Rolling Stone magazine has named Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson by Kevin Avery one of 2011's Best Rock Books. Nelson, of course, famously worked for and then quit RS, so one can only wonder what he would think of this. At any rate, it's very rewarding that this remarkable book, one of our occasional forays into non-comics publishing, is receiving the accolades it deserves, having already been named one of Library Journal's Best Books 2011 and tied for "Music book of the year" at Springfield, Massachussett's The Republican.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: At the Forbidden Planet International blog, comics creator Nick Abadzis names Jaime Hernandez's "The Love Bunglers" from Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 as one of his three favorite comics of the year: "Hernandez just keeps delivering stories of the highest calibre. There are no pyrotechnics or fancy-ass page layouts, just a slow burn of emotion and expression, presented in calmly immaculate style. The moments of his characters’ lives that Hernandez chooses to show in the telling of his tales are picked and deployed with such precision it betrays a wisdom and clarity very few storytellers possess, in comics or any other media. Just beautiful."

• Review: "Everything Is an Afterthought is as much a eulogy for the life and work of this influential critic and writer as it is a reflection of how otherworldly the entertainment industry of the 1960s and '70s appears from a contemporary perspective of online bloggers and digital music.... Avery's narrative is bookended by a morbid fascination with Nelson's lonely end, living poorly and finally dying in his apartment in 2006 at age 70. But the dual nature of his book is fantastic, because after reading about Nelson's life we desire and deserve to read his work." – Thomas Conner, Chicago Sun-Times

• Review: "What is central to this magnificent book [Everything Is an Afterthought] is that Avery, a fabulous writer in his own regard, is also clearly a big Paul Nelson fan. As such, he presents a critical, yet caring, picture of Nelson's professional and personal life, the latter a bit sad and wistful, pulling out all the stops in a moving tribute, warts and all. And since he is such a good writer in his own regard, Avery's introduction to the book is almost like a second book in itself, and worth the price of admission alone. [Rating] 5 stars" – Sound Waves

• Review: "With this new book, I feel like Gottfredson’s take on the characters is blossoming into something strong enough that I wish I’d encountered it much earlier in life.... The Mickey Mouse books from Fantagraphics are full of tons of bonus material; advertising art, essays, sketches, even examples of how the stories got re-purposed down the line. These feel like the Criterion Collection DVDs translated into comic strip compilations, a prime example of how to give the readers more than their money’s worth.... With Mickey Mouse: Trapped on Treasure Island, I’m already eager to see what Gottfredson did next. I’m in for the long haul." – Greg McElhatton, Read About Comics

• Review: "If men dressed as bears are stealing your homework or you can't find that mysterious fortune teller because you have a lousy sense of direction, Tales Designed to Thrizzle can help you.  Just be aware that this book is as rapid-fire a comic as I've ever read and is an almost overwhelming experience.  If you can hang on to enjoy the ride, and are a fan of the humor of webcomics like Wondermark or the prose stylings of John Hodgman, then you really need to find someone who already owns a copy of this book and kill them for it. Or, you know, buy one for yourself.  Either way, I'm good.  And so is Tales Designed to Thrizzle." – Rob McMonigal, Panel Patter

• Plug: "Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture – A Career Retrospective is a wonderful tribute to the prolific artist... An amazing lifetime of work." – The Christian Science Monitor

• Plug: "Pogo Vol. 1: Through The Wild Blue Wonder – ... Kelly’s illustrations are masterful, with expressive characters who are warm and friendly. Pogo‘s deft social satire makes this collection about Pogo Possum and friends a must own for humor comics fans and people who just like good things in general." – Robot 6 guest contributors Geoffrey Golden & Amanda Meadows

• Reviews: Author and comics scholar Michael Barrier examines several of our recent classic comics reprints in detail

Is anyone else hearing the Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist theme song in their head looking at this animated GIF illustration for The New York Times op-ed by Lilli Carré? Bravo to the Times for letting Lilli do her animated-loop-drawing thing that she does so well.

[Follow our Tumblr blog for lots more Things to See every day.]

Tastes like chicken, helps a good cause: This oversized frog-leg drawing done by Jim Woodring with his giant nib pen is being auctioned, along with signed books and other items from Jim and others, to benefit our Minneapolitan friends at the lit-review quarterly Rain Taxi. Starting bid's only 40 bucks, jeez!

There were plenty of exciting announcements at this year's San Diego Comic Con, but one of the most exciting ones for me personally was hearing that our own Ted Stearn was going to be a director on the new series of MTV's Beavis & Butthead!

In fact, he's directed six of the stories in the revived season, which kicked off in late October to rave reviews! As someone who grew up watching the original series, I promise you, these new episodes are every bit as hilarious, dare I say, maybe even more so!

There's still more episodes yet to air on MTV, and you can watch some online here. Or just wait until February 2012 when the new season comes out on DVD! Yay Ted!!!

It's another action-packed week in Fantagraphics events! 

Monday, December 12th

• Brooklyn, NY: OHMYGOD, Lou Reed is signing in Brooklyn tonight! Join Lou at BookCourt at 7:00 PM for a signing and discussion of The Raven, his collaboration with legendary Italian illustrator and cartoonist Lorenzo Mattotti, based on the work of Edgar Allen Poe. You do not want to miss this. (more info)

Tuesday, December 13th

• Brooklyn, NY: And head back to BookCourt at 7:00 PM the next day for a signing and discussion with author/editor Kevin Avery for Everything is an Afterthought: The Life & Writings of Paul Nelson. This is an especially excellent event, because Kevin will be joined by musician Elliott Murphy, who will play a few tunes. (more info)

Saturday, December 17th

• San Francisco, CA: Justin Hall, editor of our upcoming anthology No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics, will be hosting an event at the S.F. Cartoon Art Museum curated by his students in the "Engage: Queer Comics Project" class at the California College of the Arts. More details coming to the FLOG this week!

Ongoing:

• Chicago, IL: An exhibit of Lilli Carré's work opened last week at the Ralph Arnold Fine Arts Annex with short animated films she describes as “moving drawings," a collection of Lilli's recent string drawing pieces, and some books and comics. The exhibit closes on January 21, 2012. (more info)

You'll never guess where things end up in Johnny Ryan's latest comic for VICE.

[Follow our Tumblr blog for lots more Things to See every day.]

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Multiversity Comics' David Harper counts down the Best Graphic Novels of 2011, with Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010 by Michael Kupperman — "Part prose, part two color comic, this beautiful hardcover is a fanciful romp through history the way I wish it really was. I can hardly wait for the next hundred years to pass so we ca get the next installment" — and Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit Book 3 — "If it doesn't make you sick, you shouldn't be allowed to walk among the public in the first place. If it doesn't make you giddy for the next one, you don't deserve comics" — tied for 5th place

• List: ComicsAttack ranks Gil Jordan, Private Detective: Murder by High Tide by M. Tillieux at #6 on their Top 15 All-Ages Titles of 2011: "Fantagraphics has put out some amazing work this year... Gil Jordan sticks out to us in all of its splendor. Yes, it can be compared to a gritty version of Tintin, but at the same time is so much more and its world so much deeper in crime. The adult tones make adults pick it up, and the colors and action give it an appeal to kids, making it an all-ages gem for anyone who picks it up."

• Review: "Barks' duck stories have been reprinted several times over the years, in different formats of varying quality. Now, Fantagraphics has published the first volume of its new series of hardcover reprints (Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes), and there's much to be heartened by.... Even the silliest premise, when executed by an artist in perfect control of his gifts, can land with deftness and grace — that's something that strikes you again and again as you read Barks' work. And it's a lesson that won't get lost on any kid with whom you might choose to share it, which is convenient, as this collection makes a perfect introduction to one of the greatest all-ages comics artists of all time." – Glen Weldon, NPR - Monkey See

• Plug: Tony Millionaire's 500 Portraits is one of Publishers Weekly's "PW Picks" for next week

• Plug: "Though I have many contemporary cartoonists and comics writers whose work I admire, there is one artist whose work defies my critical ability to write about it intelligently. This artist is Kevin Huizenga. Mixing a disarmingly simple style with narrative complexity rarely achieved in comics, Huizenga has consistently turned out some of the most interesting and perplexing works of the early 21st century." – Rob Vollmar, LitStack

• Plug: "Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson is a unique collection that serves as both a biography of Nelson and an anthology of his work, written and compiled by Kevin Avery. It features special chapters on and interviews with many of Nelson's favorite artists, including Bruce Springsteen." – Shawn Poole at Springsteen fansite Backstreets.com

• Plug: "A definite contender for music book of the year, Kevin Avery's Everything Is an Afterthought is the biography of pioneering rock critic Paul Nelson... It's a fascinating story of an important writer and recommended to anyone who has an interest in sixties and seventies rock 'n roll and music writing in general." – 211 Bernard (Librairie Drawn & Quarterly)

• Behind the Scenes: Where They Draw takes a look at Jim Woodring's attic-loft studio, with commentary from Jim

Our weekly strips from Kupperman, Mahler & Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web:

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Angelman by Nicolas Mahler (view at original size):

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

And elsewhere:

The All-New Cartoon Boy Adventure Hour by John Kerschbaum at ACT-I-VATE:

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

Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane:

Forming by Jesse Moynihan:

Humblug by Arnold Roth (4 new strips this week, continuing serialization of his unpublished 1979 strip Downtown):

Lucky by Gabrielle Bell :

Maakies by Tony Millionaire:

Les Petits Riens by Lewis Trondheim (scroll down at the link for additional updates):

What's in the Backpack by Victor Kerlow:

I don't think anything I can say could quite do this justice: the Hey Oscar Wilde! Tumblr dug up this holiday greeting card sent from the great manga creator Osamu Tezuka to the great Carl Barks with a sketch by Tezuka showing his best-known character Astro Boy greeting Barks's Donald Duck. When giants collide — and hug adorably! (Originally posted at comicartfans.com. Via a Twitter trail of Forbidden Planet International retweeting Eric Orchard.)