Congratulations to Monte Schulz, whose 2009 novel, THIS SIDE OF JORDAN, published by Fantagraphics, was the Award Winner in the "Fiction: General" category of the 2010 Best Book Awards sponsored by USA Book News! 

Look for Schulz's next novel, THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER, in December from Fantagraphics.  

Michael Kupperman dukes it out with a gaggle of other NYC-based cartoonists in FISTICUFFS!, a cartoonists battle royale at 92YTribeca on November 18 at 9 PM. "It’s like Iron Chef, but the secret ingredient is punch lines instead of asparagus," says the description. Click here for more info & tickets.

Thanks to Love and Rockets fan "Endometria Jones" for sharing this snap of "my old chevy wagon, circa early 90s" on the L&R Facebook page!

Thanks to Charles Burns fan Harris Smith for sharing this pic of his tattoo based on the cover of Black Hole #7! Show us your Burns tattoos at his exhibit opening & signing on Saturday!

SPX 2010 - Spotlight - Jaime Hernandez from Small Press Expo on Vimeo.

Bill Kartalopoulos provides the intro and Jaime & Gary take it from there. 'Nuff said!

The Littlest Pirate King
by David B.

48-page full-color 8.5" x 11.25" hardcover • $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-403-0

Ships in: November 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now

For decades they have roamed the seas, this shipload of undead pirates. They are desperate to die, but every time they try to dash their ship to splinters and end their miserable existence, a malevolent God scoops them out of danger. And so they have no choice but to continue to sail the seas, looting and killing.

Until one day, having exterminated yet another ship of the living, they come across a little pink baby. Adopting him as their mascot and dubbing him their "Littlest King," they continue their journeys. But eventually the King begins to grow up...

Adapted by David B., the acclaimed creator of Epileptic, from a short story by Pierre Mac Orlan (which was published decades before the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, thank you very much), The Littlest Pirate King is David B.'s first full-color graphic novel to be released in English, and his vivid palette combines with his stunningly elegant graphics to create a magical yarn that can be enjoyed by young and old alike.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 5-page PDF excerpt (1.6 MB).

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

Bonus Savings: Order The Littlest Pirate King together with Toys in the Basement by Stéphane Blanquet and save 20%! That's two new all-ages graphic albums by modern-day French masters at a great discounted price.

Toys in the Basement
by Stéphane Blanquet

32-page full-color 8.5" x 11.25" hardcover • $14.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-402-3

Ships in: November 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now
http://www.fantagraphics.com/toysinthebasement

With appearances in such anthologies as Zero Zero, Blab! and Kramer's Ergot, Stéphane Blanquet has been delighting and terrifying American readers with his superslick, ultradetailed creepiness.

So it makes perfect sense that his first graphic novel to be published in the U.S. would be... a children's book? Yes indeed.

Our hero, attending a Halloween party in an embarrassing pink bunny costume (he wanted to be a pirate) stumbles across a secret underground society of damaged, forgotten, and pissed-off toys in the basement of his friend's house — including the terrifying Amelia, a towering sentient assemblage of broken toy parts out for revenge!

Imagine Toy Story as reimagined by David Lynch and Charles Burns and you'll have a good idea of what this story is like. And yes, it is for kids!

Click here to see 3 preview pages!

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

Bonus Savings: Order Toys in the Basement together with The Littlest Pirate King by David B. and save 20%! That's two new all-ages graphic albums by modern-day French masters at a great discounted price.

Online Commentary & Diversions from Friday to today:

• Review: "In The Sanctuary, Nate Neal traces back the history of manipulation, power battles and betrayal to a single cave, thousands of years ago. The story unfolds entirely in a Paleolithic language Neal created, rendering the action subtle as a tribe careens toward possible chaos amidst the battles contained. [...] In the dynamics that Neal presents, you can see your country, your town, your work place and your family, all rolled into one cautionary tale. In stark black and white, Neal’s art exhibits much sophistication, while still maintaining a required roughness, given the time period and level of civilization he’s portraying. [...] Neal’s book digs deep down to the core of our humanity that almost requires manipulation for movement, but suggests that sometimes there are victories for us even if we do require a shifty style of prodding." – John E. Mitchell, The North Adams Transcript

• Review: "As ever, Jason's characters are universal precisely because they're so specific and odd; dog-faced werewolf Everymen, living their lives of quiet desperation. His art is precise and carefully defined, a collection of moments carefully chosen and arrayed to imply so much more than his characters could ever say. His silences are theatrical — he's the Beckett, or Pinter, of comics. And Werewolves of Montpellier is another masterly performance from one of our modern best." – Andrew Wheeler, The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

• Reviews: Sean T. Collins continues "Love and Rocktober" at Attentiondeficitdisorderly, delving into Love and Rockets: New Stories with Jaime's "Ti-Girls Adventures" from #1-2 ("If 'Locas' has taught us anything, isn't it that women should be the stars and driving forces behind their own damn comic, even if they're dressing up in one-piece swimsuits and punching each other in the process?") and the "Browntown"/"The Love Bunglers" duology from #3 ("Such power! ...[One] of the most devastating — and I mean so sad it impacted me physically — comics I've ever read. I will never forget reading this book.")

• Review: "...A Drunken Dream and Other Stories... sucked me into its stories and made me want to read a lot more of Hagio’s comics. A mixture of romance, science-fiction, and family drama, this ten story compilation is one of the strongest examples I’ve seen of the depth and breadth that the shôjo genre can contain. [...] Highly recommended." – Greg McElhatton, Read About Comics

• Review: "Now [Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s] is my kind of Americana. A finely curated collection of pre-code horror comics from publishers whose initials are not E.C." – M. Ace, Irregular Orbit

• Review: "...[Temperance] is an intimidatingly rich work, full of symbolism and moody art... It's all lushly rendered in spooky gray tones, with lively, somewhat pudgy characters always striving forward toward their dubious goals... Malkasian clearly has poured her heart into this story, bringing the characters to life even as they act to make readers think beyond the story itself. It's a beautiful book, and one that will stick in the mind for some time after reading it." – Matthew J. Brady, Warren Peace Sings the Blues

• Review: "...[T]his fabulous tome highlights the astounding wizardry of one of the most accomplished draughtsmen and yarn-spinners of [comics'] incredibly fertile early period. [...] Evocatively written by biographer Blake Bell, with dozens of first hand accounts from family, friends and contemporaries; the sad, unjust life of this key figure of comics art is lovingly recounted here with hundreds of artistic examples... Fire and Water offers an opportunity to revel in the mastery of a truly unique pillar of America’s sequential Art establishment. [...] Brilliant, captivating, and utterly unmissable, this is the book Bill Everett deserves — and so do you." – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

• Plug: "Wow, punk is now nostalgic. You can’t stop getting older, can you? Well, you can, but it’s not a good alternative. Anyway, Fantagraphics has announced that next month they will release Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film, over 400 pages of reference to 'every appearance of a punk (or new waver!) to hit the screen in the 20th Century.'" – Johanna Draper Carlson, DVDs Worth Watching

• Commentary: At Robot 6, Chris Mautner gives you a beginner's guide to Kevin Huizenga in the latest "Comics College" feature: "In the short time he’s been making comics, Huizenga has shown himself to be an author of considerable talent and probing sincerity."

• Interview: Avoid the Future talks to Kevin Huizenga: "I often feel that I’m not really a true artist or a writer, just a fan whose playing make-believe. The inner compulsion I have is to put together something with a kind of complex structure, with some complex arrangement of things that surprises me, or makes me feel like my favorite comics do."

• Commentary: At the Schulz Library Blog, read "Lyonel Feininger: Lost Expressionist Master of the Sunday Comics Page," a comics-history class essay by Andy Warner (CCS, Class of 2012)

• Coming Attractions: Library Journal's Martha Cornog spotlights R.I.P.: Best of 1985-2004 by Thomas Ott and Approximate Continuum Comics by Lewis Trondheim in their Graphic Novel Prepub Alert for January 2011 releases

Dame Darcy & Paul Hornschemeier both recently wrote stories for Marvel — and not for the Strange Tales series!

Dame Darcy's story is drawn by Robin Ha and will be available online as a "Women of Marvel Digital Comics Exclusive" next week. So reports Marvel editor Ryan Penagos, via Sean T. Collins.

Which reminded me, I happened to glance through Marvel's Halloween horror anthology one-shot Tomb of Terror at ye olde comick shoppe last week and noticed Paul's writing credit on the lead-off story starring Man-Thing (with art by Mark Texiera). That was a cool surprise!

Ray Fenwick presents a selection of 13 pages from his forthcoming book Mascots (coming in December) at his newly-redesigned website. Ray's follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Hall of Best Knowledge is comprised of text and images painted on found book covers.

(Oops, sorry about the broken link! Fixed now.)