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

Your Online Commentary and Diversions for the day:

• Review: "It’s great to read comics that are fun, inventive, and delighting in the medium instead of dour, 'relevant,' and procedural. Supermen is a teasing look at a truly Golden Age." - Dave Lartigue, Dave Ex Machina

• Review: "Never before reprinted, Fantagraphics recently collected Humbug, complete with new essays, interviews, and annotations, in two handsome hardback volumes. [...] Jack Davis and Will Elder... elevated the comic-book parody beyond the standards of Mad and Trump. For Humbug, Davis produced some of the best work of his long career. Al Jaffee... tackled varied topics... all with equal skill and irreverence..." - Rick Klaw, San Antonio Current

• Review: "Blazing Combat... features a collection of some of the most beautiful black and white comic art you have ever seen... It also features interviews and some of the most beautiful printing I have seen. Honestly, put down those monthly comics for a week and buy something you will enjoy a lifetime. From cover to cover, this book is what keeps me in comics." - Jimmy Palmiotti, Newsarama

• Review: "Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941 is the book I've been waiting for - a crazed whirlwind tour through the raw badlands of early superheroes, the best and the weirdest of the early days... Fantagraphics Books has assembled 20 of these quirky gems into a nicely designed, affordable full-color paperback. It's like a roadmap of alternative history, where you can imagine that a character like Stardust the Super Wizard became a star... It's one of the best comic collections of the year. Bring on a sequel!" - Nik Dirga, Blogcritics

• Plug: "Castle Waiting Vol. II #15: ...Linda Medley’s warm, winsome fantasy series continues at its relaxed pace." - Chris Mautner, Robot 6

• Profile: The University of Cincinnati describes how faculty member C. Tyler, inspired by her graphic memoir You'll Never Know, is teaming up her students with military veterans to tell the veterans' stories in comics format, in order to help veterans talk about their experiences and share them with the civilian public to increase awareness of veterans' issues

• Things to see: Insane comics from Turkey, presented by Johnny Ryan

Expected to arrive in comic book shops this week: Castle Waiting Vol. II #15 by Linda Medley. Due to the intricacies of shipping and distribution, comic shops get new issues of Castle Waiting before we do ourselves, so you Wednesday warriors get the first crack! As always, check with your local shop to confirm availability.

Uh oh, I'm starting to post Twitter reviews. We're through the looking glass here, people.

• Review: "Jaime Hernandez again shows mastery in portraying both recognizable situations and complex emotions [in The Education of Hopey Glass]. The illustrations are beautiful. The man has achieved perfection with his drawing style." - Koen (translated from Dutch)

• Review: "Linda Medley's Castle Waiting... [is a] beautifully designed volume... 457 pages of glorious black and white illustration... The artwork is absolutely charming, hearkening back to older pen-and-ink styles, but with a cartoony touch to it. The characters are individually realized, both by the art and the writing... This would be a good comic book to give to younger people, perhaps especially if you know a girl who likes comics but is turned off by more mainstream fare... The twining of the fairy tales with the story is deftly and delightfully done. I love this series." - Little Bits of Everything

• Review: "In looking at [John Kerschbaum's] latest release from Fantagraphics, Petey & Pussy, I find myself bewildered and horrified at his style of comedy." - Tim O'Shea, Robot 6 "What Are You Reading?"

• Review: "Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5... [is] a comedy rag and reads like Monty Python writing a comic: lots of absurdity and naughty silliness coupled with incorrect history and ever-so-subtle statements here and there. Plus the art is spectacular! Michael Kupperman really makes it feel like you're reading some weird alternate-universe cartoon book from the 30s or something and it just makes the whole thing feel so weird, it's great!" - Timmy Williams, The Daily Cross Hatch

• Review: "Blazing Combat from Fantagraphics. Outstanding 1960's Warren goodness. Archie Goodwin et al. artists at their best." - John Siuntres (Word Balloon), on Twitter

• Plug: "I also came upon Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 1. Even though I've read most of this material in periodical form, it's still a joy to revisit Kupperman's absurd, hilarious universe." - Chris Mautner, Robot 6 "What Are You Reading?" [ed. note: I'm going to have this book up for pre-order here on the website this week if it kills me]

• Plug: Free Comic Book Day may be over for this year, but we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that our Love and Rockets: New Stories FCBD edition was a top-5 recommendation from Whitney Matheson at USA Today

• Plug: "...Tales Designed to Thrizzle... is the funniest comic book ever." - Paul Constant (Books editor for The Stranger), on Twitter

• Preview: The Star Clipper Blog talks up Jordan Crane's Uptight #3

• Preview: Parka Blogs picks up our preview images of You'll Never Know, Book 1 by C. Tyler

• Things to see: On Covered, Jon Adams takes on Al Columbia's Biologic Show

• Things to see: Snoopy by Weissman

• Things to see: Schlitzie the Pin Head by Friedman

• Things to see: Dandelions by Huizenga

Castle Waiting Vol. II #14
By Linda Medley

The Castle is full of mysterious behavior! Preparations for Jain's housewarming continue apace, and Tolly takes a break from packing to journey outside the hedge to fetch a gift with Simon... though Tolly may have an ulterior motive as well. And what's Henry doing out there too? Meanwhile, a mysterious feline has something to teach Pin, and the normally dour Dr. Fell is still in a festive spirit. All this and more in this issue of Linda Medley's hit series.

32-page black & white 6.75" x 10.25" comic book • $3.95
Add to Cart • More Info & Previews

• Blurb: The Comics Reporter says some nice things about Linda Medley's Castle Waiting Vol. II comic series in a roundup of this week's notable comics releases

• Blurb: Capree Kimball has some good stuff on her birthday wish list

• Things to see: On the Covered blog, Dash Shaw does Green Arrow

Scheduled to arrive at your local comic shop this week: Castle Waiting Vol. II #14 by Linda Medley. As previously noted, Castle Waiting comics arrive in comic shops before we have the issues available here on the website, so hit your area brick-n-mortar if you want the issue now! Here's a first look at the cover:

(A small meta note: from now on we'll only be posting New Comics Day updates on weeks when we actually have new titles shipping to comic shops. No update means nothing new from us that week.)

• List: Rina Ayuyang posts her Best of the Year comics list, with Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga and Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane on it

• Review: Vice gets a 5 year old kid's verdict on Johnny Ryan's Angry Youth Comix dolls

• Blurb: Precocious Curmudgeon looks at this week's new comics, recommends Castle Waiting Vol. II #14 by Linda Medley (which will be in stores before we have it for sale here)

• Interview: Optimum Wound gets all kinds of information out of Ho Che Anderson

• Things to see/interview: The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog posts a trove of Eldon Dedini's Playboy cartoons, along with a video interview clip

• Events: Here's a list of current and upcoming art shows where you can view work by Andrice Arp

• 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

The events are free and open to the public. No registration is required. Doors will open 15 minutes before the events. Parking in the Central Library garage will be available for a $5 special event rate.

Refreshments will be served at each event. Art supplies will be provided.

See below for times, dates and program descriptions.

Kick-Off with David Lasky
6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7
Ballard Branch
5614 22nd Ave. N.W., 206-684-4089

Local cartoonist and official FOOF (Friend of Ol' Fantagraphics) David Lasky will present a slide show and information about major cartoonists from the Pacific Northwest.

Family Toon-In
6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8
Queen Anne Branch
400 W. Garfield St., 206-386-4227

Classic cartoons will be shown.

Draw-a-Thon and Contest
5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15
University Branch
5009 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-684-4063

Draw and design your own comic book, and then submit your work to win a prize. Local artist Justin Norman will give tips on drawing and breaking into the comics industry. The event is sponsored in partnership with Zanadu Comics.

Comix Workshop with Shary Flenniken
6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22
Columbia Branch
4721 Rainier Ave. S., 206-386-1908

Local artist Shary Flenniken will teach this workshop. Students will make and take home their own comic books.

Comix Workshop with Greg Stump
7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23
South Park Community Center
8319 Eighth Ave. S., 206-684-7451

Local artist and former Fantagraphics staffer Greg Stump will teach this workshop. Students will make and take home their own comic books.

Comix Workshop with David Lasky and Greg Stump
6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28
Ballard Branch
5614 22nd Ave. N.W., 206-684-4089

Local artists David Lasky and Greg Stump will co-teach this workshop. Students will make and take home their own comic books.

Comixtravaganza Finale
Saturday, Jan. 31
Central Library
1000 Fourth Ave., 206-386-4636

One Hour Comix with Davey Oil
Noon - 1 p.m.
Level 4, Room 1

Local artist Davey Oil will teach a comic-making workshop. Students will make and take home their own comic books.

Linda Medley
2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Level 1, Microsoft Auditorium

Oregon artist Linda Medley will discuss her work. She will also talk about illustrating and storytelling. Books will be available for purchase and signing. This program is presented in partnership with Fantagraphics.

Comics, Live!
3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Level 1, Microsoft Auditorium

Seattle-based Slide Rule Comic Strip Slideshow Players will mix digital video and hand-drawn cartoons, live music and electronic sound, and animation and live performance to create a theatrical experience.

For more information, Ask a Librarian or call the Library at 206-386-4636.