Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Another glimpse of Jim Woodring's Congress of the Animals, coming next Spring. Click through to The Woodring Monitor for an embiggenable version.

The Google translation of the description of this short animated film by Nicolas Mahler: "A series of cinematic miniatures of the essence of music and the process of their reception. Music is first excreted, and then received. Sausage or spherical. The subsequently resulting sound is not the actual sound of the instruments shown, but the perceived timbre of abstract music representation." It's funny, too! (Via Jacob Covey.)

Fire up your favorite photo-editing software and put Tony Millionaire's Elvis Costello album cover art in the hands of your favorite celebrity, deity, etc. and post the link on Tony's Facebook page here. Winner (chosen by Tony) gets a drawing of Drinky Crow on a postcard! Contest ends next Monday. If you're not on Facebook, post the link to your entry in a comment on this blog post or tweet it at us and we'll pass it along to Tony. There's already some pretty stiff competition, so get cracking!

Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2 by Steve Ditko; edited by Blake Bell 240-page full-color 7.25" x 10" hardcover • $39.99ISNB: 978-1-60699-380-4 Ships in: December 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now This is where Steve Ditko became Steve Ditko. 1954 and 1955 were tough years for the fledgling cartoonist: A life-threatening bout with tuberculosis sidelined him for almost a year, and his main client, Charlton Comics, suffered a devastating flood that forced it to shut its doors temporarily. Yet Ditko's enforced time off and subsequent need to seek out new clients (most particularly Marvel Comics, for whom…

  Among the many "things to see" at Ray Fenwick's website is the series of commissioned art books "created in response to a loose idea or title supplied by a patron." They were recently featured on the Caustic Cover Critic blog, as brought to my attention by our own Jacob Covey. Just a little something to whet your appetite for Ray's soon-to-arrive new book Mascots.

Stephen DeStefano and his wife Siobhan have announced that he will be selling some comics and animation art and other memorabilia from his animation career on eBay in an effort to defray escalating vet bills as his beloved kitty Lola battles what's looking like cancer. Having had our own experience with kitty cancer over the past couple of years, Janice and I strongly encourage you to send your support Stephen and Siobhan's way.

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "This week I read Unexplored Worlds, the second collection of pre-Spider-Man comics drawn by Steve Ditko. This handsomely designed volume mainly collects work Ditko did for Charlton, a mix of sci-fi, western and post-code horror stories. Ditko is in fine form here…; he seems more sure of himself here, full of verve, dramatic angles and odd hand gestures. In some stories, you can see the groundwork being laid down for what was to come in a few years — there’s a sequence where a guy travels to another dimension where you can see…

Courtesy Mike Sterling comes the creepiness that is faux-hobo (fauxbo?) Charlie Brown, from Peanuts #8.

Earlier today we brought you Robert Goodin's artwork which is being sold to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund as part of their Monsters Project auctions; what I failed to notice is that Bob Fingerman and Miss Lasko-Gross have contributed drawings as well. Click the images above to see and bid on the auctions!

INKSTUDS X BENTRobin McConnell Interviews Dave CooperSunday, November 28th, 3pm-6pm@ The Central, 603 Markham Streethttp://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122348711160147FREE Presented by The Beguiling, Conundrum Press, and Fantagraphics Books Toronto! Get ready for a fantastic comics event as Robin McConnell, host of the INKSTUDS podcast and author of the new book of the same name, will interview Canada's own Dave Cooper, who has recently released his own new artbook BENT! Following the interview will be a moderated Q&A with the audience, and a signing. The event is going down on Sunday, November 28th, from 3pm-6pm next door to The Beguiling at The Central. Both the…