Evan Dorkin's recent, generous blog posts sharing convention sketches he's collected from the likes of Los Bros and Clowes have inspired me to share some small stuff I have at home in my studio that will fit on my teensy scanner and otherwise might just sit in here until I die and my wife or daughter sell it all on eBay.

First up, here's a card Evan himself gave me on the legendary Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Cruise, which has been on my bulletin board ever since.

I will collect one day.

Here's a piece I picked up at Comicon a few years ago for $30 (!). A "Li'l Abner" daily panel from 1951, mercilessly separated from its family by a greedy art dealer who thought he could get more for four pieces than one.

Here's a Charles Burns pencil rough for a panel in Black Hole:

And two panels edited out of Chris Ware's final Jimmy Corrigan edit (I think he just changed the wording slightly - "Reed" to "Dad", as I recall, but I haven't compared it for a few years):

More Old Jewish Comedians
By Drew Friedman

This comprehensive collection of portraiture of Jewish comedians is a sequel to 2006's wildly popular Old Jewish Comedians, which earned Friedman raves from Jerry Lewis, Howard Stern, The Believer, Entertainment Weekly and many more, and earned Friedman his own roast at New York's legendary Friar's Club. This all-new collection includes the famous (Woody Allen, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Soupy Sales, etc.), the not-so-famous (Jerry Stiller, Zeppo & Gummo Marx, Larry Storch, Zero Mostel, etc.) and the largely unknown (Molly Picon, Herbie Faye, Jan Milton, etc.). The Reuben Award-winning Friedman, one of the great caricaturists of his age, presents a thorough visual history of the 20th Century's greatest Borscht-Belt comedians through 28 full-page portraits; every crease, mustache hair, and liver spot looks utterly real. As Booklist put it (after the first OJC), "If only we were all funny enough to get Friedman to draw us!" A BLAB! Storybook.

36-page full-color 10" x 10" hardcover $16.99
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Shag: A to Z
By Shag

Shag: A to Z presents, quite simply, 26 original paintings corresponding to the letters of the alphabet. Each painting is accompanied by a short verse extolling the pleasures of a hedonistic lifestyle and the virtues of overindulgence. Shag has spent the last decade creating a body of work based on his idiomatic aesthetic preferences, a world of mid 20th century modern architecture and design, populated by hedonists, supplicants, and indifferent women. A BLAB! Storybook.

32-page full-color 10" x 10" hardcover $14.95
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Maakies with the Wrinkled Knees
By Tony Millionaire

Drinky Crow may be the drunken star of the weekly comic strip Maakies, but more often than not, he plays straight man to the hapless ape, Uncle Gabby. Here is the newest collection of Tony Millionaire's strip, never before published in book form. The suicide jokes may come less frequently than in earlier years, but the comedy and superb drawing style are at their peak, as is the volume of triple-X cartoon booze consumed.

Maakies features the comical adventures of a drunken crow on the high seas, blending vaudeville-style humor and a breathtaking line that harkens back to the glory days of the American comic strip. Designed by publishing's foremost graphic designer, Chip Kidd, Maakies with the Wrinkled Knees features over two years of strips in a beautiful, deluxe, landscape hardcover format that complements the strip's elegant and classical style.

120-page black & white 12" x 5" hardcover $19.95
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The Comics Journal #288

New format! New design! In this special "Year in Review" issue, the most critically-acclaimed cartoonists of the year talk about their work and suss out the BEST COMICS of 2007 from a crowd of contenders; a crowd that includes the likes of Bryan Talbot, Grant Morrison, Adrian Tomine, Brian K. Vaughan, John Porcellino, Nick Bertozzi, Paul Karasik, Naoki Urasawa, Chris Ware, Gilbert Hernandez, Elvis Studio and Tony Millionaire. Plus — à la the Cannes Film Festival — last year's top creators give us their picks for this year's best comics. Alison Bechdel's literary graphic memoir Fun Home carried top honors for 2006 among Journal contributors: Who will earn that distinction in 2007? This newly designed issue also presents strips from the glamorous, panther-skin-suited debutante Miss Fury — the first super heroine created by a female cartoonist, Tarpe Mills, back in 1941. Noted comics historian Trina Robbins will provide an introduction detailing the fascinating facts of Mills' life.

200-page b&w/color 7.5" x 9.5" softcover $11.95
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Collectible? Yes! Delectable? Quite! Behold the Ellen Forney LUST miniature chocolate bars that will be dispensed by lovely ladies at the opening party for Ellen Forney's LUST exhibition and book launch this Saturday from 6 - 9 PM at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Also, a new performance piece by the artist, liquid refreshments, and just added — a kissing booth! Really. Get your Valentine a signed copy of LUST. Nothing says love like comics.

Portlanders will have the chance to meet Jim Woodring and his Seattle cartooning compatriots of Friends of the Nib tomorrow night at the opening of a FOTN group show at Floating World Comics. Details and links to more info below:

Floating World Comics
20 NW 5th Ave
Portland, OR

Thursday, Feb. 7th, 6-10PM

Founded by visionary cartoonist Jim Woodring and Bob Rini, "Friends of the Nib" is a modern cartoonist salon. Cartoonists participating include: Jim Woodring, Bob Rini, Kinoko, Dalton Webb, Mark Campos, Matt Tamaru, Sara Spink, Angela Stork, Max Clotfelter, Scott Faulkner, and David Lasky. Schedules permitting, all artists plan to attend the event.

Jim also mentions that his recent works Jesus and the Bear and New Iron Age are included in the group exhibit "A Cabinet of Natural Curiosities" opening at Seattle's Roq La Rue gallery on Friday February 8 from 6 to 9 PM. Sez Jim: "So load that flask, fire up the jalopy and hie ye to Belltown for more animal congress than you can shake a well-gnawed femur at."

Paul Hornschemeier appears on this week's episode of the Inkstuds podcast. From Paul's blog:

This Thursday, February 7th, at 4pm (CST), I'll be doing that verbal ping pong between narcissism and self-deprecation, courtesy the interrogation of the gentlemen at the Inkstuds radio show/podcast. The podcast is available on iTunes or through their site.

Listen intently: see if you can guess the liquid volume of my sweat.