The unbroken bottom ring of your three-ring binder Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Review: Patrick Smith over at Spandexless cracks his knuckles and reads all of The End of the Fucking World mini-comics by Charles Forsman. Smith states,"Overall though, it’s a story about extremes and the kind of nihilistic worldview that only a teenager could have, while also adding on certain discerning touches that separates this book from so many other teenage melodramas." Forsman's complete The End of the Fucking World is slated for release in 2013.

• Review: Zap #2 gets Boing-Boinged. Adam Parfrey speaks on the series of ZAP comics that we will publish next year. "Throughout the book were pages of strange nightmare scenes in an quasi-psychedelic art style I had never seen before and didn't really understand."

• Plug: Banned Book Week is here! The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund posted about the most often banned comic book and Daniel Clowes' Eightball 22 is smack dab on there. The damn thing got a teacher fired!

• Interview: Print Mag posted the second part of their Roger Langridge interview where he mentions, "Top of the list right now is a Fred the Clown graphic novel. I'm thinking it might be a good time to return to the character, because I've had critical success, if not commercial success, with a couple of other things now."

• Plug: More pictures of Noah Van Sciver and The Hypo on John Porcellino's blog.

• Interview: Patrick Smith interviewed upcoming Fantagraphics artist Ed Piskor on his work including Hip Hop Family Tree at Spandexless.

The furtherest-traveled Bethesda-sent postcard of Online Commentaries & Diversions:

• Review: NPR's Glen Weldon looks at The Hypo by Noah Van Sciver. "Although The Hypo is painstakingly researched, the book is no dry accretion of biographical detail. That's because Van Sciver approach's is so deeply, palpably personal, even idiosyncratic. . . Inspiring? No. But achingly familiar, relatably human and — most of all — profoundly real."

• Interview: Comic Book Resources and Ryan Ingram pulled Noah Van Sciver aside to talk about The Hypo. Van Sciver says, "My reason for spending so much time working on The Hypo was an honest to god interest in the subject of depression and the struggles Lincoln was going through at that time. Probably nobody else would have done this book."

• Review: We Got Reviews looks at Noah Van Sciver's The Hypo. Chad Parenteau closes it beautifully states," In The Hypo, Van Sciver proves in these pages that you can bring an almost mythic figure of the past to modern day terms while still making that figure heroic."

• Plug: Large-Hearted Boy got his mitts on The Hypo by Noah Van Sciver: "I've been looking forward to this book for what feels like two years now. . . It's a side of Lincoln rarely revealed, beautifully illustrated, and wonderfully told."

• Commentary: Rob Clough of the Comics Journal and High-Low made sure to organize some Noah Van Sciver within the Library of Congress mini-comic collection: "Everything's coming up Noah these days, with an Ignatz nomination for The Death of Elijah Lovejoy and the release of his Abraham Lincoln book The Hypo from Fantagraphics." Clough also comments on Jaime and Gilbert's Ignatz awards, "I dubbed Jaime Hernandez the King of SPX after he took home three extremely well-deserved Ignatz awards. After getting shafted by the other major comics awards shows, it was great to see him relishing this moment."

• Commentary: Tom Spurgeon says a bunch of nice stuff about the Hernandez Brothers, Noah Van Sciver on the Comics Reporter. "Los Bros had a steady line of admirers at the show, which was really encouraging to me. They had good solo panels, too -- Frank Santoro talked to Jaime and got him to choke up a bit, and Sean T. Collins talked to Gilbert and applied to that conversation the benefit of reading the holy shit out of all of Gilbert's work sometime in the last year. . . I enjoyed that Abraham Lincoln book of [Noah's]."

• Commentary: The Beat loves on all creators, great and small including the Hernandez Brothers

• Plug (video): Junot Diaz talks about the Hernandez Brothers in Vol. 1 Brooklyn.

• Plug: Best photo EVER of Gilbert, Jaime and Frank Santoro

• Commentary (audio): The podcasts Hideous Energy attends not only SPX but the Politics and Prose signing for the Hernandez Brothers . The hosts have a frighteningly good time at SPX despite the trials and tribulations of their hotel room at Red Roof Inn.

• Review: The School Library Journal dissects The Adventures of Venus by Gilbert Hernandez and includes some questions to ask when using it in an English or literature class: ". . . while certainly young readers should appreciate many aspects of the book, some of its content may land as so idiosyncratic (albeit playfully so) as to inaccessible. And that’s actually a good thing."

• Review: The Chicago Reader enjoys Lilli Carré's Heads or Tails. Noah Bertlasky compares,"Eschewing the autobiographical meaning-through-trauma tradition of Maus, the pop art goofiness of Fort Thunder, or the sex and drug spewing of underground artists like R. Crumb, Carré specializes in surreal narratives and exquisite design.. . . Reading this, it's easy to forget there was ever a time comics were viewed as separate from art."

• Plug: Alex Pardee of Juxtapoz picks Johnny Ryan as his dude du jour and demands you read Prison Pit #4 and all previous volumes."I'm pretty sure the words 'Johnny Ryan' mean 'Fuck You' in Elvish or Klingon. . . Lucky for us, Johnny Ryan doesn't give a Russell Brand about pissing anyone off. . . amassing a huge cult following based solely around brilliantly conveyed hemorrhoid jokes, hitler bashing, and 'shit-fucking-shit'. . ."

• Plug: Claire Donnor of comiXology focuses on No Straight Lines, edited by Justin Hall. "Besides offering an exciting array of new and rare talent, this volume presents a very refreshing change from the familiar straight male fantasizing that has traditionally dominated the indie and underground scenes."

• Review: The North Adams Transcript reviews Mattotti and Zentner's The Crackle of the Frost. John Seven writes, "What the words cannot portray, the images do, the real psychological landscape that Samuel's confused analysis grapples with, and a testament to the power that can be born of the collusion between the literary and the illustrative in the best examples of graphic storytelling."

• Review: Carter Scholz returns to The Comics Journal to pen a review of Dal Tokyo by Gary Panter, "So think of it as a comic strip, a periodic commitment. A blog before and after its time, a day book spanning three pitiless decades. Each strip of the first series is time-stamped, by hand, to the minute, testimony to Panter’s living and working and recording in the here-and-now of it."

• Interview: Editor of Significant Objects, Rob Walker, speaks on the Future Tense show on the 'Post-Authentic' Show.

• Interview: Max Robinson of City Paper interviews Dan Clowes and about the continuing success of Ghost World: "I’m heartened that it seems to live on. It’s about teenage girls from another world, really; [they] don’t text, don’t have cell phones, don’t have computers. It’s really about the olden days and yet it seems like the whole new readership of teenagers seems to take to it every year."

• Review: Pop Matters talks about Daniel Clowes. Features editor Josh Indar says, "This is why I love Dan Clowes. He’s the only comic artist I’ve read who can do this to me, to pull me so completely into his world that, just as the old lady said, I start seeing reality through the lens of his work."

• Review: Nick Gazin's Comic Book Love-In #72 on Vice includes Jacques Tardi's New York Mon Amour. "Many of the comics they're publishing have never been translated into English before so it is a big, big deal that they are providing this service to all American lovers of comics. . . The art's great and it captures what New York in the early 80s was."

• Review: LA Review of Books looks at Walt Kelly's Pogo The Complete Syndicated Strips Vol. 1: "Through the Wild Blue Wonder" and its satirical edge. F.X. Feeney says,"Walt Kelly seems never to have troubled himself with either the notion [of genius] or the word: he simply put it into effect, day after day, for a quarter-century. Anyone who thinks political cartooning is stale need only take a closer look at these two bodies of work."

• Interview: Print Mag interviews the indeliable Roger Langridge on comics, acting and life. It's worth reading yourself for the gorgeous panels full of exquisite details. Langridge says, "It's a fascinating world, theater."

• Interview: Chris Auman of Reglar Wiglar interviews Ed Piskor on his previous book and upcoming Hip Hop Family Tree. "I grew up surrounded by hip hop. I feel like the fact that I even learned to draw was shaped by a hip hop mentality."

• Plug: Michael Kupperman is now posting comics up at Huffington Post!

Occasionally a finger on the camera slips and reporters or other publishers accidentally take a picture of the people working on publishing the books, rather than our wide array of talented artists and authors. Here are some nice things people said about us and some semi-nice photos of Gary, Kim, Eric, Jacq and Jen: Tom Spurgeon at Comics Reporter, Chris Mautner on Robot 6 and Comic Book Resources, artist Nick Abadzis, Charles Brownstein at CBLDF, Heidi MacDonald at The BEAT.

Sights from the Comic-Con home stretch!

Starting the day with Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez (later joined by Natalia & Mario) — what could be better?

A couple of real horrorshow droogs checking out the merchandise. Careful with those codpieces, boys.

Eric & Jacq surround Ruben Bolling to cut off any possible escape.

Bob Burden gets his paws on some original Gilbert Hernandez art.

Johnny Ryan barely tolerates my picture-taking while Steven Weissman wheels & deals.

Diana Schutz of Dark Horse visits with Mario & Gilbert while Jaime keeps his nose to the grindstone. Citizen Rex sequel, anyone?

Steven Weissman & Jon Vermilyea compare notes on strap-fondling techniques. Hey, there's Zack Carlson partially visible over Steven's shoulder — a special shout-out to Zack for his good spirit and volunteerism this week. (Zack also made one of the most amazing Comic-Con purchases I've ever heard about: a 1964 Chevrolet Corvair.)

Young Romance is a real page-turner, as editor Michel Gagné demonstrates.

Eric and Tom Spurgeon yak it up while D&Q's Tom Devlin ponders the unspeakable and Janice looks on.

Scott McCloud looks happy to have found some (mc)clouds in Johnny Gruelle's Mr. Twee Deedle (shut up, I'm tired).

Comic-Con Sundays are always too hectic for much picture-taking:

Old friend Roger Langridge popped by and sketched the Great Gonzo for Clem Reynolds, to papa Eric's delight.

Gilbert & Jaime discuss their escape.

And it's over!!! Our leftovers (and some stuff making its way to Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery) donned their finest fetish wear for the trip back to Seattle.

Thanks to the thousands of folks who visited our booth this year (especially those who spent their money in it), Comic-Con staff & volunteers, our wonderful artists, our kick-ass staff, all of our pals & colleagues... another humdinger of a year! I'm off for a week of R&R so I'll catch you all next week.

Fantagraphics won't be at this weekend's Heroes Con ourselves, but some of our artists sure will be! If you're in the Charlotte, NC-area, head out to the Charlotte Convention Center and meet 'em in the "Indie Island"!

• Jeffrey Brown | AA-417
• Dave Cooper | AA-515
• Colleen Coover | AA-113
• Jaime Hernandez | AA-415

• Roger Langridge | AA-220
• Jim Rugg | AA-537
• Rich Tommaso | AA-422
• Drew Weing | AA-444

You can even catch our artists in some panels, if you're so inclined!

Saturday, June 23rd

• 12:30 PM // Approaches to Humor, Room 203A: Sure the Convention is HeroesCon, but let’s never forget the funny side of the comic book world.  Join The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald as she sits down with three of the very best cartoonists in the business.  They are able to me us smile and even laugh out loud Roger Langridge (The Muppets, Fred the Clown) and Evan Dorkin (Milk & Cheese) and newcomer Tim Rickard (Brewster Rockit: Space Guy).

• 2:00 PM // Echoes of ‘82, Room 209: This year, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Heroes Con, cartoonist Ben Towle and blogger Craig Fischer turn their attention to 1982, and ask: What are the comics, and comics events, from 30 years ago that continue to influence comics culture today? Ben and Craig zero in on three — Destroyer Duck #1, Love and Rockets #1, and the demise of Warren Publications early in 1982 — and they’ve asked an all-star roster of creators (Jaime Hernandez, Louise Simonson) and commentators (Stergios Botzakis, Toney Frazier, Heidi MacDonald, Andrew Mansell) to join them in discussing these and other comics. We’ll also beam in some off-site commentary from Kirby experts Steve Bissette, Geoff Grogan, Charles Hatfield, John Morrow and James Sturm. With a lineup like that, how can you resist pulling on your leg warmers and joining us for the fun?

Saturday, June 23rd

• 3:30 PM // Dave Cooper & Dave Johnson, Room 208AB: Two great artists sit down to talk technique, inspiration and influences.  And what is better than a Dave?  Two Daves!!! That’s what.  This is going to be a great hour.  Join us. 

Did you know our website has a well-stocked bargain section of Clearance Sale items and Closeout Deals? Well now you do! Here's just a couple of the excellent items we have marked down & priced to move:

Conceptual Realism: In the Service of the Hypothetical (Softcover Edition) by Robert Williams — A catalog of the Fall 2009 solo exhibition of paintings and sculptures by the groundbreaking master of "lowbrow" art, with essays on each piece by the artist, sketches and other supplemental material. Comes with a free bonus signature plate while supplies last! $24.99 $16.66 — You Save: 33.33%! Order Now

Fred the Clown by Roger Langridge — Fred the Clown, the thinking man's idiot, has an eye for the ladies, but all they have for him is a carefully placed kneecap. Part Samuel Beckett, part Tex Avery; beautifully drawn, utterly inspired lunacy. Langridge's recent mainstream work has made him a critical darling — pick up this 2004 collection for some pure, unadulterated Langridge! $16.95 $11.30 — You Save: 33.33%!Order Now

A double dose of Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: Race To Death Valley by Floyd Gottfredson will be warmly received by comics aficionados but should also intrigue Disney animation buffs who aren't necessarily plugged into comic strip history. Editors David Gerstein and Gary Groth have not only scoured the planet for the best surviving artwork on Gottfredson's first epic continuity, which ran in newspapers from April to September of 1930; they've provided background essays (by a raft of experts), vintage press materials and artwork to put it into the context of Walt Disney's burgeoning career, and Mickey Mouse's budding stardom.... I have a feeling that this book, crafted with such obvious care, will earn Gottfredson a new legion of admirers." – Leonard Maltin

• Review: "Popeye hawking newspapers? Donald Duck selling gasoline? You'll find them and a whole cavalcade of comic strip characters in Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising, edited by Rick Marschall and Warren Bernard. In a hundred-plus pages you are treated to a sampling of cartoon print ads from the 1890s to 1940s. There are short informative blurbs about the cartoonists (some of whom were featured in ads themselves) and the history behind the ads. A great treat for fans of comic strips, Americana, and ephemera." – The Christian Science Monitor "Top Picks"

• Review: "Not long ago a very interesting book was released which aims precisely to investigate and chronicle the parallel paths of comics and advertising from 1870 until 1940 entitled Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising. Fantagraphics Books offers a hearty volume... which is our guide with text and images to the 'commercial' roots of the comic strip and the amazing work that resulted from comics creators who worked in advertising.... Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising is a book that will surely pique the interest of those involved in the communication sector, but also all who are drawn to pop culture. An excellent edition from Fantagraphics..." – Lida Tsene, Comicdom (translated from Greek)

• Review: "Richard Sala’s The Hidden is yet another undead saga, though it’s more ambitious than most.... As the backstory deepens, Sala ties The Hidden to older literary traditions, weaving in pieces of folktales and the legend of Frankenstein. Because Sala has had a career-long fascination with B-movies, gothic illustrations, and general ghoulishness, this plot is right in his wheelhouse. But The Hidden isn’t just an entertaining riff on well-worn horror concepts. Taking his cues from Mary Shelley, Sala explores human vanity and arrogance as a way of showing how everything can go so wrong so fast." – Noel Murray, The A.V. Club

• Review: "...Mome 22 concludes the run of one of alt-comics' longest-running and most essential anthologies. Like Weirdo before it, Mome bridged the gap between veteran cartoonists and the new breed... Here’s hoping that as with Zap, Raw, Arcade, and so many that have gone before, another anthology will rise to take Mome’s place. And soon." – Noel Murray, The A.V. Club

• Review: "...Shimura Takako is a master at portraying subtle events in a slice of life story about adolescence that never feels didactic.... One of the things I like about Wandering Son is the way many of the events in the book are simultaneously safe and filled with dramatic tension.... Like the storyline, Shimura’s art is simple but nuanced.... As you’d expect from Fantagraphics, the production quality for Wandering Son is excellent. I hope that more manga is on the horizon from them. While I’ll happily read more cheaply produced manga, it is nice to have a variety of options. Carefully curated manga like Wandering Son is a treat." – Anna Neatrour, Manga Report

• Review: "Jason’s deadpan, anthropomorphic characters make his books must-reads for me.... I'd give [Isle of 100,000 Graves] to my daughter... and my wife... in hopes that, after laughing at the Hangman’s Academy’s students, teachers, and administrators, they’ll agree to dress up in multi-colored hoods and carry instruments of torture next Halloween." – Gene Ambaum, The Unshelved Book Club

• Review: "Chun fills his collections with the best cartoons – the ones that can still delight readers, and Covey uses his lively and inventive design sense to make these old cartoons fresh and vital. With The Pin-Up Art of Humorama, Chun and Covey will once again make you believe that the art of Humorama is still alive and kicking – although the line ceased to exist decades ago. [Grade:] A" – Leroy Douresseaux, I Reads You

• Review: "This Fantagraphics edition collects the first two French albums of Les Aventures Extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec (Pterror Over Paris and The Eiffel Tower Demon) in a large format hardback edition, and it’s beautifully presented. First released in 1976, Jacques Tardi’s story has a timeless quality, set in an alternative, steam-punk universe, shortly before World War I.... Tardi’s art recreates the scenery beautifully, with stunning backdrops bringing the architecture and beauty of Paris to life. ...[A] compelling and enjoyable mystery story with an alternative Victorian feel." – Grovel

• Review: "Comic fanboys have read Sgt. Rock or The Howling Commandos which are realistic in many ways, but there was a time when a comic mag got down right truthful. I’m speaking of Blazing Combat #1-4 (1965-66, Warren) and recently Fantagraphics collected the run in both hardcover and softcover. Blazing Combat was an anthology comic that showed the very dark and very real side of war. A loose followup to the EC Comics War genre books, it showed US G.I.’s dying in terrible ways, commanders giving orders with little regard for consequences and the militaristic definition of collateral damage. Jim Warren let it all hang out when it came to editing Archie Goodwin’s writing... Of course Goodwin is a genius and I’m usually more of a word-man when it comes to comics, but this time it’s the art that captured my attention. It’s a who’s-who of monster talent..." – Chris Marshall, Collected Comics Library

• Review: "Fred [the Clown] is a figure of innocence, a lovelorn sad sack who keeps getting hit by custard pies — and, even harder, by life — over and over again, but keeps standing back up to go on. Langridge mostly tells his story in short wordless comics stories... in his usual style, a crisp modern interpretation of the classic '20s animation look... They're slapsticky stories of a sad clown, using the accouterments of vaudeville and early Hollywood, that nonetheless feel entirely new and fresh and funny. I don't know how Langridge does it, but he does it very very well." – Andrew Wheeler, The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

• Plug: "You must buy @DaveMcKean's NSFW book 'CELLULOID' at your local comics or book store. Or in a plain brown wrapper..." – Neil Gaiman

• Preview/Plug: Comicsphere re-formats and re-presents one of our previews of Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit Book 3 to their readers, with Josh West saying "This is set to be 120 pages of ‘once you see it, it can’t ever be unseen’ scenarios and, honestly, Comicsphere couldn’t be more excited! Unbelievably unpredictable, violent, satirical and likely to entertain more than anything else on the shelves through September, the Prison Pit makes Hell look like nothing more than a relaxing Sunday morning stroll through a (really hot) meadow."

• Interview: Comic Book Resources' Tim Callahan has a wide-ranging conversation with Johnny Ryan about Prison Pit and other topics: "I guess I have this fascination with stories where the 'hero' is not a hero at all. He's a loser or an idiot or a scumbag, but somehow the author makes us give a shit about him or her.... I think this is a strain that also runs through my work. It's about bad people, doing bad things, but I try and trick people into caring about or liking these people."

• Preview/Plug: Comicsphere gives the same treatment as above to our excerpt of Jacques Tardi & Jean-Patrick Manchette's Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot, with Josh West saying "...Jacques Tardi returns to the world of guns, crime, betrayal and bloodshed with this stunning, grisly, and remarkably faithful interpretation of Manchette’s last completed crime thriller."

• Plugs: Robot 6's Michael May singles out a few of our upcoming releases from the November Previews catalog for spotlighting:

"Mr. Twee Deedle: Raggedy Ann’s Sprightly Cousin – The Forgotten Fantasy Masterpieces of Johnny Gruelle – I almost drowned in the amount of praise Fantagraphics poured on Gruelle’s work in the ad, but simply looking at the cover, it appears to be justified."

"The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 2: The Mad Scientist/Mummies on Parade – Even if I wasn’t already turned on to the awesomeness of Jacques Tardi’s Belle-Époquian heroine, 'Mummies on Parade' would be enough to necessitate this purchase."

"Athos in America – Jason returns to The Last Musketeer and includes other Jasony stories like 'The Brain That Wouldn’t Virginia Woolf.'"

• Plugs: Graphic Novel Reporter includes almost everything we have coming out over the next 3 months in their "Great Graphic Novels of Fall 2011" roundup, particularly the Adult Fiction and Nonfiction categories (though we feel we should point out that Alexander Theroux's Estonia is neither fiction nor a graphic novel)

• Plug: "We’re over halfway done, and have moved into the last 20 years of the strip with the release of The Complete Peanuts: 1981 to 1982. Can you believe how fast time is flying? Kudos to Fantagraphics for maintaining the incredibly high standard of quality and presentation they established at the outset, with this entry featuring an introduction from cartoonist Lynn Johnston. More!" – Ken Plume, FRED

• Interview: Newsarama's Albert Ching talks to Michael Kupperman about his new book Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010: "One other character I frequently think of when doing Twain — writing that book, or doing him in Thrizzle — is Dave Thomas from SCTV doing Walter Cronkite. Which in some ways is very similar — this kind of roguish, semi-self-befuddled character, roaming around having adventures."

• Interview: The Daily Cross Hatch's Brian Heater begins a multi-part chat with Drew Friedman: "Basically when Monte Beauchamp who edits those books invited me to do a book, I thought about what I like to draw the most. I like to draw comedians and old Jews. So I put those two together and started working on them between assignments over a year. I just got pleasure in drawing them. I could put aside any annoying assignment I had and just get down to drawing those old Jewish faces. That’s what it came down to."

• Interview: Washington City Paper's Mike Rhode had a little pre-SPX Q&A with Noah Van Sciver: "I'm excited to stop by the Fantagraphics table and say hello to those guys and see what's new." Well shucks!

• Analysis: At The Comics Journal, From Shadow to Light author Steven Brower examines the dream comics of Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, and Mort Meskin

• Links: Another comprehensive round of Hernandez Bros.-related links from Love & Maggie

• Lore: "’71 was a weird year for me. I never had quite so many women coming and going, as I did that year in the apartment I shared with Gary. But I was still drinking too much and just overdoing it in general, hedonistically speaking. I was getting very little good work done (gosh, I wonder why?) and was generally pretty miserable." – Kim Deitch's epic memoir-in-music "Mad About Music: My Life in Records" at TCJ.com forges into the 1970s

• Staff picks: Our own Ambassador of Awesome (and funniest Flogger) Janice Headley is the guest contributor to this week's Robot 6 "What Are You Reading?" column

Artwork from the collection of the late SPX Executive Director Jeff Alexander, who passed away last year, is being auctioned to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund this Saturday at 4:30 at SPX. Internet bids will also be accepted via email — see the link for details. Among the pieces being offered in this year's first annual auction are the original Billy Hazelnuts page by Tony Millionaire shown here, a couple of original Roger Langridge pages featuring Fred the Clown, and a Peter Bagge sketch which I couldn't find an image for. Preview the artwork and get more information here.

Lots and lots of images to share, and lots and lots of overflow spilling over into links:

• We linked to this a while back in Daily OCD, but the interview with Lilli Carré at art:21 includes the first glimpse of her sketchbook I've ever seen (along with other art) and daaaang; Lilli also drew Groo the Wanderer for Matthew J. Brady 's theme sketchbook (there's a good one by Jeremy Tinder too) AND did this illustraton for The New York Times AND this amazing letterpress print

• Is Barack Obama losing his indie cred? Drew Friedman shares his illustration for the New York Observer about the President falling out of favor with the hipster demographic, and...

• Aww, Drew Friedman's portrait of his dad Bruce Jay Friedman for Tablet; Drew also presents an awesome gallery of Plop! covers by Basil Wolverton and Wally Wood at his blog

• Some Jaime Hernandez record-cover art I hadn't seen before, for the band The Shame Idols (via Love & Maggie)

• This one makes Janice very happy: Jason draws Robert Smith of The Cure — plus film reviews and various other commentary at his Cats Without Dogs blog

• Johnny Ryan draws some of his favorite bullies for Vice and shares some recent commissions on his Flickr page: Gremlin/robot orgy, Star Wars 4-way and fuckball

• Wowee-wow, lookit these vintage Sesame Street illustrations by Jack Davis that were posted by Leif Peng at his Today's Inspiration blog (via Drawn)

• Dig this nifty nutty video that Michael Kupperman made for no particular reason; then when you're done, watch this psychedelic one

• Gary Panter sending this box of dog biscuits to a dog named Gary Panter is probably about the cutest thing you'll read all day

• I think Steven Weissman loses this sketchbook battle with his son Charles — that and his weekly "I, Anonymous" spots and more at his Chewing Gum in Church blog

• Writer Dan Sinker shares the evolution of Paul Hornschemeier's cover illustration for The F***ing Epic Twitter Quest of @MayorEmanuel — via Paul's blog, where Paul also shares a website header illustration and accompanying interview; also, about umpteen new entries on his daily sketch blog The Daily Forlorn

• Eleanor Davis illustrates for The New York Times and for Rattler magazine

• Richard Sala presents the original, unretouched artwork for his Kramer's Ergot 7 strip, likewise for a Peculia story, plus some words on "Invisible Hands" — plus a whole lot more on his Tumblr blog

• The first page of a feature graphic story Tim Lane is doing for the Riverfront Times, to appear later this month, plus some of Tim's sketches for the story

• Lorenzo Mattotti previews 3 upcoming publishing projects: a graphic adaptation of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and a collection of Venice landscapes; and a collaboration with Art Spiegelman for an upcoming September 11-themed collection from Casterman

• Sergio Ponchione teases his Prof. Hackensack strip and illustrations in the new Linus as well as some recent illustrations of classical composers

• Laura Park's strip for this month's issue of The Believer, plus a Picasso-esque sketch (and, if you look around, lots of photos of her adorable new puppy)

• Speaking of Laura Park, Derek Van Gieson did this little jam strip with her on a recent visit to Chicago, where they and others also took part in a little Trubble Club action; more from Derek at his These Days I Remain blog

• Stephen DeStefano illustrated this poster for a new Washington, DC staging of Lithuanian Sweetheart, a play written by his Lucky in Love collaborator George Chieffet; also, an album cover illustration, Popeye playing hockey, Popeye playing soccer

• Louis C.K. fan art on Josh Simmons & Wendy Chin's Quackers blog (I'm not sure who did it — I'm guessing Wendy... and if you don't watch Louie you should) — meanwhile Josh has a couple new doodles on his The Furry Trap blog

• I was going post Renee French's portrait of the Crimson Bolt (Rainn Wilson's character from the movie Super) but I decided to go with this more mysterious, less link-baity piece instead

• Sammy Harkham's 2009 portrait of singer-songwriter Will Oldham for Colors magazine

• From Steve Brodner: Warren Buffett for Harper's (above); the SE; Planet of the Apes for The New Yorker; Rome sketchbook; Keystone XL pipeline protestors; and feral CEOs

• Sketchbook pages and more sketchbook pages by Anders Nilsen

• Glimpses of 11 binders worth of storyboards for Dash Shaw's The Ruined Cast

• Views of some rather astonishing cut-out dioramas made by Hans Rickheit for a recent art show

Additionally:

• Colleen Frakes shares some birthday sketch comics done for her by Mome contributors Joe Lambert and Chuck Forsman

• A drawing by Matthias Lehmann for an upcoming book from Le Dernier Cri

• Recent drawings by Andrei Molotiu

• The latest creations and updates from Dame Darcy at her blog

• Frank Santoro is selling his sketches of "black & white boom" cover art, along with the original comics, to help keep him in cash while he works on his new comic — there's a new mythology piece on his Tumblr too

• A bunch of new sketches by Marco Corona at his Il Canguro Pugilatore blog

• From Jim Blanchard, a rollerderby poster and a painting of Tura Satana

• Bird sketches with field notes by Debbie Drechsler

• A performance poster illustrated by Nate Neal

• An image-packed update on various works in progress from Noah Van Sciver

• Roger Langridge sketches Popeye vs. Bluto

We're all a-buzz over the 2011 Small Press Expo, which is just around the corner on September 10th & 11th in Bethesda, Maryland!  And here are our Fantagraphics panel highlights -- plot your weekend accordingly:

Saturday, September 10th

Excruciating Detail: Drawing the Grotesque
1:00 pm | White Flint Amphitheater

Historical comics ranging from Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy to the horror comics of the 1950s have specialized in images of the grotesque. Sean T. Collins will speak with cartoonists Lisa Hanawalt (I Want You), Benjamin Marra (Night Business), Tom Neely (The Wolf), and Johnny Ryan (Prison Pit) about the act of drawing horrific, visceral, visual detail in contemporary comics that speak to horrors that are both timeless and contemporary.

The Secret History of Women in Comics
1:30 pm | Brookside Conference Room

The increased involvement of women in the comics field over the past several years has been a significant positive change in a historically male-dominated industry. However, just as it’s worth celebrating this progressive revolution, it is also worth noting that today’s women cartoonists are part of a lineage of pioneering women who have made many contributions to the field. Heidi MacDonald will discuss this history with Jessica Abel, Robyn Chapman, Alexa Dickman and Diane Noomin.

Anders Nilsen: Questions and Answers
2:00 pm | White Flint Amphitheater

This year Drawn and Quarterly publishes Anders Nilsen’s opus Big Questions. A dozen years in the making, this book sensitively depicts a philosophical crisis in a community of birds whose lives are forever changed by the destructive intervention of human violence. Nilsen has also published books including Dogs and Water, Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow, Monologues for Calculating the Density of Black Holes, and more. Nilsen will discuss his work with moderator Bill Kartalopoulos.

Narrative Logic: Surreal and Obscure
2:30 pm | Brookside Conference Room

The entry of comics as “graphic novels” into the publishing landscape has encouraged work that conforms to the narrative biases of conventional literary fiction. Joe “Jog” McCulloch will talk to Marc Bell (Pure Pajamas), Matthew Thurber (1-800-MICE) and Jim Woodring (Congress of the Animals) about producing graphic narratives that follow less conventional, more associative, and even visually based narrative logics that lend integrity to apparent surreality.

Stories of Cultural Identity
3:30 pm | Brookside Conference Room

America’s own culture wars are only part of a global struggle with identity, as nations the world over attempt to address the challenges of assimilating multiple cultures within a stable society. Moderator Rob Clough will talk to Jessica Abel (La Perdida), Marguerite Dabaie (The Hookah Girl), Sarah Glidden (How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less) and G. B. Tran (Vietnamerica) about comics that deal with issues of cultural identity.

Johnny Ryan Q+A
5:30 pm | Brookside Conference Room

As comics have increasingly entered into the worlds of literary publishing and gallery arts, Johnny Ryan has almost single handedly extended comics’ satirical, parodistic, disreputable and scatological traditions in his comic book series Angry Youth Comix. More recently, he has entered the realm of visual pulp with his epic, no-holds-barred, manga-inflected graphic novel series Prison Pit. Ryan will discuss the development of his work with moderator Chris Mautner.

Sunday, September 11th

You Don’t Know Jacques: The Work of Jacques Tardi
1:00 pm | White Flint Amphitheater

In a special slideshow presentation, Fantagraphics co-publisher Kim Thompson will discuss the career of seminal French cartoonist Jacques Tardi, whose work Thompson has been translating in a new series of English-language editions. Relatively unknown until recently in the US, Tardi is a giant of French comics publishing. Active for over forty years and the author of dozens of books, Tardi is a foundational figure of auteurial bande dessinée.

Navigating the Contemporary Publishing Landscape
1:30 pm | Brookside Conference Room

In the early 2000s, corporate publishers nearly raced to acquire graphic novels. Now, as the mainstream publishing industry faces severe contractions and as online media assumes many traditional functions of publishing, cartoonists face a rapidly changing publishing landscape, one that includes a resurgent small press. Johanna Draper Carlson will speak with Domitille Collardey, Mike Dawson, Meredith Gran, Roger Langridge and Julia Wertz about publishing options today.

Diane Noomin Q+A
4:00 pm | White Flint Amphitheater

Pioneering cartoonist Diane Noomin was among the first contributors to Wimmen’s Comix, the all-female underground comix series. With Aline Kominsky-Crumb, she produced the series Twisted Sisters, and later edited two anthology books by the same name that showcased a new generation of women cartoonists. Celebrating a new book collection of her “Didi Glitz” comics from Fantagraphics, Noomin will discuss her career with moderator Heidi MacDonald.

Jim Woodring: Seeing Things
5:00 pm | White Flint Amphitheater

Jim Woodring first made his mark with his probing, autobiographically-based series Jim. Since then, he has expansively focused on his character Frank, an anthropomorphic cartoon character moving wordlessly through a hallucinatory world of delight and terror, drawn in both meticulous pen-and-ink and gem-like color. His latest book is the Frank graphic novel Congress of the Animals. He will discuss his career in this spotlight session with moderator Ken Parille.

Our weekly strips from Kupperman & Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web:

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Up All Night by Michael Kupperman (view at original size):

Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (view at original size):

And elsewhere:

Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane:

Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit:

Maakies by Tony Millionaire (linking to The Rumpus's presentation this week):

Mugwhump the Great by Roger Langridge (at Act-i-vate):

Smashing Crayons by Steve Brodner:

Truth Serum by Jon Adams: