Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: At The Comics Journal, the back half of Rob Clough's Top 50 Comics of 2009 includes: #29, The Complete Peanuts 1971-1972 by Charles Schulz: "Twenty-two years into his run on this strip, Schulz was still at his peak even as Peanuts was moving into a new phase." #31, Mome Vol. 14: "The most consistently excellent anthology in comics, issue after issue." #39, Uptight #3 (misidentified as #2) by Jordan Crane: "Both [stories] were perfectly suited for this lo-fi yet gorgeously designed comic…" #43, The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book by Joe Daly: "Daly didn’t…

Our warehouse manager/poet-in-residence Nico Vassilakis has a new book of visual poetry and drawings out from Ireland's Red Fox Press, part of their "C'est mon Dada" series. Fans of our Abstract Comics anthology would do well to check it out. We also neglected to mention in a timely fashion that Nico was shortlisted for the 2009 Stranger Genius Awards in Literature. Time to add "Resident Genius" to your business card, Nico.

Here's your reminder in the form of the official press release: Limited Ed Silkscreen print of the above image available! Dumbo, Brooklyn, NYC – February 12th: opening reception 6-9 pm and continuing to March 31st, 2010 – Scott Eder Gallery BROOKLYN, February 12, 2010- HOTWIRE #3 features a dynamic selection of artwork from the upcoming all-new third volume of Hotwire Comics! Following the success of last year's Hotwire #2 show, this seminal show features paintings, works on paper in all media from some of the heaviest hitters in the alternative comix scene, including Tim Lane, David Sandlin, Glenn Head, Mark…

Looky (and clicky for better lookies): • Newave! contributor Molly Kiely poses for a self-portrait with the book • These and more sketchbook wishbones by John Hankiewicz • The Skittish Horse by Jim Flora • An unpublished commissioned portrait of Johnny Cash by Jim Blanchard • What's this, new Fight or Run art from Kevin Huizenga? (click for full image) • Hans Rickheit 's Ectopiary, page 10 (plus more on his blog) • Ooh, Tim Hensley does Hitchcock: Frenzy (above), Marnie, Lifeboat • A 2009 diary strip from Gabrielle Bell

Hoy, it's a marathon Monday Online Commentary & Diversions post: • List: The Comics Journal's Rob Clough begins counting his Top 50 Comics of 2009: #1, You'll Never Know, Book 1: A Good and Decent Man by C. Tyler: "A mash-up of family portrait, generational analysis, autobiography and scrapbook, this book was not only the most emotionally powerful work of the year, it was the most attractively designed. The first part of what will likely be Tyler’s masterwork." #6, Like a Dog by Zak Sally: "This was a stunningly honest account and collection of early work by one of the…

Richard Krauss of Midnight Fiction has an excellent writeup and photos (such as the one of Al Greenier above) from the scene the Jan. 30 Newave! book launch and exhibit opening at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery.

We've located the page that was reported missing from Walt Kelly's Our Gang Vol. 2. Click here to download a high quality TIF file of the image (12.8 MB) which you can print out, trim, and insert in your copy of the book. We'll also print the page in Vol. 5.

Classic Pin-Up Art of Jack Cole (Softcover Ed.) By Jack Cole; edited by Alex Chun 104-page b&w/color 7.5" x 10.25" softcover • $18.99 ISBN: 978-1-60699-284-5 Ships in: March 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now In the rarefied realm of classic cartoon pin-up art, nobody did it better than Jack Cole. With his quirky line drawings and sensual watercolors, Cole, under Hugh Hefner's guiding hand, catapulted to stardom in the 1950s as Playboy's marquee cartoonist, a position he held until his untimely death at the age of 43. Jack Cole has been justly celebrated as the creator of Plastic Man…

Turns out Steven Weissman did his weekly strip in his mind-blowing sketchbook in the car from Portland to Seattle but couldn't get to a scanner, so I photographed it at his signing at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery tonight. Left turn! (The rest of the photos from the night will follow.)

Updates of two of our three weekly strips this evening: Whitley Strieber never imagined this in this week's The House of No by Derek Van Gieson… …we celebrate one year of bringing you Johnny Ryan's Blecky Yuckerella with a hearty dose of WTF in this week's strip… …and Barack Hussein Obama has the week off  since Steven Weissman is on his triumphant Northwest book tour!