FLOG! Entries for Mike Baehr - October 2008

Halloween Sale - last chance!

mike

Whoop, just 11 hours left to take advantage of our Halloween Sale on a selection of creepy, scary and otherwise ooky comics. Obviously you won't get 'em in time for the holiday, but at savings of up to 25% off, you can get some sweet deals while you're enjoying your trick-or-treat candy.

Daily links: 10/31/08

mike

Happy Halloween!

• Diamond's Previews, er, previews Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert by Bill Schelly

• Pol Culture looks at Bill Schelly's Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert

• Public Radio International's Studio 360 talks to Jessica Abel about the formative influence of Love and Rockets (streaming audio embedded below, or download the MP3)

Webcomics update for 10/31/08

mike

Time for the new installment of Steven Weissman's in-progress pages from "Blue Jay," an epic 32-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures. In this week's episode: me too, Pullapart, me too!

This is also a great time to catch up on our current 5-day chunk of Martin Kellerman's Rocky, updated Monday-Friday!

As a reminder, registration is no longer required to read our webcomics; they're free for all!

Preview video/slideshow: The Comics Journal #294

mike

Here's your first glimpse at the feature interviews with Norwegian graphic novelist Jason and Lio cartoonist Mark Tartulli, the special portfolio of cartoonists' holiday cards, the comics section of Barney Google strips, and more that can be found in the upcoming Comics Journal #294. Click this link if the embedded slideshow doesn't appear above, and/or to open it in a new window.

A Peanuts Halloween

mike

Available tomorrow exclusively at participating comic shops: A Peanuts Halloween, a special 12-page comic produced as a free Halloween trick-or-treat giveaway! This little pamphlet reproduces Great Pumpkin-themed Peanuts strips from the last two volumes of The Complete Peanuts and is notable for being the first time Fantagraphics has presented Sunday Peanuts strips in color! Your local comic shop is the only place to get this nifty little item - be sure to call ahead and confirm availability.

Daily links: 10/30/08

mike

• BBC News talks to Zippy the Pinhead creator (and, next week, Seattle visitor) Bill Griffith (streaming audio)

• Austin English poses 20 questions to Dash Shaw

• Blog Flume looks at Charles Schulz's use of punctuation in Peanuts

• More sketchbook pages from Anders Nilsen

Preview video/slideshow: Comics Are for Idiots! by Johnny Ryan

mike

The stupidest, ugliest, stubbliest girl in grade number two returns in the third collection of Johnny Ryan's Blecky Yuckerella: Comics Are for Idiots! Click this link if the embedded slideshow doesn't appear above, and/or to open it in a new window.

Daily links: 10/29/08

mike

• Photo proof of Daniel Clowes at the Ghost World screening at the Pacific Film Archive this past Sunday: inconclusive, conclusive

• Three Steps Over Japan gives an overview of the work of Tori Miki

• This is kind of a tacky list, but we're proud to be doing our part to keep Charles M. Schulz on it

• It should come as a surprise to no one that I'm partial to this snowboarding DVD cover designed by John Pham

New Comics Day 10/29/08

mike

Fantagraphics titles shipping to comics shops across the U.S.A. this week:

• American Presidents by David Levine
• Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert by Bill Schelly
• Sshhhh! by Jason (New Printing)

Also: other publishers have new stuff coming out from our pals Chris Ware, Gilbert Hernandez and Kevin Huizenga, so this is definitely a good week to hit the shops. As customary, we've got previews of our releases that you can check out at the links above to help maximize your shopping time.

Daily links: 10/28/08

mike

• The Deconstructing Comics podcast talks about I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! by Fletcher Hanks

• Publishers Weekly's "Comics Week" newsletter reviews Sublife Vol. 1 by John Pham

• The Daily Cross Hatch posts the third and final part of their interview with Dash Shaw

• Roger Langridge presents some Spongebob Squarepants strips he drew for Nickelodeon magazine in the styles of Winsor McCay, George Herriman, Milton Caniff, Charles M. Schulz and others

Preview video/slideshow: The Lagoon by Lilli Carr�

mike

Today we're presenting a preview look at the haunting debut graphic novel The Lagoon by Lilli Carré. Click this link if the embedded slideshow doesn't appear above, and/or to open it in a new window.

Preview video/slideshow: Petey & Pussy by John Kerschbaum

mike

Here's an advance look at John Kerschbaum's brutally funny graphic novel debut Petey & Pussy, starring a pair of kvetching, balding, foul-mouthed anthropomorphic misanthropes. Click this link if the embedded slideshow doesn't appear above, and/or to open it in a new window.

Now in stock: new printings of Hey, Wait... & The Left Bank Gang by Jason

mike

Hey, Wait...
By Jason

This superbly evocative graphic novella by the award-winning Norwegian cartoonist Jason (his first appearance in the English language) starts off as a melancholy childhood memoir and then, with a shocking twist midway through, becomes the summary of lives lived, wasted, and lost. (Imagine a version of Stand by Me in which not all of the kids outrace the train.) Like Art Spiegelman did with Maus, Jason utilizes anthropomorphic stylizations to reach deeper, more general truths, and to create elegantly minimalist panels whose emotional depth charge comes as an even greater shock. His sparse dialogue, dark wit, and supremely bold use of "jump-cuts" from one scene to the next (sometimes spanning a number of years) make Hey, Wait... a surprising and engaging debut. Love and Rockets co-creator Gilbert Hernandez calls this one of the best graphic novels ever.

64-page black & white 7" x 10" softcover • $12.95
Add to Cart • Read More...

The Left Bank Gang
By Jason

F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and James Joyce walk into a Parisian bar... no, it's not the beginning of a joke, but the premise of Jason's unique new graphic novel. Set in 1920s Paris, The Left Bank Gang is a deliciously inventive re-imagining of these four literary figures as not only typical Jason anthropomorphics, but...graphic novelists! Yes, in Jason's warped world, cartooning is the dominant form of fiction, and not only do these four work literary giants work in the comics medium but they get together to discuss pen vs. brush, chat about the latest graphic novels from Dostoevsky ("I can't tell any of his characters apart!") to Faulkner ("Hasn't he heard of white space? His panels are too crowded!"), and bemoan their erratic careers. With guest appearances by Zelda Fitzgerald and Jean-Paul Sartre, and a few remarkable twists and turns along the way, and you've got one of the funniest and most playful graphic novels of the year. Like Jason's acclaimed Why Are You Doing This?, The Left Bank Gang is rendered in full spectacular color.

2007 Eisner Award Winner, Best U.S. Edition of International Material

48-page full-color 7" x 10" softcover • $12.95
Add to Cart • Read More...

Daily links: 10/27/08

mike

As an experiment, I'm switching to a daily link post instead of the weekly "blogosphere roundup" -- hopefully smaller chunks will be easier to digest, not to mention more timely. And here we go:

• Derik Badman cites a Jaime Hernandez story in an article about the use of the first-person point of view in comics

• Look at some incredible sketchbook pages by Matthias Lehmann

• The Onion A.V. Club's "Comics Panel" gives high grades to Tales Designed to Thrizzle #4 by Michael Kupperman and Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers

• Steve Brodner hits it out of the park

Anti-war cartoons wanted

mike

Editor Craig Yoe is seeking material for The Great Anti-War Cartoons, a 120-page black & white hardcover we're publishing next year. Visit Craig's site for more information and a preview slideshow.

Friday Night Videos

mike

Ben Catmull: cartoonist, music video director (via Spurge).

Still Working from Ben Catmull on Vimeo.

Johnny Ryan sez on his blog: "Superfan Patrick O'Odonnell and friends have produced another cinematic masterpiece based on one of my comics. If you ever wondered what would happen if Stanley Kubrick fell out of the top floor of the World Trade Center and landed brain first into a pile of my comics, you'd probably get something like this." Behold.

Blogosphere roundup for 10/24/08

mike

Eric has been scooping me on some stuff this week. I'm grateful for it because it makes my job a little easier; just make sure to look for his link posts if you haven't seen them already.

This week's reviews & analysis:

• The Honolulu Star-Bulletin looks at Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers

• Read About Comics recommends the third issue of Baobab by Igort

• The Boston Globe notes the New York Times' review of Jules Feiffer's Explainers and adds their two cents

• Alex Siddons learns something from Alex by Mark Kalesniko...

• ... and the Graphic Novel Challenge Blog reads Kalesniko's Mail Order Bride

• HappyGlyphs Comics looks at Krazy & Ignatz 1943-1944 by George Herriman

• Are You a Serious Comic Book Reader? on Ghost World: Special Edition by Daniel Clowes

• Derik Badman notes a few unusual Schulz panels in The Complete Peanuts 1967-1968

• Moonlighting for comiXology, The Comics Journal's Kristy Valenti attempts to synch reading Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron by Daniel Clowes with its musical soundtrack by Victor Banana (a.k.a. Tim Hensley)

• Comic Book Resources' list of "the 20 most significant comics in American comics history" (in terms of the industry) includes Gil Kane's Blackmark (in its original incarnation rather than our reprint) and, duh, Love and Rockets #1

• The Bloghorn, web mouthpiece of the UK's Professional Cartoonists' Organisation, is "full of beans" over the work of Fletcher Hanks as collected in I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!

• Beware of spoilers as PLAYBACK:stl checks out Johnny Ryan's Angry Youth Comix #14

• Our Humbug teaser excites The Hipster Dad and commenters on The Beat

And other items of note:

• Here's Tintin as drawn by Robert Goodin

• headsOnBoards files a terrific report from the Kim Deitch retrospective exhibit at MoCCA

• Design blog Farmidable digs into the Flickr activity of Fanta art director Jacob Covey

• Anders Nilsen presents recent selections from his sketchbook

• Jeff Elden discusses the influence of Charles M. Schulz and includes a photo of his Charlie Brown tattoo

Sala's Scary Story

mike

/**/

Ready for some Halloween chills? American Public Media's Weekend America radio program presents a selection of Tales of Terror this weekend, including the Richard Sala tale embedded above (click here if the player's not showing up).

Read Justin Green's intro to Jim Woodring's Portable Frank

mike

Thanks to Justin Green for granting us permission to run his introduction to Jim Woodring's The Portable Frank here on our website in its entirety. A great intro to a great book.

Webcomics update for 10/24/08

mike

This is also a great time to catch up on our current Monday-Friday chunk of our rolling 5-strip archive of Martin Kellerman's Rocky.

As a reminder, registration is no longer required to read our webcomics; they're free for all!