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So you've missed our holiday shipping deadlines but you still want to give the gift of comics this year… what to do? How about a gift membership to the Fantagraphics 20/20 Club? Your lucky and grateful recipient will get 20% savings on all their Fantagraphics purchases plus free shipping (within the U.S.; half off for international) and other perks! Just give us the recipient's name, address, e-mail address and phone number when you place your order. If you're already a member, you know how great the program is; if you're not, read up on the details — you'll want to…

Mark Bode forwarded us this message from a fellow friend of S. Clay Wilson, Dave Hodtwalker: Hi everyone. This holiday brings a little sad news from an old friend of mine, underground cartoonist S. Clay Wilson of ZAP Comix, The Checkered DEMON, Capt. Pissgums and his Perverted Pirates, Star Eyed Stella and all your favorite demented ungerground comix characters. Steve either fell or was attacked about 2 months ago and suffered a very serious brain injury. He's having trouble recovering and the bills are mounting. Fortunately a good samaritan called it in when they found him and after a long stay…

Slated to be our first release of 2009, Anders Nilsen's Monologues for Calculating the Density of Black Holes is the second Monologues… collection of darkly humorous strips and stories from one of comics' great young experimentalists. Click this link if the embedded slideshow doesn't appear above, and/or to open it in a new window.

Time for the new installment of Steven Weissman's in-progress pages from "Blue Jay," an epic 32-page story from Chocolate Cheeks, the next collection of the Yikes! gang's adventures. In this week's episode: kisses 'n' hugs, but is there trouble brewing? And don't forget to catch up on our current 5-day chunk of Martin Kellerman's hilarious Swedish smash-hit Rocky, updated Monday-Friday!

• I Love Rob Liefeld reviews The Lagoon by Lilli Carré • Comic Book Resources' "Comics Should Be Good" places Tales Designed to Thrizzle #4 by Michael Kupperman and Ganges #2 by Kevin Huizenga at the #5 and #4 positions, respectively, on their "Top Ten Comics of 2008" • They also mention Ellen Forney and Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert by Bill Schelly on a list of "Top Ten Moments of Comic-Related Happiness in 2008" • Steven Stwalley features Tom Kaczynski and praises Mome • Bram Meehan puts this year's two major Bill Mauldin releases, our collection Willie &…

In any weather conditions, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery will be open every day until Christmas to fill your frantic gift list. We close at 5:00 PM on Christmas Eve and remain closed on Christmas day. The store will also be open between Christmas and New Year's, closing at 5:00 PM on New Year's Eve and the following New Year's Day. Drop by and see our stunning BEASTS exhibition and the equally exquisite BEASTS BOOK 2, as well dozens of delightful new titles from the publisher of the world's greatest cartoonists. 1201 S. Vale St., Seattle. (206) 658-0110.

There are a lot of great prints in the current Fantagraphics BEASTS! print show but I have to give a special nod to the craftsmanship of S.britt's Gocco print of the troll. I haven't used Gocco but I know that this kind of registration is hell to achieve. …And, of course, it's just charming as all get out. Meanwhile Aya Kakeda created a nice effect by using charcoal over the top of her screenprint. Tom Neely watercolored his letterpress print. Keith Warren Greiman was awesome to do a small 2-color screenprint that sells for 5 bucks, making it affordable for…

Dame Darcy has some nice-looking brand-new letterpress prints and stationery (and a haunted antique velvet dress) for sale — see her blog for all the details.

Are you familiar with "Stinckers"? Vending machine stickers made by Weissman, Johnny Ryan, Jeff Roysdon, and the man known as Mats!? Check out the website for all the great art and incidentals. I just had to post this new work of Mats!? that he's making with a mouse, no ink. Really smart use of 2 color.

No, Ellen isn't performing Billy Joel karaoke (that I know of). In celebration of her most recent cover illustration for The Stranger (above, and currently seen around the snowy streets of Seattle), Ellen presents a retrospective of her Stranger covers going back to 1993.