Holy smokes, has it really been 20 years since Warts and All first came out? Movie Morlocks, the official blog of cable network TCM, posted a lengthy and loving tribute to the book. While it was originally published by Penguin, we've had the honor of keeping it in print in recent years. I was influenced by this book at an impressionable age and, like the author of the TCM post, I can still recall some of the gags to this day ("We'll have sex in a minute, honey. First I got to go to the toilet — you know I got diarrhea!"). Thank you to Drew and Josh Alan Friedman for warping my soft young mind.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: On the Forbidden Planet International Blog Log, guest critic Chris Marshall's top 10 graphic novels of 2009 places Blazing Combat in a tie for 4th place: "There was a time when War Comics told War Fact. They showed us the blood, death, camaraderie and horror. [This] series did just that and didn’t hold back."

• Review: "Fantagraphics has truly pulled out all the stops on the production of [Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons], giving it such marvelous style and pizzazz. ... But it’s the content, of course, that is truly king. If the 20th century was indeed the American century, then Wilson is a cartoonist who had a hell of a time chronicling it, mocking it, signifying it, and holding it up to the light—albeit through his own twisted lens... The work is tremendous and witty and, as always with an excellent retrospective, it offers the reader an excellent chance to walk back in time through decades of experiences, memories, turbulences and triumphs, and just plain old human oddities. What’s truly amazing is how, for more than 50 years, Wilson rarely misses a witty beat." – John Hogan, Graphic Novel Reporter

• Preview/Plug: FEARnet presents some favorite pages, with commentary, from Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box

• Plug: Chris Jacobs of Sub Pop Records plugs the "predictably, really great" Mome Vol. 17, which includes artwork by Rick Froberg, who plays in Sub Pop band Obits, and the release party this Sunday at Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn, where Rick will be signing

• Plug: There's much love for Jordan Crane at French blog La Soupe d'Espace

• Plug: At Comic Book Galaxy, Johnny Bacardi, a Jaime Hernandez partisan when it comes to Love and Rockets, says "But this upcoming Troublemakers looks kinda interesting... despite my preference for Jaime, I think I'll pick this up when I see it..."

This recent commissioned portrait of Joy Division's Ian Curtis by Jim Blanchard blows me away. Hit Jim's blog for the larger version.

The clock is ticking down on our New Years Hangover Sale — you have mere hours left to get 20% OFF everything on our website (including our already-discounted clearance items) by using the coupon code HANGOVER when you check out. (If you prefer to shop by phone, just mention this offer when you call — 1-800-657-1100 or 206-524-1967 outside the U.S.) 20/20 Club members get a double discount of 36%, so join up if you haven't already.

If you need some guidance, comics blogger Sean T. Collins over at Robot 6 has some great suggestions for you. Thanks Sean!

Is Denis Kitchen legendary because he's no longer relevant? or because he wrote the ad copy?

 Worst Comics Industry Crime of  2009

It's almost the weekend, friends. Here's a sampling of the brilliant lyricism in Dr. Dre's "The Watcher" from his album 2001:

"Things just ain't the same for gangstas.
Times is changing, young n****s is aging,
Becoming OG's in the game and changing,
To make way for these new names and faces, but
The strangest things can happen from rappin, when
N****s get wrapped up in image and actin,
N****s get capped up and wrapped in plastic,
Zipped up in bags, when it happens, that's it."

Now available for preview and pre-order: King - A Comics Biography: The Special Edition by Ho Che Anderson. This bold, vivid, and widely-acclaimed recounting of the life of Martin Luther King is back in print in a new, redesigned hardcover edition with the added materials and features you've come to expect from our Special Edition releases. Download an exclusive 18-page PDF excerpt depicting events from 1960-61 right here (7 MB). This book is scheduled to be in stock and ready to ship later this month and in stores roughly the same time (subject to change).

View a photo & video slideshow preview of the book embedded here. Click here if it is not visible, and/or to view it larger in a new window (recommended).

Online Commentary & Diversions

• List: Any best-of list that leads off with a Maria Bamford reference is all right with me. NPR's Glen Weldon rounds up his best graphic novels of 2009, including You'll Never Know, Book 1:  A Good and Decent Man by C. Tyler ("...Tyler lets her warm, fluid art draw the parallels between herself and her father, and hint at a darker story behind it all") and Low Moon by Jason ("The deadest of deadpan humor. Jason's cartoony, utterly affectless characters interact is ways that are horrible, hilarious and sad — often at the same time.")

• List: At Ain't It Cool News, Mark L. Miller names I Killed Adolf Hitler by Jason to his Top Ten Independent Comics of the 2000s

• List: Josh Flanagan of iFanboy names The Best Comics of the Decade, including Palestine by Joe Sacco: "More than any of the documentaries or news stories I've seen, Palestine shaped my view about what things are like in the Palestinean territories. Joe Sacco spent time with the people who live there, and explored the sticky, nearly untenable situation that persists today. Sacco's cartoons put a human face on the people involved, and it's a stunning work, comics or otherwise."

• List: Library Journal knows that no list of 24 Graphic Novels for African American History Month would be complete without King: The Special Edition by Ho Che Anderson: "Widely acknowledged as a masterpiece, this award-winning biography invokes King’s flaws, tragedies, and triumphs."

• List: The owner of the Love & Maggie blog lists a personal Top 10 All-Time Issues of The Comics Journal; the ones that are still in print are #59, #71, #238, #250, and #298

• List: Online Universities judges Jordan Crane's The Last Lonely Saturday to have one of the 50 Most Captivating Covers of All Time

• Commentary: The Hooded Utilitarian's Noah Berlatsky tells a funny anecdote about Peanuts and spiritual enlightenment

I was wondering how to post about the series of rejected New Yorker comics that Michael Kupperman recently posted on his Twitter feed, but then Robot 6's Sean T. Collins beat me to it and did a more thorough job than I would have, so go read his post.

The advance copies of the King Special Edition came into the office recently. They look SO killer. Eric put them on our shelf, and now everybody who walks by stops to gawk at the awesomeness. I consider this a true WIN for designer Adam Grano.

And, people say that the book is dying. Well, take that eBook readers. This is not only an amazing piece of nonfiction comics, but also a beautiful art object.

I dare anyone to pick out King Special Edition and not marvel at its beauty. Just try it. I triple dog dare you. Yeah, that's right. What are you going to do now, Chump?