It's that time of year again! The time of year where a flock of Fantagraphics artists participate in the annual Giant Robot Post-It Show, and like last year, it will be curated by the inspirational husband-wife team of Esther Pearl Watson and Mark Todd. 

Each sticky note masterpiece is priced to move at a mere $20!  YES. You can own a one-of-a-kind piece of art for $20 lousy bucks from artists like our own: Andrice Arp, T. Edward Bak, Lilli Carre, Martin Cendreda, Eleanor Davis, Renee French, Tim Hensley, Jaime Hernandez, Jesse Moynihan, Anders Nilsen, John Pham, Johnny Ryan, Jeremy Tinder, Jon Vermilyea, Esther Pearl Watson, and Steven Weissman. 

The Giant Robot Post-It Show 7 runs from December 10th through 29th at GR2 [ 2062 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, CA ] with an opening reception event on Saturday, December 10th from 6:30 - 10:00 PM. It's "cash-and-carry," so don't forget your bag-and-board!

Hey Miami! Spend the weekend with two of our favorite artists with the initials "MK" as Mark Kalesniko and Michael Kupperman head to the 2011 Miami Book Fair!

Saturday, November 19th at 3:30 PM

Lives Real and Imagined: Michael Kupperman on Mark Twain's Autobiography: 1910-2010; Jim Ottaviani on Feynman and Ray Fawkes on One Soul

Sunday, November 20th at 4:00 PM

Comics and Autobiography: Mark Kalesniko on Freeway, Jason Shiga on Empire State: A Love Story (or Not); Jennifer Hayden on Underwire. Moderated by John Hogan, editor, Graphic Novel Reporter

Both panels take place at the Prometeo Theatre (Building 1, 1st Floor, Room 1101), and the whole Miami Book Fair takes place at the Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami. The whole weekend is jam-packed with literary good times, so don't miss it!

Hummina hummina... Gary Panter has created a line of limited edition products for Pharmacy Boardshop with artwork on the theme of the Federal Reserve Bank, including this amazing skate deck, t-shirts and socks — SOCKS! — being released November 25. Passed along by our art director emeritus Jacob Covey, who found it via Dangerous Minds.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "With [Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010] and the seventh issue of his Thrizzle series, Kupperman takes back the crown of Funniest Cartoonist Alive... Whatever direction he moves in, there is a consistent level of dizzying joy to be found in Kupperman’s work, a kind of humor that features dark and occasionally satirical edges but is mostly just a barrage of inspired wordplay, deadpan humor, and deceptively simple images." – Rob Clough, The Comics Journal

• Review: "...Barks truly was a master at the medium. We all have been hearing this for so long and for those who have not yet read any of his comics, this book [Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes] and the rest of the upcoming series should put all those doubts to rest. Carl Barks used ducks to shine a light on the human condition and make jokes while also making commentary on us all. Despite these stories being published in 1948 and 1949, they truly stand the test of time. But what was truly amazing about his work was that it appeals to both children and adults. ★★★★★" – Nick Boisson, Comics Bulletin

• Review: "Happily, Woodring never tries to offer up his own explanations for what transpires in his stories [in The Frank Book]. The closest he gets is some vague, oblique hints in this collection's afterword, but -- like those occasions when David Lynch pretends to try to enlighten viewers about his similarly challenging movies -- Woodring's clues only lead to more questions." – Dave Wallace, Comics Bulletin

• Review: "The no-nonsense mademoiselle Blanc-Sec returns for another round or two of occult mentalism and monster-mash madness... Don’t expect it to make any sense, you clearly won’t if you read and loved Volume One of Adele’s extraordinary adventures as I did. Indeed much like, what seems an odd comparison on the face of it I’ll grant you, Umbrella Academy you just have to enjoy the ever mounting sense of the ridiculous jammed in page after page, which Tardi is an absolute master at." – Jonathan Rigby, Page 45

• Plug: Newsarama's Zack Smith chats with humorist John Hodgman [squee] about the current state of comics: "It’s funny – when I started writing about comics a few years ago, I discovered a lot of new things, one of them being the Glenn Ganges comics by Kevin Huizenga. I just love his work."

• Interview: Live via digital recording, it's Mike Dawson's panel discussion with MariNaomi and Noah Van Sciver at the Minneapolis Indie Xpo earlier this month, presented as the new episode of the "TCJ Talkies" podcast at The Comics Journal

Ron Regé Jr. says "I am still accepting donations to help complete work on The Cartoon Utopia. For a donation of any amount, I will send you a small drawing similar to one of these!" See more examples and find the donation link here. Ron is hoping to finish up the book for a Fall 2012 release from Fantagraphics!

[Follow our Tumblr blog for lots more Things to See every day.]

UPDATED to add: Bigger, personalized drawings for donations of $75 or more!

"Mr. Natural Does the Dishes" is a new R. Crumb screenprint now available from Wildwood Serigraphs. Wouldn't it look nice hanging in your kitchen?

(not final cover)

Now that we've announced our Spring/Summer 2012 schedule, authors Blake Bell and Dr. Michael J. Vassallo (a.k.a. "Doc V.") are starting to reveal details and post updates on their upcoming book The Secret History of Marvel Comics, which investigates and documents the seamy pulp underbelly of Martin Goodman's publishing empire. Blake is posting updates on the project at his blog; here's his introduction of his collaborator and here's the first in a series of behind-the-scenes looks at the production of the book. Doc V announced the project on his blog as well. They've also started a Facebook page which you can "like" for updates on the project, and you can follow @Blake_Bell and @DocVassallo on Twitter for even more up-to-the-minute news!

We're doing a special cross-promotion with our colleagues at Americaware, producers of fine t-shirts (and now hoodies!) featuring artwork by Northwest comics legends Peter Bagge, Jim Blanchard, Basil Wolverton and Jim Woodring. With every order you make with us you'll get a $5 coupon to use on an Americaware order, and with every Americaware order you'll get a 20% off coupon to use when ordering from us! You could get into an endless loop of savings! I personally have several Americaware shirts and lemme tell ya, they are niiiiice.

Fantagraphics invites you to help celebrate the release of Oil and Water tonight, Wednesday, November 15th at Bridge City Comics in Portland!

Both Steve Duin, columnist for The Oregonian, and Eisner-winning artist Shannon Wheeler will be in attendance from 6:00 - 9:00 PM. 

Get your copies of Oil and Water signed, and find out more about what happened when ten Oregonians traveled to the Gulf Coast in August 2010 to plumb the devastation wrought by the Deepwater Horizon spill.  

This event is free and open-to-the-public, so be sure to drop by! Bridge City Comics is located at 3725 N. Mississippi Ave. in the bridge-festooned city of Portland.

[The Comics Journal interns Ben Horak, Kara Krewer, Janice Lee and Jennifer Williams put together this series of discussion questions about Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 2: Trapped on Treasure Island by Floyd Gottfredson for use in book clubs. As this is intended for those who have read the book and contains spoilers, questions about specific storylines can be found behind the jump. – Ed.]

BACKGROUND

Find examples of Gottfredson's use of black to navigate the eye through the actions in the comic.

These adventure strips contain some dark subject matter, including lynching, cannibalism, murder and death. How does this reflect the public's state of mind during the Depression era?

How does Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse inform contemporary Mickey? In what ways has Mickey changed or evolved as a character?

[Read more...]