Fantagraphics Brings us Satire, Wild Fantasy, And Murder In July

 
Publisher Fantagraphics have several new volumes being released this month of July and also a number of events across the country you can take part in.  Their debut books include a volume of collected satire comics from Johnny Ryan, an exploration of a lost generation of the 70’s and 80’s in Zanardi by Andrea Pazienza, wild flights of fantasy in short comic form in Vague Tales by Eric Haven, and a book of Murder Ballads in comics form drawing on the European ballad tradition by Erik Kriek.
Take a closer look at these books and the events coming up featuring Fantagraphics in July:

A New Low by Johnny Ryan

$19.99 – 7.25″ x 10.5″ – 128 pages – Color – ISBN: 978-1-68396-004-1

For more than a decade, Johnny Ryan (Angry Youth Comix, Prison Pit) has been filling the back page of Vice magazine with some of the most transgressively hilarious and politically incorrect comics to ever grace a glossy, national magazine. A New Low collects this impressive body of work, as well as several other surprises. The victims of Ryan’s skewering satire in this collection include: G.G. Allin, Caddyshack, Bill Cosby, E.T., Everybody Loves Raymond, Ireland, Italy, Kenny G, Kid Rock, D.H. Lawrence, Ted Nugent, Russians, Small Wonder, The Shield, Spain, Two and a Half Men, Vice magazine, Wall Street, and so much more.
Upcoming Events with Johnny: July 7: Book Launch at Secret Headquarters

Zanardi by Andrea Pazienza

$29.99 – 7.75″ x 10.5″ – 256 pages – B&W – ISBN: 978-1-68396-000-3

Zanardi portrays a lost generation of late-1970s/early-1980s teenagers, coping with family problems, school, sex, and drugs — a universal tale in many Western countries. Pazienza was a revolutionary cartoonist who ushered an underground sensibility to Italian and European comics, breaking from the more staid tradition of genteel adult (and children’s) graphic albums. Pazienza has never been translated and published in English — until now.

Vague Tales by Eric Haven

$16.99 – 6″ x 9″ – 64 pages – Color – ISBN: 978-1-68396-032-4

While experiencing a succession of bewildering parallel universes, a solitary figure has telepathic encounters with a demonic aviatrix, a wandering crystalline being, a flaming sword-wielding warrior, and a mysterious sorceress, all within the confines of his own apartment. Vague Tales is the debut graphic novel from Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Eric Haven (UR), who moonlighted as a three-time Emmy-nominated producer on the TV show MythBusters and has contributed short comic stories for years to esteemed publications such as The Believer and Kramers Ergot.
In the Pines: 5 Murder Ballads by Erik Kriek

$24.99 – 8″ x 11″ – 136 pages – Color – ISBN: 978-1-68396-011-9

Telling the stories of sometimes true and often not-so-true-crimes and other horrific events, murder ballads are raw stories full of unrequited love, betrayal, life, and death. The song form stems from the Anglo-Saxon ballad tradition, where stories were orally passed on to a mostly illiterate population. Dutch cartoonist Erik Kriek was inspired by five old and new murder ballads — including songs by modern masters such as Nick Cave, Steve Earle, and Gillian Welch — and used them as a launching point for five special and ruthless graphic narratives that dig deep into the darkness of Americana.
Fantagraphics also have several events coming up in July that you can take part in:
Johnny Ryan
July 7th – Los Angeles – Secret Headquarters
Simon Hanselmann
July 8th – Seattle, WA – Hot Off the Presses
July 20-23rd – San Diego – Comic-Con International
Eric Haven
July 12th – Berkeley, CA – Pegasus Books
Gary Panter
July 13th – Brooklyn – Desert Island
Carol Tyler
July 15th – Milford, OH – Milford Library
Katie Skelly
July 27th – New York – The Strand