I’d be remiss in not noting both Fantagraphics‘ online plea for patronage and the P-I’s immediate front-page coverage.

I’ve also written a news story on this for Tablet and filed it, but, um, it ain’t up yet. I’ll be doing a follow-up for the print ish next week as well.

For those of you too lazy to follow the links, here’s the deal: Fantagraphics is hoping to raise an additional $80,000 over and above their usual monthly revenue. The money is needed in order to pay off some loans taken out a couple of years ago to make up some revenue lost when a former distributor went bust and stiffed the publisher for about $72 grand.

How do they hope to raise the money? By having you, the loyal, discriminating, intelligent lover of the superior comic product buy more than you normally would from America’s Least Businesslike Comic Company! Roughly, that is.

Anyway, that’s the deal. If you figure you might pick up a Fanta title sometime in the next five years, now’s the time to do it. Go to the website, pick yourself out somethin’ nice, and make with the credit card, baby.