• Review: J. Caleb Mozzocco says The Lagoon by Lilli Carré is "a great comic"

• Review: Parka Blogs looks at Beasts! Book 1

• History: Furry 101 reprints a 1992 article cementing Fantagraphics' place in mid-to-late 1980s furry culture with our brief heyday of anthropomorphic comics

• List: Sporadic Sequential recommends Anywhere but Here by Tori Miki if you're looking for funny manga

• For comiXology, our own Kristy Valenti looks at George Herriman's illustrations for archy and mehitabel

• Things to see: On the Covered blog, Paul Karasik takes Jimmy Olsen into the 3rd dimension, sort of

• Things to see (and buy): "Comic Panel Cut-Ups" from Jeremy Eaton

• Things to see: Richard Cowdry gathers all of Richard Sala's "Invisible Hands" in one place thanks to the miracle of YouTube

• Inside baseball: in a must-read slice of industry history from the mid-1980s, former Fantagraphics staffer Dave Olbrich comes clean about the debacle of the Jack Kirby Awards. Be sure to check the comments for official reaction from Kim Thompson

• Cartoon Brew recommends Fuzz & Pluck: Splitsville by Ted Stearn

• Comics - History & Price Guides takes note of Krazy & Ignatz 1931-1932 by George Herriman

• Stella Matutina says Castle Waiting by Linda Medley would "make a great present for the fairy tale-loving feminist in your life"

• Rob Clough reviews Sublife Vol. 1 by John Pham

• Jim Hanley's Universe recommends Percy Gloom by Cathy Malkasian as a Staff Pick

• The Seattle Times includes Beasts! Book 1 and Book 2 in their listing of new local book offerings

An explosion of end-of-year lists:

• USA TODAY Pop Candy places Lilli Carré at #58 on the list of "Top 100 People of 2008" 

• Book By Its Cover includes Beasts! Book 2 in their Top 10 of 2008

• Jeff Smith says Popeye Vol. 3: "Let's You and Him Fight!" by E.C. Segar was a favorite of 2008

• Robert Boyd names Jules Feiffer's Explainers and the Hernandez Brothers' Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 two of "The Best Comics of 2008"

• Brian Nicholson places Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw at the top of his list of Best Comics for the year, with Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga not far behind

• Dustin Harbin's top 10 "Best Comics of 2008" has Bottomless Belly Button at #2, Popeye Vol. 3 at #4, and Ganges #2 at #7

• Johnny Bacardi puts Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 on his "2008 Personal 10 Best in Comics" list (previously noted, but I forgot the link)

• Mindless Ones names I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! by Fletcher Hanks a "Top Comic of 2008" (yes, it came out in 2007 but I think they're UK)

• At comiXology, Tucker Stone unveils #30-11 of his "Best Comics of 2008," with Mome Vol. 12, Jessica Farm Vol. 1 by Josh Simmons, Angry Youth Comix Vol. II #14 by Johnny Ryan, and Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 making the list

• GraphicNovelReporter names Bottomless Belly Button one of their "Best Graphic Novels of 2008"

• On the Forbidden Planet International blog, Mike Carey names Things Just Get Away from You by Walt Holcombe ("a strange little masterpiece") and Jessica Farm Vol. 1 ("willfully perverse") as two of his three favorite comics of the year

(Hat tip to Largehearted Boy's diligent compilation of "Best of 2008" Book Lists for a few of these links.)

With our forthcoming opus STRANGE & STRANGE: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO hitting in just a few weeks, I thought I would share a brief Steve Ditko story. About ten years ago we had the great fortune of publishing a new series by Mr. Ditko, STEVE DITKO'S STRANGE AVENGING TALES. This was incredibly exciting to me, having been a lifelong Ditko fan. Unfortunately, I did not get to interact much with Mr. Ditko. See, I do all of our promotion, and to say that Mr. Ditko is not big on promotion is like saying the Pope is not big on gay marriage. And, he preferred snail mail to phone. As such, I did not have many opportunities to interact with one of the greatest comic book artists of all-time. Except one.

At the time, the venerable fan publication COMICS BUYERS GUIDE was very excited about Mr. Ditko's new series, and CBG Editor Maggie Thompson was kind enough to offer us the cover of an issue to promote the book, but asked if Mr. Ditko would provide an original cover for CBG. As I recall, Gary Groth ran the idea by Ditko and, somewhat surprisingly, he was game. So, I mailed Mr. Ditko all of the appropriate specifications for creating an original CBG cover. A week or so later, I received the following postcard in the mail:

I have to say, getting a postcard in the mail from Steve Ditko was just about the coolest thing ever. I was jazzed. I of course promptly wrote him back with enthusiasm, hoping to cement our acquaintanceship, telling him that I looked forward to the piece.

Soon thereafter, as promised, Ditko delivered the cover, and it was great -- a beautiful, greytoned wash illustration tying into the new series.

And here's where I made my mistake. As I recall, I wrote him back even more enthusiastically, thanking him for the piece. In an effort to be as thorough as possible, and since we still had some time before CBG's deadline, I reminded him (in case he hadn't seen an issue recently) that CBG had just switched from a B&W newspaper format to a tabloid format with color covers , and so color did remain an option if he was so inclined -- I just wanted to make sure he wasn't limiting himself to B&W because he thought he had to.

Anyway, a week or so later I got this postcard:

Reading the card now, I'm not even sure if he was actually that upset. I mean, he still sent his "regards," so maybe he was just trying to be as clear as possible, but at the time, I was convinced I'd royally pissed him off and felt terrible about it. I still do. Shortly after this, Ditko quit the series over other disagreements with Gary Groth, and only the first issue was published. So I never got the chance to prove to Mr. Ditko that I wasn't a moron.

I suppose, given Mr. Ditko's philosophical worldview, I never should have doubted that B&W cover. Maybe it was the shades of grey that threw me off. Either way, the pure white, economic postcards should have been a reminder that Mr. Ditko knew exactly what he was doing and I never should have questioned him.

STRANGE & STRANGER hits early next month. Apologies in advance, Mr. Ditko.

If you weren't able to make it to Larry Reid's slide lecture "Weirdos: Seattle’s Alternative Comics Culture in the Context of R. Crumb’s Underground" at the Frye Art Museum last month, or if you were and want to re-live it, we are very pleased to present it here on the website in a nifty interactive format. Stream or download the MP3 audio and follow along with the slides at the "ding," just like back in grade school! (You can also read the text of the lecture and browse the slides at your own pace, if you prefer.) Larry's speech is informative, entertaining and opinionated as always, and the slideshow includes a wealth of seldom-seen imagery like the Rocket cover by the Brothers Hernandez pictured above. Click here to dive on in!

I've been around Fantagraphics for 15 years now, but I never knew that comic book letterer extraordinaire Todd Klein designed not only the original LOVE & ROCKETS logo, but also a slew of other early Fantagraphics logo designs (who can forget the great "Elfquest Gatherum"?!). You learn something new every day.

And now the pièce de résistance, found in Gary Groth's office:

 Wait for it...

We shit you not. 

No sooner has our own Matt Silvie posted Flickr photos of Ruth Bellthomaz's house than the city has won out on forcing her to beautify her property. Anyone who's ever visited the Fantagraphics Books, Inc., headquarters surely remembers her house, brimming with chaotic art and a constantly evolving landscape.

My desk here at the office looks out on Ruth's property. I've frequently seen her out there securing the wall of window frames that she has nailed to her house. The squirrels and stray cats love climbing on the scaffolding-like structure, but Matt tells me that she has all those seemingly useless windows there to keep the FBI from monitoring inside her home. Which is at least a little less crazy sounding when you realize that those are the initials for our company and I AM staring at her.

Anyway, she's over there today with an industrial-size dumpster and a hammer dismantling and trashing. I just hope we don't lose all of her handpainted signs (see above).