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See what’s coming in July from Fantagraphics

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Graphic Policy Team

Werewolf Jones & Sons Deluxe Summer Fun Annual

by Simon Hanselmann and Josh Pettinger

In the tradition of the once ubiquitous British hardback annuals comes the Werewolf Jones & Sons Deluxe Summer Fun Annual! One hundred fun-filled seasonal pages of spoofs and goofs for the whole family to enjoy (no minors allowed)! Featuring fun appearances by beloved friends of the family such as Megg, Mogg, and Owl, not to mention Dracula Jr. and Tim the drug dealing spider. The “WWJ&Sons DSFA” will surely leave you confused, angry, upset, heavily triggered and wishing you could call Child Protective Services on a fictional werewolf!

Dear Mini: A Graphic Memoir, Book One

by Natalie Norris

A vivid debut graphic memoir of adolescent resiliency—Norris’s spirited and free-flowing page designs and full color cartooning bring her frank voice and personality to life, making Dear Mini one of the most compelling graphic novel debuts of 2023.

The Comics Journal #309

From the trenches of independent/small press comics publishing, two art comics publishers talk — Gary Groth (Fantagraphics) interviews Annie Koyama (Koyama Press). This issue of the award-winning magazine focuses on international small press comics publishing and distribution.

Alison

by Lizzy Stewart

Alison tells the story of a young British woman who, in her twenties, seizes upon the opportunity to escape from her quiet life in Dorset to the thrumming art scene of late-1970s London. But the vehicle for her escape is a charismatic older man whose reputation as an artist and philanderer casts a shadow which will follow Alison for years as she pursues her painting career. Told through quietly powerful interpersonal moments rich with meaning and mood, this graphic novel will appeal to fans of Sally Rooney and Leanne Shapton, as well as the great empathic writers Alice Munro, Hilary Mantel, and Tessa Hadley.

Scrooge McDuck: The Dragon of Glasgow

by Joris Chamblain and Fabrizio Petrossi

Return to Uncle Scrooge’s epic past in this standalone Disney graphic novel… full of thrills and chills in the long-ago coal mines of Scotland! An all-new saga set in the world of Don Rosa’s Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck series, The Dragon of Glasgow forges a new trail with adventures rendered in a modern, animation-inspired style.

Ernie in Kovacsland: Writings, Drawings, and Photographs from Television’s Original Genius

by Josh Mills, Ben Model, and Pat Thomas

Ernie Kovacs inspired countless comedians, musicians, humorists, and writers in the latter half of the 20th century and beyond. He is cited as a direct influence by the creators and stars of such innovative comedy series as Saturday Night Live, Monty Python, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. An award in his name has been granted to uproarious humorists like Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) and Harry Shearer (This is Spinal Tap). A true visionary, Kovacs’s iconoclastic approach has forever made its mark on the world of comedy. In celebration of this cockeyed genius and his prolific creative output, Fantagraphics presents a career retrospective of Ernie Kovacs featuring never-before-seen material from Kovacs’s archive.

Ernie in Kovacsland: Writings, Drawings, and Photographs from Television's Original Genius

The Buildings Are Barking

by Bill Griffith

The Buildings Are Barking is Bill Griffith’s tender, poetic, deeply felt comics tribute to his wife, life-long partner, muse, copy editor, and fellow cartoonist Diane Noomin. “I’m still unable to accept her death. I relive all 49 of our years together every day. How could anyone so alive, so funny, so lovely, be gone? Who am I without her?” Griffith summons all of his comics-making expertise in order to bring his beloved Diane back to life in a remarkable act of mourning and memory.

Comics

The Comics Journal Returns to Print this January

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Graphic Policy Team

Fantagraphics Books has announced the return of the award winning, internationally acclaimed The Comics Journal as an in-print magazine. Starting in 1976 as a monthly periodical and evolving into a massive book-sized format in 2013,The Comics Journal will resume at issue #303 as a more accessible magazine with a twice yearly publication schedule. The Comics Journal #303 will be released in January of 2019.

The Comics Journal was co-created over four decades ago by Gary Groth, holding the medium to high critical standards as well as presenting in-depth and thought-provoking interviews and editorials. In January, the magazine will carry on that honored tradition with two new managing editors: RJ Casey and Kristy Valenti.

Issue #303 features Gary Groth in discussion with the satirist and children’s book author Tomi Ungerer. “I’m looking forward to getting back in the saddle, a saddle I have missed, and conducting interviews with cartoonists, from young whippersnappers to vital legends, says Editor-In-Chief Gary Groth. “My long interview with Tomi Ungerer in this issue is a dream come true.”

This issue covers the “new mainstream” in American comics and how the marketplace and perception of the medium has drastically shifted since the “graphic novel boom” of the early 2000s and massive hits like Persepolis, Fun Home, and Smile. It also includes sketchbook pages from French-born cartoonist Antoine Cossé, an introduction to Alex Gard’s homoerotic gag cartoons out of the U.S. Navy by Mannie Murphy, Your Black Friend cartoonist Ben Passmore’s examination of the role art and comics have in gentrification, a reconsideration of the comics canon by Eisner Award-winner Dr. Sheena C. Howard, and much more.

TCJ.com, the magazine’s online counterpart, will continue updating every day with completely separate content and managed by editors Tim Hoddler and Tucker Stone.

The Comics Journal #303 is slated to release in bookstores, comic shops, and online in January 2019. The Comics Journal #304 is set to release in June 2019.

Around the Tubes

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Brett

It’s a new week and C2e2 news continues to trickle out. We’ll keep up our special section for a few more days and of course there’s the usual news.

Around the Blogs:

Bleeding Cool – Confirmed: Stephen King, Joe Hill In Talks To Write An Episode of Walking Dead – Could be interesting, but is Kirkman too busy writing his three billion comics to pen the entire season?

Bleeding Cool – So… Joseph Gordon-Levitt Isn’t Playing That Character In The New Batman After All? – I still hold out for the Riddler.

The Comics Journal – New Rules – What’s up with comic book message boards lately? Another one has to change the rules due to unruly participants.

ICv2 – Archaia Gets Investors – They put out great material, so hopefully we’ll see more of their series on the big and small screen.

Slash Film – Infographic: The Avengers Family Tree – Do your best to name them all.

Flyte Blog – Are You Ready for Business Comic Books? – Definitely want to check this out. It could be interesting.

The Bookseller – Wales college launches graphic novel degree – Now I just need a degree for being a snarky graphic novel reviewer.

C2e2 Coverage:

Bleeding Cool – Costume Parade at C2E2 by Samantha LaFountain

Bleeding Cool – More Awesome Booths at C2E2 by Samantha LaFountain

Comicvine – C2E2 2011: Wrap Up

Comicvine – C2E2 2011: Scott Snyder Part 2 (Batman)

Comicvine – C2E2 2011: Phil Hester

Graphic Novel Reporter – Comic Books, Libraries, and Innovation Report from C2E2

The Beat – C2E2 2011 in pictures

ICv2 – C2E2 Photos, Part 1

ICv2 – C2E2 Photos, Part 2

Comic Book Resources – C2E2: “Supreme Power” Gets Real

Chicago Tribune – C2E2 expands its universe

Around the Tubes Reviews:

Primary Ignition – Batman vs. The Undead

The Comics Journal – Che

Bookish Ardour – Coraline

YA Book Nerd – The Lightning Thief

Heroic Times – Sight Unseen

A Whole New TCJ.COM

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Brett

Official Press Release

A WHOLE NEW TCJ.COM

MARCH 7, 2011, SEATTLE, WA—The Comics Journal is proud to announce the relaunch of TCJ.com with new editorial oversight.

The editorial team that is taking over are Dan Nadel and Tim Hodler. Together they co-founded the Eisner-nominated magazine and blog Comics Comics with cartoonist Frank Santoro in 2006. They published four print issues and the web edition quickly grew into one of the most vital forums for critical and historical discussion of comics, marked by contributions from some of the leading cartoonists and writers in the field.

The Comics Journal print magazine has chronicled the comics medium since it’s first publication in 1976. It has been a leading force of journalism exploring both the facets of the comics industry and the artistic value of the books. Releasing over 300 issues, The Journal is changing face as well with an over 600-page tome of criticism and interviews for issue 301.

The new TCJ.com will continue this tradition by offering an online magazine for interviews, criticism, history and ideas in a concise, beautifully designed format. The site will feature multiple book reviews every week, making it a clearinghouse for the latest critical responses to comics and graphic novels from all over the spectrum.

There is a myriad of contributing writers offering a wide a to the new TCJ.com, all bringing together leading voices from literary critics, to pop culture journalists, to comics reviewers. Expect to see writing from Richard Gehr, Nicole Rudick, Jesse Pearson, Andrew Leland, Frank Santoro, Jeet Heer, Ken Parille, R. Fiore, Joe McCulloch, Chris Mautner, Ryan Holmberg, Gary Groth, and many others.

Along with featuring long form articles on all aspects of the medium from leading contemporary writers, TCJ.com will also host a monthly diary feature, in which an artist (or other comics figure) takes us through a week of their life in prose, pictures or cartoons, one day at a time. This column is kicking off with Vanessa Davis, followed by Brandon Graham, then Joyce Farmer, with many more to come.

The new TCJ.com is focused on bringing the magazine’s archive to a new online readership. With holdings including hundreds of interviews with the leading cartoonists of the 20th century and serve as a living record of the development of the comics medium. Beginning March 1, and rolling out over several months, each issue of The Comics Journal will be made available in its entirety to subscribers. Non-subscribers will have the opportunity to sample highlights from many of the issues as well.

Dan Nadel is the publisher of the acclaimed PictureBox Inc, which has released graphic novels, art books, and novels by the likes Gary Panter, Charles Willeford, Yuichi Yokoyama, and Wilco. He has also written two of the most vital recent books on comics history: Art Out of Time: Unknown Comics Visionaries, 1900-1969 and Art in Time: Unknown Comic Book Adventures, 1940-1980. Nadel won a Grammy Award for his art direction of Wilco’s A Ghost is Born album package, and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.

Tim is a writer and editor who has been published in Bookforum, Details, New York Magazine, and the Ganzfeld, among other places.

Iraqi Science Fiction

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Brett

Over at The Comics Journal, Kent Worcester has a fascinating look at Iraqi science fiction imagery. The Children’s Culture House of Iraq in the 1980’s published pamphlets to teach astronomy, space exploration, the frontiers of science, etc. The pamphlets were in the clear if they steered clear of political themes and focused on the science.

The article goes on further to cover Salih Habeeb who was involved with the project as well as shows off imagery from the pamphlets and Habeeb’s work. Below is one example of what you can find. Pretty interesting stuff.

TCJ.com Announces Global Blogging

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Brett

Official Press Release

The World at Your Fingertips: TCJ.com Announces Global Blogging

JULY 27, 2010 – SEATTLE, WA—The Comics Journal website TCJ.com has just launched a major platform for comics news and commentary by bloggers from all over the world. On the opening day of this international gateway, you can expect to see new blog posts from respected correspondents in Argentina, Australia, Italy, The Philippines, Sweden and Turkey. Each of these nations will have its own ongoing blog on TCJ.com and over the next several weeks we will be adding blogs from every corner of the globe. All blogs will be in English but each post will have a link allowing it to be translated into the language of the blog’s home country or any one of more than 50 other languages. Our ultimate goal is to provide a hub of communications from the comics communities of virtually every nation on Earth.

While you’re there, check out the constant flow of smart comics blogs and essays on TCJ.com. Among the features scheduled for this week are Chris Mautner on Top Shelf’s Swedish Invasion, Tom Crippen on American Son, eye-popping Golden Age covers by Alex Schomburg and illustrations by Robert Binks; Roland Kelts on Tokyopop after the downsizing, R.C. Harvey on death in the funnies; and much more! Recent posts have included a new interview with Gahan Wilson, Gary Groth’s past interviews with Harvey Pekar, and the strangest comics Shaenon Garrity has ever seen.