Jaime Hernandez wrestles with Love and Rockets #16 while Gilbert sinks his teeth into issue 15 circa 1986 in this, one of a handful of vintage photos recently posted by Carol Hernandez to the Love and Rockets Facebook page.

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "...Weing produces a classic tale of the sea and self-discovery in his graphic novel debut [Set to Sea]. ... Presented almost like a Big Little Book for grownups, with one lovely panel per page in a small volume, the hero's journey in this tale isn't particularly unpredictable, but Weing's mastery of both small details (the hero's waxing and waning love affair with language) and sweeping vistas (from the glaciers to a steaming port city) gives it richness and emotion. ... Weing's E.C. Segar-influenced drawings elevates what could have been an oft-told story into a powerful fable." – Publishers Weekly

• Review: "I feel like Steve Martin’s character in the movie The Jerk where he dances for joy at the gas station loudly proclaiming to all within earshot, 'The new phone book is here! The new phone book is here!' The new Tales Designed to Thrizzle is here. The new Tales Designed to Thrizzle is here! ... In every way relevant to a distinctly warped sense of humor, this issue represents a tightening of comedic springs and sweetening of the hurled cream pies. Its funny business appears more consummately distilled, concentrated and unremitting. Every page pays off, ratcheting up the risibility with droll efficiency." – Rich Kreiner, The Comics Journal

• Review: "Werewolves of Montpellier is another perfect example of Jason's mundane absurdity. ... The artwork is, once again, so simplistic and so spot on that the only word to describe it is brilliant. ... Year after year, Jason delivers genre-defining works of art, and Werewolves of Montpellier is nothing more than the latest masterpiece from one of the medium's most profound and unique voices." – Steve Ponzo, Multiversity Comics

• Interview: Publishers Weekly's Kate Fitzsimons talks to our own Kim Thompson about bringing Jacques Tardi's The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec to English-language readers: "I wouldn't call them a cult classic, they're more like a mainstream classic. Tardi is very popular and Adele is the work that's so popular that his publisher keeps trying to get him to go back to it again and again. I'd say that in France, Adele is a well known pop culture figure in the same way the Fantastic Four is here. So cult wouldn't exactly be the word."

• Interview: Pick up the April 2010 issue (#15) of Hi-Fructose magazine for an interview with Al Columbia

• Also: Budding young artist Fiddle Tim (better known as Frances Bean Cobain) is reportedly influenced by Al Columbia according to Rock NYC

Drinky Crow + TMBG + booze = dook dook dook dook! Now available again, says Tony Millionaire. Only 10 bucks!

[Ed. note: This is the first post to be tagged in our new "merch" category, which we should have started a long time ago.]

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "After hearing his name lauded for many years, Werewolves of Montpellier was my first excursion into the world of Jason, the renowned Norwegian-born artist known for mixing whimsical anthropomorphic characters with introspective and often quite heavy storylines. Now I understand what my friends have been raving about for years. Jason’s artwork is sparse and the story is a masterpiece in simplicity. ... At times heartbreakingly sad and laugh-out-loud funny, this story just feels like real life... but with werewolves. ... These characters are hopeless, hilarious, tragic and beautiful – probably a lot like you and your friends." – Chad Derdowski, Mania

• Review: "Norwegian cartoonist Jason's latest work [Werewolves of Montpellier] is an absolute gem, funny, sparse and poignant. A tale of a thief, his complicated love life, urban living and werewolves, this is a unique and entertaining work." – Ian Mayor

• Reviewer: Jason shares his thoughts on Bob le Flambeur

• Semi-review: "A bound galley of Moto Hagio's A Drunken Dream and Other Stories arrived in yesterday's mail, and I'm halfway through it already. Hagio's art in some of these stories is absolutely beautiful to look at... I'm sure the finished book will be beautiful and expensive, but I sort of hope some girls find these stories as well, and get the same thrill I did." – Bridgid Alverson, Robot 6

• Interview: Lan D. Ho! has the world's shortest interview with Michael Kupperman

• Plug: PowellsBooks.Blog plugs Dame Darcy's Meat Cake

Consciousness of Lack is the new silkscreen print from Jordan Crane available at his Reddingk site, and undoubtedly to be for sale at Comic-Con. Nom nom nom!

The nominations for the 2010 Harvey Awards have been announced and we're pleased to report that our artists and publications have been honored with 5 of them:

Best Continuing or Limited Series: Ganges by Kevin Huizenga
Best Single Issue or Story: Ganges #3 by Kevin Huizenga

Best Domestic Reprint Project: Humbug

Special Award for Excellence in Presentation: The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley's Cartoons from 1913-1940, edited by Trina Robbins, designed by Adam Grano

Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation: The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, Michael Dean and Kristy Valenti

Our normal M.O. with award nominations is to put the nominated titles on sale — conveniently, all of these titles are already on sale because they are also 2010 Eisner Award nominees. Still, browse and shop our 2010 Harvey Award nominees here.

Several of our worthy pals also picked up nominations for their non-Fantagraphics work, including but not limited to Robert Crumb, Roger Langridge, Joe Sacco, Seth & R. Sikoryak — congratulations to all. The complete list of nominees can be found here.

RIP Harvey Pekar — sad, sad news. Eric is working on a tribute for tonight or tomorrow, but for now, I'll just borrow this from Drew Friedman.

Just announced over the weekend, the Saturday and Sunday programming for Comic-Con international. Our official PR goes out this week but we figure some of you might not want to wait to find out about the Fantagraphics-related panels. See here for Friday's FBI-ish panels.

[Note: this post is updated as we get more information.]

SATURDAY:

12:00-1:00 Spotlight on Peter Bagge — Comic-Con special guest Peter Bagge talks to Fantagraphics' Jason T. Miles about his work, including the legendary Buddy Bradley stories in Hate and his new graphic novels, Apocalypse Nerd and Other Lives. Room 3 

1:00-2:00 Spotlight on Gabrielle Bell— Join Comic-Con special guest Gabrielle Bell (Cecil and Jordan in New York, Lucky). Gabrielle Bell has been featured in McSweeneys, Vice and the Believer. The title story of her most recent book, Cecil and Jordan in New York has been adapted for the screen by Michel Gondry in the triptych Tokyo! She is currently serializing her Ignatz award-winning autobiographcal comics Lucky online. Gabrielle Bell will present a slideshow and discuss her work with Tom Spurgeon (www.thecomicsreporter) Room 3

1:30-2:30 Comics Criticism— Comics are a staple of the arts and book review sections of everything from The New York Times and Publishers Weekly to a current golden age of published biography and history, such as Gerard Jones's Men of Tomorrow, R. C. Harvey's Meanwhile..., and David Michaelis's Schulz and Peanuts. Some of the nation's leading critics discuss the state of the art and the state of its journalism, 2010. Panelists include Gary Groth (The Comics Journal), Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics), Brian Doherty (Radicals for Capitalism), Ben Schwartz (editor, Best American Comics Criticism), R. C. Harvey (Meanwhile...) and R. Fiore (Funnybook Roulette). Room 4

3:00-4:00 Comics Reprint Revolution— For comics fans, the vintage reprint revolution keeps getting bigger and better! Comics Reporter's Tom Spurgeon talks with Craig Yoe (Krazy Kat, Popeye, Jetta), Dean Mullaney (editor of Library of American Comics for IDW: Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, Secret Agent Corrigan), Daniel Herman (Hermes Press: Buck Rogers, The Phantom), Gary Groth (Fantagraphics: Peanuts, Prince Valiant, Captain Easy), Peggy Burns (Drawn and Quarterly: John Stanley Library, Walt & Skeezix), Steve Saffel (Titan Books, Beetle Bailey, Simon & Kirby Library) and Charles Pelto (Classic Comics Press: Mary Perkins, On Stage, The Heart of Juliet Jones, Big Ben Bolt) about their publications reprinting some of the very best of comic books and comic strips. Room 8

3:30-4:30 International Comics and Graphic Novels— Comics are popular the world over and Comic-Con always includes an impressive gathering of worldwide talent. Journalist Tom Spurgeon talks with special guests Moto Hagio (Japan: A Drunken Dream), Émile Bravo (France: My Mommy is in America and she Met Buffalo Bill),  Milo Manara (Italy: Click!), and Kathryn and Stuart Immonen (Canada: Moving Pictures, Russian Olive to Red King) about graphic novels with a more international flavor. Room 4

5:30-6:30 Bill Everett: From Sub-Mariner to Daredevil— Bill Everett created the Sub-Mariner for Marvel Comics #1 back in 1939 and co-created Daredevil in 1964. Author Blake Bell and Bill's daughter Wendy Everett celebrate the life of her late father, discussing the release of Bell's latest book, Fire And Water: Bill Everett, The Sub-Mariner, and the Birth of Marvel Comics Room 9

SUNDAY:

12:30-1:30 The Funny Stuff: Humor in Comics and Graphic Novels— The world of comics isn't just about dark and mysterious superheroes. There are a lot of great funny books out there. The Cartoon Art Museum's Andrew Farago talks to Comic-Con special guests Peter Bagge (Hate), Howard Cruse (Wendel), Nicholas Gurewitch (The Perry Bible Fellowship), Keith Knight (The K Chronicles), Larry Marder (Beanworld), and Doug TenNapel (Monster Zoo) about the humorous side of comics. Room 8 

We just uploaded a mess of photos from recent Fantagraphics events to our Flickr page. In reverse chronological order, starting with last night's Dame Darcy exhibit opening and Meat Cake signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery:

Click here for more photos, including shots of all the artwork.

From June 5th, Esther Pearl Watson & Mark Todd's visit to the store for our holiday weenie roast (with grill-meister Larry Reid):

More photos here.

And lastly, on July 3rd, at an undisclosed location, the triumphant return of the Fantagraphics shooting outing:

Check out the Flickr group for more photos by Jim Blanchard & Adam Grano.

Our weekly update is a little late but we have a bonus to make up for it:

It's almost like the Prison Pit world and the Blecky world collide in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan...