Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "What elevates Werewolves of Montpellier into the top rank of Jason’s work is the way he manages to dovetail the story’s genre elements with the emotional narrative. ... Overall, this is a pitch-perfect, expertly-crafted story by an artist who is clearly working in his comfort zone. It’s remarkable to see a creator go to the same well so many times and yet continue to produce nuanced and powerful variations on the same themes." – Rob Clough, The Comics Journal

• Review: "...Billy Hazelnuts and the Crazy Bird is as good as the first book. It has the same atmosphere, the same sense of humor and almost all the [same] positive elements..." – Thomas Papadimitropoulos, Comicdom (translated from Greek)

• Review: "What speaks to this reader ten years later is how emotionally satisfying on a primal, child-like level these highly complicated and ornately drawn stories [in Death & Candy #1] can be, how much easier they are to read now as opposed to then when it seemed Andersson was making some of the strangest comics on earth. He wasn't; he was making normal comics very strangely." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

Ellen Forney was featured on KING-5's Evening Magazine tonight, as they paid a visit to her comic art class. See above or the link for embedded video.

  This shouldn't come as news to too many folks, but I don't recall seeing it flogged before, so what the hell: the latest issue of THE PARIS REVIEW includes a very long interview with R. Crumb. It's kind of a layman's interview, covering a lot of well trodden ground, but it's lengthy and satisfying. You need to buy the print version for the full read. 

Meanwhile, over on the official R. Crumb website, Alex Wood catches up with Crumb as well, at least until Crumb has to go care for his baby grandson. 

Lastly, the photo in this post is a detail I nabbed from Facebook friend John Heneghan's photos, taken of Crumb recently in the south of France. The man looks GOOD, right? John has quite a few amazing pics of playing music with Crumb and hanging out with him, Gilbert Shelton and Robert Armstrong. Lucky guy. 

Tim Hensley channels his inner Kirby for this incredible silkscreen poster in full-on 1970s black-light mode, complete with flocking! It's available from those wizards at PictureBox. Will he have some with him during his signing at our Comic-Con table at noon on Saturday? He's not saying.

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "A book that sticks with you like a virus, Woodring's newest collection of tales of vague morality and definite oddity [Weathercraft] keeps intact his status as one of comics most eccentric auteurs. ... Woodring's wordless story is a looping and circumstantial affair, concerned more with fantastically rendered backgrounds — his starkly layered landscapes play like minimalist woodcuts of the deepest unconscious — than matters of plot and story. There is a creeping message of sorts, about the wages of greed and what happens to curious cats, but it's mired in a universe of deeply strange beauty and not always easy to divine." – Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

• Review: "...[A] gorgeously-produced best-of collection from shojo manga creator Moto Hagio, A Drunken Dream and Other Stories... The material showcased here has been assembled from across thirty years of Moto’s career, and shows her switching nimbly between storytelling modes. On the face of the evidence there was very little she could not do, some things she did well, and a few things she did magnificently. ... This book’s further evidence that 'shojo' need not be thought of as closed-ended and insular a category as “science fiction” once was." – Serdar Yegulalp, Genji Press

• Review: "Where most American gag strips were about the silly things that happen every day, Peanuts was about how to keep on living when you don't get what you want. It was still vital and true at this point [1973-1974], even if more and more of the stories focused on Snoopy quaffing root beers with Bill Mauldin, or writing bad novels, or playing tennis." – Andrew Wheeler, The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

• Review: "Medley has a real talent for character, and she does a wonderful job of exploring and expanding upon standard fairy tale tropes. With her signature creation, Castle Waiting, she takes the bare bones of several well-known stories and redrafts them to account for the human element. ... The first volume of Castle Waiting... is available in a gorgeous hardcover edition from Fantagraphics Books... and the finished product is stunning..." – Stella Matutina

• Plug: "Megan Kelso's Artichoke Tales... is earning comparisons with epics like Cold Mountain and The Thorn Birds, and Kelso's nimble, cartoonish two-color art will remind readers of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. – Michael Bagnulo, Shelf Awareness

• Interview: Stephen DeStefano talks shop in a "Cartoonist Survey" Q&A with David Paccia of David-Wasting-Paper: "I recall when I first got to DC Comics as a teenager, Joe Kubert lectured me on starting my reference file. This way, no matter what I wanted to draw, I always had a photo to reference. In this age of Google Image Search, the idea of a reference folder seems positively quaint!"

• Interview: At HiLobrow, Joshua Glenn presents a previously unseen 2002 Q&A (missing the Qs) with Kim Deitch: "Yeah, Waldo represents individualization. His edges can’t be smoothed off — even by me. That’s why I try not to over-use Waldo. If I haven’t got a good idea with him, I’ll let him sit on the shelf for years." (Via ¡Journalista!)

• Profile: The Cincinnati Enquirer's Lauren Bishop spotlights the Comic-Con-bound Carol Tyler: "It's sure to be quite a different experience from the last time Tyler attended Comic-Con, in 1988, when she received the inaugural Dori Seda Memorial Award for Best New Female Cartoonist. 'When I went, it was pretty small,' she says. 'I slept on somebody's floor.'"

The latest limited edition release from the Drew Friedman Fine Art concern is Drew's portrait of soul great Jackie Wilson. Click here for all the info and to order. The portrait is also included in Drew's new collection of portraits, Too Soon?, debuting at Comic-Con and available widely soon thereafter.

Can you think of a better combination? Pure awesomeness! Start your Wilson movie casting fantasies/rumors. Via a bunch of people on Twitter.

This Saturday at 12:00PM I'm honored to be interviewing one of my favorite cartoonists, Seattle's Peter Bagge, for the 2010 Comic-Con International (Room 3). If you happen to be a recipient of a golden ticket and are braving this year's premier comic book convention then I urge you to attend as we'll be wholesaling a satori experience in the guise of humor and loathing for all humankind! The following topics will be discussed: Delusion, Consequence, Death, Study of History, Crosshatching, Super Wackiness, Grim Mundane Reality, and more! 

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Instead of bringing to mind old black & white stories and advertisements, the color [Tales Designed to] Thrizzle now mines the endless well of cheap, awful color comics. The color scheme is so heavily into the CMYK scheme of old four-color comics, and employed so luridly, that the reader is once again forced to dig into each panel slowly. ... Kupperman can jab you with a quick joke like a fake ad or a cover for an old comic called 'Cowboy Oscar Wilde,' or he can wrestle you into submission with a shaggy dog joke. ... With... subtle changes, Kupperman has managed to keep the top humor periodical fresh." – Rob Clough, The Comics Journal

• Review: "This most recent compilation is the finest presentation of the Mr. Natural strips I’ve ever seen and is a must-buy for any Crumb fan whether they’ve been there since he first made his appearance in Zap or are coming on board with The Book of Genesis. Either way, this is not to be missed." – Joe Keatinge, Neon Monster

• Review: "Reading [Charles M. Schulz's] wonderful comics is enjoyable and comfortable, sort of like wearing a worn, favourite sweater. Fantagraphics Books has done a good job putting Schulz's cartoons together in a nice book. Whether you're watching Peppermint Patty skating and being coached by Snoopy, Snoopy dealing with a broken leg, or Lucy still pulling the football away from Charlie Brown at the last second The Complete Peanuts: 1975 to 1976 is a humourous, welcome reprieve from a stressful, often screwed up, world. Thanks Mr. Schulz!" – Glenn Perrett, Simcoe.com

• Review: "Like some Uncle Wiggly story gone mad — or perhaps Krazy Kat in disguise — Tony Millionaire’s mad cake batter boy goes on a frantic rampage to return a baby owl to its mother and embarks on an adventure that is in no way as linear as my sentence implies. Millionaire really does channel the cartoonists of the early 20th century, while still giving the work [Billy Hazelnuts and the Crazy Bird] a quality that’s somewhat reminiscent of ’70s underground comics — and it’s kid-friendly to boot! Good fun with good energy." – John Seven, Worcester Magazine

• Review: "I picked up Carol Tyler's You'll Never Know, Book One: A Good and Decent Man from the library on the strength of recommendations I have seen for it all over the web, and it didn't disappoint me... Tyler has a nice diary style that seems intimate and friendly but is also quite sophisticated. ... There aren't too many comics about middle-aged women, and it was nice to read about something other than youthful rebellion and angst for a change." – Brigid Alverson, Robot 6

• Comic-Con: At About.com, manga columnist Deb Aoki talks up Moto Hagio's panels and appearance at our booth (#1718)

We have a few extra tidbits to append to our Comic-Con announcement: once again we'll have the pleasure of welcoming the lovely and talented Natalia Hernandez as she debuts the eagerly-awaited third issue of her hit self-published minicomic The Adventures of Crystal Girl! It's a rollicking read for young and old alike. Natalia will be hanging out with her pop Gilbert & uncle Jaime during at least some of their scheduled signing times:

Thursday 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Friday 12:00 - 2:00 PM
Saturday 3:00 - 5:00 PM
Sunday 2:00 - 4:00 PM

We'll also once again be breaking out the silver Sharpies as a destination in the Peanuts scavenger hunt in association with the Schulz Museum booth (#1537) — stop by there to pick up your official game card and purchase some nifty exclusive Peanuts merch.

And finally, you couldn't turn around in the comics blogosphere last week without seeing hype for the promotional tote bags being given out by a major motion picture/television studio... I mean, really? Who wants those junky old things when you can get a beautiful, roomy, sturdy canvas Fantagraphics tote bag featuring the smiling mug of Daniel Clowes's über-nerd Dan Pussey for $14.95, or FREE with a purchase of $150 or more? You'll use it for years instead of hucking it in the back of your closet as soon as the Con is over. We'll have a very limited supply so don't delay in picking yours up.

It all happens at booth #1718! See you there!