A cargo ship carrying the complete print runs of two Fantagraphics books – and possibly more graphic novels – was reportedly struck by an Iranian missile while going through the Strait of Hormuz.
The incident was reported by Fantagraphics editor Mike Catron in a Facebook post:
Fantagraphics Books learned today that a cargo vessel carrying the full print runs of two of our books was struck by an Iranian missile in or near the Strait of Hormuz.
The report we have is that the ship has limped to a safe port, where we await further news. Our thoughts are with the crew, and we hope and pray for their safety.The two books, The Atlas Comics Library No. 9: Adventures Into Weird Worlds Vol. 1 by Russ Heath, Bernard Krigstein, Bill Everett, Joe Maneely, Carmine Infantino, et al. and Bitchy! The Exasperating Existence of Midge McCracken by Roberta Gregory and Helen Chazan, were printed in India and were bound for the Port of New York.Both books had been scheduled to go on sale in early June, but that timeframe now seems unlikely. If the books themselves were not damaged and the crippled ship’s cargo can be offloaded to another vessel and that vessel can then safely exit the danger zone, it could add a month or more to the delivery time.We have no information on the cargo ship’s itinerary, but our speculation is that it was dropping off other cargo from India to that region or picking up additional cargo bound for the U.S.Bitchy Bitch is most exasperated by this unexpected turn of events, echoing the title of one of Weird World’s horror stories “When a World Goes Mad!
Gregory confirmed the incident in her own social media post. The complete collection of her groundbreaking Bitchy Bitch comics from the 90s was to be a career spanning retrospective, and she had been posing proudly with an advance copy just a few days earlier.
The Atlas reprint was also eagerly awaited by fans, as these comics had not been reprinted for 70 years.
Some social media posts indicate that other graphic novels in the same batch of printing may have been on the ship as well.
As war spreads in the Middle East, Iran has been targeting oil and cargo ships that pass through the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Although the tanker was coming from India, it made a stop in Dubai and came in harm’s way.
While a pile of books doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in today’s chaotic worldscape, it’s another sign of how far-reaching events have become. And while the cargo may eventually reach the the US, insurance does not cover acts of war.
And for those wondering why the books were printed overseas…this article from last year about the effect of tariffs on the comics industry explains a lot about the whole process. Not only is printing overseas cheaper, many of the printers offer services and techniques that domestic printers don’t.
