Next March, in time for Spring Training 2008, Fantagraphics will publish Wilfred Santiago’s graphic novella about Puerto Rican baseball legend, Roberto Clemente — 21: The Roberto Clemente Story. Santiago is a native of Ponce, PR, my father’s hometown, and while I was too young to have seen Clemente play before he died tragically in 1972, I remember his name was always spoken with pride in my otherwise die-hard, Yankees-loving neighborhood, 10 blocks north of the House That Ruth Built, on the other side of the Grand Concourse. (Yes, I dumped the Yankees for the Mets in 1982-1983 while I was still living there.)

Santiago has a great promotional web site up that includes a trailer, sample panels, and a couple of nice wallpapers. He’s also selling a couple of promo items on CafePress that are worth a look.

I’m really looking forward to this! Thanks to Rich for the heads-up!