Now available for preview and pre-order: Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5, the latest 32-page slice of insane comedy genius (or is it genius comedic insanity?) from Michael Kupperman. This comic is scheduled to be in stock in late March/early April 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, 4-page PDF excerpt starring Twain & Einstein!

• Review: Dutch blog Koen says of Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button (according to the Google translation) that "Shaw proves himself a master of the portrayal of inner pain and dysfunctional relationships without being depressing, with the addition of humor and mystery... This book is one of the best comics of 2008."

• Preview: Introducing an exlusive 7-page excerpt from Unlovable Vol. 1 by Esther Pearl Watson, New York Magazine says "Tammy [Pierce]'s hopes, dreams, and humiliations are brought vividly to life in Watson's grotesque-but-touching book Unlovable. Even if you never wore leg warmers with high heels, you'll still recognize your teenage self in Tammy Pierce's unguarded, most secret thoughts. And if you did wear leg warmers with heels, well, maybe this was your diary."

• Blurb: Italian blog Nuvole Parlanti, looking at Birdland, calls Gilbert Hernandez "the king of American erotic comics"

• Things to see: A status update on the upcoming Tales Designed to Thrizzle book from Michael Kupperman

• Things to see: Racist Colon: The Movie is the latest Johnny Ryan fan film

• Things to see: Jim Woodring, bad student

Fun times! Video link. NSFW (blurry boobs). More Kuppermania on YouTube. Via Michael Kupperman's new Twitter feed, which you can follow too.

• Review: Eric teased it; now read the New York Times Book Review review of Supermen!

• Review: Rob Clough examines Jules Feiffer's Explainers

• Review: Rob Clough again, this time reveling in Tales Designed to Thrizzle #4 by Michael Kupperman

• Review: Mania gives The Wolverton Bible an "A" (last item on the page)

• Review: At The SF Site, Rick Klaw says The Wolverton Bible is "amazing" (see sidebar)

• Review: Graphic Novel Reporter says Fuzz & Pluck: Splitsville by Ted Stearn is "a joy to read" (and favorably compares it to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

• Review: The Quarterly Conversation examines "the genius" of Fuzz & Pluck: Splitsville

• Review: Sean T. Collins has a bone to pick with Mome Vol. 13

• Blurb: In Robot 6's periodic "What Are You Reading?" column, Tim O'Shea praises Boody: The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers

• Blurb: Boing Boing also features Boody

• Interview: I feel like maybe I've seen this Bookslut interview with Ivan Brunetti before, but it popped up in my search feeds today so here it is

• Things to see: Michael Kupperman - 3D!

• Things to see: A recent batch of commissioned artwork by Johnny Ryan

• Things to see: On the Covered blog, Derek Van Gieson does New Mutants #37

• Bookmark: New Mome contributor Hernán Migoya keeps a blog; his post about his Mome appearance is a good place to start

• Oddity: Mike Sterling quotes and comments on some classified ads from the July 1981 issue of The Comics Journal

Michael Kupperman's blog is in full swing, with teasers from upcoming Tales Designed to Thrizzle publications like issue #5 and the full-color hardcover collection of #1-4, plus early classix and other hilarity (and a harrowing real-life hospital tale).

• Things to see: Happy Friday the 13th from the Jim Flora Blog

• Review: Comics Waiting Room has the first word on Connective Tissue by Bob Fingerman (coming later this Spring), calling it "perversely hysterical"

• Review: PLAYBACK:stl says Tales Designed to Thrizzle #4 by Michael Kupperman "brings more of the crazy"

• Interview: du9 talks Bottomless Belly Button and Bodyworld with Dash Shaw; Belgian site XeroXed reprints the interview (in French) with some additional information

• List: In the holiday spirit, the UCD Advocate's rundown of "Cartoon Sex" names Charles Burns's Black Hole "Creepiest," Robert & Aline Crumb's Self Loathing Comics "Kinkiest," and The Girl from HOPPERS by Jaime Hernandez "Most Realistic"

• Things to see: Two things from Tim Hensley

• Social networking: If you're on the Twitter, you can follow cartoonists Paul Hornschemeier and Mack White; meanwhile, we just got our 1,000th Twitter follower, who appears to be a fictional albatross named Fredrik Lotsie (and you could be our 1,014th)

 On behalf of everyone at Fantagraphics, I'd like to welcome Ulysses Kupperman Dougherty to the world. Ulysses was born on Monday night to our own Michael Kupperman and his lovely wife, Muire Dougherty. Luckily for comics fans, Michael turned in Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5 just before the big day. We can't wait to meet you, Ulysses.

PShaw tipped me off to this and I think he's right on. Read this, paying close attention to the name of the robot -- 4-Playo 3000 -- and the general design of the robot, especially the head. And then as well the concept -- a marriage saving robot:

For extra credit, here's another. Again, check the name -- Spankio 3000 --and design:  

 

Now, watch this Bud Light commerical created (but not aired) for the 2009 Superbowl:

Both comics are taken from Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle #2, published in 2006 by Fantagraphics. 

This might not be the last you hear from us, Budweiser. 

• List: Same Hat! Same Hat! names the "Best X of Everything 2008: Comics!" with Tales Designed to Thrizzle #4 by Michael Kupperman in the #5 position

• Review: Optical Sloth likes Johnny Ryan's Angry Youth Comix so much, he's willing to buy you $5 worth of stuff from our website if you don't like it too

• Things to see: For The Boston Globe, Alexander Theroux reviews a recent book about Edmund Wilson and Mary McCarthy

• Things to see: In Douglas Wolk's convention sketchbook, a page by Charles Burns

Buckle in: 

• Review: The Beat says "You should be reading Rocky"

• Profile: Shameless looks at the collaborative comics of Ellen Forney

• Analysis: Vibrational Match finds Jack Kirby parallels in Gilbert Hernandez's XXX comic Birdland

• Interview: The Daily Cross Hatch posts the second of their three-part chat with Lilli Carré

• Blurbs: At Robot 6, Chris Mautner and Richard Thompson (Cul de Sac) both declare that they're currently reading recent volumes of The Complete Peanuts

• Birthday: On the Jim Flora blog, Irwin Chusid commemorates the 95th anniversary of Flora's birth yesterday

• Birthday: Relatedly, The Comics Reporter notes Jules Feiffer's 80th birthday today

• Things to see: It appears that Michael Kupperman has a new blog under construction; the Internet might be about to get measurably funnier 

• Things to see: This slideshow of photos by Lou Siroy at FOTO8 is accompanied by an introductory essay by Alexander Theroux

• Things to see: More sketchbook pages (a.k.a. "Doodle Dump") from Tom Kaczynski

• Things to see: More Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu-themed desktop wallpaper from Ellen Forney

• Things to see: Rare vintage animation by Hank Ketcham (via The Daily Cartoonist)

• Things to see: A new book cover illustration by Anders Nilsen