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The Small Press Expo announced officially today that Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez will be special guests at this year's show on September 15-16 in Bethesda, Maryland! This will be the Hernandez brothers' ONLY East Coast comics-fest appearance on their Love and Rockets 30th Anniversary itinerary, and, as the announcement points out: "In addition to celebrating the anniversary of their works, this will mark the first time in the 21st century that previously announced guests Chris Ware and Dan Clowes will be at an event with Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez." I don't think we need to tell you, in September…

It gives us great pleasure to reveal that Celluloid by Dave McKean and Congress of the Animals by Jim Woodring are two of the five finalists for the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes in the Graphic Novels category. (It's Jim's second nomination in a row, following last year's for Weathercraft, for those of you keeping score.) Congratulations Dave and Jim! This is a high honor for these two bold, visionary and coincidentally wordless books. See the complete list of finalists here. (Additional congrats to Mome contributor Joseph Lambert for his nomination for his debut collection I Will Bite You!)…

Hear the sounds of Black Power this Wednesday, February 22nd as editor/curator Pat Thomas will be on the best radio station in the world, KEXP! [Sorry… full disclosure: I work at KEXP when I'm not at Fantagraphics!] Pat will be a special guest on The Roadhouse with Greg Vandy, and not only will he be talking about the new book Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975, but he'll be playing tracks from the companion CD on Seattle's own Light in the Attic records! So, tune in at 6:30 PM PT — 90.3 FM on your radio…

Regrets? You'll have a few if you don't make it out to the Scott Eder Gallery for the opening reception of Drew Friedman: My Way, his very first New York gallery show of comic strip and illustration art! It's also the official re-release party for the hotly-anticipated Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead Is Purely Coincidental, Drew's first anthology, co-written by Josh Alan Friedman. Yes, it's finally back in print in sturdy hardcover, with brand new front and back covers! It all goes down on Friday, April 27th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, so kick off your MoCCA weekend…

Cinema Panopticum (Softcover Ed.) by Thomas Ott 104-page black & white 6.5" x 9.25" softcover • $16.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-485-6 Ships in: March 2012 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now T. Ott plunges into the darkness with five graphic horror novelettes: "The Hotel," "The Champion," "The Experiment," "The Prophet," and the story which frames it all, "The Girl," each executed in his hallucinatory and hyper-detailed scratchboard style. The first story in the book introduces the other four: A little girl visits an amusement park. She looks fascinated, but finds everything too expensive. Finally, behind the rollercoaster she eyeballs a small booth with…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Barks's output has been reprinted often but either piecemeal in flimsy monthly comics or in high-priced collector's editions. [Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes], covering the years 1948-49, is the first in a planned 30-volume Barks library that will reprint his entire duck oeuvre in durable, affordable hardcovers…. Above all, Barks's Duckburg rings true because of his cynical world view. He rarely plastered on the sentimentality that dogs other Disney creations…. Although there are moral values in Barks's stories, he was never didactic and never wrote down to his readers. In…

The DHL driver dropped off advance copies of a few of our April books today: Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead Is Purely Coincidental (new hardcover ed.) by Drew Friedman & Josh Alan Friedman… …Cruisin' with the Hound: The Life and Times of Fred Tooté by Spain Rodriguez… …and Folly: The Consequences of Indiscretion by Hans Rickheit! Three great books, three long titles. Look for more & better photos and our video flip-through previews in the coming weeks (and about 5 other previews before that — gettin' hectic around here!).

Mark your calendars, and start, uh… NOT practicing for the Fantagraphics Emerald City Comicon Pinball Party! Convention guest Jim Woodring will be your host for the evening on Saturday, March 31st at Shorty's in Seattle. And the highlight of the event will be a low-score pinball tournament. Tank it without tilting, and you could win this beautiful backglass from a forthcoming custom-made Frank pinball machine! (As seen above, and currently on display at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery! Bee-yoooo-tiful!) More details coming soon about the Emerald City Comicon, and our fun-filled after-party! See you there!

Tuesday, February 21st • Seattle, WA:  Join us at the Elysian Brewing Company for the release of Rapture, the second beer in our 12 Beers of the Apocalypse series featuring labels with the artwork of Charles Burns! Please note the updated time for the survival demo in the graphic above! (more info)  Thursday, February 23rd • New York City, NY:  Head over to the Society of Illustrators for a discussion and Q&A with Mome contributor Eleanor Davis, along with fellow artists Jillian Tamaki and Lisa Hanawalt!  (more info)

We've got our new Nicolas Mahler Angelman page for you! And in lieu of a new Up All Night strip Michael Kupperman has provided a rarity from his vaults. And a note on a change here: I've greatly enjoyed bringing you weekly roundups of comics by our artists from elsewhere around the web, but putting them together here on Flog has proven to be labor-intensive, so from now on I'll be posting those strips on our Tumblr blog when appropriate, because that's easier. Of course I strongly encourage you to go through previous posts, link through to the sources of…