Fantagraphics Blog Mike Baehr

All 30 copies of Luba: Collectors Edition are spoken for. The Gilbert Hernandez sketch above is in copy #2/30, owned by Ty Buttars, a.k.a. Twitter user grendel33, who shared this snapshot on Twitpic. If you've received your copy, we'd love to see your sketch too — post it somewhere on the web and let us know in a comment here! The regular edition of Luba is, of course, still available.

Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 1 By Michael Kupperman Fans and comedy cognoscenti alike, basking devotedly in the glow of Tales Designed to Thrizzle, have made it the smash hit humor comic of the decade. And now the first four issues of Michael Kupperman’s revered series are finally collected into one deluxe hardcover. Even better, Kupperman has taken the original two-color printing and made the entire book full color! These tales are more thrizzling than ever! What are tales designed to thrizzle? Tales designed to thrizzle are about evil girls and their owls. They are about Jesus’ half-brother Pagus, the…

Low Moon By Jason The acclaimed graphic novelist Jason returns with his most eagerly awaited book yet, thanks to the inclusion of the title story, the world’s first (and likely last) chess western, originally serialized in 2008 in the New York Times Sunday Magazine “Funny Pages” section. This 216-page hardcover book features five yarns — all brand new with the exception of the aforementioned “Low Moon,” which is collected into book form for the first time. The new stories lead off with “Emily Says Hello,” a typically deadpan Jason tale of murder, revenge and sexual domination. Then, the wordless “&”…

The Comics Journal #298 Edited by Mike Dean & Kristy Valenti; Gary Groth, Executive Editor In this issue: Brazilian twins Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon on The Umbrella Academy and breaking into U.S. comics; Perry Bible Fellowship's Nicholas Gurewitch talks about love; brutally honest Thriller artist Trevor Von Eeden on his professional and romantic struggles; Percy Crosby's Skippy rediscovered; Jiro Taniguchi's A Distant Neighborhood previewed; a cartoon interview of Peter Bagge by Noah Van Sciver; and much more! 208-page color/b&w 7.5" x 9.5" squarebound softcover magazine • $11.99 Add to Cart • More Info & Previews

Hoo-ee, it's time for our post-MoCCA Online Commentary & Diversions catch-up. It's going to take a while to sift through 4-5 days of the comics blogosphere, so to start with these are mostly links that have been sent to me: • Review: "In what is obviously a labor of love, [C.] Tyler tells the story of her father's time during WWII and her parents' early relationship, skillfully interweaving it with Tyler's own story… provid[ing] a moving, personal portrait of one member of what's become known as 'the greatest generation.' Tyler's use of colored inks gives the line drawings an inviting…

Uptight #3 By Jordan Crane With Uptight #3 Jordan Crane continues to prove himself to be one of the most skilled and versatile cartoonists of his generation. First he maps uncharted territory of graphic melancholia with a brand new serialized tale of infidelity, "Vicissitude," in sumptuous greytone. He follows that up with the first installment of "Freeze Out," a delightful new all-ages adventure starring Simon & Jack, the boy and cat heroes from Jordan's classic tale The Clouds Above! 24-page black & white 6.75" x 10.25" comic book • $2.75 Add to Cart • More Info & Previews

Tomorrow! 2009 MoCCA Festival! Find us at tables #110-114 — that's along the north wall (on the right from the main entrance). Have we mentioned we have 11 new titles debuting at the show (barring any shipping snafus)? Holy crud! It's going to be awesome! For updates from the show floor, follow us on Twitter — we'll be posting as much of the action as we can, time permitting. Here's our updated signing schedule as it stands right now — we've had a couple of changes since we first announced it. See you there! FANTAGRAPHICS MoCCA SIGNINGS SATURDAY SIGNINGS 11:00…