Hey you guys, it's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Lists: Comic Book Galaxy's "Comics 666" group list-making roundup of top 6 graphic novels, collections or comics of 2009 includes several Fantagraphics selections from contributors Rocco Nigro and Geoff Grogan

• Review: "It's nice to see some Tardi, and it's especially nice to see the kind of Tardi present in West Coast Blues: nasty but just, chaotically controlled, hopeful yet hopeless. This graphic novel is a turbo-charged pace car for the likes of Vertigo Noir (which I like, as you'll recall), telling the boys to keep up if they can.... [Is] West Coast Blues an existential crime graphic novel? Maybe, but it's a very good one." – Timothy Callahan, Comic Book Resources

• Preview: Our Art Director Jacob Covey's design for Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box is a featured portfolio at design:related

• Things to see: Another delightful hand-drawn GIF animation from Lilli Carré

• Things to see: A few more sketchbook pages from Anders Nilsen

• Things to buy: The latest set of Stinckers from Steven Weissman (featuring the Yikes! kids!) is now for sale

Cambridgeans! You have a rare chance to meet two of the notorious Deitch brothers together at the venerable Million Year Picnic in Harvard Square this Saturday, Sept. 26, from 5-7 PM. Kim and Seth will both be signing Deitch's Pictorama and Kim will be signing his own books of course. Find a bit more info here on the MYP LiveJournal.

Here's snappy-looking gent Paul Karasik at the Strand Bookstore for his Fletcher Hanks Experience presentation last week.

Here's a nice chunk of Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Awards: La educación de Hopey Glass (the Spanish edition of The Education of Hopey Glass) by Jaime Hernandez has won yet another Best Foreign Work award at a Spanish festival, this time the XIV Avilés Comic Convention, reports Science Fiction Awards Watch (via the Forbidden Planet International blog)

• Review: "These latest tales from the art comics trailblazers are sure to draw readers in with their melancholic tone and the adventurous comic art that has enthralled readers for decades. ...[W]e see Jaime's superheroes going wild, both narratively and visually.... 'Sad Girl' is... classic character-driven storytelling from Gilbert and will be welcomed by all the Luba fans out there. His second story, 'Hypnotwist,' is the cherry on top of this volume... The narrative's dreamlike quality and its rich and mesmerizing imagery make it a surreal tour de force." – Publishers Weekly

• Review: "...Brunetti [knows] that for shock art to have any value behind it at all, you have to have some degree of conscience as the engine. As readers we’re required to know and agree that this sort of thing is untenable, in order for us to constantly re-evaluate and come to terms with our own morals. Which would make the title of this book [Ho! The Morally Questionable Cartoons of Ivan Brunetti] rather appropriate. So you should read this book and make your mind up. But be warned, it will play with your disgust and your chuckle muscle in ways you might not have imagined beforehand." – Will Fitzpatrick, Bookmunch

• Review: "Carol Swain... portray[s] Paley’s excursions (Giraffes in my Hair: A Rock’n’Roll Life is a sort of anecdotal graphic short story collection in many ways, albeit a  graphic short story collection with a bunch of recurring characters) in a scratchy, pencil, black and white style that somehow perfectly sums up the stories – just as Bruce scratches around for money, so Swain’s pencil scratches around at the background detail.... [I]f you’re a fan of rock’n’roll, if you dig the Beats, if you like grimey tales of excess and the underbelly of success, this is for you." – Bookmunch

• Review: "[Joe] Daly's art is interesting, earthy pastel tones helping to create a sort of sun-kissed backdrop against which his figure work recalls Joe Spent (albeit Joe Spent by way of Cheech & Chong or Harold & Kumar). There are some great effects..., some great chuckle-out-loud writing and the sort of page-turning graphic novel that'll have you filing the name Joe Daly away for future reference, with a wee Post-It note saying, ‘Make sure to check out anything else this guy gets up to' attached. [The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book is] a real breath of fresh air, an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours, the kind of graphic novel you'll want to pass on to your buddies who dig that kind of thing — what more can you ask?" – Bookmunch

• Review: "I still think of Hey, Wait as [Jason's] best work, the most nuanced, the most beguiling. Even rereading it before writing this, there are so many things I feel like I only half-understand, images that hint at something I can never grasp all the way.... If you haven’t read Hey, Wait yet, mm-mm you’ve got some good reading ahead of you." – Dustin Harbin, The HeroesOnline Blog

• Review: "...[Our Gang Vol. 3] is excellent. You need no knowledge of the films to follow the action, and each issue was self-contained, so you can read it in chunks.... An essay at the beginning of the book puts the stories into the context of their times, very important for any comic book from that era.... Definitely worth a read if you are a fan of old comics that don't involve superheroes." – Laura Gjovaag

• Analysis: At Bleeding Cool, Adisakdi Tantimedh looks at Jaime Hernandez's "Ti-Girl Adventures" from Love and Rockets: New Stories in the context of superhero crossover events: "It really is his Final Crisis, only he effortlessly and breezily beats Grant Morrison at his own game.... 'Ti-Girl Adventures' is pretty much a testament to why we like superhero stories as kids and look back on them with fondness and might continue to like them."

• Analysis: Splinter's Reviews offers a slightly different take on "Ti-Girl Adventures": "It's very difficult to actually compare this Love and Rockets offering to the revisionist tales of Alan Moore and Grant Morrison that have memorably tackled some of the similar themes. Jamie Hernandez may tackle the same subjects of scientific and magical origins of the superhero characters, their eternal youth, and the sexism in comics, but he does it in a completely different way." (via The Comics Reporter)

• Scene: At Comics Comics, more of Dash Shaw's reporting from Brazil 

• Interview: The Daily Cross Hatch talks to Hans Rickheit about his upcoming book tour in the last part of their 4-part interview: "I’ve actually pondered the idea of hiring a good looking actor—or actress—to be me. I’ll do a rubber life mask of my face and have them wear it, and they can be friendly and say all of the right things."

• Things to see: On his blog, Hans Rickheit presents 11 unpublished pages from the earliest, aborted prototypical version of The Squirrel Machine

• Things to see: Joe Matt and David Gedge invade Steven Weissman's sketchbook

• Things to see: I've really been enjoying Tim Lane's "Best of St. Louis" illustrations; here's the last two

• Things to see: Tim Hensley's secret weapon? Phil Donahue

Friday again already? Time for some webcomics!

Vaguely inappropriate snack treats are the subject of this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan...

At last, the final installment of Steven Weissman's "Blue Jay," an epic 51-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures....

Topics include animals, furniture, and tattoos in our Monday-Friday Rocky strips by Martin Kellerman. Enjoy!

Befitting a Friday, today's Online Commentary & Diversions is heavy on the latter:

• List: Heeb magazine names Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 1 by Michael Kupperman the #2 comic of the year 5769

• Review: "...[L]ike the rest of Fantagraphics’ spectacular catalogue of books, [Mome] takes some of the most exciting talent around in comics at the moment (both Paul Hornschemeier and Dash Shaw feature in this volume, for example), adds some raw talent that you might not have heard of, and collates it into a cutting-edge anthology. An excellent taster in bite-sized portions for those who want to experiment with a range of sophisticated comics artists without breaking the bank." – Grovel

• Review: "[The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book] has a nice laid-back vibe to it, as Dave and Paul wander into and out of adventures. It's kind of fun to just watch them drive around in Dave's sweet red convertible and look at the scenery. The art has a simple, clean look that retains enough detail to make the setting feel like a real place. And, as I said, it's pretty damn funny. I liked this book and recommend it." – Sandy Bilus, I Love Rob Liefeld

• Reviews: Video blogger Manga Matt looks at Eightball, Bottomless Belly Button, Fred the Clown and Epileptic

• Things to see: The Late Show with Barack Obama, brought to you by Drew Friedman illustrating for The New Republic

• Things to see: At Comics Comics, Dash Shaw reports from his trip to Brazil; on his own blog he provides further proof that he is the most creative book-sketcher-inner (or -onner) in comics

• Things to see: At Covered, Steven Weissman's new version of Superboy #116 makes his previous version suddenly make sense

• Things to see: Tim Kreider illustrates his own (hilarious) column for The New York Times

• Things to see: The masthead for McSweeney's Quarterly #33's "San Francisco Panorama" Sunday-style newspaper sure looks like Clowes to me, and there for sure will be comics by Clowes, Ware and others inside (via The Beat)

Get your questions ready for Monte Schulz -- the This Side of Jordan author will be appearing on Bob Andelman's live "Mr. Media" internet radio call-in interview program this coming Monday, Sept. 22, at 2 PM (though I'm not sure what time zone that is). Tune in here; once the broadcast is archived we'll post the streaming audio player.

Here's a better-quality follow-up to our previously-posted photo of Drew Friedman and Jerry Lewis backstage at Jerry's Labor Day MDA telethon earlier this month.

Richard Sala has a great new post up on his blog talking about his process for creating the interior art for his recently completed Ignatz miniseries Delphine, including why he painted it in blue tones rather than the sepia tones it was printed in. Fascinating stuff!

The Family bookstore in L.A. is having a humdinger of a signing and art show on Tuesday Sept. 22 at 7 PM for the release of the new issue of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror that some wags have dubbed "Krusty's Ergot" for its lineup of art comics superstar contributors. Signing at the event: Sammy Harkham, Jeffrey Brown (his first L.A. signing, apparently), Jordan Crane, Tim Hensley, and Simpsons overmind Matt Groening. The Family blog has more info on the issue and event, plus sneak peeks at the issue and art show. It's gonna be bigger than BiMonSciFiCon!