Head over to Bob Fingerman's Art Blog Thinger to see the full-size version. Connective Tissue is at the printer and due this Spring.

Here it is: the first public look at our long-awaited Humbug collection! This two-volume slipcased hardcover set assembles the never-before-collected, complete, original 11-issue run (1957-58) of the satirical magazine conceived and edited by Harvey Kurtzman and created by Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Will Elder, Al Jaffee (Kurtzman's MAD magazine cohorts one and all) and Arnold Roth.

Click here if the embedded slideshow doesn't appear above, or to open a larger version in a new window. And if you haven't already, you'll also want to check out our exclusive feature "The Production Evolution of a Humbug Page."

Worth a bookmark.

Go listen here for a Ralph Bakshi podcast reminiscing about his days with Gene Deitch at Terrytoons.  

Thanks to Peter Kuper for providing us with his recent award-winning 2-page strip "Ceci n'est pas une comic" (originally published in the Virginia Quarterly Review and elsewhere around the world) to post in our Online Comics section. The last 8 years certainly did seem surreal, didn't they? Click here to read.

• List: Another day, another Top 10 list with Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button on it, this time Laura Hudson's "Best Graphic Novels of 2008"

• Blurb: Trendhunter™ fingers The Wolverton Bible as the next hot thing

• Blurb: ComicNews spotlights our collection of Sam's Strip by Mort Walker & Jerry Dumas

The upcoming February 2009 issue of The Comics Journal is our annual Best of the Year issue, featuring interviews with the year's most acclaimed cartoonists: Lynda Barry, Frank Quitely, Dash Shaw and Mike Luckovich. Plus best-of lists from dozens of comics pros, a preview of C. Tyler's new book, a gallery of new Finnish comics, and lots more. Click here if the embedded slideshow doesn't appear above, or to open a larger version in a new window.

A lot of folks keep asking me if we'll have a presence at the New York Comic-Con this weekend. We won't. It's a ridiculously expensive show to exhibit at and travel to, even in the best economy. It's a lousy time of year to travel cross-country, weather-wise. So we're staying home and throwing a great party for Esther Pearl Watson this weekend instead.

But if you are at NYCC, we've designated Paul Karasik our official representative and you should go say hi to him: 

Sunday, 1:30pm, Panel Room 6 (1A18):
Comics and the Language of Visual Symbolism
Comics are able to communicate dense layers of narrative, emotion, and action in a manner that no other media is able. This panel will explore the way the cartoonists use pictures to tell their stories in a way that is unique to comics. Through the interrelation of art and text, comics makes a unique kind of storytelling possible. Four creators examine their own visual storytelling styles and discuss how their art influences the text of their work. Panelists: MoCCA Director Karl Erickson, Paul Karasik, Danica Novgorodoff, and Alex Robinson.