Daily OCD: 8/4/11

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:

• List: The Hooded Utilitarian, nearing the top of their results in their International Best Comics Poll, reveals George Herriman's Krazy Kat at #2, with a brief essay by Jeet Heer 

• Review: "…The Comics Journal #301… is crammed with fantastic content. The volume's texture, heft, and text make it the readers' equivalent of a dense slab of chocolate cake…. In short, Gary Groth and his editorial team have produced a stellar contribution to comics history and scholarship. It is a feast for comics aficionados and neophytes alike. " – Casey Burchby, SF Weekly

• Plug: The Forbidden Planet International blog shares our latest update on Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes with its readers, and then bums them out with news of the book's unavailability in the UK

• Plug: "I second Tom Spurgeon’s recommendation of Bill Mauldin’s Willie and Joe Back Home. I was amazed by how brutally frank the comics are, and how affecting. I actually prefer it to his WWII work — it’s even more impassioned, and the cartooning loosens enough to show off a really expressive, cutting line." – Dan Nadel, The Comics Journal

• Plug: "Alex Chun has a new volume available from Fantagraphics Books in his series which profiles the 'few dollars a drawing' gag writers who sold work to the Humorama line of digest publications during the 1950s and into the early 1970s. As I have been writing on the lesser known artists who contributed, with the scant information available…I eagerly await the book!" – Jim Linderman, Dull Tool Dim Bulb

• Interview (Audio): Patrick Rosenkranz discusses Vancouver-based underground comix artist Rand Holmes with Vancouver-based Inkstuds host Robin McConnell in advance of the Holmes exhibit and presentation this Saturday at Vancouver comic shop Lucky's. Vancouver!

• Analysis: At Entrecomics, Alberto Garcia examines the Steve Ditko influence/homages in some of Gilbert Hernandez's early work — even if you don't read Spanish, the images will have you going "ah-haaaa…"

• Lore: Kim Deitch's "Mad About Music: My Life in Records" column returns over at TCJ.com, with more on Elvis Presley and the early days of rock 'n' roll