For half a century, Fantagraphics Books has championed independent graphic novels, alternative comix, and classic comic-strip restorations, earning its place among the world’s leading comics publishers. This November, as Fantagraphics celebrates 50 years of groundbreaking publishing, PAMLA 2026 attendees can join the celebration at the publisher’s brick-and-mortar hub in Seattle.
Please join us on Saturday, November 14, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM for a special PAMLA Open House and Reception at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle’s historic Georgetown neighborhood. The reception follows the “It Rains Comix in Seattle” roundtable (5:05–6:20 PM at the Hyatt Regency Seattle) and begins about 40 minutes after the roundtable ends, giving everyone time to make the short trip from the hotel. Charles Hatfield (California State University, Northridge) and Jose Alaniz (University of Washington, Seattle) will host the evening.
Make Saturday evening a comics one-two punch! Start at the “It Rains Comix in Seattle” roundtable (5:05–6:20 PM, Columbia A, 3rd floor, Hyatt Regency Seattle), where Charles Hatfield and Jose Alaniz lead a conversation with local artists, publishers, and organizers about Seattle’s internationally celebrated comics scene. Seattle has long nurtured independent and alternative comic art, from grassroots minicomix and zines to Fantagraphics’ fabled output to the alt-comics forms expanding and diversifying the field today. Its comix community prizes inclusivity and radical social and aesthetic innovation, a spirit the yearly Short Run Comix Festival embodies. Then head down to Georgetown and see that scene up close.
The evening offers plenty to explore. Browse the bookstore’s exceptional selection of comix and graphic literature, take in the 14th annual Short Run “Marathon” gallery exhibition featuring special guests from the celebrated Short Run Comix Festival, and hear Larry Reid, the bookstore’s longtime curator and manager, share brief remarks on its history. Award-winning cartoonist and illustrator Patrick McDonnell, creator of the long-running MUTTS comic strip, will also sign books from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, as Abrams ComicArts collects MUTTS in full for the first time.
We’ll provide complimentary light refreshments, and Georgetown’s restaurants, cafés, and bars sit just steps away for anyone who wants to keep the evening going.
The details
Saturday, November 14 | 7:00–9:00 PM
Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 South Vale Street
Seattle, WA 98108
Getting there: This free event is open to all PAMLA members; please arrange your own transportation. From the Hyatt Regency Seattle, take Metro Route 124 from 3rd Ave & Pine St to 4th Ave S & S Doris St, about one block from the bookstore, or use a rideshare. The drive from downtown typically takes about 20 minutes via I-5 South.
Please log into pamla.ballastacademic.com and RSVP via the Registration tab; your RSVP helps us plan the event.
We hope you’ll join us in Georgetown to celebrate comics, community, and fifty years of Fantagraphics!