You saw it in our BLAD, now here it is solo: the final cover image for Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks. Another triumph from our design maestro Jacob Covey! Click for an embiggened version.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: The Hooded Utilitarian, nearing the top of their results in their International Best Comics Poll, reveals George Herriman's Krazy Kat at #2, with a brief essay by Jeet Heer 

• Review: "...The Comics Journal #301... is crammed with fantastic content. The volume's texture, heft, and text make it the readers' equivalent of a dense slab of chocolate cake.... In short, Gary Groth and his editorial team have produced a stellar contribution to comics history and scholarship. It is a feast for comics aficionados and neophytes alike. " – Casey Burchby, SF Weekly

• Plug: The Forbidden Planet International blog shares our latest update on Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes with its readers, and then bums them out with news of the book's unavailability in the UK

• Plug: "I second Tom Spurgeon’s recommendation of Bill Mauldin’s Willie and Joe Back Home. I was amazed by how brutally frank the comics are, and how affecting. I actually prefer it to his WWII work — it’s even more impassioned, and the cartooning loosens enough to show off a really expressive, cutting line." – Dan Nadel, The Comics Journal

• Plug: "Alex Chun has a new volume available from Fantagraphics Books in his series which profiles the 'few dollars a drawing' gag writers who sold work to the Humorama line of digest publications during the 1950s and into the early 1970s. As I have been writing on the lesser known artists who contributed, with the scant information available...I eagerly await the book!" – Jim Linderman, Dull Tool Dim Bulb

• Interview (Audio): Patrick Rosenkranz discusses Vancouver-based underground comix artist Rand Holmes with Vancouver-based Inkstuds host Robin McConnell in advance of the Holmes exhibit and presentation this Saturday at Vancouver comic shop Lucky's. Vancouver!

• Analysis: At Entrecomics, Alberto Garcia examines the Steve Ditko influence/homages in some of Gilbert Hernandez's early work — even if you don't read Spanish, the images will have you going "ah-haaaa..."

• Lore: Kim Deitch's "Mad About Music: My Life in Records" column returns over at TCJ.com, with more on Elvis Presley and the early days of rock 'n' roll

A couple of blogs reminded us of the occasion. This strip can be found in this book.

We produced this "BLAD" promotional brochure to help hype Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks, and we are pleased to present it here for the first time. You'll notice a different cover design for the book than we've shown you before, and you'll see a good sample of the recoloring job done by Rich Tommaso — not to mention, of course, some glimpses of Barks's genius. Click each page for larger images, or download the whole thing as a PDF.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "The harmony of words and illustration strengthen Kelso’s voice as a narrator of stories that appeal to women of all ages.... This collection of short stories is a fantastic starting point for those of you who still view comics as Marvel/DC, or as ‘kiddie’ entertainment. (Shame!!) While playing with fantasy elements we all loved reading as little kids, Kelso incorporates today’s real life issues — STDs, pregnancy, being broke, infidelity — into her comics. Raw, yet refined, Queen of the Black Black is an enjoyable, meaty read that left me pumped to experiment with my own comics style." – Erina Davidson, Bust

• Review: "The book itself is stunning.... Fantagraphics is well-known for their quality book projects and this may be one of their best yet.... The Mickey Mouse strip itself is a hoot — especially in these early days. Mickey’s a feisty little guy in the strips, more so than in most of his animated appearances. He frequently packs heat (gasp!), knows all kinds of dirty tricks, and isn’t afraid to get into some real fisticuffs.... Even if you don’t care much for Mickey or the whole Disney mouse machine, this book should be on your bookshelf just for the slice of 1930s Depression-era Americana and the amazing joy of Mickey’s flinty 'can-do' attitude.... Watch for this wonderful series to do very well in various comics awards next year. This is important stuff." – K.C. Carlson, Comics Worth Reading

• Review: "There's still an agreeable edge to the series at this point [The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980] — Peppermint Patty's resigned acceptance to a life of D-minuses is really kind of savage — but Charles Schulz was relaxed enough to enjoy a few in-jokes and celebrity shout-outs to the likes of Bill Mauldin and various tennis stars.... Each time that Schulz started one of his longer, weirder stories..., readers will find themselves wondering how in the world he resolved it. He succeeded every single time." – Grant Goggans, The Hipster Dad's Bookshelf (via Spurge)

• Review: "Like crisps, chocolate and bad puns; once you get the taste of Robert Crumb on your palate, it’s almost impossible to shift the craving for more. Here’s another re-released edition [Vol. 13] from the superb and multi-award winning Complete Crumb Comics series that will tickle the bad-taste-buds of discerning comics cognoscenti and is bound to make a whole new generation of fans among the cool kids..." – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

• Scene/Plug: Comic Book Resources' Sonia Harris shares a charming Hernandez Bros. anecdote from Comic-Con and plugs the new Love and Rockets: "I won’t spoil it for you, but I can tell you that it is even better than the 3 that have come before it (and they were fantastic.) Seriously, Love and Rockets is just getting better and better."

• Plug: At The Truth About Cars, Murilee Martin pauses during an epic story about a 1965 Chevy Impala to note, "It was about this time that I became completely addicted to Peter Bagge’s brilliant Hate Comics, which seemed to capture the sense of diminished expectations and ironically-waiting-for-the-apocalypse mindset of my alleged generation a lot better than did Douglas Coupland with his much-hyped-by-mainstream-media novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (note: not that I have anything against Coupland; I’ve since become a serious fan of his work and recommend his novels without reservation). I suggest that you head over to Fantagraphics and buy everything published by Mr. Bagge immediately, pausing only to read his excellent editorial cartoons at Reason." (All links from the original article.)

• Panel (Video): The Comics Journal posts video of the "Art of the Graphic Novel" panel at Comic-Con 2011, with Joyce Farmer among the all-star panelists

One of Jim Flora's most iconic album cover designs, Inside Sauter-Finegan, is now available as a limited-edition fine art print from Jim Flora Art. Sez Flora doyen Irwin Chusid, "Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan were famous for their orchestral mayhem. While Flora's mischievous cover figures didn't physically resemble Eddie or Bill, his caricatures reflected their inventive approach to redefining big band jazz in the 1950s." Dig it!

Ivan Brunetti appears at Wizard World Chicago Artists Alley table #3704 next week (August 11-14)! The improbably named Michael Bonesteel of the Chicago Sun-Times profiles Ivan: "Given the minority presence of alternative comics artists like himself at Wizard World, does Brunetti ever feel a bit overwhelmed? 'Sure, but that’s the way it has always felt,' he replied. 'Superheroes have always dominated the comics world, and alternative comics are but a mere subset of that world. I’ll take what I can get, personally. I think there’s room for everything. I’m just asking for an out-of-the-way corner. I promise I won’t bother anybody.'"

Our compadre Alberto "El Tio Berni" Garcia from Spain's premier comics site Entrecomics was at Comic-Con in San Diego and captured some video clips of  Jaime Hernandez's cartooning master-class panel — we've embedded one above and you can watch them all here.

Also, even if you don't read Spanish you can still enjoy the photos in his Comic-Con recap post, including great shots of Gary Groth & Kim Thompson (caption: "Every time Gary Groth smiles, Kim Thompson (background) sacrifices a kitten"), somebody (possibly me) spinning our Eisner Award globes (it's irresistible!), all three Hernandez Bros., and this woman, a dead ringer for Gilbert's "Killer," who looks like she stepped right out of the pages of the new Love and Rockets:

Tor! Tor! Tor! Drew Friedman has painted this heavenly new portrait of Swedish wrestler-turned-thespian Tor Johnson for the back cover of (drum roll) a new edition of his first comics collection (co-written by his brother Josh) Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead is Purely Coincidental, which we will be issuing in 2012!

Woo hoo! Congrats Ellen!