FANTAGRAPHICS & EDITOR GREG SADOWSKI PARTNER ON SIX NEW BOOK COLLECTIONS OF CLASSIC COMIC BOOK MATERIAL

Fantagraphics Books is proud to announce that it has struck a deal with comics historian and editor Greg Sadowski to produce six new collections of classic comic book material for the Seattle publisher. Sadowski is a Harvey and Eisner Award-nominated editor who has previously overseen the publication of the acclaimed collections SUPERMEN: THE FIRST WAVE OF COMIC BOOK HEROES 1936-1941, as well as B. KRIGSTEIN and B. KRIGSTEIN COMICS. He is a former staff editor and designer for Fantagraphics Books and currently works freelance from his home on San Juan Island in Washington State's Puget Sound.

"Greg has written one of the landmark cartoonist biographies (and only the first half yet!) with B. Krigstein, and the collections of comics from the '40s and '50s that he's edited for us — B. Krigstein Comics and Supermen!, to date — have been meticulously assembled, with an eye toward selection, flow, and accompanying historical text. We're pleased that he's got such an ambitious agenda ahead," says Fantagraphics Publisher Gary Groth, who acquired the books.

The books will be released one per season, beginning with FOUR COLOR FEAR: FORGOTTEN HORROR COMICS OF THE 1950s in June 2010 and produced in collaboration with comics historian John Benson (SQUA TRONT). The second book, due in Fall 2010, will be a collection of legendary artist Alex Toth's work for Standard Comics in the 1950s. The remaining books will be release in subsequent seasons, with exact schedules to be announced. The full list of books follows after the jump below.

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Pay attention: there's some must-read stuff in today's Online Commentary & Diversions!

• Review: "Castle Waiting #15 - I love that Linda Medley is completely ignoring what makes her setting so interesting for the D&D set and focusing on the characters." - Kevin Church

• Review: "Although aiming at twenty-somethings also interested in getting laid, getting wasted and getting rich, [in Rocky Vol. 2] Kellerman nonetheless manages to move beyond the ever-fertile grounds of the battle of the sexes, bodily functions and morning-after guilt-trips to produce a lot of work that is truly fresh, funny and uniquely personal." - Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

• Review: "Just like Heartbreak Soup and Locas, Luba is hard to put down, and Beto’s art gets better as it gets more experimental... there’s tons of good material here, and the humongous format can’t be beat in terms of bang for your buck." - The A.V. Club

• Review: "The 'family history' graphic novel subgenre can feel overdone at times... but volume one of Carol Tyler’s autobiographical You’ll Never Know is the kind of smartly conceived, affectingly personal work that makes comics and memoirs look fresh... Carol Tyler works wonders with colored pencils and offbeat page designs... the breadth of her visual imagination is so impressive that... overreach is excusable. Also impressive: the thematic complexity of You’ll Never Know... [Grade] A-" - The A.V. Club

• Review: "The handsome hardcover collection The Brinkley Girls brings together a generous sampling of [Nell] Brinkley’s work, leaning heavy on her stories of industrious women and the he-men they love... Brinkley’s art is so drop-dead gorgeous that readers may long to razor out every page to hang on the wall. [Grade] A-" - The A.V. Club (same link as above)

• Review: "...the fantastic Brinkley Girls hardcover put out by Fantagraphics... you would be doing yourself a favor by checking it out. Curse you Fantagraphics, I'm trying to save money you bastards." - This Is Why I Hate You

• Review: "Sally gets the cover in this 11th volume of The Complete Peanuts... Schulz is still in top form here in my opinion. There are few books I laugh at more, or enjoy more thoroughly than these fine collections. Highly recommended!" - Todd Klein

• Preview: Our advance hype for Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 1 has been translated to Español by Cuidadano Pop

• Preview: Robot 6 runs through our Fall/Winter catalog, offering commentary on each upcoming title. A must-read!

• Profile: In The Jewish Standard, Gary VandenBergh looks at the life and career of his father-in-law, Will Elder. Another must-read!

• Interview: The Inkstuds radio program talks with Craig Yoe about his most recent editorial projects, including Boody. The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers

• Interview: The CHS Capitol Hill Seattle Blog talks to Ellen Forney and her collaborators in the Capitol Hill art walk about last night's event

• History: Fantagraphics rules 1989-1990 in the "Modern Timeline of Events within the Comics/Movies Industry" from New Destiny Comics

• Things to see: Arlen Specter by Drew Friedman for The New Republic

DAZZLING REVIVAL OF HARVEY KURTZMAN’S TIMELESS SATIRE MAGAZINE HUMBUG AT FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKSTORE & GALLERY.

Exhibition and Book Launch of New HUMBUG Anthology On March 7 in Seattle.

Four years after founding notoriously seditious MAD magazine for EC comics in 1952, celebrated American satirist Harvey Kurtzman and his crew of incorrigible cartoonists joined fledgling publisher Hugh Hefner to produce two issues of the equally irreverent Trump. When economic setbacks forced Hefner to cancel the new title, Kurtzman and collaborators Jack Davis, Will Elder, Al Jaffee and Arnold Roth pooled their limited resources to self-publish 11 issues of Humbug, skewering American popular and political culture of the Cold War era in unparalleled fashion. Fifty years later, Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books has collected the entire series for the first time in a handsome two-volume slipcase edition. To commemorate this momentous occasion, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery hosts an exhibition of original art and artifacts from Humbug contributors opening Saturday, March 7 and continuing through April Fool’s Day, 2009.

Organized by Humbug anthology assistant editor Jason T. Miles, the exhibition features original illustrations by cartooning legends Will Elder, Al Jaffee, and Arnold Roth together with each of the delicate original issues and related ephemera. The meticulously restored Humbug collection, which includes insightful essays and interviews by Gary Groth and John Benson, will make its debut at the event. The public is invited to preview the exhibition on Saturday, March 7, from 11:30 till 8:00 PM. According to Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman, "Kurtzman has been the single most significant influence on a couple of generations of comic artists." 
With the publication of the complete Humbug, an essential element of Kurtzman’s legacy will be preserved for posterity.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.) in Seattle’s Georgetown arts community. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: 206.658.0110.

Don’t miss a special performance and book signing by cult cartoonist Dame Darcy on Saturday, March 14 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Darcy will perform with her three-piece acoustical combo and sign copies of her wildly popular Victorian gothic comic book series Meat Cake, as well as her new graphic novel Gasoline. This event coincides with the colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack featuring visual and performing arts presentation throughout the historic neighborhood.

A selection of imagery in a variety of formats is available for publication. For additional information contact Eric Reynolds at Fantagraphics.

Listing Information

Humbug
Original art and artifacts from Harvey Kurtzman’s classic satire magazine featuring MAD artists Will Elder, Arnold Roth, Al Jaffee and Jack Davis collected in a handsome 2 volume slipcase edition by Fantagraphics Books.
Public preview and book launch, Saturday, March 7, 11:30 to 8:00 PM
Exhibition continues through April Fools Day

Saturday, March 14, 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Dame Darcy
Music performance and book signing

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM
www.fantagraphics.com/bookstore

HUMBUG is coming in early 2009.

The Daily Cross Hatch has word on "Zines of the Cities," a great-looking retrospective of Minneapolis/Saint Paul zines now on display at the Stevens Square Center for the Arts gallery (1905 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55404), featuring work by Zak Sally and Mr. Mike (no relation) among many others.

And the Star Clipper Blog clues us in to the Mad Magazine Exhibit, currently on display at the St. Louis Artists' Guild in Clayton, MO. It's not stated which artists are included in the exhibit (Kurtzman? Elder?) or even what era, if any, the exhibit focuses on, but admission is free so it won't cost you nothin' to find out.

I came across this incredible Will Elder photo this morning, looking for some nice Elder photos in our MAD PLAYBOY OF ART files, to give the Los Angeles Times for its obituary, which I'm told will run tomorrow. Was there ever a man who embodied the vivaciousness of his work more perfectly? 

A finer cartoonist never lived. Link.

As my pal Jem Eaton put it to me, "If, as they say, God is in the details, then he'll be sharing a cup of tea with Will Elder right about now."

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.