Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

It's a Very Important Friday webcomics update! First, an inspirational, and uncomfortably titillating, message in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan…. … Steven Weissman says of this week's strip "THIS COMIC WILL CHANGE AMERICA FOREVER!" and I cannot disagree! The President earns his Nobel Peace Prize right here!… …and this week concludes our run of Monday-Friday Rocky strips by Martin Kellerman, wrapping up our presentation of the strips from Rocky Vol. 2: Strictly Business. Debuting next week, a new weekly feature: "The House of No" by Derek Van Gieson!

Today only (we think… it's not entirely clear), you can download Paul Hornschemeier's short prose story "The Spoils of the Fair" (which originally ran in Mome and is now collected in All and Sundry) to your "smart phone" for free at cellstories.net. Paul has a bit more info at his blog.

Poppin’ fresh Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Giraffes in My Hair: A Rock ‘N' Roll Life… is deeply personal but doesn't get bogged down with self service or making a Titan out of a man. I love that here we have a view of some of the seedier sides of counterculture that doesn't have an agenda beyond the act of sharing…of storytelling. It feels like a recounting, almost a journalistic telling of the facts of his personal history. But it also feels like you're having a great dinner with an old friend. … As a graphic novel it is…

Via Mike Lynch, by way of The Comics Reporter, comes this rare vintage radio interview (presented on YouTube in edited form, with an image montage) with Charles M. Schulz by host Dennis Daily.

Dash Shaw posted this announcement about his animated short film on his blog: "The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. will be playing November 2nd and 5th at Cinema Tous Ecrans, a film festival in Switzerland. Here's the info." The book of the same title was a hit debut at APE last weekend and should be available for pre-order here soon. Read our news release for more info about the film and book.

Now available for preview and pre-order following sell-out debuts at SPX and APE: Ganges #3 by Kevin Huizenga. The eagerly-awaited new issue of this Eisner-nominated, critically-adored series (in our deluxe, oversized "Ignatz" format) finds everyman Glenn Ganges dealing with a bout of insomnia and traversing strange mental landscapes. The first three pages can be previewed here. This issue is scheduled to be in stock and ready to ship sometime in the next 2 weeks and in stores approximately 4 weeks after that (subject to change). ; View a photo & video slideshow preview of the book embedded here. Click here…

On Saturday, October 31 at 3 PM, join artist Femke Hiemstra at the American Book Center in Amsterdam to celebrate the release of her new book Rock Candy: The Artwork of Femke Hiemstra. Femke will be signing books and prints of her artwork will also be for sale. RSVP on Facebook here.

Your midweek Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "It’s probably not fair to expect Hernandez to issue another creative virtuoso like Palomar, but in the pages of Luba, he comes closer than might be expected. … Although Luba doesn’t hit as hard as Palomar, it remains a compelling portrait of family in all its messy glory.  Alternately sexy and vulgar, beautiful and mean, optimistic and intolerant, Luba and her family encompass all the ugliness and amazement that comes with being part of the human entity." – Michael C. Lorah, Newsarama • Profile: "Cartoonist Bill Mauldin was a genius at bringing…