• It's a new New Character Parade strip from Johnny Ryan

• Kevin Huizenga gives us perhaps the kookiest installment of Amazing Facts and Beyond with Leon Beyond yet

• Frank Santoro's views of Pittsburgh, PA

• David Paleo presents his portrait of Rickie Lee Jones from the book Talk to Her

• Gabrielle Bell gets a haircut in her new Lucky strip

• A recent book cover illustration by Sergio Ponchione

• A peek, an escape from Renee French

• Usagi Yojimbo art by Stan Sakai for the Comix Experience 21st Anniversary CLBDF Benefit auction

• So, one of those Apple Council creeps got to Kevin Huizenga too, huh?

• Mark Kalesniko captures a woman on her cell phone

• Sayeth Hans Rickheit: "I like Page 15 [of Ectopiary] simply because it contains a stuffy old lady denigrating beatniks and artists; that is always a winning ingredient of any succsessful book, in my opinion."

• Fresh off the drawing board, new pages from Derek Van Gieson

• The "structure" drawings from Tom Kaczynski keep on a-coming: "fossilized bloom," "batholitic vessel," and "decay as propellant" (above)

• A new chunk of Jordan Crane at What Things Do

• The last word today goes to Jeremy Eaton, with this illustration for a (now out-of-date) Seattle Weekly article about that whole Amazon/Diamond foofarah. 'Nuff said!

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: For Library Journal, Tom Batten recommends a handful of recent "Classic Graphic Novels," including The Left Bank Gang by Jason: "Supporting his highly imaginative and quirky storytelling, Jason's deceptively simple cartooning carries a great deal of intensity in each line."

• Review: "Winning a coveted Jury prize at the 2010 Angouleme festival, Dungeon Quest succeeds on so many levels: the art and character design are superb, the dialogue is acerbic yet measured, the page construction has a flow to it that verges on perfection, the meter of the storytelling is spot-on, and, most importantly, it’s actually really funny. ... As the first volume in a series projected to last for a good few books yet, readers are advised to party-up with the cast of Dungeon Quest immediately." – Martin Steenton, Avoid the Future

• Review: "The series only lasted four issues, but it is among the high points of 1960s comics, and this handsome collection is one of the most welcome reprint volumes of the last few years. ... Blazing Combat showed comics readers the gritty downside of war..." – Robert Martin, The Comics Journal

• Review: "...[S]ome books just leave a reviewer pointing and jabbering, unable to coherently explain what he's just been through or to find any words that will adequately explain what he has seen. The Squirrel Machine is a book of [this] kind... Reading The Squirrel Machine is very much like watching some German Expressionist movie: it's a series of alternately wondrous and appalling scenes, clearly connected by some kind of logic, the true meaning of which resolutely remains beyond the knowledge of the viewer." – Andrew Wheeler, The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

• Plug: The fine folks at Librairie D&Q say "Now in store is this little jewel just published by Fantagraphics Books. On top of being a well-researched collection of underground mini-comix of the 1980's, this book compiles pages and pages of interviews and commentary on the creative, edgy, weird and free-spirited post-Crumb scene. While it may not necessarily represent the global landscape of underground comix in the 80's (one could argue it needs more wemin-ahtists, for example), Newave! is definitely a praise-worthy sampler of work most often hidden in the shadows of the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s."

• Plug: Roberto C. Madruga of Evolve Happy on Luba by Gilbert Hernandez: "The story is Hernandez at his best and the artwork is simplistically gorgeous."

• Plugs: The latest Robot 6 "What Are You Reading?" roundup includes several Fantagraphics mentions, and guest contributor Ng Suat Tong on the black & white Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938 from Libri Impressi, available in the U.S. exclusively from us: "The new Fantagraphics and Portugese books are the only way one should read Foster's masterwork."

• Analysis: At PopMatters, Oliver Ho compares and contrasts two stories from B. Krigstein Comics and Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1: "The strangeness comes not so much from the individual stories, but from the way each comic and artist appears to be a sort of mirror image of the other."

• Links: Love & Maggie begins their detailed, annotated breakdown of the second entry on their list of the top 10 issues of The Comics Journal, #59

• Profile: Comic Book Resources' Kelly Thompson looks at the work of Gabrielle Bell

• Interview: The Comics Journal's Kent Worcester presents an edited transcript of his on-stage interview with Tom Kaczynski from the 2009 MoCCA festival

Well lookee here:

Memoirs of a Scanner (Pillows Edition) from Damon Stea on Vimeo.

• Watch carefully or you'll miss a certain cameo appearance in this clever video that Kim came across on The Daily Dish a few days ago

• A Johnny Ryan drawing for a good cause

• And the logo for that school? It's by Jordan Crane (the above two items via Steven Weissman on Twitter)

• Three Men in a Tub's Ted Dawson posts this 1976 self-portrait by Charles M. Schulz. Dig those pants! (Via The Comics Reporter)

• Hand-embellished purses (and bunny ears) made by Dame Darcy, very reasonably priced

• A flurry of activity from Lilli Carré: a print for Artifice Magazine, a silkscreened accordion book she's selling at the Chicago Zine Fest this weekend, and two watercolor drawings

• New sketches from Mark Kalesniko

• Paul Hornschemeier's latest illustration for the WSJ; also, last chance to order that commission you've been wanting

• Another in a series from Tom Kaczynski

• A cut Mome one-pager from Derek Van Gieson

Your daily allowance of Fanta-related cartoon art:

• The Awesomenomicon posts 17 of Popeye's "Greatest Hits," saying "Of course we're all familiar with Popeye the Sailor Man and his penchant for fisticuffs, but unless you've read his origins in Segar's Thimble Theatre strip, you have no idea how truly dynamic and visceral his unique brand of cartoon violence could be. ... Thankfully Fantagraphics has spent the last several years publishing those handsome oversized collections of Segar's Thimble Theatre, from which I have assembled this small repository of Popeye punching things.

• More "Buongiorno" from Marco Corona

• More "Abstraction House" absurdity and a band flyer design from Derek Van Gieson

• Another of Tom Kaczynski's inscrutable structures

I might have to start posting these art-blog roundups on the weekends too... these Monday updates are outa control...

• Airbrushed Zippy the Pinhead art (artist unknown)! Posting this on Facebook, Bill Griffith says "This is the 2-page spread ad for the 'Zippy Movie' from Variety magazine, 3/29/90. The ad was taken out by the Aspen Film Society (at that time they were the producers of the movie) in hopes of attracting a studio/distributor. Are we in turnaround yet?" More about it (and the likewise never-to-be Zippy TV show series) here

• Check out all the artwork from the Covered art show here on the Secret Headquarters Flickr page — I'm pretty sure I haven't featured this Johnny Ryan piece on Flog before — and organizer/curator Robert Goodin has a report and photos from the opening on his blog

• Michael Kupperman awards the Oscar for best Oscar

• John Hankiewicz does Ditko , plus another sketchbook page

• A 1994 minicomic by Frank Santoro & Jon Good

• Jewelry and accessories "made from 100% genuine doll" by Dame Darcy

• Several new pieces by Richard Sala available at Comic Art Collective or direct via Richard's blog

• Detail of a mid-1990s Jim Flora illustration

• The conclusion of Gabrielle Bell's New York story

• Mark Kalesniko is really channeling Egon Schiele in this one

• Yowie! Sergio Ponchione presents a full-color Grotesque story from the pages of the new issue of Linus

• This one from Renee French is even creepier as the follow-up to this one

• Ectopiary page 14 and a Cochlea and Eustachia one-pager from Hans Rickheit

• More from "Tales of Abstraction House" by Derek Van Gieson

• Three more structures by Tom Kaczynski: "incoherent amalgamation," "basalt garden" and, above, "The Tomb of Jack Kirby"

• More new Jordan Crane at What Things Do

Your daily art bloggery:

• Reminder: the Covered art show at Secret Headquarters opens tomorrow night! Here's a piece by show curator/organizer Robert Goodin as revealed on Steven Weissman's blog...

• ...and Richard Sala posts his own contribution

• Tim Lane's serialized strip Myth of Jack Theatre Presents: Belligerent Piano begins running this week in the St. Louis Riverfront Times and on Tim's blog

• Corporate motivation, Jim Flora style, 1956

• Paul Hornschemeier on the Oscars for the WSJ, with process art on his blog

• Pucker up for some Renee French — and this one too, ooh

• You want a bunch of Jaime Hernandez superheroine sketches gathered all in one place? Scans Daily has you covered

• Derek Van Gieson keeps up his feverish pace — can't go wrong with a cat in a suit

• Tom Kaczynski captioned this drawing "unnatural megalithic formation" — 'nuff said

• T. Edward Bak draws Dr. Strange??

In the spirit of "show don't tell" (and making my workday ever more complicated), I've decided to break the "Things to see" category (comprising artwork and other visual goodies from the Fantagraphics roster of artists) from our Daily OCD posts out into their own posts, with images. Links will take you to original sources where full/larger images can be seen. These posts may not be daily depending on what's out there — for now they may be somewhat irregular until I figure out a good rhythm. Enough of my yammerin'...

• This blog by Tony Groutsis features illustrations by Gabrielle Bell mostly, plus Tom Kaczynski and other names the diligent comics reader might recognize

• Speaking of Gabrielle, here's her new strip "New York"

• On What Things Do, Part 2 of Chapter 2 of the story Jordan Crane started in Uptight #3 (got that?)

• Babati by Olivier Schrauwen

• File name: GirlKnifeWoods.jpg, by Josh Simmons

• Four sketchbook spreads from Anders Nilsen

• New drawings and more new drawings from Derek Van Gieson

• Mark Newgarden talks about his recent hamburger mural at Comics Comics

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship:

Mome Vol. 17 - Winter 2010
By Various Artists; edited by Eric Reynolds

The acclaimed anthology continues with the concluding chapter of Paul Hornschemeier's third graphic novel "Life with Mr. Dangerous" (following his acclaimed books The Three Paradoxes and Mother Come Home), which has been running in MOME since the first issue. Meanwhile, Bottomless Belly Button creator Dash Shaw and MOME regular Tom Kaczynski collaborate on a mind-bending science-fiction story, "Resolution," where "reality" exists as a virtual world and people live through their avatars. Olivier Schrauwen delivers a surrealistic gem titled "Chromo Congo"; Derek Van Gieson delivers a horrific WWII story, "Devil Doll"; Renee French's "Almost Sound" returns, as does Ted Stearn's "The Moolah Tree" starring Fuzz & Pluck; plus new work from Kurt Wolfgang, Laura Park, Rick Froberg, Sara Edward-Corbett, and T. Edward Bak. Covers by Paul Hornschemeier.

Download an EXCLUSIVE 11-page PDF excerpt (3 MB) with a page from every artist in the issue.

120-page color/b&w 7" x 9" softcover • $14.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-302-6
Add to Cart • More Info & Previews

Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: Minnesota Public Radio enlists Tom Kaczynski to talk about Dash Shaw's new book The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D.: "They're stories full of nuance and expression, done in a very accessible style, but very fresh and modern." Listen at the link above (segment begins at 1:40), and find out about Tom and Dash's collaboration for the next issue of Mome here

• Review: "Charles Burns offers a glimpse of what might happen if EC Comics existed today with three tales of intrigue and absurdity in this softcover reissue... [of Skin Deep]. A master of the unearthly atmosphere — David Lynch has nothing on him — Burns unleashes tales of a man transplanted with a dog’s heart, a failing marriage with an alarming secret, and, best of all, an evangelist’s son’s encounter with God and his path to millions because of it. At once cautionary, creepy and curious, Burns is consistently one of comics’ deepest thinkers." – John Seven, Worcester Magazine

• Review: "The Troublemakers is the second in a series of graphic novels adapting movies starring or co-starring Rosalba 'Fritz' Martinez from the popular Love and Rockets series. An adaptation of a fictional movie starring a fictional character… I can totally dig that. ... Well, Hernandez has totally captured the look and feel of a B-movie with this one. You’d swear that Roger Corman, Russ Meyer or Samuel Z. Arkoff had a hand in it somewhere… only it’s a whole lot prettier because the guy is a hell of an artist. ... The characters are all very distinct and memorable and the story keeps you intrigued from page one to 120. It actually feels like you’re watching a movie while reading it. ...  One can imagine a young Quentin Tarantino taking in a Saturday afternoon viewing of The Troublemakers and being quite inspired." – Chad Derdowski, Mania.com

• Review: "...[A] phallic-galactic odyssey of epic proportions... Prison Pit, the latest [Johnny] Ryan work published by Fantagraphics, is just that, an apologia for sidereal 'poor taste' able to shake the guts of the average reader of comics... Yes, he has hit the target with a homemade bomb and high destructive capacity. Ryan, bastard, you've nailed it." – Alita Comics blog (from mangled Google translation)

• Review: "Jordan Crane is a pretty incredible cartoonist, and this issue of his anthology series [Uptight] demonstrates that wonderfully, with two stories that are different enough that it's impressive that they came from the same creator, but both beautifully drawn and well-told." – Matthew J. Brady

• Events: Dame Darcy would like you to know that she's in NYC with stuff going on

• Distraction: Paste has a fun game: "Spam E-Mail or Bob Pollard Song?" (via our own Ambassador of Awesomeness Janice Headley)

A piping hot dish of Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "...[T]his shaggy-haired collection of 15 years’ worth of artful zines and comics [Like a Dog]... reads at times like a history of psychological warfare. [Zak] Sally... tends toward richly dark, semiautobiographical, and tightly etched tales of tension and self-recrimination. Creepy dreams and images of anatomical self-analysis are recurring themes, along with the general sense of transience that marked Sally’s life while relentlessly touring with Low... At times the book... breaks out of that shell to address topics that are usually no lighter in tone though, as with his excellent retelling of Dostoyevski’s imprisonment, they benefit from the change in perspective. The art is equally claustrophobic when not downright disturbing. Revealing and witty, even when mired in darkness." – Publishers Weekly

• Review: "The Cold Heat material from Jones, Santoro, and Vermilyea is... imaginative and, particularly with Vermilyea at the drawing table, sharply delineated, as is Vermilyea's delightfully sick solo material. Josh Simmons impresses with his blackly comic strips... Tim Hensley kills it as always with the concluding chapters in his Wally Gropius saga, featuring peerlessly communicated body language perhaps the greatest anti-climax in comics history. I think this is some of the tightest material we've seen yet from Sara Edward-Corbett... Lilli Carré is alarmingly good at depicting male lust. Nate Neal's not-so-instant-karma piece in Vol. 16 is explicit and haunting. Dash Shaw is a restless talent, albeit so restless he never seems to settle down even in the middle of any given strip." – Sean T. Collins on Mome Vols. 14, 15 & 16

• Review: Lene Taylor of the I Read Comics podcast wonders if the humor in Jason's Low Moon exists in an alternate world (beware of spoilers)

• Review: Google Translate creates poetry out of this Portuguese review of Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron by Daniel Clowes at O Recíproco Inverso: "The art that is what Daniel Clowes you do best: people ugly. All the characters are people from day to day, dark circles, old-fashioned clothes, hair loss... out the freaks that appear, like the girl in the form of potato or the dog itself without holes, op.  You see, the Daniel Clowes does not draw badly, he draws very well what he wants to show. That is, ugly people. I will not give star ratings do not pro book, this is very scrotum. Just know that it's cool."

• Plug: "One hell of a messed-up book. ... Pim & Francie are Columbia's pet subjects — a pair of cute kids who are always stumbling into horrific nightmare scenarios. This isn't quite a collection of stories about them: it's a collection of Columbia's rough and finished materials concerning them that keeps veering toward storyhood, then jerking the steering wheel and plunging over the nearest cliff." — Douglas Wolk, Comics Alliance

• Plug: Chris Mautner of Robot 6 rediscovers Zero Zero by way of our 99 Cent Comics sale (issues are selling out fast): "Re-reading this stuff, it really startles me just how good and how ignored this series was and continues to be. I mean, the level of talent in these pages is staggering. Kim Deitch's Search for Smilin' Ed! Dave Cooper's Crumple! Richard Sala's The Chuckling Whatsit! Joe Sacco's Christmas with Karadsic! Not to mention Max Andersson, Skip Williamson, Mack White, Sam Henderson, Michael Kupperman, David Mazzuchelli and so many more. This really was the best anthology of the 90s, bar none."

• Preview: The Comics Reporter spills the beans on one of our 2010 releases: Drew Weing's Set to Sea

• Preview: If you want to read about our February 2010 releases in Portuguese, GHQ has you covered

• Things to see: Look who's popped up in Gabrielle Bell's cartoon recounting of her trip to Minneapolis: none other than Tom Kaczynski and Zak Sally

• Things to see: Cookies, Li'l Wayne, and inter-mythology love figure in the latest batch of sketchbook scans from Anders Nilsen