We aren't in attendance at C2E2 in Chicago this weekend, but you'll be able to find our wares at various dealer booths, including Chicaco Comics' (booth 526) — and if you stop by their booth between 2 and 4 tomorrow (Saturday March 19), you'll be able to meet Paul Hornschemeier and have him sign your books (or, Paul notes on his blog, your dog).

Kati With An I (trailer) from prewarcinema on Vimeo.

It should come as little surprise that Leslie Stein, whose debut book Eye of the Majestic Creature premieres at MoCCA Fest next month, is also a musician, seeing as how one of the main characters in the book is a talking anthropomorphic guitar. Leslie's music is featured in the new documentary film Kati with an I — in the trailer posted above, it begins around the 1 minute mark. (Thanks to director Robert Greene for the scoop.)

Head to Diamond Comics Distributors' Previews website for an 8-page excerpt from Jacques Tardi's The Arctic Marauder (embedded in one of those nifty Issuu flip-through thingies — full-screen viewing is recommended).

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "The saga of Roberto Clemente is well known to baseball fans yet it has been given new life in this stunning graphic novel [21: The Story of Roberto Clemente]... Santiago's panels have a sharp, cinematic feel and the compositions and framing give the readers a better sense of how dynamic and explosive the game is than any baseball movie. The wonder of this book is that it will appeal to kids and adults alike. Even non baseball fans will fall under its spell. The national pastime has been virtually untouched by the graphic novel genre but if Santiago's effort is any indication, the marriage of subject and form is nothing short of a grand slam. Santiago has set the bar high, though, and we'll be all the richer if anyone can approach the artistry and emotional resonance of this memorable book." – Alex Belth, Sports Illustrated

• Interview: Wilfred Santiago talks with Sketch Maven about his career and creating 21: "After the previous graphic novel, In My Darkest Hour, I wanted to do a biography.  There were many reasons why Clemente was chosen. The richness, purpose-driven life, the inspirational life story are a few among many factors. The relevance of Clemente’s story to a youngster of today also came to mind. Roberto was a great and famous baseball player, and the baseball was a challenging aspect to the story. But, it was great to explore the sport in a comic book format."

• Plug: "21: The Story of Roberto Clemente will be released by Fantagraphics on April 12. Great news." – Eephus League via It's a Long Season

• Review: "One of my favorite presents from last year’s holiday season was Fantagraphics’ Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition... The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy... rivals just about any epic fantasy (novel or film) in the last 25 years for its narrative complexity and powerful action sequences. [...] Reading these stories will help you understand why, when we talk about the success stories of independent comics publishing, Usagi Yojimbo should be one of the first titles that gets mentioned." – Ron Hogan, Beatrice

• Review: "Crane’s work is highly, emotionally charged, but in a quiet way.  Illustrated in a lush, enveloping, greytone, 'Vicissitude' has a Film-Noir quality that adds an air of mystery to this story of melancholy and rotting love.  It is so engaging and enthralling that its ending is jarring. 'Freeze Out,' the Simon & Jack tale, is fantastic.  It’s all-ages comic book magic.  Reading it made me feel like a kid again, reading stories of adventure, fantasy, and magic for the first time on my own. If there were any doubts about Crane’s prodigious talent, Uptight #3 is the spell to dispel those doubts. [Grade] A+" – Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin

• Profile: The Toronto Star's Vit Wagner on the work and career of Joe Sacco: "'The drive is there,' says Sacco. 'I have a desire to go there and see things and talk to people. It’s invigorating and exciting. But my work involves a slower process. It takes me time to report. I like to sink into the situation. But beyond that, it takes a long time to write and draw my stuff, especially the drawing. You can report that there are 200,000 people in Tahrir Square, but if you want to draw the scene it takes a lot of effort.'"

• Interview: Sequential's David Hains talks to Joe Sacco: "I find more than half of my readers are from schools, in classes where they read my work. People have been to the regions and they’ll see, oh this medium has taken this on, I’ll pick that up. It’s sort of more book people than comics people. Although some of those are the same people, and thank God."

• Interview (Audio): Inkstuds host Robin McConnell talks to fellow Canadian Blake Bell about documenting the life and work of Bill Everett

• Coming Attractions: Library Journal's Martha Cornog looks ahead to three of our Summer releases (Martí's The Cabbie Vol. 1, Gahan Wilson's Nuts, and Krazy Kat in Song and Dance) in the latest "Graphic Novel Prepub Alert":

"Described as a Spanish Dick Tracy on steroids, the titular cabbie here is involved in a hunt for his father's stolen coffin, which contains his full inheritance. Art Spiegelman wrote the introduction, so we're not talking warmed-over liver."

"Wilson drew these linked one-pagers in the National Lampoon throughout the 1970s. His hero in a hunting cap is Everykid, who braves the daily awfulness of a child's world: school irrelevancies, getting sick, strange old relatives, department store Santas, going to camp, and death, for starters. No monsters and ghoulies — just real-life quimsies. Don't you wish you could have seen Gahan Wilson comics when you were a kid?"

"What a lavish show-and-tell: a DVD of nonprint media appearances of Krazy Kat, including videos of a 1921 'jazz pantomime' ballet and rare animated cartoons, plus two booklets collecting drawings, designs, strips, and background relating to Krazy in music and dance. [...] Clearly a shining star for popular culture and film collections."

Gary Panter did this sweet flyer for an upcoming show with his band Devin Gary & Ross (info at the link).

We are pleased to share the news that Joyce Farmer's graphic memoir Special Exits has been nominated for the 2010 NCS Division Award for Graphic Novels! The winner will be announced at the 65th Annual NCS Reuben Awards banquet on May 28, 2011 in Boston, MA. Congratulations Joyce!

(We're also rooting for Stan Sakai, nominated in the Comic Books division for his ongoing (formerly-Fantagraphics) Usagi Yojimbo series!)

Thanks to Flog commenter Alberto Garcia for pointing this out — it's an old Stephen DeStefano illustration of Popeye repurposed for the cover of last month's issue of the research journal Cell Metabolism, in a scan posted at Nas Capas. (Forearm mitochondria and spinach can label added after the fact. Dig the "Swiss" typography.)

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Fantagraphics' collection Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s, edited by Greg Sadowski, is a wonderfully creepy hurtle through the exuberant, cheerfully gross and icky horror comics that prevailed in the golden, pre-Comics-Code era. ...[T]he art is brilliant: indistinct piles of slimy viscera, purple-green zombies, skull-faced vampires and demons, Satan in a dozen guises, witches and occult symbols, creatures from the eleven hells of the darkest mythos of the human spirit." – Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

• Review: "Considering how much I enjoyed the first four years, when Foster was still finding the strip’s voice, I wasn’t sure how much better Valiant could get. Turns out, Prince Valiant achieves sheer radiance. [...] In short, Prince Valiant is noble romantic adventure fiction at its finest. The plots are classical, yet surprising, with chivalry and fair play constantly at the forefront. Poetic and strikingly descriptive, the narrations could nearly stand alone, but fortunately are accompanied by some of the finest comics art ever produced. [...] Prince Valiant v. 3: 1941-1942 finds a legendary strip reaching yet greater heights of creative accomplishment, presenting the strips with the full majesty of size, color and detail that its author always hoped for. After Foster, comics were never the same; this series is, simply, a must-have for any serious comics library." – Michael C. Lorah, Newsarama

• Review: "Excoriating, withering humour and viciously necessary satire tellingly rendered and savage yet personable and winningly intimate reportage make [Twilight of the Assholes] one of the best cartoon coshes ever applied to the politics of this century." – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

• Scene: Time Out New York previews the R. Crumb: Lines Drawn On Paper exhibit at the Society of Illustrators

From our colleagues over at Yale University Press comes this great video trailer for their new edition of Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice by Ivan Brunetti.

The Cartoon Bank Blog's new interview with cartoonist Shannon Wheeler gives you your first glimpse at his artwork for Oil & Water, which we are publishing this Fall. Wheeler explains the book: "Mike Rosen, a manager at the Bureau of Environmental Services, Watershed Division, organized a group of writers, scientists, activists, environmentalists, teachers, and students to go to the Gulf Coast to get a better understanding of the oil spill and its implications. It is possibly the greatest manmade disaster in our history. Steve Duin, metro columnist for The Oregonian, is fictionalizing our side of the story to build a strong narrative, keeping the local characters and situations real. Our main goal is to help keep the situation on the national radar."