Posted in: Comics, Fantagraphics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: Hormuz, iran, Roberta Gregory

Atlas And Roberta Gregory's Comics Were Not Hit By An Iranian Missile

Roberta Gregory's comics and Atlas Comics No 9 were not hit by an Iranian missile last month

Last month, Bleeding Cool reported the news that a shipping container containing two complete print runs of the upcoming Fantagraphics graphic novel collection of thirty-five years of Bitchy and the Atlas Comics No 9 collection had been hit by an Iranian missile while travelling through the Strait of Hormuz. At the time, Bitchy Bitch creator Roberta Gregory posted to social media, "Oh, great. From bad to worse. The ship with my book on it (and lots of other stuff as well) was hit by a missile. I don't REALLY believe my cursed existence is somehow responsible for this latest, but I'm not lying when I say there's days I honestly wonder." And reminding us of the cartoon below…

Well, it seems things might be a little less cursed, for Roberta Gregory at least. As she now replies, "OK, here's the BITCHY! latest, from Eric at Fantagraphics….with a lot of help from an NPR reporter who decided to investigate… and found out the CONTAINER was on the ship stuck in Hormuz and reportedly fired upon, but the books were never in it! They were still in India all this time, but nobody at Fantagraphics was told this. So all that hoopla earlier was based on misinformation from somewhere in the chain of command that became an exciting but erroneous news item.
Trust NPR to give you the real deal! So apparently the books are delayed but soon to be on their way, though taking the long way past the Cape of Good Hope. So let's all hope real good, not just for cargo going from there to here, but an end to this stupid war!"

Presumably that's the same for Atlas Comics No 9 as well. As we said at the time, an Iranian missile destroying the print run of Bitchy felt far too on the nose and full of phallic symbolism to be true… Bleeding Cool ran an exclusive preview and commentary on the book last month. So I'm glad it's not the curse of Bleeding Cool either…

• Bitchy! The Exasperating Existence of Midge McCracken by Roberta Gregory
  One of the most influential, feminist comics series ― the riotous "Bitchy Bitch" stories by pioneering cartoonist Roberta Gregory ― is now in one definitive collection. Midge McCracken is the abrasive, self-destructive pessimist every office has. Not to mince words, she's a bitch: bitter, mistrustful, racist, and completely unfiltered in her words and thoughts. But she comes by it honestly, growing up with hateful, racist parents, suffering sexual abuse as an adolescent, experiencing an unwanted pregnancy, etc. Did we mention that this is a comedy? Roberta Gregory's unflinching sense of humor is the engine driving Bitchy! This mammoth tome collects Gregory's "Bitchy Bitch" stories, presenting a life from childhood into middle age, following the character through multiple decades. Along the way, Gregory's wider cast of characters are introduced, notably Bitchy's suffering and insufferable coworkers: the obnoxiously cheerful Sylvia (who never met a problem that positive vibes won't cure); the upwardly mobile and power-hungry Pam (aka Bitchy's boss); the intolerant, God-fearing Marcie; her hapless friend-with-benefits, Kenny; and many more. In 1976, Roberta Gregory released Dynamite Damsels ― the first underground solo comic created and self-published by a woman. After contributing regularly to the influential anthologies Wimmen's Comix and Gay Comix throughout the 1980s, she launched Naughty Bits in 1991 while working as a production artist at her publisher, Fantagraphics. It became the longest-running solo alternative comic book series by a female cartoonist, coming to an end in 2004 after an influential and pioneering 14-year, 40-issue run. The Bitchy Bitch stories remain the pinnacle of a historic career, and a highwater mark in comics and graphic novels over the past 40 years. Black-and-white illustrations throughout,
• The Atlas Comics Library No. 9: Adventures Into Weird Worlds Vol. 1
  With Fantagraphics' latest Atlas Comics Library collection, Adventures into Weird Worlds is an exploration of four-color, pre-Code depravity unseen since the early 1950s. In the unrestrained days before the Comics Code Authority censored the industry, these stories drawn by the cream of the Atlas crop ― Russ Heath, Bill Everett, Joe Maneely, Carmine Infantino, Mort Meskin, George Tuska, Bob Fujitani, Joe Sinnott, and Bernard Krigstein ― chilled readers to the bone: Irradiated, postapocalyptic monsters become "The Walking Death!" A frantic, tiny voice calls out from "The Thing in the Bottle"! Humanity faces intergalactic doomsday "When a World Goes Mad!" A cemetery robber tells how "I Crawl Through Graves"! Satan himself unveils "The Pit of Horror," as only Bill Everett could envision it! This is the first of three volumes that will re-present this classic Atlas horror series in its entirety. Adventures don't get any weirder! Full-color illustrations throughout

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