Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago's New Chicago Comics exhibit (mentioned previously), which features  Jeffrey Brown, Lilli Carré, Paul Hornschemeier, and Anders Nilsen, opens to the public on January 8 with a special fancy-pants preview on Friday January 7, 6-10 PM. Advance tickets to the preview event are available here. See what Paul has to say about it here.

• A little holiday treat for Venture Bros. fans from Stephen DeStefano

• Here's just one piece of artwork that Ben Catmull has for sale — see his blog for more, plus details

• Page 1 of Kevin Huizenga's Fight or Run? #1 looks even better in mauve duotone

• Richard Sala has some nice photos of the Penguin Classics edition of Dickens's Great Expectations with his cover illustrations, plus an old Blab cover illo

• Lilli Carré presents the masthead illustrations she's done for The Believer's comics section, plus another illustration at her Kettle of Fish blog

• A Christmas comic and downloadable print-your-own gift tags from Laura Park

• Andrice Arp fabric pattern

And more Things to See from the past week:

• Early strips, illustrations, outtakes and film reviews by Jason at his Cats Without Dogs blog

• Steven Weissman's latest "I, Anonymous" spot on his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• A new print at John Hankiewicz's Clip Joint blog

• Sketches by Frank Santoro at the Cold Heat Comics blog

• Illustrations by Marco Corona at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• Nature sketches with running commentary by Debbie Drechsler at her Just Around the Corner blog

• More sketches for Mark Kalesniko's forthcoming graphic novel Freeway (now up for pre-order!) at his blog

• Paul Hornschemeier's latest t-shirt design available in the Forlorn Funnies Shirt Shop on his News and/or Head Lice blog

• A series of illustrations at Splog!, the Sergio Ponchione Lost Objects Gallery blog

• Drawings, sketches, photos from Renee French

• Daily drawings and animation production artwork from Dash Shaw at The Ruined Cast blog

• Sketches, portraits, caricatures & commentary by Steve Brodner

• An eyepopping 2006 portrait commission by Johnny Ryan (I'm underselling it)

These Giant Robot Post-It Shows are always drool-enducing, but this year's show enduces an even bigger slobbery accumulation because it's curated by the great Esther Pearl Watson, and her equally-rad spouse Mark Todd. 

If you've somehow missed Post-It Shows 1 through 5, basically these shows collect tiny 3X3" masterpieces on a Post-It note from an array of awesome artists.  Each piece is one-of-a-kind, and cash-and-carry, so hit the ATM on the way to GR2, and maybe bring some cardboard to sandwich your Post-It, if you're fussy about those kinds of things. (I am.)  Oh, and did I mention that each Post-It is only $20 BUCKS???  'Cause, yeah.

It's no surprise that Esther and Mark have collected a calvacade of rad comic artists, including our own: Andrice Arp, Jeffrey Brown, Lilli Carre, Martin Cendreda, Dave Cooper, Jordan Crane, John Cuneo, Eleanor Davis, Jaime Hernandez, Jason T Miles, Anders Nilsen, Jeremy Tinder, Jon Vermilyea, and Steven Weissman.  And there's tons of other artists in the show, as you can probably tell from all the fine print in that graphic above.  (Yeah, $20 bucks for an original Matt Groening?? Get there early, folks.)

Here's a sneak peek at some of the post-its from our fine artists:

Post-It Show 6 at GR2 (2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025) runs from December 11 - January 12, 2011, with an opening reception featuring many of the artists taking place from 6:30 - 10:00 pm this Saturday, December 11.  I mentioned each Post-It was only $20 right? You're welcome.

It's overdue!

• Another glimpse of Tim Lane's book-in-progress Folktales at his Jackie No-Name blog

• Among the early strips, illustrations, outtakes and film reviews by Jason at his Cats Without Dogs blog: "Dead Mickey"

• From Steven Weissman, a Repaneled panel and a new Yikes! animation (I dare you not to get the end credits song stuck in your head), plus his latest "I, Anonymous" spots and other things on his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• Lots of new artwork, merch, handicrafts and current events in the latest blog updates from Dame Darcy

• Richard Sala's... Hallmark card?? Believe it!

• Noah Van Sciver's cartoon interview with Geoff Johns done for The Comics Journal but never used

And more Things to See from the past week:

• Sketches by Frank Santoro at the Cold Heat Comics blog

• Illustrations by Marco Corona at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• Lilli Carré sketches on her Kettle of Fish blog

• Nature sketches with running commentary by Debbie Drechsler at her Just Around the Corner blog

• More sketches for Mark Kalesniko's forthcoming graphic novel Freeway (now up for pre-order!) and paintings of stylish girls at his blog

• Paul Hornschemeier's latest t-shirt design available in the Forlorn Funnies Shirt Shop on his News and/or Head Lice blog

• Sketches and illustrations by Laura Park at her Flickr page

• Illustrations at Splog!, the Sergio Ponchione Lost Objects Gallery blog

• Drawings, sketches, photos (Wookiee chastity belt?) from Renee French

• Carol Tyler writes about Ron Santo and John Lennon at her Screened-in Porch blog

• Daily drawings and animation production artwork from Dash Shaw at The Ruined Cast blog

• Caricatures & commentary by Steve Brodner

• Something horrible from Josh Simmons at his The Furry Trap blog

• Illustrations by Hans Rickheit at his The Squirrel Machine blog

• Illustrations by Derek Van Gieson at his These Days I Remain blog

• Last year's Post-its from Andrice Arp on her Flickr page

• New sketches by Eleanor Davis at her We Be Ouija blog

Chicago is a city with a rich comics tradition and next month the city's Museum of Contemporary Art celebrates four current innovators in the medium with a can't-miss gallery exhibit titled New Chicago Comics:

"For the month of January, the MCA presents an exhibition of the work of four young, Chicago-based cartoonists and animators: Jeffrey Brown, Lilli Carré, Paul Hornschemeier, and Anders Nilsen. In their own unique styles each of these artists expands and challenges the conventions of a visual art form for which Chicago continues to be renowned: the comic book."

The exhibit runs January 8-30, 2011. See more information at the MCA website.

• I'm going to go ahead and guess that the next panel says "NN" and going by the spot color that maybe this is a glimpse of the next issue of Ganges from Kevin Huizenga? Also new from Kevin: Fight or Run Post-its

• Ray Fenwick Mascots originals for sale (including the abandoned original cover)

• A short looped animation from Lilli Carré (video embedded above)

And more Things to See from the past week:

• Illustrations and other artwork at Matthias Lehmann's Bloc-Notes blog

• Early strips, illustrations, outtakes and film reviews by Jason at his Cats Without Dogs blog

• Steven Weissman's latest "I, Anonymous" spots and other things on his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• Harold Gray fan art at John Hankiewicz's Clip Joint blog

• Sketches by Frank Santoro at the Cold Heat Comics blog

• A portrait (?) of Marco Corona's upstairs neighbor at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• Vintage Jim Flora illustrations & artwork at the Jim Flora blog

• Nature sketches with running commentary by Debbie Drechsler at her Just Around the Corner blog

• More sketches for Mark Kalesniko's forthcoming graphic novel Freeway (now up for pre-order!) at his blog

• Paul Hornschemeier has two new t-shirt designs available in the Forlorn Funnies Shirt Shop since our last update from his News and/or Head Lice blog

• Laura Park and some animal friends on her Flickr page

• Illustrations at Splog!, the Sergio Ponchione Lost Objects Gallery blog

• Drawings, sketches, photos from Renee French

• Daily drawings from Dash Shaw at The Ruined Cast blog

• A public transportation portrait by Steve Brodner

• Pages and panels by Derek Van Gieson at his These Days I Remain blog

• Some familiar creators post some new Trubble Club collaborative comics

• New sketches by Eleanor Davis at her We Be Ouija blog

Pages from The Exquisite Book are now available as individual archival, bamboo-mounted prints: you got your Ray Fenwick, Lilli Carré, Esther Pearl Watson, Anders Nilsen, Jordan Crane, and Paul Hornschemeier, plus dozens more. 

(Via Paul's blog.)

Lilli Carré provides the cover illustrations for a new W.W. Norton edition of Very Good, Jeeves! by P.G. Wodehouse. Lilli has the full wraparound as well as preparatory artwork and commentary at her blog.

This post has been in progress for nearly a month now... with so much to catch up on, I'll just be highlighting a few selected items and then giving you links to the regularly-updated stuff. As always, click for better viewing and possible commentary at the sources.

• At The Hooded Utilitarian, Ng Suat Tong reports on some recent Jaime Hernandez original art sales, with lots and lots of images

• At Not Quite Clobberin', a scan of a seldom-seen 1997 autobio strip by Jaime Hernandez

• Doc Shaner posted a bunch of Popeye art on his Tumblr last week, including this amazing "Sgt. Popeye's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by Stephen DeStefano

• Shucks, it's an illustrated love letter from 1916 from E.C. Segar to his wife-to-be Myrtle, at Letters of Note (via The Comics Reporter)

• Jason reveals the cover art for the French edition of Isle of 100,000 Graves (L'Île aux 100 000 Morts); plus early strips, illustrations, outtakes and film reviews at his Cats Without Dogs blog

• A new comic for Vice by Johnny Ryan

• Bob Fingerman's They Live poster for an art show at Maxwell's in Hoboken

• Three from Covered: Mome contributor Jon Adams does Yosemite Sam #2; Tom Pappalardo does Acme Novelty Library #1; and Dyna Moe does Tales Designed to Thrizzle #3. Also see Jon's latest Truth Serum strips

• Two from Repaneled: Matthew Allison takes on Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit and Steven Weissman gets in on the fun; also catch up on Steven's latest "I, Anonymous" spots and sketches on his Chewing Gum in Church blog and more on his Flickr page

• Eleanor Davis's letterpress print for The Cloudy Collection; plus her latest sketches, works in progress and other illustrations at her We Be Ouija blog

• Dig Gary Panter's logo design for his multimedia "band" Devin Gary & Ross

• A two-page all-ages horror story by Richard Sala

• A new war-story page by Tim Lane, with interesting background info; plus recent installments of his ongoing Belligerent Piano strip at his Jackie Noname blog

• At Gabrielle Bell's Lucky blog, the concluding installments of her "San Diego Comic-Con Comicumentary" (which Anthony Vukojevich interprets at Repaneled) and some "embarrassing older work"

• Paul Hornschemeier's weekly t-shirt designs at his News and/or Head Lice blog

• Noah Van Sciver's "Blue Wilson" and lots more drawings, strips and news on his blog

• "The King & The Beast" is a 2006 comic by Ray Fenwick

• New installments of the latest Simon & Jack (& Rosalyn!) story by Jordan Crane at What Things Do

And please catch up on the last few weeks worth of the following:

• Amazing Facts and Beyond with Leon Beyond by Kevin Huizenga and Dan Zettwoch; more Kevin at The Balloonist and New Construction

• Matthias Lehmann's Bloc-Notes blog and stunning new originals for sale

• Sketchbook drawings at John Hankiewicz's Clip Joint blog

• Drawings, paintings, collages and other images by Frank Santoro at the Cold Heat Comics blog

• Artwork, dolls, fashions, other handicrafts and spells from Dame Darcy

• Artwork & illustrations from Émile Bravo

• Illustrations & sketches at Marco Corona's Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• Vintage Jim Flora illustrations & artwork (plus merch) at the Jim Flora blog

• Nature sketches with running commentary by Debbie Drechsler at her Just Around the Corner blog

• Lots of sketches for Mark Kalesniko's forthcoming graphic novel Freeway (just sent to the printer!) and drawings of women wearing things at his blog

• Comics, illustrations and news from Sergio Ponchione at his Mondobliquo blog

• Laura Park continues to add artwork to her Flickr page

• The latest Josh Simmons sketches, panels and updates at The Furry Trap and The White Rhinoceros and (with Wendy Chin) The Randy Gander and Quackers 

• An entire month's worth of drawings, sketches, photos and jewelry (!) from Renee French

• Animated drawings and Eyeworks Animation Festival updates from Lilli Carré at her Kettle of Fish blog

• Dash Shaw's daily drawings at The Ruined Cast blog

• Sketchbook drawings and comics by Sophie Crumb at her blog

• Caricatures, a new Need to Know video, and commentary on current events by Steve Brodner

• Sketchbook comics etc. by Anders Nilsen at The Monologuist

• More pages from Hans Rickheit's graphic novel in progress Ectopiary, plus other material and commentary at his Squirrel Machine blog

• Pages and panels by Derek Van Gieson at his These Days I Remain blog

• The latest Maakies strips and other updates from Tony Millionaire

• Drawings and works in progress by Joe Kimball on his Flickr page

Eyeworks Festival 2010 trailer from Lilli Carré on Vimeo.

Lilli Carré writes:

"I'm organizing a new experimental animation festival called Eyeworks
with Alexander Stewart, and we're very excited to announce the
details! It will be a mix of abstract animation and unconventional
character animation, shown on 16mm film and video. It's taking place
November 6th in Chicago, at 247 S. State Street at the DePaul CDM
Theatre."

To paraphrase Tom Spurgeon, if I were in Chicago, I would totally go to that. Trailer above; more info and programming details here.