This awesome character drawn by Eli Timberlake looks like he's ready to kick some butt in the Prison Pit! Eli is far too young to read Johnny Ryan's series (or just about anything by Johnny) though — the piece is part of the Kids' Art Show opening tonight at Chapel Hill Comics. Thanks to Chapel Hill Comics' Andrew Neal for passing it along (and coming up with the "Johnny Ryan Jr." sobriquet)!

Our own Kim Thompson was interviewed about our Prince Valiant series this morning by host Patrick Neas on Kansas City's classical station KXTR, who provided us with an MP3 of the session (5.26 MB) to share with you! (Note that the contest mentioned at the end of the interview is over.)

(Above: the cover to Volume 3, coming in February/March 2011!)

Several new updates from Paul Hornschemeier at his News and/or Head Lice blog: his cover illustration for Newcity's "Best of Chicago" issue, which features more of his spot illos inside...

...an announcement: "Tomorrow night, I'll be at Second City's de Maat Theater for a special, farewell incarnation of The Late Live Show with hosts Joe Kwaczala and C.J. Toledano. [...] I'll be reading a piece thus far entitled 'Advice Column Responses to My Inner Monologues at Various Ages.' I can only guarantee that this will include footy pajamas, urine, fake urine, lion tamers, ironic t-shirts, horrible first dates, attempted thievery, and batman coloring books. I can promise nothing more"...

...and his weekly new t-shirt design for his Forlorn Funnies Shirt Shop.

Hit all those links for more information, embiggenable images, and Paul's always-witty commentary.

Heads up: if you want your order shipped by our Standard shipping option within the U.S. to arrive before Christmas, tomorrow (Friday, December 10) is the deadline to get your order in! (If you're shipping to a P.O. box, you'll want to select First Class or Priority Mail shipping rather than Standard.) After that, you'll have until Monday for USPS Priority Mail delivery and until next Friday for 2nd Day UPS. We'll post reminders for those deadlines as well.

If you need some gift suggestions, check out our handy Holiday Gift Guide with lots of ideas for every interest and budget!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions. Today's reviews come directly or indirectly via Hans Rickheit:

• Review: "Simmons’ artwork [in House] masterfully cranks up the tension and tightens the suspense as the ill-fated explorers descend into the building’s subterranean depths; as his characters enter the house, his dark frames thicken, becoming the walls of the house. The comic is wordless, but the characters have no trouble expressing themselves as they go from the heights of youthful elation to sheer terror as the house swallows them whole." – Ao Meng, The Daily Texan

• Review: "As both an anthology and as a survey of the times, [Four Color] Fear is incredibly successful, with nary a dud in the whole bunch. Each fun story offers its own brand of chill, thrills and maniacal laughter. [...] But the real disquieting aspect of these comics were probably not intended as such — chauvinistic behavior is rampant among the men, and women are portrayed as either damsels in distress or cold-hearted femme-fatales. These are artifacts of a simpler age." – Ao Meng, The Daily Texan

• Review: "The Squirrel Machine is not for the faint of heart, and features quite disturbing and grotesque imagery — H. R. Giger has nothing on Rickheit’s psychosexual nightmares. [...] Existing on the crossroad of creativity and madness, The Squirrel Machine is a nightmare in a series of gristly tableaus. The psychedelic rooms full of machinery, sex and death are an inward exploration as much as Jim Woodring’s ('Frank') comics are outwardly allegorical. An exploration of an artist’s mind, it uncovers the obscene, the things that were never meant to be brought to light." – Ao Meng, The Daily Texan

• Review: "Blimey, [The Squirrel Machine] is a weird one. Imagine a steampunk version of the last ten minutes of Eraserhead. [...] Its design and tone is indebted to Little Nemo in Slumberland, although far more disturbing. [...] The book is full of strange scenes which accurately convey the claustrophobic atmosphere and slight off-ness of a powerful dream. In no way is it fluffy around the edges. The detail is unflinching, with a refreshing lack of explanation... Is it all a dream? Who can tell?" – Grant Buist, The Name of This Cartoon Is Brunswick

• Review: "Another excellent debut graphic novel, another webcomic-printed-as-book, another beautiful Fantagraphics book-as-object, and another rollicking seafaring adventure. [...] What distinguishes [Set to Sea] from a merely average graphic novel is the excellent pacing, the thoughtfulness of the (unnamed) protagonist, and the minimal use of words in a book about writing poetry!" – Grant Buist, The Name of This Cartoon Is Brunswick

• Review: "A luxurious collection of Moto Hagio’s influential comics, ...[A Drunken Dream and Other Stories] is a valuable sampler of her long career, a compilation of short stories from 1970 to 2007 which feature her innovative panel layouts and expressive characters, and include many of her favourite themes, such as sibling rivalry, postnatal depression and ghosts. [...] This is yet another beautiful book-as-object-of-desire..." – Grant Buist, The Name of This Cartoon Is Brunswick

• List: Weathercraft, "a thrilling, nauseating, inspiring journey from terror to triumph," is Sean T. Collins's Comic of the Year of the Day at Attentiondeficitdisorderly

• Review: "An utter nightmare. [...] Over a hundred densely-drawn pages [of Weathercraft], filled with Woodring’s bejewelled creatures and salamandric hallucinations, Manhog achieves a kind of enlightenment. A great if unsettling work." – Grant Buist, The Name of This Cartoon Is Brunswick

• Review: "Two entertaining tales... [that] capture the zip and intrigue of a good Tintin adventure, and the supporting characters are suitably bizarre... [The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book is n]ot your usual American/Canadian two-guys-mooch-around-an-apartment bollocks." – Grant Buist, The Name of This Cartoon Is Brunswick

• Review: "The first of Norwegian cartoonist Jason’s books to be published in translation, and one of his neatest and most satisfying stories. [...] If it were a film, Hey, Wait… would melodramatically labour the childhood tragedy it features, but in a Jason book it’s an understated pivot for the two halves of the story." – Grant Buist, The Name of This Cartoon Is Brunswick

• Coming Attractions: The Manga Curmudgeon looks ahead to Shimura Takako's Wandering Son Vol. 1, declares "Sold!"

• Coming Attractions: "The Arctic Marauder [by Jacques Tardi] – A steampunk story with mad scientists, sea monsters, and futuristic machines at the North Pole. In a 'faux woodcut style.' Fantagraphics continues to be the most consistently innovative publisher of adventure comics around." – Michael May, Robot 6

An historic meeting: Drew Friedman & Joe Franklin 12/8/10, Joe's office.

"So he once sued me for $40 million? Feh. Anything is possible..." says Drew.

Photo below by Drew:

(Jeezum crow, Joe's office makes our notorious clutter-heap offices look positively tidy by comparison.)

Fans of alternative culture in Seattle are in for a wild weekend. This Friday, Mark Pickerel's pop culture emporium Damaged Goods hosts a poster exhibition by Fantagraphics pal and graphic design guru Art Chantry. Later that evening alternative music group Low plays the Tractor Tavern.

The action heats up on Saturday when Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery celebrates its fourth anniversary with an amazing line up of art, music, comix and more. The aforementioned Mark Pickerel, formerly of Screaming Trees, will perform a solo music set, followed by former Low member Zak Sally. Fans will also get a chance to pick up one of six new Jim Woodring tee shirts and view the amazing exhibition "Medieval Thinkers."

To commemorate Zak Sally's appearance, we'll be offering his wonderful comix collection Like a Dog at 20% off. And while supplies last, we'll be giving away a Sally silkscreen print with every purchase of Sammy the Mouse #3. (The original artwork will be on display.)

Complimentary refreshments, DJ Russ spinning delightfully demented holiday platters, and adventurous art action all over Georgetown make Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery a major destination. See you all on Saturday.

These Giant Robot Post-It Shows are always drool-enducing, but this year's show enduces an even bigger slobbery accumulation because it's curated by the great Esther Pearl Watson, and her equally-rad spouse Mark Todd. 

If you've somehow missed Post-It Shows 1 through 5, basically these shows collect tiny 3X3" masterpieces on a Post-It note from an array of awesome artists.  Each piece is one-of-a-kind, and cash-and-carry, so hit the ATM on the way to GR2, and maybe bring some cardboard to sandwich your Post-It, if you're fussy about those kinds of things. (I am.)  Oh, and did I mention that each Post-It is only $20 BUCKS???  'Cause, yeah.

It's no surprise that Esther and Mark have collected a calvacade of rad comic artists, including our own: Andrice Arp, Jeffrey Brown, Lilli Carre, Martin Cendreda, Dave Cooper, Jordan Crane, John Cuneo, Eleanor Davis, Jaime Hernandez, Jason T Miles, Anders Nilsen, Jeremy Tinder, Jon Vermilyea, and Steven Weissman.  And there's tons of other artists in the show, as you can probably tell from all the fine print in that graphic above.  (Yeah, $20 bucks for an original Matt Groening?? Get there early, folks.)

Here's a sneak peek at some of the post-its from our fine artists:

Post-It Show 6 at GR2 (2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025) runs from December 11 - January 12, 2011, with an opening reception featuring many of the artists taking place from 6:30 - 10:00 pm this Saturday, December 11.  I mentioned each Post-It was only $20 right? You're welcome.

It's overdue!

• Another glimpse of Tim Lane's book-in-progress Folktales at his Jackie No-Name blog

• Among the early strips, illustrations, outtakes and film reviews by Jason at his Cats Without Dogs blog: "Dead Mickey"

• From Steven Weissman, a Repaneled panel and a new Yikes! animation (I dare you not to get the end credits song stuck in your head), plus his latest "I, Anonymous" spots and other things on his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• Lots of new artwork, merch, handicrafts and current events in the latest blog updates from Dame Darcy

• Richard Sala's... Hallmark card?? Believe it!

• Noah Van Sciver's cartoon interview with Geoff Johns done for The Comics Journal but never used

And more Things to See from the past week:

• Sketches by Frank Santoro at the Cold Heat Comics blog

• Illustrations by Marco Corona at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• Lilli Carré sketches on her Kettle of Fish blog

• Nature sketches with running commentary by Debbie Drechsler at her Just Around the Corner blog

• More sketches for Mark Kalesniko's forthcoming graphic novel Freeway (now up for pre-order!) and paintings of stylish girls at his blog

• Paul Hornschemeier's latest t-shirt design available in the Forlorn Funnies Shirt Shop on his News and/or Head Lice blog

• Sketches and illustrations by Laura Park at her Flickr page

• Illustrations at Splog!, the Sergio Ponchione Lost Objects Gallery blog

• Drawings, sketches, photos (Wookiee chastity belt?) from Renee French

• Carol Tyler writes about Ron Santo and John Lennon at her Screened-in Porch blog

• Daily drawings and animation production artwork from Dash Shaw at The Ruined Cast blog

• Caricatures & commentary by Steve Brodner

• Something horrible from Josh Simmons at his The Furry Trap blog

• Illustrations by Hans Rickheit at his The Squirrel Machine blog

• Illustrations by Derek Van Gieson at his These Days I Remain blog

• Last year's Post-its from Andrice Arp on her Flickr page

• New sketches by Eleanor Davis at her We Be Ouija blog

We're pleased to share the news about Skippy Vs. the Mob, a new book from our colleagues Rick Marschall and Jonathan Barli over at Rosebud Archives. Find out more about this classic Percy Crosby story on the Rosebud Archives blog.

Don't forget, you can order a selection of Rosebud Archives products (prints, portfolios, notecards, etc.) right here on our website.