Drew Weing is offering every panel from his new graphic novel Set to Sea for sale on his website for a very reasonable $145 each. Get your favorite page before it's gone!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions will spill over into tomorrow because I have to take off to see John Porcellino & Noah Van Sciver...

• Review: "Oh, the things men do to torture themselves. [Catalog No. 439:] Burlesque Paraphernalia and Side Degree Specialties and Costumes is an amazing flashback to a time before the Internet, television, radio, movies and pretty much every other form of entertainment. [...] This book is chock full of some of the funniest and most sadistic devices ever dreamed up by the human mind. It’s almost as if the guy from the Saw movies had wanted to get laughs instead of frights — and fans of current outrage cinema may be happily startled to find something actually called 'The Human Centipede' in its pages." – Siobhan Greene, Fangoria

• Review: "Peppermint Patty is the cover girl for the latest volume of Charles Schulz’ classic [The Complete Peanuts], a fitting designation for an era that saw her emerge as one of the three most important characters of the strip. [...] It’s amazing that nearly thirty years into the strip, Schulz was still trying new things and finding new inspiration from old characters." – Rob Clough, The Comics Journal

• Review: "It's an odd little notion, the idea that you've lived a better, fuller life for having killed people. That's probably a somewhat unfair aspect of Drew Weing's good-natured, lushly drawn storybook (that's the term the comic practically demands I use) Set to Sea — a tale of a big lummox of a poet whose lackluster verses about life on the open sea are given new verve when he's shanghai'd into service on an actual ship — for me to seize on. After all, Weing's bigfooted style and inviting rather than intimidating illustrative chops place him squarely in the adventure-comics tradition of Carl Barks and Jeff Smith." – Sean T. Collins, Attentiondeficitdisorderly

• Review: "Freed from the burden of making a 'serious' work, Anderson delves into some grim and gritty pulp material, and you can feel his relish and delight coming off the page. [Sand & Fury: A Scream Queen Adventure] basically deals with the story of a murdered woman who comes back from the dead as a banshee and eventually seeks revenge against her killer, who in turn may be a supernatural demon himself. It sounds like a Jim Balent comic, but Anderson creates a lovely noir atmosphere here, full of blood, sex and other nasty goings-on that never once becomes camp. It’s a nice, effective little horror comic." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

• Plug: The Venture Bros. co-creator Jackson Publick writes: "Venture alumnus, super-pal and yiddish-loving Italian-American Stephen DeStefano premiered his new graphic novel, Lucky in Love at the San Diego Comic Con, and I was fortunate enough to snag a copy. Now it's your turn. Go buy one."

• Interview: Graphic NYC 's Christopher Irving talks to Michael Kupperman. Irving on Tales Designed to Thrizzle: "Toss comic book art from the '40s and '50s into a blender with the dirty brand of humor that runs rampant in underground comics, and give it the pacing and spontaneity of skit comedy, and you get Kupperman’s distinctive Tales Designed to Thrizzle. Kupperman’s slick art has the polish and stiffness of old advertising art, creating a posed disconnect that adds a layer of absurdism to his offbeat stories." Sample Kupperman quote: "What I’m doing is more along the lines of sketch comedy. I grew up with Monty Python and SCTV, and those shows had a profound influence on me, through the writing and tone. My comic is humor for childish adults. I think I’m actually going to start putting that on the cover. It’s stuff that makes me laugh and part of my working method is to make stuff that will make others laugh as well."

• Profile: "One hundred-plus years after the newspaper comic strip was born in San Francisco, a reader might well ask: Who was the greatest comic artist of all time? Some scholars say the question was settled in 1924 by New York arts critic Gilbert Seldes, whose book on the American cultural scene, The 7 Lively Arts, devoted an entire chapter to a reclusive cartoonist in the Hollywood Hills named George Herriman and his avant-garde comic strip, Krazy Kat." – Anthony Mostrom, The Los Angeles Times (via The Comics Reporter)

• Profile: Katharine Zarrella of Interview magazine talks to Robert Pollard about his collage art and current exhibit thereof in New York City: "A handful of ex-bandmates are on Pollard's guest list, but what do they think of his artwork? 'It seems a lot of them dig it. I think secretly, and sometimes openly, my peers respect the insanity.'"

• Profile: "One of the most serious gaps that this blog has not yet filled is as follows: having been scandalously silent of the great art of Drew Friedman, one of the most popular and recognizable contemporary American illustrators, a genius capable of combining, with previously unpublished results, a technique of hyper-realistic depiction with the strong sense of the grotesque that characterizes the creative temperament." – Lucca Boschi, Il Sole 24 Ore (translated from Italian)

• Events: At AOL's TV Squad, Aaron Broverman recaps Blake Bell's presentation "Steve Ditko & Bill Everett: Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, Daredevil & Beyond" at Fan Expo in Toronto, "a panel I expect will be one of the hidden gems of the weekend"

Periodic clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources:

• Bleeding Cool uncovers a lost all-ages Roger Langridge rarity

• Here's an auction page where you can zoom in on and pan around a scan of Jaime Hernandez original art from Love and Rockets #9

• This week's Maakies? Maais oui. Tony Millionaire is still posting them on Facebook for the time being while his website is rebuilt

• Read "Time Traveling" from Ganges #1 at What Things Do; also from Kevin Huizenga, a new Amazing Facts and Beyond with Leon Beyond strip and a curtain-lifting homage to something I can't identify

• Matthias Lehmann posts photos of a scratchboard work in progress — stage 1, stage 2

• Jason illustrations for a Norgwegian music magazine and a Norwegian comic shop , plus a cartoon from 1984

• This week's "I, Anonymous" spot and these church doodles from Steven Weissman seem to be thematically related, don't they?

• Jon Adams's Covered version of Batman #8 is pretty creepy when you look closely; also, there's a new Truth Serum

• A couple of ex libris plates by Émile Bravo, plus a metal dwarf bear figurine

• Drew Weing presents the final five pages of Set to Sea; the entire story will remain online through September 10

• The first page of "Di Briganti e di Brigantesse" from Marco Corona 

• The new installment of Tim Lane's Belligerent Piano

• Two new paintings by Jim Blanchard: Leonard Cohen and Danger: Diabolik

• Debbie Drechsler gets birdy and buggy

• It's the continuation of Gabrielle Bell's "San Diego Comic-Con Comicumentary"

• Mark Kalesniko is starting to post the preliminary sketches for his upcoming graphic novel Freeway — the man sure can draw a good AMC Pacer

• From Renee French: nervous Hagelbarger, a narwhal, a ledge, a... horse?, and seaweed

• Steve Brodner documents a NYC stabbing of a Muslim cabbie and, in a video drawing for Capitalnewyork.com, a NY State politician

• From Derek Van Gieson: a new "Devil Doll" sneak peek, hot crustacean jazz, and a Moomin parody; he also has original art and more for sale on Etsy

• Here's the color version of that Smoke Signal story panel from Jon Vermilyea 

Periodic clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources:

• A long-awaited new installment of "Chapter Two: Unraveling" from Jordan Crane at What Things Do

• From Jason, a hand-painted cigar case & matchbox, circa late 1990s, and an unpublished page from 1985

• Some sketches by Émile Bravo 

• Drew Weing's Set to Sea page 129

• Tim Lane presents his updated introduction to Belligerent Piano as it appeared in Smoke Signal

• Speaking of Smoke Signal, here's a panel from Jon Vermilyea's story for an upcoming issue

• Debbie Drechsler catches a couple of hungry squirrels hiding behind a rock

• Another devastatingly sad strip about Lewis from Laura Park 

• Soaring Quackers and Fearless Explorers from Josh Simmons 

• From Renee French: "zombbaby," burnt match squid thing, OMG BABY BUNNY PHOTO

• Hans Rickheit's Ectopiary page 37; also the rare color version of the cover of Chrome Fetus #5

Periodic clips & strips -- click for improved/additional viewing at the sources:

• Michael Kupperman posted this "doodle" to Twitter

• Go bookmark Émile Bravo's art blog — he posts daily (via The Comics Reporter)

• More uncollected Jason strips: one from Mjau Mjau, one possibly unpublished (plus more Audrey Hepburn movie reviews)

• Renee French's work from The Rock Show can be seen at the Meyer Gallery website; also, more guys with mitts and these

• From Steven Weissman: This week's "I, Anonymous," sketchbook studies over on the Covered blog, and more sketchbook pages here and here  

• Drew Weing's Set to Sea pages 126, 127 & 128

• The story behind this page by Marco Corona is amusing, if slightly confusing in translation

• This week's Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane 

• Debbie Drechsler documents some crayfish and their habitat

• Paul Hornschemeier's latest t-shirt design for his Forlorn Funnies Shirt Shop

• Noah Van Sciver stumps for your Ignatz votes

• I feel a little strange re-posting the deeply personal comics that Laura Park has been making about the recent loss of her kitty Lewis, but they're just so amazing

• Josh Simmons introduces Prof. Quackenstein

• Tom Kaczynski previews MIX and teases a new Ransom Strange story

• A new Truth Serum strip by Jon Adams

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Reviews: The Techland critical roundtable looks at Drew Weing's Set to Sea:

"Set to Sea... is the real thing: a one-off nautical action book (a hardcover version of Drew Weing's sweet, lively web-comic) that's a real pleasure to look at and linger over. Every panel-as-page just radiates joy in drawing." – Douglas Wolk

"I positively adore this format. [...] I could pull half or more of the pages in this book and hang them as wall art. [...] I gave this book one of my highest distinctions. I made my girlfriend read it."– Mike Williams

"Man... this book! ...Weing creates a wonderful modulation of tone throughout Set to Sea. [...] Maybe it's corny to call a book about a would-be poet lyrical, but that's exactly what Set to Sea is." – Evan Narcisse

"Set to Sea is just beautiful, emotional in all the right ways, and mixed with unexpected moments to pull it away from sugary sentiment and tweeness... There's such a gentleness here, so much heart, that it's completely compelling, and the way Weing structured it, a panel a page, makes the reading experience wonderfully slow, to match the story. [...] I just really, really loved this book. Like you said, Douglas, this is the real thing." – Graeme McMillan

• Plug: Techland's Mike Williams praises Set to Sea further in his "Panel of the Week" column: "Every page is a single gorgeous cross hatched panel that tells the story of a hulking poet forced into the life of a sailor. Do yourself a favor and go out and buy this small hardcover gem."

• Review: "Portable Grindhouse is a tributary 'don't know what you've got 'till it's gone' love letter to the awesomeness that was the 80s videotape box. [...] Beautifully encased in a faux cardboard videotape box, PG is a stroll through the shameless, sensationalist 'grab me off the shelves!' graphic design exploits and tacky taglines of an era when terrible action films, teen sex comedies, hilarious horror and strange sci-fi oddities still debuted weekly. Airbrushed atrocities and cartoon abominations abound." – Wilfred Brandt, TwoThousand (photo from the article)

• Interview: Host Robin McConnell talks with Tim Hensley about Wally Gropius and other topics on the Inkstuds radio programme

• Commentary: "Magic realism in comics is nothing new, of course. The defiance of logic and physics is rooted in its pulp tradition, from superheroes to introspective character studies. Its effect helps us grab on to the ephemeral qualities of our experiences, giving us a shot at understanding their meaning and significance. In that context, its hard not to look at Scott Pilgrim and recall another time-bending tale of the modern comics era, albeit not so epic in its epicness: Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez’s Love and Rockets." – Scott Cederlund, Indie Pulp

• Coming Attractions: Library Journal's "Graphic Novels Prepub Alert" for November releases highlights Linda Medley's Castle Waiting Vol. 2: "Medley's black-and-white art draws on fairy tale standbys to spin a witty, inventive comedy of manners."

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Set to Sea's one-panel-per-page layout lets Weing's visual storytelling shine, but only if you resist the urge to tear through the pages quickly. Go too fast, and you'll miss the touching, wordless way Weing communicates the death of a supporting character. Or, worse, you'll skim over a gorgeous arctic sunset clearly inspired by the Gustave Dore engravings for Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner." – Glen Weldon, NPR

• Plug: "Drew Weing’s graphic novel debut [Set to Sea] is a Popeye-esque delight. Weing’s linework — and abundant crosshatching — is a visual feast that well serves the story of a deadbeat poet who is shanghaied and learns to live and love the yarns he’s been spinning." – Benn Ray (Atomic Books), Largehearted Boy

• Plug: "I don't know Drew but I've been reading [Set to Sea] online and I think it's a damn fine yarn worthy of your dollars and a place on your bookshelf." – Steve Rolston (Queen & Country, The Escapists, Ghost Projekt)

• List: "Featuring riotous fake ads, and strips like 'Snake and Bacon,' TDTT is subversive, twisted and awesome. With the 'can comic books be funny?' debate ever-raging, Tales Designed to Thrizzle answers a glorious 'Yes!'" – Max Minor, "Comic Books You Should Be Reading," Nerd City

• List: io9's Cyriaque Lamar recommends the Love and Rockets "Maggie the Mechanic" storylines as one of "5 comic books that will see you through Scott Pilgrim withdrawal," saying "these initial forays into scifi strongly resemble the unexplained weirdness of Pilgrimverse." (via Newsarama)

• Commentary: "Love and Rockets is spectacular, and amazingly approachable (What brought me over to the dark side of actually reading it was free time and finding Locas in my local library...), and the kind of thing that I feel embarrassed to have been reticent to read in the first place, which explains why I admit to it in public like this." – Graeme McMillan, Robot 6

• Commentary: The Hooded Utilitarian's critical roundtable on Popeye concludes with Robert Stanley Martin: "I perceive Segar’s Popeye as a period piece, but I can’t summon a rigorous aesthetic basis for that view. All I can muster is my own idiosyncratic opinion."

Our Summer 2010 Ignatz Series titles, which we just got in stock yesterday, are also scheduled to land in comic shops this week! Let's see what the comics bloggers are saying about their imminent arrival, collectively and individually:

"This summer's four new Ignatz releases from Coconino/Fantagraphics, and examples of one of the great comics formats of the last 15 years. I liked the Sammy the Mouse book the best, but they're all beautiful." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

"I've been digging Fantagraphics' Ignatz imprint for a while now, so I'm quite happy that Wednesday sees the release of four new books in that line." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

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Grotesque #4
by Sergio Ponchione

32-page duotone 8.5" x 11" saddle-stitched softcover with jacket • $7.95
(part of the Ignatz Series)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-419-1

"...[A] suite of small character studies, mostly reprised from earlier issues, mostly concerning dissatisfaction over life’s elusive meanings – dynamic visuals both segregate Ponchione’s characters from one another (spatially, design-wise) and suggest a unity of anxiety across varied human experiences. Fun cartooning, at the very least." – Joe McCulloch, Comics Comics

"...[P]ossibly the most unjustly ignored book in the Ignatz line, just as surreal as Sammy [the Mouse], but more cartoony and cerebral, though no less haunting or effective a work. Constantly adventurous in its layout and narrative, it's one of those books that can be read multiple times and still make new discoveries." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

- - -

Interiorae #4
by Gabriella Giandelli

32-page duotone 8.5" x 11" saddle-stitched softcover with jacket • $7.95
(part of the Ignatz Series)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-420-7

- - -

Niger #3
by Leila Marzocchi

32-page duotone 8.5" x 11" saddle-stitched softcover with jacket • $7.95
(part of the Ignatz Series )
ISBN: 978-1-60699-421-4

"[A] lushly scratched sociological allegory by Leila Marzocchi, not entirely unlike Anders Nilsen’s Big Questions in its gathering of woodland creatures to discuss odd happenings, but more whimsical and 'cartooned,' despite a real lingering atmosphere of threat." – Joe McCulloch, Comics Comics

- - -

Sammy the Mouse #3
by Zak Sally

32-page duotone 8.5" x 11" saddle-stitched softcover with jacket • $7.95
(part of the Ignatz Series)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-426-9

"My first choice would be the new issue from Zak Sally, again following slightly mutated cartoon archetypes through a series of journeys and conversations apparently at the beck and call of persuasive, godly forces." – Joe McCulloch, Comics Comics

"The long-awaited new issue of Zak Sally's bleak, meticulous series, which I think is the only Ignatz title about an actual cartoon mouse." – Douglas Wolk, Comics Alliance

"...[A] grubby, disturbingly surreal, anthropomorphic tale involving a surly mouse, drunken duck and reclusive dog, not to mention a number of seemingly nefarious and supernatural elements that turn up from time to time. ...Sally is producing a real sharp, evocative and haunting work that manages to send a delicious chill up my spine upon reading it." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6

- - -

Wolk also plugs Drew Weing's Set to Sea, even though it's not on the official shipping list — "I think the entirety of Drew Weing's wonderfully drawn comic about a frustrated would-be poet who basically becomes Popeye against his will is still online [Not quite – Ed.], but this little hardcover edition (one panel per page) is awfully handsome" — so it may be arriving at your shop if it hasn't already. Why not contact them to find out?

(P.S. There are also new comics — not from us — by Émile Bravo and Trina Robbins in shops this week! Ask your friendly neighborhood comic purveyor.)

Periodic clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources:

• On Facebook Esther Pearl Watson gave this glimpse at her new work-in-progress graphic novel, a "Lady Rambo" style action-adventure!

• A self-portrait circa late-1990s and another uncollected strip by Jason; also, he's blogging about the films of Audrey Hepburn, beginning with Funny Face

• Jim Woodring presents "A matinee from CONGRESS OF THE ANIMALS"

• Drew Friedman recounts an evening at Mickey & Val Rooney's variety show

• Sergio Ponchione did the album cover & interior art for the debut album by Orangeproject

• Noah Van Sciver gives another glimpse at his book-in-progress The Hypo

• Deepest, sincerest condolences to Laura Park on the loss of her beloved and handsome cat Lewis

• Josh Simmons puts a Quacker between two Buns; also, Flexi-Quacker

• From Renee French: thumbnails, guys with mitts, something shadowy with maybe a bunny

• Hans Rickheit's Ectopiary page 37

• John Kerschbaum's Cartoon Boy wraps up his current adventure — mmm, that's good denouement

• Matthias Lehmann updates his blog with nearly a dozen recent illustrations

• Steven Weissman takes another crack at that "Truman Capote" strip

• Oh Frank Santoro. His latest cut-n-paste job is decidedly NSFW. "Marvel Team-Up" indeed

• Welcome to Dame Darcy's dollhouse — this and more in her latest blog update

• Drew Weing's Set to Sea pages 124 & 125

• Illustrated border and hand-lettering by Richard Sala for a written piece by Nick Tosches, 1996

• An untitled Jim Flora painting from 1964

• A new Amazing Facts and Beyond with Leon Beyond strip by Kevin Huizenga 

• Send Jim Blanchard your address and he'll happily send you one of these old postcards

• Sexual harrassment and chocolate figure in part 3 of Gabrielle Bell's "Comic-Con Comicumentary"

• Mark Kalesniko's third variation on "Tina in a Polka-Dot Dress"

• Steve Brodner presents a rejected New Yorker illustration

• Our Talented Staff Dept: office manager Stephanie Hayes is now posting flora & fauna sketches at The Gentleman Scientist