• Review: Entertainment Weekly gives Supermen! an A-, saying "Supermen!, this anthology lovingly assembled by Greg Sadowski, makes the case that these earliest endeavors by the future creators of masterworks like The Spirit, Captain America, and Plastic Man were more than crude throat-clearings — they were unfiltered manifestations 
of psyche, lousy with erotic charge and questionable politics."

• Review: Graphic Novel Reporter on Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane: "Abandoned Cars doesn’t arrive at a clear-cut solution to the American Myth, but Lane’s effort to understand it for himself is beautifully presented... every last detail of the book seems perfectly devised by Lane to bring the stories together and make the reader join the inner dialogue on the subject of the Great American Mythological Drama. It is a brilliant debut."

• Review: Andrew Wheeler says Mome Vol. 11 is "a solid, interesting anthology"; following up with Mome Vol. 12, says "I expect anybody who likes 'alternative' cartooning at all will find something to enjoy here"; and finds Funeral of the Heart by Leah Hayes not to his taste

• Preview: Philadelphia Weekly's "Spring Books Roundup" looks at You'll Never Know Book 1: A Good and Decent Man by C. Tyler ("luscious") and The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 4

• Profile: The Daily Eastern News previews Ivan Brunetti's visit to the Eastern Illinois University campus

• Things to see (and buy if you're filthy rich): The Daily Cartoonist reports that the original art for the April 1, 1973 Sunday Peanuts is up for auction. Go bid, or save yourself a few thou by collecting the strip in The Complete Peanuts 1972-1973, coming this Fall

• Things to see: Thomas from Paul Hornschemeier's Mother, Come Home, rendered in embroidery

• Things to see: Look upon the bookshelves of Eric Reynolds and weep... WEEP

Click here to read the University of Cincinnati's spotlight on faculty member C. Tyler and her development of an innovative program that helps combat veterans and their families to tell their stories using the medium of comics, with the help of Tyler and her students. The program was inspired by Tyler's latest work, the 3-part graphic memoir You'll Never Know, wherein Tyler recounts her father's WWII combat experiences and the impact the war had on him and his family. You'll Never Know Book 1: A Good and Decent Man is due from Fantagraphics Books later this Spring.

Carol Tyler is interviewed at newsarama about her forthcoming graphic memoir, YOU'LL NEVER KNOW, which is certain to be one of the most talked-about graphic novels of 2009. I know Mike already linked to this but it wasn't working earlier and Tyler's awesome enough that it should be called out. 

• Review: French-Canadian site L'Autblog says Ripple by Dave Cooper is "a fascinating little book" according to the Google translation

• Blurb: Richard Cowdry is the latest blogger excited about Humbug

• Interview: The Pulse talks to future Mome-inista Noah Van Sciver

• Interview: The link for this Newsarama interview with C. Tyler isn't working at the moment; hopefully it'll be back up later

The Comics Journal No. 296
Edited by Michael Dean & Kristy Valenti; Gary Groth, executive editor

Our annual Best of the Year issue includes interviews with critics' faves Lynda Barry, Frank Quitely, Dash Shaw, David Hajdu and Mike Luckovich, as well as Best Picks of 2008 from an all-star lineup including Kim Deitch, Anders Nilsen, Emmanuel Guibert, John Porcellino, Mark Newgarden, Johnny Ryan, Paul Karasik and others. Plus, a first look at C. Tyler's upcoming project You'll Never Know, a gallery of comics from Finland's best young talents, and more.

200-page color/b&w 7.5” x 9.5” squarebound softcover magazine • $11.99
Add to Cart • Read More...

Every day in July we're spotlighting books from our month-long Hidden Gems Sale, wherein we're featuring some of our under-the-radar backlist titles and encouraging you to try them by offering them at a nice discount of 25% off!

Today's spotlight is on Carol Tyler, an acclaimed cartoonist whose work has garnered praise from Studs Terkel and Robert Crumb as well as a 2006 Eisner Award nomination.

The Job Thing

Ever have a job you really hated, wanted to kill your boss, or prayed for that winning lottery ticket to deliver you from the drudgery of yet another day at the salt mines? If so, then you'll love this collection of ten stories all about slaving at the bottom of the employment food chain. Stories include "Fool of the Arts" (horrendous experiences working at a museum), "Book Beat" (you'd think working at a book store would be an ideal job, wouldn't you?), "Job Abuse" (in which Carol survives a framing shop job where she's stabbed through the foot by another employee) — as well as "Detour of Duty" (being introduced to jobs at a tender age) and much more. The Job Thing also includes memories of spectacularly awful jobs suffered by several famous cartoonists in leaner times. This book is a bracing introduction to Tyler's funny and often scathing voice.

72-page black & white 8" x 11" softcover
regularly $7.95 • ON SALE $5.96
Order Now

Late Bloomer

This book presents the biggest, richest and most delightful collection of Tyler's work to date featuring many new and previously unpublished works. In "Migrant Mother," Tyler tells the grueling story of a cross-country trip with the flu and her terrible-twos toddler using her trademark combination of rueful humor and empathy. The full-color "Just A Bad Seed" is a meditation on a problem child who might not be such a problem after all, while "The Return of Mrs. Kite" chronicles a family crisis — how her widowed grandmother fell in with a beau of questionable character. "Gone" (also in full color) is a stirring meditation on all kinds of loss, and "Why I'm A-gin' Southern Men" is a classic rant that dissects that particular breed of male — or at least a certain subspecies of "ex"es — with pitiless wit. Other stories include "Sweet Miss Lee" (a reminiscence of an immigrant roommate and her fate), "There's Something Wrong with a Perfect Lawn" (a tale of suburban obsessiveness), "Little Crosshatch Mind" (where artistic impulses come from), and "Uncovered Property" (discovering the power of sexuality at an early age). Tyler works equally well in delicately crisp black-and-white penstrokes and lushly watercolored paintings (this book features over 30 pages of her stunning full-color work). All told, the three-dozen stories here cement Tyler's reputation as a cartoonist to be reckoned with.

136-page b&w/color 8" x 10" hardcover
regularly $28.95 • ON SALE $21.71
Order Now

If you're not a bookseller or librarian, skip this post, but the new issue of Booklist is the annual spotlight on graphic fiction, and there's some very useful stuff for those building a core collection of GNs. The issue includes an interview with James Sturm, an "honor roll of female pioneers" in comics, and a look back at a lifetime reading "the Funnies" courtesy columnist Michael Cart. There are a number of top 10 lists, reviews, etc. as well. 

One thing that was particularly gratifying to see was the "Core Collection: Graphic Women" list. Of the 13 books on the list, Fantagraphics published five (including books by Linda Medley, Mary Fleener, Roberta Gregory, Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Carol Tyler). A sixth, La Perdida, was originally published by Fanta in serial form. A seventh, Persepolis, we almost published (long story). An eighth, Summer of Love, was by Debbie Drechsler, whose equally great Daddy's Girl is being republished by Fanta this month. So that was kind of a cool list to see.

Meanwhile, congrats also to Drew Friedman, whose The Fun Never Stops! was named one of the top 10 comics collections/graphic novels of 2007 by Booklist.