Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: Gustavo Guimaraes of Brazilian culture & entertainment site Ambrosia names "The best comics published in the U.S. in 2011 – Alternative and classic," including Congress of the Animals by Jim Woodring (all quotes translated from Portuguese)… "The world created by Woodring is unique, beautiful and scary. His stories can be incomprehensible at times, but always intriguing and charming." …The Hidden by Richard Sala… "Sala's characters look like something out of old horror and mystery movies, and his plots possess a rare levity for narratives of the genre. The colorful art makes the his…

I haven't seen a copy of the new issue of Juxtapoz yet but I can't wait to check it out to read the feature interview with the wonderful Esther Pearl Watson!

Leslie Stein gives you an illustrated and photo-documented glimpse into her life all this week for the latest Cartoonist's Diary feature at TCJ.com. Her self-portrait in the style of Sam Henderson is worth the price of admission alone. [Follow our Tumblr blog for lots more Things to See every day.]

Here's an exciting discovery: the original art for an extra-long Peanuts strip that was done by Charles M. Schulz for the July 22, 1958 issue of Look Magazine and apparently never reprinted since then. The artwork is being offered for sale next month by Heritage Auctions — thanks to Rodrigo Baeza of Comics Commentary for the tip. [Follow our Tumblr blog for lots more Things to See every day.]

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: Nick Gazin reluctantly does a Top Ten Comics of 2011 for VICE, including… #3 Popeye Vol. 5: Wha's A Jeep by E.C. Segar#4 Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks …with "All of Fantagraphics' reprint books especially Pogo, Peanuts, and Prince Valiant" in the "Also Good" category • List: Chris Mautner's list of "12 Comics to Look Forward to in 2012" at Robot 6 includes our first volume of Crockett Johnson's Barnaby: "Johnson’s wonderful, vastly underrated comic strip about a little boy and his underperforming fairy godfather is finally, finally being…

Our weekly strips from Kupperman, Mahler & Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web: — Black Classroom by Steven Weissman (view at original size): Up All Night by Michael Kupperman (view at original size): Angelman by Nicolas Mahler (view at original size): And elsewhere: The All-New Cartoon Boy Adventure Hour by John Kerschbaum at ACT-I-VATE: Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane: Forming by Jesse Moynihan: Humblug by Arnold Roth (3 updates this week, concluding serialization of his unpublished 1979 strip Downtown and returning to mew material): Les Petits Riens by Lewis Trondheim (scroll down at the link for…

Hot on the heels of Nancy… heeeere's Franklin!

We love Danish comics (so much so that we co-published an anthology of them, From Wonderland with Love, with Danish publisher Aben Maler, and our Scandinavian comics anthology Kolor Klimax: Nordic Comics Now is coming soon), so we're especially pleased to learn that the Danish Comics Council and comics website Nummer 9 have announced the nominees for the 2012 Ping Prisen (Prisen = Prize) and that they include: "Nostalgia" by Johan F. Krarup, from Kolor Klimax: Nordic Comics Now: Best Danish Comic Mellem dyrene (Congress of the Animals) by Jim Woodring: Best International Comic in Danish Speedy Ortiz dør (The…