van Sciver sell their books, librarian Caitlin McGurk from OSU's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum eager to read the newest, greatest books.

Chris Wright draws and signs Blacklung on his dedication page to dearly departed friend, Sparkplug's Dylan Williams.

Future Fantagraphics author Charles Forsman and his cartooning counterpart, Melissa Mendes , run their own micro-publisher Oily Comics. You just can't get enough of them or their comics.

Tom Spurgeon stops by the table to enjoy our multi-printed collection of Is That All There Is? by Joost Swarte.

Long lines formed for the Hernandez Brothers both days and were chock full of other exhibitors and cartoonists like First Second's George O'Connor.

Fans got books signed, bought drawings and got their SPX convention badges signed.

That night at the Ignatz awards, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez cleaned up. While humbly accepting their Herriman bricks, they thanked Daniel Clowes & Art Spiegelman for NOT having new stories this year. The Brothers won Outstanding Series for Love and Rockets while Jaime won Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Story for "Return for Me"of Love and Rockets: New Stories #4.

Author Phillip Nel sold his Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss biography to whet everyone's appetite for the Barnaby book. Rich Tommaso sold his The Cavalier Mr. Thompson, a Fantagraphics-distributed book about a 1920s hotel in Texas.

Fans and friends got their signatures and tiny drawings by Tommaso.

Cartoonist TJ Kirsch shows off his Daniel Clowes drawing in Twentieth-Century Eightball.

Despite his dour face, Daniel Clowes genuinely liked Gary Panter's Dal Tokyo while Charles Burns looks on.

John Porcellino (of Spit and a Half, King Cat and Drawn and Quarterly) soaked in the cross hatching glory of Van Sciver's The Hypo. Maybe he was enjoying it too much.

As always, my partner-in-crime Jacq Cohen and I accidentally dressed to match some of our favorite classic books, me with Nancy and Jacq with Peanuts.

Jacq and I ran off after the convention to eat some delicious food with our good friends. Clockwise from the bottom left: Gilbert Hernandez, me, Jaime Hernandez, Tom Neely of Sparkplug, Joseph Remnant of ZAP/Top Shelf, Noah Van Sciver and John Porcellino. Delicious!

And finally, a picture from 2010's MoCCA Fest where I'm handing Jaime minis as a fan. Now we get to argue about baseball uniforms and proper sock height while working the Fantagraphics table. Thank you everyone for coming to the Fantagraphics table to buy our books, talk to our artists and spread more of the convention cheer. See you next year!

Photos by Jacq Cohen and me. Attitude by Fantagraphics.

The editors of The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008 will converge upon Bothell on Saturday, September 29th for the "Convergence on Poetics" conference!

Join Nico Vassilakis & Crag Hill at the North Creek Events Center at the University of Washington Bothell [ Campus Way NE ] as they perform a collaged reading of essays at 3:00 PM.

Convergence on Poetics queries the current understanding and practice of poetics within writing communities and the academy. The conference consists of keynote panels, poetics postings, and author performances. All events will be scheduled singularly, so that a conversation of the whole can address, in the words of George Oppen, “the meaning / Of being numerous.”

The conference runs from September 27th through 30th, and you can read more about it here. There is no fee for attending, but registration is required, so click here to make it happen!

Today is New Comics Day so we are releasing No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics via comiXology! Edited by cartoonist, teacher and historian Justin Hall, this first definitive collection of queer comics gathers the world's greatest LGBT comics under one cover. These smart, funny, and profound works provide an uncensored window into the last four decades of queer culture.

No Straight Lines showcases major names such as Alison Bechdel (whose book Fun Home was named Time Magazine’s 2006 Book of the Year), Howard Cruse (whose groundbreaking Stuck Rubber Baby is now back in print), and Ralf Koenig (one of Europe’s most popular cartoonists), as well as high-profile, crossover creators who have flirted with the world of LGBTQ comics, like legendary NYC artist David Wojnarowicz and media darling and advice columnist Dan Savage. No Straight Lines also spotlights many talented creators who never made it out of the queer comics ghetto, but produced amazing work that deserves wider attention.

For the low, low price of $24.99, this nearly sold-out volume can be yours at comiXology.

". . . with No Straight Lines , the most definitive collection of queer comics to date, [Justin] Hall and Fantagraphics have made the voluminous but largely hidden history of LBGT (lesbian, bi-sexual, gay, transgender) comics finally visible as well." -Shannon O'Leary, Publishers Weekly

"I like my queer comic anthologies like I like my women. Handy AND beautiful. . .What No Straight Lines really achieves is putting all of these influential comics in one place. Together, they contextualize each other and the LGBTQ scene at the same time." -Sarah Hansen, Autostraddle

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department:

The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln
by Noah Van Sciver

192-page black & white 7.25" x 9.25" hardcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-619-5

See Previews / Order Now

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

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.

Advance praise:

"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

"Noah Van Sciver has developed a storytelling style that I find enormously appealing. In this book he's used that style to create a vivid and engaging portrait." — Chester Brown, author of Louis Riel

Well, I spent about four hours last night and this morning writing, formatting, linking and tagging a detailed SPX report that our flog system just decided to erase. So much for that. At least the photos were saved, so here you go, I don't have the patience to write it again. Let's just say SPX was indeed the Best Con Ever and leave it at that. I'm going to go punch a wall.

Make plans now to attend the opening of "The Horror: Selections from the EC Comics Library" at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, October 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Store patrons will be among the first in the nation to receive complimentary copies of Jack Davis's Tales From the Crypt sampler. We'll also have a limited number of advance copies of the breathtaking Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood EC anthologies available. And we'll have some seasonal surprises.

Entertainment will be provided by Swedish-born, Berlin-based recording artist Molly Nilsson. Her haunting vocals and lyrical approach perfectly complement the EC aesthetic. Seeing this amazing musician in the intimate bookstore environment is Halloween treat you won't soon forget. Here's Molly performing "I Hope You Die" in Prague earlier this year. Don't miss her free show here.

Due to popular demand, our author Pat Thomas is bringing Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 back to London this fall!

Join Pat on Monday, October 15th at the Institute of International Visual Arts, or INIVA, in London. Starting at 6:30 PM, he'll be giving his raved-about presentation, followed by a book signing.

INIVA is located at 1 Rivington Place. This event is sponsored by the University of East London.

Join Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez for a free event at the Philadelphia Free Library! (So much better than the Philadelphia Expensive Library...)

Yes, the Love & Rockets 30th Anniversary Tour rolls on into the library's Montgomery Auditorium on Wednesday, September 19th! Join the Bros for a presentation at 7:30 PM, followed by a Q&A session. After the talk, fans and friends can get their books signed in the Library Lobby from 8:30-10:30 PM.

Note: there is a limit of 5 signed books per person!

The Philadelphia Free Library is located at 1901 Vine Street, between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway.