Publishing Updates, 2011/09/02

More news about upcoming comics-related books:

I first read about this over at The Collected Comics Library, but now there is an official press release. Russ Cochran and Grant Geissman will be continuing the series of EC Archives, reprinting entire runs of EC titles in chronological order, that was interrupted some time ago (apparently due to Steve Geppi's financial problems). The first two volumes will be Haunt of Fear Vol. 1 (reprinting the first six issues), and Vault of Horror Vol. 2 (reprinting issues 7 to 12). Presumably there will be enough of an audience for both these recolored reprints and the upcoming Fantagraphics series of artist-focused EC volumes in black-and-white.

The MAD Fold-In Collection by Al Jaffee reprints in 4 volumes all of Jaffee's Fold-In pages from 1964 up to 2010 (found via Boing Boing). According to Chronicle Books' website, the collection will also include essays by Pete Docter, Jules Feiffer, Neil Genzlinger, and Jaffee himself. Looks like a nice addition to the previous Don Martin deluxe collection. (What other MAD artist would be a good candidate for one of these collections? I'm thinking a Wallace Wood volume could be quite welcome.)

Publishing Updates, 2011/08/25

News about upcoming comics-related books:

Now available: Skip Williamson's Spontaneous Combustion, his second autobiographical volume, which according to Jay Lynch covers "the sordid underbelly of the underground comix years" (link found via Lynch's Facebook page).

The Someday Funnies, the until-now unpublished anthology of 1970's comics edited by Michel Choquette is still on track, and cartoonist Bado has some preview pages to prove it, including work by Sergio Aragonés, Don Martin, and Gahan Wilson. See also this earlier preview, with pages by Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, and Bill Griffith. This is a project I've been wanting to see ever since Bob Levin revealed its history in the pages of The Comics Journal #299.

The Cisco Kid - The Complete Dailies will be published by Charles Pelto's Classic Comic Press (the same publisher of other fine strips such as Mary Perkins On Stage, The Heart of Juliet Jones, and Big Ben Bolt), featuring writing by Rod Reed and the wonderful artwork of José Luis Salinas. Pelto has done a good work of establishing a marketplace niche for these continuity-driven strips that may not rank as high as the work of masters like Caniff, Herriman, or Foster, but which still are well worth preserving and reading.

Over at the Comic Strip Classics mailing list, Pelto has written:

Volume 1 includes an introduction from Sergio Aragones, a piece by Dennis Wilcutt, and a brief overview of the Cisco Kid in various formats - tv, movies, etc. I'm also reprinting O Henry's The Caballero's Way (the orginal appearance of Cisco from O Henry's Heart of the West).

Then each volume will cover a different aspect of the Cisco legacy - Volume 2 will cover the movies, Volume 3 - the Radio Shows, etc. At one point we'll cover the Dell Comics and I promise to reprint all those covers in glorious color!!!!