Fantagraphics co-founder Kim Thompson has been diagnosed with lung cancer, the company announced yesterday.  In a statement, Thompson said he’d had "...ongoing health issues for the past month, which earlier this week resolved themselves in a diagnosis of lung cancer."  Because the diagnosis is early, the prognosis is uncertain, but Thompson expects to start treatment soon.  In the interim, his projects as co-publisher have been handed off to partner Gary Groth, Eric Reynolds, and Jason Miles. 

Co-founder Gary Groth also issued a brief statement: "Kim Thompson has been my partner at Fantagraphics Books for 35 years," he said.  "He's contributed vastly and selflessly to this company and to the comics medium and worked closely with countless fine artists over that time.  This is a tough announcement to make, but everyone who knows Kim knows he's a fighter and we remain optimistic that he'll get through this and report back to work, where he belongs, doing what he loves."