We noticed that our new releases have been omitted from Diamond's shipping lists over the last few weeks, which means they've been arriving in comic shops with little to no notice (which means very few blurbs from the usual blog sources we quote here). We've contacted Diamond about it and we're getting it straightened out (I won't go into the gory details, and I'm not sure if it was a Diamond policy change, but there was a reasonable explanation and solution). Anyhoo, the books below are already out or arriving tomorrow — check with your local shop to confirm availability.

FUC_ __U, _SS __LE: Blecky Yuckerella Vol. 4
by Johnny Ryan

104-page black & white 5.5" x 7.25" softcover • $11.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-415-3

King of the Flies Vol. 2: The Origin of the World
by Mezzo & Pirus

64-page full-color 9" x 12.5" hardcover • $18.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-390-3

"A surprising and disturbing rumination on sex and violence..." – Chris Butcher, The Beguiling

Mascots
by Ray Fenwick

136-page full-color 5.25" x 7.75" hardcover • $22.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-400-9

"These bright, full-color paintings blur the lines between traditional art and comics, between lettering and language. Each piece in Mascots stands on its own, but it also functions within the context of the other paintings as well, to reveal a larger world." – Benn Ray (Atomic Books ), Largehearted Boy

"Ray Fenwick gives you more typographical mania in Mascots, his follow-up to 2008’s Hall of Best Knowledge. It’s a series of full colour paintings on found book covers. In the preview he seems to be going on and on about Cthulhu and the pronunciation of 'Cthulhu,' but more importantly, he engages in superfluous and plentiful footnotes and thus gets top marks from me." – Gosh! Comics

Stigmata
by Lorenzo Mattotti & Claudio Piersanti

192-page black & white 7.25" x 9.25" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-409-2

"A new work by Lorenzo Mattotti! Little else needs to be said..." – Chris Butcher, The Beguiling

"Finally Stigmata by Lorenzo Mattotti and Claudio Piersanti is available in english for us non-French readers. I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for years..." – Martin Flink

Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition
by Stan Sakai

1160-page black & white/color 2-volume hardcover 7.5" x 11" x 3" slipcased set • $100.00
ISBN: 978-1-60699-154-1

"The first seven volumes of Stan Sakai's fabled bushido bunny tales are collected in the Usagi Yojimbo Special Edition..." – Cyriaque Lamar, io9

"An amazing treatment of a great comic." – Chris Butcher, The Beguiling

"If you feel like you just can't get enough of Stan Sakai's acclaimed samurai rabbit comic, this 2 volume set should easily tide you over." – Benn Ray (Atomic Books), Largehearted Boy

Set your RSS readers for D.J.'s new LJ, where he kicks things off with the above illustration (meow!) and reveals the origins of his story "Evelyn Dalton-Hoyt" in Mome Vol. 19.

On his Jackie No-Name blog Tim Lane shares his true-crime cover illustration for the next (I think) issue of the St. Louis newsweekly the Riverfront Times, along with his Wally Wood inspiration AND the good news that there will also be a third issue of his self-published comic book series Happy Hour in America!

Thanks to the anonymous employee at the Barnes & Noble in Glendale (CA?) who put together this excellent Destroy All Movies!!! display. Pic by DAM editor Zack Carlson.

Gage Academy of Art, gracious host of the debut performance of Jim Woodring's giant dip pen, presents this snazzy short video of the event produced by Don Porter.

In other Jim news, he just dropped by the office to drop off the last 20 pages of Congress of the Animals. The story is now complete — all that's left is the cover and endpaper illustrations. Days like this always send an electric thrill through our office!

Esther Pearl Watson's painting The Denny's Parking Lot is now available as a limited-edition archival print in a variety of sizes from 20x200. These go fast so get it while you can!

Comix are extremely useful as a tool to address students struggling with limited literacy or English as a second language (ESL.) In remedial situations, students are reluctant to be assigned material substantially below grade level. With many comix, the age level is ambiguous, which removes the social stigma associated with reading challenges. Additionally, the illustrations assist with word identification and drive the story in an accessible fashion. Comix are considered cool in school, and can engage students at all literacy levels.

The Usagi Yojimbo series is particularly appealing in teaching both ESL and remedial readers. It's a smart, well-paced adventure story about samurai culture in 17th century feudal Japan. These books are attractive to readers of all ages without respect to gender. For adolescents in higher grades, I often suggest Blazing Combat. This anthology contains compelling war stories throughout history, including the American Revolution, Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Viet Nam and others. The stories have historical value and many focus on the futility of armed conflict. In addition, they feature some of the most remarkable artists in comics.

Fantagraphics Bookstore stocks dozens of comix and graphic novels suitable to students of all ages. Many of these books concern history, race and social justice, geopolitics, philosophy and other subjects common to K-12 curricula. To arrange an individual consultation or group visit to the bookstore please call Larry Reid at 206.658.0110. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street, minutes south of downtown Seattle. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. See you all soon.

Mome Vol. 21 - Winter 2011
by various artists; edited by Eric Reynolds

112-page full-color 7" x 9" softcover • $14.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-394-1

Ships in: February 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

Our acclaimed art-comics anthology forges into its 6th year with another diverse and wonderful volume full of returning favorites and a few surprises.

On the cover, a detail from Sara Edward-Corbett's haunting, Gorey-esque tale of nocturnally animate objects. Also in this issue: Steven "Ribs" Weissman's freewheeling, sometimes-satirical, sometimes-deeply-weird webcomic "Barack Hussein Obama" (starring the President of the United States and his associates) makes its print debut; Sergio Ponchione provides another full-color prequel story to his acclaimed series Grotesque (translated from its appearance in Italy's Linus magazine); Josh Simmons is back with more "White Rhinoceros" and one of his unparalleled standalone horror stories; Nate Neal takes us back to the world of his graphic novel The Sanctuary; and we welcome Nick Thorburn, cartoonist and frontman of the acclaimed indie bands Unicorns and Islands.

All this plus: a one-pager from Dash Shaw; a blackly comic fable from Jon Adams; a typically trenchant strip from Tom Kaczynski; new chapters of T. Edward Bak's "Wild Man," Derek Van Gieson's "Devil Doll," and Kurt Wolfgang's "Nothing Eve" serials; a dreamlike tale from Lilli Carré; and more autobiographical vignettes by Nicolas Mahler.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 15-page PDF excerpt (2.4 MB) with pages from every contributor.

Video & Photo Slideshow Preview (view in new window):

• Heads on poles by John Hankiewicz at his Clip Joint blog and Lilli Carré at her Kettle of Fish blog for an eponymous exhibit at Western Exhibitions in Chicago

• Josh Simmons has several new portfolio sites on the web: illustrations, storyboards, commissions (as above), and a store where you can buy some of his older comics

And more Things to See from the past week:

• A glimpse of Frank Santoro's New Values art show at his Cold Heat Comics blog

• Artwork by Marco Corona at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• Vintage Jim Flora illustrations, sketches & artwork at the Jim Flora blog

• More artwork from Mark Kalesniko's forthcoming graphic novel Freeway at his blog

• Pages finished and in progress from Noah Van Sciver

• Cuteness from Laura Park

• A poster illustration at Splog!, the Sergio Ponchione Lost Objects Gallery blog

• Extremely creepy photos from Renee French

• Reince Priebus by Steve Brodner

• Daily drawings and animation production artwork from Dash Shaw at The Ruined Cast blog

• Hans Rickheit gives you a reminder to spay or neuter yourself

• New images from Joe Kimball (be fast, sometimes they don't stay up)

Ellen Forney returns to her old hometown of Philadelphia next month at the invitation of the Philadelphia Public Library as part of their featuring the Forney-illustrated book by Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, as part of their citywide reading program. She'll be giving a talk and workshops at a few locations — see her blog for the schedule and details.