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Set to Sea by Drew Weing 144-page black & white 5.5" x 6.25" hardcover • $16.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-368-2 Ships in: July 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now  The central character is a big lug and an aspiring poet who runs up tabs at the local bars by day and haunts the docks by night, writing paeans to the seafaring life. When he gets shanghaied aboard a clipper bound for Hong Kong, he finds the sailor’s life a bit rougher than his romantic nautical fantasies. He helps rebuff a pirate assault, survives a gunshot to the eye, and learns to live…

This week's strips, back on schedule: Don't worry, the kitty's unharmed in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan… …and the prez has a TV eye in this week's Barack Hussein Obama by Steven Weissman.

Nate Neal reveals the jacket wraparound for his forthcoming graphic novel The Sanctuary, coming this Fall from Fantagraphics. Click for a larger view on Nate's Flickr page.

Periodic clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources: • The New Yorker's current Caption Contest cartoon is by Gahan Wilson • Drew Friedman's Spitzer-take for The New York Observer • It's your all-new weekly installment of "Cartoon Boy" from John Kerschbaum • This week's clammy Maakies from Tony Millionaire • The Daily Cross Hatch presents a guest strip from Noah Van Sciver • This week's "I, Anonymous" and some fighter jets by Steven Weissman • A page from a comic-in-progress by John Hankiewicz • Richard Sala presents the original art for the endpapers of his first…

Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Regarding the artwork, finally, it is once again amazing. Creatures and landscapes seem to spring from the most disordered imagination and land on white paper before diving in a bucket of surrealism. So [Weathercraft] is yet another excellent work by Woodring…" – Thomas Papadimitropolous, Comicdom (translated from Greek – thanks to Ted and Takis for the help)  • Review: "Just a few observations on the art [in It Was the War of the Trenches]… Tardi is bringing very specific and very effective weapons to bear in his chillingly successful effort to convey this particular…

If you missed Drew Friedman's appearance on Seven Second Delay on WFMU (broadcast live from the UCB Theatre in NYC on Wednesday), you can listen to the show on the archive page right here.

If you've wondered what Jim Woodring's new graphic novel Weathercraft would look like if it were in color, look no further than the cover of this week's issue of The Portland Mercury. Don't forget, Jim's at Portland's mighty Powell's Books tonight at 7:30!

  Over at The Comics Alliance today, they've got "13 Songs They Wish Were Comics," and no surprise, the Guided By Voices interpretation is my favorite.   [Thanks to the great Evan "Funk" Davies from WFMU for the heads-up!]

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 Ships in: June/July 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Do you wish to separate the jolly good fellows from the dour sour pusses from those who seek to ASCEND TO THEIR SIDE DEGREES — but you suffer from lack of imagination when it comes to constructing elaborate hazing rituals and DEVICES? Does fake vomit, joy buzzers and a party pack of fake moustaches only…

Mome Vol. 19 – Summer 2010 by various artists; edited by Eric Reynolds 128-page color/b&w 7" x 9" softcover • $14.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-349-1 Ships in: June/July 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now The acclaimed anthology of contemporary comics steams toward its landmark 20th issue. This issue leads off with the cover story, the first part of the satiric psychedelic epic "The White Rhinoceros," drawn by Josh Simmons and written by The Partridge in the Pear Tree. It is our privilege to welcome the great Gilbert Hernandez to the pages of Mome with a brand-new story starring his beloved character Roy!…