Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Battling an administration that smugly created their own reality, even if (and sometimes, especially if) it flew in the face of reason, morality and/or common sense, [in Twilight of the Assholes] Kreider employed a vicious, scorched-earth set of tactics that matched the passionate intensity of the right, only imbued with a wicked and outrageous sense of humor to go with a keen sense of observation. Whether or not one agreed with all of Kreider’s observations about American culture…, the sheer relentlessness of Kreider’s attacks combined with the elegance and intensity of his line…

Jaime Hernandez had an illustration in last week's issue of The New Yorker (hopefully still on the stands), for an article on asteroid hunters. This is as big as I can show it to you without a subscription — hopefully you have one so you can check it out full-size!

Here's this week's Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web: — "Ham-N-Tashen" by Steven Weissman (for the Henry & Glenn art show in L.A.; view at original size): — And elsewhere: The All-New Cartoon Boy Adventure Hour by John Kerschbaum (an encore presentation of John's Act-i-vate strip at MTV Geek) concludes: Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane: Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit: Mugwhump the Great by Roger Langridge (at Act-i-vate): The Pain — When Will It End? by Tim Kreider (with essay): Truth Serum by Jon Adams:

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "…Joyce Farmer’s Special Exits depicts old age as a wild, lurching ride from medical crises to euphoric nostalgia to an eerie calm as the end draws near. […] Aging and dying are rare topics in literature and cinema, let alone in comics, which makes Special Exits an automatic standout. But it would be an excellent book even if the shelves were full of fictionalized memoirs about elder care." – The A.V. Club • Review: "…[W]ith Special Exits, Farmer delivers a wonderful memoir about her aging parents and their aging process. […] This is…

Lilli Carré reveals on her Kettle of Fish blog that she's contributed a 4-page story and cover illustration to the next issue of long-running Swedish comics magazine Galago. Lucky Swedes!

Here's the Peanuts cartoon modified by Michael Kupperman which is lighting up the comics blogosphere today after being tweeted by @MKupperman last night. Below, perhaps of more interest to serious Kupperman fans, another tweeted image from last night: a glimpse of his next book coming in September, Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010 (in which "Twain meets with Ike Eisenhower and his unbelievably hot wife, Mame"):

As we announced on our Twitter feed last week, the highly anticipated next release in our manga line, Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko) Vol. 1 by Shimura Takako, is now at the printer and set for a May/June release. In this sensitive masterpiece from Japan's most prominent creator of LGBT manga, Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy. Shimura portrays their journey with affection, sensitivity and humor. We know lots of you are really champing at the bit for this one — here's your first look at…

Today's brief Online Commentary & Diversions: • Reviews: Rob Clough is re-posting his reviews of our Ignatz Series titles from the now-defunct Sequart site to his own High-Low blog; here's a huge batch from 2008 and  a smaller follow-up batch

The Society of Illustrators in NYC presents R. Crumb: Lines Drawn On Paper, running March 23 – April 30, 2011, with an opening reception on Friday March 25 at 7:00 PM. This retrospective of Crumb's work, curated by Monte Beauchamp, founder/editor of BLAB! and editor of The Life and Times of R. Crumb (St. Martin's Press), presents key pieces culled from the underground art collection of Eric Sack, with contributions from Paul Morris and John Lautemann. Needless to say: a must-see! More info on the exhibit and reception can be found at the links above.

It is true: after much foofaraw and mishegas, The Comics Journal #301 went to the printer last week and is due to be available in May. (You may have come across an earlier version of the cover here on our website, but here for the first time is the final version.) Short description: The Journal is reborn. In these 600+ pages: R. Crumb interview & critical roundtable on Genesis; Joe Sacco interview; Jim Woodring, Tim Hensley & Stephen Dixon sketchbooks; Jaffee & Kupperman in conversation; Gerald McBoing Boing; much more. This volume is guest designed by internationally respected Criterion art…