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Longtime Bagge fans will remember the Buddy Bradley Lookalike Contest from the pages of Hate. This image comes from artist Brian Clarke, a.k.a. Les Toil, who remarks on the Peter Bagge Facebook fan page, "Man, if Peter was responsible for the casting of a real-life Bradleys sitcom, I hope he'd consider this kid for the part."

The Economist's Glenn Fleishman reports on the debut of Jim Woodring's giant nib pen: "Resplendent in a purple smoking jacket, an artist's conception of facial hair appropriate to an artist, and an enormous reserve of patience and guts, Mr Woodring made his first strokes. At first, the ink would not flow. 'It was a failure! Go home!' he said. 'I can't think of a worse or more horrible way to do drawing than in front of hundreds of people,' he said with a grim smile." Photo above by Jim's fellow Friend of the Nib Matt Tamaru, who has posted a…

Larry, Bella and Marshall Reid having a drink with Drinky. Good times. (Click here if the embedded video doesn’t display above.)

  I'd never seen this Crumb painting before. I entertained the notion that it might be a fraud for a moment, but I think the telltale signs are the building facades and cars, which are classic "Harlem"-era Crumb. Available on eBay for a mere $100K. 

Via the indispensible Grottu Orloff's Pad (literally my favorite blog in the world).

Blake Bell (who brings us The Steve Ditko Archves and his recent bios of Ditko and Bill Everett) needs your help with his new project, The Bill Everett Archives! Blake is seeking collectors in possession of the original Golden Age comics which printed Everett's artwork so we can include scans of the stories in the books. You could get free copies of the books out of the deal (not to mention our eternal gratitude), and a portion of Blake's royalties goes to The Hero Initiative, so you'll be indirectly helping a good cause too. See Blake's blog for the list…

Freeway by Mark Kalesniko 420-page black & white 7" x 10" softcover • $28.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-356-9 Ships in: February 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Alex Kalienka is in an awful jam. Literally, a traffic jam — but figuratively, his whole life is a mess. A dream job turned nightmare at the biggest animation studio in the world. A love affair that is not what he imagined. And possibly someone with a life-threatening grudge against him… In his first new graphic novel since 2001’s acclaimed Mail Order Bride, Mark Kalesniko compresses an entire life into a single day as the…

Here's this week's Weissman, plus links to other strips from around the web: — Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman (view at original size): — And elsewhere: Belligerent Piano by Tim Lane: Ectiopiary by Hans Rickheit: Lucky by Gabrielle Bell: Maakies by Tony Millionaire:

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • List (Audio): On the Inkstuds radio programme, listen to Chris Butcher, Bill Kartalopoulos, Tucker Stone and host Robin McConnell discuss the Best of 2010, including Love and Rockets: New Stories #3 by the Hernandez Brothers — we haven't had a chance yet to listen ourselves but Robot 6 reports that Stone in particular has good comments on L&R • List: At TIME.com – Techland, Douglas Wolk lists "15 Excellent Things Happening in Comics Right Now." First on the list: Jim Woodring's Nibbus Maximus and the coming of his Congress of the Animals ("If you…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "I’d say 'you can’t make this shit up,' but you can, or Ryan can at least, and watching him frogmarch his characters through the outlandish scenarios needed to give birth to these you-gotta-be-fucking-kidding-me ideas is Guffaw City. And as I always point out, he’s a fine, fine cartoonist; …his buoyant brushwork… is what sells the childlike glee of everything that’s going on [in FUC_ __U _SS __LE]." – Sean T. Collins, Attentiondeficitdisorderly • Interview: Comicdom's Tomas Papadimitropoulos talks to Richard Sala (in English after the Greek introduction): "I hesitate to reveal too much…