Once again our webcomics updates fell victim to other activities for a couple weeks (namely Comic-Con this time around), but we're back with a new batch today:

Blecky gets some much-needed couch time in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan (visit Johnny's website for any strips you might have missed)...

Picking up where we left off: you'll feel for Chubby as never before in this week's installment of Steven Weissman's in-progress pages from "Blue Jay," an epic 51-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures....

And we're also picking up where we left off with our Monday-Friday Rocky strips by Martin Kellerman, this time with one of the big Sunday-style strips. Enjoy!

Is July really over already? Hoo-ee, time sure flies when you're compiling Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Based on his research, interviews, and personal experiences in Palastinian Occupied Territories in 1991 and 92, [Joe Sacco]'s comic [Palestine] takes you there and gives you a first-hand account of the atrocities and suffering in the conflict with Israel. He gives you a close up visual rendering of the physical and emotional conditions of the people, who struggle daily for survival... Sacco has rendered the terrible conditions of life into a compelling and sympathetic artistic documentary. It is sad, but most good stories are sad... What’s better, his drawing is detailed and realistic, very approachable and interesting." - American in Auckland

• Review: "Either you think Michael Kupperman's stuff is hilarious or you don't. And if you don't, well, that's sad, because you suck and you have no friends... Kupperman has created a world with its own humor/"Dadaist" vibe, as he puts it in one meta-strip, and no critical breakdown can really relate its LOL-charm... Much of the charm resides in his art, heavily hatched, shadowed, stippled, and Benday-dotted in an old-fashioned style. He slams the retro up against his postmodern wisecracks, and it works nearly every time... This new omnibus of all four of his can't-miss gems from Fantagraphics not only makes it easy to get his out-of-print stuff, it's the only way to go—that's because the reprints are in color for the first time, and it just looks really nice." - Byron Kerman, PLAYBACK:stl

• Review: "The Wolverton Bible is a collection of drawings that Basil Wolverton did for Herbert Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God. I've been hoping for a collection of these drawings for ages... What a great collection. The drawings are nicely printed, very black, on nice white paper... The book is sturdy and feels good... This is a windfall. It's a wonderful additon to any art collection." - Garth Danielson, Primitive Screwheads

• Interview: "[Craig] Yoe revels in the hidden histories of comics, and not just because they’re money at the movies. In Boody: The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers, published by Fantagraphics earlier this year, the historian has helped uncover one of comics’ left-field treasures. 'Boody’s comics could survive a nuclear holocaust,' Yoe wisecracked. 'Silliness, sex and surrealism. Why can’t all so-called comic books be like this?'" - Scott Thill, Wired

• Preview: Previews spotlights a selection of pages from the latest volume in The Complete Peanuts (1973-1974)

• Plug: Joe Matt holds forth on camera about our Popeye series (and his favorite DVDs) for Amoeba's "What's in Your Bag?" video series

• Plug: At Akimbo, Robert Dayton mentions the Trevor Von Eeden review in The Comics Journal #298

• Things to see: Tom Kaczynski draws Zak Sally (and reports from the release party for Zak's new album Fear of Song)

• Comic-Con/Things to see: Rickey Purdin's Watchmen con sketchbook filled up with FBI artists (Johnny Ryan, Esther Pearl Watson, Jordan Crane) and friends (Mark Todd, Sammy Harkham & more) at San Diego (via Sean T. Collins)

• Comic-Con: There's a special Fantagraphics guest star in Drawn & Quarterly's con photos

Tim Lane posts another story page from his upcoming book over on his blog. Brutal stuff! Click through to see the whole thing and read Lane's thoughts on the page. Man, he just keeps killing it.

The Comics Journal #299
Edited by Mike Dean & Kristy Valenti; Gary Groth, executive editor

The Pirates and the Mouse author Bob Levin tracks down the El Dorado of comics, a lost collection of unpublished strips by 190 of the world’s most important cartoonists, including Will Eisner, Vaughn Bodé, Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, Art Spiegelman, Arnold Roth, Bill Griffith, Ralph Steadman, Don Martin, Gahan Wilson, Jeff Jones, Guido Crepax — even William Burroughs, Tom Wolfe and Frank Zappa! The comics were assembled in the 1970s by Michel Choquette (creator with Neal Adams of National Lampoon’s Son o’ God comics) for a book called Someday Funnies, which never saw print. Levin and Choquette reveal for the first time the whole catastrophic story of what might have been the comics anthology of the century.

Also in this issue: Sean T. Collins interviews Skyscrapers of the Midwest’s Josh Cotter; Noah Van Sciver's cartoon interview with King Cat's John Porcellino; our classic comics section features Myron Waldman’s Eve, with an introduction by Mark Newgarden; our usual smattering of insightful and incisive columns; reviews of Kramers Ergot 7, The Times of Botchan, Chaykin, Clowes, Tezuka and many more!

208-page color/b&w 7.5" x 9.5" squarebound softcover magazine • $11.99
Add to Cart • More Info & Previews

We were thrilled to have Patton Oswalt (the Funniest Comedian in America -- I said it) provide the introduction to Ivan Brunetti's latest gag cartoon collection Ho!, and now Ivan returns the favor by providing the Chick tract-inspired cover art for Patton's new DVD/album My Weakness Is Strong. More info on Patton's website; hat tip to Robin of Inkstuds for pointing it out on his Twitter feed. Isn't it great when great things get together?

As a Comic Book Salesman at this year's Comic-Con it was impossible not to feel the crushing presence of the latest and greatest bullshit Hollywood and beyond had to offer and I'm not sure why.  Why did this year feel any different from last year, or the year before?  Maybe I've gone to one-too-many Comic-Cons thus forcing me into a downward spiral of delusion and dread?  Or maybe the mainstream acceptance sought by the comics industry at large is really a Trojan Horse?  Regardless the cause, there were far too many injustices committed at this year's Comic-Con and yes I will be pressing charges in future Flog posts.

On the other hand, as a Long Box Cretin this year's Comic-Con was unquestionably winsome!  Thanks to the lack of Back Issue Fiends I had plenty of elbow room to find great deals (Herbie #12 for $2 are you crazy!?!) and the lack of competition for elusive issues of weird olde comics was a very welcomed change.

A quiet day for Online Commentary & Diversions in the wake of Comic-Con:

• Review: "...A Mess of Everything surprised me. It turned out to be quite worthy: funny, insightful, and at times, moving. It’s not a revolutionary book — it doesn’t stretch or redefine the bounds of its genre — but [Miss] Lasko-Gross reminded me that the beauty of her chosen genre is that everyone’s story is, in fact, different and unique. If the author is a skilled storyteller, it’s as good as a reason as any to read yet another graphic novel about growing up, even if you’ve already read many." - Jillian Steinhauer, The Daily Cross Hatch

• Rock: An alt-country ode to Maggie Chascarillo? Yes, according to Lindsey Millar at the Arkansas Times

• Comic-Con: Writing for comiXology, The Comics Journal's Kristy Valenti gives her impressions of the big show

Gary Groth just emailed me some copy regarding the forthcoming 300th issue of The Comics Journal and I simply want to run it verbatim, because it sounds pretty damn great: 

We paired established, influential creators with rising stars and asked them to talk about the changes the comics medium has been going through during the eventful 33 years of the Journal's existence. Among the intergenerational dialogues to be overheard: alt wiz Kevin Huizenga and reigning Maus king Art Spiegelman; the most convention-shattering cartoonist/publishers of their respective hemispheres Kramers Ergot's Sammy Harkham and L'Association's Jean-Christophe Menu; celebrated Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons and award-winning All-Star Superman artist Frank Quitely; Asterios Polyp comeback auteur David Mazzucchelli and Bottomless Belly Button breakthrough auteur Dash Shaw; acclaimed Fun Home author Alison Bechdel and award-winning Slow Storm creator Danica Novgorodoff; Martin Luther King chronicler Ho Che Anderson and American Flagg creator Howard Chaykin; legendary writer/editor Denny O'Neil and fan-favorite indy and Iron Man writer Matt Fraction; indy comics publisher/cartoonist/musician Zak Sally and Love & Rockets co-creator Jaime Hernandez; inflammatory muckraker Ted Rall and editorial cartoonist Matt Bors; super-popular Zits! cartoonist Jim Borgman and newly syndicated Knight Life stripper Keith Knight; and Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai and Crogan's Vengeance author Chris Schweizer.

And that's not even mentioning all the other stuff in the mag.  Whoa! This should be out by Oct. or so.

 "COMICS SAVANTS" EXHIBITION OPENING AUGUST 8 -- FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKSTORE & GALLERY CELEBRATES SEATTLE ALTERNATIVE CARTOONISTS

July 29, 2009 - SEATTLE, WA. Since relocating to Seattle from Southern California 20 years ago, Fantagraphics Books has remained committed to nurturing and promoting the diverse practitioners of alternative comics in the Northwest. The country's most successful purveyor of challenging comics routinely employs local cartoonists and publishes the work of regional artists which has contributed to Seattle's international reputation as the unrivaled center of alternative comics. To celebrate this association, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery presents "Comics Savants: A Survey of Seattle Alternative Cartoonists" opening Saturday, August 8.

This exhibition will feature over a dozen emerging and established artists, including many of the most accomplished cartoonists in the alternative movement. Among them: Peter Bagge, who coined the term "alternative comics" in 1990 and as the highly-regarded creator of the phenomenal Hate comic book series attracted dozens of young cartoonists to the city during the 90s decade; Seattle native Charles Burns, whose teen years are fictionalized in his amazing graphic novel Black Hole, soon to be a motion picture directed by David Fincher; Visionary artist Jim Woodring, one of only a handful of cartoonists to be embraced by the fine art world, having been awarded the United States Artist Fellowship in 2007 and a 2009 Art Trust Washington State Artists Fellowship, who will exhibit work from his forthcoming graphic novel Weathercraft; Ellen Forney, whose collaboration with local author Sherman Alexie won the prestigious 2008 National Book Award; David Lasky, who will exhibit pages from his collaboration with Seattle writer Chris Esty "The Last Testament" from Hotwire #2; Second wave Seattle alternative cartoonist Megan Kelso; emerging artist Eroyn Franklin, who will exhibit hand cut pages from her Xeric award winning graphic novel Another Glorious Day at the Nothing Factory; current and former Fantagraphics Books staffers Jim Blanchard, Roberta Gregory, Patrick Moriarity; Ted Jouflas; Jason T. Miles and Eric Reynolds.

In addition to the display of original artworks, an eclectic array of comics and graphic novels by exhibiting artists will be available. Many featured artists will attend the opening reception of Saturday, August 8 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.) only minutes south of downtown. This event coincides with the colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack featuring exciting visual and performing arts presentations in close proximity throughout the historic artists' enclave.

LISTING INFORMATION

COMICS SAVANTS: A Survey of Seattle Alternative Cartoonists

Peter Bagge, Jim Blanchard, Charles Burns, Ellen Forney, Roberta Gregory, Ted Jouflas, Megan Kelso, David Lasky, Jason T. Miles, Patrick Moriarity, Eric Reynolds, Jim Woodring, and introducing Eroyn Franklin.

Opening reception Saturday, August 8, 6:00 to 9:00 PM

Exhibition continues through September 9, 2009

Join us on Saturday, August 22 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM for the publication party of Eroyn Franklin's Xeric award wining comic Another Glorious Day at the Nothing Factory.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 98108
206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM

www.fantagraphics.com

Here's today's batch of Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Comic-Con: More on the big show from Brian Heater at The Daily Cross Hatch & The Comics Reporter's Tom Spurgeon

• Comic-Con: We love you too, Tom

• Comic-Con: Looks like Kelly Kilmer scored a bunch of great stuff at our booth on Sunday 

• Review: "The first four issues of Michael Kupperman's awesome comedy comics zine Tales Designed to Thrizzle have been collected into a single hardcover volume that is a superdense wad of funny, surreal, bent humor... This is weird, funny, Subgenius-esque toilet reading that will keep you very regular." - Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

• Review: "Thomas Ott's Dead End, & Tales of Error, (Fantagraphics Books) - This Swiss artist's comics are a moody blend of irony, horror and silence. (Most of his stories have no dialogue or captions.) The stark black-and-white pages - thanks to Ott's use of scratchboard - bring to mind such German Expressionist films as Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu. Like those films, Ott knows how to build suspense and maintain a sense of looming dread as each story reaches its foregone and tragic ending." - Steven Kwan, "Your new textbooks: Comics you need to read," University of Arizona Daily Wildcat

• Review: "The key to [Mome]'s continued success has been flexibility regarding its mission. It's still a place where young artists are sought out and spotlighted... It's also a place where key foreign comics can find a home... Lastly, it's a place where great American cartoonists can publish their short stories... This variety of approaches... positions it as a sort of descendant of Weirdo and RAW. It may not represent the absolute cutting edge of comics the way that Kramer's Ergot does, but it's still the widest available survey of alt-comics in publication and will be increasingly valuable in that regard as it continues to evolve." - Rob Clough

• Preview: The Comics Reporter reports: "I saw John Pham briefly at his studio on Monday. He's a little bit late -- although nowhere near comics-late -- with the second issue of his Sublife series from Fantagraphics, and the original art he showed me was really, really pretty."

• Plug: Irwin Chusid, co-editor of The Sweetly Diabolic Art of Jim Flora, shares some words and thoughts on the book upon the occasion of its official publication date today

• Plug: Boing Boing's Mark Frauenfelder hypes The Sweetly Diabolic Art of Jim Flora, relating the following: "Tim Biskup told me the the first time he saw Flora's work (when he was in a used record store) he felt his brain rewiring on the spot, forever changing his approach to art."

• Plug: On C-SPAN2's Book TV, Reason's Nick Gillespie recommends Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me by Peter Bagge (link goes to YouTube)

• Plugs: Jog looks at some of our new releases arriving in comic shops today

• Plugs: "If you picked up I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! and delighted in the surreal mayhem therein (and who didn’t) you’re going to have to grab a copy of You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! to make your life complete... It’s completely insane and very funny and will probably encourage you to indulge in a spot of unnecessary exclamation pointing... The Summer 2009 edition of MOME has arrived and, as usual, it's packed... Sergio Ponchione's Grotesque #3... is one of those lovely-looking Ignatz books... If you're a fan of weird Lynchian fantasy you should definitely check it out." - Gosh! Comics Blog

• Plugs: "The Complete Crumb Comics, Vol. 9...: Classic Crumb from 1972 and ‘73, reprinted once again. Lots of great politically incorrect material, including Crumb's assault (of sorts) on feminism. All in good fun, of course... The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 12: 1973-1974...: This one contains what I sincerely think is one of the greatest extended stories in the history of comics, where Charlie Brown starts seeing baseballs everywhere and gets a baseball-shaped rash on the back of his head. Hopefully you're buying the whole series, but if you only want one volume, I'd suggest this one. If you want more, though, you can buy the box set with Vol. 11 included... Mome, Vol. 15 (Summer 2009): ...[T]his one looks intriguing if only because it features both the debut of up-and-coming artist T. Edward Bak and a 16-page story by the Spanish artist Max, who we don't nearly get enough of in these parts." - Chris Mautner, Robot 6

• Reviewer: Dash Shaw has begun contributing to the Comics Comics blog; here's his inaugural post, on an anime art book