Online Commentary & Diversions:
• Review: "If you’re looking for a light-hearted pick-me-up, King of the Flies Vol. 1: Hallorave is not it. If, however, you’re looking for a darkly compelling, twisted, beautifully illustrated account of the broken souls and self-absorbed nihilism, Pirus and Mezzo’s album is about as good as you’ll find in the comics field. It’s a stunning piece of fiction, beautifully crafted in its prose, pacing, artistry and crushing understanding of humanity’s ugliness." – Michael C. Lorah, Newsarama
• Review: "…[Like a Dog] manages to capture the angst and anomie of a then-confused twentysomething who also just happens to be a semi-famous musician. … His sturm und drang is filtered through a series of self-released strips and compilation projects… sometimes, as in 'You Won’t Let Yourself Be Touched,' from his self-published Recidivist comic, they transmit the otherworldly power of a vivid dream to the reader with lyrical effect. … 'At the Scaffold'… in particular demonstrates Sally’s knack for chopping up a story into different configurations of panels, choosing points of view, and rendering architecture, shadows, odd characters, etc." – Byron Kerman, PLAYBACK:stl
• Review: "Once again, Hotwire returns to attempt to fill in that edgy alt-comix niche that was so prominent in the 80s and early 90s and has seemingly been eclipsed by the more literary, rarefied indie comics of today (sort of). If for no other reason, this anthology should be lauded for giving folks like Mary Fleener and Mack White the opportunity to showcase their work… [and] the stellar work by folks like Michael Kupperman, R. Sikoryak, Onsmith, Johnny Ryan, Tim Lane and Mats!? make this well worth your time." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6
• Comparison: "…I was of course really excited to hear that Fantagraphics was doing a series of translated Tardi books, including C’était la Guerre des Tranchées — now titled It Was the War of the Trenches. I’ve had the French Casterman edition for a while, but I got my new Fantagraphics copy last week and just for fun I thought I’d take a look at the two side by side." – Ben Towle
• Profile: Another NBC New York article on Dash Shaw & Frank Santoro, this time from Edward Carr (who also gets photo credit): "Speaking at the McNally Jackson Bookstore on Prince Street in Soho, Santoro, along with critically acclaimed artist Dash Shaw, spoke about their work and the techniques they used to keep them unique."
• Lost in Translation: Kim Thompson spotted this amusing error