Ellen Forney makes a triumphant return to the pages of our hometown newsweekly The Stranger in the new annual "Queer Issue" with the full-page strip "How to Have a Mind-Blowing, Decadent, All-Day Threesome!" They've made it available as a downloadable PDF file, enabling you to print out one copy to laminate for future reference and one to insert with her other "how-to" strips in your copy of I Love Led Zeppelin.

Somewhat belatedly, here are some photos from the Tony Millionaire exhibit opening and book signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery lo those 9 days ago. Click here for lots more, including images of all the artwork and a short video.

Uncle Gabby & Drinky Crow join Dan Pussey on the store window:

Outside, Jim Woodring and Ellen Forney have a chat:

The dapper Mr. Millionaire:

View of the exhibit:

Jam-packed with Maakies fans:

Dook dook dook!

Messrs. Bagge & Millionaire:

Pay attention: there's some must-read stuff in today's Online Commentary & Diversions!

• Review: "Castle Waiting #15 - I love that Linda Medley is completely ignoring what makes her setting so interesting for the D&D set and focusing on the characters." - Kevin Church

• Review: "Although aiming at twenty-somethings also interested in getting laid, getting wasted and getting rich, [in Rocky Vol. 2] Kellerman nonetheless manages to move beyond the ever-fertile grounds of the battle of the sexes, bodily functions and morning-after guilt-trips to produce a lot of work that is truly fresh, funny and uniquely personal." - Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

• Review: "Just like Heartbreak Soup and Locas, Luba is hard to put down, and Beto’s art gets better as it gets more experimental... there’s tons of good material here, and the humongous format can’t be beat in terms of bang for your buck." - The A.V. Club

• Review: "The 'family history' graphic novel subgenre can feel overdone at times... but volume one of Carol Tyler’s autobiographical You’ll Never Know is the kind of smartly conceived, affectingly personal work that makes comics and memoirs look fresh... Carol Tyler works wonders with colored pencils and offbeat page designs... the breadth of her visual imagination is so impressive that... overreach is excusable. Also impressive: the thematic complexity of You’ll Never Know... [Grade] A-" - The A.V. Club

• Review: "The handsome hardcover collection The Brinkley Girls brings together a generous sampling of [Nell] Brinkley’s work, leaning heavy on her stories of industrious women and the he-men they love... Brinkley’s art is so drop-dead gorgeous that readers may long to razor out every page to hang on the wall. [Grade] A-" - The A.V. Club (same link as above)

• Review: "...the fantastic Brinkley Girls hardcover put out by Fantagraphics... you would be doing yourself a favor by checking it out. Curse you Fantagraphics, I'm trying to save money you bastards." - This Is Why I Hate You

• Review: "Sally gets the cover in this 11th volume of The Complete Peanuts... Schulz is still in top form here in my opinion. There are few books I laugh at more, or enjoy more thoroughly than these fine collections. Highly recommended!" - Todd Klein

• Preview: Our advance hype for Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 1 has been translated to Español by Cuidadano Pop

• Preview: Robot 6 runs through our Fall/Winter catalog, offering commentary on each upcoming title. A must-read!

• Profile: In The Jewish Standard, Gary VandenBergh looks at the life and career of his father-in-law, Will Elder. Another must-read!

• Interview: The Inkstuds radio program talks with Craig Yoe about his most recent editorial projects, including Boody. The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers

• Interview: The CHS Capitol Hill Seattle Blog talks to Ellen Forney and her collaborators in the Capitol Hill art walk about last night's event

• History: Fantagraphics rules 1989-1990 in the "Modern Timeline of Events within the Comics/Movies Industry" from New Destiny Comics

• Things to see: Arlen Specter by Drew Friedman for The New Republic

Seattle, getcherself some bargain-priced drawrings from the likes of Jim Woodring, Ellen Forney, and other Friends of the Nib at "Drift," a flurry of papery goodness opening this Thursday (May 14, 2009) at 7 PM at Cafe Racer on Roosevelt. Click the flyer for bigger info courtesy The Woodring Monitor. Bring your checkbook!

• Review: "With [Miss Lasko-Gross's] latest book, A Mess of Everything, it seems that not only does she grow up as young person, but this book also shows alot of promise and growth for Miss as a creator. [...] [I]t is... an honest look at growth through an awkward time in one's life... Oh yeah, and the art is pretty darn good too." - Robin McConnell, Inkstuds

• Review: "It's magnificent... a really, really good book." - Irish comics podcast The Comic Cast discusses Mother, Come Home by Paul Hornschemeier (link via Paul)

• Preview: If you're looking for a Spanish-language version of our announcement of Peter Bagge's Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me, Zona Fandom has you covered

• Things to see: A funny gag panel by Steven Weissman

• Event: Ellen Forney sez "This Sunday at 2pm, I’ll be giving a talk at Shoreline Library as a part of their 'Crazy for Comics' Graphic Arts Festival. Come one come all!" (via Ellen's blog)

Seattle, strong women, short skirts, Mercury Cougars. 

• Awards: Entrecomics reports that La educación de Hopey Glass (the Spanish edition of The Education of Hopey Glass) by Jaime Hernandez is nominated for "Mejor obra extranjera publicada en España en el 2008" ("Best foreign work published in Spain in 2008") at Saló del Còmic de Barcelona, Spain's largest comics convention (yes, we have a handful of copies of the Spanish edition for sale)

• Review of the Week: Pads & Panels on Johnny Ryan's XXX Scumbag Party: "It is truly unfortunate someone saw fit to publish this abomination."

• Review: Art Blog by Bob on The Wolverton Bible by Basil Wolverton: "As much as the horrific and Bosch-esque in Wolverton’s art strikes you immediately, it’s also important to recognize the beauty of many of his visions... The Wolverton Bible still has the ability to revolt and repulse viewers, but that is just one aspect of its overall ability to make these well-known stories seem new and, more importantly, inescapably human."

• Review: Blog @ Newsarama says "A few words about every single story in Supermen!" (spoiler alert!), praising editor Greg Sadowski and concluding "I honestly can’t recommend [the book] enough to any fans of the superhero genre."

• Preview: Our pals at Diamond Comic Distributors present some excerpt pages from Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941 on two of their websites: Previews and ComicShopLocator.com (it's the same in both places, so take your pick)

• Interview: Inkstuds can't wait until Paul Hornschemeier arrives in the program's hometown of Vancouver tomorrow to talk with him about Mother, Come Home and other topics (in streaming and downloadable audio)

• Profile: The Vancouver Courier spotlights Paul Hornschemeier in advance of his appearance at Lucky's Comics tomorrow

• Oddity: Ellen Forney is no fool

Last-minute notice! Better call that number shown above to make sure there's still space available. More about the program here.

Oops, I put yesterday's update together but forgot to click "publish." Here's a two-fer, then:

• Review: Rain Taxi says Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw is one of the best graphic novels of 2008

• Event: Chapman University in Orange, CA has an exhibit of original comic art by Tony Millionaire, Jeffrey Brown and Adrian Tomine currently showing through March 13

• News: On her blog, Ellen Forney celebrates the news that I Love Led Zeppelin is to be published in a Czech edition

• Things to see: New sketchbook drawings and comics by Anders Nilsen

• Things to see (and buy): Prints by John Hankiewicz

• Blurb: Comics on the Brain found Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1951-1952 at an unusual place and got a great bargain

• Blurb: Manxom Vroom posts info about The Wolverton Bible by Basil Wolverton

• Blurb: Newsarama looks at the April Previews, including glimpses at some of our upcoming releases

• Oddity: A life-imitates-comics moment from Ellen Forney