Once again we're bringing you an advance sneak peek at our listings for the next issue of Previews, this time with our releases scheduled for February 2010. It's going to be a big month for us with 8 new books, including two new Love and Rockets collections (one from Gilbert & one from Jaime), a great Kim Deitch yarn, horror noir from Ho Che Anderson, Captain Easy Vol. 1 (resolicited from August), a new softcover edition of the almost-out-of-print Blazing Combat, The Best American Comics Criticism of the 21st Century, and, pictured above, the breathtaking new graphic novel from Eisner Award winner Cathy Malkasian! Check it all out right here.

Charles Burns, interviewed live on stage in Philadelphia for The Sound of Young America radio show/podcast. Audio embedded below; link to download here.

The Sound of Young America

What? Jim Woodring just completed Weathercraft (due Spring '10) and he's already started work on a new Frank story? Truly our cups runneth over.

Carl (with cigar) at Skylight Books in LA in 2008 with Drew Friedman. Photo by Pam Noles. Mark Evanier has a remembrance.

Congratulations to Sergio Ponchione, whose Fantagraphics/Coconino "Ignatz" series Grotesque won the Gran Guinigi prize for Best Series at the 2009 Lucca Comics & Games festival! See photos of the ceremony and read Sergio's reaction to the award at his blog (translated).

And further congratulations to Daniel Clowes, winner of Best Long Story for the Italian edition of Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, and Robert Crumb, acknowledged as Maestro del Fumetto!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Reproducing unfinished roughs, penciled-in and scribbled-out dialogue, half-inked panels, torn-up and taped-together pages, even cropping what look like finished comics so that you can't see the whole thing, Columbia and his partners in the production of this book, Paul Baresh and Adam Grano, have produced a fractured masterpiece, a glimpse of the forbidden, an objet d'art noir. ... The horror of Columbia's sickly-cute Pim & Francie vignettes--a zombie story, a serial-killer story, a witch-in-the-woods story, a haunted-forest story, a trio of chase sequences--is extraordinarily effective. ... [T]hese scary stories and disturbing images are all so gorgeously awful that they appear to have corrupted the book itself... — an inherently horrific object. Bravo." – Sean T. Collins

• Review: "...[I]n these pages [of The Troublemakers] lies a challenging, meticulously crafted story of grifters in the middle of a con. Not surprisingly, [Gilbert] Hernandez populates his story with some thoroughly grounded and intriguing figures, but what’s fascinating about the plot is how it criss-crossed over on itself so that not only do the characters remain unaware of who’s conning who but so does the reader. The plot is an intricately woven web of lies and truths, and it’s peppered, of course, with Hernandez’s trademark touch of raw sexuality. Fans of such crime comics as Criminal and 100 Bullets would be well advised to give this graphic novel a chance; they won’t be disappointed. ... [Rating] 9/10" – Don MacPherson, Eye on Comics [Ed. note: I get a big "attack site" warning at that link, so click at your own risk]

• Review: "...[W]ith their crashing planes, erupting volcanoes, boil-stricken sufferers, and monstrous whirlwinds[,] Wolverton’s literalist depictions of Revelation are powerful, shocking, and above all grotesquely beautiful. ... Though Wolverton’s approach to [the Old Testament] stories was somewhat more matter-of-fact than his apocalyptic panoramas, there is still a passion for the bizarre evident in the Bible Story illustrations. ... Wolverton’s Bible illustrations sit on the border between sacred and profane, and that unique placement is what gives them such power." – Gabriel Mckee, Religion Dispatches (hat tip: Kevin Church)

• Review: "...'The Hasty Smear of My Smile'..., which ran as a backup feature in the final issue of Peter Bagge’s Hate (#30) , is a mini-masterpiece. It’s a capsule version of  [Alan] Moore’s considerable skill, the epitome of everything that makes him fascinating as a writer." – Marc Sobel, Comic Book Galaxy

• Interview: At Hypergeek, The Comics Journal editor Mike Dean answers Edward Kaye's questions about the changes to his TCJ subscription

• Opinion: Future Comics Journal blogger Noah Berlatsky of The Hooded Utilitarian offers a critical counterpoint to Jeet Heer's previous comments on the Journal

• Things to see: Johnny Ryan draws beatniks doing their beatnik thing

• Things to see: The Beat has exclusive peeks at stories by Jeffrey Brown and Paul Hornschemeier for Marvel's Strange Tales

Jim Flora Art now has the super-popular, iconic Flora Mambo for Cats LP cover image in a new smaller (7" x 7"), affordable ($25) open edition giclee print. (The 20" x 20" limited edition silkscreen version is almost sold out.) Don't you just love their little mustaches? Makes a great combo gift along with any of our 3 Jim Flora art books.

Publishers Weekly names You'll Never Know, Book 1: A Good and Decent Man by C. Tyler to its list of Best Books of 2009 — Comics...

...and the editors of Amazon.com name Locas II: Maggie, Hopey & Ray by Jaime Hernandez to their Best Books of 2009: Comics & Graphic Novels Top 10, in the #6 position.

(Ed. note: As more end-of-year lists come in, we will collect the listed titles in a 2009 Critics' Picks category in our online shop, as we did for the 2008 Critics' Picks, in addition to noting them here on Flog.)

The blogosphere never rests — it's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Boyreau laments how digital phased out analog when it comes to our movie viewing; has the Internet done the same with his book [Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box] commemorating the losing side of that battle? I say no. It's not just because of the tremendous job Boyreau and Covey did with the cover reproductions, or the lovely, solid paper stock, or the cutesy slipcase. It's because Boyreau is right: the aura of the object is irreplaceable. A book collection of VHS box art contains preserves what was special about them in a way a Flickr gallery just can't. Next time you have a trashy movie marathon, pass this around between movies--unlike your laptop, you won't even need to worry that much about spilling beer on it." – Sean T. Collins

• Analysis: More thoughts on The Comics Journal's new direction, from Jeet Heer (who coins the word "Grothian" — I like it) at Comics Comics and Noel Murray at The A.V. Club

• Interview: If you missed the lively Q&A during Monte Schulz's live Twitter chat with LitChat, you can download the transcript from the LitChat website

• Education: Robyn Chapman of the Center for Cartoon Studies reports from Dash Shaw's recent lecture at the school

• Plug: Librarie Drawn & Quarterly gives a nice recommendation to Abstract Comics

• Plug: At Comics Alliance, Douglas Wolk highlights Like a Dog by Zak Sally among the week's new releases, as does Matthew J. Brady

• Things to see: In a match made in heaven, Johnny Ryan drew the cover of the DVD of The Found Footage Festival Vol. 4

• Things to see: Enjoy some as-yet unused monstery t-shirt designs by Paul Hornschemeier

• Things to see: Mike Sterling crosses the streams