Online Commentary & Diversions updates resume next week. Off to Comic-Con tomorrow! I'll be Twittering from the show as much as I can.
• Preview: "Now Jason publishes a collection of his short, sharp works …called Low Moon, in which his trademark anthropomorphic animals get into all sorts of trouble — including, in the story 'Emily Says Hello,' murder, revenge and sexual domination." – New York Magazine presents an exclusive five-page excerpt from Low Moon
• Review: "All of Jason’s tales in Low Moon play like a black comedy, tragic yet humorous. Maybe it’s his protagonists blank eyed stares or the fact the characters are all cute animals being put through some troubling things that give these outwardly simple and light cartoons a heavy feel. If you’re a comic fan looking for a change of pace from the tired summer/blockbuster/epic/crossover comic events then this one’s for you." – Mishka Bloglin
• Review: "What surprised me the most [about Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938]… was… how much [Hal] Foster had brought me to care about these characters… [P]erhaps for the first time ever, we’re able to see just how detailed and elaborate Foster’s art really was… More importantly, though, was how well Foster set up his pages. His layouts draw the reader across the page from one panel to the next, often culminating in a truly impressive final panel… Prince Valiant was good all along. Who knew?" – Greg McElhatton, Read About Comics
• Review: "I mean, holy. Effing. Shit… Was [Fletcher] Hanks insane or otherwise mentally handicapped? Dunno, but as editor Paul Karasik points out in his meaty introduction [to You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation!], this was a man mean enough to kick his 4-year-old son down a flight of stairs… You’ll love how much you hate [these works]; you’ll hate how much you love them." – Rod Lott, Bookgasm
• Review: I don't have time to patch together a coherent quote from the somewhat mangled Google translation of the review of Igort's Baobab series from Weltklasse Serier, but it's a good review
• Plug: "Boy, that Prince Valiant [Vol. 1: 1937-1938] hardcover looked great, didn’t it? The color is just stunning. The stories (what I’ve read so far, at least) are fun as well, with a nice mix of realism and fantasy. I’m looking forward to future volumes, both to see how Hal Foster’s style and Val’s character develop over the years." – Tom Bondurant, Robot 6
• Plug: "From Wonderland With Love: Danish Comics In The Third Millennium… looks pretty excellent. Read it, says I, and I hope I can follow my own orders." – Matthew J. Brady, who also has a few good words for Delphine #4, Grotesque #3 and You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation!
• Interview: The Invisible Web podcast kicks off a new season by chatting with Fletcher Hanks-ologist Paul Karasik
• Things to see: Cover illustration & design for the Riverfront Times' 2009 Best of St. Louis issue and a New York Times Op-Ed illustration by Tim Lane
• Things to see: The latest batch of sketchbook comics from Anders Nilsen