Online Commentary & Diversions:
• Review: "Monte Schulz proves that his father was not the only talented storyteller in the family…. Monte has carved out his own stake with This Side of Jordan, the first novel of a planned trilogy…. Even though there are moments of brutal violence in the vein of Cormac McCarthy, Jordan is more about the young man facing his future with uncertain terms…. You’ll find yourself enraptured by his style, fittingly written in honor of his father." – Bruce Grossman, Bookgasm
• Review: "Overall, I liked West Coast Blues quite a bit, enough so that it makes me want to search out Manchette's novels that have been translated into English. If you enjoy hardboiled crime graphic novels, you should certainly give this one a try." – James Reasoner
• Review: "Boody’s absurdism is patently blue-collar. There is nothing heady or cynical or mean-spirited in these strips. They owe far more to the tradition of wives tales and folk legends than Kafka. As their syndication would likely demand, Boody’s bizarre comics are Golden Age nuggets of an off-kilter author who found a particular release in his medium." – Erik Hinton, PopMatters
• Review: "Chusid and Economon once again prove to be wise stewards of the Flora archives. [The] Sweetly Diabolic [Art of Jim Flora] reveals many largely unknown aspects of his work, but also fruitfully revisits his classic Columbia-era work. Thanks to the quality of the reproductions and design of the book itself, the vitality of Flora's art comes through on each page. An effective introduction to Flora's art and a satisfying crowd-pleaser for his established fans, Diabolic is another richly entertaining treasury of Flora's 'baroque and subversive' art." – Joe Bendel, J.B. Spins
• Profile: John Mesjak of my3books looks at the works of Jason, with a focus on his "beautiful" new book Low Moon
• Things to see: Frank Santoro shares one of his page layouts for the "Cold Heat" story by himself, Ben Jones & Jon Vermilyea in the upcoming Mome Vol. 16
• Things to see/events: Here's a big ol' update on various products and activities from Dame Darcy
• Oddity: The Village Voice's "Crap Archivist" asserts "no hero inspired me more in my years of temping than Fletcher Hanks' Stardust"