Today's Online Commentary & Diversions:
• Review: "From the opening panel until the final words, Tardi's adaptation of Manchette's crime novel [West Coast Blues] sizzles with a dazzling graphic intensity… Much like the 1950s American crime novels they emulate, Tardi and Manchette offer a impressive display of destructive violence, wanton love, and disregard for life. Showcasing Tardi's singular artistic talents, the brilliant West Coast Blues emerges as one of the best crime graphic novels ever produced." – Rick Klaw, The SF Site: Nexus Graphica
• Review: "[West Coast Blues] is slyly funny without being jokey; thrilling without ever seeming manipulative; cool, distant and ironic in its narrative voice; immediate in its depiction of violence. What do Tardi's illustrations add? Mostly a crowded sense of daily life, an ironic, sense-sharpening departure from the dark, shadowy atmospherics that sometimes nudge noir toward mere style." – Peter Rozovsky, Detectives Beyond Borders
• Review: "If you were a Martian trying to figure out America in the second half of the 20th century, you could do worse than to start by reading Jules Feiffer’s Village Voice cartoons [collected in Explainers]." – Sarah Boslaugh, PopMatters
• Review: Patricia Portales's review of Your Brain on Latino Comics (University of Texas Press) for the San Antonio Current includes mentions of the Hernandez Brothers and Wilfred Santiago
• Things to see: Santa gets a knee to the gut courtesy of Tim Lane
• Things to see and buy: New items in the 46 Million benefit auction organized by Anders Nilsen, including album cover art by Zak Sally