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The advance copies have been rolling in to the office all week and here's the lo-fi proof: Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune Vol. 1: 1933-1935 by Roy Crane Krazy & Ignatz 1916-1918: Love in a Kestle or Love in a Hut by George Herriman (designed by Chris Ware) Weathercraft by Jim Woodring We will, as is customary, be bringing you better-quality and greater-in-quantity photo and video previews in the near future. Our Twitter and Facebook followers are first to get these glimpses, so the impatient among you are encouraged to add us to your feeds there.

Not sure exactly what the provenance of this clip is [ed. note: it's an official promotional behind-the-scenes video; Kim came across an unauthorized re-posting on YouTube, hence the mystery], but it starts off with some clever juxtapositions of ADELE BLANC-SEC panels and pages with clips from the movie version, and segues into some nifty behind-the-scenes shots, including a set visit by Jacques Tardi (you see him first at 0:48 watching as his wife Dominique Grange chats with Adele). I can report that I have finished the translation of ADELE BLANC-SEC VOLUME 1 (which comprises the first two books in the…

  Our old friend Dale Yarger has a new website that I wanted to point out as an excuse to sing his praises as someone who was instrumental in Fantagraphics' history as the first proper designer/art director the company ever employed on staff, shortly after Fantagraphics moved to Seattle from Los Angeles in 1989. Dale was a pillar of good taste and professionalism in the office when I first came to Fantagraphics in 1993 and I will always look back with fondness on my time working with him (along with other art dept. stalwarts at the time, notably Jim Blanchard and Pat Moriarity). Dale is…

A trio of new releases heading to comic shops this week; read on to see what the weekly blogospheric new-release roundups are saying: King of the Flies Vol. 1: Hallorave By Mezzo & Pirus 64-page full-color 9" x 12.5" hardcover • $18.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-320-0 Last week at Comics Alliance Douglas Wolk wrote "I don't know whether this handsome translated-from-the-French hardcover, the first of a three-volume series, owes parts of its aesthetic directly to Charles Burns' 'Black Hole' or whether creators Mezzo & Pirus are just coming from a similar dark place, but what I've seen so far looks pretty great —…

Only one item today but it's a doozy: • Holy crap, Johnny Ryan draws Karl Lagerfeld for Vice

Online Commentary & Diversions: • Reviews: "That doesn’t mean you should ignore the intermittently excellent Mome Vol. 17. [Paul] Hornschmeier’s understated character piece resembles a less deadpan Dan Clowes. It might confuse first-timers, but it’ll also probably make them want to pick up the previous installments. The beautiful 'Congo Chromo,' Olivier Schrauwen’s surreal goof on European colonialism, is like a Thomas Nast cartoon remade by Andre Breton." "Hotwire is an anarchic blitz of inspired absurdity that somehow avoids collapsing into nonsense. It preserves the spirit of such earlier underground comic anthologies as Zap and Raw… Hotwire can be crude, even…

Forget the dude in the Slave Leia costume, this is the best photo from Emerald City Comicon, taken by our own Stephanie Hayes.

  With an unusually Spring-like day yesterday in Seattle, Jake "The Snake" Covey took the opportunity to bring his art directing outside, shooting a few original Norman Pettingill paintings (on cross-sections of wood) in the sunlight for our upcoming coffee-table collection of his work. This book is gonna blow more than a few minds. Here's Gary Groth's bio of the infamous "backwoods humorist."

How do you know that L.A. independent bookstore Skylight Books is awesome (aside from the two magic words "independent bookstore" that is)? The fact that they feature closeups of Locas II AND kittycats in their new TV ad, that's how! (Via The Believer on Twitter.)

• It's a new New Character Parade strip from Johnny Ryan • Kevin Huizenga gives us perhaps the kookiest installment of Amazing Facts and Beyond with Leon Beyond yet • Frank Santoro's views of Pittsburgh, PA • David Paleo presents his portrait of Rickie Lee Jones from the book Talk to Her • Gabrielle Bell gets a haircut in her new Lucky strip • A recent book cover illustration by Sergio Ponchione • A peek, an escape from Renee French • Usagi Yojimbo art by Stan Sakai for the Comix Experience 21st Anniversary CLBDF Benefit auction • So, one of…