Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Shimura Takako’s story of two adolescents—a boy who wants to be a girl and a girl who wants to be a boy—isn’t exactly fast-paced in terms of plot, but [Wandering Son] book 2 continues the excellent work of book 1 and raises the emotional stakes a bit.... There’s... a slowly unfolding pleasure to Shimura’s story. Sensitive to the plight of young teenagers and potentially transgender youth alike, she’s managed to create a compelling story without including much that, considered in isolation, is particularly dramatic, which speaks to the realism of her efforts." – Hillary Brown, Paste

• Review: "This is really fantastic storytelling. Another review of this volume [Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes] compared it to Tintin, and I think that’s very apt. There’s the adventures in foreign lands, the constant peril, the occasional wacky gags thrown in to alleviate said peril, and of course good old American ingenuity that, thankfully, never verges on jingoism quite as much as Tintin sometimes did.... I picked this up thinking it’d be a good chance to see if I liked Carl Barks and what the fuss was all about. Well, now I get it – and I’m hooked. ...[T]his is well worth the purchase for any fan of classic comics." – Sean Gaffney, Manga Bookshelf

• Review: "Kelly’s genius was the ability to beautifully, vivaciously draw comedic, tragic, pompous, sympathetic characters of any shape or breed and make them inescapably human and he used that gift to blend hard-hitting observation of our crimes, foibles and peccadilloes with rampaging whimsy, poesy and sheer exuberant joie de vivre. The hairy, scaly, feathered slimy folk here are inescapably us, elevated by burlesque, slapstick, absurdism and all the glorious joys of wordplay from puns to malapropisms to raucous accent humour into a multi-layered hodge-podge of all-ages accessible delight.... Timeless and magical, Pogo is a giant of world literature, not simply comics, and this magnificent edition should be the pride of every home’s bookshelf." – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

• Review: "...I was extremely impressed by Santiago's artistic abilities. He manages to shift the comic page in ways you'd never think of for a biography, using all sorts of layouts, from jagged panels to Family Circus ovals to standard grid formats. His characters wiggle their way through when in motion, show their feelings on faces that are slightly oversized and full of expression, and sometimes contort themselves into shapes that aren't quite natural. It's an artistic tour de force and shows that bio comics do not have to be the stolid, one step at a time narrative that we often see. ...21 is an excellent book... Clemente is every bit the important figure in baseball history that Robinson was, and more people need to know his story. 21 is an excellent place to start, either for you or the baseball fan in your life." – Rob McMonigal, Panel Patter

• Plugs: For Robot 6's ongoing "Holiday Gift-Giving Guide" survey of comics creators, Kagan McLeod says "I just read last year’s It Was the War of the Trenches by Jacques Tardi and would recommend it. Not really cheery holiday stuff, though. Along the same theme is the Blazing Combat collection which also came out last year," and "I’m hyped for Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture: A Career Retrospective, which comes out in a few weeks." 

• Feature: L'actualité features Joe Sacco (bien sur) and pages from Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde in a slideshow of comics reportage, calling him "the current pope" of the genre

• Travelogue: T. Edward Bak wrote more about his trip to St. Petersburg and sent it along with some photos to Tom Devlin who posted it all on the D&Q blog

So, our ol' pal Jacques Boyreau, he of the cinefantastic tomes PORTABLE GRINDHOUSE and the forthcoming SEXYTIME: THE POST-PORN RISE OF THE PORNOISSEUR (a collection of remarkably awesome movie posters from the Golden Age of adult cinema) from Fantagraphics, curated what looks to be an incredible art show in Anchorage, Alaska, of all places. I wanted to spotlight it on the blog, and figured the best way was to simply ask Jacques about. Here's what he had to say.

I've been involved with Fantagraphics for a few years now...as author-editor and all-around-nuisance. I suspect a reason for my insistency is that Gary G. is like the Travis Bickle-friend I always wanted. This association would be easier to make if G. had a buzz mohawk and was popping a red with a smile and several loaded handguns suckling the lean teat of his body, which is NOT out-of-the-question; it is, as they say, in the realm, where all visions are a'chomp.

But realm needs coin, and tomorrow's today's coin is gonna be SuperTrash. And that's what this little fucking blog's entry is gonna tell you a little something about. But back to Taxi Driver...I have always felt very resonant with the character of Easy Andy--the drug-Cadillac-Magnum.44 dealer--and his credo: "I'm just trying to get the right product to the right people"; with the risible connotation that Travis is alright...(and certainly you gotta wonder at least once: What If Travis had bought that pink slip from Andy?). See, Andy and I have the same credo it turns out. I experience selling as Compulsion, and that sutures with what Breton said about Beauty: it must be Convulsive. Society really should, and does take a step back and twist a funny thought out of its head when the Unacceptable becomes Accepted.

Our group mind does not entirely suck. The answer I'm afraid is so simple it's attainable. But why tell you when I cannot and SuperTrash can and you should find out if you can. Let's just say that: an art show purporting to be a portrait of the 20th century told through movie posters was built at the Andy Warhol Museum and is now in Alaska in the quite-enormous Anchorage Museum.

Video: local news coverage from KTVA CBS 11 News

176 years old and still going strong!

Celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery!
“Playing Possum: The Pogo Art of Walt Kelly” opens December 10.

In 1970, Walt Kelly’s playful possum Pogo looked upon his polluted Okefenokee Swamp and uttered in despair, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” This line quickly became part of our cultural lexicon and cemented Pogo’s place in American popular culture. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery celebrates the publication of Pogo: Through the Wild Blue Wonder with “Playing Possum: The Pogo Art of Walt Kelly.” This exhibition of original Walt Kelly strips opens Saturday, December 10 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM on the occasion of the bookstore’s 5th anniversary gala.

The long-anticipated Pogo: Through the Wild Blue Wonder, Volume 1 of the Complete Comic Strips collects early Sunday and daily Pogo comics from 1949 – 1950.  Kelly introduces his huge cast of irreverent swamp dwellers and their singular dialect known as “swamp talk.” Politics soon became a central topic in the swamp. While Kelly claimed to oppose “the extreme right, the extreme left, and the extreme middle,” political figures cynically cloaking themselves in patriotic garb were clearly disdained. Kelly boldly caricatured red baiting Senator Joseph R. McCarthy as Simple J. Malarkey. An obvious parody of J. Edgar Hoover seemingly drove the FBI director to distraction. He reportedly assigned cryptographers to decipher the secret swamp talk “code.” (A strip from 1971 referencing this will be on display.) Kelly’s characters also embraced the burgeoning environmental movement and other progressive causes. “Playing Possum: The Pogo Art of Walt Kelly” includes 12 memorable dailies and 4 Sunday strips. These original works reveal the artist’s concern for composition, delicate line quality, and detailed dialogue.

The opening on Saturday, December 10 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM promises to be a festive affair. Musical entertainment will be provided by Sawsome, a female saw and banjo duet. The evening commemorates the 5th anniversary of Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery and coincides with the holiday edition of the colorful Georgetown Art Attack featuring art exhibitions, special events and wandering carolers from Choir of the Sound throughout the historic neighborhood.  

PLAYING POSSUM: The Pogo Art of Walt Kelly
Opening reception Saturday, December 10, 6:00 – 9:00 PM
5th Anniversary Holiday Gala with musical entertainment by SAWSOME
Exhibition continues through January 4, 2012

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.) Seattle. 206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM

Author/editor Kevin Avery continues his New York tour with a signing on Thursday, December 1st at the Barnes & Noble Park Slope in Brooklyn, NY!

He'll be signing copies of Everything is an Afterthought: The Life & Writings of Paul Nelson. And it's a great opportunity to learn even more about the pioneering Rolling Stone critic Nelson as the discussion will cover Avery's other collection, Conversations with Clint 1979-1983: Paul Nelson’s Lost Interviews with Clint Eastwood (Continuum Books).

The event kicks off at 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble Park Slope [ 267 7th Avenue, Brooklyn ].

Oh, New York City... I know you've already bought your tickets for this, right? RIGHT?!

'Cause holy hell, you do not want to miss this incredible event.  The legendary MAD Magazine cartoonist Jack Davis will be at the Strand Bookstore on Thursday, December 1st for a discussion and signing for Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture.

How often do you get the chance to hear Jack Davis speak about his extensive and influential career?  And how often are we able to pair him on stage with our one and only Gary Groth leading the interview?

You can either buy the book or a $10 Strand Gift Card in order to attend this event, but I'm sure you've already done that, RIGHT? Both options admit two people.

So, join Jack and Gary for this exciting event Thursday night at 7:00 PM, in the Rare Book Room on the 3rd Floor of The Strand [ 828 Broadway (at 12th St.) ].

And don't forget, Jack will be signing at the Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Fest this Saturday, too, and has an exhibit opening at the Scott Eder Gallery on Friday... Oh, you lucky, lucky city.

The new Diamond Previews catalog is out today and in it you'll find our usual 2-page spread (download the PDF) with our releases scheduled to arrive in your local comic shop in February 2012 (give or take — some release dates may have changed since the issue went to press). We're pleased to offer additional and updated information about these upcoming releases here on our website, to help shops and customers alike make more informed ordering decisions.

This month's Spotlight item is a new softcover edition of Swiss horror-meister's short story collection Cinema Panopticum; our anthology of Scandinavian cartoonists Kolor Klimax: Nordic Comics Now is "Certified Cool"; and the issue also includes the new volumes of our best-selling The Complete Peanuts and Prince Valiant series; a new, expanded edition of The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 1 with 60 newly-discovered, never-before-published pages; Folly, a collection of Hans Rickheit's inscrutable and discomfiting minicomics; and the final (prose) novel in Monte Schulz's jazz-age trilogy, The Big Town.

See them all here!

Oh, you know, just Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez doing a signing with their pal Matt Groening at Golden Apple Comics in L.A. in 1984 when Dave Stevens stopped by to say hi to them and Gilbert's hotcha gal Carol. ¡Ay carumba! (And is that a turntable under the V poster? Even cooler!) This got posted over at the Love and Rockets/Hernandez Brothers Facebook page way back in March and I've been too flabbergasted for the last 8 months to post it until now.

But lo! Via a Tumblr blog called One-Chair Barbershop comes, unattributed and without context, this vintage photo of Peter Bagge from his NYC street-art stickering days, to pair up and kick the dust off this old Flog draft. Flex those guns, Pete!

Drew Friedman sat down with Mr. Media's Bob Andelman for a chat at the International Society of Caricature Artists convention in Florida a couple weeks ago (where Drew was keynote speaker). Come for Drew's Jerry Lewis impression, stay for the live drawing demonstration! [YouTube link]

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: At MTV Geek, Brigid Alverson names Wandering Son by Shimura Takako one of The Best Manga Series of 2011: "Wandering Son is a delightful, quiet manga about a girly boy and a boyish girl.... This is not your typical gender-bender manga playing a gender switch for laughs (and fanservice); it's a quiet, subtle story of a boy coming to terms with himself."

• Review: "Believe it or not, music criticism was responsible for some of 2011's finest books, with Kevin Avery's impeccably researched Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson leading the pack.... Avery has done an outstanding job assembling a collection of the writer's work, fully illustrating why he was such an influential presence in his time. But, sadly, especially in our time, it also reads as something of a cautionary tale — ...you might wonder why on earth anyone would ever choose rock criticism as a career in the first place." – Bill Holdship, Detroit Metro Times

• Review: "I have no idea if it was part of cartoonist Johnny Ryan's overall plan for Prison Pit, but this latest book in the growing-to-classic-status series strikes me as a 'step-back' installment. This is where a series that was once less certain in the market place eschews some of the instant gratification of its first couple of books for the sake of layering in additional plot elements that look like they'll pay off further down the line. It's the kind of work that makes you think that its creator is thinking of the long-term as opposed to focusing solely on the short. Prison Pit had some of that particular swagger from the very beginning; this book seems even more settled and confident.... As was the case with the first two books, Johnny Ryan makes his case for mastery at a second, very specific genre, connected to the first through the extremes of expression involved." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

• Reviews (Audio): The November 20 episode of Easy Rider, the radio show for "rock, punk rock, country, power pop, garage and comics" from Radio PFM out of Arras in northern France, features Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit Book 3, Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 by the Hernandez Bros., and Jaime Hernandez's Esperanza among their Comics of the Week

• Interview: At Memory Is Fiction, Craig Staufenberg talks with Wilfred Santiago: "Any subject or theme can work in comics, the narrative has unique, endless breakdowns. It’s a unique prism, anything that’s seen through it is distorted in a comic book way. The author, the cartoonist, just brings to light a particular side of that prism. I try to quit comics but it keeps pulling me back."

• Interview: Network Awesome Magazine has a fun Q&A with Richard Sala about the Invisible Hands animated shorts: "They used stop-motion.  The staff would blow up my drawings onto colored paper and then cut out all the figures and  movable parts.   The pieces were then positioned on three layers of glass – to give depth – with the camera looking down.  Next, the director, Denis Morella, carefully moved the pieces around – including the mouths, to match the dialogue – for each click of the camera.  I grew up loving stop-motion – everything from Ray Harryhausen to Gumby – so, I thought doing the animation that way was pretty cool."

• Plug: Comics writer Jeff Parker reveals that Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks is at the top of his holiday wish list at Robot 6

• Contest: Over at The Beat, Heidi MacDonald is giving away her spare copy of Jason's I Killed Adolf Hitler to one lucky winner