Daniel Clowes's "Modern Cartoonist" essay caused quite a stir when it originally appeared as a bound-in booklet accompanying Eightball #18 in 1997; now we have archived it for your reading pleasure here on the Fantagraphics.com website.

Reminder: tomorrow is the last day for entries in our Scavenger Hunt contest! Everyone who's registered on Fantagraphics.com (sign in/sign up) has a chance to earn a 20%-off coupon good toward any online order by correctly answering ten trivia questions, and one randomly-chosen winner will receive a coupon for a whopping 50% off. All of the answers can be found on the new Fantagraphics.com. We'll contact the winners, and post the questions and answers here on Flog, on Monday.

Forget to get your sweetie a Valentine? Head on over to Steven Weissman's blog for a printable card. Problem solved! 

The Friends of the Nib present a Valentine-themed art show for an evening of canoodling, carousing and commerce at Seattle's Cafe Racer on Valentine's evening (hey, that's today) from 6 to 10 PM. Mr. Woodring provides the enticement and details.

This week's free preview is a downloadable 12-page excerpt (including the gorgeous covers and endpapers) of Hall of Best Knowledge, the innovative new book from Ray Fenwick which is scheduled to arrive in April. These previews are exclusive to registered Fantagraphics.com users, so sign up and/or sign in to view.

(As a reminder, 20/20 Club members receive these previews two weeks before we post them on the website, just one of many great reasons to join up...) 

Irwin Chusid, editor of our Jim Flora books, writes:

Jim Flora Art LLC has produced a limited-edition, archival-quality fine art print of a 1954 Jim Flora hand-tinted woodcut entitled Manhattan.

The cityscape depicts New York in its 1950s glory, including a number of gotham landmarks such as the Empire State Building, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Madison Square Garden, the Statue of Liberty, famous theaters and legendary musical bistros, Washington Square arch, subways, taxis, horse-drawn carriages and tourists.

Only twenty-five (25) prints of Manhattan were produced for this edition. We are offering five (5) prints (#21/25 through #25/25) now on eBay. After these five prints are sold at the asking price, prices will increase for the rest of the edition.

In the time it's taken me to write this, 4 of the 5 have sold. Yipes! 

For those of more modest means, Jim Flora notecard sets (and other snazzy goods from artists like Meomi, Matthew Porter, Mark Burrier and many others) can be purchased from copacetique.com (note: big fat conflict of interest/nepotism alert).

 

Kurt Wolfgang talked to Gary Groth and survived in November 2005; we printed it in Mome Vol. 3; and now you can read the interview in its entirety here on the Fantagraphics website as part of our ongoing series of Mome interview web reprints. Previously: Paul Hornschemeier and Gabrielle Bell. Next up: Jonathan Bennett.

It was a wild time down at our store on Saturday night at the opening party for Ellen Forney's LUST exhibit. Here's a brief clip of her slideshow presentation (NSFW language, or, as someone in the audience shouts, "Dirty!"):

Below, a few photos; for many more, see our photoset on Flickr. Our pal Ben Haley has some great shots on Flickr too.

Another benefit of registering on Fantagraphics.com: access to exclusive previews! We offer downloadable excerpts from upcoming books absolutely FREE to registered users. We'll be posting a new preview every week, starting today and usually on Wednesdays starting next week. Today's installment is a 12-page excerpt from The Education of Hopey Glass, the newest Love and Rockets collection from Jaime Hernandez. Make sure you're signed up and logged in!

(Psst... want to see these previews before everyone else? Join the 20/20 Club and we'll email you exclusive links a full 2 weeks earlier than we post them on the website, plus extra exclusive savings offers on top of the usual 20% off!)

Jeet Heer posts an excerpt of his introductory essay from Krazy & Ignatz 1941-1942: "A Ragout of Raspberries" along with some additional tidbits and thoughts. (Hat tip to Spurge.)