FLOG! Entries tagged 'manga'

Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko) Vol. 4 by Shimura Takako - Now in Stock

mike

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department:

Wandering Son (放浪息子 / Hourou Musuko) Vol. 4
by Shimura Takako; edited and translated by Matt Thorn

224-page black & white 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-605-8

Wandering Son Vols. 4 - 6 Subscription Price: $65.97 $52.78 POSTPAID

Wandering Son has garnered extensive praise (from the GLBT community, from manga fans, and from comics fans in general) for its uniquely funny, warm, and sensitive treatment of the travails of two Japanese tweens who find themselves coping with the knotty issue of gender identification as they slowly realize that maybe they aren't who they were meant to be.

In this latest volume, love is in the air. It's in the trees and on the streets. It's hanging on the walls and piled in great heaps on the floor. Or is it really love? These sixth and seventh graders don't really know. But something is definitely amiss. They can't sleep, and when they do sleep they have strange dreams. They get angry and cry for no reason. They blush and grin like idiots for no reason. And it isn't even spring. But the standard rules apply: If A is in love with B, B is certain to be in love with C, and C is likely to be in love with D, or possibly A.

And now it seems a good third of the alphabet is in love with our shy protagonist, Nitori-kun. But the flip-side of love is jealousy, and hate. The simple friendships of childhood develop into the complex, tense relationships of adolescence. Friends become strangers, or worse. But while everyone seems to have caught the bug — even characters whose names you can't remember — Volume 4 revolves solidly around the triangle of Nitori-kun, Takatsuki-san, and Chiba-san. Yet centrifugal force seems to push the three away from each other, and there is a certain grimness as they say goodbye to elementary school, and put on the (highly gendered) uniforms of junior high school…

Photoset: Wandering Son Vol. 4 by Shimura Takako

mike

Wandering Son (放浪息子 / Hourou Musuko) Vol. 4
by Shimura Takako; edited and translated by Matt Thorn

224-page black & white 7” x 9.5” hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-605-8

Selected views of the book (hint: they're organized right-to-left), which should be on shelves in 5-7 weeks; click thumbnails for larger versions and get more info, see more previews and pre-order your copy here:

http://www.fantagraphics.com/wanderingson4

Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko) Vol. 4 by Shimura Takako - Previews, Pre-Order

mike

Wandering Son (放浪息子 / Hourou Musuko) Vol. 4
by Shimura Takako; edited and translated by Matt Thorn

224-page black & white 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-605-8

Ships in: May 2013 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

Wandering Son Vols. 4 - 6 Subscription Price: $65.97 $52.78 POSTPAID

25-page excerpt (download 3.9 MB PDF):

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

Praise for the Series:

One of ALA/YALSA's Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2012

Named to the ALA GLBT Round Table's 2012 Rainbow List of recommended books for young readers

One of MTV Geek's Best Manga Series of 2011

Named "Best New Seinen/Josei: Slice of Life" on About.com Manga's 2011 Best New Manga

Named one of The Best Comics of 2011 by NPR - Monkey See

First Look & Excerpt: Wandering Son Vol. 4 by Shimura Takako

mike

Wandering Son fans, we know you've been jumping up and down in anticipation of the new volume of Shimura Takako's bittersweet, beautifully told saga of two gender-questioning teens and their friends & family. Well, this is either wonderful news or agonizing torture for you: we got our advance copies of Volume 4, which means it should be on shelves in June (and available from us a bit sooner)!

As the kids get older and deeper into the throes of adolescence, the more complex their lives get and the deeper the drama gets! We've posted the entire first chapter for you to read for free, and you can pre-order your copy right here.

(You can also save some money and be guaranteed to receive the next 3 volumes as soon as they're available with our post-paid, 20%-discounted 3-volume subscription!)

The Umpteen Millionaire Club: Discussion Questions for The Heart of Thomas

kvalenti

[The Umpteen Millionaire Club, our series which puts forth book club discussion questions for Fantagraphics titles, turns its attention to The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio. The Comics Journal interns Tom Graham, Nomi Kane and Jack McKean put together this set of questions. – Ed.]

Summary:

The Heart of Thomas is a manga by Moto Hagio about students in a German boarding school for boys. The boys deal with tragic death, romantic love amongst each other and have more lighthearted concerns about popularity, rumors and cliques.

Questions:

How does the story address gender conventions or stereotypes?

How do the characters deal with complex emotions that they seem too young to handle, such as unrequited love, intense guilt and/or feeling culpable?

How does the story portray dealing with loss?

Discuss the use of Christian imagery and how it impacts your reading of the story.

Is there abuse going on in this story? If so, how do you respond to the way it's portrayed?

What visual devices does the cartoonist use to indicate narrative techniques such as foreshadowing, symbolism, flashback, etc.?

Discuss Hagio's choice to set the story in Germany. How might it be important (or not?).

The Heart of Thomas was originally published in 1974 and based on a 1964 French movie, which in turn was based on the 1943 semi-autobiographical French novel Les amitiés particulières. How might you read it differently given its historical context? Does this impact your reading of the story?

How do the characters' relationships with their parents figure into the broader story and their personalities and desires?

Does this book have a message? If so, what might its message be?

Nijigahara Holograph is coming

TheJenVaughn

Nijigahara Holograph

by Inio Asano; translated by Matt Thorn

February 2014

$26.99 Hardcover • 200 pages

Black-and-white • 7" x 9.25"

ISBN: 978-1-60699-583-9

Fantagraphics continues its line of acclaimed literary manga with new classic Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano. As society slowly spirals into darkness an unexplained explosion in the butterfly population is just the first of many curiosities in the town where rumors of a creature in a tunnel under the school spread like wildfire. A curse haunts the town as the story follows the scapegoat, Arié, who is plunged into the tunnel's horrors and offered up to the creature. Many other characters harbor secrets, grudges, suicidal thoughts, and the physical scars of battles lost. How are they all linked and can the citizens of the town live with what they've done as the years creep by? Asano's mysticism and slow terror take over the town in the span of a decade as told in two timelines.

NijigaharaHolograph is scheduled for release in February 2014 and Asano joins Shimura Takako (Wandering Son) and Moto Hagio (The Heart of Thomas, A Drunken Dream and Other Stories) in the Fantagraphics line of premium manga by the world's greatest cartoonists. Translated by Matt Thorn, this 200 page book of beautiful black and white comics will be printed in gorgeous hardcover edition and presented in original "right to left" manga style for an authentic reading experience. Inio Asano's previous translated works include Solanin and What a Wonderful World and he continues to create new work in Japan as one of the young voices of his generation.

New Comics Day 1/9/13: Sala, Hagio, Kubert, Medley, Woodring, Kaczynski, Jaxon

mike

This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about them (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability.

(Note that this includes some books that haven't been officially announced as shipping yet -- unless we missed it -- but we're pretty confident they've shipped over the last couple of weeks and we got tired of waiting to post the blurbs.)

Delphine
by Richard Sala

128-page two-color (with some full color) 7.25" x 10" hardcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-590-7

"I've wanted a collected edition of Sala's version of Snow White ever since it was released in Fantagraphics' great-looking, but difficult to store Ignatz format. And now I'm finally getting it. Merry Christmas to me." – Michael May, Robot 6

"Prestige treatment for a prestige book" – Bergen Street Comics

"One of the old Ignatz miniseries finds itself collected via Richard Sala's Delphine..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

The Heart of Thomas (トーマの心臓 / Thomas no Shinzō)
by Moto Hagio

528-page black & white (with some color) 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $39.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-551-8

"A very early contender for manga release of 2013 arrives in the form of The Heart of Thomas, a 524-page all-in-one hardcover compilation of a mid-'70s landmark in Japanese comics-for-girls, Moto Hagio's epic of gnawing desire among sparkling schoolboys." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Weird Horrors & Daring Adventures: The Joe Kubert Archives Vol. 1
by Joe Kubert; edited by Bill Schelly

240-page full-color 7.5" x 10.75" hardcover • $39.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-581-5

"Even older (and somewhat differently-themed) comics can be enjoyed in Weird Horrors & Daring Adventures: The Joe Kubert Archives Vol. 1, a 240-page, Bill Schelly-edited ‘best of' collection for pre-Code genre pieces by the late Kubert." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Castle Waiting Vol. 1 (Softcover Ed.)
by Linda Medley

472-page black & white 5.5" x 8" softcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-602-7

"A softcover edition drops for Linda Medley's Castle Waiting Vol. 1." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Problematic: Sketchbook Drawings 2004-2012
by Jim Woodring

364-page black & white 5.25" x 8" hardcover • $28.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-594-5

"And then you can just throw finished comics aside entirely in favor of Problematic: Sketchbook Drawings 2004-2012, a 5.25″ x 8″, 364-page collection of Moleskine pieces, 'much of it... too baffling to be harnessed for any practical use,' by the awesome Jim Woodring." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Beta Testing the Apocalypse
by Tom Kaczynski

136-page two-color 6.5" x 9.25" softcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-541-9

"...[T]here are a lot of good books out this week. The new Tom Kaczynski book Beta Testing the Apocalypse comes most immediately to mind..." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"Terror of the present, as Tom Kaczynski collects his excellent short stories of uneasy habitation into Beta Testing the Apocalypse, a 136-page softcover boasting substantial a new piece." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

"Just read page 1 of Tom @unciv Kaczynski's Beta Testing the Apocalypse published by @fantagraphics Best thing I've read in ages! ONE PAGE!!!" – OK Comics

Jack Jackson's American History: Los Tejanos & Lost Cause
by Jack Jackson

320-page black & white 7.5" x 10.25" hardcover • $35.00
ISBN: 978-1-60699-504-4

"Struggles of the past, as Texas history returns to print in Jack Jackson's American History Vol. 1: Los Tejanos & Lost Cause, the 320-page first of three hardcover volumes set to collect the entirety of the underground pioneer's nonfiction graphic novels." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Fantagraphics December 2012 New Arrivals Recap

mike

Time for your first new-release recap of 2013, and we've got a fine variety for you (as usual). In the past month we've received the new paperback edition of Vol. I of Linda Medley's Castle Waiting, the hardcover collection of Richard Sala's Delphine, the eagerly-anticipated The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio, Jim Woodring's sketchbook art book Problematic, and classic vintage Joe Kubert in Weird Horrors & Daring Adventures. Creepy! Fantastical! Romantic! Sometimes all three!

What's more, you can get these books -- and everything else we offer -- for 20% off right now during our New Year's Deja Vu Sale! Just use coupon code DEJAVU when checking out. Don't delay -- Saturday, January 5 is the last day for these savings! (More details here.)

Remember, our New Releases page always lists the 20 most recent arrivals, and our Upcoming Arrivals page has dozens of fut ure releases available for pre-order.

Castle Waiting Vol. 1 (Softcover Ed.)
by Linda Medley

472-page black & white 5.5" x 8" softcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-602-7

See Previews / Order Now

Castle Waiting is the story of an isolated, abandoned castle, and the eccentric inhabitants who bring it back to life. A fable for modern times, it is a fairy tale that’s not about rescuing the princess, saving the kingdom, or fighting the ultimate war between Good and Evil — but about being a hero in your own home. The opening chapter tells the origin of the castle itself, which is abandoned by its princess in a comic twist on “Sleeping Beauty” when she rides off into the sunset with her Prince Charming. The castle becomes a refuge for misfits, outcasts, and others seeking sanctuary, playing host to a lively and colorful cast of characters that inhabits the subsequent stories, including a talking anthropomorphic horse, a mysteriously pregnant Lady on the run, and a bearded nun.

Linda Medley lavishly illustrates Castle Waiting in a classic visual style reminiscent of Arthur Rackham and William Heath Robinson. Blending elements from a variety of sources — fairy tales, folklore, nursery rhymes — Medley tells the story of the everyday lives of fantastic characters with humor, intelligence, and insight into human nature. Castle Waiting can be read on multiple levels and can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

Delphine
by Richard Sala

128-page two-color (with some full color) 7.25" x 10" hardcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-590-7

See Previews / Order Now

A mysterious traveler gets off the train in a small village surrounded by a thick sinister forest. He is searching for Delphine, who vanished with only a scrawled-out address on a scrap of paper as a trace.

Richard Sala takes the tale of Snow White and stands it on its head, retelling it from Prince Charming's perspective (the unnamed traveler) in a contemporary setting. This twisted tale includes all the elements of terror from the original fairy tale, with none of the insipid saccharine coating of the Disney animated adaptation: Yes, there will be blood.

Originally serialized as part of the acclaimed international "Ignatz" series, Delphine is executed in a rich and ominous duotone that shows off Sala's virtuosity — punctuated with stunning full-color chapter breaks.

BARGAIN COMBO: The Heart of Thomas + A Drunken Dream Gift Set Price: $64.98 $51.98

The Heart of Thomas (トーマの心臓 / Thomas no Shinzō)
by Moto Hagio

528-page black & white (with some color) 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $39.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-551-8

See Previews / Order Now

The setting: A boys' boarding school in Germany, sometime in the mid-20th Century. One winter day, fourteen year-old Thomas Werner falls from a lonely pedestrian overpass to his death, immediately after sending a single, brief letter to another boy at the school:

To Juli, one last time.
This is my love.
This is the sound of my heart.
Surely you must understand.

Thus begins Moto Hagio's The Heart of Thomas — one of the most compelling and enigmatic manga graphic novels ever created, and a pioneer in the popular boys'-romance "shounen-ai" genre. Thomas's death (was it an accident? Suicide? Or even murder?) immediately throws the school into turmoil, while his letter sets off a chain of emotional upheaval both for the recipient and an ever-expanding circle of friends, family, and teachers, as secrets are revealed and shared. And then a new boy who looks exactly like Thomas shows up at school…

Unabashedly romantic and emotionally complex, The Heart of Thomas features an unusual, richly imagined setting and a cast of memorable characters. This timeless masterpiece is now finally available to American readers.

Problematic: Sketchbook Drawings 2004-2012
by Jim Woodring

364-page black & white 5.25" x 8" hardcover • $28.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-594-5

See Previews / Order Now

Order this book and receive this FBI•MINI comic shown here as a FREE bonus! Click here for details. Limit one per customer while supplies last.

If you are one of the fortunate thousands who enjoy untangling the enigmatic images that fill Jim Woodring's comics and drawings, Problematic is just the book for you to put under your pillow and dream on.

Woodring is a devotee of the pocket-sized Moleskine sketchbook and has filled at least one per month since 2004. Quick concept sketches, figure studies, self-challenges, finished drawings, revenge portraits and caricatures, scene tryouts... everything goes into these idea batteries.

Problematic provides the adventurous viewer with a bounty of unfiltered, hand-captured glimpses of life by an artist that Publishers Weekly called "a modern master of hallucinatory cartoon fables." Lots of this material re-emerges in the form of pictures and storylines but much of it is just too baffling to be harnessed for any practical use. Of course, these untamable notions are the best and most interesting ones; and there are plenty of them here in the 300-page brick of Problematic.

Problematic is a rollicking amalgam of reportage (i.e. the man who blew his arm off), speculative anatomy, fancy women, make-a-face games, picture-puzzles, gags, riffs and burlesques. Catalogue and exhibition simultaneously, Problematic is your best bet for a brief, energizing stroll in a distinctively enjoyable neighborhood.

Weird Horrors & Daring Adventures: The Joe Kubert Archives Vol. 1
by Joe Kubert; edited by Bill Schelly

240-page full-color 7.5" x 10.75" hardcover • $39.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-581-5

See Previews / Order Now

Joe Kubert sealed his reputation as one of the greatest American comicbook cartoonists of all time with the four-color adventures of Sgt. Rock of Easy Company, Enemy Ace, and Tarzan, all done for DC Comics during the 1960s and 1970s (themselves already the subject of archival editions)... but he had been working in comics since the 1940s. In fact, young Kubert produced an exciting, significant body of work as a freelance artist for a variety of comic book publishers in the postwar era, in a glorious variety of non-super hero genres: horror, crime, science fiction, western, romance, humor, and more.

For the first time, 33 of the best of these stories have been collected in one full-color volume, with a special emphasis on horror and crime. The Kubert work in this book is that of a burgeoning talent attacking the work with tremendous panache, and in the process, developing a style that became one of the most distinctive in the medium.

Since these stories were written and drawn in the pre-Comics Code era, they are more thrilling, violent and sexy (by contemporary standards) than much of his later, Code-constrained work. And just the titles of the comic books from which these stories are taken are wonderfully evocative of a bygone era of four-color fun: Cowpuncher, Abbott and Costello Comics, Three Stooges, Eerie, Planet Comics, Meet Miss Pepper, Strange Terrors, Green Hornet Comics, Whack, Jesse James, Out of This World, Crime Does Not Pay, Weird Thrillers, Police Lineup, and Hollywood Confessions.

As with Fantagraphics’ acclaimed Steve Ditko and Bill Everett Archives series, Weird Horrors and Daring Adventures boasts state-of-the-art restoration and retouching, and an extensive set of historical notes and an essay by the book’s editor Bill Schelly, author of the Art of Joe Kubert art book and Man of Rock Kubert biography.

The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio - Now in Stock

mike

Just arrived and shipping now from our mail-order department:

The Heart of Thomas (トーマの心臓 / Thomas no Shinzō)
by Moto Hagio

528-page black & white (with some color) 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $39.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-551-8

See Previews / Order Now

To Juli, one last time.
This is my love.
This is the sound of my heart.
Surely you must understand.

BARGAIN COMBO: The Heart of Thomas + A Drunken Dream Gift Set Price: $64.98 $51.98

The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio - Previews, Pre-Order

mike

The Heart of Thomas (トーマの心臓 / Thomas no Shinzō)
by Moto Hagio

528-page black & white (with some color) 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $39.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-551-8

Ships in: December 2012 (subject to change) – Pre-Order Now

BARGAIN COMBO:
The Heart of Thomas + A Drunken Dream Gift Set

Price: $64.98 $51.98

To Juli, one last time.
This is my love.
This is the sound of my heart.
Surely you must understand.

23-page excerpt (download 8.2 MB PDF):

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

First Look: The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio

mike

One of our most avidly anticipated books of the season, Moto Hagio's The Heart of Thomas is an unquestioned manga masterpiece and a foundational work of the shounen-ai (boys' romance) genre. It's our great pleasure to collect this magnificent graphic novel into a single, massive, beautifully-designed hardcover, expertly translated by Matt Thorn (whose exemplary work translating Hagio-sensei can also be seen in the acclaimed previous volume A Drunken Dream and Other Stories). The book is expected for a January release; read a 23-page excerpt comprising the full first chapter (further previews are forthcoming) and pre-order a copy right here.

Covers Uncovered & more: December releases a-poppin'

mike

Our production department has been cranking away and all the rest of our books coming out in 2012 (and one for next year) are now at the printer. I have a bunch of new cover images and excerpts to share, so let's take a peek, shall we?

Castle Waiting Vol. 1 (Softcover Edition) by Linda Medley — the beloved, best-selling fantasy classic, now in paperback! Read the full first chapter for free! Available online in late November, in stores in December!

The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio — a foundational manga classic, published in English for the first time in a single, gorgeous hardcover volume! Read the full first chapter for free! Available in December!

Jack Jackson's American History: Los Tejanos & Lost Cause — two masterful and unflinching recountings of Texas history by an underground comix legend! Sample both stories in a free 26-page excerpt! Available in December!

Problematic: Sketchbook Drawings 2004-2012 by Jim Woodring — a massive survey of the heretofore-private sketchbooks of one of comics' greatest visionaries and visual stylists! Sample 20+ pages for free! Out in December!

Beta Testing the Apocalypse by Tom Kaczynski — heady (and sexy, and suspenseful, and funny) comics short stories reflecting on society, the individual and the man-made environment! We already revealed the cover but now you can read the short story "Music for Neanderthals" in its entirety for free! Avaliable online in mid-December, on shelves late December/early January!

Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 2 by Michael Kupperman — the 2nd hardcover collection of the hit series that sets the standard for contemporary humor comics, collecting issues 5-8 plus a full issue's worth of new material! Yuk your way through a free 16-page sample! Avaliable online in mid-December, in stores late December/early January!

Weird Horrors & Daring Adventures: The Joe Kubert Archives Vol. 1 (edited by Bill Schelly) — early, pre-Comics Code work by one of the all-time greats! Check out our 22-page excerpt to browse the Table of Contents and read 3 full stories for free! Avaliable online in mid-December, on shelves late December/early January!

Delphine by Richard Sala — collecting the acclaimed "Ignatz" comic series, with Sala's twisted take on the tale of Snow White from the "Prince Charming" point of view, in a beautiful hardcover. Read the first 9 pages (plus gorgeous full-color chapter-break pages) for free! Out in January!

Holy moly! We're busy!

Subscribe to the next 3 volumes of Wandering Son!

mike

Readers of Shimura Takako's Wandering Son series are among the most vocal and devoted fans we have, and to reward your loyalty we're pleased to offer a special discounted subscription on the next three volumes (4-6) with FREE domestic shipping (and discounted foreign shipping rates)! Or, if you prefer, you can pre-order this December's Vol. 4 and/or next June's Vol. 5 separately right now. We'll start posting previews of Vol. 4 next month, so be on the lookout for that.

New Comics Day July 11, 18 & 25, 2012

mike

While we were at Comic-Con and then I was on vacation a gazillion of our books came out in comic shops because of course they did!

Read on to see what comics-blog commentators are saying these latest releases about (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability.

The Adventures of Venus
by Gilbert Hernandez

96-page 7.75" x 7.75" black & white hardcover • $9.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-540-2

"I think children's comics benefit from stand-alone collection more than most because it enables you to get on the wavelength being offered a bit more fully than in a serial comic book. So while I'll miss this Gilbert Hernandez work appearing next to back-up shorts featuring slightly inappropriate Rick Altergott comics, I think this book works super-well. I forgot how charming those comics are. This is also a good one to buy in anticipation of his forthcoming autobiographically-oriented work. Price point kills, too. Yeah, buy that one." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"...my first grab would be The Adventures of Venus, a collection of all-ages comics starring Luba’s young, American niece, Venus. Originally serialized in Gilbert’s short-lived kids anthology Marbles, these are really charming stories about everyday kid activities like reading comic books, playing soccer, getting sick and just generally having an active imagination." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"Gilbert Hernandez’s completely delightful kids’ comics from the pages of Measles are collected in The Adventures of Venus..., along with a new piece..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Dungeon Quest Book 3
by Joe Daly

288-page black & white 6" x 8.25" softcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-544-0

"...an enormous 288-page return to Joe Daly’s humorous fantasy quest narrative/gaming spoof..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls
by Jaime Hernandez

136-page black & white/color 8.75" x 11.25" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-539-6

"If I was looking to splurge, I’d add Jaime Hernandez’ God and Science: Return of The Ti-Girls collection (Fantagraphics, $19.99) to my take-home stash, because … well, it’s Jaime and it’s glorious. I’ve already read it in the Love and Rockets serialization, but $19.99 for a collected hardcover? I am splurging, after all!" – Graeme McMillan, Robot 6

"Even though I read the story when it was serialized in Love and Rockets New Stories, I’m tempted to pick up God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls by Jaime Hernandez, as it’s got a new coda and because, hey, new Jaime Hernandez book." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"...the new Jaime Hernandez release God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls, a 136-page hardcover collection/expansion of his superhero serial from the newest incarnation of Love and Rockets..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture - A Career Retrospective (2nd Printing)
by Jack Davis

208-page full-color 10.25" x 13.25" hardcover • $49.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-447-4

Busted! "Mike Baehr said in casual conversation -- which I think means, 'Oh yeah, use this on the site as if I gave you an actual quote' -- that this book did extremely well for Fantagraphics at SDCC. Really handsomely mounted book featuring a great cartoonist." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"I was a big Mad Magazine junkie in my youth, so I’d likely go for Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture, a coffee-table sized retrospective honoring the master cartoonist behind so many great EC stories and Mad parodies, not to mention album covers, movie posters, magazine illustrations, etc." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"...Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture provides 208 pages of stuff from the humorist, illustrator and Mad contributor..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Jewish Images in the Comics
by Fredrik Strömberg

424-page black & white 6" x 6" hardcover • $26.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-528-0

"...the latest (424-page!) Fredrik Strömberg sampler of annotated iconographies..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Significant Objects
edited by Joshua Glenn & Rob Walker

242-page full-color 6" x 8.25" flexibound softcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-525-9

"Significant Objects is not a comic — not an awful lot of comics this week caught my eye — but a potentially interesting prose compilation culling the ‘best of’ Joshua Glenn’s and Rob Walker’s online effort at selling knickknacks through eBay by commissioning writers to create short stories for the item descriptions, with comics folk Gary Panter, Ben Katchor and Ann(ie) Nocente (along with frequent writer-on-comics Douglas Wolk) joining the likes of William Gibson(!), Jonathan Lethem and Neil LaBute as contributors; $24.99." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

"Not comics: a book featuring the essay/object pairings organized by Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker, which you can read about here." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

Tales Designed to Thrizzle #8
by Michael Kupperman

32-page full-color 6.75" x 9.5" comic book • $4.95

"I can't imagine there's a better single-issue buy out there; Michael Kupperman is one of comics' funniest people, and probably its most consistent right now." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"...my first pick would easily be the latest issue of Michael Kupperman’s Tales Designed to Thrizzle, featuring a thrilling moon caper, a Murder, She Wrote parody and a truly strange coloring book about trains. If you’ve a yen for idiosyncratic, absurdist humor — and who doesn’t? — this is your meal ticket right here." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"...the final issue of Michael Kupperman’s hugely-admired comedy showcase..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man
by Carl Barks

248-page full-color 7.5" x 10.25" hardcover • $28.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-535-8

"Fantagraphics continues to be the gold standard for reprinting old comics material. This collection of Carl Barks' splendid Scrooge stories continues the formula of the Donald Duck volume from a few months ago: four long stories (including 'Back to the Klondike'!), then a handful of shorter stories and one-page gags." – Douglas Wolk, ComicsAlliance

"My big splurge purchase this week is Only a Poor Old Man, the second volume in Fantagraphics ongoing Carl Barks collection. I’m so happy that an affordable version of Barks’ duck stories is finally available, I can’t resist snatching it up." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"...another 248 pages of re-colored vintage Carl Barks... Just collect the change from between your couch cushions and go to town, little angels. " – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Wandering Son Vol. 3
by Shimura Takako

224-page black & white/color 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-533-4

"...[A] solid manga offering..." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"Shimura Takako’s soft ‘n delicate story of transgender sexual identity among adolescents continues..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Wandering Son Vol. 3 by Shimura Takako - Now in Stock

mike

Just arrived and now shipping from our mail-order department:

Wandering Son Vol. 3
by Shimura Takako

224-page black & white/color 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-533-4

See Previews / Order Now

SPECIAL OFFER: Order this volume and get Vol. 1 and/or Vol. 2 for $14.99 each; that's 25% off! Use the option menu when ordering.

As shown in the first two volumes of this acclaimed series, Shuichi and his friend Yoshino have a secret: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy.

But one day, abruptly, their secret is exposed, and the two find themselves the target of sixth-grade cruelty. Their friendship is strained, as Yoshino makes a half-hearted effort at being a “normal girl”... and their mentor, Yuki, reveals the harder reality of being transgendered. Meanwhile, Shuichi’s sister, Maho, realizes her dream of becoming a model, and drags Shuichi along for the ride. Shuichi meets another boy who wants to be a girl, and finds himself on an arranged date with a boy who doesn’t know that the girl he has a crush on is actually a boy.

After an unhurried, almost leisurely buildup that gave us an opportunity to get to know and understand our protagonists, artist Shimura picks up the pace in this latest volume, with tears and laughs aplenty. A sophisticated work translated with rare sensitivity by veteran translator and comics scholar Matt Thorn.

Wandering Son Vol. 3 by Shimura Takako - Previews, Pre-Order

mike

Wandering Son Vol. 3
by Shimura Takako

224-page black & white/color 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-533-4

Ships in: June 2012 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

SPECIAL OFFER:

Order this volume and get Vol. 1 and/or Vol. 2 for $14.99 each; that's 25% off! Use the option menu when ordering.

As shown in the first two volumes of this acclaimed series, Shuichi and his friend Yoshino have a secret: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy.

20-page excerpt (download 2.3 MB PDF):

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

Daily OCD: 5/29-5/31/12

mike

The latest Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Josh Simmons' book The Furry Trap is truly disturbing in its depravity. Makes Ultra Gash Inferno look cute. An inspiring & exhilarating read! How many comics can you honestly say made you sick or upset when you read them? Furry Trap made me question the First Amendment at times." – Sammy Harkham

• Review: "By this point, the reader will know if [Dungeon Quest] is their cup of tea; anyone who enjoys alt-comics takes on fantasy and/or stoner humor will find this a sheer delight. I'd say the sheer level of craftsmanship and the way Daly shifts storytelling modes so quickly would at least interest other readers, especially those who enjoy deadpan absurdism, since that's the core of Daly's sense of humor. For the continuing fan of this series, Daly continues to raise the stakes in each volume and adds richness and depth for those who are looking for more detail. Above all else, he does for the reader what he does with his party: he keeps things moving even when his characters are navel-gazing." – Rob Clough, High-Low

• Review: "...Moto Hagio has more on her agenda than simply trotting out tired 'girly' storylines. Her protagonists struggle with loss, rejection, and insecurity in a manner sure to strike readers as honest and familiar, never reductive or patronizing.... The stories collected here [in A Drunken Dream] span 31 years of Hagio’s career and, while the later stories do seem a bit looser and more confident, the earlier stories certainly don’t suffer by comparison." – Andrew Fuerste-Henry, No Flying No Tights

• Review: "Boasting [Fantagraphics'] usual high-production values and showcasing the genesis of the indie comics icon, [Usagi Yojimbo, Book 1:] The Ronin is a meticulously curated artifact of comics history.... The book is worth buying for the art alone. Sharply reproduced on gratifyingly durable stock, the quality of the lines leap out from the page even in these early stories." – Abhimanyu Das, Slant Magazine

• Profile: At Comic Book Resources, Shaun Manning talks to Nicolas Mahler about his superhero spoof Angelman: "Mahler said he does not have an in-depth knowledge of the major events and storylines [in superhero comics] of recent years, but said he is still familiar with the culture. 'I think my point of view is very '80s, that is when I stopped reading them,' he said. 'After that, I only have very superficial information. I know more about the fanboys, actually. I enjoy the scene around superheroes more than the stories themselves. I like it when people take this very seriously, and can debate endlessly about little faults in a superhero's universe."' 

• Interview: Following an introduction in his native Greek, Comicdom's Tomas Papadimitropoulos posts his untranslated (i.e. English) Q&A with Hans Rickheit: "I am compelled to draw these comics.... These stories follow a certain pattern of logic that makes sense to me. I don’t have the vocabulary to explain how it works, that is why I draw them as comic strips."

• Interview: The A.V. Club's Keith Phipps has a great Q&A with Daniel Clowes: "I can look at my early work and see what a pained struggle it was to draw what I was drawing. I was trying so hard to get this specific look that was in my head, and always falling short. I could see the frustration in the lines, and I remember my hand being tensed and redrawing things a thousand times until I finally inked it, and just having this general tense anxiety about every drawing. I think that comes through in the artwork, and gives it this certain kind of manic energy, this kind of repressed energy, so you feel like it’s sort of bursting at the seams or something."

• Interview (Audio): Daniel Clowes sits down for a chat on Bay Area NPR station KQED's Forum with host Michael Krasny

• Video: Via Meltdown Comics and Boing Boing, a charming short film by Rocío Mesa about a couple of dedicated Daniel Clowes fans

• Plug: "...[W]e recommend checking out Love and Rockets Library: The Complete Vol. 1 from Fantagraphics, which collects every issue of the landmark alt-comic series between 1982 and 1996. In Love and Rockets, Gilbert and his brother Jaime Hernandez wrote stories ranging from satire to political intrigue, and introduced such noteworthy characters as Luba, the temperamental, full-figured mayor of a Central American village, and Maggie Chascarrillo, a punk rock-loving Mexican girl who becomes a solar mechanic. ...[T]here's no better time to become a Los Bros Hernandez zombie than right now." – Phil Guie, Critical Mob

Daily OCD: 5/17/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: At Library Journal, Martha Cornog names "26 Graphic Novels for Pride Month 2012," including The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio...

"This book is considered a pioneering example of shonen-ai (boys’ love), often referred to as yaoi in the United States. In a German boarding school, young Thomas Werner kills himself because of unrequited love for a schoolmate, who is in fact in love with Thomas, but secretly. Unpacking the emotional threads among the boys and their fellows leads to a sophisticated and beautifully drawn melodrama."

...No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics...

"Herewith a color and black-and-white sampler from a less-recognized underground of gay comics from the past four decades, including Bechdel and Cruse, Europe’s Ralf Koenig, and 2011 ALA keynote speaker Dan Savage (Savage Love; The Kid; It Gets Better). Fantagraphics promises 'smart, funny, and profound' — and uncensored."

...and Wandering Son Vol. 3 by Shimura Takako:

"A serious yet sweet fifth-grade drama about several boys and girls who want to change their gender. Unlike many manga involving boy/girl reversals, this one does not play gender issues for laughs, even if gentle comedy enters the picture along with serious emotional drama."

• Review: "The seventeenth volume of this great series from Fantagraphics [The Compete Peanuts] is just as delightful as all the rest. Yes, the ink line of Charles Schulz is a little wobbly at times, but his humor is just as sharp as ever.... I’ve said it before, but if you want reading material that will make you smile and laugh it’s hard to beat this series. And I’m continuing to admire the subtle and classy cover designs by Seth. Highly recommended." – Todd Klein

• Interview: At The Art Newspaper, Sarah Douglas chats with Robert Crumb about his museum retrospective show in Paris: "The contemporary fine art world has never particularly interested me. They started to embrace me and have big fancy gallery shows and museum shows. I’m one of the few cartoonists who mainly work for print who is now finding their way into the fine art world, and it’s the choice of the fine art world; it’s not my choice. I haven’t consciously promoted myself in that world."

• Commentary: At The Comics Journal, R. Fiore uses Mark Kalesniko's graphic novel Freeway as a springboard to discuss the history of American animation: "The eponymous metaphor of Mark Kalesniko’s Freeway is almost too easy: A transportation network that once granted free and effortless mobility that’s become a morass of stagnation and frustration to symbolize an animation business that promised personal expression amid camaraderie but delivers forced mediocrity in an atmosphere of Machiavellian backbiting. Condemned to a purgatorial traffic jam, Kalesniko’s dog-headed alter ego Alex grinds his teeth to reminiscences about his thwarted career, potentially idyllic but presently in-law plagued romance, and his abortive first expedition into Los Angeles, intermixed with idealized visions of animation’s golden age and premonitions of [SPOILER REDACTED – Ed.]."

• Commentary: "I’d love to see Locas become a well-made animated television series, because I feel like Jaime Hernandez’ work deserves the widest-possible audience. But is such an idea messing with a classic that doesn’t need such 'help'?" – Graeme McMillan, Spinoff Online

Daily OCD: 5/2/12

mike

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Profile: David Berry of Canada's National Post profiles the Toronto-bound Jason: "'I guess I’m not the most talkative person myself, so most of my characters end up the same way,' says Jason (a.k.a. John Arne Sæterøy) who, true to form, conducted our interview over email from his current home in France. 'I just think silence can be more effective than a lot of words.' The truth of that is in the book he’ll be showing off at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Athos in America. The collection of short stories is in a lot of ways a quintessential distillation of his themes and tendencies, blending together his cast of mostly melancholy (and quiet) anthropomorphized characters, dryly existential humour, sparse but careful composition and plots borrowed but tweaked from Hollywood genres such as crime, science fiction and, in the case of the titular musketeer, historical derring-do."

• Review: "...Mauldin created great art. His illustrative skill still catches our eye. His depth of thought and feeling still draw us in. We ponder Willie and Joe. We weigh their posture. We stare into their ravaged eyes. Who are these men, we ask? Where did they come from? Where will their paths lead?... Mauldin’s creations are as isolated and as awaiting-of-an-unknown-fate as Vladimir and Estragon. Their foxhole encapsulates their existence with the totality of Nagg and Nell’s garbage cans. Day-by-day, Willie and Joe confronted their readers, making no progress but enduring.... Fantagraphics has honored... the survivors and the fallen, while enriching the rest of us with this collection." – Bob Levin, First of the Month (via TCJ.com)

• Plugs: Lawrence Ferber of Next Magazine mentions a few of our titles in his MoCCA Fest report: "Batman received a subversive skewing in Josh Simmons’ gleefully un-PC The Furry Trap (another of its screwy adults-only tales involves a rape-happy elf). Trap's publisher, Fantagraphics Books, will release volume three of excellent gender-bending coming-of-age Manga series, Wandering Son, this summer, along with a queer comics compilation edited by San Francisco’s Justin Hall, No Straight Lines."

• Plug: "I loved Nancy in childhood, and I love Nancy now. The accuracy and economy of Ernie Bushmiller’s art and the genial simplemindedness of his humor make an irresistible combination. So I am happy that Fantagraphics at last has published Nancy Is Happy: Complete Dailies 1943–1945." – Michael Leddy, Orange Crate Art

Heating up with Summer releases

mike

Things have been hectic around here and they're only going to get hecticer. Here are the advances and sample copies that have arrived at the office since the last sneak-peek update a few weeks ago, some of which have already been spotted out in public making their debuts during our current convention gauntlet and all of which should be available between now and July.

It's hard to tell from this angle but Joe Daly's Dungeon Quest Book 3 is thicker than Books 1 & 2 put together:

We already gave you this first glimpse of Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons:

The Furry Trap, the new collection of horror stories by Josh Simmons, is sure to turn heads and stomachs:

God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls by Jaime Hernandez collects his superhero fantasia from Love and Rockets: New Stories in this snappy hardcover (the back cover is a humdinger too):

New York Mon Amour wraps up Big Apple-flavored stories by Jacques Tardi and his collaborators under this striking cover:

Steven Brower follows up his biography of Mort Meskin with this collection of Meskin's comics, Out of the Shadows:

It's a new issue of Tales Designed to Thrizzle by Michael Kupperman, yaaay! It's also the last issue, waaah!

Shimura Takako's wonderful, acclaimed and beloved manga series continues in Wandering Son Vol. 3:

And we're expecting another half dozen deliveries pretty much any day now. How do we do it? I don't even know!