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Beasts! Book 2 By various artists; edited and designed by Jacob Covey In the spirit of 2007’s acclaimed Beasts!, editor/designer Jacob Covey has assembled an entirely new line-up of over 90 artists who did not appear in the first Beasts! volume. Like the first book, the deluxe collection includes a Who’s Who of the contemporary art world, collectively crafting a menagerie of mythological creatures, monsters, beasts and things that go bump in the night, superbly laid out in breathtaking two-page spreads per beast. Featuring all-new work by over 90 artists including Blex Bolex, Brian Chippendale, Craig Thompson, Dan Zettwoch, Dash…

Misery Loves Comedy (2nd Ed.) By Ivan Brunetti A psychiatric case study masquerading as a fancy-pants graphic novel, Misery Loves Comedy collects Ivan Brunetti's early issues (no pun intended)… wait, let's rephrase that. Misery Loves Comedy collects the first three issues of the legendary comic book series Schizo in their entirety, as well as a host of miscellaneous flotsam and jetsam from various anthologies, c. 1992-2005. Readers will find the author's unwitting self-caricature as a paranoid, deluded young man intriguingly repugnant and often chuckle-inducing. Besides Brunetti's trademark nihilism, self-loathing, relentless depression, and inchoate, spittle-soaked misanthropy, these earlier comics offer a…

Mome Vol. 13 – Winter 2009 By various artists; edited by Gary Groth & Eric Reynolds The latest issue of the 2008 Eisner, Harvey and Ignatz Award-nominee features the first chapter (of three) of an all-new graphic novel by superstar Freak Brothers creator Gilbert Shelton! Thomas Ott (The Number), Josh Simmons (House), David Greenberger (Duplex Planet) and rising minicomics star Laura Park all make their MOME debuts. Bottomless Belly Button creator Dash Shaw delivers an all-new story, "Satellite CMYK", and creates this issue's covers. Also featured: Tim Hensley, Kurt Wolfgang, Nate Neal, Sara Edward-Corbett and Derek Van Gieson. Video &…

Zippy: Welcome to Dingburg By Bill Griffith This new Zippy collection is an unexpected departure from previous editions: most of the strips in this volume chronicle the strange history, people and social mores of Zippy’s hometown, “Dingburg,” the only city in the U.S. inhabited entirely by pinheads — well, aside from Washington, D.C., and certain sections of Newark. Take a tour of Dingburg’s “Beatnik District,” experience the festive holiday season of “Nordisk,” meet Dingburg’s resident Cubist, watch as citizens capture Donald Trump’s wig in a raid on an Atlantic City casino, and find out (at last) exactly why Zippy and…

• The Times' list of recommended graphic novels for Christmas includes Pocket Full of Rain and Other Stories by Jason, The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 by Thomas Ott, and Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw • PLAYBACK:stl looks at Amor Y Cohetes and Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 by the Hernandez Brothers • Chris Diaz uploads more photos from APE 2008 • Meathaus has a teaser of a forthcoming animated music video co-created by Dave Cooper • Sketchbook comics from Tom Kaczynski • A short Beasts! review • Ladies and gentlemen, Tim Hensley covered in Post-It notes

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: kitten of mystery! This is also a great time to catch up on our current 5-day chunk of Martin Kellerman's Rocky, updated Monday-Friday (including Thanksgiving Day yesterday)! All for free! No registration required! Enjoy!

I just remembered this timely factoid about the Tony Millionaire Leviathan that appears in BEASTS! Book One: These sketches (embellished with Tony's esoteric notes) are the actual reference material that was used by animators to create the look of the recurring "whale fish" for the Drinky Crow Show.

Each year the Vera Project invites you to bring in a piece of clothing and they'll show you how to do a quick screenprint of a one-off logo for $5. There will be a number of designers/illustrators contributing and you can screen a tshirt or, say, a baby onesie. Babies love custom screenprinted onesies. Case in point: Freya Blue Covey, shown here. Lookit how happy she is with hers! I've contributed designs for five years running because I think it's a great event. (Bonus: Last year had a Steven Weissman piece that might still be floating around the room down…

Castle Waiting Vol. II #13 By Linda Medley The bowling action from last issue reaches its rollicking conclusion! Will the unorthodox bowling technique that Chess learned from Tolly enable him to scare up a victory for his team? Post-game, will Jayne finally succeed in drawing the mysterious Dr. Fell out of his shell? And is Beaky still wearing that dress? Answers to these questions, and tantalizing hints at future mysteries yet to be revealed (where did that magic trunk come from, anyway?), in this issue of Linda Medley's hit series. Video & Photo Slideshow Preview (view in new window): 24-page…

Anders Nilsen says: [Above is] the postcard for a show I am doing at Littlebird Gallery in L.A., called Landscapes and Smoke. It opens on December 6th and features a bunch of big drawings, a few gouache paintings and a few covers from Big Questions. Included are Batman, Captain America, The Archangel Gabriel, Adam and Eve and an upside down tree. Oh, and Bison Man. If you're around you should come check it out.