Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "...[F]eisty art-comics publisher Fantagraphics, for its new multivolume hardcover series devoted to Gottfredson’s rarely seen comic-strip work [Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse ], has gone back to the beginning, lavishing upon the cartoonist’s marvelously fluid, thrillingly kinetic serial adventures the same loving attention the company has brought to its benchmark Complete Peanuts library. Given that Fantagraphics is an adult-oriented press, production and restoration values are superlative, as are the more than 60 pages of historical essays and archival features that accompany these peerless black-and-white strips.... Anyone who ventures into this gorgeous 288-page tome will come away with a fresh appreciation for just what made Mickey an all-American comic-strip hero." – Steve Smith, Time Out New York

• Review: "Fantagraphics fucking whip ass at knowing what a beautiful book is.... The Mickey Mouse in this collection is a dynamic teenager with a whole lot of strong feelings, and it's both awesome and foreign to see him get mad or feel suicidal.... Fantagraphics are masters at collecting and presenting old comics.... This volume not only presents comics that you probably haven't seen before, but it places them in the proper context with about eight[y] pages of supplementary writing, images, and in-depth explanations that could merit their own little volume." – Nick Gazin, Vice

• Interview: Gazin follows up his Vice review of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 1 with a brief chat with series co-editor David Gerstein: "Floyd's greatest achievement... was his portrayal of Mickey himself. Instead of seeing the Mouse as a kind of dull, smiley-faced everyman — the way a lot of people seem to envision him — Floyd portrayed Mickey as what he called 'a mouse against the world.' He was a stubbornly optimistic, imperfect but determined youth trying to prove himself in a competitive, scary, adventurous place. Floyd gave Mickey length and depth."

• Review: "It’s often argued that the key element to any successful manga is a relatable protagonist. Shimura has crafted hers so meticulously and is revealing their natures so carefully that it’s virtually impossible not to be deeply invested in them. In part, it’s the actual portrayal in this volume [of Wandering Son], but it’s also the tremendous potential they have. I want to see them age and mature, struggle and succeed, and find their ways to lives that give them happiness and peace. I don’t think there’s any more a reasonable person could ask of a story like this." – David Welsh, The Manga Curmudgeon

• Review: "...[Wandering Son] is an elegantly-crafted, character-driven story that lets us into its characters’ private worlds with both candor and delicacy. We are brought into their lives completely, and though we’re privy to their some of their most private thoughts and fears, there is never a sense that we’re observing them as 'subjects' or invading their privacy—something I often feel when experiencing 'issue'-focused fiction." – Melinda Beasi, Manga Bookshelf

• Review: "[Mattotti's] enigmatic, brooding scenes [in The Raven] harness the terror and beauty of the texts which span three centuries. They're uncompromising — and that's a quality that has always been applicable to the force that is Lou Reed." – Dean Mayo Davies, AnOther

• Review: "Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising... is 124 pages of some of the best advertisements from the 1870s to the 1940s. Starring both cartoonists and cartoon characters, the book surveys an immense collection of cartoon advertising, focusing on the commercial roots of the comic strip and the fantastic artwork that came from cartoonists' freelance work in advertising. There are surprising and also familiar examples of products, ad campaigns, widely known catch-phrases, and cartoon figures.... Lovers of vintage advertisements and classic cartoons, you're in for a walk down memory lane..." – Nicole Torres, Print

• Review: "Love from the Shadows is somewhat inappropriately titled, as it sounds like a romance, but is really a sci-fi sex mash-up, with a big dash of David Lynch-ian 'what the fuck just happened here?' It’s definitely no chick flick, despite its strong female lead." – Rod Lott, Bookgasm

• Review: "Congress of the Animals... [is] Woodring’s second book-length Frank story. Not so overtly horrific as last year’s Weathercraft, but somehow more unsettling to me. Perhaps I’m just traumatized by the destruction of Frank’s house. Fantastic wordless storytelling, as always." – M. Ace, Irregular Orbit

• Plug: "You may think of Flannery O’Connor as a writer of the sorts of books that are all words, but in her younger days she yearned to be a cartoonist—and she wasn’t half bad. Fantagraphics will publish Flannery O’Connor: The Cartoons in December..." – Brigid Alverson, Robot 6

• Survey: At The Guardian, Emine Saner asks a handful of prominent cartoonists to name their favorite graphic novelist, gathering comments from Peter Kuper on Robert Crumb, Bryan Talbot and Martin Rowson on Joe Sacco, Posy Simmonds on Jacques Tardi (pictured), Ariel Schrag on Gabrielle Bell, and Lynda Barry on Chris Ware

(Click for larger version)

Chris Ware just turned in his 13th and final cover for our 13th and final (3rd in the chronology of the strip) collection of George Herriman's Krazy Kat Sundays, Krazy & Ignatz 1922-1924: At Last My Drim of Love Has Come True, coming in November. A lovely and appropriate image as we put the series to bed.

Yes, there will be a big hardcover collection of 1916-1924 released at the same time! Chris is finishing up the covers for that. And yes, we will be collecting the dailies next!

Throughout his career, Lyonel Feininger had one foot in fine art, as a leading figure of German expressionism and the Bauhaus.  But, as we all know, he had his other foot planted in the world of comics, with his ground-breaking strips in the Chicago Sunday Tribune, The Kin-Der-Kids and Wee Willie Winkie's World.

This summer, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City celebrates Feininger with his very first major show in the states in forty-five years! Lyonel Feininger: At the Edge of the World will showcase not only his historic strips, but his paintings, photography, and even a series of miniature hand-carved wooden figures and buildings he created, known as City at the Edge of the World. 

On Wednesday, July 20th, The Whitney spotlights some recent artists who also intersect fine art and comics: Gary Panter, Chris Ware , and Art Spiegelman!  Join them at 7 PM for the panel The Fine Art of Comics, moderated by John Carlin. 

You might even win tickets to the event if you follow The Whitney Museum on Twitter at @whitneymuseum!  At 2 PM ET, they'll tweet a trivia question, and the winner gets tickets to the panel, and a copy of Feininger's complete comics collection The Comic Strip Art of Lyonel Feininger!

Lyonel Feininger: At the Edge of the World runs until October 16th at the Whitney Museum of American Art [945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, NYC].

Peggy Burns said it first and best:

"Talk about a rare opportunity! It seems that Mr. Ware has graciously donated a piece of original artwork from the acclaimed Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, to benefit the Intercultural Montessori Language School in Oak Park, Illinois. And not only that, Chris will sign and personalize it to the lucky winning bidder. The ebay auction is going on for nine days and right now it is already at $809."

Up to $1,525 now!

Comics fans, film aficionados, lovers of merch, rejoice! The Cinefamily in L.A. often has posters for their film programming illustrated by top-notch cartoonists (thanks to the involvement of Sammy Harkham) and now they're all available for purchase online. Clockwise from top left: Slacker by Gabrielle Bell, "Leprethon" by Johnny Ryan, Cassavetes by John Pham, and Dennis Hopper by Anders Nilsen. Below, Yasujiro Ozu by Chris Ware. You can also buy t-shirts with the sharp Cinefamily logo designed by Jordan Crane.

• Chris Ware draws Tiny Tim for 6-year-old Clara Ware's review of a Tiny Tim compilation album at Roctober (yes, you read that correctly)

• Dame Darcy offers artwork for sale with partial proceeds donated to the Red Cross for Japan relief; she also encourages you to donate directly

• Fight or Run artwork from Kevin Huizenga; also some super-moon-related cover art

• A commissioned sketch of Wonder Woman from 1998 by Richard Sala

• Drew Weing posts a page from the story he drew in the new issue of Papercutter

• Title design (in various stages) by Leslie Stein

• It was tough deciding between this and the kitty portrait by Renee French

• A tantalizing glimpse of something in progress by Joe Kimball

And more Things to See from the past week:

• New original Matthias Lehmann illustrations for sale at La Galerie de Matthias Lehmann

• Illustrations, promotional artwork, sketches and film reviews by Jason at his Cats Without Dogs blog

• Steven Weissman's latest "I, Anonymous" spot on his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• Artwork and sketches from Frank Santoro

• Recent sketches by Marco Corona

• Leslie Stein posts the real-life Marshmallow & friends and links to some Eye of the Majestic Creature fan art

• Sketches by Mark Kalesniko for his new graphic novel Freeway at his blog

• Sketches, strips, a horrible experience and other updates from Noah Van Sciver

• New sketchbook strips by Laura Park on her Flickr page

• "The Strangest Story You Ever Heard in Your Life" continues at Splog!, the Sergio Ponchione Lost Objects Gallery blog

• Daily storyboards & concept drawings from Dash Shaw at The Ruined Cast blog

• Tony Millionaire dug an old interactive Maakies strip thing out of the bowels of the internet

• More new sketches by Tom Kaczynski at his Transatlantis blog

• Eleanor Davis just keeps murdering it on her We Be Ouija blog (NSFW, some of it)

Speaking of Chicago, one of the city's — nay, the world's — greatest shops for comics and zines, Quimby's Bookstore, is celebrating their 20th anniversary with this limited-edition 5-color silkscreen print of Chris Ware's blueprint for the store's sign, printed by the estimable Jay Ryan's Bird Machine press. Unsigned copies are available now and Quimby's promises that signed copies will be available at some point in the future.

As Earwax Cafe, a hub of comics activity in Chicago for many years, slips into memory and legend, Lilli Carré shares the above scan and reports on her blog: "I went there one more time this past weekend as they were closing, and they let me have the last extra copy of their xeroxed menu, the cover of which is adorned with doodles by Chris Ware, Dan Clowes, Archer Prewitt, and others." What an artifact!

UPDATE: Paul Hornschemeier also shares some thoughts on the closing of Earwax on his blog.

Our pals at Presspop share these photos of the mocked-up cover and slipcase design by Chris Ware for their upcoming collected edition of Gajo Sakamoto's classic Tank Tankuro manga. Purty.

Our pals at Presspop just announced that they will be reprinting Tank Tankuro, a classic pre-war manga by Gajo Sakamoto which prefigures Astro Boy, translated into English, and they got Chris Ware to design the cover. Nice!