It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here, with more advance copies of holiday-themed books arriving at our door. Hitting shelves in November, it's the third book in our smash hit Carl Barks Library series, Walt Disney's Donald Duck: A Christmas for Shacktown! Another snappy hardcover collection of some of the greatest comics ever made, presented with our usual commitment to quality... need we say more? How about a 24-page excerpt with the Table of Contents and a big chunk of the featured title story? See that, and pre-order copies for under the tree and on your shelves, right here.

The fastest 'ping' of Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Review: iFanboy makes Carl Barks man of the month when Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man is Book of the Month. Conor Kilpatrick writes a truly superb review and says "Carl Barks’ genius is not only about his wonderful art. He was an excellent storyteller who used his stories to not only tell jokes and send these characters on great adventures. He also told us about how they were as people and used them to examine real issues."

• Interview (audio): Love and Rockets' Gilbert Hernandez showed up on the short-n-sweet comiXology podcast today. The interview also coincides with the newest collection of work from Gilbert and brother, Jaime, coming out on comiXology the same day as the store release. The very beginning of Love and Rockets in the form of Heartbreak Soup and Maggie the Mechanic is now also available for your e-reading pleasure.

• Plug: The Comics Reporter talks about this weeks' releases and Love and Rockets: New Stories #5 is of course, at the top of the list. Tom Spurgeon says, "The follow-up to last summer's devastatingly good issue isn't as devastating, but it's still really good. Lots of Borneo in the Jaime story. I find that character alternately hilarious and terrifying."

• Review: Another Mag happily turns the pages of Sexytime edited by Jacques Boyreau. Laura Bradley states, "[this] oversized book. . . is a glorious portrait of taboo-busting 'porn chic'. Curated by author-filmmaker-curator Jacques Boyreau, the 100+ re-mastered posters vary in style – some with amusing imagery and tag lines, some darkly surreal, some sleek and stylish; all hosting kitsch appeal."

The fully charged Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Review: School Library Journal will happily be lending out copies of Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons to library patrons. Francisca Goldsmith says, "O’Connor’s viewpoint as a college student during the early years of World War II at an all-female Southern institution adds another layer of texture, too, for contemporary teen artists and observers of places and situations that fall outside popular media’s scope."

• Review: On Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson checks out Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 3: High Noon at Inferno Gulch by Floyd Gottfredson, edited by David Gerstein with Gary Groth. "While the strips are surprisingly entertaining to readers not used to such a vibrant version of the title character, I enjoy the supplemental material just as much. The introduction by Thomas Andrae puts the work in context and point out key observations that aid in getting more out of the comics."  

• Review: AV Club thumbs through the finest of our collection. Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons, edited by Kelly Gerald, features "a Barry Moser introduction into how O’Connor used the medium and a Kelly Gerald-penned look at how O’Connor’s early life influenced her art. The Moser and Gerald pieces are so well-researched that they’d be worth reading even without the cartoons between them." Noel Murray continues onto Mort Meskin's Out of the Shadows, "Not tied down to any one character, Meskin was free to work in a variety of genres, most of which are represented here: jungle adventure, supernatural horror, westerns, science fiction, romance, crime, etc." The trip down comics-memory-lane makes at stop at Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man by Carl Barks: "[the stories] are just as rich in their original form, packed with clever plans, narrow escapes, and a lead character who enjoys amassing and hoarding his huge fortune, even though it makes him a little nutty." On Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 3: High Noon at Inferno Gulch by Floyd Gottfredson, Murray points out, "[editors] Gerstein and Gary Groth have assembled the usual outstanding array of contextual material, including a Gottfredson-inspired Italian Donald Duck strip from 1937 that helped seed that country’s still-fertile contributions to Disney comics…"

 • Review: Nick Gazin at Vice looks Sexytime up and down. The Jacques Boyreau-edited collection is a mighty fun read because ". . . every one of the posters in this book is fascinating for one reason or another. It might just be that design is so ugly that even the lowest-level design from the 70s is better than the best of what anyone's making right now. . . Portable Grindhouse was a nearly-perfect book and so is this one."

• Plug: Comic Book Resources mentions the The Art of Joe Kubert edited by Bill Schelly and mainstream comics. Augie De Blieck Jr. says, "I learned a lot about Joe Kubert from Fantagraphics' biography on him that I read last fall. It immediately made me want to go buy some reprints of 50 year old DC material that I previously had no affection for." Kubert was a master and will be missed.

• Review: San Francicso Chronicle reviews No Straight Lines edited by Justin Hall. Charlie Wells writes, "Hall's book provides a striking example of how entwined the history and literature of the gay rights movement have been since the early days of the battle.

• Plug: The Daily Cartoonist takes a sneak peak at Naked Cartoonists, edited by Gary Groth. Alan Gardener says "What a fun project. Well done." 

• Review: Chicago Tribune likes the premise of the Significant Objects edited by Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker but was not bowled over by the micro-fiction. Christopher Borrelli said, " . . . attaching a story is partly the appeal of a farmer's market, a Happy Meal. The right back story for a brand such as Apple, the editors argue, helps build a phenomenon. . . A note about the physical book, itself a gorgeous, significant object. . ."

• Review: Recently found a Robot 6 review from SCAD cartoonig professor and cartoonist, Chris Schweizer, on Chris Wright's Black Lung before it was signed to Fantagraphics. According to Schweizer, his opinions still hold true: "It’s a graphic novel, both in its vernacular term and in a more literal sense, violent and horrible and poetic at the same time – the sort of thing McCarthy might write if he were more interested in pirates than cowboys or Appalachians."

• Plug: Torsten Adair posts on The Beat how to order and find those SPECIAL Halloween comics that your store may or may not give out for free. Buy a stack of 20 comics for $5 and this exclusive Spacehawk comic by Basil Wolverton can be yours! "You should offer to pay for them in advance, since the comics shop will most likely consider these unusual items, and be hesitant to place the order. Of course, if they’re a cool store, they are probably participating in Halloween ComicFest, and will be happy to add your order to their store order."

• Plug: Speaking of shopping, Johanna Draper Carlson gives some tips on finding that first volume of Wandering Son by Shimura Takako on Comics Worth Reading. Good news though, the second printing will arrive within the month!

• Plug: Tom Spurgeon gets worked up over the Daniel Clowes Reader on The Comics Reporter. Fantagraphics is releasing a "Ken Parille-edited book on Dan Clowes in early 2013. Ken Parille's stuff is routinely pretty great. . . Count me in."

This much:

That's our pal Gavin Lees in Reykjavik at Nexus, the only comic shop in Iceland, with their giant sign for Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks! Thanks Gavin for sending the pic (and for the post title and lead-in which I stole from his email).

While reading a particularly engrossing book or graphic novel, it is not abhorrent to combine the experience with a fine drink. We are not above such fun.

In the weekly article from iFanboy, Comic Shots picks one tasty drink and pairs it with a delicious read: Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man. Josh Christie waxed on quite a bit about Carl Barks' stories. "I was, perhaps, predestined to love these new editions of Barks’ classics. Nevertheless, these stories tap into something deeper – they are, at their core, good stories. Barks’ characters are funny and charming, and their constant scheming (be it in an attempt to save a dollar or to thwart the Beagle Boys) is wildly creative."

Christie read the book while sipping only the fanciest beer imaginable at a whopping $150 a bottle. So we here at the ol' homestead came up with our own drink that you can make at home (if you are of drinking age) that also rings true to Scroogian sensibilities. It's a lil' take on the screwdriver called the Scrooge Diver.

Ingredients:

1 part vodka (cheap, of course)

1/2 part cranberry juice

one stolen sugar packet (Scrooge's kitchen is FULL of free condiments)

Orange juice to the top with three ice cubes and enjoy while reading the best of Carl Barks in "Only a Poor Old Man." In the end, we actually used FREE VODKA which is better than cheap (in Scrooge's eye) thanks to the Jason Sacks of the Comics Bulletin who handed out special apple vodka at Comic-Con this year. Uncle Scrooge enjoys a soda below.

If mixing drinks isn't your thing, maybe you'd enjoy drinks with comics labels. For the past seven months, Elysian Brewing Company in Seattle has created some very special beers with Charles Burns art as part of the 12 Beers of the Apocalypse. With names like Maelstrom, Ruin and most recently, Torrent: you know that these are not your average beers. We claim no responsibility for you waking up in the post-apocalyptic/neo-punk/dystopian world of your dreams.

If you are in Seattle and have missed such excellent apocalyptic parties at Elysian Brewing Company and its satellite pubs, Tangletown and Elysian Fields, you've got August through December to make up for it! Check with your local co-op or grocery store to see if they carry Elsyian's 12 Beers of the Apocalypse.

While we were at Comic-Con and then I was on vacation a gazillion of our books came out in comic shops because of course they did!

Read on to see what comics-blog commentators are saying these latest releases about  (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability.

The Adventures of Venus
by Gilbert Hernandez

96-page 7.75" x 7.75" black & white hardcover • $9.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-540-2

"I think children's comics benefit from stand-alone collection more than most because it enables you to get on the wavelength being offered a bit more fully than in a serial comic book. So while I'll miss this Gilbert Hernandez work appearing next to back-up shorts featuring slightly inappropriate Rick Altergott comics, I think this book works super-well. I forgot how charming those comics are. This is also a good one to buy in anticipation of his forthcoming autobiographically-oriented work. Price point kills, too. Yeah, buy that one." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"...my first grab would be The Adventures of Venus, a collection of all-ages comics starring Luba’s young, American niece, Venus. Originally serialized in Gilbert’s short-lived kids anthology Marbles, these are really charming stories about everyday kid activities like reading comic books, playing soccer, getting sick and just generally having an active imagination." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"Gilbert Hernandez’s completely delightful kids’ comics from the pages of Measles are collected in The Adventures of Venus..., along with a new piece..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Dungeon Quest Book 3
by Joe Daly

288-page black & white 6" x 8.25" softcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-544-0

"...an enormous 288-page return to Joe Daly’s humorous fantasy quest narrative/gaming spoof..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls
by Jaime Hernandez

136-page black & white/color 8.75" x 11.25" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-539-6

"If I was looking to splurge, I’d add Jaime Hernandez’ God and Science: Return of The Ti-Girls collection (Fantagraphics, $19.99) to my take-home stash, because … well, it’s Jaime and it’s glorious. I’ve already read it in the Love and Rockets serialization, but $19.99 for a collected hardcover? I am splurging, after all!" – Graeme McMillan, Robot 6

"Even though I read the story when it was serialized in Love and Rockets New Stories, I’m tempted to pick up God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls by Jaime Hernandez, as it’s got a new coda and because, hey, new Jaime Hernandez book." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"...the new Jaime Hernandez release God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls, a 136-page hardcover collection/expansion of his superhero serial from the newest incarnation of Love and Rockets..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture - A Career Retrospective (2nd Printing)
by Jack Davis

208-page full-color 10.25" x 13.25" hardcover • $49.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-447-4

Busted! "Mike Baehr said in casual conversation -- which I think means, 'Oh yeah, use this on the site as if I gave you an actual quote' -- that this book did extremely well for Fantagraphics at SDCC. Really handsomely mounted book featuring a great cartoonist." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"I was a big Mad Magazine junkie in my youth, so I’d likely go for Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture, a coffee-table sized retrospective honoring the master cartoonist behind so many great EC stories and Mad parodies, not to mention album covers, movie posters, magazine illustrations, etc." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"...Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture provides 208 pages of stuff from the humorist, illustrator and Mad contributor..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Jewish Images in the Comics
by Fredrik Strömberg

424-page black & white 6" x 6" hardcover • $26.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-528-0

"...the latest (424-page!) Fredrik Strömberg sampler of annotated iconographies..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Significant Objects
edited by Joshua Glenn & Rob Walker

242-page full-color 6" x 8.25" flexibound softcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-525-9

"Significant Objects is not a comic — not an awful lot of comics this week caught my eye — but a potentially interesting prose compilation culling the ‘best of’ Joshua Glenn’s and Rob Walker’s online effort at selling knickknacks through eBay by commissioning writers to create short stories for the item descriptions, with comics folk Gary Panter, Ben Katchor and Ann(ie) Nocente (along with frequent writer-on-comics Douglas Wolk) joining the likes of William Gibson(!), Jonathan Lethem and Neil LaBute as contributors; $24.99." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

"Not comics: a book featuring the essay/object pairings organized by Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker, which you can read about here." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

Tales Designed to Thrizzle #8
by Michael Kupperman

32-page full-color 6.75" x 9.5" comic book • $4.95

"I can't imagine there's a better single-issue buy out there; Michael Kupperman is one of comics' funniest people, and probably its most consistent right now." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"...my first pick would easily be the latest issue of Michael Kupperman’s Tales Designed to Thrizzle, featuring a thrilling moon caper, a Murder, She Wrote parody and a truly strange coloring book about trains. If you’ve a yen for idiosyncratic, absurdist humor — and who doesn’t? — this is your meal ticket right here." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"...the final issue of Michael Kupperman’s hugely-admired comedy showcase..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man
by Carl Barks

248-page full-color 7.5" x 10.25" hardcover • $28.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-535-8

"Fantagraphics continues to be the gold standard for reprinting old comics material. This collection of Carl Barks' splendid Scrooge stories continues the formula of the Donald Duck volume from a few months ago: four long stories (including 'Back to the Klondike'!), then a handful of shorter stories and one-page gags." – Douglas Wolk, ComicsAlliance

"My big splurge purchase this week is Only a Poor Old Man, the second volume in Fantagraphics ongoing Carl Barks collection. I’m so happy that an affordable version of Barks’ duck stories is finally available, I can’t resist snatching it up." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

"...another 248 pages of re-colored vintage Carl Barks... Just collect the change from between your couch cushions and go to town, little angels. " – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

Wandering Son Vol. 3
by Shimura Takako

224-page black & white/color 7" x 9.5" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-533-4

"...[A] solid manga offering..." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"Shimura Takako’s soft ‘n delicate story of transgender sexual identity among adolescents continues..." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal

 The short-toothiest Online Commentaries & Diversions:

•Plug: Island of Dr. Moral and Mome contributor Jem Eaton (aka Jeremy Eaton) is have a big ol' summer art blow out. From now until July 29th you can purchase original pages of art at half their normal price. Parodies galore in four color fury with that Eaton touch can hang on your wall; it is hard to pass up art with titles like ROCK NERD FEVER!

•Review: Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man gets a ringing endorsement from Captain Comics. Andrew Smith bluntly states, "If you're not buying the Carl Barks library, you should be. . . At no point does anything ring false; at all times the reader feels comfortably wrapped in the comforting folds of an old blanket. You're in the hands of a master, and the ride couldn't be smoother -- or funnier."

•Review: Full-Page Bleed focuses on Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle #7 & 8. Tom Murphey says, ". . . Tales Designed to Thrizzle, are wild but beautifully executed super-accelerators that smash bizarre ideas together at high speed. His stories flow with an unstoppable dream logic, so the wildest leap of imagination is treated like the next reasonable step."

•Commentary: CNN Geek Out discusses the rise of digital comics at SDCC and notes the Hernandez Brothers will have work available via comiXology."ComiXology’s other big announcement at the show was a long-awaited deal with Fantagraphics to bring Los Bros Hernandez beloved alt-comics classic Love and Rockets to digital format," said Rob Saulkowitz.

•Plug: As a fundraiser, the University of Texas at El Paso is running a limited edition sale of Maggie prints (50 in total). The tax-deductible purchase will help support the Hernandez Brothers Collection of Hispanic Comics and Cartoon Art, housed at the University of Texas at El Paso Library. Ordering information is available at the site.

•Review (audio): Factual Opinion covers Jacques Tardi's New York Mon Amour in extensive detail thanks to Matt Seneca, Tucker Stone, Chris Mautner and Joe McCulloch. "It's a tourist's New York, no, not that - it's a Kafka New York." 

 The newest Online Commentaries and Diversions:

•Commentary: Ron Richards of iFanboy writes a con review and 1/2 of his swap was Fantagraphics fun, "I did a little dance when I saw [Love and Rockets: New Stories #5] was available . . . After the amazing #4 of this series, I can’t wait to see what Los Bros Hernandez come up with this time out"

•Commentary: Heidi MacDonald and Cal Reid finalize their digital SDCC thoughts on Publishers Weekly: "Comixology announced [many] new e-book distribution deals . . . .  and perhaps most significantly, Fantagraphics, which had been a staunch hold out on the digital front. The Fantagraphics partnership will kick-off with the jewel in the crown: the much-loved work of the Hernandez Brothers starting with Love and Rockets New Stories #1-4 ."

•Commentary (photos): Cal Reid and Jody Culkin on Publishers Weekly photo-document a lot of the fun going on at Comic-Con including the Hernandez Brothers panel and signing.

•Commentary: Sonia Harris enjoyed her Comic-Con experience according to the report on Comic Book Resources. "[No Straight Lines editor] Justin Hall had a big year, speaking on panels about gay comic book characters and hosting a party on Friday night at the increasingly interesting Tr!ckster event for the launch of No Straight Lines." 

•Interview: Chicago Pride finds the time to talk to editor Justin Hall on No Straight Lines, "My worry was that the literary queer comics were going to vanish, that there was no one looking out for that work. Especially with the gay publishers and the gay bookstores dying out."

•Review: Tom Spurgeon on the Comics Reporter covers the Tales Designed to Thrizzle digital comics release, "Kupperman's work looks super-attractive in print, which while that sounds counter-intuitive to its digital chances, is actually a vote for the print version having its own sales momentum that digital won't all the way overlap."

•Review: NPR hits home with Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons. Glen Waldon: "What emerges is a portrait of a much-beloved artist as a young woman, when the sardonic and even brutal humor behind O'Connor's most memorable creations is still gestating."

•Plug: NPR pulled an six-page excerpt from Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons if you can't wait see more of her linocuts!

•Plug (award): Cannibal Fuckface from Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit is a nominee in the Designer Toy Awards for "Best Toy from a Comic." Cast your vote today or we might bludgeon you.

•Plug (pictures): Can't make it Los Angeles? Check out artwork Keenan Marshall Keller posted from FREAK SCENE art show featuring Johnny Ryan (with Prison Pit pages), Jason T. Miles, Jim Rugg and many more.  

  

•Commentary: A.V. Club enjoyed the Fantagraphics/D&Q panel at San Diego and Noel Murray believes, "real legacy of Comic-Con [is] the elevation of the medium’s literary merit and public profile combined with the preservation of its past . . . The outcome of all that? Handsome hardcover editions of Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse strips . . ."

•Commentary: Cameron Hatheway of Bleeding Cool was a bit livid that Mickey Mouse Vol. 1 and 2 beat out our other title up for the Archival Reprint Collection/Project Eisner. "A part of me thought Prince Valiant would be a sure thing because of its 75^th anniversary this year, and people would be getting all nostalgic. Way to go, majority of voters; Prince Valiant will continue to roam the seven seas and seeking adventure without an Eisner to his name. I hope you’re all proud of yourselves! How do you even sleep at night? A pox upon your castles!" 

•Review (audio): Panel Culture podcast hypes up The Adventures of Venus by Gilbert Hernandez. 

•Commentary: Tom Spurgeon dishes up the best comics to buy at Comic-Con International and online on The Comics Reporter. On Gary Panter's Dal Toyko, ". . . I'm trying to get over the notion of only recommending comics that catch some sort of big-time marketing hook or novelty current as opposed to just being awesome comics. This is the kind of book that has peers, not betters." In reference to the Kickstarted, Fantagraphics-distributed The Cavelier Mr. Thompson by Rich Tommaso, Spurgeon mentions "It's one of the works that the generation-two alt-cartoonist serialized on-line. I heard three different people on the [Comic-Con] floor waxing rhapsodic about Tommaso's natural-born cartooning sensibilities."

•Commentary: Director of PR, Jacq Cohen, was interviewed on the Graphic Novel Reporter about her Comic-Con memories and First Second editor, Calista Brill, loves our books: "I got myself the latest in Fantagraphics' beautiful collected Uncle Scrooge series."

•Commentary: Overheard at Comic-Con. Matt Groening was talking to Eric Reynolds about Twee-Deedle in reference to "perfect" comics reproduction and he said, "Speaking of perfect..." and leaned over and grabbed a Donald book and said, "These are PERFECT."

•Plug: Mark Frauenfelder on BoingBoing mentions Significant Objects (because he's in it!): "Culture jammers extraordinaire Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn bought a bunch of less-than-worthless objects at thrift stores and garage sales and then assigned people to write a short story about one of the objects."

•Review: Reason.com reviews Daniel Clowes work making comics into art. Greg Beato says, "Clowes. . . brought a different sensibility to his comics: An obsessive compulsive commitment to craftsmanship. . . Clowes strove to make the comic book as artful as possible, a complex but organic object that was perfect in all its parts. "

•Interview: Gary Groth interviews Gilbert Shelton at SDCC on the Beat and The Comic Books, Heidi MacDonald, "Among the topics were origins of Wonder Worthog and Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, talked about working with Harvey Kurtzman and how he knew Janis Joplin. . ."

•Plug: The Comics Bulletin covers the Comic-Con International and the Fantagraphics panel on new releases. Danny Djeljosevic says, "Fantagraphics is Fantagraphics. They put out killer material and in beautiful packages to boot."

•Review (audio): Dann Lennard of Kirby Your Enthusiasm podcast covers THREE of our books in his Australian-based comics podcast. Is That All There Is? by Joost Swarte "If you like Herge and Tintin, it might not be for you. It's pretty full-on. . .  if you're into sex and violence, you might like this." On Sincerest Form of Parody, edited by John Benson: "This full color book . . .collects work from another EC publication called Panic, not quite as good as MAD and didn't last as long, but features quite good artists and humor. It's the pick of the other titles." In regards to The Hidden by Richard Sala, Lennard says its "actually quite a powerful, horrific book of violence, it's really quite sickening in places."

My very first Comic-Con International at San Diego was rather fan-freakin'-tastic. It is easier than people make it out to be but I imagine that if it started on TUESDAY night instead of Wednesday, we all would have died. This pictures are my con pictures so if that are mostly different than our previous CCI photo diaries. The caveat train is pulling away from the station!

Wednesday: I showed up the morning times with PR Director Jacq Cohen and our co-workers, Mike Baehr and Janice Headley had the table set UP! Aside from our many new releases we were thrilled to have new Love and Rockets shirts available. Here is the Fanta-crew dressed in all but that one with all those dirty words on it. Soak it in, that's the one time you'll ever see Gary Groth with his shirt untucked.

Oni Press and SCAD teacher Chris Schweizer immediately came over to look at his favorite cartoonist, Jason. Everyone will be sportin' a Schweizer nose-tupee next year, just you watch.

Writer Nolan Jones and Comics Alliance's Dylan Todd showed me their favorite books!

Since the hall was a bit quiet, Jacq and I ran around taking pictures with our favorite non-Fantagraphics thangs (sssh!).

Thursday: The Hernandez Brothers (Gilbert and Jaime here) had TWO signings a day, some three. Comics are hard work. Gilbert's daughter knows, she's onto her third zine.

One of my favorite writers and comic critics, Chris Sims, of the Comics Alliance came to ooh and ahh over our Carl Barks books.

The indelible Eddie Campbell found the most perfect copies (who could blame him?) of our Captain Easy Vols. 1 and 2 for his reading delight back home. 

Then we caught Eddie Campbell reading our Prince Valiant while at the Top Shelf booth but once again, who could blame him?!

Speaking of Top Shelf, we spent most of the week occasionally locking gazes these lovely gents. Director of Digital, Chris Ross, and cartoonist of Cleveland, Joseph Remnant.

That night, Comics Reporter Tom Spurgeon, CBR's Kiel Phegley, International Freelancer Douglas Wolk and Fantagraphics' Jacq Cohen and I posed for a bunch of photos and examined gorgeous work at the CBLDF fundraiser.

. . . Until the BOSS showed up. Then we took Gary Groth and heir-to-the-throne Conrad to the Tri!ckster spot on J avenue to browse their books (our own event to happen on Friday night)

Gary Panter's Dal Tokyo finally came out for this show. Jon Chad's Leo Geo from Roaring Brook is a similar trim shape. They are perfect for the collector of art objects with really, really deep bookshelves. Trim de jour!

Finally, finally, finally met Phil McAndrew despite many late night Tweets. We're all guilty of that. He is currently loving Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle.

This photo COMPLETELY encapsulates the family aspect of not only Fantagraphics but most comic companies. Gary Groth watches, eats and even signs some of Gilbert Shelton's Fabulous Furry Freak books.

The Hernandez Brothers continued to work hard interviewed by MTV (below), Entertainment Weekly, MultiShow Brazil and many other news outlets.

For the Tr!ckster event parties, we co-sponsored a queer-themed drink and draw party to coincide with our new queer comics anthology called No Straight Lines. Check out this big sexy bear!

Drag Queens Dolly Disco and Grace Towers posed in the best Michael Jackson-Circus of the Damned leotards and put all us ladies to shame.

Jacq and I ran as fast as our heels could take us to the Eisners, saw Mickey Mouse Vol. 1 and 2 be awarded for Best Archival Collection/Print in comic strips! Eddie Campbell and Andrew Aydin tried to steal me away but no siren song is as sweet as Fantagraphics.

Saturday: No worse for the wear, Jacq Cohen and I adhered to my STRICT 5-2-1 rule. 5 hours of sleep, 2 meals a day and 1 shower to maintain humanity at cons. Jacq added 2 sets of clothes and I admit, it pays off. (And you like that OLD SCHOOL equipment? I'm trying to refit the credit card slider into a denim fanny pack . . . maybe for SPX)

Meanwhile, Drawn and Quarterly upped their dress game with full-on bow ties for Tom Devlin from Beguiling owner Peter Birkemoe. We were a bit jealous.

The Hernandez Brothers continued their BREAKNECK pace of signing books and getting visits from artists like Joe Keatinge, Matt Fraction and Bongo Comics' editor Chris Duffy!

Matt Fraction's gravity-defying hair walked away with a Gilbert Hernandez sketch plus Love and Rockets and Jacques Tardi books.

While it may seem like you have seen a hundred Hopeys at comic cons (or dated a hundred Hopeys -- Jacq Cohen), this is the first cosplay the Hernandez Brothers have seen in thirty years of comics. Thank you, Dawn, for your Boot Angel get-up!

We continued to get cozy with our neighbors at Comic-Con. Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds showed Vertical's Ed Chavez Love and Rockets: New Stories #5. 

Young Romance editor Michel Gagné (who has worked on many animated films from An American Tale to Brave) signed his books and L-O-V-E-D his fans.

Sunday: Cosplaying Abraham Lincoln wanted to buy Noah Van Sciver's The Hypo but worry not, it'll be available at SPX, Mr. President!

Chip Mosher from comiXology came by to show us the Guided View version of Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 on his iPhone. It is pretty killer, guys, none of that one panel at a time nonsense.

 Jaime Hernandez and cartoonist Ed Piskor talked shop.

Almost had a heart attack when we saw this. I'm not ruining anyone's day by saying over 50% of our books are not for kids so it is sometimes surprising to see them pouring over Peanuts or Uncle Scrooge Comics (especially when The Furry Trap is TEN feet away)

BOOM! designer and fellow Center for Cartoon Studies alum, Carol Thomspon, laid her hands on our sweet trans-manga Wandering Son and couldn't let go.

 So that's the whole she-bang! Thank you to the CCI organizers and all the people who helped out, bought comics, asked questions and brought me coffee. See you next year!

The greenest Online Commentaries & Diversion:

•Review: Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing gushed about Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man. "[Carl Barks'] art is expressive and perfectly rendered. . . I think the best way to read Barks is via The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library, published by Fantagraphics."

•Review: The New York Review of Books takes a look at Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons. Barry Moser: "[Flannery O'Connor] also said that a story—or a linoleum print, if you will—has to have muscle as well as meaning, and the meaning has to be in the muscle. Her prints certainly have muscle, and a lot of it."

 •Plug: Kotaku was pleased with their copy of God and Science by Jaime Hernandez in an article called "Four Comics That Will Vibrate Your Molecules This Week." Evan Narcisse expands on an idea, "It's as if [the Hernandez Brothers] never shook their adolescent fascination with rayguns and capes, choosing instead to deepen the metaphoric and escapist elements of such genre tropes."

•Plug: Comics Crux snagged a copy of Jaime Hernandez' God and Science plus the FIB mini. Jess Pendley matter-of-factly states: "If you are a fan of either Jaime Hernandez or traditional capes-and-tights stories, you’ll only be doing yourself a service by purchasing this right now."

•Interview (video): Watch an 'Outrageous Tub' interview featuring No Straight Lines editor Justin Hall on Accidental Bear. In reference to a superhero question "Are you good or bad?" Hall replied, "I haven't made a decision yet." Be bad, be sooo bad.

•Plug: The guys over at Stumptown Trade Review got excited about No Straight Lines, edited by Justin Hall: "It was just the other day that I mentioned one could never tell what was coming from Fantagraphics. As if to prove my point, they are at it again. . ."

•Review: Paste Magazine had a lovely time reading Mr. Twee Deedle (edited by Rick Marschall): "[Johnny Gruelle's] strips seem crafted mostly to impart lessons (be kind, don’t wiggle, giving is better than receiving), and there’s no question that they can feel preachy and simplistic, but the art, deliberately old-fashioned even at the time and reminiscent of Kate Greenaway’s illustrations, rescues them."

•Plug: Robot 6 caught the scent of a very good book slated for September by Chris Wright. Michael May is excited for Blacklung: "Depressing, existential AND romantic? I couldn’t sign up quickly enough for Chris Wright’s original graphic novel debut."

•Review: Litkicks takes the time for a lengthy review of Everything Is An Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson, edited by Kevin Avery. Alan Bisbort also interviewed one of Nelson's mentees in the world of music criticism: "Rolling Stone was home to a lot of alpha males and females, especially on the writing side, and Paul was just the antithesis of that."