Comic books in 'Macanudo Collected (Fantagraphics)'

1st printing.

Story and art by Liniers.

Fantagraphics is proud to present Argentine cartoonist Liniers' internationally-acclaimed newspaper comic strip in an Englishlanguage collection for the first time. In the spirit of Calvin & Hobbes, Mutts, and Krazy Kat, Liniers (Ricardo Siri) uses a shifting cast of children, talking animals, imaginary monsters, sensitive robots, occasional elves, and anthropomorphized objects to perform gags, philosophize, muse on nature, and engage in surreal, artistic flights of fancy.

With delicate, calligraphic pen work and understated watercolors, the comic skips lightly from style to style and subject to subject, as Liniers allows his imagination and observational humor free reign. Jokes about domestic life, imagined scenarios of historical figures, Cthulu showing up to Tinder dates, characters simply enjoying a pastoral sunset, the puncturing of pop-culture stalwarts: Macanudo is a boundless canvas for its author's humane and delightfully off-kilter view of the world, in a way few comic strips have ever even attempted.

Beginning in 2002 in Buenos Aires, Macanudo steadily gained popularity around the world, appearing in US newspapers since 2018. Welcome to Elsewhere is the first of a series of volumes collecting Liniers' groundbreaking strip.

Hardcover, 9-in. x 7-in., 216 pages, full color.

Cover price $24.99.

1st printing. Story and art by Liniers. The second volume in Fantagraphics' English-language collection of the internationally beloved newspaper strip. Elves, witches, forest monsters, unicorns, children, talking cats and penguins... plus zombies with fitbits, Stephen King's Christine working as an Uber, and office politics? The bounds of a daily comic strip don't restrict Macanudo's imagination or subjects. With the range of The Far Side, the whimsy of Mutts, and the heart of Calvin & Hobbes, artist Liniers brings his distinctive illustrative line and sensitive watercolors to whatever crosses his mind on a given day. Readers of the previous volume will recognize some recurring characters and stock players, but each book stands alone, and every strip builds its own world. Whether commenting on pop culture, society, or the environment, or celebrating art, nature, or the act of reading, Liniers (Ricardo Siri) expresses his thoughts with joy and beauty. Most of them are funny, too. Beginning in 2002 in Buenos Aires, Macanudo steadily gained popularity around the world, and has been appearing in US newspapers since 2018. Optimism Is for the Brave is the second of a series of volumes collecting Liniers' groundbreaking strip. Hardcover, 9-in. x 7-in., 176 pages, full color. Cover price $24.99.

1st printing. Story and art by Liniers. The third collection of the English-language run of the internationally beloved newspaper strip. For lovers of Mutts, Krazy Kat and Calvin & Hobbes. Children reading to cats, penguins imagining the impossibility of alien life not including them, imaginary friends romping in the forest, horror-movie characters looking for friends, cartoons experiencing the awkwardness of zoom calls, witches frustrated over a Netflix lag on their crystal balls... Liniers mixes his repertory cast of fantasy and child characters with one-offs to express whatever happens to be on his mind that day. While the touches of real life are always intermixed among his whimsical world, the spirit of imagination and love of nature only becomes more heightened in many of these strips which run from early 2020 into 2021. Handsome, landscape-format hardcovers with debossed covers showcase Liniers' beautiful, full-color cartooning in the way it deserves. The influence of Krazy Kat and Mutts extends beyond the tone, charm, and humanity of the content to formal playfulness, and these books are the best way to appreciate the full range of the work. Hardcover, 9-in. x 7-in., 176 pages, full color. Cover price $24.99.

1st printing. Story and art by Liniers. Behold! Macanudos revolving cast of witches, cats, imaginative children and their imaginary monsters — all gathered under one roof (or in one box)! Following in the distinguished footsteps of greats like Peanuts and Argentine forebears like Mafalda, Macanudo is a brilliant synthesis of Krazy Kats sophisticated and irreverent inventiveness, and Calvin and Hobbes expansive humanity and artistry. Freewheeling and bustling with manic charm and sweetness, each strip builds anticipation for the next unexpected creative revelation or revivifying variation on a theme. With a masterful sense of flow, combined with show-stopping images of breathtaking beauty, the heel-clicking, childlike glee contained in these pages is matched only by the joy of splashing about an undiscovered creek or the vivid crunch of autumns first leaves. Its no wonder Liniers has his praises sung by the likes of Matt Groening, David Byrne, and Jeff Smith. Collecting the first three Fantagraphics Macanudo volumes, Welcome to Elsewhere, The Way of the Penguin, and Optimism is for the Brave, this fetching box set is a must-have for lovers of comic-strip-as-art, and an essential for everyone seeking the hidden wonder in life. Hardcover, 9-in. x 7-in., 528 pages, full color. Cover price $64.99.