Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

This recent commissioned portrait of Joy Division's Ian Curtis by Jim Blanchard blows me away. Hit Jim's blog for the larger version.

The clock is ticking down on our New Years Hangover Sale — you have mere hours left to get 20% OFF everything on our website (including our already-discounted clearance items) by using the coupon code HANGOVER when you check out. (If you prefer to shop by phone, just mention this offer when you call — 1-800-657-1100 or 206-524-1967 outside the U.S.) 20/20 Club members get a double discount of 36%, so join up if you haven't already. If you need some guidance, comics blogger Sean T. Collins over at Robot 6 has some great suggestions for you. Thanks Sean!

Now available for preview and pre-order: King – A Comics Biography: The Special Edition by Ho Che Anderson. This bold, vivid, and widely-acclaimed recounting of the life of Martin Luther King is back in print in a new, redesigned hardcover edition with the added materials and features you've come to expect from our Special Edition releases. Download an exclusive 18-page PDF excerpt depicting events from 1960-61 right here (7 MB). This book is scheduled to be in stock and ready to ship later this month and in stores roughly the same time (subject to change). View a photo & video…

Online Commentary & Diversions • List: Any best-of list that leads off with a Maria Bamford reference is all right with me. NPR's Glen Weldon rounds up his best graphic novels of 2009, including You'll Never Know, Book 1:  A Good and Decent Man by C. Tyler ("…Tyler lets her warm, fluid art draw the parallels between herself and her father, and hint at a darker story behind it all") and Low Moon by Jason ("The deadest of deadpan humor. Jason's cartoony, utterly affectless characters interact is ways that are horrible, hilarious and sad — often at the same time.")…

I was wondering how to post about the series of rejected New Yorker comics that Michael Kupperman recently posted on his Twitter feed, but then Robot 6's Sean T. Collins beat me to it and did a more thorough job than I would have, so go read his post.

Take a couple of minutes to read Gary Panter 's short prose  story for the Significant Objects project — you won't regret it. Here's a taste: "I needed two masks in order to navigate downstream and surprise a canoe-load of moonlit necking teens. The rubber Mole Man mask I ordered from the back of Famous Monsters was my major expense, $39.95, so I had to skimp on the scuba gear. I traded my hand-cranked tin helicopter and Flintstone Village to my goofy uncle for a rubber diving mask. It was a good one, by Dacor, makers of fine snorkeling gear…

By the way, multiple belated hat tips to Robot 6, whose roundups of end-of-year links have been invaluable to the last few installments of Online Commentary & Diversions. On with the links: • List: Publishers Weekly announced the results of their 2009 Comics Week Critic's Poll; among the top vote-getters are You'll Never Know, Book 1: A Good and Decent Man by C. Tyler ("I love this autobiographical family story as much for the way Tyler weaves between her own life and her father's, as for its painterly, illustrative panoramas of suburban neighborhoods and army scenes." – Sasha Watson) and…

The latest limited-edition fine art print offering from Drew Friedman is this handsome portrait of groundbreaking radio comedians Bob Elliott (right) and Ray Goulding. Click here to order and to learn more about the duo. There's also a link to download an MP3 of one of their shows — highly recommended! (Note that this will also be included in Drew's forthcoming book of celebrity portraits, Too Soon? And Drew read my mind and confirms that Bob's son Chris owns one of these prints already.)

Apologies for the late late Online Commentary & Diversions update: • List: Comic Book Resources continues listing their Top 100 Comics of 2009, with Pim & Francie by Al Columbia at #33 ("A totally creepy homage to the ink blot stylings of the early animation era, the book works as part horror comic, part abstract tour de force, part satire and all face melter, cementing Columbia's place as one of the most unique and mysterious voices in comics." – Kiel Phegley) and Ganges #3 by Kevin Huizenga at #20 ("a brilliant, insightful comic with inventive layouts and dead-on emotion" –…