We sometimes lose track of things in our mail-order warehouse, and then someone notices them and says "hey, what's the deal with these?" When the item in question is a bunch of bookplates signed by Robert Crumb, it's kind of a big deal.

These bookplates were originally made for our exclusive signed hardcover editions of The Complete Crumb Comics and the R. Crumb Sketchbook series. The hardcovers are mostly long sold out and out of print, but we don't want these leftovers to go to waste, so we are now offering them with the softcovers as well, for an additional $30 a pop. We have them for nearly every in-print volume of both series, and for all of the volumes that are out of print. You can buy them separately, but in that case it's limit one of each per customer, so we're limiting it to phone orders for separate sales. If ordering from our website, just choose the desired option when adding each book to your shopping cart.

As you can see, the plate for each book is a unique design (not all plates are shown here). Some are numbered, but some are not; we can't guarantee a number on yours. They are limited in edition and quantity, so don't miss out.

21: The Story of Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago is now available to our mailorder customers with a signed bookplate at no extra charge! Supplies are limited and may run out without warning, so act with appropriate haste.

Wilfred signed these plates back in May when he was visiting Seattle and we promptly misplaced them (whoops), so if you ordered the book from us between May 4 and now, let us know and we'll be happy to send you one.

The Frank Book (New Softcover Edition)
by Jim Woodring

352-page black & white/color 8.5" x 11" softcover • $34.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-500-6

Ships in: September 2011 (subject to change) – Pre-Order Now

The Frank Book (New Hardcover Printing)
by Jim Woodring

352-page black & white/color 8.75" x 11.25" hardcover • $45.00
ISBN: 978-1-60699-513-6

Ships in: September 2011 (subject to change) – Pre-Order Now

eaders who haven't discovered Jim Woodring's Frank stories will find a treat waiting for them in the pages of this book. Since publication in 1991 of the award-winning, epoch-making "Frank in the River," these lusciously hypnotic fables have dazzled cartoon lovers the world over.

Frank is a generic anthropomorph who lives in a world of mysterious and dangerous beauty. Propelled by forces beyond his control, including his own unquenchable curiosity, he finds himself in one bizarre escapade after another, frequently involving the loathsome Manhog or the power-hungry Whim. Luckily, Frank has a protector and ally in the form of his feisty godling companion, Pupshaw.

Frank's adventures are told in a series of nearly wordless cartoon stories that draw readers deep into a hallucinatory mindscape governed by a profound interior logic that raises The Frank Book to a level above fantasy. As Francis Ford Coppola says in his introduction, "The ancient myths and folk tales of all cultures which have been preserved for so many centuries have meaning for us today because the fantastic elements in them are rooted in immutable reality. The Frank stories belong to this class of literature."

Download and read a 23-page PDF excerpt (4.9 MB).

"Jim Woodring may be the most important cartoonist of his generation. The Frank stories are masterpieces, each and every one. Read them. Re-read them. Re-re-read them. Every cell in your body will remember this spellbinding, visionary work." – Scott McCloud

"Frank will take you to another world, re-arrange your consciousness and reprogram the inside of your head. It's cheaper than virtual reality, less risky than recreational pharmaceuticals, and more fun than falling asleep." – Neil Gaiman

"Frank, and I say this without a shred of hyperbole, is a work of true genius by one of the all-time greats." – Daniel Clowes

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

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

Free Signature Plate: We found a stash of limited-edition signed bookplates left over from a previous edition which we're giving away for no extra charge with purchase of either of these new editions! Supplies are limited and may run out without notice so get yours before they're gone!

Australian fan Luke Read found a novel use for his growing collection of our exclusive signed bookplates — wall decoration! Thanks to Luke for sharing these images on Twitter.

We have dozens of books available with these signed bookplates as a free bonus for our customers, and we've recently received some new stock: brand new bookplates signed by Joyce Farmer for Special Exits, a new twin set signed by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez for Love and Rockets: New Stories #3, and a restock of plates signed by Johnny Ryan for Prison Pit Book 2!

Safe Area Gorazde: The Special Edition
by Joe Sacco

272-page black & white 7.75" x 10.25" hardcover • $29.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-396-5

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

First released in 2000, Safe Area Gorazde confirmed Sacco as one of the pre-eminent journalists of his time, and earned him a 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship. Now for its 10th anniversary, Fantagraphics is releasing an expanded hardcover edition which, much like 2007’s Palestine: The Special Edition, supplements the original work with page after page of special features, listed below.

In the wake of his acclaimed Palestine, Joe Sacco spent four months in Bosnia in 1995-1996, immersing himself in the human side of life during wartime, researching stories rarely found in conventional news coverage. The book focuses on the Muslim enclave of Gorazde, which was besieged by Bosnian Serbs during the war; Sacco spent four weeks in Gorazde, entering before the Muslims trapped inside had access to the outside world, electricity or running water.

Features of this special deluxe edition include:

• A lengthy illustrated essay by Joe Sacco on how the project came together.

• A side-by-side comparison of Sacco's reference photos and the final comics panels drawn from them.

• A "Where Are they Now?" update on Gorazde's most colorful characters.

• A long interview with Sacco on Safe Area Gorazde from The Comics Journal.

• Plus of course the complete Safe Area Gorazde including Christopher Hitchens's introduction from the first edition.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 21-page PDF excerpt (5.6 MB).

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

Praise for the original edition:

2001 Eisner Award WINNER: Best Graphic Album - New

"Of the myriad of books that have appeared about Bosnia, few have told the truth more bravely than Sacco's. He is an immense talent." – The New York Times Book Review

"Harrowing and bleakly humorous, Sacco's account of life during the Balkan conflict is a timeless portrait of ordinary people caught in desperate circumstances. It's also a work of genius in an unlikely genre: journalism in comic book form." – Utne Reader

"Sacco's detailed, personal reporting captures his subject matter more convincingly than photographs or Christiane Amanpour." – Time

"Graphic in every sense of the term, Sacco’s account of everyday life in a city under siege puts one of the twentieth century’s least understood catastrophes in perspective; it’s the best argument around for comics as a journalistic medium." – GQ

Free Bonus: This book is available with an exclusive signed bookplate (pictured above) at no extra charge! See product description for details.

We recently got a fresh batch of signed bookplates back from Charles Burns for his classic albums Big Baby, El Borbah and Skin Deep — they're free with purchase of their respective books while supplies last! (And see here for our other books available with free signed bookplates!)

We made a startling discovery in our recently-relocated warehouse not too long ago: a cache of signed, limited-edition bookplates that somehow never got used! These things date back around 10 years or so. Good grief!

Now that they're all present and accounted for, you can have 'em — get one FREE with purchase of their respective books while supplies last! We're running this just like our more recent bonus signed bookplates, which encompasses dozens of recent books — see the full selection and more info here.

Caricature by Daniel Clowes

Dicks and Deedees by Jaime Hernandez

• Fear of Comics by Gilbert Hernandez

Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko

Phantasmagoria by Kenneth Smith

(And there's one more for an out-of-print book that we're holding in reserve for future use but keeping a secret for now — stay tuned...)

As you hopefully know, many of our books are available with exclusive signed bookplates as a free bonus when you order direct from us — there's a whole great big list here, and we're currently adding and replenishing plates for many titles, including (in no particular order):

• 8 different titles by Jason
• Buddy Does Seattle and Buddy Does Jersey by Peter Bagge
• Temperance by Cathy Malkasian
• Artichoke Tales by Megan Kelso
• The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. by Dash Shaw
• Zippy: Ding Dong Daddy from Dingburg by Bill Griffith
• The Search for Smilin' Ed and Deitch's Pictorama by Kim Deitch
• Meat Cake by Dame Darcy
• The Sanctuary by Nate Neal
• Chocolate Cheeks by Steven Weissman

This is just the tip of the iceberg — we have dozens and dozens more titles with signed bookplates, and more are arriving every week. You can't get these plates anywhere else, and they're all available at no extra charge — but supplies are super limited and can run out without notice, so don't hesitate to get your order in!

A Drunken Dream and Other Stories
by Moto Hagio

288-page black & white/color 7.25" x 9.75" hardcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-377-4

Ships in: September 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

This book is available with a signed bookplate as a FREE premium! The bookplate has been uniquely designed for this book, and each bookplate is printed on acid-free cardstock and hand-signed by the author. (Click here for more books available with signed bookplates.) Please select your preference when adding the item to your shopping cart. Signature plates are VERY limited in quantity and available only WHILE SUPPLIES LAST.

Forty years ago, the legendary manga artist Moto Hagio reinvented the shōjo (girls' comics) genre with an ongoing series of whip-smart, psychologically complex, and tenderly poetic stories. Here, now, in English for the very first time, as the debut release in Fantagraphics Books' ambitious manga line of graphic novels, are ten of the very best of these tales.

The work in A Drunken Dream and Other Stories spans Hagio's entire career, from 1970's "Bianca" to 2007's "The Willow Tree," and includes the mind-bending, full-color title story; the famously heartbreaking "Iguana Girl"; and the haunting "The Child Who Comes Home" — as well as "Autumn Journey," "Girl on Porch With Puppy," the eerie conjoined-twins shocker "Hanshin: Half-God," "Angel Mimic," and one of the saddest of all romance stories, "Marié, Ten Years Later."

A Drunken Dream and Other Stories is supplemented with a feature-length interview with Hagio, where she discusses her art, her career, and her life with the same combination of wit, candor and warmth that radiates from every panel of her comics.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 31-page PDF excerpt (4.8 MB).

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

Our selection of books that are available with signed bookplates as a free bonus has just expanded! We've added or restocked bookplates for the following titles:

• Wally Gropius by Tim Hensley (Most of our bookplates are designed in-house, but this full-color beauty was done specially for us by Tim himself!)
• Penny Century, Locas & Locas II by Jaime Hernandez
• All and Sundry by Paul Hornschemeier
• You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! by Fletcher Hanks (signed by editor Paul Karasik)
• Billy Hazelnuts by Tony Millionaire
• Prison Pit, Book 1 by Johnny Ryan
• Maniac Killer Strikes Again, Mad Night, Peculia, & Peculia and the Groon Grove Vampires by Richard Sala
• Like a Dog by Zak Sally
• Unlovable Vol. 2 by Esther Pearl Watson

Click here for the full selection of books available with these free bonus signed plates, and get yours while supplies last!