I would love to put out this work-in-progress: 

It doesn't hurt that I am close, personal friends with all of the animals in this book. 

More info here. I'm told "the dude Andy who runs things goes insanely in-depth," so it should be fun to see what he pulls out of Publishers Weekly's Graphic Novel of 2008. 

We hosted the release party for our pals Jim Woodring & Paul DiFilippo's Cosmocopia in October, but I've only just begun to dive into this amazing book and objet d'art from our esteemed neighbors at Payseur & Schmidt. It has to be seen to be enjoyed fully, but it includes Di Filippo's new short novel enclosed in a box (with belly band) also containing a 513-piece jigsaw puzzle, "The Artist's Eye," by Jim Woodring. This is a limited first edition of 500 numbered sets, signed by DiFilippo and Woodring. Typical Payseur & Schmidt awesomeness (I actually stole that from their web hype, but it's true). Above is a picture of the completed puzzle from one ambitious fan.

Barely a month after Bill Griffith graced our emerald city with a fantastic exhibition and book release party, less than a week after he published an homage to our quirky town and his visit, the Seattle P-I has returned the favor by unceremoniously dropping Zippy the Pinhead from its daily print edition, effective this morning. This should be considered an affront to Mr. Griffith, to Seattle's own Fantagraphics, and to all remaining conscious and literate readers of the newspaper. With Zippy gone, enjoy your Funky Winkerbean when you're stuck waiting somewhere with nothing to read but that section of the paper.  We would be most grateful if you would consider  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  (NOTE: new, better email link added) and asking them to bring back America's -- and Seattle's -- favorite pinhead. We will post updates as we get them. 

UPDATE: Better email link added above, and I've also been told fans can voice their complaints by telephone by calling the PI's Reader Representative at 206.448.8007. 

• In the day's biggest news, the winner of Publishers Weekly's annual Critic's Poll of graphic novels is Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw, with The Education of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez in a 6-way tie for 2nd place and Honorable Mentions to Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane, The Lagoon by Lilli Carré, and Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers

• Ben Ostrander sends The Comics Reporter his Top Books of 2008 list, which has Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin on it

• Marc Sobel lines up his Top Ten Books of 2008, with Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane at #2, Most Outrageous by Bob Levin at #3, and "the comics by Dash Shaw in Mome" at #4, and with Pocket Full of Rain and Other Stories by Jason, Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga, and Insomnia #3 by Matt Broersma in the "Other Noteworthy Books" category

• We've got 16 entries on Rob Clough's "Top 50 Comics of the Year", plus 8 honorable mentions; don't make me list them all out

• Comics And... Other Imaginary Tales says Petey & Pussy by John Kerschbaum is "obscenely good fun!"

• Not comics: Magnet has the scoop on Robert Pollard's slate of 2009 records

D.C., get your D.D. this Friday:

CIVILIAN ART PROJECTS is pleased to begin the New Year with two spirited solo exhibitions: Carole Wagner Greenwood's "Ghosts and Circumstance" and Dame Darcy's "Gasoline." The exhibitions will open to the public January 9, 2009 and will be on view until February 7, 2009. Exhibition hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 12 to 6 p.m. There will be an opening reception for the artists on Friday, January 9, 2009 from 7pm to 10pm with a free music performance at 9pm.

Civilian Art Projects
406 7th Street NW, Third Floor
Washington, DC 20004
202-347-0022

• Michael C. Lorah's "Top Eleven: Best of 2008" at Newsarama includes The Education of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez and Deitch's Pictorama by the brothers Deitch

• On Jog's "Twenty 'Hot Ones' from 2008" best-of list: Mome Vol. 12 (#18), Angry Youth Comix #14 by Johnny Ryan (#9), and Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga (#7)

• Comic Book Resources' new multi-author blog Robot 6 presents their "favorite comics of 2008," which include Tom Bondurant's choice of Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw; Chris Mautner giving Popeye Vol. 3: "Let's You and Him Fight!" by E.C. Segar the top spot; and Tim O'Shea including The Lagoon by Lilli Carré and Daddy's Girl by Debbie Drechsler

• The Oklahoman's "top 10 periodical comic book series of 2008" places "the comics of Kevin Huizenga" at #4

• In their "Bull Tongue" column for Arthur Magazine, Thurston Moore & Byron Coley check out Town of Mirrors by Robert Pollard and declare it "stunning"

• Newsarama talks to Craig Yoe about Boody Rogers and our upcoming Yoe-edited collection of Rogers's work, Boody: The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers

• Comic Book Resources' "Comics Should Be Good" spotlights the comics of Michael "Tales Designed to Thrizzle" Kupperman

• LIT MOB looks at The Lagoon by Lilli Carré

• The Northwest Science Fiction Society takes note of Beasts! Book 2

• The Daily Cross Hatch presents part 2 of their 3-part interview with Bob Fingerman

• Douglas Wolk has started sharing pages from his convention sketchbook; here's Roger Langridge

• Looking for our books in Tokyo? When Comic Books Ruled the Earth recommends Tower Records in Shibuya

• According to Boing Boing, "snoopy" is the 192nd worst password of all time (beating out "buddy" but just behind "chester")

Essential reading: Comic Book Resources plunders our Spring/Summer 2009 catalog and brings you the juicy details.

Please note that release dates are subject to change.

• Comic Book Resources concludes their "Best 100 Comics of 2008" countdown: Part III ranks Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga at #51 and Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw at #41; Part V has Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers at #20

• The KEXP blog lists Town of Mirrors by Robert Pollard as one of "2008's Best Books About Popular Music"

• Derik Badman's "Best Comics of 2008" list includes Bottomless Belly Button as its "Breaking Through in All Sorts of Ways pick"

• In their "Nexus Graphica" column for The SF Site, Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams include the following titles on their "top ten graphic novel or comics-related publications lists": The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 by Thomas Ott, Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell, and Rebel Visions by Patrick Rosenkranz (Mark's #1)

• J. Caleb Mozzocco's top-ten list of "The Best Comics of 2008" includes Bottomless Belly Button and Jason's The Last Musketeer, with Pocket Full of Rain on the long list

• The Village Voice "Pulp Fictions" column names Bottomless Belly Button and Where Demented Wented: The Art and Comics of Rory Hayes two of "The Best of 2008"

• The OC Weekly counts Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 among "The Year's Best Graphic Books and Novels"

• The Daily Cross Hatch reviews The Lagoon by Lilli Carré

• At Comic Book Resources, Steven Grant looks at Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert by Bill Schelly (about midway through the column)

Time for the new installment of Steven Weissman's in-progress pages from "Blue Jay," an epic 32-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures. In this week's episode: things going wham in the night!

And don't forget to catch up on our current 5-day chunk of Martin Kellerman's hilarious Swedish smash-hit Rocky, updated Monday-Friday! This week starts a new storyline, with Rocky back in New York City!