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This is the last Prison Pit Book Two preview you're gonna get for awhile. Savor it, and look for the book next summer. 

The list of luminaries featured at the Third Anniversary gala at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, December 12 continues to lengthen as celebrity cartoonist Ellen Forney confirms her presence. Ellen does more than light up a room. Her collaboration with Sherman Alexie on The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian won the National Book Award in 2007. She'll be available to sign copies of I LOVE LED ZEPPELIN, LUST, and her sexy contributions to BEST EROTIC COMICS 2008 and 2009. Forney will join a stunning group of artists hosting the party including Peter Bagge, Jim Blanchard, Jacques Boyreau,…

Online Commentary & Diversions, first of the week, last of the month: • Coming Attractions: Chris Mautner of Robot 6 got his hands on our Spring/Summer 2010 catalog and runs it all down for you • Review: "Of all the comics published in 2009, none has deserved more acclaim… than You Are There. … Tardi's art, which combines the liveliness and simplicity of the best cartooning with a well-observed realism is perfect for this kind of surreal tale. … His work deserves to be read and will endlessly reward readers who seek it out." – Robert Boyd • Review: "[Like…

To paraphrase Monty Burns, we've had one of our trademark changes of heart — the exclusive signed silkscreen print pictured above, previously only available with direct orders of the standard edition of Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons, will also be sent to people who order the Collectors Edition direct from us (including those who have already pre-ordered). That means that for a limited time while supplies last, the Collectors Edition will come with two prints: the silkscreen and the letterpress. See product listings for details. Supplies are very limited, and today's your only day to get either set…

Now available from Drew Friedman Fine Art Prints, a limited-edition art print of Frank Sinatra, who joins Dino and Jerry in Friedman's Rat Pack pantheon. (I vote for Sammy next.) UPDATE: Drew writes in to confirm that this portrait will indeed be included in his next book from Fantagraphics Too Soon? coming Summer 2010.

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years of Playboy Cartoons By Gahan Wilson OVER ONE THOUSAND CARTOONS SPANNING 50 YEARS OF A LEGENDARY CAREER Fifty-one, to be exact, but let’s not quibble. Gahan Wilson is among the most popular, widely-read, and beloved cartoonists in the history of the medium, whose career spans the 2nd half of the 20th century, and all of the 21st. His work has been seen by millions — no, hundreds of millions — in the pages of Playboy, The New Yorker, Punch, The National Lampoon, and many other magazines; there…

Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship: Popeye Vol. 4: "Plunder Island" By E.C. Segar With this fourth volume of our beloved series, Segar’s Popeye reaches one of its highest peaks in “Plunder Island,” the glorious, epic-length Sunday-continuity adventure that ran for eight months and pitted the intrepid sailorman against the malevolent Sea Hag and her terrifying, grotesque sidekick the Goon — helped, and sometimes hindered by, the easily corruptible J. Wellington Wimpy. “Plunder Island” is presented here for the first time in its complete, full-color, uncut glory! Meanwhile, in the “dailies” section of Popeye Volume 4, Popeye…

Huffington Post contributor Michael Giltz writes: "The best way to celebrate Schulz and his work is the ongoing series being published by Fantagraphics. The latest volume — The Complete Peanuts, 1973-1974 ($28.99; Fantagraphics) — is a lovingly produced volume that includes every strip from those two years in a handsome hardcover book designed by Seth. Like earlier editions, it's a thrill to read the strip chronologically and in one fell swoop. You get a far better sense of Schulz's creative zig-zagging as he suddenly and unexpectedly finds himself at the tip of a pop culture juggernaut." Read the rest here.

Black Friday Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: At NPR.org, Glen Weldon recommends "Tomes With Which to Tough Out Your Turkey Coma," including Linda Medley's Castle Waiting ("a wryly funny fairy tale narrative that's both women-centered and women-powered") and Gilbert Hernandez 's Palomar ("Dense, vividly realized and both literally and figuratively magical") • Interview: Robot 6's Chris Mautner talks to Dash Shaw about The Unclothed Man in the 34th Century A.D., BodyWorld and other topics: "There’s a meshing going on between film/animation and comics. The meshing is happening in my own interests, the subject matter of my stories, the way…

ActuaBD interviews Lorenzo Mattotti (translated) about his new art book collaboration with Lou Reed, Le Corbeau (The Raven), among other topics. Above, Mattotti & Reed sign the book at Galerie Martel in Paris, where the original art is on display until January. Holy smokes! (Via The Comics Reporter)