So we just got an order of restock in that’s got me really excited. Finding weird stuff for the store (and my personal collection) is the kind of thing I live for! The story is this: Fantagraphics has set up an exclusive distribution deal with Diamond Comics. That means, Diamond is the only comic distributor they will use, starting August 1st (they can still use book distributors.) Anyhow, Diamond is going to improve their Fantagraphics selection but will not be selling any Fantagraphics books which only have a tiny number of books left in print. We just ordered a bunch of these nearly out of print books as part of Fantagraphics’ last ditch attempt to sell them out. What’s weird is I have previously tried to get some of these books from Fantagraphics and they NEVER were available when I placed our orders (maybe they just dug them out from behind the water heater in the back room of the wharehouse bsaement). So I was thrilled to finally get in store copies of stuff like Kim Deitch’s collection of early work “Beyond The Pale,” Richard Sala’s collection of short stories “Maniac Killer Strikes Again,” and Peter Bagge’s “Studs Kirby.” I actually ordered a copy of “Studs” for myself and am gonna start reading it today. Not all of the books we ordered were rare but a few I’d never even heard of–like the collection of “Today’s Underground Japanese Comics” “Sake Jock” (unfortunately dated from 1995, but still neat) or the slim volume collecting one panel cartoons from the “Roaring ’20s.” Anyhow, here’s what we did get in:
Ho Che Anderson: King Collection
Ho Che Anderson: Young Hoods in Love
Peter Bagge: Studs Kirby “The Voice of America”
Daniel Clowes: Eightball #18
Joe Coleman: Mystery of Wolverine Woo-Bait
Kim Deitch: Beyond the Pale
Fleener: Life of the Party
Tori Miki: Anywhere But Here
Tony Millionaire: When We Were Very Maakies
T. Ott: Tales of Error
Richard Sala: Maniac Killer Strikes Again!
Sienkiewicz: Sienkiewicz Sketchbook
Ted Stearn: Fuzz and Pluck GN
Lewis Trondheim: McConey Vol. 2 “The Hoodoodad”
Craig Yoe: Arf Forum
Craig Yoe: Arf Museum
Misc.: Sake Jock
Harvey: Cartoons of Roaring ’20s Vol. 1
Gil Kane: Blackmark
Rick Altergott and Ariel Bordeaux: Raisin Pie #1, #2, #3, and #4
Peter Bagge Junior #1-5
Dame Darcy: Meatcake #3, #8, #11-16
Jim Woodring: Frank #2, #4
Jim Woodring: Frank’s Real Pa
Jim Woodring: Jim Vol. II #1-5
(MR)