For the first time ever, Fantagraphics will be exhibiting at the Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival! Come visit us this Saturday, December 3rd from 12:00 - 9:00 PM for a wealth of debuts, artist appearances, and the great Gary Groth manning the table!

Gary will be joined by a truly all-star cast of artists for our first BCGF:

1PM: Josh Simmons
2PM: Kim Deitch
3PM: Dash Shaw
5PM: Jack Davis
6PM: Michael Kupperman
7PM: Al Columbia

And even more of our artists will be exhibiting at the show, including Gabrielle Bell, Ben Catmull, Charles Forsman, Drew Friedman, Sammy Harkham, Tom Kaczynski, John Kerschbaum, Victor Kerlow, Joseph Lambert, Mark Newgarden, Jesse Moynihan, Gary Panter, Zak Sally, Leslie Stein, and Jon Vermilyea... PHEW! Pick up their books from our table, and then seek these artists out at their own!

Bring a big bag, because you'll also wanna pick up our excellent debuts at the festival!

• Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture by Jack Davis
• 500 Portraits by Tony Millionaire

• Action! Mystery! Thrills! Great Comic Book Covers 1936-1945 edited by Greg Sadowski
• Jason Conquers America by Jason

Where can you find all this awesome? Fantagraphics will be in the downstairs section at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church [ 275 North 8th Street ], at tables 31 & 32:

And finally, make sure you don't miss our artists in these panels!  These will all take place at Union Pool  [ 484 Union Avenue # A ], and the panels are free and open to the public:

1:30 PM // JACK DAVIS Q+A

Legendary cartoonist Jack Davis made his mark producing horror and war stories for EC Comics, before finding his métier in satire as one of the original (and longest running) artists for MAD Magazine. As a prolific illustrator, Davis defined the caricatural style of the 1960s and 1970s—and beyond. In this rare public appearance, Davis will discuss his career with Fantagraphics co-publisher Gary Groth and illustrator Drew Friedman.

[ Jack Davis fans, please note: he will also be appearing on Friday, December 2nd at the opening of his exhibit at the Scott Eder Gallery! Don't miss it! ]

2:30 PM // GESTURAL AESTHETICS

6:00 PM // THE LANGUAGE IN COMICS

The recent embrace of graphic novels by the publishing industry has led to misguided attempts to evaluate comics according to the standards and conventions of literary fiction. The writing in comics occupies a more peculiar place, with its own constraints and opportunities. John Porcellino, Gabrielle Bell, and David Sandlin will discuss the particular demands of writing within a visually-driven form in this conversation moderated by novelist Myla Goldberg.

So, get ready! And we'll see you in Brooklyn this Saturday!

• Frank "caught in the loving tendrils of the sun" by Jim Woodring; also "Hopelessly outclassed" and "The descent into wealth"

• A Grotesque "family portrait" and Mr. O'Blique postcards that Sergio Ponchione will be giving away to lucky attendees (I think? the autotranslation's a little iffy) at an upcoming festival in Italy

• Ooh, a Jason/Lewis Trondheim exquisite-corpse wraparound cover for a 2004 issue of Belgian comics fanzine Totem; this and film review potpourri at Jason's Cats Without Dogs blog

• Sketches and process peeks at Forlorn Funnies #1 at Paul Hornschemeier's The Daily Forlorn

• Focus book by Kevin Huizenga

• Steve Brodner's portrait of Art Pope for The New Yorker (with process sketches); plus sketches of Lamar Alexander and Chris Christie; all of the above with Steve's commentary

• Speaking of The New Yorker, Paul Karasik got a cartoon in there! Congrats Paul! (via Facebook)

• A whole buncha Stephen DeStefano animation artwork for various projects here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, plus Sea Hag

• Noah Van Sciver presents a spooky story from the latest issue of Blammo

• Movie night Richard Sala-style (year unknown); also some cozy reading and The 7 Deadly Sins

• Tim Lane's poster for the St. Louis International Film Festival (along with its conceptual inspiration)

• Steven Weissman and Jordan Crane are putting together an elementary school haunted house for some LUCKY KIDS and here's Steven's flyer for it with Jordan's logo for the school (from Steven via email); also from Steven, his latest "I, Anonymous" spot and Stincker sketchin'

• A fun Dave Cooper gig poster for his friend's band (via Facebook)

• This comic cover by Chuck Forsman is a fake, but I wish it wasn't

• A buncha silly Star Trek doodles by Tim Kreider

• Jim Varney smiles down from heaven on Johnny Ryan

• Prison Pit fan art by Sergio Zuniga (at Johnny Ryan's blog, along with one previously posted here)

• Prison Pit fan art by Fréderic Fleury via Twitter

• Mark Twain-via-Michael Kupperman fan art by Dyna Moe (via Facebook, where the artist's profile pic was taken in front of Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery)

• Speaking of Fantagraphics Bookstore and Facebook, here's a panel from a comic in progress by Csaba Mester featuring the former location posted at the latter location

Plus:

• Another Bob Fingerman character design

• Speaking of Facebook yet again, a Victor Kerlow illustration on the subject

• Jupiter and Saturn by Frank Santoro

• Many recent illustrations by Max at his El Hombre Duerme, el Fantasma No blog

• Recently discovered previously unseen woodblock prints circa 1939 by Jim Flora

• Lilli Carré's new looping animated logo for the Eyeworks animation fest is pretty great (tee hee, the "W" is boobs)

• A portrait by Nick Drnaso

• A whole ton of stuff from Ray Fenwick's website popped up in my RSS reader and I'm not sure how much of it is new but why not go check it all out anyway

• Straw dog on a bed by Renee French

• Computer sketches (that is, sketches done on the computer) by Eleanor Davis

• Trubble Club is always fun even if we can't tell who drew what

• Convention sketches inspired by song lyrics is a pretty great idea, and an Atlanta comic fan named Erich collects them and posts them on his blog. Above: Lisa Leavenworth + Mudhoney by Peter Bagge (hat tip: CBR)

• Noah Van Sciver illustrates the Denver Westword's "hipster's guide to sports"

• More Jack Davis fun from Will Pfeifer's Today's Inspiration blog, as Pfeifer presents a bunch of Davis-illustrated "Funny Valentines" Topps cards (hat tip: The Comics Reporter)

• Victor Kerlow draws Julie Hagerty and Albert Books in Lost in America for The New Yorker

• Eleanor Davis presents a preview of her Mome 22 story "Nita Goes Home" on her Doing Fine blog and sketches for the story (like the above) on her We Be Ouija blog

• John Cuneo recent illustrations & sketches including Mad Men above

• A book cover illustration (above) and preliminary sketches, and a New Yorker cover from January, by Lorenzo Mattotti

• More composer illustrations (like Stravinsky here) and Linus illustrations from Sergio Ponchione

• Nate Neal posts the prologue to his new book in progress, The Ten Thousand and First Thing

• Speaking of prologues, here's one from Nick Drnaso

• Laura Park got a new puppy! He helps her draw.

• Chuck Forsman posted images of his new minicomic The End of the Fucking World which he had at SPX (and his nice-looking cat Bruce)

• Of course I'm going to post this one from Paul Hornschemeier's The Daily Forlorn sketch blog

• Coach and Two by Tony Millionaire

• Steven Weissman's sketches and notes for "Peter Criss Diary" as seen in Mome 22, plus his latest "I, Anonymous" spots at his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• Whoever Jason is that's a pretty sweet dedication sketch by Wilfred Santiago in his birthday-present copy of 21

Plus:

• Matthias Lehmann shows a bit of a new magazine illustration

• Frank Santoro draws another Greek myth

• Sketches and drawings by Marco Corona at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• Debbie Drechsler sketches some unusual finches

• Stephen DeStefano posted a couple of his character drawings from the late lamented Sym-Bionic Titan: Lance in action and a crowd scene

• Steve Brodner draws and comments on last week's GOP debate, 9/11 cash-ins and this hilarious one on the fate of Anthony Weiner's House seat

Lots and lots of images to share, and lots and lots of overflow spilling over into links:

• We linked to this a while back in Daily OCD, but the interview with Lilli Carré at art:21 includes the first glimpse of her sketchbook I've ever seen (along with other art) and daaaang; Lilli also drew Groo the Wanderer for Matthew J. Brady 's theme sketchbook (there's a good one by Jeremy Tinder too) AND did this illustraton for The New York Times AND this amazing letterpress print

• Is Barack Obama losing his indie cred? Drew Friedman shares his illustration for the New York Observer about the President falling out of favor with the hipster demographic, and...

• Aww, Drew Friedman's portrait of his dad Bruce Jay Friedman for Tablet; Drew also presents an awesome gallery of Plop! covers by Basil Wolverton and Wally Wood at his blog

• Some Jaime Hernandez record-cover art I hadn't seen before, for the band The Shame Idols (via Love & Maggie)

• This one makes Janice very happy: Jason draws Robert Smith of The Cure — plus film reviews and various other commentary at his Cats Without Dogs blog

• Johnny Ryan draws some of his favorite bullies for Vice and shares some recent commissions on his Flickr page: Gremlin/robot orgy, Star Wars 4-way and fuckball

• Wowee-wow, lookit these vintage Sesame Street illustrations by Jack Davis that were posted by Leif Peng at his Today's Inspiration blog (via Drawn)

• Dig this nifty nutty video that Michael Kupperman made for no particular reason; then when you're done, watch this psychedelic one

• Gary Panter sending this box of dog biscuits to a dog named Gary Panter is probably about the cutest thing you'll read all day

• I think Steven Weissman loses this sketchbook battle with his son Charles — that and his weekly "I, Anonymous" spots and more at his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• Writer Dan Sinker shares the evolution of Paul Hornschemeier's cover illustration for The F***ing Epic Twitter Quest of @MayorEmanuel — via Paul's blog, where Paul also shares a website header illustration and accompanying interview; also, about umpteen new entries on his daily sketch blog The Daily Forlorn

• Eleanor Davis illustrates for The New York Times and for Rattler magazine

• Richard Sala presents the original, unretouched artwork for his Kramer's Ergot 7 strip, likewise for a Peculia story, plus some words on "Invisible Hands" — plus a whole lot more on his Tumblr blog

• The first page of a feature graphic story Tim Lane is doing for the Riverfront Times, to appear later this month, plus some of Tim's sketches for the story

• Lorenzo Mattotti previews 3 upcoming publishing projects: a graphic adaptation of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and a collection of Venice landscapes; and a collaboration with Art Spiegelman for an upcoming September 11-themed collection from Casterman

• Sergio Ponchione teases his Prof. Hackensack strip and illustrations in the new Linus as well as some recent illustrations of classical composers

• Laura Park's strip for this month's issue of The Believer, plus a Picasso-esque sketch (and, if you look around, lots of photos of her adorable new puppy)

• Speaking of Laura Park, Derek Van Gieson did this little jam strip with her on a recent visit to Chicago, where they and others also took part in a little Trubble Club action; more from Derek at his These Days I Remain blog

• Stephen DeStefano illustrated this poster for a new Washington, DC staging of Lithuanian Sweetheart, a play written by his Lucky in Love collaborator George Chieffet; also, an album cover illustration, Popeye playing hockey, Popeye playing soccer

• Louis C.K. fan art on Josh Simmons & Wendy Chin's Quackers blog (I'm not sure who did it — I'm guessing Wendy... and if you don't watch Louie you should) — meanwhile Josh has a couple new doodles on his The Furry Trap blog

• I was going post Renee French's portrait of the Crimson Bolt (Rainn Wilson's character from the movie Super) but I decided to go with this more mysterious, less link-baity piece instead

• Sammy Harkham's 2009 portrait of singer-songwriter Will Oldham for Colors magazine

• From Steve Brodner: Warren Buffett for Harper's (above); the SE; Planet of the Apes for The New Yorker; Rome sketchbook; Keystone XL pipeline protestors; and feral CEOs

• Sketchbook pages and more sketchbook pages by Anders Nilsen

• Glimpses of 11 binders worth of storyboards for Dash Shaw's The Ruined Cast

• Views of some rather astonishing cut-out dioramas made by Hans Rickheit for a recent art show

Additionally:

• Colleen Frakes shares some birthday sketch comics done for her by Mome contributors Joe Lambert and Chuck Forsman

• A drawing by Matthias Lehmann for an upcoming book from Le Dernier Cri

• Recent drawings by Andrei Molotiu

• The latest creations and updates from Dame Darcy at her blog

• Frank Santoro is selling his sketches of "black & white boom" cover art, along with the original comics, to help keep him in cash while he works on his new comic — there's a new mythology piece on his Tumblr too

• A bunch of new sketches by Marco Corona at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• From Jim Blanchard, a rollerderby poster and a painting of Tura Satana

• Bird sketches with field notes by Debbie Drechsler

• A performance poster illustrated by Nate Neal

• An image-packed update on various works in progress from Noah Van Sciver

• Roger Langridge sketches Popeye vs. Bluto

I am pleased as punch to present to you the Fantagraphics low-down for the 2011 Small Press Expo, happenin' September 10th & 11th in Bethesda, Maryland!

We're bringing so many beautiful new books with us, and most of these listed below aren't even in stores yet!

• The Armed Garden by David B.
• The Art of Joe Kubert, edited by Bill Schelly
• The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, Vol. 2: The Mad Scientist and A Dusting of Mummies by Jacques Tardi

• Ganges 4 by Kevin Huizenga
• The Hidden by Richard Sala
• Like A Sniper Lining Up His Shot by Jacques Tardi

• Love & Rockets New Stories 4 by The Hernandez Bros
• The Man Who Grew His Beard by Olivier Schrauwen
• Mark Twain’s Autobiography by Michael Kupperman

• Mome 22, edited by Eric Reynolds
• Nuts by Gahan Wilson
• Prison Pit Vol. 3 by Johnny Ryan

• Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse box set
• Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, Vol. 2: Trapped on Treasure Island by Floyd Gottfredson

And while you're at the Fantagraphics table, picking up these excellent new titles, why not get them signed by the artists? Many will be there! Check out our action-packed signing schedule below:

Saturday, September 10th
11:00 - 12:00 PM     Chuck Forsman / Jim Rugg
12:00 - 1:00 PM       Warren Bernard / Drew Weing
1:00 - 2:00 PM         Anders Nilsen
1:00 - 3:00 PM         Kevin Huizenga
2:00 - 4:00 PM        Johnny Ryan
3:00 - 4:00 PM        Diane Noomin
3:30 - 5:30 PM         Jim Woodring
4:00 - 5:00 PM        Ted Stearn
5:00 - 7:00 PM        Leslie Stein
5:30 - 7:00 PM        Paul Hornschemeier

Sunday, September 11th
12:00 - 1:00 PM      Chuck Forsman / Ted Stearn / Drew Weing
1:00 - 2:00 PM        Warren Bernard / Anders Nilsen
1:00 - 3:00 PM        Johnny Ryan
2:00 - 3:30 PM        Leslie Stein
3:00 - 4:30 PM        Kevin Huizenga
3:00 - 5:00 PM        Jim Woodring
4:30 - 6:00 PM        Paul Hornschemeier
5:00 - 6:00 PM        Diane Noomin

And surely you've taken note of our doozy of a panel schedule by now, right? If not, check it out on the Flog! Print it out, and carry it in your pocket, or perhaps stash it in this stunning Jim Woodring SPX exclusive tote bag? In fact, you'll wanna bring an extra tote bag to carry all our incredible debuts, plus, did I mention there will be some bargain boxes?

So, be sure to stop by and say hi to Kim, Gary, and Conrad! See you at SPX!

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship:

Mome Vol. 22 - Fall 2011
by various artists; edited by Eric Reynolds

240-page full-color 7" x 9" softcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-395-8

See Previews / Order Now

Special double-sized FINAL issue! After 6 years and over 2500 pages of comics, MOME heads into the sunset with an all-star, jam-packed farewell bonanza. Several past MOME favorites return for the swan song, including Kurt Wolfgang, Tom Kaczynski, Joe Kimball, Eleanor Davis, Anders Nilsen, Tim Hensley, Paul Hornschemeier, Gabrielle Bell, and Zak Sally (those covers!). Meanwhile, several newcomers get in just under the wire: Jesse Moynihan, Malachi Ward, James Romberger, Nick Drnaso, Joseph Lambert, Nick Thorburn, Victor Kerlow, and Ignatz Award-winners Jim Rugg and Chuck Forsman! Recent MOME favorites also return, such as Sergio Ponchione, Steven Weissman, Sara Edward-Corbett, Laura Park, Josh Simmons (plus collaborators The Partridge in the Pear Tree and Wendy Chin), Derek Van Gieson (with collaborator Michael Jada), Tim Lane, Nate Neal, Lilli Carré, T. Edward Bak, Dash Shaw, Ted Stearn and Noah Van Sciver. Over 30 artists in all, including a surprise contributor we don't want to give away!

SALE! Today through Friday September 2, 2011, save 30% OFF all single back issues of Mome (or save big with our 5- and 10-issue bundles), PLUS save 30% off an amazing selection of books by Mome contributors!

Chuck Forsman makes his Fantagraphics debut in the new (and final) issue of Mome. You may have noticed that his mashup of Jaws and Peanuts (which you can buy a print of) (oops, no, it's sold out!) (now there's a second printing!) has made a bit of a splash (no pun intended) lately. You can also find him all over the internet, with a website here, a blog (Snake Oil) here, an online shop with prints, minicomics, commissions and more, a Flickr page and a Tumblr blog. Plus Twitter!

Mome Vol. 22 - Fall 2011
by various artists; edited by Eric Reynolds

240-page full-color 7" x 9" softcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-395-8

Ships in: July 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

Special double-sized FINAL issue! After 6 years and over 2500 pages of comics, MOME heads into the sunset with an all-star, jam-packed farewell bonanza. Several past MOME favorites return for the swan song, including Kurt Wolfgang, Tom Kaczynski, Joe Kimball, Eleanor Davis, Anders Nilsen, Tim Hensley, Paul Hornschemeier, Gabrielle Bell, and Zak Sally (those covers!). Meanwhile, several newcomers get in just under the wire: Jesse Moynihan, Malachi Ward, James Romberger, Nick Drnaso, Joseph Lambert, Nick Thorburn, Victor Kerlow, and Ignatz Award-winners Jim Rugg and Chuck Forsman! Recent MOME favorites also return, such as Sergio Ponchione, Steven Weissman, Sara Edward-Corbett, Laura Park, Josh Simmons (plus collaborators The Partridge in the Pear Tree and Wendy Chin), Derek Van Gieson (with collaborator Michael Jada), Tim Lane, Nate Neal, Lilli Carré, T. Edward Bak, Dash Shaw, Ted Stearn and Noah Van Sciver. Over 30 artists in all, including a surprise contributor we don't want to give away!

Download and read a 29-page PDF excerpt (13 MB) with a sample page from nearly every artist and story (barring some surprises).

Video & Photo Slideshow Preview (view in new window):

My old pal, Stevie Knight a.k.a. "Ribs" Weissman, seemed a bit sheepish when he first suggested contributing a series of Guns 'n' Roses-related strips to MOME 22. I would have liked to think he knew me better than that. I mean, c'mon, Steven, you had me at "Appetite for Delicatessen."

What's particularly odd is that Weissman is one of two MOME regulars who independently decided that Vol. 22 would be the right time to get their Axl Rose on.  More on that later...

With only one issue left to put together, I knew going into MOME 22 that I had to make a last-ditch effort to fit in a few cartoonists that I'd been meaning to reach out to for while. Count Chuck Forsman on that list. I've been enjoying Chuck's Snake Oil comics and others for a few years now, and as such was thrilled when he jumped at the chance to do something for the final hurrah. His story, "Francis," highlights one of Forsman's unique talents: a pitch-perfect ear and eye for the 1980s. Which is a bit weird for someone who wasn't even born until 1982.