We are pleased to debut a brand new weekly strip in this week's webcomics update:

The House of No by Mome contributor Derek Van Gieson! These are Derek's rejected New Yorker cartoons, and we'll be adding a new one every week. We'll leave it up to you to guess why they were turned down — for our money, they're pretty damn funny.

And in our veteran strips:

All-y all-y in-come-free! It's this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan....

...and the Zip-a-Toned adventures of Barack H. Obama continue in this week's strip from Steven Weissman!

It's a Very Important Friday webcomics update!

First, an inspirational, and uncomfortably titillating, message in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan....

... Steven Weissman says of this week's strip "THIS COMIC WILL CHANGE AMERICA FOREVER!" and I cannot disagree! The President earns his Nobel Peace Prize right here!...

...and this week concludes our run of Monday-Friday Rocky strips by Martin Kellerman, wrapping up our presentation of the strips from Rocky Vol. 2: Strictly Business. Debuting next week, a new weekly feature: "The House of No" by Derek Van Gieson!

At his blog, Derek Van Gieson presents some haunting teaser images from parts 2 and 3 of "The Devil Doll," his WWII story (written by Michael Jada) which will be serialized in upcoming volumes of Mome.

Heading into the weekend, here's your Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Carol Tyler’s You’ll Never Know [Book 1: A Good and Decent Man] mines similar territory to women graphic novelists before her -- the life of her father and its relationship to her own foibles -- and manages to make a work entirely her own, neither derivative nor overly familiar... with genuinely gorgeous illustration... It’s a gripping mix of biography and autobiography... There’s more for Tyler to explore in another volume, and she manages to make this one immensely satisfying on its own terms while alternately leaving you with anticipation for the next." - John E. Mitchell, North Adams Transcript

• Review: "...[Y]ou could do much, much, much, much, much, much worse than to spend 25 bucks and an inch on your bookshelf on yet agoddamnnother collection of murderously bleak and astonishingly well-executed high-concept existentialism [Low Moon], drawn with an unimpeachable clean line and colored like unto a thing of beauty. Time and time again during these five stories I was almost physically impacted by Jason's skill as a storyteller ...his skill and his bravado left me shaking my head with amusement and/or amazement time and time again. He's one of the best, as is this book." - Sean T. Collins

• Interview: Seth talks a bit about his design work for The Complete Peanuts in an interview with Alex Carr at Amazon's Omnivoracious blog. Sample quote: "The series was meant to be a setting for the jewel that is Schulz's masterpiece. I wanted to make sure that Schulz's work was treated with the utmost seriousness and dignity."

• Interview: Al Jaffee answers Tim Hodler's question about cartoon vomit at Comics Comics

• Plug: In an interview with Robot 6, MoCCA Festival organizer Karl Erickson singles out Humbug's Arnold Roth & Al Jaffee and Mome's Derek Van Gieson & Sara Edward-Corbett as highlights of the 2009 festival

More HERE.

• Review: Eric teased it; now read the New York Times Book Review review of Supermen!

• Review: Rob Clough examines Jules Feiffer's Explainers

• Review: Rob Clough again, this time reveling in Tales Designed to Thrizzle #4 by Michael Kupperman

• Review: Mania gives The Wolverton Bible an "A" (last item on the page)

• Review: At The SF Site, Rick Klaw says The Wolverton Bible is "amazing" (see sidebar)

• Review: Graphic Novel Reporter says Fuzz & Pluck: Splitsville by Ted Stearn is "a joy to read" (and favorably compares it to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

• Review: The Quarterly Conversation examines "the genius" of Fuzz & Pluck: Splitsville

• Review: Sean T. Collins has a bone to pick with Mome Vol. 13

• Blurb: In Robot 6's periodic "What Are You Reading?" column, Tim O'Shea praises Boody: The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers

• Blurb: Boing Boing also features Boody

• Interview: I feel like maybe I've seen this Bookslut interview with Ivan Brunetti before, but it popped up in my search feeds today so here it is

• Things to see: Michael Kupperman - 3D!

• Things to see: A recent batch of commissioned artwork by Johnny Ryan

• Things to see: On the Covered blog, Derek Van Gieson does New Mutants #37

• Bookmark: New Mome contributor Hernán Migoya keeps a blog; his post about his Mome appearance is a good place to start

• Oddity: Mike Sterling quotes and comments on some classified ads from the July 1981 issue of The Comics Journal

• Review: Comic Book Resources gives Sam's Strip 4 out of 5 stars and calls it "a must for any fans of comic strips"

• Review: Comics Worth Reading takes on Supermen!

• Review: Rob Clough examines Mome Vol. 13

• Review: Parka Blogs checks out Beasts! Book 2

• Profile: Paul Gravett examines (and recommends) the work of Mark Kalesniko in an article which also appears in Comics International

• Blurb: Jared Axelrod, applying his "10 Rules of Quality Superhero Fiction," declares Jaime Hernandez's story in Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 "one of the best superhero comics of the past year"

• Blurb: John Whitlock recommends our Popeye books

• Blurb: The Geek Curmudgeon (a.k.a. Rick Klaw) previews Humbug, Boody and Supermen!

• Blurb: Books Are People, Too (a.k.a. Russ Kick) also previews Humbug

• Blurb: Rod McKie describes how comics by Daniel Clowes, Peter Bagge and the Hernandez Brothers helped him get through a health crisis

• Video: Slick Rivera visits Larry Reid at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery and finds out where the good stuff is stashed (found via Frank magazine [not to be confused with our Frank])

• Interview: Vice talks to Johnny Ryan and a couple of the other funny cartoonists who are in Kramer's Ergot #7

• Interview: If you're curious about new Mome contributor Hernán Migoya, and speak Spanish, LaNuez has a couple of video interview clips for you (via Entrecomics)

• Things to see: On his blog, Derek Van Gieson previews his work in the just-released Mome Vol. 14 (and keep exploring for a teaser of Mome Vol. 15)

• Things to see: On his blog, Dash Shaw presents a Bottomless Belly Button ex libris plate he created for French comics shop Super Heros (you may also have seen Jason Miles's photo of Dash at Super Heros here on Flog recently)

• Things to see: Boing Boing Gadgets presents a blast from future past, Frank Thorne style

• Things to see: Is an excuse needed to scan and share Seth's cover designs for The Complete Peanuts? The Comics Reporter thinks not