Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: At The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log, Wim Lockefeer's top 10 Best of the Year includes The Culture Corner by Basil Wolverton: "This book got me laughing out loud across the decades."

• Review: "I’m not sure how exactly one goes about recommending a book like [FUC_ __U _SS __LE], as it’s not only not for everyone, it’s kind of sort of not for anyone, which ironically makes it perfect for some someones. (Panel four of page 9 is perfect for 21st century comics historians; as it is surely the most intentionally provocative comics image of the decade)." – J. Caleb Mozzocco, Newsarama

• Plug: Author Anne Germanacos (surveyed by fellow writer Ravi Mangla) calls Abstract Comics "gorgeous and fascinating" (Via the Abstract Comics blog)

• Analysis: At The Comics Journal's new group blog The Panelists, Isaac Cates locates, in a single panel of Ghost World, a turning point in the narrative strategy of Dan Clowes

• Interview: At Wired, Scott Thill talks to Jim Woodring about Sunday's impending public debut of Jim's giant pen

(Photo: Jody Hoy)

Comic-Con International announced a new batch of Special Guests for the 2011 show July 21-24 in San Diego today, and we're pleased to report that the list includes Joyce Farmer, creator of the acclaimed graphic memoir Special Exits. Joyce joins Bill Schelly and Frank Stack among the Fantagraphics guests at CCI. We're excited!

Via AICN Anime comes word that the anime adaptation of Shimura Takako's Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko) which debuts on Japanese television on January 13 will be available on the web from anime streaming site Crunchyroll in the United States and other countries. See Crunchyroll's announcement with more information here; their series page is here; and our previous post with a YouTube trailer is here.

A brand new animated Yikes! cartoon from Steven Weissman and his talented team. Hurrah!

There's a new short Underworld animation by Kaz & friends for your viewing pleasure.

(Meta note: We're starting an "animation" tag with this post. Probably should have started one a long time ago!)

Zak Sally from mn original on Vimeo.

Zak Sally's appearance on Twin Cities Public Television's weekly arts series MN Original (which we originally reported about here) is now available to view online. See pages from Sammy the Mouse #4 in progress! (Thanks to The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log for the tip-off.)

The Seattle Weekly asked hometown 'tooners Peter Bagge, Jeremy Eaton (who did the cover, above), Pat Moriarity and Jessixa Bagley to comment on Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn's first year in office in comics form. (Thanks to Larry Reid for the tip-off!)

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: David Wolkin names some memorable comics he read this year:

"It hurts to read [It Was the War of the Trenches], but Jacques Tardi’s renderings are still quite beautiful as far as I’m concerned, which makes the whole thing that much more painful."

"Blazing Combat blew my mind. [...] The only thing this book has to say is that war is always terrible and people always die... Most of the stories are written by Archie Goodwin, but are duties are handled by a whole mess of the greats, including John Severin, Gene Colan, Wally Wood and Alex Toth, Goddamn Alex Toth. This book is worth buying just for the 3-4 Toth stories."

(The following 6 links are via Sandy Bilus at I Love Rob Liefeld:)

• List/Review: "Notable shoujo mention: A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio... There is fantastic imagery, and fantastic stories. [...] As a translation and publishing choice, I commend Fantagraphics. For anyone who wants to read what is considered to be a classic gem of shojo then this is it." – Anime Diet (see also their review)

• List: Melinda Beasi of Manga Bookshelf names A Drunken Dream and Other Stories one of the two Best Classic Manga of 2010: "...Moto Hagio’s collection of short manga... focus[es] particularly on issues of family, delving deep into some of the ugliest impulses of our biological tribes and the damage they can do to their least valued members..."

• List: Patrick Markfort of Articulate Nerd counts down his top 10 Favorite Comics of 2010:

"7. The Complete Peanuts 1975-1976, The Complete Peanuts 1977-1978, by Charles M. Schulz... After the fascinating early years of the strip in the 50's and its evolution and refinement into one of the all-time great strips in the 60's, it was a delight to rediscover these wonderful 70's strips, which to my mind strike a perfect balance between the ever present serious and silly sensibilities of Peanuts. Schulz's life's work is all things to all people, with a cuteness and sweetness on the surface, a razor sharp wit just underneath, and depths of poetry and sadness at its heart.  The Platonic ideal of a comic strip."

"5. A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, by Moto Hagio – I've been waiting years for someone to publish something by Moto Hagio, and I was not disappointed in the slightest by this book. In fact, I loved everything about it, from the drop-dead gorgeous design work by Adam Grano, to the fine selection of stories by editor Matt Thorn, to the reprint of Thorn's definitive interview with Moto Hagio... None of this would mean much if the stories weren't any good, of course. Fortunately, they're exceptional. These exquisitely drawn short narratives across a variety of genres spanning Hagio's decades-long career are terrific reads in and of themselves, and provide a fascinating glimpse into a tradition of comics-making we've still seen very little of. More like this, please."

"1. 'Browntown' and 'The Love Bunglers, Parts One and Two,' by Jaime Hernandez, from Love and Rockets: New Stories #3 - Jaime Hernandez is my favorite living cartoonist, and these short stories, which MUST be read in conjunction with each other, are my favorite thing he's ever done. What a thrill to witness first hand the publication of a certain All Time Great Comics Work from an artist whose place in the canon is secured ten times over. [...] Read my full review of Love and Rockets: New Stories #3 here."

• List: "Love and Rockets New Stories #3 – [...] Jaime has this wonderful gift to make his characters seem real and natural. It’s been almost 30 years that he’s been writing and drawing the stories of Maggie and Hopey but they feel more like old friends now than ever before." – Scott Cederlund, Wednesday's Haul, "The Best of 2010"

• List: "A giant, two volume hardcover edition with a solid slipcase, this excellent collection [Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition] features the first seven volumes of the series and a ton of extra content. Probably the most beautiful book on this list." – Aaron Colter, Fearing Americans, "The Best Comics of 2010"

• List: "Best Pop Culture Satire: [...] An award winning comic that made me laugh out loud a little too much while reading at the local cafe. [...] Full of shamans, reanimated pirate skeletons and hysterical pop culture nods, Dungeon Quest Book One is one of my favorite pieces of comic satire to come out in a long time." – Ian Gonzales, Unwinnable, "The Best Comic Books of 2010"

• List: At The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log, the contributor identified only as Michael places Jason's Werewolves of Montpellier on his top 3 Best of the Year: "...[A]s usual Jason’s art is beautiful in its very unusual style with super thick line work and flat and bright colouring. The story is more of a drama, which again is a change from the usual comedy route and the addition of a romance sub-plot makes this book one of Jason’s most complex and best."

• Review: "Jacques Tardi's Adèle Blanc-Sec is a longtime favorite French anti-heroine... The over-the-top parody of the monster-hunting adventurer, combined with a whiff of innate French superiority to the source material, ...may appeal to the extremely casual reader of comics, or one with deep knowledge and interest, but probably not to a reader who enjoys picking up the latest zombie comic." – Mike Rhode, Washington City Paper

• Survey: The Beat's year-end/looking-forward survey of comics pros (part three) includes incisive commentary from our own Eric Reynolds

(Click to enlarge)

Yeah, we're great, and our books are late. Why, what did you think the headline meant?

Anyway, a new year is upon and it's time to 'fess up about all the late Fantagraphics titles you were expecting to have by now, and don't, because we suck. Specific apologia and weaseling have been added to some titles, others we just pass under mortified silence. 2011 will be better!

The following are printed, on their way to us across the Pacific Ocean, and expected to be available in January or February 2011:
• FREEWAY by Mark Kalesniko (usually original graphic novels are late because the author was overly optimistic about how long it would take to write and draw it, but this time it was entirely our fault.)
• KING OF THE FLIES VOLUME 2: THE ORIGIN ON THE WORLD by Mezzo and Pirus (and in case you're wondering, Volume 3 is scheduled for September 2012 at this point)
• KRAZY AND IGNATZ: 1919-1921 by George Herriman
• THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER by Monte Schulz (again, entirely our fault and neither the author's nor cover artist Cathy Malkasian 's, both of whom are champs and pros.)
• MOME #21 edited by Eric Reynolds
• POPEYE VOLUME 5: "WHAT'S A JEEP?" by E.C. Segar
• ROY CRANE'S BUZ SAWYER VOL. 1: THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
• THE STRANGE CASE OF EDWARD GOREY (NEW EXPANDED HARDCOVER EDITION) by Alexander Theroux
• TWILIGHT OF THE ASSHOLES by Tim Kreider

The following are at the printer and are expected to be available in March or April 2011:
• THE COMICS JOURNAL #301
• LOVE FROM THE SHADOWS by Gilbert Hernandez
• SAFE AREA GORAZDE: THE SPECIAL EDITION by Joe Sacco

The following are expected to ship sometime during the Spring of 2011:
• CAPTAIN EASY: THE COMPLETE SUNDAY STRIPS VOLUME 2 by Roy Crane (we had a hard time collecting a few of the last strips on this one-but we're almost there now)
• DRAWING POWER edited by Rick Marschall and Warren Bernard
• WANDERING SON BOOK ONE by Shimura Takako

The following have been rescheduled:
• THE ANTIC CARTOON ART OF T.S. SULLIANT will be reformatted, rethought, re-solicited, and released in early 2012
• FORLORN FUNNIES VOLUME 1 by Paul Hornschemeier will be released in the Summer of 2011
• THE HIDDEN by Richard Sala will be re-solicited and released in July 2011
• HOW TO READ NANCY will be re-solicited and released in 2012 in a vastly expanded version from what we first expected
• IS THAT ALL THERE IS? (né MODERN SWARTE, originally announced for 2007) in late Fall 2011: Yes, Joost has turned in all the files and publishers in three countries are synchronizing their watches!
• NANCY IS HAPPY will be released in late 2011: It turns out that there was more production work than we anticipated to make the book as perfect as humanly possible.)
• POGO VOLUME 1 will be released in the Fall of 2011 - yes, seriously, for real this time

Tony Millionaire! Drinky Crow! Art show! At Scott Eder Gallery in Brooklyn, opening Jan. 28, reception 6-9 PM. Mark yer calendars. More details when we get 'em.

UPDATE 1/14/11: The full press release with all the details is here.