The PREVIEWSworld website went coo-coo-nutso with the sneak peeks over the weekend, posting previews of all three of our books scheduled to land in comic shops on Wednesday:

5 choice pages from The Hidden by Richard Sala...

...the first 3 pages, plus another from later in the book, from Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot by Jacques Tardi & Jean-Patrick Manchette...

...and an assortment of 5 pages by various contributors from Mome Vol. 22 (beware of out-of-context spoilers)!

Yesterday's and today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Sala consistently introduces red-cheeked, innocent characters and then puts them through the meat-grinder, and in The Hidden he plays with mad science. ...Sala’s novel features plenty of 'tell,' because if it’s one thing mad scientists enjoy, it’s expository dialogue. There are gorgeous single-panel pages filled with huge dialogue balloons, and it’s to the author and illustrator’s credit that it’s always a hoot; Sala is a professional when it comes to tongue-in-cheek visuals (the friendly looking characters with spilled intestines) and storytelling.... Its ending is... abrupt..., but it leaves ample room for a welcome continuation. The lushly colored package is vintage Fantagraphics, of course." – Alex Carr, Omnivoracious (Amazon.com)

• Review: "Relaunching in a book-sized format, Comics Journal #301 came out from Fantagraphics this summer, and has already gone through a second printing. The magazine is dense, with over three hundred pages, containing enough essays, interviews, reviews, and art pages to easily fill 2-4 of the old issues.... Where else in comics journalism are you going to find a viewpoint of comics encompassing enough to put so many different realms of the artform under the same microscope and give it all due consideration? The drastic shift in format indicates a willingness of Fantagraphics to take risks with its flagship publication." – Greg Baldino, Bleeding Cool

• Review: "...[T]his gentle, inviting series about two transgendered elementary school students... has truly captured my attention.... Wandering Son feels at times more like a series of character sketches that all connect together than a narrative-driven book, but it’s a structure that makes me that much more intrigued... Takako’s art is beautiful here, delicate line drawings that fit well with her story.... Last but not least, props need to go to Fantagraphics for a great physical design of the book.... This isn’t quite like anything else on the market right now, and I’m thrilled to see Fantagraphics exposing it to a wider audience." – Greg McElhatton, Read About Comics

• Plug: "One of the great things about the major newspaper comics collection projects is that you look at a new volume, like this one in the Prince Valiant series, and you realize there is volume after volume of high-quality work to come." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

• Interview: The normally Love and Rockets-focused Love & Maggie blog steps out of their usual purview to hit up Gary Groth for more information about our forthcoming series Jack Jackson's American History (starting next year with Los Tejanos/Lost Cause) — if you're at all interested in these books, definitely check this out

• Lore: "Before resuming I should say this: Drug taking, by myself and others, really peaks in this chapter. It isn’t something I’m proud of or a thing I endorse. But it is the way it all happened." So begins the ninth installment of Kim Deitch's epic memoir-in-music "Mad About Music: My Life in Records" at TCJ.com

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship:

The Hidden
by Richard Sala

136-page full-color 8.25" x 8.25" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-386-6

See Previews / Order Now

Is this the end of the world? How did it happen? Why did it happen? There is one man who knows...

Take a walk with the dazed survivors of a mysterious worldwide catastrophe. They are bound for a place, somewhere in the desert, where a terrible truth awaits them.

Richard Sala's books are "deliriously entertaining" (Rue Morgue Magazine), "cinematic and cheerfully over-the-top" (The New York Times Book Review), containing "brilliantly atmospheric art, full of shadows and spikes." (Booklist)

"To read a Richard Sala comic is an experience both jarring and fun. Good for a rainy day or a stormy night." – Publishers Weekly

Bonus Contest: Order The Hidden by August 31, 2011 and you'll be entered in a random drawing to win a copy of the limited-edition, signed and numbered print shown here! We ended up with one extra copy left over after we gave them away with purchase of the book at Comic-Con (where the book was a sellout), so one lucky mail-order customer will get our last one. (This includes people who pre-ordered the book.) Good luck!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Since... humor has emerged as such a tremendous, even defining part of Sala's appeal, I must confess that on a first reading, I was a little put-off to find it reduced to such a dim flicker. But on a second reading, with the understanding that he was exploring grimmer and more downbeat territory, other strengths grew more apparent — dreadful scenes of apocalypse, vistas of desolation, one truly appalling horror flashback set-piece, violence that feels more brutal than delirious, and tension between characters rooted more in how they treat each other than in their comical quirks. ...[O]ne of the great pleasures of reading a Sala comic for me is to let him lead me down the uniquely crooked lanes of his imagination. So buy The Hidden, and enjoy the journey. Highly recommended!" – Curt Purcell, The Groovy Age of Horror

• Review (Video): At Comics-and-More Patrick Markfort of Articulate Nerd joins Dave Ferraro for an in-depth two-part discussion of Shimura Takako's Wandering Son Vol. 1

• Plug: "For the last six years, Mome has kind of been to comics what CMJ used to be for music: Open it up, and readers were bound to discover something new and enticing. Sadly, the comics quarterly ends its run this month with Vol. 22, a massive, all-star issue featuring Pop Candy faves like Dash Shaw, Lilli Carre, Anders Nilsen, Paul Hornschemeier, Gabrielle Bell, Jim Rugg and Zak Sally. Even if you're new to the mag, this would be the one issue to purchase." – Whitney Matheson, USA Today Pop Candy

• Profile: The Sydney Morning Herald's Megan Johnston talks to Jim Woodring in anticipation of his appearance at the city's GRAPHIC Festival this weekend: "One thing Woodring does fear, however, is that people will find him 'disappointingly normal' compared with his work. 'All I can say is they should be grateful that they’re seeing me when I’m being that way,' he says."

The Hidden
by Richard Sala

136-page full-color 8.25" x 8.25" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-386-6

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

Is this the end of the world? How did it happen? Why did it happen? There is one man who knows...

Take a walk with the dazed survivors of a mysterious worldwide catastrophe. They are bound for a place, somewhere in the desert, where a terrible truth awaits them.

Richard Sala's books are "deliriously entertaining" (Rue Morgue Magazine), "cinematic and cheerfully over-the-top" (The New York Times Book Review), containing "brilliantly atmospheric art, full of shadows and spikes." (Booklist)

"To read a Richard Sala comic is an experience both jarring and fun. Good for a rainy day or a stormy night." – Publishers Weekly

Download and read a 12-page PDF excerpt (3.1 MB), and preview 13 pages at the official The Hidden website.

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

Apologies for the long delay since the last roundup. I enjoy bringing you these posts but lately it's been hard to squeeze them in. I may need to figure out a new approach or something. Anyway, on with the show:

• "Unemployment" strips by Tim Hensley

• Hey, a new comic from Jonathan Bennett! Spin commissioned a 2-page strip from Jonathan as part of their commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind and posted it on Facebook (Via Spurge)

• Nate Neal has a new website you should bookmark/subscribe to, with lots & lots of updates, including comics in the video "Comix-O-Matic" format, sneak peeks of a new book he's working on and a whole mess more

• Drew Friedman spotlights those awesome "Cool Art Pencils" that Pentech put out in the early '90s

• Dave Cooper shares this rough preliminary sketch and a whole mess of reference photos (and behind-the-scenes shenanigans) for a new painting he's working on

• Richard Sala — now on Tumblr! Still some previously unshared updates on his Here Lies Richard Sala blog too

• Tim Lane illustrates the poster & program for the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase festival

• Lorenzo Mattotti also illustrates for a film festival, Annency Cinéma Italien; plus a New Yorker cover and Johnny Rebb

• Lilli Carré illustrates for the Chicago Reader and animates a Wallace Stevens poem at The Hooded Utilitarian

• You may have heard we've signed Noah Van Sciver's in-progress graphic novel about Abraham Lincoln, The Hypo — here Noah presents an excerpt

• Stephen DeStefano continues to fill up his new Tumblr with Popeye designs, sketches and other stuff

• The usual amazing stuff from Renee French

• Steve Brodner on the debt-ceiling debacle for the Washington Post and additional recent sketches at his blog

• Yes, it's a panel from Kevin Huizenga's eagerly-awaited Ganges #4

• Four weeks worth of Paul Hornschemeier's daily sketches at The Daily Forlorn

• As we enter the dog days of summer Wilfred Santiago's arctic fox is looking mighty cool

• Johnny Ryan gets in the Smurf spirit (Seal Team Smurf? Smurf Team Six? Smurf Team Smurf?) and draws his favorite bullies

• Yowie, this back cover to Stan Sakai's latest annual sketchbook — yowie!

And more Things to See since the last update:

• Glimpses of a new comic from Matthias Lehmann

• Steven Weissman's latest "I, Anonymous" spots and more at his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• A figure painting from a life drawing class by John Hankiewicz

• Dame Darcy's developed a propinquity for dolphins

• Debbie Drechsler returns to her nature-sketching blog Just Around the Corner

• Sketches by Mark Kalesniko for his new graphic novel Freeway at his blog

• Sergio Ponchione gives some glimpses of his summer projects (if I'm interpreting the autotranslation correctly)

• Here's the blog of new Mome contributor Nick Drnaso

• Recent sketches (and aquarium videos) by Laura Park

• New drawings from Sophie Crumb

• Anders Nilsen 's book tour travel sketches

• Lots of updates on recent projects and an autobio-ish strip or two from Derek Van Gieson

• Anthony Vukojevich takes on Love and Rockets #1 at the Covered blog

It's exciting enough that we're debuting The Hidden by Richard Sala at San Diego Comic-Con. Now, Richard has made it even more spine-tingling by including this stunning limited edition, signed and numbered print -- a FREE gift with purchase of The Hidden, while supplies last... and they won't last long!  

You can pick up The Hidden at Booth #1718, but you better hurry as if a trail of monsters were hunting you to get your very own print!

Okay, we can't offer you the ninety-minute wait in ninety-degree weather outside the convention center, the greasy ten-dollar pizzas, the terrifying crush of Saturday afternoon attendees here to get an autograph from a Battlestar: Galactica co-star, or the sight of costumed attendees who apparently only chose the Flash costume because their more appropriate pick, Jabba the Hutt, was out. But what we can do is this!

SORRY YOU WON'T GET THE EARLY BOOKS?

The following books will have their world premiere in San Diego. If you order them directly from us we will have them sent to you directly from our main U.S. distributor's warehouse where they land on their journey from overseas in August, which means you will be getting your copy a few days before even the first of our distributors get them. (Note: U.S. orders only. Rush shipping not available — choose Media Mail from the shipping options to avoid being overcharged.) To this list we will even add The Armed Garden, The Cabbie, and Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson Volume 2, three books that for various reasons will miss San Diego and thus you will really be the first customers to get!

The Armed Garden by David B.
The Art of Joe Kubert (edited by Bill Schelly)
The Cabbie Vol. 1 by Martí
The Complete Peanuts 1981-1982 by Charles M. Schulz
The Complete Peanuts 1979-1982 Box Set by Charles M. Schulz
Even More Old Jewish Comedians by Drew Friedman
The Hidden by Richard Sala
Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 by the Hernandez Brothers
The Man Who Grew His Beard by Olivier Schrauwen
Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010 by Michael Kupperman
Nuts by Gahan Wilson
Prison Pit Book 3 by Johnny Ryan
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 2 [or the box set with Volume 1] by Floyd Gottfredson

SORRY YOU CAN'T FLIP THROUGH THOSE EARLY BOOKS?

You can preview many of those books right now here on our website, and the rest of them shortly after our web guy comes back from San Diego! Just hit those links above and you'll see links to download PDF excerpts, and stay tuned for our usual photo and video previews.

SORRY YOU WON'T GET SKETCHES?

Some of the cartoonists who will be attending the convention — Joyce Farmer, Gilbert Hernandez, Paul Hornschemeier, Mark Kalesniko, Johnny Ryan, Frank Stack and Esther Pearl Watson — have agreed to provide anyone not attending the convention who buys one or more of their books off our website this week with a personalized sketch which will be mailed to him or her! (Note that sketches will be mailed separately from the books and at a later date.)

SORRY YOU CAN'T SHMOOZE WITH THE OWNERS?

Part of everyone's San Diego experience is to ask the Fantagraphics moguls penetrating questions such as "Where the hell is Pogo?" and "Why don't you publish XXXX??" and "Which Jacques Tardi album should I buy first?" For this weekend only, if you have a question for Gary Groth, Kim Thompson, or Eric Reynolds, add your question to your order and whoever you're addressing will personally answer it!

SORRY YOU CAN'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DESPERATION SALES?

On the last day of the convention, as Gary, Kim, and Eric survey the piles of unsold books and "God, do we have to lug all these back home?" panic sets in, suddenly fantastic sales deals begin to materialize faster than you can say "HOW MUCH for that Box Set?" Therefore we are not only offering 20% OFF EVERYTHING on our website — use coupon code FANTACON11 at checkout — but a whopping 50% OFF ALL our biggest and heaviest books (see them all here — note that items are discounted 40%, which works out to 50% when the coupon discount is applied) during the convention and beyond, from Thursday, July 21 (that's today!) through Monday, July 25 — and you won't even have to lug them home or pay all those extra baggage fees! We'll send them to you!

See? THIS IS BETTER THAN ATTENDING COMIC-CON!

Fantagraphics is puttin' the "comics" back in Comic-Con as we head to San Diego this week with a slew of scintillating signings, almost two-dozen dynamite debuts, and a collection of comics sure to please any comics fan... and fill those enormous free tote bags they give away at the door.

First up, DEBUTS!

• Love & Rockets New Stories 4 by Los Bros Hernandez
• Mark Twain’s Autobiography by Michael Kupperman
• Prison Pit Vol. 3 by Johnny Ryan
• Mome 22, edited by Eric Reynolds
• The Raven by Lou Reed and Lorenzo Mattotti
•  The Art of Joe Kubert, edited by Bill Schelly
• Setting the Standard: Alex Toth, edited by Greg Sadowski
• Esperanza by Jaime Hernanadez
• Like A Sniper Lining Up His Shot by Jacques Tardi
• Gil Jordan, Private Detective: Murder by High Tide by M. Tillieux
• The Pin-Up Art of Humorama, edited by Alex Chun
• Drawing Power, edited by Rick Marschall and Warren Bernard
• Sibyl-Anne vs. Ratticus by R. Macherot
• Willie & Joe: Back Home hardcover and Willie & Joe: The WWII Years softcover by Bill Mauldin
• The Armed Garden by David B.
• Complete Peanuts 1981-1982 (Vol. 16) by Charles Schultz
• Even More Jewish Comedians by Drew Friedman
• The Hidden by Richard Sala
• The Man Who Grew His Beard by Olivier Schrauwen
• Nuts by Gahan Wilson

Next up, SIGNINGS!

Thursday, July 21st:
1:00 - 2:00 PM    Joyce Farmer / Esther Pearl Watson
2:00 - 3:00 PM    Bill Schelly / Robert Goodin
3:00 - 5:00 PM    Gilbert Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
5:00 - 6:00 PM    Frank Stack / Paul Hornschemeier

Friday, July 22nd:
11:00 - 12:00 PM    Joyce Farmer / Bill Schelly / Tim Hensley
12:00 - 1:00 PM    Floyd Norman / Wilfred Santiago / Frank Stack
1:00 - 3:00 PM    Gilbert Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez
3:00 - 4:00 PM    Paul Hornschemeier / Anders Nilsen / Esther Pearl Watson
4:00 - 5:00 PM    Mark Kalesniko / John Pham / Malachi Ward
5:00 - 7:00 PM    Johnny Ryan
5:00 - 6:00 PM    Jon Vermilyea
6:00 - 7:00 PM    Robert Goodin

Sunday, July 24th:
11:00 - 12:00 PM   Joyce Farmer / Jon Vermilyea / Esther Pearl Watson
12:00 - 1:00 PM    Mark Kalesniko / Frank Stack
1:00 - 3:00 PM    Gilbert Hernandez / Jaime Hernandez / Mario Hernandez

All the action awaits you at our usual spot, Booth #1718!

And don't miss our amazing PANELS!  I won't get into all the details, because Mike did so earlier here on the FLOG, so click on the date to see our previously posted full rundown on each panel!

Thursday, July 21st:
• 12:30-1:30     Spotlight on Bill Schelly [Room 8]
• 1:00-2:00     CBLDF Master Session 2: Shannon Wheeler [Room 30CDE]
• 2:00-3:00     Love and Rockets — Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario Hernandez [Room 9]
• 2:30-3:30     Joyce Farmer: Special Exits, A Memoir [Room 4]
• 3:30-4:30     Spotlight on Frank Stack  [Room 4]
• 6:00-7:00     Comics for Social Justice: The Making of Oil and Water [Room 9]

Friday, July 22nd:
• 10:30-11:30     Comics Arts Conference Session #5: Critical Approaches to Comics: An Introduction to Theories and Methods— Matthew J. Smith and Randy Duncan with panelist, Andrei Molotiu. [Room 26AB]
• 1:00-2:00     Comics Arts Conference Session #6: Wordless Comics with Andrei Molotiu. [Room 26AB]
• 12:00-1:00     CBLDF Master Session 3: Jaime Hernandez [Room 30CDE]
• 1:00-2:00     Publishing Queer: Producing LGBT Comics and Graphic Novels with moderator Justin Hall  [Room 9]
• 1:00-2:30     The Golden Age of the Fanzine moderated by Bill Schelly. [Room 24ABC]
• 10:30-11:30     Cartoon Network Comedy: Regular Show/The Problem Solverz and More! The Problem Solverz talent includes Ben Jones, John Pham, and Jon Vermilyea. [Room 6A]

Saturday, July 23rd:
• 10:00-11:30     50 Years of Comic Fandom: The Founders with Bill Schelly [Room 24ABC]
• 11:30-12:30     Bill Blackbeard: The Man Who Saved Comics with Trina Robbins [Room 24ABC]
• 12:30-1:30     Fantagraphics 35th Anniversary  [Room 24ABC]
• 1:00-2:00     Spotlight on Anders Nilsen [Room 4]
• 2:30-3:30     The Art of the Graphic Novel with Joyce Farmer (Special Exits, A Memoir) [Room 24ABC]   

Sunday, July 24th:
• Nothing. Come shop with us!

PHEW! And, can you believe it? This is only the beginning! Stay tuned to the Fantagraphics FLOG, Twitter and Facebook for important (we mean it!) Comic-Con announcements all week long! 

Another marathon 2-week update:

• Michael Kupperman did a couple of movie illustrations for The New Yorker over the last couple of weeks: The Hangover Part II (love his Galifianakis) and Horrible Bosses

• Steven Weissman's latest "I, Anonymous" spots and more at his Chewing Gum in Church blog, and new and cheap original art to buy on his Comic Art Collective page

• The latest artwork and happenings from Dame Darcy in her new blog update

• Shirley Partridge by Jim Blanchard

• Another Eleanor Davis spot for The New York Times

• Richard Sala presents original art for the 1994 "R.I.P." Paranormal Trading Cards from Kitchen Sink (man I want those), an author bio illo from 1995, and some Evil Eye back cover art

• Paul Hornschemeier's art for the Crazy 4 Cult art show at Gallery 1988; also, daily drawings at The Daily Forlorn

• It's the original cover art (pre-color) for Leslie Stein's Eye of the Majestic Creature #5, coming soon (and picking up where the book leaves off)

• Sergio Ponchione's latest strip for Linus starring Grotesque's Professor Hackensack

• Kevin Huizenga is looking for some focus

• Mrs. Wessman and zombies and other subjects by Renee French

• Sketchbook comics & drawings by Sophie Crumb

• Steve Brodner does Newt for the New York Times Sunday Magazine

• Here's something completely different (and neat): Josh Simmons hand-painted a custom globe as a commission

• Sketchbook drawings by Anders Nilsen

• Wilfred Santiago shares the final stages of his portrait of 21, Roberto Clemente

• Another Johnny Ryan poster image for Cinefamily

• At Covered, a de-Cubized version of Gilbert Hernandez's cover of Love and Rockets #27 by Sarah Blum

And more Things to See from the past week:

• This illustration by Matthias Lehmann regarding the situation in Greece is very funny

• Sketches and illustrations old and new by Jason at his Cats Without Dogs blog, and more drawings from his youth at The Old Cat and the Dog

• Images from an animation in progress by Lilli Carré

• A new sketch by Mark Kalesniko

• Photos and drawings for a new book project with the band The Lovely Sparrows by Derek Van Gieson

• Another batch of old sketches of medical deformities by Hans Rickheit