Pay attention: there's some must-read stuff in today's Online Commentary & Diversions!
• Review: "Castle Waiting #15 – I love that Linda Medley is completely ignoring what makes her setting so interesting for the D&D set and focusing on the characters." – Kevin Church
• Review: "Although aiming at twenty-somethings also interested in getting laid, getting wasted and getting rich, [in Rocky Vol. 2] Kellerman nonetheless manages to move beyond the ever-fertile grounds of the battle of the sexes, bodily functions and morning-after guilt-trips to produce a lot of work that is truly fresh, funny and uniquely personal." – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!
• Review: "Just like Heartbreak Soup and Locas, Luba is hard to put down, and Beto’s art gets better as it gets more experimental… there’s tons of good material here, and the humongous format can’t be beat in terms of bang for your buck." – The A.V. Club
• Review: "The 'family history' graphic novel subgenre can feel overdone at times… but volume one of Carol Tyler’s autobiographical You’ll Never Know is the kind of smartly conceived, affectingly personal work that makes comics and memoirs look fresh… Carol Tyler works wonders with colored pencils and offbeat page designs… the breadth of her visual imagination is so impressive that… overreach is excusable. Also impressive: the thematic complexity of You’ll Never Know… [Grade] A-" – The A.V. Club
• Review: "The handsome hardcover collection The Brinkley Girls brings together a generous sampling of [Nell] Brinkley’s work, leaning heavy on her stories of industrious women and the he-men they love… Brinkley’s art is so drop-dead gorgeous that readers may long to razor out every page to hang on the wall. [Grade] A-" – The A.V. Club (same link as above)
• Review: "…the fantastic Brinkley Girls hardcover put out by Fantagraphics… you would be doing yourself a favor by checking it out. Curse you Fantagraphics, I'm trying to save money you bastards." – This Is Why I Hate You
• Review: "Sally gets the cover in this 11th volume of The Complete Peanuts… Schulz is still in top form here in my opinion. There are few books I laugh at more, or enjoy more thoroughly than these fine collections. Highly recommended!" – Todd Klein
• Preview: Our advance hype for Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 1 has been translated to Español by Cuidadano Pop
• Preview: Robot 6 runs through our Fall/Winter catalog, offering commentary on each upcoming title. A must-read!
• Profile: In The Jewish Standard, Gary VandenBergh looks at the life and career of his father-in-law, Will Elder. Another must-read!
• Interview: The Inkstuds radio program talks with Craig Yoe about his most recent editorial projects, including Boody. The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers
• Interview: The CHS Capitol Hill Seattle Blog talks to Ellen Forney and her collaborators in the Capitol Hill art walk about last night's event
• History: Fantagraphics rules 1989-1990 in the "Modern Timeline of Events within the Comics/Movies Industry" from New Destiny Comics
• Things to see: Arlen Specter by Drew Friedman for The New Republic