• Review: The Chicago Tribune on Monologues for Calculating the Density of Black Holes by Anders Nilsen: "The loneliness comes off the page in waves, trailed by dark humor... Nilsen's work may have a minimalist look, but he's exploring the biggest issues around. And you can't stop turning the pages."

• Review: Brix Picks' Book of the Week is The Chuckling Whatsit by Richard Sala, which they say "is one of those books that I revisit regularly because it's just so fun to read."

• Review: Bookopolis gives Unlovable Vol. 1 by Esther Pearl Watson 4.5 stars: "This book is so much fun - it kept me laughing for hours. Not only is the dialogue hilarious but the drawings themselves are really hysterical."

• Review: The Walrus, running down all of this year's Doug Wright Awards nominees, looks at Hall of Best Knowledge by Ray Fenwick: "...Fenwick’s skill with design renders the handwritten words adaptable and full of stubborn character, turning them into a cocky little world of their own."

• List: Cartoon Flophouse names "My Holy Trinity of Humor Comics," including E.C. Segar's Popeye ("brilliant... I love the rhythms of Segar's strips, the repetition from strip to strip, and the way Popeye evolved into a lead character") and Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper ("in his 'Powerhouse Pepper' strips, Wolverton demonstrated some of the best character designs in comics. And the whole rhyme-scheme dialogue is insane. There's a really good Fantagraphics book that collects all the Powerhouse strips" -- and it's half off, we might add)

• List: The Examiner's "essential comic book geek's guide to women and dating and sharing the love" shares the following advice: "If you've got a girlfriend or potential love interest, show her why comics are wonderful. Show her... Ghost World by Daniel Clowes, Black Hole by Charles Burns..."

• Preview: Dave's Comics looks at the recent flurry of Paul Hornschemeier material

• Preview: Holy Heroes on our solicitation for The Wolverton Bible: "Now this is exciting... as someone who's a fan of the weird, the religious, and the weird religious, [this book] is more than welcome news."

• Reportage: Paul Karasik goes to Italy, hangs out with Paul Auster, writes a hilarious blog post about it

• Things to see: I think this might be an outtake (in rough form) from Steven Weissman's "Blue Jay"

Esther Pearl Watson's UNLOVABLE has been picked up by Urban Outfitters and is being tested in ten stores nationally. If you haven't seen Unlovable yet and live near one of these locations, well, go buy it already and help us help Esther conquer the world!

628 Broadway, New York, NY
3111 M St., N.W., Washington, DC
374 Ave. of Americas, New York, NY
1507 5th Avenue Seattle, WA
5331 East Mockingbird Lane, S.190 Dallas, TX
7861 Tysons Corner Center, N-15-U McLean, VA
2590 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA
624 State St. Santa Barbara, CA
7135 E. Camelback Rd., #150 Scottsdale, AZ
3000 184 St. S.W., Alderwood Mall #810 Lynnwood, WA

• Review: The Barnes & Noble Review takes a long, loving look at Humbug: "...[Harvey] Kurtzman and his cronies served up some of the smartest satire of the time, much of it as fresh today as it was when first printed... beautifully restored... [a] wonderful production from Fantagraphics... Every page... attests to one thing: [Kurtzman's] all-American genius as writer, artist, and editor." Related: The New York Times "Paper Cuts" blog comments on the B&N review

• Blurb: Earz Magazine has a short update on Esther Pearl Watson & Mark Todd, including a mench of Unlovable Vol. 1

We have a whole mess of exclusive short excerpts of new and upcoming books that have gone up on the ICv2.com site recently. They're intended for "industry pros" but there's no reason everyone can't check 'em out:

• Mother, Come Home by Paul Hornschemeier (our product page)
• Humbug by Harvey Kurtzman et al. (our product page)
• Unlovable Vol. 1 by Esther Pearl Watson (our product page)
• The Wolverton Bible by Basil Wolverton (our product page)
• A Mess of Everything by Miss Lasko-Gross (our product page)

In the spirit of Jason's recent SDCC 2008 reports (but not quite that tardy), here are the photos and video of the gallery opening and book launch party for Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle back on February 7, 2009. If you or your reader don't like embedded slideshows, click here to browse the photos.

Below, Rusty Willoughby (Llama, ex-Pure Joy, ex-Flop) serenades the crowd. I recorded every song but the first one; click here for the YouTube playlist if the embedded player isn't visible. And stay tuned for photos and video from the Humbug exhibit and Dame Darcy's performance last weekend.

Fantagraphics Warehouse strongman, Ajax salutes the Comic-Con and my camera. This was the second year Ajax worked Comic-Con and our second year without the riffraff crowd lingering around our booth and shoplifting our shit. Coincidence?

The Sultan of Shit, Johnny Ryan at the Buenaventura booth. I just read New Character Parade #2 and laffed alot. You should buy it so you can laff alot too.

Strange & Stranger scribe, Blake Bell mugs for the camera.

The AMAZING Kim Deitch personalizes a copy of Shadowland for a fan. There's not much more I can write about Deitch. He's the greatest! I really enjoyed and strongly recommend the simultaneous reading of Deitch's Pictorama and The Comics Journal #296. Very rewarding.  

Unlovable author-extraordinaire, Esther Pearl Watson and Bad Ass Mark Todd at their booth with a Popple !?

• Review: Dutch blog Koen says of Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button (according to the Google translation) that "Shaw proves himself a master of the portrayal of inner pain and dysfunctional relationships without being depressing, with the addition of humor and mystery... This book is one of the best comics of 2008."

• Preview: Introducing an exlusive 7-page excerpt from Unlovable Vol. 1 by Esther Pearl Watson, New York Magazine says "Tammy [Pierce]'s hopes, dreams, and humiliations are brought vividly to life in Watson's grotesque-but-touching book Unlovable. Even if you never wore leg warmers with high heels, you'll still recognize your teenage self in Tammy Pierce's unguarded, most secret thoughts. And if you did wear leg warmers with heels, well, maybe this was your diary."

• Blurb: Italian blog Nuvole Parlanti, looking at Birdland, calls Gilbert Hernandez "the king of American erotic comics"

• Things to see: A status update on the upcoming Tales Designed to Thrizzle book from Michael Kupperman

• Things to see: Racist Colon: The Movie is the latest Johnny Ryan fan film

• Things to see: Jim Woodring, bad student

• Review: Bookforum says of the two volumes of Beasts!: "Covey’s brave band of 180 artists... put these mythological and folkloric beings on vivid display. The distinct and varied styles of the cartoonists, illustrators, and graphic artists give further evidence of each creature’s unique characteristics... The enthusiastically detailed evocations in these books give us all reason to believe."

• Review: Dear Stranger reads The End #1 by Anders Nilsen and declaims "It’s sad. In that way that things are only ever sad when they’re really honest, so it’s beautiful, but you feel a bit guilty for thinking so -- because under the beauty, it’s still sad, honestly so."

• Review: The Star Clipper Blog says "[Esther Pearl Watson's] Unlovable spares no degrading detail, but still remains an ironically loving tribute to the awkward protagonist... these monstrous depictions of early puberty could be found in just about anyone's high school yearbook... perhaps the perfect teenage girl experience."

• Preview: Publishers Weekly Comics Week covers our announcement of our new Jacques Tardi publishing project

• Profile: For Bookforum, Ben Schwartz examines the career of Harvey Kurtzman, with a look at Humbug, natch

Starting now, when you order Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable Vol. 1 direct from us, you can choose to receive the exclusive signed bookplate pictured above as a free bonus (and why wouldn't you?)! Supplies are limited and the usual conditions and caveats apply; click here for more details and the complete list of books available with this FREE premium!