We are currently offering on eBay (go HERE for full listing and scan) a rare piece of original art by the great RUSS HEATH from page 27 of 1957's HUMBUG #4, edited by Harvey Kurtzman. The actual illustration measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" on a piece of illustration board measuring 12 3/4" x 16 3/4". A rare chance to own a piece of original art from one of the great comic magazines of all-time. This piece is being sold by Fantagraphics Books on behalf of Mr. Heath; all proceeds from this auction will go to Mr. Heath himself. Bid early and often!

This handmade cover letter we recently received with a submission from Japan wowed everyone in the office: 

Bilocal is an art project bringing together 12 writers from Seattle and New Orleans to present new original work on the theme of community. Each artist will present their own stories in their hometown. Cartoonist Megan Kelso will be one of the artists representing Seattle and will present a brand new work titled "The Golden Lasso" on November 13 at Seattle's Town Hall. Tickets are $20. The money raised from this project will be given to an a non-profit organization in New Orleans called The Lens that does investigative journalism in the Gulf region. 

Read more about Bilocal HERE.

With our ongoing warehouse move, we're in a spring cleaning mood, and have decided to raid the archives are start selling some uniquities from the office, warehouse and even the personal collection of Gary Groth. First up, a lovely war comics page from the 1950s/1960s by the late Jerry Grandenetti:

For the full eBay listing, go HERE. Can anyone identify the exact comic this page comes from? If so, email us at fbicomix at fantagraphics dot com and we'll be very grateful. 

UPDATE: ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT TO BID! 

Ran across this one-page Alan Moore strip in an issue of Moore's Dodgem Logic magazine, and although I've seen Moore's "underground" work before, I was struck by just how heavily influenced by Robert Williams that this page was:

See below for a comparison to Williams' style (from Hysteria In Remission). The lettering, the hulking "Brody Bodine"-esque nitwit, the anthropomorphized pen, the "chicken fat" in the last panel, the stonerish detail, etc. It's impressive. Do more underground comics, Mr. Moore. 

Here's a sneak peek at Tony Millionaire's contribution to Strange Tales 2 #2 hitting stores next Wednesday from our ol' chums (*cough*) at Marvel Comics. Pure Tony Brand Pickled Hairbrain, it's delicious, even though I always pegged Thor as more of a lutefisk man, myself. 

This weekend, Seattle lost a very beloved member of its music and arts community, and more heartbreakingly, a little girl lost her father and a wife lost her husband. My friend Andy Kotowicz was killed in a horrific car accident in the neighborhood we both lived in, Ballard. Andy and I weren't close, by any stretch, but we played poker together a couple times a year for the last several years with a group of mutual friends, and I always enjoyed his company, his sense of humor, and talking about having daughters around the same age. 

I'm going to paste a bit of what our good friend Chris Jacobs wrote on the SubPop blog, where Andy worked for over a decade:

Last Thursday evening, October 21st, driving his young daughter Anna home after picking her up from daycare, our co-worker Andy Kotowicz was involved in a terrible car accident that, so incredibly sadly, proved fatal. In what qualifies as nothing short of miraculous and definitively heroic, his daughter was pulled from the remains of the car, while it was on fire, by a local business owner who witnessed the accident. Though this same person tried and was unable to rescue Andy, I can think of no greater favor to our friend than saving his daughter's life. And, in some small measure of thanks, we will all be eating as many Rizzo's French Dip sandwiches as we can hold for a very long time. "Thank you" seems ridiculously inadequate, but thank you. Thank you.

Andy was under care at Harborview Medical Center in a coma until Saturday evening when he was taken off life support in the company of his immediate family. He was an organ donor and a recipient for his kidneys was found very soon after his passing. This is a small indication of the kind of guy he was.

Anna suffered some bruises and a broken arm, but is now home with her mother and family and is, we are told, recovering and adapting. There is a lesson here about the resilience and redemptive powers of children that we can all hope to learn from.

You can read the full post HERE, which goes into more detail about what kind of a universally beloved guy Andy was. I hope you will. 

In the meantime, I also hope you might consider supporting Andy's wife and daughter as they struggle with what is going to be a very difficult climb for them.  

A Sound Community Bank account is now available to accept donations for Andy Kotowicz's family.

Please make checks payable to the Andy Kotowicz Family Foundation

They can be mailed here:
Andy Kotowicz Family Foundation
c/o Sub Pop Records
2013 Fourth Ave, 3rd Floor
Seattle, WA 98121

Or checks can be delivered to Sound Community Bank at one of the locations listed here:
http://www.soundcb.com/home/cu/loc

Still further...
Andy supported the organizations below. You might like to do the same.

WFMU:
https://www.wfmu.org/marathon/pledge.php

The Greening of Detroit:
http://www.greeningofdetroit.com/

R.I.P., Andy.  

Congratulations to Monte Schulz, whose 2009 novel, THIS SIDE OF JORDAN, published by Fantagraphics, was the Award Winner in the "Fiction: General" category of the 2010 Best Book Awards sponsored by USA Book News! 

Look for Schulz's next novel, THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER, in December from Fantagraphics.  

Check out Tim Lane's cover for the current Seattle Weekly. I love that this could easily double as a lost crime comic cover from the Golden Age.