Our own Eric Reynolds forwarded me this link: The co-writer and co-star of the upcoming film Paul sports an Eightball #23 t-shirt in this short behind-the-scenes video (and presumably on screen during the film). Such a shirt was never produced commercially as far as I know, so this must be a custom job from the film's wardrobe department. Look for more Fantagraphics set dressing when the film arrives in theaters (release date TBA). And speaking of Fantagraphics set dressing, how about that new season of The IT Crowd?

Head over to TIME.com's Techland blog for an exclusive 6-page sneak peek of Jason's new graphic novel Werewolves of Montpellier, in stores today!

Online Commentary & Diversions returns after a slow news day yesterday:

• Review: "Hensley’s clean art, drawn in a 1960s cartoon style (and complete with bright color pallete) is a bizarre mish-mash of the best in ‘60s teen book cartooning with the absurdity of an episode of The Monkees and the severity of indy comics. ...Hensley’s biting humor [is] either as spontaneous on the final page…or so well timed and planned that you don’t see it coming. In all honesty, I had trouble figuring Wally [Gropius] out — I expected a nostalgic pastiche with an edge, but what I got was an unpredictable and sometimes unsettling reading experience, literally not knowing what to expect from page to page. And that’s where Hensley excels, with a narrative sleight of hand, his seemingly innocent characters hiding more base and sinister motivations, using classic cartooning techniques to conceal a darker underbelly." – Christopher Irving, Graphic NYC

• Review: "...[W]hat really defines Billy Hazelnuts [and the Crazy Bird] is a genuine sense of excitement on the part of the author, as though, like the daughters he’ll eventually read the book to, Millionaire seems eager to discover what sort of adventures await his hero on the next page. ... Billy Hazelnuts is dark and weird and funny and strangely warm — it’s a book you wish you could have discovered at a much younger age. Thankfully, it’s pretty fun as an adult, too." – Brian Heater, The Daily Cross Hatch

• Plugs: "This gorgeous softcover collection of Dame Darcy's Meat Cake comic series is a thick slice of delicious Victorian romantic, horror, humor with just a hint of Southern gothic. ... So beautifully drawn and entertaining, Werewolves of Montpellier should make members of Team Jacob consider changing their name to Team Jason." – Benn Ray (Atomic Books), Largehearted Boy

• Interview: At The Comics Journal, Marc Librescu continues his talk with Gahan Wilson: "A lot of the reasons that [today’s] horror movies are so not entertaining or not much fun, and leave you with a very yuck taste, is that they’re brutal. And I think they’re brutal because the people who are making them are brutalized, basically, putting it right smack down there on the table. And they’re kind of a little fuggy, and that’s not good for an artist."

Patrick Rosenkranz not only wrote our forthcoming book The Artist Himself: A Rand Holmes Retrospective, he directed a half-hour documentary about the Rand Holmes Retrospective art exhibit at the Lasqueti Island community hall in 2007. This short video presents highlights from the film. The complete film was originally planned to be included on a DVD bound into the book, but as the book expanded from 208 pages to 328, we sadly had to cut the DVD to keep the cover price from becoming prohibitive. We'll let you know if and when the complete film becomes available elsewhere.

Summer celebrations continue in Georgetown with the Second Saturday Art Attack on July 10 and the annual Georgetown Garden Walk on Sunday, July 11. These colorful activities accentuate the unique character of Georgetown's historic business corridor and creative residential neighborhood.

Among the highlights of the July 10 Georgetown Art Attack: Seattle Teen Printmakers (STP) display work from recent workshops at Georgetown Arts and Cultural Center together with Amy Pleasant's "Family Album" exhibition and open studios with resident artists; "Meat Cake" book launch party featuring original comic art exhibition, book signing and performance by Portland-based artist Dame Darcy at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery; a collection of handcrafted traditional Caribbean masks from Trinidad & Tobago, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Jamaica by Alyssa Johnson at Calamity Jane's; the debut of "Seattle Hop" tee shirt and other works designed by Seattle home brewer and digital artist Laura Fletcher at Full Throttle Bottles; "Just Before the Leap" paintings by Mark LaFalce, "Encaustics: the Wave of Wax" by Deborah Stachowic, and "Clay, Baby" works by Pamela Hathaway at 5626 Airport Way S. studios; an exhibition at Indiro artist studio, 5050 First S., featuring Dave Alton, Nicole Appell, Catherine Bailey, Jolie Bergman, Felice Dunn, Darren Emmens, Becky Fitterer, Meredith Jenkins, Brian Kuntz, Gay Seydlitz, Reecca Thayer and Carrie Whitney. Also included in both the Art Attack and Garden Walk is a "Trailer Park Market of Curiosities" featuring local art, vintage clothing, collectibles and more at the newly minted Georgetown Trailer Park Mall.

For Trailer Park Mall information visit: www.georgetowntrailerpark.com. Maps of the Georgetown Garden Walk can be found at the Bank of America parking lot at 1112 S. Bailey St. on Sunday, July 11.

The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack is a monthly promotion of the Georgetown Merchants' Association (GMA). For additional information contact Art Attack coordinator Larry Reid or GMA chair Sara Aruguete at numbers above. For a map of Art Attack participants see: www.georgetownartattack.com

Two new books wending their way into comic shops this week — read on for more info and the week's blog blurbs (now updated with The Comics Reporter):

Prince Valiant Vol. 2: 1939-1940
by Hal Foster

112-page full-color 10.25" x 14" hardcover • $29.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-348-4

"...[M]ore nuanced and detailed than ever before." – Joe McCulloch, Comics Comics

"Oh, these are so gorgeous it's not even funny. We're on an upswing in terms of the legacy enjoyed by Hal Foster's legendary creation -- people are reading it again, and enjoying it..." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

Werewolves of Montpellier
by Jason

48-page full-color 7" x 10" softcover • $12.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-359-0

"I’ve seen shorter Jason works featuring a werewolf character or two before, but a whole comic all about werewolves by him kinda blows my mind. See, he doesn’t draw his characters as humans, but as anthropomorphic animals, right? So the werewolves in this story are anthropomorphic cartoon cat men when they’re in their 'human' form, and when they’re in their wolf-man form they’re basically anthropomorphic cartoon cat men with shaggier hair. I’m sure I’m thinking too much about it; I’ve read a review copy already, and I’m happy to report one need not think too much about anything in here—it’s another fairly straightforward, bittersweet comedy from an artist who’s become something of a bittersweet comedy factory over the years. It’s a pleasure, from cover to cover." – J. Caleb Mozzocco, Newsarama

"New Jason – top o’ the list. The popular harassment this time around involves romantic werewolves (or at least a romantically-addled fake werewolf and the authentic lycanthropes he’s irritated) — sure to score big with the Twilight die-hard inside your head..." – Joe McCulloch, Comics Comics

"Every ten months or so, the Norwegian cartoonist Jason unleashes a new, brief, brilliant graphic novel on the world... This one involves a bored burglar who dresses up as a werewolf, and what happens when he encounters actual werewolves." – Douglas Wolk, Comics Alliance

"The idiosyncratic Norwegian cartoonist Jason delivers a tale about a burglar who dresses up as a werewolf...and the real-life werewolves who are less than impressed with his antics..." – Cyriaque Lamar, io9

"New Jason. I know of many people that look forward to these books in this format as much as anyone has ever anticipated anything in comics." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

Form your own impressions by checking out the previews for each book at the links above, and get the scoop on availability from your local shop.

The Artist Himself: A Rand Holmes Retrospective
by Patrick Rosenkranz

328-page full-color 8" x 10" softcover • $39.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-170-1

Ships in: July 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

Rand Holmes was Canada’s most revolutionary artist in his heyday, the star cartoonist at the Georgia Straight newspaper in British Columbia during the 1970s. His hippie hero, Harold Hedd, became the spokesman of the emerging counterculture as he avoided work, explored free love, and flouted drug laws. The Adventures of Harold Hedd spread across the globe in the wave of underground comix and newspapers of the era and Holmes became famous — or at least notorious. While his comic character was bold and blatant, the artist was shy and quiet, well on his way to becoming a complete hermit.

This book is an intimate and expansive account of a very private man who expressed his deepest feelings in the then disreputable medium of comix. “He didn’t talk much but he sure wrote a lot,” avowed his widow Martha. This biography/retrospective includes generous selections from his private journals and correspondence, family photo albums, sketchbooks, and personal anecdotes from his friends and colleagues. His artistic history began haltingly on the lonely windswept plateau of Edmonton, flourished in Vancouver and San Francisco, and concluded peacefully on Lasqueti Island, a remote backwater in the Straits of Georgia where he lived out his dreams of pioneering and homesteading.

Holmes’ life story is richly illustrated with drawings, comic strips, watercolors, and paintings that span his whole career, from the hot rod cartoons he drew as a teenager, dozens of covers for the Georgia Straight, pornographic cartoons for the sex tabloid Vancouver Star, to complete comic stories from Slow Death Funnies, Dope Comix, All Canadian Beaver, Death Rattle, Grateful Dead Comix, and many more. The full-length Harold Hedd comic novels, Wings Over Tijuana and Hitler’s Cocaine are reprinted in their entirety together for the first time. This unique collection of art documents a lifetime of work by one of the most talented artists of his generation.

Holmes died in March 2002 from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and his ashes are buried next to the Art Centre he helped build on Lasqueti Island. A retrospective exhibition of his original work was held five years later at the community hall.

Author Patrick Rosenkranz met Holmes in his salad days and remained in touch throughout his life. The Holmes family gave him complete access to their art collection and personal files, and encouraged him to tell the whole truth about Rand Holmes’ life and work.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 22-page PDF excerpt (9.5 MB) which includes the first 5 pages of the biography, the entire 7-page story "And Here He Is... The Artist Himself!" and the first chapter of "Harold Hedd in Hitler's Cocaine."

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

Bonus Savings: To celebrate the release of Patrick Rosenkranz's new book, we're offering his two previous books of underground comix scholarship, Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution 1963-1975 and You Call This Art?! A Greg Irons Retrospective, for 25% off for a limited time!

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery welcomes the lovely and talented Esther Pearl Watson and her artist cohort Mark Todd on Monday, July 5 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. Watson will sign copies of her amazing UNLOVABLE collections, among our very favorite titles at the bookstore.

Guests will enjoy an urban barbeque with complimentary hot dogs, beans, and cold beverages in addition to an array of Todd and Esther's affordable books and art. Expect a few surprises as well. Don't miss your chance to meet these extraordinary artists and have a meal on us. What better way to spend a lazy day off?

Note that Fantagraphics Bookstore will be closed on Sunday, July 4, but open 11:30 to 8:00 PM as usual on July 5 for this event. And remember to mark your calendars for Dame Darcy's appearance on Saturday, July 10.

Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York City presents Mangle, an exhibit of paintings and drawings by Dave Cooper. It opened last Saturday and continues through July 24. Most, if not all, of the works in the show will be collected in the book Bent, which I believe is at the printer now for a September release. (Hat tip: The Beat.)

News from Paul Hornschemeier on his News and Head Lice blog, where there's more info:

"This Saturday at midnight I'll be over at Second City's de Maat theater, taking the stage with hosts Joe Kwaczala and C.J. Toledano for the second installment of the The Late Live Show, a live-on-stage-in-front-of-live-people talk show. We'll talk about... well, I have no clue what we'll talk about, but I can guarantee I'll make a poop joke somewhere in there. That's my promise of quality."