DESTROY ALL MOVIES trailer! (final) from Hadrian Belove on Vimeo.

The book tour for Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film makes the final stops on its current West Coast leg over the next few days — Santa Cruz tonight, San Francisco tomorrow, and the big two-night finale in Los Angeles on Saturday and Sunday! Posted above is the very excellent trailer for the final L.A. stand at Cinefamily. Thanks to Mark Frauenfelder at Boing Boing for plugging the L.A. tour stop!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Library Journal names It Was the War of the Trenches by Jacques Tardi as one of the Best Graphic Novels of 2010: "Originally inspired by his grandfather's first-person stories, Tardi has created not a formal history but a masterful graphic and visceral tone poem about war."

• List: It's also #5 on the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2010 list posted by Leeds UK comic shop OK Comics

• Review (Audio): On the new episode of the Manga Out Loud podcast, host Ed Sizemore and guests discuss Moto Hagio's A Drunken Dream and Other Stories in detail

• Plug: Danish site Nummer 9 covers the launch of our Franco-Belgian kids' comics line: "Although the series is primarily aimed at children, these two comic artists have high enough status that older comic buyers also might be interested." (Paraphrased from autotranslation)

• Commentary: The Comics Reporter's Tom Spurgeon weighs in on the 4th anniversary of Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery: "The thing that I like about the idea of the Fanta store — I haven't been; I've barely visited Seattle since it opened — other than the fact that I enjoy manager/curator Larry Reid more than I enjoy most human beings is that it, and also things like D+Q's flagship store, are kind of old-fashioned ideas that are made to work on the companies' behalf.

Woo hoo, a new 'toon from Steven Weissman & co.! He says there should be a new one every week for a while. Yay!

In Spring 2011 we'll be publishing Eye of the Majestic Creature, the debut book from the young cartoonist Leslie Stein. Her uniquely charming semi-autobiographical comics star a young woman named Larrybear whose day-to-day adventures are inflected with surreal and magical-realist elements — her best friend and roommate is a talking anthropomorphic guitar named Marshmallow, for instance. Leslie's comics have already earned praise from the likes of Peter Bagge, Gary Panter and Michael Kupperman.

Get familiar with Leslie's warmly funny, idiosyncratic stories and rubbery, stippled cartooning at her recently-launched Majestic Creature blog, where she's posting new strips and stories.

FUC_ __U, _SS __LE: Blecky Yuckerella Vol. 4
by Johnny Ryan

104-page black & white 5.5" x 7.25" softcover • $11.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-415-3

Ships in: January 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

"'Fucussle'?! What's that mean?"

"No, it's Fuck You, Asshole! by Johnny Ryan."

Thus begins the fourth and final collection of comic strips starring the stupidest, ugliest, stubbliest girl in grade number two. Blecky and her "pals" are back and so are the fountains of blood, urine, and other bodily fluids (not to mention profanity) in these riotously hilarious, eye-poppingly offensive four-panel gag strips. Co-starring the usual cast of Blecky's weirdo friends and enemies, plus douching robots, the Christmas barbarian, the world's most bad-ass Easter basket, the Spamfs, 69-11, sexy murder hunks, ass worship, glory holes, the Pizzazooka, Dizzy the herpes-sniffing dog, Sir Oreo Monocle and oh so much more. Over 100 pages of ridiculous absurdity, over-the-top grossouts, and scathing satire that could only come from the mind and pen of Johnny Ryan.

“A four-panel, newspaper gag strip.” — Columbus Alive

“It’s a collection of alt-paper strips that I believe also appear online.” — The Comics Reporter

“Johnny Ryan’s weekly strip... is... humor.” — Wizard

“This is a strip collection about a character...” — Heidi MacDonald

Download an EXCLUSIVE 10-page PDF excerpt (201 KB).

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

Bonus Savings: Order all 4 Blecky Yuckerella books — the complete Blecky — together for 25% off... that's 4 for the price of 3! Click here to order.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Deb Aoki of About.com: Manga names A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio the Best New Manga of 2010: "Conjoined twins who share a painful co-existence. A young girl rejected by her mother who can only see her as an iguana. Ill-fated lovers who are doomed to be separated in several lifetimes. These characters came to life in this collection of smart, sensitive and thought-provoking short stories created by master storyteller Moto Hagio."

• List: Drew Weing's Set to Sea is on YALSA's long-list of 2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens Nominations: "A massive lug, who also happens to be an aspiring poet, is kidnapped and set to sea and discovers hardship and wisdom he never imagined." (via The Comics Reporter)

• Review: "It makes my job as a critic a lot harder when I’ve spent nearly an entire book composing its review in my head only for the final few pages to smash it to smithereens. In that sense, reviewing Luba: The Book of Ofelia is hard work." – Sean T. Collins, Attentiondeficitdisorderly

• Interview (Audio): Destroy All Movies!!! editors Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly appeared on KBOO-FM Community Radio out of Olympia WA on Monday for an interview with host Erin Yanke — listen here

• Profile: John Beaton of Seattle University's The Spectator profiles Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery and its curator Larry Reid

• Plug: Public School's Will Bryant spotlights Ray Fenwick's Mascots

• Commentary: At The Wright Opinion, Brendan Wright shares his thoughts about the longevity of Las Locas: "I’m as excited as anyone that the graphic novel is gradually becoming the standard model of the modern comic book, but among its many virtues, the fact that Love and Rockets has always been presented as a series is important. This is the comic book that elevated the serial format of comics from soap opera to serialized literature. It’s hard to wait between the annual installments, but it’s worth it to check in with old friends, and whatever else he does with the rest of his creativity, I’m happy that Hernandez always finds time to keep up with the 'Locas' world."

The City of Seattle's Office of Economic Development wants you to visit Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. The store is featured on this city-sponsored website and other promotional materials as part of their "Only in Seattle" campaign to encourage local commerce in the city's neighborhoods. The store's curator (misidentified as the owner) Larry Reid (pictured above) talked to Rose Egge of KOMO News about the campaign. Who says government doesn't work?

The organizers of the Festival International de la Bande Desinée in Angoulême France (you know, the big one) have announced their Official Selections for the festival, including the French edition of The Man Who Grew His Beard (L'homme qui se laissait pousser la barbe) by Olivier Schrauwen, which we will be publishing in English in August 2011. Congratulations Olivier! (The list also includes recent books by our homeys Charles Burns, Dan Clowes, Joe Sacco & Dash Shaw. Nice work, boys.)

Gabrielle Bell, Jeffrey Brown, Dash Shaw, and several Abstract Comics contributors including editor Andrei Molotiu are among the artists featured in a group exhibit opening in Arlington, VA this Friday, November 19, 2010. The announcement describes the exhibit thusly:

"PARTY CRASHERS mashes up comic art and contemporary gallery culture, and features artists who pass back and forth between the two worlds. This massive two venue show results from a crosstown collaboration between AAC Director of Exhibitions Jeffry Cudlin and Artisphere Gallery Director Cynthia Connolly. The show’s two independent halves feature different types of work: Connolly’s show presents fine artists who mimic the appearance of comic art; Cudlin’s show at AAC contains: alternative comic artists who also show their original pages and drawings in art galleries; fine and comic artists working side-by-side on a national curated project (Creative Time Comics); and fine and comic artists creating avante-garde, purely abstract sequential art without words or recognizeable imagery."

Dash Shaw previewed his piece for the show on his blog:

More information and the complete roster of artists here.

Tony Millionaire's National Ransom Photoshop contest has concluded and Tony has announced the winners. The above entry by William Creswell is not the actual "A#1 winner" — we didn't want to give that away, so you'll have to head to Tony's site to see it and all the other hilarious and impressive entries.