Fresh from art director Jacob Covey come these images of the upcoming paperback edition of Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin. This edition compiles the two-volume hardcover set into one massive tome. This and the follow-up volume, Willie & Joe: Back Home, are scheduled to be out in June.

We're open for business at Emerald City ComiCon! Our table is heaving under the weight of all these great books and comics so come on down to table 808 and buy buy buy! (Special thanks to super-volunteer Gavin Lees for unexpectedly showing up to help with setup!) We've got Portable Grindhouse editor Jacques Boyreau joining us at 4:00 to sign and talk trash cinema. See here for our whole weekend of ECCC events!

UPDATE: Jacques is running late and will arrive at 5:00!

UPDATE 2: Unfortunately Jacques got stuck in I-5 traffic and will miss his signing tonight but has rescheduled for tomorrow 2:00-4:00.

Justin Green (above) and Kim Deitch (below) have given us permission to sell their original artwork from last December's Medieval Thinkers exhibit at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on eBay. Bid on Justin's piece here and Kim's piece here, and see additional images here and here. Don't miss your chance to own these incredible pieces by two of underground comix' all-time greats!

The extremely funny Michael Kupperman is performing with the extremely funny Todd Barry (and a couple of other funny people with funny pseudonyms — here's one clue) at Hudson Valley Auctioneers in Beacon, NY on Saturday March 12! Tickets are only 5 bucks — cheap at 3x the price! Here's the event listing at the Beacon Citizen. Man oh man I want to see this so bad I can't even stand it. It's the chocolate and peanut butter of comedy!

Arthur have been posting comics that ran in the pages of their magazine in the mid-aughts (during the Jordan Crane/Sammy Harkham and Tom Devlin reigns over their comics section), including "Split Rock, Montana" by Megan Kelso (who's signing with us on Sunday at Emerald City ComiCon, ahem) and a ton of other great, unmissable stuff. Seriously.

Same Hat! posts this commissioned Johnny Ryan drawing based on Junji Ito's Gyo from a few years ago (via Sean T. Collins); below, Johnny's cover to a Herpes Kids minicomic courtesy Sam Henderson's The Magic Whistle blog, where you can see the rest of the comic as well (via The Comics Reporter).

Drew Weing has a couple of anthology contributions on the way: he posted this teaser panel from a story he has in the upcoming Fluke anthology, and he drew a story written by M.K. Reed in the new issue of the always-unmissable Papercutter from Tugboat Press (shown below with cover art by Jonas Madden-Connor; photo from the Tugboat Press Flickr page). Can't wait!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions (running late due to Emerald City ComiCon prep!):

• List: Library Journal's Martha Cornog recommends Unlovable: The Complete Collection by Esther Pearl Watson as one of her "Graphic Novels for Women's History Month": "A cringe-worthy classic of high school malaise, reportedly based on a real girl's diary found in a Las Vegas bathroom in 1995. Like a Wimpy Kid older sister but more poignant and painful, this features jagged, unpretty art capturing the diarist's inner chaos. For Lynda Barry fans craving a new read and professionals seeking an unvarnished glimpse of female adolescence."

• List: Chris Arrant of Robot 6 includes R. Kikuo Johnson and Barry Windsor-Smith on his list of "Comic creators I wish would return to comics"

• Plug: At The New York Times, Mark Dery examines the resurgence in interest in Edward Gorey and works in a nice mention of our book: "The market for Gorey books and merchandise buoys indie publishers like... Fantagraphics, which is releasing a third edition of The Strange Case of Edward Gorey, a portrait by the novelist and longtime Gorey friend Alexander Theroux."

• Plug (or something): Something about Peanuts on the Savage Critics' Wait, What? podcast? We haven't had time to listen, but the image made us take notice

Here's a 4 1/2-minute "sneak peek" clip from last night's episode of The Seattle Channel's CityStream, which (as we previously noted) features a whole lot of us and (as we failed to note) some Jim Woodring. Looks like the full episode will go online next week after it runs through its broadcast schedule — we'll be sure to let you know.

The fabulous Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack returns on March 12. The neighborhood lights up from 6:00 to 9:00 PM with visual and performing arts presentations throughout the historic industrial arts corridor. This monthly event affords the public an opportunity to visit working artists' studios and patronize the lively and diverse establishments that surround them.

Among the highlights of the March 12 Art Attack: The amazing Georgetown Trailer Park Mall celebrates Americana at its best with the debut of Charlie's Buns ‘N' Stuff, a trunk show of Frida Kustoms in the Frida Trailer Gallery, and live recording for the Georgetown Trailer Park Podcast; Krab Jab Studio presents "The Alien-Pooka War" by artist Milo Duke; the grand opening of Vecta Photo, a photography studio and gallery in the Original Rainier Brewery, features photographs of Seattle Slam wheelchair rugby athletes (proceeds of sales will benefit the team); "Chalk:" new art by Mark LaFalce at Mark LaFalce Painting Works; the neighboring Seattle Sculpture Atelier features a preview of Spring classes; Calamity Jane's hosts an assemblage and sculpture group show with Yvette Endrijautzki, Morbid Anatomy, Matthew C. Scott, Jack Howe and Brandon Bowman; Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery mounts an exhibition focusing on master French cartoonist Jacques Tardi with a slide talk by curator, editor and Tardi translator Kim Thompson; and the many wonderfully creative shopping and dining experiences that make historic Georgetown a priceless civic asset worthy of preservation.

The Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack is a monthly promotion of the Georgetown Merchants Association. For more information and a downloadable Art Attack map please visit:
www.georgetownartattack.com.