It's crazy hectic here at Fantagraphics so I only have a moment to thank all the people submitting art to the open call slot in BEASTS! Book Two. Deadline is Monday morning when I come into the office (I originally said March 1st but that's a Saturday).

I'm pretty amazed and grateful at the response (170 submissions already) and have no idea how I'll choose the art to be published. THANKS EVERYONE!

* That beautiful piece above submitted by Ian Huebert. (His site www.themilkmachine.com is not currently up.)

It's your Leap Day installment of Steven Weissman's "Chocolate Cheeks!" In this week's strip: an update on the condition of Lumpy Noodle. (Remember, you must be registered and logged in to read.)

From the Never In America files: an Australian publisher is using a Jim Blanchard piece from Glam Warp in a high school history textbook. More info and larger image at Jim's blog.

LUST: Kinky Online Personal Ads from Seattle's The Stranger
By Ellen Forney

Multimedia reading and performance
Plus! Dazzling dancer Fuschia FoXXX! (Voted one of the Stranger's "Sexiest Citizens"!) Scantily-clad boy AND girl sirens, including Holly Chernobyl! (Also voted one of the Stranger's "Sexiest Citizens"!) Chocolate kisses! More!!

Thursday, February 28, 7pm
Bailey/Coy Books
414 Broadway Ave. E. (across from QFC)

Ellen Forney's follow-up to her wildly popular I Love Led Zeppelin is a collection of cartoons celebrating the sometimes stunningly crude, sometimes surprisingly sweet online world of kinky personal classifieds. Forney has for several years been illustrating the Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger's "Lustlab" classified ads by interpreting the most interesting, outrageous, or idiosyncratic ad in that week's paper. To cap it off, the collection includes frank, revealing interviews with some of the advertisers conducted by Forney, plus an introduction by the notorious sex advice columnist and novelist (and Stranger editor), Dan Savage.

"Alternately clever and goofy, Lust is a fantastic voyage into the nether regions of human desire. A-" - Entertainment Weekly

"Whether you're a true kinkster or a part-time voyeur who occasionally skims online personals, it's hard to tear yourself away from Lust... No matter who - or what - your yen, Lust is worth a peep." - Readymade

"Give your partner a copy of Ellen Forney's Lust... It's a great way to open the door for discussing different kinks you might be interested in exploring." - Fleshbot

This week's free preview is a downloadable 10-page excerpt from Jessica Farm Vol. 1, the first installment in a life-spanning epic by House author Josh Simmons. These previews are exclusive to registered Fantagraphics.com users, so sign up and/or sign in to view.

(As a reminder, 20/20 Club members receive these previews two weeks before we post them on the website, just one of many great reasons to join up...)

The Northwest Film Forum, Seattle's non-profit cinematheque with two screens located on Capitol Hill, along with a little help from their friends at Fantagraphics Books, is presenting a trio of film adaptations of classic comic strips. These family-friendly versions of DICK TRACY, ANNIE, and POPEYE are sure to win the hearts of new young viewers. These films will be a treat for parents too; they revisit the peculiar results of the unlikely directoral assignments for John Houston, (ANNIE), Robert Altman (POPEYE) and Warren Beatty (DICK TRACY).

Also, all attendees of the series will receive a 20% off coupon to the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, where you can purchase collections of the original strips these films were based on!

POPEYE: MARCH 1 - 2, Saturday-Sunday at 1:30, 4pm

(Robert Altman, USA, 1980, 35mm, 113 min)

ANNIE: APRIL 5 - 6, Saturday-Sunday at 1:30, 4pm

SING-A-LONG WITH THE MOVIE SUNDAY AT 4PM! Sheet music will be given out!

(John Huston, USA, 1982, 35mm, 127 min)

DICK TRACY: MAY 3 - 4, Saturday and Sunday at 2, 4pm

(Warren Beatty, 1990, 35mm, 105 min)

All screenings will be held at: 

Northwest Film Forum
1515 - 12th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 329-2629 

More of our Spring 2008 releases are now available for pre-order! Pictured above: the fifth and final issue of Ted Stearn's mini-series Fuzz & Pluck in Splitsville; the first installment of Josh Simmons's multi-decade epic Jessica Farm; The Comics Journal #289, featuring Robert Kirkman on Marvel Zombies and much more; and Castle Waiting Vol. II #11 by Linda Medley. Below: the new, revised, expanded version of Rebel Visions; Bottomless Belly Button, the massive new graphic novel by Dash Shaw (with dual covers); the final (for now) installment of our Love and Rockets Library series, Amor Y Cohetes, collecting all the non-"Locas" and non-"Palomar" stories from L&R Vol. 1; and Mome Vol. 11, with cover star Killoffer. Check our Upcoming Releases page for the full listing of titles that are available for pre-order.

Call 1-800-657-1100 (or 206-524-1967 outside the U.S.) or click the links above to see full details on each title and add it to your shopping cart. New releases are usually shipped to our pre-order customers a week or two before they arrive in bookstores and comic shops, so beat the crowd and order today!

"I was at Bob Kane's funeral,"ť Mark Evanier said. "There were only four people from comics there: me, Stan Lee, Mike Barr and Paul Smith. A whole bunch of Batman toys were put into Kane's coffin and they were lowering it down. As Kane was being put into the ground, Stan turned around to me and said ‘Steve Ditko was the best inker Jack Kirby ever had.'"

This anecdote is so sad and poignant on so many different levels, it just breaks my heart. I don't think I've ever felt more empathy for Stan Lee. Link via Ian Brill, bless him.