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I'd like to take a rare personal moment here on Flog for a public service announcement: I walked away from this with a few minor scrapes and bruises yesterday. The other guy's OK too. Wear your seatbelts, folks. This is also to explain why we've been relatively quiet the last couple of days as I've been taking some time off and to let you know we might miss posting some news and announcements in our usual timely-ish fashion for a little while as I try to catch up.

Jim Woodring and Larry Reid (in the Love & Rockets t-shirt), with Mike Dean from The Comics Journal  Woodring hits the airwaves this Friday, March 30th on Seattle NPR station KUOW 94.9 FM! Jim will be joined by Larry Reid, curator and manager of the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, for a chat about this weekend's  Emerald City Comicon, and specifically our panel, "Northwest Noir: Seattle's Legacy of Counterculture Comix." What's the panel about? Why, I'm glad you asked: In the mid-seventies a trio of gifted cartoonists emerged from The Evergreen State College in Olympia: Seattle's Lynda Barry and Charles Burns,…

Author Monte Schulz will be bringing his captivating novel of the Jazz Age to the West Coast this Spring! The Big Town is the story of a failed businessman whose dreams of prosperity hinge on the secret proposition of a millionaire industrialist and a dangerous relationship he finds with a poor orphan girl chasing love in the great American metropolis. Come meet this engaging storyteller and get your copy of the book signed!  April 3rd Chaucer’s Books3321 State StreetSanta Barbara CA 93105 April 4th Skylight Books1818 North Vermont AveLos Angeles, CA  90027            April 10th Modern Times Bookstore Collective2919…

Now in stock in our warehouse and ready to ship to our mail-order customers: The Big Town by Monte Schulz 440-page hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-503-7 See Previews / Order Now A novel of the Jazz Age, The Big Town is the story of a failed businessman whose dreams of prosperity hinge on the secret proposition of a millionaire industrialist and a dangerous relationship he finds with a poor orphan girl chasing love in the great American metropolis. Harry Hennesey’s hopes of success, both in his household and the world, have driven him to sell his home in an Illinois small…

This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about them (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability. The Sincerest Form of Parody: The Best 1950s MAD-Inspired Satirical Comics by various artists; edited by John Benson 192-page full-color 7.25" x 10.25" softcover • $24.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-511-2 "Before there were knockoffs of MAD-the-magazine like Cracked and Crazy… there were a whole lot of knockoffs of MAD-the-comic-book, like Whack, Nuts, Eh,…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: Pitchfork gives the Listen, Whitey! companion album an 8.0, with Stephen M. Deusner writing "Perhaps the most powerful aspect of Listen, Whitey! The Sound of Black Power 1967-1974 — the album and the book, both representing many years' research by historian Pat Thomas — is how they portray a music in flux: Artists such as the Watts Prophets, the Original Last Poets, Shahid Quintet, and Marlena Shaw were only just realizing the potential for cross-genre synthesis and for radical political statement through music…. Thomas is interested in depicting Black Power music at street level…

San Diego Comic-Con is celebrating the 75th anniversary of Prince Valiant and the 30th anniversary of Love and Rockets. They're looking for quality tribute art and articles that are suitable for all ages for their Souvenir Book. Submission guidelines can be found at http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_souvenir_book.php. The deadline for submissions is April 20.

Fantagraphics is thrilled to announce that Peter Bagge will be a special guest at the 9th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland! Join us on Saturday, April 29th and Sunday, April 30th at the Oregon Convention Center [ 777 NE ML King Blvd. ].  Tickets are on sale now, so don't miss out!  And stay tuned to the FLOG for more details about our Stumptown weekend.  

Fantagraphics editor Jacques Boyreau presents the perfect "Sci-Fi Cheap Date" this Friday, March 30th at the Northwest Film Forum, in celebration of the 10th Annual Emerald City Comicon! Jacques, along with fellow curators Tim Colley and Darren Aboulafia, have concocted a SuperTrash mix of sci-fi-fantasy trailers, blistering 80s metal and provocative situations, including a meditation upon fire itself. This 90-minute program will delight nerds of all genders and possibly be worthy of taking notes. Trailers include Space Amoeba, Funky Forest: The First Contact, Xtro 2, Dark Breed, Screamers, Super Inframan and Alien Intruder.  Plus, it's your chance to meet Black Terminator! Prepare to have your…

Watch Daniel Clowes meltdown at Meltdown in Los Angeles! (Just kidding; we're sure he'll be fine!) Join Dan on Thursday, April 5th for this very special celebration of his new collection The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist, from Abrams ComicArts. The evening will be hosted by Blair Butler (of G4's Fresh Ink), and there will be an interview conducted by Mark Frauenfelder of BoingBoing, followed by a Q&A! The event starts at 8:00 PM, but get there early!  If you purchase one copy of the new book from Meltdown, you'll be granted two tickets to this event. An extra…