Fantagraphics

One of the most watched cartoonists to graduate from CCS, Chuck Forsman's work has been mostly available only in small mini-comics editions. But that's changing, as Fantagraphics will reissue THE END OF THE FUCKING WORLD in book form and then publish a NEW graphic novel, CELEBRATED SUMMER, in 2013. Exciting!

Once a year, booksellers, librarians, and assorted biblios assemble at Book Expo America, the largest publishing trade show in North America. 2012 marks the tenth anniversary of the graphic novel pavilion at BEA, and while many graphic novel publishers are absent, there are many more "mainstream" publishers offering an amazing multitude of titles, genres, subjects, and audiences! This year, John Hogan of Graphic Novel Reporter hosts The Hottest Graphic Novels of 2012! panel, where a team of five diverse individuals recommend a variety of graphic novels due to be published in 2012! Last year's selections got lots of press and accolades, and quite a few of the titles below seem to be just as interesting and intriguing!

According to Screen Daily, the movie adaptation of Jason's I KILLED ADOLF HITLER now has director Timo Vuorensola attached. The Finnish helmer is best known for IRON SKY, which is about a secret moonbase full of Nazis who escaped WWII but are back to wreak havoc.

I read (almost) every Free Comic Book Day title, and let you know what's the best!

BY JEN VAUGHN - Fantagraphics Books isn't necessarily THE MAN of the comics world but since I've only ever self-published my own comics, MoCCA 2012 was my first two days on the job as a staff member of the independent comics publisher. There are more than a few differences between the two experiences. Read on!

You have to be a certain age and have grown up in NYC to really get this, but Drew Friedman and brother Josh Alan Friedman have created an online magazine all about the single comic strip "The Joe Franklin Story." The strip appears in the new edition of ANY SIMILARITY TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD, Friedman's seminal collection of strips about the eerie twilight world of syndicated TV before cable, a world of goniffs and mensches and dames, where Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine were married and Rondo Hattan roamed the woods outside.

There is always some shock when the Eisner Award nominees for the year are announced. This thing got included, that thing was left off. It's natural. In recent years the judges have seemingly gone the way of recognizing more things in more categories and spreading around the wealth then singling out a few books/creators for TITANIC-level encomiums. Even the PR for this year's nominees praised the list's diversity—and 26 different publishers were mentioned, 15 with one nomination each. But as always, there was one omission that seemed to stun a lot of people, us included.

. Here are a selection of books due out this month. All of the information presented below are from publisher or distributor websites. ALL information...

Fantagraphics has released the cover for Popeye Vol. 6, the final volume of their handsome reprint series of E.C. Segar's immortal Thimble Theater strips. We're eager to get this if only to finish selling out POPEYE on the back of the books. Great design, great strip—one of those "must haves" for every well-stocked comics library for sure.

Here it is, the stunning conclusion of new titles shipping in February! Since this is Oscars weekend, I've included some award winners below! Hugo! Edgar! Carnegie! Stoker! Even Shamus! (No, not that one!) Lots of adaptations! One is a comic based on a movie based on a prose novel!

We've never been able to hide our adoration of Jason's time travel tale I KILLED ADOLF HITLER, and we're far from alone in this regard. Fantagraphics has just announced that Studio Eight in association with Up Country Productions has optioned the film rights to the book. Jamie and Alex Brown of Studio Eight have previously produced LAND OF THE BLIND and CAPTURED. They've tapped screenwriter D.C. Walker of Up Country Productions for the script.

Over at FLOG, they have released the back cover for Jaime Hernandez's God & Science: Return of the Ti-Girls, a collection of the story from the first two issues of LOVE AND ROCKETS: NEW STORIES VOLS. 1 AND 2. While Jaime's story from volumes 3 and 4 "The Love Bunglers" has rightfully been held up as one of the greatest comics of all times, for a lighter course, this might be a suitable choice. We can't help but think that all of the people calling for great superhero stories featuring women will find Ti-Girls a masterpiece, as well, an entire superhero universe made up of nothing but superheroines of various shapes and sizes.