Now available for preview and pre-order: the 297th issue of The Comics Journal, featuring extensive interivews with Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois creator (and Sam's Strip writer) Mort Walker and French artist Emmanuel Guibert (Alan's War). Plus a gallery of art by pioneering caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson, reviews and many more features. Check out the full table of contents here and in the preview slideshow photo & video slideshow preview embedded below. Click here if it is not visible, and/or to view it larger in a new window (recommended).

Comics scholar (and Fantagraphics co-founder) Michael Catron wrote a short but sweet introduction to our new forthcoming collection of Blazing Combat, and now you can read it here on our website in advance of the book's release.

Time for your weekly batch of new webcomics!

First up, some miraculous sandwiches in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan!

The tykes take action in this week's installment of Steven Weissman's in-progress pages from "Blue Jay," an epic 50-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures.

Ah, sweet pillow talk. Plus Valentine's Day and the Ebola virus in our current 5-day chunk of Martin Kellerman's hilarious Swedish smash-hit Rocky, updated Monday-Friday!

• Profile: Spanish site Zona Negativa takes a close look at the young career of Dash Shaw (Google translation)

• Things to see (and buy): Robert Goodin has put a bunch of recent work up for sale at Comic Art Collective, with more to come over the weekend (via Rob's blog)

Humbug debuts at #6 on The New York Times "Graphic Books Best Seller List (Hardcover)" for the week ending March 14 (published today). The Complete Peanuts 1971-1972 (Vol. 11) falls from #5 to #10.

We are, of course, most pleased.

The Metabunker scoops us with the details on From Wonderland with Love, an anthology of new Danish comics we're co-publishing with Aben Maler this summer.

Take a virtual tour through our phenomenal Humbug exhibit currently on view (through April 1) at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Click here if the slideshow embedded below doesn't display, or to view greater detail in a new window.

Check out some scenes from last Saturday's lively signing and performance by Dame Darcy at the aforementioned Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Again, click here if the slideshow embedded below doesn't display, or to view it in a new window.

And below, catch a few of the bewitching musical numbers performed by Dame Darcy and her brother Matt at the evening's event. If the embedded player isn't visible, click here for the YouTube playlist.

Now available for preview and pre-order: A Mess of Everything, the new sequel to Escape from "Special" by Miss Lasko-Gross. Follow Melissa through high school in this collection of intense, honest, funny semiautobiographical tales. This book is scheduled to be in stock in early April and in stores approximately 4 weeks later.

View a photo & video slideshow preview embedded here. Click here if it is not visible, and/or to view it larger in a new window (recommended). And visit the product details page for a downloadable PDF excerpt of the first 21 pages!

We have a whole mess of exclusive short excerpts of new and upcoming books that have gone up on the ICv2.com site recently. They're intended for "industry pros" but there's no reason everyone can't check 'em out:

• Mother, Come Home by Paul Hornschemeier (our product page)
• Humbug by Harvey Kurtzman et al. (our product page)
• Unlovable Vol. 1 by Esther Pearl Watson (our product page)
• The Wolverton Bible by Basil Wolverton (our product page)
• A Mess of Everything by Miss Lasko-Gross (our product page)

Hey, we just re-kajiggered our MySpace profile to upgrade to their "Profile 2.0" format -- we might continue tweaking it a bit, but go ahead and check it on out if you're so inclined.

Also: we helped Ted Stearn set up an official page for Fuzz & Pluck on Facebook -- become a fan!