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We have two new releases scheduled to find their way to comic shops this week. You can check out extensive previews for each book at their respective links below so you can be an informed consumer before taking your money down to your local shop. As usual, we'll let the blogosphere do our plugging for us: Catalog No. 439: Burlesque Paraphernalia and Side Degree Specialties and Costumes Introduction by Charles Schneider; essay by William D. Moore; appreciation by David Copperfield 240-page black & white/color 6.5" x 9.75" softcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-367-5 "…[A] mail-order tome of electrical cages, creepy costumes, and…

; Our pal David Lasky has posted photos of Jim Woodring and Megan Kelso (at right above) from Grandma Zapp's Rolling Thunderheart Mountain Variety Show which took place on June 15. You can see all his photos from the event here, and we created a gallery featuring Jim, Megan and Larry Reid here.

Periodic (and tardy… so busy) clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources: • Lorenzo Mattotti World Cup illustrations posted at the Forbidden Planet International Blog • Bob Fingerman posts a couple of concept illustrations for his in-progress prose novel The Hell of It • Dash Shaw posts some storyboards for his in-progress animated film The Ruined Cast • Last week's "I, Anonymous" spot by Steven Weissman; also, if you want to see the scanned version of the current Barack Hussein Obama strip, it's here; also, the greatest Little League team photo ever • From Frank Santoro:…

Jaime Hernandez wrestles with Love and Rockets #16 while Gilbert sinks his teeth into issue 15 circa 1986 in this, one of a handful of vintage photos recently posted by Carol Hernandez to the Love and Rockets Facebook page.

Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "…Weing produces a classic tale of the sea and self-discovery in his graphic novel debut [Set to Sea]. … Presented almost like a Big Little Book for grownups, with one lovely panel per page in a small volume, the hero's journey in this tale isn't particularly unpredictable, but Weing's mastery of both small details (the hero's waxing and waning love affair with language) and sweeping vistas (from the glaciers to a steaming port city) gives it richness and emotion. … Weing's E.C. Segar-influenced drawings elevates what could have been an oft-told story into a…

Drinky Crow + TMBG + booze = dook dook dook dook! Now available again, says Tony Millionaire. Only 10 bucks! [Ed. note: This is the first post to be tagged in our new "merch" category, which we should have started a long time ago.]

Fantagraphics Bookstore 's neighbors Georgetown Records are hosting a free, all-ages musical performance with Terri Tarantula and Low Places on Saturday, July 17 at 5:00 PM. Terri Moeller was the voice of the Transmissionary Six from 2002-2008 and the drummer for The Walkabouts. Terri Tarantula is her new solo project. The Stranger recently had this to say about Terri's music: "If this were the early '90s, Terri Tarantula would be in prime contention for a 4AD recording contract; she would've slotted ideally between Red House Painters and Heidi Berry. The Seattle singer-songwriter-drummer-keyboardist's deep, lugubrious voice — a sensual truce between…

 I spent a lot of time thinking about Harvey Pekar yesterday, especially after receiving a few media queries about him, and the more I did, the more I realize I might owe my life in comics to him. I had forgotten this, to be honest. So I thought I would write down a few things, if only to help myself remember and honor him a bit. I realize I let Harvey the Celebrity overshadow Harvey the Writer for much of the last decade of his life. At the start of the 1990s, Harvey Pekar was near the top of my…

Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "After hearing his name lauded for many years, Werewolves of Montpellier was my first excursion into the world of Jason, the renowned Norwegian-born artist known for mixing whimsical anthropomorphic characters with introspective and often quite heavy storylines. Now I understand what my friends have been raving about for years. Jason’s artwork is sparse and the story is a masterpiece in simplicity. … At times heartbreakingly sad and laugh-out-loud funny, this story just feels like real life… but with werewolves. … These characters are hopeless, hilarious, tragic and beautiful – probably a lot like you…

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS AT COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL OUR PLEDGE TO YOU: ALL COMICS, ALL THE TIME! Your guide to signings, panels, new books, freebies, sales and more! JULY 13, SEATTLE, WA — Comic-Con is upon us, and it is time to spill the beans on some major news. Fantagraphics Books is excited to announce that at this year's show we will have no celebrity tie-ins, no comic adaptations of summer blockbusters, no TV show spinoffs, no videogame companion books, and no major announcements regarding digital distribution. We do, however, pledge to deliver more cartoonists, more classic comics collections, more original literary graphic…