Get it? Statuettes of R. Crumb's Mr. Natural, hand-carved from sandstone by artisans in Bali, now available from The Official R. Crumb Gallery. Garden gnome hat not included. (Via Boing Boing.)

(For cheaper Mr. Natural thrills, The Book of Mr. Natural hardcover edition is only 12 bucks during our 3-day Inventory Reduction Sale!)

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Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (view at original size):

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And elsewhere:

Amazing Facts... and Beyond! with Leon Beyond by Kevin Huizenga:

Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane:

Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit:

Lucky by Gabrielle Bell:

Maakies by Tony Millionaire:

Truth Serum by Jon Adams:

You have all that Xmas cash burning a hole in your pocket. We've got teetering piles of books in our warehouse. Let's make a deal! We've put together a list of titles we have too many of and we've slashed the prices on these select books by 40% for 3 days only — Monday December 27, 2010 through Wednesday, December 29. (Sale not in effect at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery.) This isn't just some old junk we have laying around — this is primo stuff from your favorite artists: Bagge! Burns! Crane! Crumb! Foster! Hernandez! Hernandez! Herriman! Hornschemeier! Kupperman! Millionaire! Segar! Shaw! Tyler! Woodring! And many more. Big fat collectible hardcovers. Classic graphic novels. Stunning art books. Recent faves. Over 3 dozen to choose from! Buy buy buy!

(This is the best deal you'll get on these books and it won't last, but stay tuned for the triumphantly woozy return of our yearly post-New Year's Hangover Sale, when everything in stock will be marked down!)

Dame Darcy appears at Domy Books in Austin TX for a Meat Cake book signing on Thursday Jan. 6, 6-7 PM — more info here, and RSVP on Facebook here.

Following the signing, the Dame's band Death By Doll will be playing at Elysium for the full Dame Darcy multimedia experience! It's all brought to you by the Austin branch of Dr. Sketchy.

Online Commentary & Diversions will return next week. Here's today's:

• List: Lilli Carré's residency at Spudnik Press was selected one of Chicago's Top 5 Solo Exhibitions by Newcity

• Review: "I'm pretty close to having read all of Jason's comics, and each one is so solid and reliable, I'd be perfectly fine with building a house on them — except then it might be hard to read the comics themselves. [...]  I continue to be impressed with Jason's unique and distinctive style, and if anything, he's only gotten better over time. ...[I]t's nice to know that one of my favorite creators is still at the top of his game. Werewolves [of Montpellier] is less a horror story and more a character study, but that's okay by me. Fans of Jason definitely should pick this book up right away, and anyone new to his work will find themselves cursed with a need to read more of his catalog after finishing this one." – Rob McMonigal, Panel Patter

• Interview (Audio): It's a typically informative and entertaining chat between Inkstuds host Robin McConnell and Renee French

• Plug/Contest: "When I saw Destroy All Movies!!!: The Complete Guide to Punks on Film on the bookshelf in the film section of the bookstore where I work, I was smacked all-over nostalgic. One might argue that books like this — big-format subculture guidebooks — are unnecessary now that we mostly all have internet access. Maybe. I still think everyone who coveted Factsheet 5 zine guides when they were young should feel obligated to get a copy of Destroy All Movies!!! for their lonely, floppy-haired nephew in Chilton, Wisconsin." – Matthew Simmons, HTMLGIANT (click through to find out how to win a copy of the book!)

• Plug: "Last week Fantagraphics released an incredibly comprehensive Usagi Yojimbo collection to celebrate the long eared ronin’s 25th Anniversary, and The Blot can’t wait to get his hands on a copy!" – The Blot Says...

Here's a little holiday weekend reading to get you excited for the upcoming year! This week we mailed out copies of our Spring/Summer 2011 distributors catalog (designed and produced for buyers and sellers in the book trade) to members of the press. We aren't able to print enough to send them to all our customers and fans as well, but here's the next best thing: a 7.4 MB PDF download! It's 48 pages packed full of information and preview art from dozens of upcoming releases.

Please be advised that the information in this catalog is preliminary and still subject to change, including but not limited to book titles, prices, cover art, contents, specs, and especially release dates. For instance, Ah Pook Is Here is already rescheduled from July to Fall 2011. (Also, we're already aware of all the typos.) With that caveat in mind, please enjoy and discuss!

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship:

Mascots
by Ray Fenwick

136-page full-color 5.25" x 7.75" hardcover • $22.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-400-9

Previews & Ordering Info

The second book from Ray Fenwick, author of 2008’s acclaimed Hall of Best Knowledge. In Mascots, a collection of impressionistic stories combine to create a wildly absurd — yet vaguely familiar — parallel world. Like Fenwick’s previous work, the acclaimed Hall of Best Knowledge (one of Booklist’s “Top Ten Graphic Novels of 2008”), Mascots is driven by lettering and language, part art and part comics, this time taking the form of bright, full color paintings on found book covers. These paintings can be experienced individually, each on their own terms, but together they reveal a surreal world that captures the mood of our times with manic energy.

Bonus Savings: Order Mascots together with Hall of Best Knowledge and save 20% off both!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions from The A.V. Club, Fonts in Use and elsewhere:

• Review: "A terrifying assemblage of ten years’ worth of unfinished Pim & Francie comics. The stories of two trusting little waifs play out like a perverse Merrie Melodies cartoon, or Little Nemo in Slumberland with the constant threat of dismemberment. [... Al Columbia's] superficially-cute artwork comes from the same unsettled place as Jim Woodring , like a ’30s animation studio with a lead-contaminated watercooler." – Grant Buist, The Name of This Cartoon Is Brunswick

• Interview: The A.V. Club's Erik Adams surveys Zack Carlson & Bryan Connolly for some hilarious "Last-minute gift suggestions from the editors of Destroy All Movies!!!" Guess what one of them is!

• Interview: Imitation Objects' Jen Hazen conducts a Q&A with Mome contributor Derek Van Gieson: "The animals. I don’t know why they’re in the pictures. I think animals are weird, we live among these freaky beasts. They’re a hell of a lot more fun than drawing somebody wearing sweatpants or drawing a contemporary car."

• Plug: Fonts in Use examines and praises the typefaces used by designer Jacob Covey for Catalog No. 439: Burlesque Paraphernalia and Side Degree Specialties and Costumes

A handful of copies of two books by underground comix pioneer and comics historian Jack Jackson (a.k.a. Jaxon) were recently unearthed in our warehouse: God's Bosom, a collection of his historical strips, and Optimism of Youth, a collection of his underground work. When we say a handful, we mean a handful, so hop on these without delay!