As reported in PW Comics Week, one of the famed masters of international comics is finally getting an American edition: the great Jacques Tardi:

All that is changing this summer as Fantagraphics is launching an ongoing hardcover series of Tardi’s graphic novels. The first two releases this August will be West Coast Blues (Le petit bleu de la Côte Ouest), a hard-boiled crime thriller adapted by Tardi from the novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette, and You Are Here (Ici même), a satirical, surreal story about a man who lives on a wall, written for Tardi by Barbarella creator Jean-Claude Forest. The line continues in Spring 2010 with the release of It Was the War of the Trenches, a grueling story set in World War I.

Fantastic news, as most English language Tardi has been out of print for years and years, or was published by now defunct publishers (iBooks.)

We’ve been waiting a long time for someone to sit down and ask Eric Reynolds what he thinks about Diamond’s benchmarks, and Chris Mautner finally stepped up to do it himself. The general thrust is that…the indie periodical was already looking a little green around the gills:

Let me put it this way. I think some publishers are probably using this new policy as an excuse to curtail their pamphlets than I think it’s a hard cause and effect. I don’t begrudge anybody doing that, but my point is the writing was already on the wall. I think publishers were already steering away from periodicals by and large. I read an interview with Mike Richardson not too long ago prior to the Diamond policies talking about how they were really scaling back the pamphlets and they’re one of the few publishers that’s still been really agressive in that format.

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Fantagraphics’ website is now running Johnny Ryan’s Blecky Yuckerella, which we know many folks will enjoy.

Via Flog, gladsome news that FBI is offering PDF previews of several upcoming books

Download links are available on the product listing pages for the books listed and linked below. Try before you buy with these nice juicy chunks:

• Hank Ketcham’s Complete Dennis the Menace 1959-1960 - read all the strips from January 1959!
• Unlovable Vol. 1 - preview the first 20 pages!
• Humbug - see what the Humbug hullabaloo is all about by reading the entire first issue!
• Mome Vol. 14: Spring 2009 - sample 15 pages, including almost every artist in the issue!
• Sam’s Strip - read the first full month of strips!
• The Wolverton Bible - read the first 12 pages, comprising most of Genesis 1-6!

While Robert Crumb’s GENESIS is due later this year and is certain to set the comics world on its ear, you won’t find much more spectacular than Basil Wolverton’s version of the same material, above.

(l-r, front row Igort, Isabel Kreitz, Max, Nicolas de Crécy; standing, Jaromir 99 and Jaroslav Rudiš)

Euro comics week in NYC continued with an evening of slideshows and presentations by David B., Nicolas de Crécy, Igort, Jaromír 99, Isabel Kreitz, Max, and Jaroslav Rudiš, some of the finest cartoonists in the world, so it was quite the time. B. showed slides from THE EPILEPTIC and described his thinking process behind his powerful imagery. Igort showed off an evocative selection of slides of images and comics that have influenced his own dreamlike stories. Kreitz — perhaps the only German cartoonist we have ever met — described the lack of opportunities for cartoonists in Germany (it’s another Disney-centric country, and there is almost no local comics scene, aside from some self-publishing). She also showed a trailer for her DIE SACHE MIT SORGE, a breathtakingly illustrated retelling of the true-life tale of Russian spy Richard Sorge. (You can watch the trailer below.) The Czech duo of Jaromir and Jaroslav, the least well known of the touring ‘toonists, spoke in broad terms about their influences and work. Max delved into some of the surrealist influences on his character Bardin, the Superrealist, such as Fuseli’s Nightmare paintings. De Crécy rounded out the evening with a slideshow of his pages — the combined effect of seeing so much of his fantastic, gorgeous work was sort of overwhelming, and it’s hard to imagine that there’s a better artist working in comics today. His only large-scale work published here in America is GLACIAL PERIOD, available from NBM, but one hopes that will change.

There was an SRO crowd at MoCCA for the event, and last night’s David Mazzucchelli-led talk at SVA was also packed. Seeing a healthy audience for European artists of this caliber in New York, at least, comes as a nice vindication of the job American and Canadian publishers are doing to get their work over here.

Fantagraphics is having a big party on 12/13, and we’re gutted that we can’t go.

Over the course of two years, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery has become woven into the region’s cultural fabric and drawn attention to an impressive array of local, national and international narrative cartoonists, illustrators, graphic designers, and fine artists while providing a showcase for Seattle-based publisher Fantagraphics Books. To celebrate the second anniversary of this stimulating space, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery hosts a festive gala and reception for the phenomenal BEASTS BOOKS 1 & 2 book launch and art exhibition on Saturday, December 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.

Since its publication in December 2006, BEASTS BOOK ONE has become a pop culture sensation, quickly selling out two printings and finding an enthusiastic worldwide audience. Meticulously designed, the book combines colorful illustrations of mythical monsters with imaginative text describing the folkloric origins and characteristics of these creatures. The brainchild of Fantagraphics Books design director Jacob Covey, the first BEASTS volume included accomplished contributors including Art Chantry, Tim Biskup, Tony Millionaire, Richard Sala, Martin Ontiveros, and Jordan Crane among many others. BEASTS BOOK TWO, which will debut at the December 13 event, continues the tradition of illustrations from interdisciplinary international luminaries including David B. (France), Jaime Hernandez (US), Femke Hiemstra (Netherlands), Toby Tam (China), Kim Deitch (US), Tatsuro Kiuchi (Japan), and many more. To commemorate the publication of BEASTS BOOK TWO and the simultaneous release of the paperback edition of BEASTS BOOK ONE, Covey has selected 45 representative artists from both volumes for an eclectic exhibition of original works and fine art prints.

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We suspect this could be a routine inspired by Andy Kaufman, but an argument between colorist Jon Adams and cartoonist Al Columbia over a missing color on a cat’s leg escalates into a call for a recall and emotional dramatizations:

I don’t care about Hawaii, and I don’t care about any boats! (That is a pretty cool row boat though.) All I care about is the huge problem of the coloring mistake in Mome. While you were away on vacation, anything could have happened. Somebody might start a thread about it on a message board! If that happens, it’s all over for me. Also, the guy at the comic store wouldn’t let me return the book, not even when I pointed out the cat’s leg. He stared at it and was like, “so what,” and then we got in this big argument. So instead I had to buy all the remaining issues, and now I’m mailing them to Fantagraphics. I think Fantagraphics is going to need to recall all of these and reprint them. It’s the only solution I can think of, professionally and morally.

Flog unveils Humbug!, a collection of the short lived but legendary humor magazine, created by Harvey Kurtzman.

§ Jules Feiffer’s THE EXPLAINERS gets a front-page review in the NY Times Book Review by David Kamp:

Of course, representing any Feiffer strip with a quick quotation really doesn’t do it justice. His garrulous, neurotic characters yammer on and on, their logorrhea half the fun (and often taking up more than half the space). A mouse in the clutches of a cat shouts: “Go ahead! Eat me! Play into their hands!” The cat meekly responds, “Can’t we just accept our given roles?” There follows an elaborate back-and-forth about established mores, class systems and man’s paternalism toward animals, which so flummoxes the cat that he loses his appetite and leaves. Whereupon the mouse mutters: “Weakling — wishy-washy. I would have eaten him.” And the kicker: “What can you expect from liberals.”

There’s also a slide show in the online version.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! Inside, Douglas Wolk reviews the latest books from Los Bros Hernandez with a review stunningly entitled The Audacity of Hopey:

Like most of Hernandez’s books, “The Education” was initially serialized in “Love and Rockets,” the series he’s shared with his brother Gilbert since 1982. The two virtually never collaborate, and they could scarcely be more dissimilar in style, but their work appears side by side so regularly that they often simply call themselves “Los Bros. Hernandez.” After 50 issues as a magazine and another 20 in a more standard comic book format, “Love and Rockets” has now entered its third incarnation, as an annual paperback book subtitled “New Stories.” Jaime’s cover for the first volume shows a gigantic super­heroine calmly removing the Art Deco top of a skyscraper and replacing it with a propeller beanie. That’s pretty much what the brothers are up to on the inside: having established themselves as masters of the subdued, lit-fic-style graphic novel, they’re hauling the rockets back onto the launch pad and blasting off.

[Scan via a very proud Flog]

§ Bonus: At The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates looks at a few comics:

But we’re not going to dwell there. Comic books are still–along with hip-hop, D&D, and my Dad’s collection of black books–my first literary inspiration. They gave me my that sense of the fantastic and the magical that, as I’ve said before, I really believe all little black boys should have. Especially in these times. Listen to any Wu-Tang, Big Pun or Jeru album and you’ll realize that I wasn’t alone in this. Anyway, I’ve developed this habit–whenever I travel–of popping into the local comic book shop and perusing the collection. I always liked Dwayne McDuffie’s work on Justice League Unlimited. For me, that show made the case against comic book movies. OK, that’s too broad. But if you look at what they were able to achieve, with old fashion animation, it’s just stunning.

Are Scandinavian comics the next big thing? We’re not sure if a big thing is even possible anymore, but they are one of the freshest, funniest new waves of comics out there, and the scene is definitely producing some amazing young artists who will make a mark in the future. However, the cartoonists that are already here are pretty good, too. You know we worship at the alter of laconic Norwegian adventure poet Jason, but we also laugh at the zen antics of the Dongery crew (also from Norway), who always make a strong showing at SPX. Plus, Top Shelf has just released FROM THE SHADOW OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS, the first ever English anthology of Swedish comics.

Then there’s Martin Kellerman’s ROCKY, one of the most popular comic strips in Sweden, but don’t take that as damning with faint praise…it’s a lovingly savage look at slacker life that translates very well, using an anthropomorphic cast of characters. Fantagraphics released a volume of ROCKY reprints back in 2005, and a new one is on its way. To pave the way, Fantagraphics is running Rocky online DAILY.. You must sign up for the FBI site, but it’s FREE and it is WORTH IT! Skoal! Now no signup is needed! Just go and enjoy.

Fritz The Cat meets Jane Austen!?! This mostly autobiographical daily strip details the rudely hilarious travails of a young cartoonist and his layabout pals and neurotic girlfriends. Basically, it’s the pottymouthed animal-headed Seinfeld-esque comic strip we’ve all come to love. A smash hit in its native Sweden, presented in English for the first time. Join us Monday through Friday for a new daily strip, with a rolling archive of a week’s worth of strips. (If you’re eagle-eyed you might notice the occasional gap in the numerical sequence; a few of the original strips have Swedish cultural references that don’t translate for non-Swedes, so we’ve omitted them.)

Bonus: Our own interview with Kellerman from 2005.

Eric Reynolds writes:

Gary Groth, Kim Thompson and myself are all headed east this weekend to attend one of our favorite shows of the year:

Taking place Saturday and Sunday in Bethesda, MD, SPX is the last great East Coast show of the year, and we’ll be there in full force with a slew of signings, events, debuts, etc. To wit:

FANTAGRAPHICS SPX SIGNINGS:

SATURDAY
12PM: Paul Karasik & Miss Lasko-Gross
1PM: Paul Karasik & Tim Krieder
2PM: Dash Shaw & John Kerschbaum
3PM: Dash Shaw
4PM: Lilli Carré

SUNDAY
12PM: Paul Karasik & Miss Lasko-Gross
1PM: Lilli Carré
2PM: John Kerschbaum & Tim Krieder
3PM: Paul Karasik & Dash Shaw
4PM: Dash Shaw

FANTAGRAPHICS-RELATED PANELS:

Sat. 1:00PM: Kim Thompson: Vingt Sur 20
Sat. 1:30PM: Critics’ Rountable with Gary Groth
Sat. 5:00PM: Herge and the Clear Line with K. Thompson and Joost Swarte
Sun. 1:30PM: Cartooning in Collaboration, with Dash Shaw
Sun. 2:ooPM: Spotlight on Joost Swarte, moderated by Paul Karasik

FANTAGRAPHICS AUTHORS WITH THEIR OWN TABLES:

Joost Swarte W42 (right next to us)
Miss Lasko-Gross C7-8
Lilli Carré E4
John Kerschbaum F16
Eleanor Davis B1-2
Paul Hornschemeier D15
Jon Vermilyea H7-8

NEW TITLES DEBUTING AT SPX!

* THE LAGOON by Lilli Carré
* PETEY & PUSSY by John Kerschbaum
* FUZZ & PLUCK: SPLITSVILLE by Ted Stearn
* MAN OF ROCK: A BIOGRAPHY OF JOE KUBERT by Bill Schelly
* AMERICAN PRESIDENTS by David Levine
* POPEYE Vol. 3 by E.C. Segar

Hope to see you all there!

Via PR, Blake Bell is following up his Steve Ditko book with one on Bill Everett, creator of the Sub-Mariner, and donating 10 percent of his royalties for the book to the Hero Initiative. Bill Everett: Fire and Water is due in 2009.
More PR below:

Bell has announced that he will be donating 10% of his royalties from the project to The Hero Initiative in Bill Everett’s name, continuing the legacy of contributing to the well being of comic creators by the Everett family.

Says Jim McLauchlin, executive for The Hero Initiative’s Fund Raising Board, “Hero is honored to be selected for what is sure to be an amazing addition to the Bill Everett legacy.”

Bill Everett: Fire and Water, published by Fantagraphics Books, will be a welcomed addition to the 70th anniversary celebration of the release of Marvel Comics #1, the first comic produced by Marvel Comics, which features the late Bill Everett’s signature creation, the Sub-Mariner. Everett invented comics’ first anti-hero; an angry half-breed (half-man, half sea-creature humanoid) that terrorized humankind until uniting with the Allied Forces to conquer fascism’s march across Europe. The Sub-Mariner character has endured for 70 years, having also been optioned as a major motion picture.

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You can read all of FBI’s Comic-Con activities here , but we’ve pasted in the signing schedule, which is highlighted by Kim Deitch, Los Bros, Jim Woodring and the debut of…Natalia Hernandez.

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Dash Shaw has created an animated trailer for Bottomless Belly Button his epic tome that has every one talking. View it above and then read Laura Hudson’s analysis. BONUS: Laura breaks the code.

§ ICv2 reports the thrilling news that Fantagraphics will begin reprints of Prince Valiant and Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy, two more incredible comic strips that deserve to be seen once again.

Prince Valiant will be presented in an oversized color hardcover format, with two years per book, beginning in 2009. This presentation will be of higher quality than the 50 trade paperbacks Fantagraphics published, which collected all of the strips with art or story by creator Hal Foster. At two years per book, it will take 16-17 volumes just to reprint the full page strips with Foster art.
Fantagraphics will also begin releasing its collections of Wash Tubbs and its successor strip Captain Easy in 2009. Sundays will be printed in color; dailies in black and white. Although the two strips ran an incredible 64 years, from 1924 to 1988, creator Roy Crane’s work ran only until 1943.

§ CBR follows up the Comic Book Resources > Andy Schmidt to IDW story from yesterday and reveals taht he’ll mostly be working on the newly acquired GI Joe license.

Diamond sent out a press release yesterday confirming that Fantagraphics is going exclusive to the comic shop trades with Diamond. You can read the whole thing in the jump. While Norton’s exclusive with FBI to bookstroes remains untouched, Diamond Books will sell them in Canada. The main reasons for the move are covered in a very lengthy report at The Comics Reporter, including the ability to offer a higher discount to comics shops, and the growing costs of selling direct to over 3000 retailers. Or as Tom sums up:

As for why Fantagraphics made this move, the fundamental reason is likely to be found in what they describe as the declining fortunes of the DM side of their overall business and what they as a small company with limited resources is able to invest in that side of their business in order to give it the best chance running smoothly and perhaps enabling it to grow.

As much sense as it makes, there is a feeling that you can’t escape the Diamond monopoly any more, and that just doesn’t make sense on principle. Chris Butcher leads the loyal opposition:

We really wish that Fantagraphics had consulted us as their retail partners before they made this move, because we would have said “Good God No, Don’t Do It.” We’re very sympathetic to the general indifference of the Direct Market to good comics, including those that Fantagraphics publishes, and we understand the reasons they made their decision. Speaking from our point of view though, we like the opportunity to deal directly with Fantagraphics, because if Fanta has a book in print, then they will have it in stock. That is not the case with Diamond. Even on the largest publishers that have moved their Direct Market business exclusive with Diamond, publishers like Viz and Tokyopop, our fill rates on in-print books are less than adequate. We hope that Fanta knows what they’re in for on that front.

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The TCJ board floats the rumor that Fantagraphics is going exclusive with Diamond for the DM — if true. Norton would continue to be their bookstore distributor, of course. Barry Rodges emails Tony Shenton, FBI’s indie sales rep, and has this cryptic comment:

This does make sense from a business standpoint, but Shannon’s right in saying that it’ll probably alienate some retailers. Tony mentioned that since they are such a big client for him, retailers ordered a lot more minis, etc, from him because they were with him, so this might hurt a lot of us who already have a hard time getting into stores.

But, if this is indeed false, or I shouldn’t have posted this, I’d hate to get Tony in trouble with anyone, so whoever has the power can delete this thread if they want. I just hoped the Fanta big wigs would come out and comfirm or deny the story. As Tony pointed out, the 2 times they were in trouble (and probably more times than that) it was the retailers and fans that helped bail them out. So I guess I kinda feel like it’s okay to pose the question of whether or not this news is true…

So far no one from Fanta has disputed the rumor. Over at the NSFW Icarus blog, Simon Jones ponders the meaning of he potential move:

Fantagraphics is one of the few big comics publishers that have resisted exclusivity, perhaps in part because its wide-ranging catalog was better served by not signing solely with the once cape-centric Diamond. On that front, Diamond has improved; the success of non-superhero trades in bookstores pretty much made sure they had to improve. So if this rumor turns out to be accurate, there are some compelling reasons for the decision, not the least of which is the practicality of having centralized fulfillment. But there is also a strong emotional and psychological aspect to this, given the perception of Diamond as a Galactus-like monopoly which, fairly or not, is already on heavy display in the thread.

Prada Animation - Trembled Blossoms from kwest on Vimeo.

Pretty pretty.

Flog alerts us to a couble of appearances by Drew Friedman. They may not become as famed as his Friar’s bash, but should provide good fun:

THURSDAY NIGHT IN SEATTLE:

DREW FRIEDMAN: THE FUN NEVER STOPS!
March 27 – May 6, 2008.
Opening Reception and Book signing
Thursday, March 27, 5:00 – 8:00 PM
Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 206.658.0110

SATURDAY NIGHT IN LOS ANGELES:

WHO: Drew Friedman & SPECIAL GUESTS!
WHAT: Discussion, Q&A and book signing
WHERE: Skylight Books
1818 N. Vermont Ave. • Los Angeles, CA 90027 • 323.660.1175 tel.
WHEN: Saturday, March 29, 5PM

At Skylight, Drew will be joined by several very special surprise guests, as well as discussion moderator Ben Schwartz and comedian Andy Kindler (whose father, Larry Kindler, was good friends with comic book legends Harry Chester and Harvey Kurtzman).

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More Jacob Covey-designed goodness! The cover to Dash Shaw’s upcoming BOTTOMLESS BELLY BUTTON.

BEASTS art director Jacob Covey has linked to a Flickr page of submissions for his open call and the results are super tasty. Above, Mario Trigo.

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The rescheduled HOTWIRE release party–felled by a blizzard on the original date– takes place tonight at Rocketship.

DRINKS! COMICS!! BEEF PATTIES!!(?)

and…….CARTOONISTS!! ZANGO!!!!

Mark Dean Veca
Sam Henderson
R. Sikoryak
Jonathon Rosen
Mark Newgarden
Chadwick Whitehead
Danny Hellman
Craig Yoe
Glenn Head

§ ICv2 has a two-par interview with First Second’s Mark Siegel:

What were your big hits for the second half of 2007 through the holiday season?

Laika and Robot Dreams have had all sorts of interesting things happen for them (Laika is Nick Abadzis and Robot Dreams is Sara Varon). It’s a delightful thing to see happen. It’s kind of interesting that these are both sort of on the young side; Laika is getting shelved a lot in the teen sections but it’s not necessarily meant that way. And Robot Dreams definitely appears very young at first glance, but then many of the reviews caught on that it has strange, unexpected depth to it. Those have been really pleasant surprises. Both reviewed very well, and there’s a lot of interest. There were a lot of invitations for Nick Abadzis; he spoke at the Smithsonian, he’s been all over the place, and on the radio. That’s been a fun thing to see take off.

In part two, Siegel talks about projects for 200, including, a new book written by Gene Yang and drawn by Derek Kirk Kim called Second Lives; Genius by Steven Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen; and The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert, a non-fiction book about a photographer who goes to Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders.

§ The Daily Cross Hatch talks to Charles Berberian and Philippe Dupuy:

What was the catalyst for these solo projects?

CB: Phillippe had some difficult issues that he had to deal with, on a personal level. I couldn’t get involved with them. So it was a step further into what we did ten years ago, which came out as Maybe Later. In that book we drew our own pages, but this was a matter of going through hard times, and he was really into that difficult moment.

PD: There are just some subjects that you have to deal with alone. When a subject is good to work on together, we work together.

§ Anthem Magazine interviews Gary Panter:

Maybe some cartoonists make money from their cartooning. Cartooning does not supply any meaningful amount of my income. I have to do commercial art. I think of my self as a painter. If my wish came true, people would buy my paintings and then i could afford my hobbies: cartooning and playing guitar. As it is, I have always had to do commercial art to survive.