Literary Hub » Fantagraphics may have lost two full print runs in an Iranian missile attack.

A cargo ship carrying the full print runs of two forthcoming comics from Fantagraphics Books was hit by an Iranian missile in the Straight of Hormuz, according to ICv2 and a post by Fantagraphics co-founder Mike Catron.

Catron posted on Facebook that he and Fantagraphics were alerted “that a cargo vessel carrying the full print runs of two of our books was struck by an Iranian missile in or near the Strait of Hormuz. The report we have is that the ship has limped to a safe port, where we await further news. Our thoughts are with the crew, and we hope and pray for their safety.”

The two books are Bitchy! The Exasperating Existence of Midge McCracken by Roberta Gregory and Helen Chazan, and the collection The Atlas Comics Library No. 9: Adventures Into Weird Worlds Vol. 1. Both were printed in India and were en route to the Port of New York ahead of a June release. At this time, it isn’t clear if the books were damaged or destroyed in the missile attack.

The loss of books is minor, almost trivial, in light of all the horrors and violence unleashed by this senseless war, but the potential loss of these books is a sad reminder that we’re all affected and implicated in America’s savage flailings.

This morning on my way to the YMCA, I watched the gusting wind blow a trash can into oncoming traffic, stopping cars with a shriek, before rattling down the road, rolling into parked cars and setting off alarms, until someone stepped into the road and finally restrained the barrel. This war, tweeted into the world from a McMansion ballroom by Trump and his hogmen, shares the pointless and aimless trajectory of that empty can. If only there were more good neighbors willing to pull the trash out of our way.

Images from Fantagraphics.