We hear the event was gangbusters! Here's Gahan signing a copy of the Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons collection. Strand TV footage will be up on the Strand's YouTube page in the next week, so we'll be sure to bring you that when it's available. Photo by Christina Foxley, courtesy the Strand — click for a larger version.

Photo courtesy one of our local media contacts. Eyeballs courtesy Drinky Crow.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: At his blog Supervillain, Sean Witzke posts a massive Comics of the Decade roundup which includes Ganges by Kevin Huizenga ("The third one fucking rules"), I Killed Adolf Hitler ("I read this sitting in the train station in Philadelphia that they shot part of 12 Monkeys in, laughing very loudly") and The Last Musketeer ("Pompous blowhard saves the universe from Ming the Merciless by stabbing and chivalry. Stabbing and chivalry solve everything.") by Jason, and Prison Pit: Book 1 by Johnny Ryan ("Book of ‘09... If the point of comics is fucked up shit happening, this is the best fucking comic ever made.") (via Robot 6)

• Review: "Family histories isn’t a series of isolated events, in Tyler’s mind, but fluid — and sometimes jarring — tapestries of facts, memories, half-truths, and emotional resonances. Her father clearly doesn’t see things that way, and this first part of You’ll Never Know shows a potential rift in how father and daughter understand their lives, and how they think a war should be remembered. I can’t wait to read how this fracture develops, deepens, and perhaps closes up." – Walter Biggins, Quiet Bubble

• Review: "There's much to like here. I sort of assumed MOME would be more like Raw, in terms of pushing the envelope and extreme artiness and so on, but it's much more readable than that. ... Anthologies are always uneven, but this contains fewer stinkers than most, clearly a testament to Fantagraphics's editorial eye." – Hillary Brown, Shazhmmm...

• Review: "Few artistic creations merit the adjective 'lurid.' Strange Suspense leers confidently from the shadows of that small crowd. ... If the infected, deformed teens of Black Hole inspired the reader to linger on each page of that magnificent book, Strange Suspense is worth a look. And for the Ditko-curious, this isn't a bad place to start." – The Typing Monkey

• Review: "The Squirrel Mother is a compilation of stories created by Megan Kelso between 2000 and 2005, that Fantagraphics Books, faithful to its tradition, made a beautiful object, which delights the eye before the mind." – Pedro Cleto (translated from Portuguese)

• Interview: The latest episode of The Comix Claptrap podcast features a chat with Johnny Ryan "about his newest book, Prison Pit, Book 1, his comics process, and rate who is the best fighter in comics."

• Things to see: Kevin Huizenga's latest Amazing Facts and Beyond with Leon Beyond strip

• Tragedy: Oh man, some punk kid wrecked Ellen Forney's '71 BMW 2002

Yes, it's a parody/homage of The Believer, courtesy of editor Ben Schwartz, artist Drew Friedman, and designer Alexa Koenings. Drew provides more background and a larger image at his blog. The book is just off to press and should be out in April.

Floating World Comics & Fantagraphics present:

"CHOCOLATE CHEEKS" book release & art exhibit with Steven Weissman

This February's 1st Thursday in Portland OR, Floating World Comics is proud to present a book signing and art exhibit with one of their and our favorite comic creators, Steven Weissman, creator of Yikes!, celebrating the release of his brand new book Chocolate Cheeks.

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Steven Weissman

WHAT: CHOCOLATE CHEEKS book release & art exhibit

WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 4th, 6-10pm

WHERE: Floating World Comics, 20 NW 5th Ave #101, Portland OR

More info here.

Steven will also be appearing at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, Feb. 6 for a Chocolate Cheeks book signing — stay tuned for more information on that and more exciting Fantagraphics Bookstore events tomorrow!

It's your holiday Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Paul Gravett names "The Best of 2009: Graphic Novels": No. 9 is Giraffes in My Hair: A Rock 'n' Roll Life by Bruce Paley & Carol Swain ("Paley combines so perfectly with his partner Carol Swain to capture Paley’s walks on the wild side as he journeys through sex, drugs and rock’n'roll, from hippy to punk. ... Hers has always been an utterly singular approach."); No. 13 is (appropriately) Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days by Al Columbia ("These distressed, distressing comics and illustrations repeat and escalate like a stuck record or never waking from a recurring nightmare."); and No. 14 is You'll Never Know, Book 1: A Good and Decent Man by C. Tyler ("A tender, bittersweet tribute from a daughter to a father and his military service in a beautifully crafted, tactile memoir.") (via The Comics Reporter)

• List/Review: At The HeroesOnline Blog, Dustin Harbin explains why Popeye Vol 4: Plunder Island is #5 on his Fave 5 of 2009: "These Popeye books are made with the kind of love and care and attention to detail that’s rare in comics — it’s clear that their publishers treat this material with reverence, and it makes it even more pleasurable to crack a new volume open each year."

• Review: "Though [Like a Dog] may seem like a hodgepodge of bits of [Zak] Sally’s work, there is consistency in the overall feeling. Much of his work is a collection of personal demons -- his insecurities, self-doubt, anger, pain, sadness and darkness -- that are exposed in obvious and subtle ways. ... The grit of this collection lies in the sense that one has had a sideline view of an intensely cathartic therapy session." – Janday Wilson, two.one.five Magazine

• Review: "This is warts and all stuff, a young artist learning with every six pager. ... There is some juvenile pleasure to be had in the fact that these stories [in Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1] all predate the Wertham/Comics Code era, so there's quite a bit of blood, some severed limbs, and grisly comeuppance. And although still oscillating between styles and influences here, there is substantial growth... [E]ven in its infancy, Ditko's art is increasingly potent." – Christopher Allen, Comic Book Galaxy

• Profile: Comic Book Resources' Kelly Thompson surveys the work of Eleanor Davis

• Links: Love & Maggie continues their detailed, annotated and hyperlinked overview of The Comics Journal #38 from 1978 

• Nerd fight: Hey look, it's a message board squabble about something Gary Groth wrote in Amazing Heroes umpteen years ago

• Things to see: Hans Rickheit 's Ectopiary page 7

• Things to see: Gabrielle Bell's strip about Richmond concludes

What says romance more than comics? If there is anything, we don't want to know about it. Once again we're offering a special selection of romantic and/or erotic gift books with which to woo your sweetie this Valentine's Day. From classic romance comics to cutting-edge erotica, from sweet to twisted, from timeless to unexpected (zombies?), these comics are fluent in the many dialects of love.

From now through the day in question (February 14, 2010), SAVE at least 15% on all of our Valentines Day gift selections!

Tell us how you really feel, Johnny.

Here's a late addendum to our preview/pre-order announcement for Unlovable Vol. 2 by Esther Pearl Watson: some Tammy Pierce for your computer or mobile phone screen! (Or if you prefer Tammy Vol. 1 style in hot pink, we've got that too.)

Just click on the size that matches your monitor resolution and the image will open in a new window; if you're on a PC, right-click the image and select "Set As Background"; if you're on a Mac, control+click and select "Set As Desktop Background." (We don't know what the procedure is for iPhones, but if you have one, you probably do, right?) For lots more wallpaper selections, find recent ones here and older ones here.