FLOG! Entries for Mike Baehr - April 2008

Members Preview: The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8

mike

This week's free preview is a downloadable 20-page excerpt from The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8, the upcoming book from Swiss horror master Thomas Ott -- his first full-length graphic novel. These previews are exclusive to registered Fantagraphics.com users, so sign up and/or sign in to view.

(As a reminder, 20/20 Club members receive these previews two weeks before we post them on the website, just one of many great reasons to join up...)

Theme sketchbook update

mike

The Yoda theme sketchbook I started last year at SDCC (riding Jacob's Ninja Turtle coattails) got 14 great new entries at Stumptown this past weekend. Here's Tom Kaczynski's contribution (completed graciously in the closing minutes on Saturday):

And Scott C's:

To see all the new ones, hit here.

Slate on Bill Mauldin

mike

In your second of two links lifted from today's ¡Journalista!, Slate has a slideshow feature on Willie & Joe cartoonist Bill Mauldin.

Debbie Drechsler interview

mike

In your first of two links lifted from today's ¡Journalista!, pop culture blogger Tim O'Shea talks to Debbie Drechsler about Daddy's Girl.

Now available: Mome Vol. 1-10 Mega-Bundle

mike

Mome Vol. 1-10 Mega-Bundle
By various artists; edited by Gary Groth and Eric Reynolds

If you're interested in what's "happening" and "now" in comics, there's one place to turn: Mome, our quarterly anthology of the best in contemporary, cutting-edge cartooning. With so many volumes in print, it can be difficult to know where to start... so we've made it easy for you by offering Volumes 1-10 in one convenient package at nearly 1/3 OFF the combined cover prices! Don't miss out on this incredible deal.

Collectively, these 10 volumes of Mome present work from over two dozen of comics' finest talents, including its brightest young stars, as well as a few seasoned veterans (in approximate order of appearance): John Pham, Paul Hornschemeier, Anders Nilsen, Jeffrey Brown, David Heatley, Andrice Arp, Kurt Wolfgang, Gabrielle Bell, Jonathan Bennett, Martin Cendreda, Sophie Crumb, David B., R. Kikuo Johnson, Zak Sally, Robert Goodin, Lewis Trondheim, Al Columbia, Eleanor Davis, Tom Kaczynski, Ray Fenwick, Joe Kimball, Émile Bravo, Mike Scheer, Jim Woodring, Dash Shaw and John Hankiewicz. And to cap it all off, each volume features an in-depth interview with one of the contributors, conducted by Gary Groth. Whew!

Ten color/b&w 7" x 9" softcovers, approx. 1,200 pages total • $99.99
Update: SOLD OUT

Now available: The Complete Love and Rockets Library Vol. 1

mike

The Complete Love and Rockets Library Vol. 1
By Los Bros. Hernandez

Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2007, Love and Rockets was finally released in its most accessible form yet: As a series of compact, thick, affordable, mass-market volumes that present the whole story, originally serialized in Love and Rockets Vol. 1 from 1982 to 1996, in perfect chronological order. Now that the series is complete, we are pleased to offer all seven volumes — nearly 2,000 pages of incredible comics — for a special package price.

Seven black & white 7.5" x 9.25" softcovers, 1,944 pages total • $84.99
Add to Cart • Read More...

Now in stock: Amor Y Cohetes

mike

Amor Y Cohetes - A Love and Rockets Book
By Los Bros. Hernandez

To a very great extent, Love and Rockets is synonymous with Hoppers’ Maggie & Hopey and Palomar’s Luba & Carmen & Heraclio & Tonantzin... but there was always more to L&R than that. Amor Y Cohetes finally collects together in one convenient package all the non-Maggie and non-Palomar stories by all three Hernandez Brothers from that classic first, 50-issue Love and Rockets series — a dizzying array of styles and approaches that re-confirms these groundbreaking cartoonists’ place in the history of comics.

The book leads off with Gilbert’s original 40-page sci-fi epic “BEM” from 1981’s very first issue of Love and Rockets, featuring a very different Luba and a much looser, Heavy Metal- and Marvel Comics-inspired way of storytelling.

Other stories include Jaime’s charming “Rocky and Fumble” series starring a planet-hopping girl and her robot; stunning one-shots such as Gilbert’s Frida Kahlo biography “Frida” and his shocking autobiographical fantasia “My Love Book”; Mario’s genre thrillers which take place “Somewhere in California”; Gilbert’s brutally dystopian “Errata Stigmata” stories; the playful “Hernandez Satyricon,” with Gilbert drawing Jaime’s characters, and “War Paint,” with Jaime trying out Palomar; Gilbert’s light-hearted “Music for Monsters” starring Bang and Inez; and even a fantastical “non-continuity” Maggie and Hopey story “Easter Hunt” by Jaime that didn’t fit into the other books.

Amor Y Cohetes, the seventh (and concluding, for now) volume in the new “Complete Love and Rockets” series of compact, affordable paperbacks, shows a very different side of Los Bros Hernandez.

280-page black & white 7.5" x 9.25" softcover • $16.99
Add to Cart • Read More...

Now in stock: Mome Vol. 11 - Summer 2008

mike

Mome Vol. 11 - Summer 2008
By various artists; edited by Gary Groth and Eric Reynolds

Vol. 11 of our acclaimed anthology series welcomes Killoffer, the acclaimed French cartoonist whose work has previously only been seen in the acclaimed collection 176 Apparitions of Killoffer. Killoffer delivers a new 12-page comic as well as front and back covers. MOME also features returning regulars Al Columbia, Kurt Wolfgang, Ray Fenwick, Eleanor Davis, Dash Shaw, John Hankiewicz, Emile Bravo, Andrice Arp, Tom Kaczynski, and Paul Hornschemeier. Plus, newcomers Conor O'Keefe and Nate Neal, as well as an interview with Ray Fenwick by Gary Groth.

120-page color/b&w 7" x 9" softcover • $14.99
Add to Cart • Read More...

Flora's Incredible Flutist

mike

News from Jim Flora archivist Irwin Chusid:

The Incredible Flutist is an uncirculated 1953-54 record cover painting by Flora that was intended for a 7-inch RCA Victor EP. Jim Flora Art LLC is offering a limited edition fine art print.

According to a purchase order discovered in the Flora archives, the work was commissioned by RCA in late 1953, but there's no indication it was finished, accepted, or used on a commercially released EP. This painting has not previously been published or offered in any form. An alternate version appeared in the book The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora.

Only 20 numbered prints of this work have been produced. Following the sale of two launch prints, edition prints are available for sale at JimFlora.com.

Stumptown 2008 images

mike

Fantagraphics was in full effect at the 2008 Stumptown Comics Fest. Your humble reporter was only there for Saturday of the two-day event, but had a smashing time (and went 200% over budget buying comics, art & t-shirts — yikes). Here's a brief video clip of our table:

Pals and table-mates J.R. Williams and Jim Blanchard:

Andrice Arp signs issues of Mome at the Fantagraphics table:

Georgene and Robert Goodin:

Mome contributor Tom Kaczynski:

For the full set of photos on Flickr, click here. Stay tuned for new sketchbook scans.

Chocolate Cheeks for 4/25/08

mike

It's a late update with your weekly installment of Steven Weissman's "Chocolate Cheeks"! In this week's strip: Pullapart Boy ponders parenting. (Remember, you must be registered and logged in to read.)

The Troublemakers cover painting

mike

Here's some more original art that's lurking in our Art Department: Rick Altergott's painting for the cover of The Troublemakers, Gilbert Hernandez's forthcoming follow-up to his widely acclaimed graphic novel Chance in Hell, which also features a cover painting by Rick.

Will Elder original Humbug art

mike

We got another package of original Humbug art, this time from Will Elder. Here's an example in keeping with the Christmas theme of the Al Jaffee art we posted previously. Click any of the photos for larger versions.

Here it is with the color overlay:

And here's a detail shot:

And don't forget to check out our feature detailing the production process of restoring a Humbug page.

Karasik and Newgarden at Desert Island - pics

mike

Paul Karasik sends along photos and reports from last weekend's event in Brooklyn:

Well, it happened. Karasik and Newgarden in the same place at the same time. Tears of joy were wept by those in attendance. Tears of sorrow were wept for those who were not. An exhibit of Garbage Pail Kids rejects and Fletcher Hanks' student work remains on display at Desert Island in Williamsburg, a very fine book store.

Members Preview: Mome Vol. 11

mike

This week's free preview is a downloadable 15-page excerpt from Mome Vol. 11: Summer 2008, the latest upcoming volley in our quarterly cutting-edge comix anthology. The excerpt includes work by this issue's three newcomers: Killoffer (shown above), Nate Neal and Conor O'Keefe. These previews are exclusive to registered Fantagraphics.com users, so sign up and/or sign in to view.

(As a reminder, 20/20 Club members receive these previews two weeks before we post them on the website, just one of many great reasons to join up...)

Ditko-rama!

mike

We've just made Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko available for pre-order here on our website, and we've got some great preview and bonus materials to go along with it!

First off, read author Blake Bell's introduction to the book in its entirety right here.

Next, we've got a groovy desktop wallpaper you can download in multiple sizes (more wallpapers can be found here):

800 x 600 | 1024 x 768 | 1152 x 864 | 1280 x 960 | 1280 x 720 | iPhone

And 20/20 Club members, look for an exclusive 10-page downloadable excerpt in your weekly newsletter today! (If you're not a member, stay tuned: we'll be making it available to registered users in 2 weeks.)

Dash Shaw on your desktop

mike

The Kitsune Noir blog has an exclusive desktop wallpaper designed by Dash Shaw presenting a fictional biographical narrative in the form of desktop icons (plus one cute cat).

Sneak peek photos: Bottomless Belly Button

mike

For those of you who weren't able to see it in person at NYCC, we've posted a big set of photos of Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button on Flickr. Check them out to get a sense of the texture and volume of this hefty book, plus a sneak peek at some interior pages: for a Flickr slideshow, click here, or to browse manually, click here.

NYCC photos

mike

Our little stuffed pal Bully visited our booth at New York Comic-Con and took lots of pictures.

Steve Brodner's Naked Campaign

mike

Steve Brodner's brilliance is on full display in this series of YouTube videos called "The Naked Campaign" presented by the New Yorker. Here's the most recent installment: