Approximate Continuum Comics by Lewis Trondheim - detail by fantagraphics on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
One of the very first autobiographical graphic novels to come from France, Lewis Trondheim’s Approximate Continuum Comics set the standard for the honest, often hilarious chronicling of a cartoonist’s life. Trondheim’s typically graceful, confident cartooning shows him wrestling with his own demons (sometimes, in dream sequences, literally) and an often malevolent world, while trying to maintain his rising career as one of Europe’s most beloved cartoonists.

Approximate Continuum finally brings American readers the first portion of the “Trondheim autobio trilogy” that also comprises the Eisner-nominated “At Loose Ends” meditation serialized in Mome and the “Little Nothings” series of short slice-of-life stories.

This volume contains the first three chapters serialized in The Nimrod comic book (praised as “A rewarding, pleasurable and entertaining read from a fine talent… well worth the cover price” by The Comics Reporter), the last three (never-before-translated) chapters, and a hilarious “rebuttal” section in which Trondheim’s family and cartoonist friends (including Epileptic creator David B. and Trondheim’s mom) dispute (or ruefully agree with) Trondheim’s depictions.

160-page black & white 6.75” x 10.25” softcover
ISBN: 978-1-60699-410-8

Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s (2nd Printing) by fantagraphics on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
After the first printing, released in Fall 2010, sold out in a matter of months, we went back to press with a brand-new cover design for the 2nd printing!

Of the myriad genres comic books ventured into during its golden age, none was as controversial as or came at a greater cost than horror; the public outrage it incited almost destroyed the entire industry. Yet before the watchdog groups and Congress could intercede, horror books were flying off the newsstands. During its peak period (1951-54) over fifty titles appeared each month. Apparently there was something perversely irresistible about these graphic excursions into our dark side, and Four Color Fear collects the finest of these into a single robust and affordable volume.

EC is the comic book company most fans associate with horror; its complete line has been reprinted numerous times, and deservedly so. But to the average reader there remain unseen quite a batch of genuinely disturbing, compulsive, imaginative, at times even touching, horror stories presented from a variety of visions and perspectives, many of which at their best can stand toe to toe with EC.

All of the better horror companies are represented: Ace, Ajax-Farrell, American Comics Group, Avon, Comic Media, Fawcett, Fiction House, Gilmor, Harvey, Quality, Standard, St. John, Story, Superior, Trojan, Youthful and Ziff-Davis. Artist perennials Jack Cole, Reed Crandall, George Evans, Frank Frazetta, Jack Katz, Al Williamson, Basil Wolverton, and Wallace Wood contribute both stories and covers, with many of the 32 full-sized covers created by specialists Bernard Baily, L.B. Cole, William Eckgren, and Matt Fox.

Editors John Benson and Greg Sadowski have sifted through hundreds of rare books to cherry-pick the most compelling scripts and art, and they provide extensive background notes on the artists, writers, and companies involved in their creation. Digital restoration has been performed with subtlety and restraint, mainly to correct registration and printing errors, with every effort made to retain the flavor of the original comics, and to provide the reader the experience of finding in the attic a bound volume of the finest non-EC horror covers and stories of the pre-code era.

Named one of the 10 Best Horror Comic Releases of 2010 by Fangoria and one of FEARnet’s 5 Best Comics of 2010.

320-page full-color 7.5” x 10.5” softcover
ISBN: 978-1-60699-343-9

Marvel Comics - Generation X #63 - alternate cover - original artwork by Adam Pollina - 2000 by JasonLiebig on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I first met Adam Pollina when I was the assistant editor on the core X-Men line of comic books. At the time, Adam was on a successful run of penciling X-Force.

Adam Pollina was quite a guy, and from where I was sitting, not quite the normal comic artist; He lived in the East Village, went to yoga and occasionally modeled - had blue hair for the better part of a year, and always seemed to have beautiful women around him. He would often come into our office and regale us stories of some run-in with Madonna or some club outing. In the X-Office we found it entertaining, but for some reason I think it annoyed some of the other editors when they would drop in. Adam also helped bring in writer Joe Harris, who became a good friend.

Adam was and is a great artist and a fantastic storyteller. In addition to that, he was also a hip young New Yorker, so when I had the chance to get an alternate cover created for my Counter-X relaunch of Generation X, I thought he’d be perfect. Since it was an alternate cover, we figured we’d have some fun with it, and rather than doing a pencil and ink cover, we had Adam do rendered pencils, and the colorist worked over those.

After it was all over, he gave me the piece. It is one of only two pieces I have from the many books I helped out the door during my years at Marvel, and it is a treasured artifact from my time at the House of Ideas.

The Comics Journal #301 - Eddie Campbell review detail by fantagraphics on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
The Comics Journal has been, for almost 35 years, the standard bearer of critical inquiry, discrimination, debate, and serious discussion of comics as art, and the object of love and devotion among the comics cognoscenti — and hate and scorn among the philistines, natch. We published our 300th issue in late 2009 and spent the ensuing year-plus re- conceptualizing the institution as an annual book-length “magazine” — over 600 pages long, chock full of the kinds of criticism, interviews, commentary, and history that has made it the most award-winning and critically lauded magazine in the history of comics.

This volume features a focus on R. Crumb’s most commercially successful project of his career, his comics adaptation of Genesis, including the most extensive interview he’s given on the subject as well as a long critical roundtable among six comics critics reviewing the book and debating each other over its merits; plus:

• An interview with Joe Sacco about his recent journalistic masterpiece, Footnotes in Gaza;

• A peek into the private sketchbooks of (and accompanying interviews with) Jim Woodring, Tim Hensley, and the novelist Stephen Dixon;

• A conversation between Mad Fold-Out creator Al Jaffee and Thrizzle auteur Michael Kupperman;

• A complete full-color reprinting of the 1950s Gerald McBoing Boing comic;

• The first significant biographical essay charting the turn-of-the-century cartoonist and illustrator John T. McCutcheon;

and essays and reviews by R. Fiore, R.C. Harvey, Chris Lanier, Rob Clough, and others.

Over 600 pages long, this is a year’s worth of The Comics Journal rolled into one extraordinary objet d’art. As a special treat, this volume is guest designed by internationally respected Criterion art director Eric Skillman. The Comics Journal #301 is no mere magazine but a gigantic compendium covering comics past and present that will shock and delight every truly curious comics reader.

640-page black & white/color 6.75” x 8.5” softcover
ISBN: 978-1-60699-291-3

Marvel Comics - Generation X Underground Special - Inside back cover Twinkie ad - original artwork by Jim Mahfood - 1997 (published 1998) by JasonLiebig on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I only own two pieces of artwork from the books I worked on, during my years at Marvel. My boss, Bob Harras, thought an editor asking for artwork put an artist in a bad position, in that they’d be pressured to give it to us (since we do the hiring and firing) and that wasn’t fair - as it took food out of their kids’ mouths. I did make an exception to that rule, in two cases.

The Generation X Underground Special was a pretty unusual book at the time it was released, and I’m really proud that I helped bring it to life, and while doing so, expose the comic book world at large to the talents and voice of creator, Jim Mahfood.

Jim wrote and drew the 32 page one-shot over a period of a year, his last year in art school, actually. I’d often call him from my office at Marvel Comics, at 6pm, and we’d chat about the book, and kibitz ideas for an hour or more. On one of those nights, I was going on about how I loved the old 1970’s comic book Hostess ads, that incorporated the superheroes from the books. I loved how the villains never were quite villainous, because their plans were so easily bought off with cake and filling. I don’t recall if Jim was familiar (he was only 20 or 21 at the time, and perhaps not old enough to recall them).

This one-shot was a collection of shorter stories and a few mini-features. I pitched Jim on the idea of doing one of these Twinkie ads, featuring his incarnation of Marvel’s young mutant team, and he was game.

At first, I was told that we’d have to change the name of the treat to “Winkies” or something similar, but I did my own research on parody law and lobbied the VP of Legal at Marvel to let us use real Twinkies. She was nice enough to let it go through, though we did add the disclaimer at the top of the page.

I should note that the art school Jim attended was in Lawrence, Kansas, then the home of William S. Burroughs. He explained how fellow art students would occasionally be able to spot the Beat Generation legend at a diner, and share the tale with friends. Burroughs passed away that year, and it might have been that fact as well, that got us talking.

Somehow out of all of that, Jim came up with the inspired idea to pit Generation X against The Beat Generation (looking at it now, I kind of want to do a comic book with the Beat Generation writers as some kind of anti-establishment superheroes - unless someone already has).

I thought it came out perfect, and the day was saved by Twinkies… not “Winkies”. You’re welcome.

The Comics Journal #301 - R. Crumb Genesis review detail by fantagraphics on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
The Comics Journal has been, for almost 35 years, the standard bearer of critical inquiry, discrimination, debate, and serious discussion of comics as art, and the object of love and devotion among the comics cognoscenti — and hate and scorn among the philistines, natch. We published our 300th issue in late 2009 and spent the ensuing year-plus re- conceptualizing the institution as an annual book-length “magazine” — over 600 pages long, chock full of the kinds of criticism, interviews, commentary, and history that has made it the most award-winning and critically lauded magazine in the history of comics.

This volume features a focus on R. Crumb’s most commercially successful project of his career, his comics adaptation of Genesis, including the most extensive interview he’s given on the subject as well as a long critical roundtable among six comics critics reviewing the book and debating each other over its merits; plus:

• An interview with Joe Sacco about his recent journalistic masterpiece, Footnotes in Gaza;

• A peek into the private sketchbooks of (and accompanying interviews with) Jim Woodring, Tim Hensley, and the novelist Stephen Dixon;

• A conversation between Mad Fold-Out creator Al Jaffee and Thrizzle auteur Michael Kupperman;

• A complete full-color reprinting of the 1950s Gerald McBoing Boing comic;

• The first significant biographical essay charting the turn-of-the-century cartoonist and illustrator John T. McCutcheon;

and essays and reviews by R. Fiore, R.C. Harvey, Chris Lanier, Rob Clough, and others.

Over 600 pages long, this is a year’s worth of The Comics Journal rolled into one extraordinary objet d’art. As a special treat, this volume is guest designed by internationally respected Criterion art director Eric Skillman. The Comics Journal #301 is no mere magazine but a gigantic compendium covering comics past and present that will shock and delight every truly curious comics reader.

640-page black & white/color 6.75” x 8.5” softcover
ISBN: 978-1-60699-291-3

The Comics Journal #301 - Gerald McBoing Boing pages by fantagraphics on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
The Comics Journal has been, for almost 35 years, the standard bearer of critical inquiry, discrimination, debate, and serious discussion of comics as art, and the object of love and devotion among the comics cognoscenti — and hate and scorn among the philistines, natch. We published our 300th issue in late 2009 and spent the ensuing year-plus re- conceptualizing the institution as an annual book-length “magazine” — over 600 pages long, chock full of the kinds of criticism, interviews, commentary, and history that has made it the most award-winning and critically lauded magazine in the history of comics.

This volume features a focus on R. Crumb’s most commercially successful project of his career, his comics adaptation of Genesis, including the most extensive interview he’s given on the subject as well as a long critical roundtable among six comics critics reviewing the book and debating each other over its merits; plus:

• An interview with Joe Sacco about his recent journalistic masterpiece, Footnotes in Gaza;

• A peek into the private sketchbooks of (and accompanying interviews with) Jim Woodring, Tim Hensley, and the novelist Stephen Dixon;

• A conversation between Mad Fold-Out creator Al Jaffee and Thrizzle auteur Michael Kupperman;

• A complete full-color reprinting of the 1950s Gerald McBoing Boing comic;

• The first significant biographical essay charting the turn-of-the-century cartoonist and illustrator John T. McCutcheon;

and essays and reviews by R. Fiore, R.C. Harvey, Chris Lanier, Rob Clough, and others.

Over 600 pages long, this is a year’s worth of The Comics Journal rolled into one extraordinary objet d’art. As a special treat, this volume is guest designed by internationally respected Criterion art director Eric Skillman. The Comics Journal #301 is no mere magazine but a gigantic compendium covering comics past and present that will shock and delight every truly curious comics reader.

640-page black & white/color 6.75” x 8.5” softcover
ISBN: 978-1-60699-291-3

The Comics Journal #301 - “The Decade in Comics” detail by fantagraphics on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
The Comics Journal has been, for almost 35 years, the standard bearer of critical inquiry, discrimination, debate, and serious discussion of comics as art, and the object of love and devotion among the comics cognoscenti — and hate and scorn among the philistines, natch. We published our 300th issue in late 2009 and spent the ensuing year-plus re- conceptualizing the institution as an annual book-length “magazine” — over 600 pages long, chock full of the kinds of criticism, interviews, commentary, and history that has made it the most award-winning and critically lauded magazine in the history of comics.

This volume features a focus on R. Crumb’s most commercially successful project of his career, his comics adaptation of Genesis, including the most extensive interview he’s given on the subject as well as a long critical roundtable among six comics critics reviewing the book and debating each other over its merits; plus:

• An interview with Joe Sacco about his recent journalistic masterpiece, Footnotes in Gaza;

• A peek into the private sketchbooks of (and accompanying interviews with) Jim Woodring, Tim Hensley, and the novelist Stephen Dixon;

• A conversation between Mad Fold-Out creator Al Jaffee and Thrizzle auteur Michael Kupperman;

• A complete full-color reprinting of the 1950s Gerald McBoing Boing comic;

• The first significant biographical essay charting the turn-of-the-century cartoonist and illustrator John T. McCutcheon;

and essays and reviews by R. Fiore, R.C. Harvey, Chris Lanier, Rob Clough, and others.

Over 600 pages long, this is a year’s worth of The Comics Journal rolled into one extraordinary objet d’art. As a special treat, this volume is guest designed by internationally respected Criterion art director Eric Skillman. The Comics Journal #301 is no mere magazine but a gigantic compendium covering comics past and present that will shock and delight every truly curious comics reader.

640-page black & white/color 6.75” x 8.5” softcover
ISBN: 978-1-60699-291-3