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In the inaugural edition of Jim Woodring's new email newsletter (which can be subscribed to at jimwoodring.com), he reveals the future (as yet unscheduled) existence of Problematic, a collection reproducing artwork from the many Moleskine sketchbooks he has filled throughout the years. A bit of this artwork was reproduced in The Comics Journal #301, and a bit more can be seen here.

Grab your doodle pad and follow along with Jim Woodring's simple instructions for drawing his beloved protagonist Frank, including his "chow flaps" and "rings of pulchritude," revealing the truth about Frank's "gloves" and "shoes" along the way. (Via our pals at Boing Boing.)

Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 won't be out until February 2012, but author/editor Pat Thomas has another music-related book he's celebrating this Saturday, December 10th here in Seattle. Join Pat at Vermillion as he hosts a reading for the book 33 Days: Touring In A Van, Sleeping on Floors, Chasing A Dream by Bill See. As Pat describes it: "If you remember when R.E.M was an indie-rock band, when the Minuteman were a source of political inspiration, when the Dream Syndicate was the most visceral guitar band in America, when college radio and not the…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: About.com Manga's 2011 Best New Manga, as selected by Deb Aoki, includes Shimura Takako's Wandering Son Vol. 1 as Best New Seinen/Josei: Slice of Life: "Gender-bending is not unusual in manga, but it's rare to see transgender identity issues depicted realistically, not just as a plot gimmick. With her spare, elegant art and slice-of-life storytelling, Shimura tells a sweet and sensitive coming-of-age tale that opens your eyes and your heart to these kids and their unusual, but very real desires to be the boy/girl they know they really meant to be." • Review: "This…

Congratulations to Jim Woodring and the artist/writer team of Jason & Fabien Vehlmann, whose respective works Congress of the Animals and Isle of 100,000 Graves (in their French editions from L'Association and Glénat respectively) have been named Official Selections of the 2012 Festival International de la Bande Desinée (a.k.a. the Angoulême Festival)! In addition, the French-language edition of The Complete Peanuts 1973-1974 (Dargaud) has been named to the Sélection Patrimoine list of classic reprints, and Ô Dingos, Ô Chateaux! by Jacques Tardi & Jean-Patrick Manchette (Futuropolis), which we plan to publish in English some time in the unannounced but not-too-distant…

I Like Comics likes Oil and Water, and this Vancouver, WA comic shop will be hosting a signing this Saturday, December 10th! Author Steve Duin, columnist for The Oregonian, and Eisner-winning artist Shannon Wheeler will be signing from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. And a personalized copy of Oil and Water would make an awesome holiday gift, y'know. I Like Comics is located at 2101 E. 4th Plain Blvd, Vancouver WA.

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship to our mail-order customers: 500 Portraits by Tony Millionaire 192-page black & white 5.75" x 7.5" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-473-3 See Previews / Order Now 500 Portraits collects for the first time over two decades of portrait work by the beloved and award-winning creator of Drinky Crow’s Maakies, Sock Monkey and Billy Hazelnuts. Tony Millionaire’s gorgeous fountain pen illustrations, which mingle naturalistic detail with strong doses of the fanciful and grotesque, include the famous (Bob Dylan), the infamous (Abu Ghraib soldier/model Lynndie England), the fictional (Yoda), the animal kingdom (a cockroach),…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: The Austin American-Statesman's Joe Gross names Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 the best comic of 2011: "One of the wonderful things about seeing a masterpiece in the making is the mysterious feeling, the racing of the soul that takes place when it hits you that you are, in fact, seeing a masterpiece in the making…. Symphonic, tragic, revelatory, exciting and devastating as only great art can be, 'The Love Bunglers' is one of the best comics ever made." • List: Paste ranks Dave McKean's Celluloid at #5 on The 10 Best New…

All this week, Oil and Water artist Shannon Wheeler recounts his recent trip to Portugal via NYC for the "Cartoonist's Diary" column at The Comics Journal, with sketches from the trip drawn in a blank printer's-sample dummy of the Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons book. [Follow our Tumblr blog for lots more Things to See every day.]

(click image to enlarge) We've got all your holiday hits at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. (Vintage Royal Guardsmen vinyl courtesy of Georgetown Records.) Please drop by and see us this Saturday, December 10 to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the store. Holiday cheer galore with "Playing Possum: The Pogo Art of Walt Kelly," music by Sawsome (a female banjo and saw duet), Christmas carolers, and complimentary seasonal refreshments.  I can scarcely believe it's been 5 years already. This wonderful experiment in promoting comix culture has been an awesome experience for me. I've always pictured myself as a kind of crossing…