DECEMBER NEWS

Want to gift your loved ones some of the best comics and graphic novels around? Order soon, our shipping deadlines are approaching! Read the full list of shipping guidelines).

Not sure what to buy? Oh, we’ve got recommendations: check out our gift guide and our list of what we’re giving this holiday season!

It’s our favorite time of the year: the “best of 2024” lists are coming out and showing our books some love:

• The New York Times picked Sunday by Olivier Schrauwen: “How much can happen in a day? Schrauwen suggests that pretty much everything can — his vast graphic novel plumbs the depths of slapstick humor and scales dizzying philosophical heights…”

• Library Journal chose My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book Two by Emil Ferris by

• The Washington Post highlighted Sunday by Olivier Schrauwen: “Nervily illustrated and awash in a surreal color palette, “Sunday” may be the most original and exciting graphic novel of the last decade. And for all its formal experimentation, it is also a surprisingly winning, witty read — often funny and always fun.”

• NPR released their excellent “Books We Love” list and two of our titles made the cut: My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book Two by Emil Ferris (“The sequel is best appreciated beside the previous volume; both invite, and reward, deep and careful regard.”) and Tender by

• We’ve got two books on The Guardian’s roundup: My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book Two by Emil Ferris (“This deeply felt, ballpoint pen-drawn gothic brick of a book, packed with detail and incident, follows Reyes as she delves deeper into family secrets and Chicago’s underworld.”) and Sunday by Olivier Schrauwen (“Based on a real day experienced by a friend of Schrauwen’s, it’s a warts-and-all wonder about the joy and anxiety that can accompany doing nothing in particular.”)

  
  

Megaton Man: The Complete Megaton Man Universe Volume One: The 1980s by Don Simpson is coming soon! Zoop is releasing this enormous omnibus—the campaign ends in 6 days, support them here (link)!

The New York Times recommends World Within the World: Collected Minicomix & Short Works 2010-2022 by Julia Gfrörer, calling it “the Norton Anthology of Violence”!

Marc Sobel discussed Reading Love and Rockets with Austin English as part of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium—watch the talk here (link)!

DECEMBER NEW RELEASES

DARKWING DUCK: MARINATED MYSTERY: DISNEY AFTERNOON ADVENTURES VOL. 5 BY DOUG GRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, COSME QUARTIERI, SANTIAGO BARREIRA

Darkwing and Gizmoduck face a sinister chef and some rival superheroes in a wild Disney Afternoon comics collection also including Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, DuckTales, and more!

From Disney Adventures and its Gen-X sister magazines come tales of epic thrills and chills! Darkwing, Gosalyn, and the gang are back in more classic tales from Disney Adventures magazine and around the world! In “Marinated Mystery,” St. Canard gets hexed by hypnotic haute cuisine… and Launchpad unleashes a recipe for disaster! Then Chip, Dale, and Gadget Hackwrench face Scottish scares in “The Ghastly Goat of Quiver Moor”… and Darkwing meets wild heroic wannabes in “Super-Union Blues”! Plus DuckTales, Goof Troop, Gummi Bears, and more!

BY CARL BARKS, DON ROSA, FLOYD GOTTFREDSON, ROMANO SCARPA

A worldwide Disney comics retrospective featuring a collection of classic adventure stories from Carl Barks, Don Rosa,

What creative whirlwind brings Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Lilo and Stitch, and the Evil Queen together? Disney comics have existed since the dawn of the studio. Now grown-up fans can explore the history of Mickey, Donald, Uncle Scrooge, and their supporting cast with a chronological collection—featuring the most beloved Disney funny-page talents from around the world!

See Mickey outwitting counterfeiters in Floyd Gottfredson’s 1934 “The Crazy Crime Wave''... and Uncle Scrooge founding his own nation in Don Rosa’s 1989 “His Majesty, McDuck!” Plus more… hundreds of pages more, including stories of Donald’s duckling-hood, Basil the Great Mouse Detective, and the Big Bad Wolf added just for this deluxe edition, all packaged in a splendid slipcase!

BY JASON

is a multifaceted anthology of shorts by the brilliant Norwegian cartoonist Jason.

Leading off with the eponymous novella-length thriller, “A Pocketful of rain” is drawn with realistic human beings instead of Jason’s trademark blank-faced animal characters—a true revelation for longtime fans. This collection showcases three distinct styles: the artist’s earliest "realistic" drawing style (used to unsettling effect in some particularly creepy stories), an intermediate "bighead" cartoony style that still features humans (used for both humor and drama), and the "funny animal" style he's now best known for.

Readers who love Jason's anthropomorphic style won't be disappointed, though. Also included is several tales drawn in that fashion, featuring (among other things) Death, a guy waiting for a bus, and croquet-playing nuns; over 40 "daily strip" format gags; a trio of hilarious parodies of other pop media work including Corto Meowtese and an elaborate riff on Basil Wolverton's Spacehawk done Jason style; and much more.

This new and expanded edition also collects all the images from the limited Swedish edition of Pop!, a collection of Jason’s wildly ingenious and graphically pixelated single page pop culture homages. Modern Art meets pop cult, channeled through Jason’s Nancy, blending in works from David Lynch, Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, and, of course, the paintings of Sluggo Picasso. Plus, a key to deciphering all of Jason’s roguish and inspired takes.

LIFE SUCKS BY JESSICA ABEL, GABE SORIA, WARREN PLEECE

A timeless goth love triangle/coming-of-age story from a trio of acclaimed comics creators.

“I’m psyched. I’m totally psyched. I’m not a loser… Who the hell am I kidding?”

Life sucks for Dave Miller — he’s broke, girlfriendless, and stuck in a dead-end job. Really dead-end: Dave is the night manager at the Last Stop, LA’s finest vampire-owned and operated, all-night convenience store. Facing an eternity of turning hot dogs and restocking blood broth for his crappy boss and Vampire Master, the future looks about as appealing as the sunrise. It’s bad enough that Dave is clinging to his days as a vegetarian and refusing to feed off humans, leaving him weak as a kitten. But when he finds himself competing with psychotic surfer-vamp Wes for the affections of Rosa, a beautiful mortal flirting with the dark side, unlife gets about as sucky as it possibly can.

(Trish Trash: Rollergirl of Mars), Gabe Soria (Batman ’66), and Warren Pleece (Incognegro) have crafted a timeless goth love triangle/coming-of-age story that garnered awards and accolades when initially published, including the 2009 YALSA Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens list.

CARAVAGGIO: THE PALETTE AND THE SWORD: BOOK 1 BY MILO MANARA

Discover the bawdy, swashbuckling life of one of the greatest painters in history through Milo Manara's passionate and personal tribute to his artistic idol.

Caravaggio: The Palette and the Sword Book 1 is the first half of Milo Manara's two-volume epic biography of the hot-tempered Italian master painter. It depicts Caravaggio's early years in Rome as he struggles to capture truth on canvas, only to have his art condemned to be burned by the Church. He then is forced to flee the city when he kills a man in righteous fury over the death of a prostitute.

The two volumes of Caravaggio mark the return of Manara to U.S. readers and the debut of Fantagraphics' new series, The Milo Manara's internationally acclaimed work. (Book 2 will follow in Spring 2025.) Discover the bawdy, swashbuckling life of one of the greatest painters in history through Manara's passionate, personal tribute to his artistic idol, Michelangelo Merisi, whom the world would come to know as Caravaggio.

MACANUDO: THE WAY OF THE PENGUIN BY LINIERS

The third collection of the English-language run of the internationally beloved newspaper strip. For lovers of Mutts, Krazy Kat and Calvin and Hobbes.

The strips in this volume run from early 2020 into 2021, and the touches of real life that Liniers always mixes amongst his whimsy, fantasy and child characters occasionally reflect the time – POV cartoons of the awkwardness of zoom calls, witches frustrated at Netflix lag on their crystal balls – but the spirit of imagination and love of nature only becomes more heightened in the majority of strips. Children reading to cats, penguins imagining the impossibility of alien life not including them, imaginary friends romping in the forest, horror-movie characters looking for friends… Liniers mixes his repertory cast with one-offs to express whatever happens to be on his mind that day.

Handsome, landscape-format hardcovers with debossed covers showcase Liniers’ beautiful, full-color cartooning in the way it deserves. The influence of Krazy Kat and Mutts extends beyond the tone, charm and humanity of the content to formal playfulness, and these books are the best way to appreciate the full range of the work.

WAR ON GAZA BY JOE SACCO

A timely satirical broadside on Israel's genocidal campaign against Gaza by the most acclaimed comics journalist working today.

Joe Sacco is well known as an unflinching chronicler of the injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people (Palestine, 1993; Footnotes in Gaza, 2010). He continues this mission with War on Gaza, a series of graphic commentaries on Israel’s rampage that began more than a year ago and continues relentlessly today.

Published in installments on The Comics Journal’s website, War on Gaza is a series of comics and single-panel illustrations that lay bare the naked immorality of the “war” itself and its dire and tragic consequences. Employing his trademark combination of honesty, compassion, and dark humor, Sacco’s War on Gaza is an uncompromising critique of Israel’s genocide and the complicity of President Joe Biden and the United States.

DAMNED BY ERIC HAVEN

From cult favorite Eric Haven (Vague Tales,

DECEMBER EVENTS

WHAT WE’RE GIFTING

Forget socks, we’re gifting "a revelatory work of cartooning history", "a sexy and sick farce", "a beautifully crafted nightmare", and more! Head to our blog to check out what we’re giving our loved ones this holiday season ❤️

NEW MERCH

We’ve got new merch for the holidays! In addition to our other offerings, we’ve now got a t-shirt featuring original art by Atsushi Kaneko (Search and Destroy Vol. 1 & 2) and a sticker featuring Rick Altergott’s (Blessed Be) beloved Doofus!

DECEMBER “DEAL OF THE MONTH”

A little thank you to our loyal subscribers: Every month, scroll down and check this space for a limited-time discount, special offer, or other exclusive, plus a sneak-peek excerpt from an upcoming book! Enjoy, and thanks for shopping Fantagraphics! This month:

Use code KRAMPUS at checkout through December 31st for 20% off your next purchase at Fantagraphics.com!*

*Cannot be combined with other offers

SNEAK PEAK OF JOE GALAXY BY MASSIMO MATTIOLI

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