Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

 Here's this week's Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web (including a new second run of an old fave): — Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (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) Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane: Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit: Lucky by Gabrielle Bell: Maakies by Tony Millionaire: Truth Serum by Jon Adams:

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "It’s the details that distinguish what Jordan Crane does. He’s not breaking any conceptual or thematic or formal ground in the two stories comprising this fourth issue of his old-school solo-anthology alternative-comic-book series [Uptight]… ["Dark Day"] is part of your basic “kid explores a magical world beyond the watchful eyes of adults” set-up, while ["Trash Night"] presents love and sex through a sordid, hate-fucky lens, an approach I’ll always associate with the 1990s filmography of Jeremy Irons. But none of that accounts for the sticky, unexpected images he pours into these familiar templates….

From our colleagues at Dargaud comes this video footage of Jean Schulz at the opening of the Peanuts exhibit at the Angoulême Festival yesterday with U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Rivkin and other dignitaries in attendance. Vive le Snoopy! (Via Bleeding Cool.)

Roger Ash of Westfield Comics conducted a very informative Q&A with David Gerstein, co-editor (along with Gary Groth) of our forthcoming series of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson. It's a must-read for anyone who's been looking forward to these reprints! A sample: "Mickey’s brave, witty, imaginative and incredibly daring in Gottfredson’s stories. He’s a scrapper, ready to fight for what he believes in; but he’s not always right about what he thinks is right, so he can create a mess for himself and have to do some great soul-searching afterwards – serious and funny at once (which is…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "[The Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec] is Tardi riffing on the sensational and wordy mysteries of the era just removed from the Victorian period. […] So it's intentionally silly and comically austere. […] This, for me, is all about the art, the cartooning, and the post-Victorian subject matter. While the stories are somewhat light, with intentionally flat dialogue, it's all a wonder to behold. A fantastic looking book to tuck next to my Tintins." – Paul Montgomery, iFanboy • Review: "…I bring to you my second choice for best of 2010: Werewolves of Montpellier…

Dungeon Quest, Book 2 by Joe Daly 136-page black & white 6" x 8.25" softcover • $12.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-436-8 Ships in: March 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Millennium Boy, Steve, Lash Penis, and Nerdgirl continue on their twin mystical quests to find the missing parts of the Atlantean Resonator Guitar, as well as to locate the prophet and poet Bromedes and return his borrowed penis sheath, in this second hilarious, violent, and rip-roaringly entertaining installment of Joe (The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book) Daly's role-playing-game-inspired graphic novel series. Fortified and empowered with a brand new collection of weapons and…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: The number ten original graphic novel on Greg Burgas's "Best Ten of 'Ten" at Comic Book Resources is Cathy Malkasian's Temperance: "Malkasian’s odd fable is a haunting book about hiding your true self, coming to grips with deceit, and the necessity of striking out from the safety of home to discover new and possibly dangerous things. […] Temperance is an amazing comic, always a bit oblique but never impenetrable… It’s a weird book that feels like a dream, which allows Malkasian to use metaphor to reveal fundamental truths. Malkasian is a superb creator,…

Another wonderful animated short from Steven Weissman and crew! It's a slightly longer one which means the return of the end credits theme song, yay.

It's a Daily OCD Celebrity Endorsement Special Edition! Thanks to Leonard Maltin for this great writeup on his Movie Crazy blog: "I'll be honest and say that I wasn't eagerly awaiting an encyclopedic directory of punks on screen, but Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film has come along just the same…and it's pretty impressive. […] In addition to snarky and well-informed write-ups of such titles as Legend of the Roller Blade Seven and Crash ‘n' Burn there are interviews with such filmmakers and performers as Mary Woronov, Alex Cox, Susan Seidelman, Clint Howard, and the folks…

Mitch Schauer, Michael Lessa and Mike Vosburg sat down to discuss the creation of their graphic novel Rip M.D., from influences to art process to interacting with fans, in this short video. Informative!