Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

If I ever got a letter like this from Jim Woodring I would re-read it every night before I went to bed and sleep with it under my pillow. Hans Rickheit got one after he sent Jim a copy of The Squirrel Machine. Inspired by the emergence of this other, older Woodring letter, Hans shares it now — without Jim's foreknowledge or permission, which is why we only excerpt it here; as long as it remains online the rest of it can be read at Hans's blog.

Josh Simmons opened an online shop to sell his books and comics. Go buy some!

Mome contributor Laura Park was working on a pretty sweet illustration gig for most of last year, this heavily-illustrated book by James Patterson, who is a big-deal best-selling YA author. Can't wait to see what Laura did with it — gonna have to give it a flip next time I'm at the bookstore. Laura gives an Amazon link on her Flickr page.

In an enviable artistic achievement, Drew Friedman's illustration of Penn Gillette was ripped off for packaging of Chinese herbal boner pills.  Read all about it at Drew's blog. Elsewhere on Drew's blog, don't miss how he brought Moxie Cowznofski back to Mad magazine.

Congratulations to Shimura Takako and translator/editor Matt Thorn, whose English-language edition of Wandering Son Vol. 1 has been nominated to the American Library Association/Young Adult Library Services Association "2012 Great Graphic Novels for Teens" list! The final list will be announced by the ALA in January.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Fantagraphics, always a publisher you can count on to rescue classic comic material from oblivion, has published a gorgeous 288 page hardcover archive edition of Mickey [Mouse]'s earliest serialized comic strip adventures and he's quite a different character than we know today…a little rambunctious, a little mischievous, and a whole lot of fun. This book takes readers on a glorious ride through depression-era adventures as Mickey battles villains, becomes a fireman, visits a circus, and meets his faithful pup Pluto for the first time. Besides the many great comic strips, Fantagraphics has filled…

Our freelancer John Ohannesian, who's doing some cleanup and restoration for our next (and final) Popeye volume, came across this E.C. Segar portrait of R. Crumb. Ha! (Via the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery Facebook page.)

Let's all thank whoever it was who convinced Stephen DeStefano to get on Tumblr! (Above, from Stephen's inaugural post: designs for a statuette of Cole Oyl, Olive Oyl's poppa.) Also, let's all send best wishes to Stephen for a speedy recovery from a kidney stone procedure he underwent today.

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Gil Jordan, Private Detective: Murder by High Tide by M. Tillieux 96-page full-color 8.5" x 11.25" hardcover • $18.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-451-1 See Previews / Order Now Another never-before-translated classic from the Golden Age of Franco-Belgian comics, finally brought to American readers. Imagine the beautifully crisp images of Hergé (Tintin) put in service of a series of wise-cracking, fast-paced detective stories — punctuated with scenes of spectacular vehicular mayhem (including in this volume a dockside pursuit via car and bulldozer) — and you’ll see why 50 years later Gil Jordan is still considered…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Sibyl-Anne Vs. Ratticus by R. Macherot 64-page full-color 8.5" x 11.25" hardcover • $16.95ISBN: 978-1-60699-452-8 See Previews / Order Now Sibyl-Anne and her fiancé Boomer live in blissful peace in the French countryside until the evil rat Ratticus, evicted from his previous residence, sets his eye on the quiet acre that the couple share with their friends (a porcupine, a crow, and a rabbit). After a hilariously unsuccessful attempt to infiltrate the quiet little community in drag (which leaves a member of the cast smitten, Some Like It Hot-style), the devious…