• In the day's biggest news, the winner of Publishers Weekly's annual Critic's Poll of graphic novels is Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw, with The Education of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez in a 6-way tie for 2nd place and Honorable Mentions to Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane, The Lagoon by Lilli Carré, and Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers

• Ben Ostrander sends The Comics Reporter his Top Books of 2008 list, which has Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin on it

• Marc Sobel lines up his Top Ten Books of 2008, with Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane at #2, Most Outrageous by Bob Levin at #3, and "the comics by Dash Shaw in Mome" at #4, and with Pocket Full of Rain and Other Stories by Jason, Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga, and Insomnia #3 by Matt Broersma in the "Other Noteworthy Books" category

• We've got 16 entries on Rob Clough's "Top 50 Comics of the Year", plus 8 honorable mentions; don't make me list them all out

• Comics And... Other Imaginary Tales says Petey & Pussy by John Kerschbaum is "obscenely good fun!"

• Not comics: Magnet has the scoop on Robert Pollard's slate of 2009 records

• Comic Book Resources concludes their "Best 100 Comics of 2008" countdown: Part III ranks Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga at #51 and Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw at #41; Part V has Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers at #20

• The KEXP blog lists Town of Mirrors by Robert Pollard as one of "2008's Best Books About Popular Music"

• Derik Badman's "Best Comics of 2008" list includes Bottomless Belly Button as its "Breaking Through in All Sorts of Ways pick"

• In their "Nexus Graphica" column for The SF Site, Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams include the following titles on their "top ten graphic novel or comics-related publications lists": The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 by Thomas Ott, Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell, and Rebel Visions by Patrick Rosenkranz (Mark's #1)

• J. Caleb Mozzocco's top-ten list of "The Best Comics of 2008" includes Bottomless Belly Button and Jason's The Last Musketeer, with Pocket Full of Rain on the long list

• The Village Voice "Pulp Fictions" column names Bottomless Belly Button and Where Demented Wented: The Art and Comics of Rory Hayes two of "The Best of 2008"

• The OC Weekly counts Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 among "The Year's Best Graphic Books and Novels"

• The Daily Cross Hatch reviews The Lagoon by Lilli Carré

• At Comic Book Resources, Steven Grant looks at Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert by Bill Schelly (about midway through the column)

• The Seattle Times casts a well-deserved spotlight on the often-overlooked writing in Beasts! Book 1 and Book 2

• The Daily Blog's "10 for '08" includes Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers

• Comic Book Resources, counting down the "Best 100 Comics of 2008," slots in Sublife Vol. 1 by John Pham at #72 and Tales Designed to Thrizzle by Michael Kupperman at #70 (with #60-1 still TBA)

• The Beat presents the Metro's R. Sikoryak's Frank Miller's Archie

• The Stranger points out a recent in-strip visit to Seattle by Zippy the Pinhead

• In The Patriot-News, Chris Mautner bestows his "Moxie Awards" for best comics of 2008, with several of our titles awarded top honors or runner-up status, including Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw, Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin, Explainers by Jules Feiffer, Where Demented Wented by Rory Hayes, Love and Rockets: New Stories by the Hernandez Brothers, Most Outrageous by Bob Levin and more

And some holiday greetings from:

• Tom Kaczynski

• Steven Weissman

• Steve Brodner

• Parka Blogs talks about the Beasts! Print Show

• Iconoctlán reviews Sublife Vol. 1 by John Pham (Google translation)

• MEGATONik looks at Popeye Vol. 2: "Well Blow Me Down!" by E.C. Segar

• Comics & Graphic Novels features The Complete Peanuts 1963-1966 Box Set

• Sean T. Collins examines The Mystery of Woolverine Woo-Bait by Joe Coleman

• Newsarama noted Jack Cole's birthday last week by recommending some books of his work, including ours

• Newsarama also previews You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation!, our next collection of the comics of Fletcher Hanks (coming next year)

• Les Lectures de Raymond examines the French edition of Paul Hornschemeier's The Three Paradoxes (Google translation)

• Look for mentions of Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw, Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers, Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell, and a couple more of our books in The Comics Reporter's "Five for Friday: Remembering 2008" reader-response post

• Similarly, there's a lot of our titles (too many to list here) on The Daily Cross Hatch's "The Best Damned Comics of 2008 Chosen By The Artists"

• 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.)

• The Boston Globe "Out of Line" blog thinks that Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin belongs on more end-of-year Best-of lists

• Sean T. Collins on the unhinged beauty of I Shall Destroy All the Civlized Planets! by Fletcher Hanks

• Johnny Bacardi puts Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 on his Top 10 of 2008 list

• Little Nemo's Kat examines The Comic Strip Art of Lyonel Feininger (en Español; Google translation)

• Spurious writes an ode to Ivan Brunetti

• Austin English puts 20 questions to Zak Sally

• Those Fabuleous 50's presents a run of Sunday strips omitted from our collection of Jack Cole's Betsy and Me

• "They'd make great Christmas presents," says The Stranger of the Beasts! books

• ...nurgh... looks back at the Golden Age with the help of Jules Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes

• The Philadelphia Inquirer recommends The Complete Peanuts 1967-1970 box set for holiday gift giving

• Seattlest suggests hitting the adults-only section of our Georgetown store for your holiday shopping

• CuatroTipos looks at the reality-based comics of Joe Sacco (en Español; Google translation)

• Post-It pugilism by Steven Weissman, animated by Chris Diaz

• 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 2008 Best-Of lists are rolling in fast and furious:

• Bookmunch goes Fanta-crazy this week with reviews of Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw ("graphic novel of the year"), Funeral of the Heart by Leah Hayes ("dazzling") and Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane ("spirited")

• The Independent counts the Love and Rockets reprints Perla La Loca, Beyond Palomar and Amor Y Cohetes among the best comics of the year

• Critic and commentator Alan David Doane names The Education of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez his Graphic Novel of the Year; Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane is his Debut of the Year; Ghost World: Special Edition by Daniel Clowes is his Reissue of the Year; Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell is tied for Comic Art Book of the Year; and 4 more of our titles are Other 2008 Titles of Note

• New York Magazine names Bottomless Belly Button the #2 Graphic Novel of 2008, saying "Shaw's dysfunctional-family epic is so funny and engrossing we'd expect Oprah to pick it, but for all the graphic frog sex"

• The Globe and Mail recommends Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko for holiday gift-giving

• From Steven Stwalley, here's photos of the "Hot Ink: Comic Art" show at the Minnesota Museum of American Art (mmaa.org) that includes Zak Sally and Tom Kaczynski among others

• In this video from Comicology.tv, Mort Walker talks about the history of the International Museum of Cartoon Art (look for our collection of Walker's Sam's Strip early next year)

• Publishers Weekly talks to Lilli Carré about The Lagoon

• PW also presents a 10-page excerpt from Anders Nilsen's soon-to-arrive Monologues for Calculating the Density of Black Holes

• Wall Street Journal book critic and Laura Warholic novelist Alexander Theroux weighs in on The Paris Review Interviews, Vol. III

• The Beat goes digging through back issues of The Comics Journal, finds gold

Holy figs, this daily link post looks like one of my weekly roundups of old:

• PopMatters takes a quick look at Robert Pollard's Town of Mirrors

• PopMatters again, on Bill Mauldin's Willie & Joe: The WWII Years

• Iconoctlán examines The Comics Journal #293 (en Español; Google translation)

• The Austin American-Statesman's lengthy roundup of coffee-table book holiday recommendations includes Bill Mauldin's Willie & Joe: The WWII Years and Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell

• NuVoid wraps up the 2008 output of Robert Pollard, including Town of Mirrors

• Did you know that if you buy the Popeye the Sailor: 1941-1943 (Vol. 3) DVD set you also get an exclusive Popeye mini-comic we produced with a story from our upcoming Popeye Vol. 4 collection? Booksteve noticed

• Chris Barat reviews Popeye Vol. 3: "Let's You and Him Fight!"

• Forward talks to Miss Lasko-Gross for a profile of Jewish women cartoonists

• The North Adams Transcript looks at Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane

• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch includes Abandoned Cars, Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell, and Jules Feiffer's Explainers on its list of "Best Books of 2008: Graphic Literature"

• Beard reviews Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers

• Tropismes (l'Appartement) is yet another French site looking at Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw (Google translation)

• Terri Torres is excited for the new issue of Linda Medley's Castle Waiting

• On the USA TODAY Pop Candy blog, Whitney Matheson declares Lilli Carré's The Lagoon is the "Best book [she] read" last week

• Cartoonist Mark Kaufman is looking forward to our Humbug collection

• Dustin Harbin's top 10 "Best Comics of 2008" includes Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga, Popeye Vol. 3, and Bottomless Belly Button

• Here's video from Pat Moriarity's art opening at 108 Occidental Gallery in Seattle, with music from Pat and his son Jack

• Bill Willingham looks back at Coventry

• Wayno talks about contributing to our forthcoming collection of 1980s "New Wave" minicomics

• On the Comics Comics blog, Mark Newgarden & Paul Karasik need your help in dating an Ernie Bushmiller Nancy strip

• Dan Zettwoch discusses his contribution to Beasts! Book 2

• The Dallas Morning News reports on an exhibit of Bill Mauldin cartoons at the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City

• Mark Mattson compares our annual catalog favorably to the Sears Wish Book -- did you get yours?