Our final Online Commentary & Diversions for August '09 brings a rich cornucopia of links:

• List: Alan David Doane of Comic Book Galaxy is, I believe, the first out of the gate with a definitive "Best Comics of the Decade" list, which includes Mome, our two B. Krigstein books, The Complete Peanuts, the Love and Rockets omnibuses, Maakies, Zippy the Pinhead, and a complete Fanta sweep of the "Works on the Subject of Comics" category

• List: An old link that just popped up in my search feed: ComicCritique.com's Adam McGovern gives out some best-of-2008 awards, with The Lagoon by Lilli Carré tied for Graphic Novel of the Year ("Carré’s artisanal eccentricity carves intricate patterns and masklike faces into pages that stand like the folk-art furnishings of vanished but vivid earlier societies") and Carré tied with Grant Morrison for the M.C. Escher Prize for Non-Sequential Art ("Morrison and Carré are two creators at the cutting edge of both storytelling craft and conversational physics who make us uncommonly aware of the presence of time.")

• Review: "Love and Rockets: New Stories #2. The Hernandez Brothers have been producing such consistently good comics for such a long time that I often feel they get taken for granted. But their recent comics [don't] just maintain their high level of previous achievement, they also have a freshness and liveliness that any young artist would envy." - Jeet Heer, Robot 6

• Review: "More than anything, [Peter] Bagge's work does what it always does with perfection, which is capture people doing exactly what people really do, and how they often think when they think that nobody else thinks that they are thinking it (sorry). His art is constantly moving, perpetually fluid, and instantly recognizable to a 21st century American culture raised on Tex Avery and Bob Clampett cartoons. Whether you agree with his politics or not, Everybody Is Stupid [Except for Me] is thought-provoking and, most importantly, hilarious." - Monster on a Rope

• Plug: "Supermen! The First Wave Of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941 edited by Greg Sadowski (2009) – I’ve always gotten a kick out of early comics. They’re anti-art in action. Irrational, crude and daffily violent. Kinda like early punk rock." - M. Ace, Irregular Orbit

• Analysis: For The Hooded Utilitarian, Ng Suat Tong examines the current state of comics criticism by surveying reviews of Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button

• Interview: The Daily Cross Hatch posts the second of three parts of Brian Heater's interview with Jordan Crane: "The art—those are the tools I use to transfer the story. Pictures, words—those are the conveyance of the story. The important thing is the story, so once I get my tools there, I convey the story in a way I want to."

• Profile: Amy Stewart visited Ellen Forney in her studio: "There are only certain kinds of comics that interest me: I prefer the true-to-life ones that are well-drawn, have stories I can relate to, and make me laugh, cry, or think. Ellen does all three, in spades."

• Events: Chicagoans, catch Ivan Brunetti as a panelist on the next "Show 'n Tell Show," a live talk show devoted to design, next Saturday Sept. 6 at 9 PM

• Things to see: Bob Fingerman shares some preliminary thumbnail sketches for Connective Tissue

Being married to actress Becky Thyre (Weeds, Arrested Development, Six Feet Under, etc.), it should come as no surprise that Tony Millionaire finds time to make bizarre short films about God compelling men to drink.

DETAILS HERE. Original art. New book. Tony signing. Why would you miss this?

Gabby and Drinky hurl Maakies swag to the masses on the cover of this week's Stranger in advance of Tony Millionaire's appearance on Saturday evening at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. The drinks are on us. See you all there. 

Now available for preview and pre-order: Drinky Crow's Maakies Treasury, the latest compilation of Maakies strips by Tony Millionaire. This volume, designed as a sequel to Premillennial Maakies (and to introduce fans of TV's The Drinky Crow Show to the source material), collects the second 5 years of the strip (previously reprinted in the volumes When We Were Very Maakies, The House at Maakies Corner and Der Struwwelmaakies) in a single thick volume splendidly designed by Chip Kidd. This book is scheduled to be in stock in early March and in stores approximately 4 weeks later.

View a photo & video slideshow preview embedded here. Click here if it is not visible, and/or to view it larger in a new window (recommended). And visit the product details page for a downloadable, 20-page PDF preview!

There appears to be a whole bunch of The Drinky Crow Show that you can watch right now on adultswim.com. Note to self!

I just noticed that the clip reel at Mirari Films has some previews of upcoming Drinky Crow Show episodes and it looks like they're just going to get better. (Also shows a little of the Buddy Bradley animation they did.)

Also, if you don't have cable I understand that each week they stream the shows on the Adult Swim Website.

• Webcomics avatar/fictional comic shop clerk Lydia includes The Lagoon and Petey & Pussy in her staff picks this week in The Rack

• Here's a transcript of Gary Panter's panel discussion with C.F. and Dan Nadel at the Tokion Creativity Now Conference

• Sequart looks at Sublife Vol. 1 by John Pham

• Syndicate Product gives a quick overview of The Complete Peanuts

• Wart plugs the January 2009 release of the French edition of Jason's Pocket Full of Rain (in French)

• The Phoenix compares The Drinky Crow Show (debuting this weekend!) to its source material, Tony Millionaire's Maakies

• Wow, check out this amazing mosaic made of Peanuts strips at the Schulz Museum (photo by David Lasky)

Maakies fans, let us unite to make Tony Millionaire rich! We all know that comics don't pay well but cartoons do: Tell everyone to watch the premiere of the official Drinky Crow Show series on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming. It debuts in just two weeks, so open a beer and hit those message boards!

To make it easier for you, here are some ad banner thingies to post around. Tony will appreciate it, I assure you.

By the way, I suspect that 12:15 am on Sunday actually means Saturday night. Sunday at 12:15 means Sunday night. Monday morning if you prefer.

Maakies with the Wrinkled Knees
By Tony Millionaire

Drinky Crow may be the drunken star of the weekly comic strip Maakies, but more often than not, he plays straight man to the hapless ape, Uncle Gabby. Here is the newest collection of Tony Millionaire's strip, never before published in book form. The suicide jokes may come less frequently than in earlier years, but the comedy and superb drawing style are at their peak, as is the volume of triple-X cartoon booze consumed.

Maakies features the comical adventures of a drunken crow on the high seas, blending vaudeville-style humor and a breathtaking line that harkens back to the glory days of the American comic strip. Designed by publishing's foremost graphic designer, Chip Kidd, Maakies with the Wrinkled Knees features over two years of strips in a beautiful, deluxe, landscape hardcover format that complements the strip's elegant and classical style.

120-page black & white 12" x 5" hardcover $19.95
Order Now!