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The Best American Comics Criticism Edited by Ben Schwartz; cover illustrations by Drew Friedman 360-page 6" x 9" illustrated (b&w) softcover • $19.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-148-0 Ships in: May 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now Whether you choose to call them “comics lit,” “graphic novels,” or just “thick comic books,” book-length narratives told in words and pictures confidently elbowed their way into the cultural spotlight in the first decade of this new millennium — beginning with the simultaneous 2001 release of Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth and Daniel Clowes’ David Boring, and continuing on through ground-breaking and…

The wildly entertaining Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack gets rowdy on April 10 with the inclusion of Honk Fest West. In addition to countless art exhibitions, open art studios, performances, workshops and demonstrations, the Art Attack welcomes more than 20 eccentric marching bands from all over the country. The cacophonous Honk Fest West features free performances at several locations throughout the historic industrial arts quarter.   The diverse Art Attack programming on April 10 includes: Arun Sharma’s "(de)composition" autobiographical sculpture and film installations at Georgetown Arts and Cultural Center; open salons at Equinox Studios including a blacksmithing demonstration by Lisa…

We forgot to mention, the new second printing of The Wolverton Bible is currently in stock and features an updated color scheme for the cover — what was shades of green on the sold-out first printing is now various rust colors as seen above. Purty! We're still offering a free set of Wolvertoons Postcards with all direct orders, so get yours today!

Sorry about the messed-up update schedule lately! The man, the myth in this week's The House of No by Derek Van Gieson… …but what about World War III? Find out in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan…. …and Steven Weissman thinks he's turning into Doonesbury with this week's Barack Hussein Obama strip but I don't see it.

Miss Lasko-Gross and a host of other comics creators will join moderator Jeff Newelt for a discussion about all things Jewish in comics at the Yeshiva University Museum, 15 w. 16th St., NYC, on Thursday April 8th, 7-9 PM. See the Facebook invitation for more info.

Daily clips & strips; click on for improved viewing at the sources: • At the Abstract Comics blog, Andrei Molotiu finds a really interesting convergence between Willem De Kooning and Charles M. Schulz and creates a mash-up • Has there ever been a more perfect comic for Johnny Ryan to do for the Covered blog? • This is Laura Park's print in the new edition of the Cloudy Collection

Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Newave! The Underground Mini Comix Of The 1980s is a small but substantial celebration of the movement, an era during which creators let their ids run riot on the page without worrying about sales, censors, editors, or an audience. Many newave mini-comics had print runs as low as a dozen or so, while others became relative bestsellers; in Newave!, one of the form’s pioneers, Michael Dowers, has edited a gorgeous, utterly essential document of these artifacts, a thick-as-a-fist tome full of stark, crude, obscene, nihilistic, and at times genius comics. Everything from grotesque pornography…

Head over to Comic Book Resources for an exclusive 6-page sneak peek of the latest Buddy & Lisa adventure from Hate Annual #8 by Peter Bagge!

 Daily clips & strips — click for improved viewing at the sources: • Drew Friedman strikes straight to the heart of the zeitgeist in his new cover illo for The Nation • Tim Hensley takes you through his process for creating the cover lettering for D&Q's new Tatsumi book • This week's "I, Anonymous" spot by Steven Weissman • This week's Maakies from Tony Millionaire • We've featured this Robert Goodin piece before but it's up on the Covered blog today • At Three Men in a Tub, Ted Dawson presents the original art for a 1933 Popeye vs. Bluto…

Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Ghost World feels like a really apt bit of social history to me now, rather than a piercing look at real life.  I believe it, but I believe it happened, not that it happens, at least not quite this way, at the age shown here. But, what is timeless is the theme that crops up towards the end: the unsettling feeling one gets when contemplating the lurch into adulthood." – Christopher King, Timmy's House of Sprinkles • Plugs: The bloggers at Comics And… Other Imaginary Tales comment on our offerings in the current issue…