• Review: J. Caleb Mozzocco offers "Nine not particularly insightful thoughts about Beasts! Book 2" (which are more insightful than advertised)

• Review: Ticket to Anywhere checks out Castle Waiting by Linda Medley

• Review: Weltklasse Serier reviews Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga in Swedish and says "this is a fantastic series. Read it. Now," according to the Google translation

• Review: I Love Rob Liefeld proffers a short review of Chance in Hell by Gilbert Hernandez, calls it a mind-reeling grand slam

• Blurb: Sandbox World anticipates Sam's Strip by Mort Walker & Jerry Dumas

• Blurb: Sacha Peet praises The Lagoon by Lilli Carré

• Blurb: Comix 411 hypes up our forthcoming Humbug collection and its downloadable preview

• Things to see: A tribute to Lux Interior by Zak Sally

• Things to see: More sketchbookery by Jim Woodring and Tom Kaczynski

• Excerpt: Publishers Weekly has an 8-page preview of Unlovable by Esther Pearl Watson

• Interview: The Daily Cross Hatch polishes off their 3-parter with Lilli Carré

• Things to see: The Daily Cartoonist has links to two vintage Jules Feiffer animations

• Things to see: From Jim Woodring, sketchbook pages and Manhog's back half under assault

• Things to see: On the Covered blog, Jon Adams's version of Woodring's Frank #1

The comics blogosphere does not rest for Super Bowl weekend:

• List: Brick Weekly has 4 "Top 10 Comics of 2008" lists on which Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw and The Portable Frank by Jim Woodring appear multiple times

• List: The Comics Reporter asked readers to "Name Five Favorite Single-Issue Alternative/Independent Comic Books" and lots of folks chose Fantagraphics stuff

• Review: Fictions looks at Maggie the Mechanic by Jaime Hernandez

• Review: Rob Clough says Where Demented Wented: The Art and Comics of Rory Hayes is "a stunning retrospective that seems remarkably fresh today"

• Blurb: USA Today Pop Candy's Whitney Matheson names Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable the "Best thing I read" last week; she's also reading the current issue of The Comics Journal

• Analysis: At Blog Flume, Ken Parille examines Schulz's use of varied settings in some early Peanuts strips

• Interview: Watch this episode of Canapé, from NYC cable channel CUNY, for a segment on David B. 's recent stop in NYC

• Interview: Robot 6 talks to Lilli Carré about The Lagoon

• Interview: Newsarama talks to our latest Mome signing, Noah Van Sciver

• Events: Sacha Peet is excited for Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable art show and book signing at our storefront this Saturday, and so should you be

• Things to see: At Liberation.fr, here's what appears to be a promotional video for a French edition of Eightball by Daniel Clowes

• Things to see: Another new story page from Tim Lane

• Things to see: More "Doodle Dump" and rock sketches from Tom Kaczynski

We've brought our previous website poll to a close. In answer to the question "Following Palestine and Ghost World, what should get the Special Edition treatment next?" the top response is "The Bradleys / Buddy Bradley saga" after an early lead for "Complete (non-Frank) Jim Woodring" and a long period of domination by "Complete Eightball." See the final results here. (UPDATE: apparently we've been the victims of ballot-stuffing -- see the comments for details.) So does your top choice have a chance of being made? Well, they've all been discussed at one point or another, but so far the only one to make it onto our schedule is Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition, debuting at Comic-Con this summer as a two-volume slipcased hardcover set with loads of extras -- our biggest Special Edition re-issue yet!

Our new poll asks "What never-reprinted Fantagraphics series would you most like to see collected?" Vote in the right-hand column here on Flog or on our home page. As far as I know, none of the choices have actually been discussed as a possibility, but who knows, if we get an overwhelming response...

The blogosphere's loss is the book lover's gain!

We hosted the release party for our pals Jim Woodring & Paul DiFilippo's Cosmocopia in October, but I've only just begun to dive into this amazing book and objet d'art from our esteemed neighbors at Payseur & Schmidt. It has to be seen to be enjoyed fully, but it includes Di Filippo's new short novel enclosed in a box (with belly band) also containing a 513-piece jigsaw puzzle, "The Artist's Eye," by Jim Woodring. This is a limited first edition of 500 numbered sets, signed by DiFilippo and Woodring. Typical Payseur & Schmidt awesomeness (I actually stole that from their web hype, but it's true). Above is a picture of the completed puzzle from one ambitious fan.

More on this story as it develops.

• Drawn! names Ray Fenwick's Hall of Best Knowledge one of their Favourite Comics and Art Books of 2008

• Boing Boing spotlights Paul Di Filippo and Jim Woodring's Cosmocopia (you may remember the release party at our bookstore, where you can still purchase copies)

• Venus Zine falls in love with The Lagoon by Lilli Carré

• The Vancouver Courier reviews Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw

• This much-discussed article by Steven Grant at Comic Book Resources has some nice things to say about Explainers by Jules Feiffer and Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin (and our own Eric Reynolds)

• Sequart's issue-by-issue examination of Love and Rockets Vol. I continues with #37 (link not working at press time, but maybe you'll have better luck)

• The Last Visible Blog reviews Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane (and check the "Other Articles of Interest" for more reviews of our books)

• Cover Browser names Daniel Clowes' Eightball one of "10 Comic Books that Changed the Industry (Or Just Look Darn Cool)"

• Time magazine names Bob Staake's post-Obama-victory New Yorker cover the Top Magazine Cover of 2008

• In The Village Voice, our old pal Everett True, inspired by The Complete Peanuts, imagines Charlie Brown and the gang grown up to become indie rock fans

• The Daily Vanguard gives Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga the #1 spot on its Top 10 Graphic Novels and Comics of 2008, a list which also includes Mome Vol. 12, The Education of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez, and Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw

• The Daily Cross Hatch calls Beasts! Book 2 "downright stunning"

• Ward Six looks at The Portable Frank by Jim Woodring

• USA TODAY Pop Candy is excited about the Brian K. Vaughn interview in The Comics Journal #295

• There's a great illustration by Max in this New York Times article about the future of the publishing industry that we're all reading with great interest

• New Robert Crumb comics (via everywhere)

Anders Nilsen has a solo show opening tomorrow at Little Bird Gallery in Los Angeles. "It's my first proper solo show. It's mostly a bunch of drawings and paintings I've been doing over the last year or so, of various sizes, and a few covers from issues of Big Questions." Seeing a collection of Nilsen's original work would surely be a great experience.

Jim Woodring fans might want to check out the Kaiju Invasion at Art Center South Florida.

Jesse LeDoux show in Rhode Island Saturday.

Also, TONIGHT: Portland's Grass Hut has a grasshutgang show. Le merde, Scrappers, Bwana Spoons, APAK, and Martin Ontiveros will all have new works up.