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Our final Online Commentary & Diversions for August '09 brings a rich cornucopia of links: • List: Alan David Doane of Comic Book Galaxy is, I believe, the first out of the gate with a definitive "Best Comics of the Decade" list, which includes Mome, our two B. Krigstein books, The Complete Peanuts, the Love and Rockets omnibuses, Maakies, Zippy the Pinhead, and a complete Fanta sweep of the "Works on the Subject of Comics" category • List: An old link that just popped up in my search feed: ComicCritique.com's Adam McGovern gives out some best-of-2008 awards, with The Lagoon…

Another fall book tour to announce: Hans Rickheit starts at SPX and works his way north and then west, signing copies of The Squirrel Machine all along the way. Dates from the Squirrel Machine blog; more info TBA: September 26th & 27th SPX The North Bethesda Marriott Convention Center 5701 Marinelli Road Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 822-9200‎ September 29th (6-7pm) Brickbat Books 709 S 4th Street Philadelphia PA (215) 592 1207 October 1st (6-7pm) Forbidden Planet 840 Broadway NY, NY (212) 473 1576 October 3rd (2-4pm) Million Year Picnic 99 Mount Auburn Cambridge MA (617) 492 6763 October 5th (4-6pm) That's…

To celebrate the release of their respective new books, Paul Hornschemeier and Jay Ryan will be hitting the road together this November: wed nov 11 – chicago – quimby'sfri nov 13 – columbus – wholly craftssun nov 15 – brooklyn – rocketshipmon nov 16 – new york – giant robotwed nov 18 – baltimore – atomicfri nov 20 – louisville – carmichaels books More info is on Paul's blog, with more dates and details TBA.

I was happy to learn from this interview with Ape on the Moon that Joseph Lambert has taken us up on our invitation to appear in our quarterly anthology Mome and is starting work on some stories for inclusion. I've been hoping for this ever since I first picked up his minicomic Turtle, Keep It Steady at the Stumptown fest lo those many moons ago.

This Side of Jordan By Monte Schulz Monte Schulz's prose novel opens in the spring of 1929, as the 19-year-old consumptive farm boy Alvin Pendergast attends an ill-fated dance marathon he's too sickly to participate in. After a year of his life has been stolen by a sanitarium, Alvin knows he's relapsing, and dreads not only the drudgery of his family's homestead, but a return to the hospital. In this state of mind, an invitation for a late-night slice of pie is too seductive to pass up and before he knows it, Alvin crosses the Mississippi River and finds himself…

All and Sundry: Uncollected Work 2004-2009 By Paul Hornschemeier All and Sundry corrals critically-acclaimed author and artist Paul Hornschemeier’s work from the last five years — work previously ungathered, and in many cases never before seen in print. These works span the globe, from periodicals to museums, including: conceptual drawings and comics of Ulysses S. Grant created for an exhibit in Paris; an award-winning cover exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the seventeen-part serialized tale of divine intervention, non-linearity, and social webs “Huge Suit Visits the People” created for the celebrated German newspaper Frankurter Allgemeine Zeitung; and…

It's a fresh batch of strips for your Friday evening enjoyment! The brain-eating baby is just the setup in this week's Blecky Yuckerella strip by Johnny Ryan… Things have gotten about as dark as they can get in this week's installment of Steven Weissman's in-progress pages from "Blue Jay," an epic 51-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures…. And there's not one but two oversized Sunday-style strips in our Monday-Friday Rocky strips by Martin Kellerman. Enjoy!

Here's more info on the "46 Million" art auction benefitting health care reform we mentioned yesterday, from the instigator of the whole shebang, Anders Nilsen. Above, Dan Clowes's contribution (no bids yet?!). Spread the word.

Wrapping up yet another week's worth of Online Commentary & Diversions: • Tunes: Inkstuds presents the Gilbert Hernandez mixtape: from Rundgren to RUN-DMC, from Devo to Deep Purple, from Bret & Jemaine to Ike & Tina, plus 10 more choice cuts selected by Beto. (Previously: Jaime's mixtape) • Review: "From Wonderland with Love collects some of the last decade's best Danish comics in one big beautiful book.… You'll happily leave the book 'accidentally' lying around on your coffee table, as it is exquisitely designed and invites being leafed through and studied.… From Wonderland with Love at times is very avant-garde…

It's time for your Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "[Editor Andrei] Molotiu has created a fun and accessible anthology here, one that’s smart and well-researched but not in the slightest bit obtuse. You don’t need to be an art snob to appreciate it; you just need an open mind. With that, the reward for Abstract Comics is quite lovely. And quite possibly a good opportunity for you to increase your appreciation for the comics format exponentially." – John Hogan, Graphic Novel Reporter • Review: "…Giraffes in My Hair is a pleasure to read. The insights are genuine and the…