The new episode of the Inkstuds podcast is a special treat: an all-music show featuring music by cartoonists. The playlist includes: The Action Suits! Peter Bagge's Can You Imagine?! Al Columbia's The Francies! The mysterious Extravagant Bachelor! The Crumb Family! Archer Prewitt! Chris Ware! Paul Hornschemeier's Arks! Mary Fleener's Wigbillies! And (drum roll)... Blueshammer! Awesome.

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "[Dan Nadel:] Reading Pim & Francie is an apocalyptic experience — as if Columbia is demolishing both his own work and the idea of 'cartooning' in general. I found it exhilarating and terrifying. ... [Tim Hodler:] ...The fact that so many of these grotesque stories and vignettes don't really resolve contributes to the reader's growing sense of unease. ... Al Columbia's comics... really bring out the surreal terror already buried within cartoon imagery. ... [Frank Santoro:] Pim and Francie's adventure struck a chord in me that's been dormant for a long time. A haunting wonder, perhaps? A curiosity of the unknown that, when found, rattles one to the core?" – Comics Comics critics' roundtable

• Plug: "...Peter Bagge's recent collection of libertarian cartoons from Fantagraphics, Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me and Other Astute Observations is much funnier than libertarian cartoons have any right to be." – Paul Constant, The Stranger

• Video: Visa denial (for shame!) forced Gene Deitch to deliver his keynote address to China's Xiamen International Animation Festival by video; Cartoon Brew shares the clip along with the text of the speech Gene would have given in person

• Hooray for (the French equivalent of) Hollywood: Comix 411 takes a look at Luc Besson's in-production film adaptation of Jacques Tardi's Adèle Blanc-Sec (which Kim flogged about a few weeks ago); for the Francophones among you, TF1 has some behind-the-scenes video footage

• Things to see: Jim Blanchard's commissioned portrait of Roky Erickson

The third anniversary celebration for Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, December 12 promises to be an unforgettable affair. The event features appearances by an international cadre of compelling cartoonists and artists as well as the world premier of PORTABLE GRINDHOUSE with editor Jacques Boyreau.

Guest stars include the lovely Femke Hiemstra (ROCK CANDY) from Amsterdam, Paul Hornschemeier (ALL & SUNDRY) and Jay Ryan (BEASTS!) from Chicago, Portland's Dame Darcy (MEAT CAKE), and Seattle's own Peter Bagge (HATE), Jim Woodring (FRANK) and - just added - Jim Blanchard (TRUCKER FAGS IN DENIAL.)

Musical entertainment will be provided by Bagge's pop combo CAN YOU IMAGINE? featuring Steve Fisk and an opening set by the enchanting DAME DARCY. Art, comix, music, movies, and more!

Watch this space for updates on the holiday season's wildest party on Saturday, December 12, 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle.

Bagge fans will want to scamper on over to the Vertigo blog for the first sneak peek at his forthcoming original graphic novel Other Lives.

"Will Everyone Please Stop Freaking Out Over Ayn Rand?!?"

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Reproducing unfinished roughs, penciled-in and scribbled-out dialogue, half-inked panels, torn-up and taped-together pages, even cropping what look like finished comics so that you can't see the whole thing, Columbia and his partners in the production of this book, Paul Baresh and Adam Grano, have produced a fractured masterpiece, a glimpse of the forbidden, an objet d'art noir. ... The horror of Columbia's sickly-cute Pim & Francie vignettes--a zombie story, a serial-killer story, a witch-in-the-woods story, a haunted-forest story, a trio of chase sequences--is extraordinarily effective. ... [T]hese scary stories and disturbing images are all so gorgeously awful that they appear to have corrupted the book itself... — an inherently horrific object. Bravo." – Sean T. Collins

• Review: "...[I]n these pages [of The Troublemakers] lies a challenging, meticulously crafted story of grifters in the middle of a con. Not surprisingly, [Gilbert] Hernandez populates his story with some thoroughly grounded and intriguing figures, but what’s fascinating about the plot is how it criss-crossed over on itself so that not only do the characters remain unaware of who’s conning who but so does the reader. The plot is an intricately woven web of lies and truths, and it’s peppered, of course, with Hernandez’s trademark touch of raw sexuality. Fans of such crime comics as Criminal and 100 Bullets would be well advised to give this graphic novel a chance; they won’t be disappointed. ... [Rating] 9/10" – Don MacPherson, Eye on Comics [Ed. note: I get a big "attack site" warning at that link, so click at your own risk]

• Review: "...[W]ith their crashing planes, erupting volcanoes, boil-stricken sufferers, and monstrous whirlwinds[,] Wolverton’s literalist depictions of Revelation are powerful, shocking, and above all grotesquely beautiful. ... Though Wolverton’s approach to [the Old Testament] stories was somewhat more matter-of-fact than his apocalyptic panoramas, there is still a passion for the bizarre evident in the Bible Story illustrations. ... Wolverton’s Bible illustrations sit on the border between sacred and profane, and that unique placement is what gives them such power." – Gabriel Mckee, Religion Dispatches (hat tip: Kevin Church)

• Review: "...'The Hasty Smear of My Smile'..., which ran as a backup feature in the final issue of Peter Bagge’s Hate (#30) , is a mini-masterpiece. It’s a capsule version of  [Alan] Moore’s considerable skill, the epitome of everything that makes him fascinating as a writer." – Marc Sobel, Comic Book Galaxy

• Interview: At Hypergeek, The Comics Journal editor Mike Dean answers Edward Kaye's questions about the changes to his TCJ subscription

• Opinion: Future Comics Journal blogger Noah Berlatsky of The Hooded Utilitarian offers a critical counterpoint to Jeet Heer's previous comments on the Journal

• Things to see: Johnny Ryan draws beatniks doing their beatnik thing

• Things to see: The Beat has exclusive peeks at stories by Jeffrey Brown and Paul Hornschemeier for Marvel's Strange Tales

Well that didn't take long: as promised, here's the second half of comics podcast The Backroom's video interview with Peter Bagge. Again, pardon the advertisements.

Variety has the first news I've seen on Peter Bagge's development deal with FOX for a TV-show based on his Fantagraphics book, THE BRADLEYS.

Comics podcast The Backroom (based out of my neighborhood comic shop) presents part 1 of a video interview with Peter Bagge (plus some commercials). We will, of course, bring you part 2 when it's posted.

Exciting news here... Our own Peter Bagge has a development deal with FOX for THE BRADLEYS and the network has just ordered a pilot. The only details we can reveal just yet are that Bagge has a pilot script deal with FOX for an animated prime time series featuring The Bradleys (i.e.: the pre-HATE era when Buddy Bradley was a teen and still lived at home). We'll reveal more news when we can... 

Who do you think should voice Buddy, Babs, Butch, Mom & Dad?