Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "...[T]his... phenomenal one-shot [is] a baroque masterpiece... It's difficult to do justice to the artistic qualities of Tardi's stark, understated line drawings; whether he's depicting a motley crew of sailors, highly detailed industrial machinery, or an ice floe, the art is both technical and madly expressive. Precisely calibrated, perfectly laid out, and incredibly graphic, [The Arctic Marauder] is as good as adventure comics get." – Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

• Review: "This [story] sounds fantastical and almost the staple of short science fiction stories, but Jason’s work has a dark and twisted tone, like a hideous fairytale for a soulless child born in haunted forest. [...] I Killed Adolf Hitler manages to take the subjects of hitmen, time travel, dictators, alternate timelines, patience and love without ever feeling crammed or rushed. It fuses them into a story that by the end, leaves you marveling at its beautiful symmetry and craft." – Kevin Scully, The Negative Zone

• Plugs: "I purchased You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation, the second and final collection of comic book stories by the golden age artist Fletcher Hanks, during a recent Fantagraphics sale. While the stories in this volume aren't as good as those collected in I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets, it is wonderful to have the entirety of Hanks's work collected in these two books, both edited by Paul Karasik. I also enjoyed Fantagraphics' latest Jacques Tardi release, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec Volume 1: Pterror Over Paris and The Eiffel Tower Demon. [...] Tardi is constantly confounding my expectations as a reader." – Patrick Markfort, Articulate Nerd

• Commentary: "...I found myself quite happy to see that Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream won About.com’s Readers’ Choice Award, just because I’m happy to see Hagio’s book win anything anyone cares to award it, but also because a 'readers’ choice award' indicates that it’s clicking with more people than just dudes on the internet who don’t read a lot of shojo with which to compare it, like me." – Sean T. Collins, Attentiondeficitdisorderly

In a close race, A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio has won Best New One-Shot Manga in the 2011 About.com Manga Readers' Choice Awards! Thanks to all our readers who cast their vote. About.com Manga editor Deb Aoki writes:

"For their first new manga release in years, Fantagraphics pulled out the stops with their deluxe hardcover edition of this collection of short stories by shojo manga pioneer Moto Hagio. Elegant, thought-provoking and sensitive, the stories in A Drunken Dream offer a tantalizing retrospective of the forty-plus years of Hagio's career."

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "[The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980] is... a genius volume... Some of the pieces here – especially the longer storylines – are absolute classics. [...] Plus, there’s just the sheer kookiness of some of Schulz’s pop-cultural references and inventions, which continues to astound here... Schulz is at the height of his powers as a cartoonist here, as well. [...] Such graphic flair! Such economy of line! A Peanuts nut couldn’t ask for more, really." – Naomi Fry, The Comics Journal

• Review: "Littered with violence, inappropriate sexual innuendos, misguided bravado and infused with hilarity, Dungeon Quest (of which two 136 page volumes are available) promises a uniquely entertaining graphic novel experience." – Rick Klaw, The SF Site: Nexus Graphica

• Interview (Audio): iFanboy's "Don't Miss" podcast talks to Wilfred Santiago about the creation of 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente

• Commentary: This week's guest contributor to Robot 6's weekly "What Are You Reading?" column is Wilfred Santiago, creator of the upcoming 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente. Find out what's on Wilfred's nightstand!

• Profile: Anthony Mostrom of the Los Angeles Times gives a brief history of E.C. Segar and the creation of Popeye: "Segar had no idea just how fat his checks would become after the invention of Popeye. Indeed, he flirted with the idea of dropping the character after the 'Dice Island' story ended. Who would have guessed that a character so grotesque of face would be so instantly loved, his fame so long-lived that he would become part of a Google logo 80 years later?" (Via Newsarama)

• Craft: At The Comics Journal, Frank Santoro teaches you about proportion and page layout

• Analysis: At The Hooded Utilitarian, Noah Berlatsky provides a critical counterpoint to Ken Parille's reading of "Bianca" from Moto Hagio's A Drunken Dream and Other Stories at TCJ.com

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Review: "The main thing I kept thinking about while reading Wandering Son — beyond the continuous undercurrent of general squee — is how things that seem insignificant to one person can be secretly, intensely significant to someone else. [...] The story is subtle, simple, poignant, and innocent. The tone is matched by Shimura’s uncluttered artwork, which features big panels, little screentone, and extremely minimal backgrounds." – Michelle Smith, Soliloquy in Blue

• Interview (Audio): Inkstuds host Robin McConnell to Joe Sacco in advance of Joe's trip to Toronto next week

• Interview: The A.V. Club Denver talks to "arguably Denver’s premier underground comic artist" Noah Van Sciver: "People e-mail me to ask if they can send me a comic. They’re sending me these hand-stapled comics and asking me what I think. It’s great. If you’re not going to be paid a lot, you might as well meet like-minded people and start a gang." (Via Robot 6)

• Profile: "Olivier Schrauwen is not the first Belgian cartoonist that I would have pegged for success in the United States, but I'm certainly not going to complain about the opportunities that he is receiving. Since the publication of his book My Boy in English translation, he has published short pieces in Mome and elsewhere, generating a solid buzz for his idiosyncratic take on human disconnectedness. His new book, L'Homme qui se laissait pousser la barbe (Actes Sud/L'An 02) collects a number of short works that have been anthologized around the world, and was nominated for a prize at this year's Angouleme Festival. It will be published later this year in English as The Man Who Grew His Beard by Fantagraphics. [...] L'Homme is a collection of seven short pieces that can be read very quickly or studied for days." – Bart Beaty, The Comics Reporter

• Commentary: At Trouble with Comics, Christopher Allen offers his initial impressions of the revamped TCJ.com; our pal Peggy Burns over at D&Q also gives it a thumbs-up

• Profile: iFanboy's Chris Arrant profiles Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery as part of their "Publishers Who Have Their Own Comic Book Stores" feature: "Opening in late 2006, this Seattle store acts as defacto gift shop and gallery extension of the long-time publisher's comics line. The store boasts a complete repository of everything Fantagraphics has in print — as well as a number of rarities you wouldn't find most anywhere else."

At Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources, as part of their "Month of LGBT Comics" feature, Brian Cronin presents a sampling of 10 pages from Shimura Takako's Wandering Son Vol. 1 and reviews the book:

"It is astonishing how well Shimura brings things to a slow boil, until the story is bubbling with emotion. You really feel the pain that Shuichi is going through as he deals with the fact that he is, well, you know, a she. There is a real sensitivity to this work that I found extremely appealing. Shimura really captures the awkwardness of it all... The whole book is adorable. This is a great, all ages take on a very difficult to express subject. Shimura’s art has so much life to it and expresses so much emotion that it is just amazing to read."

The back page of the 2011 edition of the Comic-Con Annual magazine features the great moment at last year's San Diego con when Inkpot Award-winning manga-ka Moto Hagio met one of her inspirations, the great Ray Bradbury, and presented him with a copy of her book A Drunken Dream and Other Stories. Click the image for a larger scan and see another snapshot here.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• Analysis: At The Comics Journal, Ken Parille does a close reading of "Bianca" from Moto Hagio's A Drunken Dream and Other Stories (for which we provided a free PDF download of the story): "I first saw 'Bianca' as a conventional sentimental tale, exploring such familiar themes as 'the sanctity of childhood' and 'the power of art.' And many online writers, regardless of their aesthetic evaluation of its merits, seemed to concur. Some found its sentimentality beautiful, others found it excessive, but all agreed it needed little explication. Had I read it only once or twice, I would have agreed, too. Yet re-readings revealed to me a far different, and far more compelling, surface and depth."

• Commentary: Andrei Molotiu on the death of The Comics Journal message board and the birth of the Abstract Comics anthology

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: Matthew J. Brady posts his picks for the best comics of 2010 on his Warren Peace Sings the Blues blog (where there are links to his past reviews), including:

"25. Temperance... is a confounding work, and a fascinating one, with some excellently moody art. I still don't know if I really understand it, but it's a strange, unforgettable book."

"23. Set to Sea... is lovely to look at, full of beautiful seascapes and cartoony movement. It may be a small and quick read, but it doesn't seem that way in subsequent memory."

"18. Wally Gropius... is a deeply weird comic, but one that is not easily forgettable, starting with an off-kilter take on old teen comics and throwing in a sort of dada energy, social commentary that isn't always easy to decipher, some startling sex and violence, and an angry attitude toward the idly manipulative rich and their disdain for the rest of humanity. It's also really funny, and what seems like random incidents eventually cohere into an actual story, but the crazy contortions of the characters, the financial imagery and sound effects, and the bizarre dialogue and actions from the characters are what will haunt the mind for some time to come."

"10. It Was the War of the Trenches... is one of the most incredible books of the year, an ugly, grimy, angry look at the devastation of war on everything it touches, an endless cascade of horrors that are all the more effective due to their reality. This is arresting work, something everyone should read, lest we forget how easy it is to get caught up in the killing once again."

"7. A Drunken Dream and Other Stories [...] From the beautiful artistic filigrees that fill panels throughout, to the firm grasp of character and complex emotional examinations, every page of this book is an essential bit of reading for manga fans."

"3. Love and Rockets: New Stories #3... is an amazing example of how great these creators are, and the way comics can be used for maximum effectiveness to tell emotional, realistic, beautifully real stories."

• Interview: Sean O'Toole of South African culture mag Mahala talks to Joe Daly: "Whatever other influences effect my comics worldview, I always end up coming back to Tintin. It’s an impeccable foundation text in terms of characters, story telling and artwork. I also appreciate the fact that it’s written and drawn by one person, George Remi aka Hergé (although I know he had studio assistance later in the series). It’s a complete creation, in that way, there’s a deep level of cohesion between the drawing and the narrative."

• Interview: At Comicdom, Thomas Papadimitropoulos talks to Jim Woodring (interview in English follows introduction in Greek): "I write all my stories out in words, describing the action. After a lot of rejecting of alternatives I end up with something that feels meaningful to me, even if I don't know why. In fact I prefer it if I don't know why. If I can tell there is some significant meaning respiring in the depths of the proposed action, I don't worry about what that meaning might be; I draw the story up and allow the meaning to occur to me and to readers whenever the time is right." (via The Comics Reporter)

In their March 15 issue, Booklist announces their Top 10 Graphic Novels in Adult and Youth categories. We're honored that they've chosen the following books in the former category:

Artichoke Tales by Megan Kelso

A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio

It Was the War of the Trenches by Jacques Tardi

And in the latter category:

Set to Sea by Drew Weing

The issue also includes the reviews excerpted below:

The Arctic Marauder by Jacques Tardi: "A strong Jules Verne flavor dominates the story’s stew of mystery farce and sci-fi adventure, from the ship named the Jules Vernez to the assortment of just-plausibly-outlandish vehicles and deep-sea mechanical apparatuses. But the real fun comes from marveling at it all in Tardi’s expansive, ice-blasted scratchboard tableaus that feature one breath-stealing scene after another, all the way through to the cheerfully villainous finale. A devious bit of far-fetched fun." – Ian Chipman

Freeway by Mark Kalesniko: "Kalesniko reprises his alter ego, Alex Kalienka, for his most ambitious and accomplished graphic novel yet. [...] Although Kalesniko’s formal storytelling devices, particularly his deft panel arrangements and intelligent compositions, are largely responsible for Freeway’s impressive effectiveness, it’s his distinctive and delicate drawing style that supplies the emotional component, best displayed in the economical character design and in the painstakingly researched, lovingly depicted scenes of a bygone Los Angeles." – Gordon Flagg (Starred Review)

Stigmata by Lorenzo Mattotti & Claudio Piersanti: "Obviously but never verbally a parable of Christian redemption, Piersanti’s story becomes extremely compelling in Mattotti’s hands. ...[H]is swirling realization of atmosphere, the protagonist’s states of mind, and human figures conjures the raw power and compassion of such great Italian neorealist films as Bicycle Thieves and La Strada." – Ray Olson

Hey, remember that cover art for Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko) Vol. 1 by Shimura Takako that we were so excited to debut last week? Well it turns out we were a little TOO excited as the version we showed you was incorrectly cropped. Here's the corrected version above; we've also fixed it in the original post, which contains more information about the book. Sorry about that folks!