•Â First, Paw Mathiasen sent me a link to the killer anthology BLAEK that i blogged about last week. It's really fine work, though i'm still not quite sure how to go about purchasing this, with the site and prices all in Danish.

•Â And speaking of anthologies, i picked up the second edition of You Ain't No Dancer (theme: YOUTH) at SPX, and read it last night in a bit of a sick-with-a-cold daze. Published by New Reliable Press, Y.A.N.D. is pretty damn good. Front and back covers by Jeffrey Brown certainly get things off to a fine start. Inside, there's a fair share of meh... material, but a few strips do stand out. Mainly, the work of Hope Larson, Meg Hunt (her website is AMAZING), Patrick Murphy, Jeffrey Brown, K. Thor Jensen, Blaise Laramee, Grant Reynolds, Lilli Carre, Phil McAndrew, Dalton Sharp, Dalton Webb, Jon Sukarangsan, and Neil Babra. (The last three of which are clearly influenced by Craig Thompson, and yet all three look and read fabulous to me nonetheless.)

Kudos to the editor(s) for a job well done.

•Â Addendum to the fun at SPX. The Sunday picnic was canceled this year, because no parks could be found that had toilets. Clearly, this is problematic. So the organizers used the budget to rent out space and food at a place called (I think?) Dave & Busters, sort of a Chucky Cheese without the seizure-inducing lights and colors, and with a full sports bar for the grown-ups. Personally, i REALLY hope SPX will be in September again next year (as it usually is), and will have the picnic & softball game on Sunday.

That said, Chris, Jacq, and myself walked over to Dave & Busters, and ended up having a blast in the arcade. We met up with Chris (AdHouse) Pitzer, and cartoonists Scott Morse and Rob Ullman. Just when i thought i was the King of the air-hockey table (with a sore arm for days to prove it), along came Pitzer to put me in my place. Damn you, Chris! Standouts for me were the basketball game (i loves me the hoops), the shooting gallery, and the snowmobile race.

•Â I also forgot to mention a stunning art/comix coffee-table book called BLAEK (in league with the likes of the recent volumes of Kramer's Ergot), given to me by Paw Mathiasen, a Danish publisher, and editor of the anthology Farenheit. This is a real gem, which may or may not be available in the States, so if you stumble across a copy, it's truly worth picking up. (Paw, coincidentally, will be publishing the Danish version of Blankets soon.)

•Â Meanwhile, i recently wrapped up a zine that had been sitting on my bedside table since Carter was born almost two years ago, called Journal Song #6, by a Portlander named Steve Gevurtz. His writing is extremely personal, quite infectious, and REALLY good. I'd rank this guy's writing style up there near the prowess even of the almighty Aaron Cometbus. (Though i'd love to see him try some longer form work in the future, as each pice here is anywhere from 2 - 6 pages on average.) Journal Song was published by punk-rock distro juggernaut Microcosm.

•Â We got Corey Lewis' Stumptown poster back from the printer, and it looks sweet! Thanks to Randy at Oni for scanning this.

• If you get my blog (god help you) on an RSS feed, then make sure you check out the new comics that are up. There's some great shot by Gregory Benton, Brecht Evens, Lode Devroe, James Hindle and Will Dinski. Oh, and there's also a big-ass sale going on at the Top Shelf website as well.

•Â Finally, i saw Tom Galambos at SPX (Tom did a phenomenal comic years ago called All the Wrong Places), and he told me about a piece he did that sounded pretty kick-ass, so i asked him to send me a link or a photo... and viola! I don't know much behind this, but it certainly looks interesting. Thanks, Tom!

• SPX found itself in a brand new location this year, at one of the several Marriotte Hotels in the burbs of Bethesda. And except for the fact that this newish hotel had some of the most appalling decor in the history of the world, and that getting a cab was next to impossible (literally... what the fuck?!), by the end of the day, i'd say the show was a success.

Kudos to outgoing administrator Steve Conley and incoming administrator Karen Flage, Ignatz Awards maestro Jeff Alexander, and the man on the ground, Warren Bernard.

Fun things. 1) Attending the Jules Feiffer panel, moderated by Tim Kreider. Feiffer is still razor sharp, and his tales were inspiring. Props too to Tim for excellent questions. 2) The bar scene was pretty hopping. In fact there were two bars. The booze was flowing. 3) Staying two nights at Greg and Laura Bennett's house. Their generosity is beyond reproach. 4) Hanging out with Bob Schreck and Paul Pope at Chez Bennett the night before leaving for home. 5) Seeing our intern Jacquelene really rock at the table. She was definitely our best earner. 6) Winning more Ignatz Awards. Congrats to Andy Runton (Outstanding Series) and Alex Robinson (Outstanding Graphic Novel) for two big wins. 7) Fancy Chinese food at P.F. Chang's with Lilli Carré, Jeremy Tinder, and intern Jacq. 8) Being on a panel on the State of Distribution in Comics, with Gary (Fantagrahics) Groth, Dan (Picture Box) Nadel, and guest panelist Lauren Weinstein. Thanks to Bill Kartalopoulos for inviting me onto the panel in the first place. 9) Selling out of all 100 copies of Nate Powell's new Top Shelf book, Please Release. 10) Wide Awake 666, the new horror anthology edited by madman J. Chris Campbell, from Wide Awake Press. 11) New books by Brian Ralph (Daybreak) and Kaz (The Mourning Star) at Bodega Books. 12) Yet more insanely beautiful books from Drawn & Quarterly, including the new Kevin Huizenga (Curses) and Gabrielle Bell (Lucky). 13) D&Q employee Rebecca's super kick-ass, rock & roll haircut.

• And on a different note. Word out for a killer cause, as Portland's own Excalibur Comics hosts an event on Sunday, October 29th, the day after the Stumptown Comix Fest, and coinciding with "Wonder Woman Day," the proceeds of which go to two shelters for women and children. They're doing a silent auction with some incredible original art, including the likes of Alex Robinson, John Romita, Colleen Coover, Ryan Sook, Mike Allred, and many many more. The event runs from 2 - 6:00 p.m. If you're in Portland that weekend, check it out.

•Â Off to Small Press Expo in just a few days, and getting fired up. This is hands-down my favorite con of all the cons. It'll be interesting to see what the vibe is like at the new hotel. It's been such an interesting year in comics, i have a feeling it'll be jumpin'.

•Â Corey Lewis, mastermind behind the Oni books Sharknife and Peng!, just completed the poster for the first ever Top Shelf/Oni Press co-hosted party for Stumptown Comics Fest, which we are calling (thanks to intern Jacq), Comic Tonic. (An official announcement will hopefully be on both our sites soon.)

In the meantime, here is Corey's first rough sketch, followed by the first treatment of the finished poster. Cool stuff.

Went out to Pushdot Studio (generally a photography studio), to see a group show called ONE SHOT, featuring cartoonists showcasing a single panel, culled from a longer narrative. The intent being to show the power that even a single panel might have, whether it be in context, or separated from the narrative, on its own level. The results were mixed, formally (a few examples simply didn't hold water on their own merit), but the artwork itself was for the most part, really gorgeous. Jenn Manley-Lee curated, to nice effect, and Colleen Coover's piece for the show, was also used as the promo art.

Graham Annable and his studio-mate John (with whom he worked, at gazillionairre Phil Knight's new animation studio, whose name i forget), were the first guys i bumped into, and it was just fun from there on out. I has some good conversation with folks like Steve Lieber (and his lovely wife Sara), Kip Manley (husband of the curator), Jesse Hamm, and Zack Soto. My intern Jacq showed up too, bit about 20 minutes late, so we and her roommate Bowen walked across the street to legendary brewpub, Bridgeport Brewery for some suds. On tap tonight? First their award-winning IPA (literally my favorite beer in the world) and a seasonal Belgian-style summer lager call SÅ«pris that kicked ass.

Good times.