When Gary Groth established Fantagraphics back in 1976, he never imagined the impact he would have on comics publishing. Groth founded the company, along with Mike Catron and, later, Kim Thompson, to publish the Comics Journal, a magazine devoted to serious news and criticism about comics that is also noted for its biting and uncompromising editorial tone. Now, 25 years later, Fantagraphics is still publishing the Journal, but is much better known as a publisher of critically acclaimed literary comics.
Fantagraphics began publishing comics and graphic novels in 1981, at time when the business was dominated by traditional comics periodicals. But, said Fantagraphics copublisher Kim Thompson, "The vision was always that graphic novels were next logical step."
For the next two decades, the company introduced a succession of authors whose work has revolutionized the artform. The 1982 publication of Love and Rockets by Mexican-American artists Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez introduced a multicultural youth sensibility to comics. In subsequent years Fantagraphics introduced readers to acclaimed comix authors Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware, as well as the serious journalism of Joe Sacco. By the late '90s, Fantagraphics was a force in graphic novels with a backlist that included works by classic and contemporary authors Robert Crumb, Charles Burns, Windsor McCay, Robert Williams and Jules Feiffer.
In 2001, Fantagraphics made its largest leap toward achieving that goal when it entered a relationship with W.W. Norton for distribution to the book trade. So far, the relationship has proved lucrative, increasing orders on Fantagraphics' graphic novels list and improving its bookstore penetration. "Signing with Norton really gave us a boost both morally and financially," Groth said. "With Norton, I felt that a discriminating entity was asking us to join them because they recognized comics as part of the world of literature and serious politics."
In 2002, Fantagraphics will publish a comics-form biography of Martin Luther King in the first quarter, followed by new comics fiction by Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware and Barry Windsor Smith. The company also plans to publish new works on film and comics criticism toward the end of the year.
Groth told PW that Fantagraphics has served an evangelical purpose: "To attract a wider, more literate readership to comics. What we always wanted was to legitimize the book form of comics."
