• Here's a sweet new piece by Jeffrey Brown, for a t-shirt design promoting Indie Island at Heroes Con in North Carolina.

Jeff was also the COVER FEATURE interview subject for the most recent Comics Journal, #287. And there's even a (GASP!) positive review in there for one of our books; none other than Austrian cartoon maestro Nicloas Mahler's delighthful Lone Racer. Whoo hoo!

• From the desk of Dylan (Sparkplug) Williams:
"I’m going to be teaching at two workshops on comic books, coming up soon at the Independent Publishing Resource Center. People can come to the first one for free but the second costs (I’ll try and make it worth it). Take a look at the IPRC website."

Monday Feb. 4, 7pm
Artist Talk: Jesse Reklaw & Dylan Williams (at IPRC)
Cost: Free, limited space, register
Free presentation from local Portlanders who have made a career out of making the art they love. Each working artist in this series will share his or her own experiences in a specific Creative Field.

Jesse Reklaw is a published weekly comic strip artist (slowwave.com), and Dylan Williams is an art comic book publisher and illustrator (sparkplugcomicbooks.com)

Monday Feb.18, 6:30-9:30pm
Drawing Self-Published Comics (at IPRC)
Cost:$25 members/$40 non-members
This workshop covers the basics of getting your voice out in comic book form, anticipating self-publishing. Learn how to draw with reproduction in mind and many tricks of the trade. The class covers lettering and design specifically as well as basic drawing techniques. We'll be drawing a comic story in the workshop.
Instructor: Dylan Williams

• I may have mentioned this item before. If so, oh well... the new volume of Glomp is out (#9), and it continues to impress. A stunning anthology out of Finland … featuring mostly European cartoonists, as well as American ink-studs Lilli Carre and Anders Nilsen … this little arty anthology that could easily holds its own in this art-brut camp against the likes of old stalwarts NON (which i believe is defunct) and Kramers Ergot, or anything by Picture Box.

I'm not sure where to buy it in stores, but i do know that we'll have a handful for sale on the convention circuit this year. Get 'em while you can.

• Matt Rota, illustrator extraordinaire, has updated his website. This guys has some delightful chops... worth a look.

• Lizz Lunney sent me a terrific flip mini-comic called Tofu & Cats/A Dinosaur Tale. I really dig her minimalist (almost Porcellino-like) chops, and her wonderful upbeat stories. I hope we see more of her work.

After some googling, i've found that one can order her work from an online distro called Parcell Press.

• Eric Reynolds chimes in as the voice of reason at the Fantagraphics website, on the dubious retailer argument that convention debuts screws them.

• Serbia rocked Aussie Open...

Well, a Serbian won the Australian Open, and while i dig the game of young Novak Djokovic, i was really bummed that his countrywoman Ana Ivanovic couldn't rise to the challenge in her match against Sharapova. Like Novak before her though, i see a superstar on the rise in the beautiful Ana, and predict several Grand Slam titles for her in the years to come.

It was the Men's Final though that had me glued to the television into the wee hours of the morning, on a night no less when i had to get up at the crack of dawn with The Kid. Newcomer and the 38th-ranked Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stormed onto the tennis scene with his ace forehand, and an unassuming charm that had the crowd, the announcers, and myself in love with this guy.

Here's a nice piece about Tsonga at the AussieOpen website.

Djokovic was acting kind of like a dick during the match at times, but boy did he regain his own charming form when he accepted his trophy. Well done Novak.

I'm just happy that the killer crusher Federer was NOT present in the Final. This guy has been the undisputed master for several years now, and is rapidly closing in on Sampras for Grand Slam titles... GREAT to see new blood challenging him.

i've picked up, or been given, some real gems of late.

• The new Strapazin arrived via post today. The theme is boats/ships/the ocean. Can't read German, but holy god, it so does not matter with this magazine. Ostensibly a mixed-bag anthology of original comics content and comics reviews, when you get down to it, it's an Art Book, a gallery, a veritable potpourri of stunning art, comics, and illustration. To be sure, i really have no idea to get this in the U.S. If any retailers out there stock this, let me know and maybe i can get you some sales.

The cover design and illustration by Laura Jurt is terrific.

• Steve Rude: Art in Motion. I've been a giant fan of Steve "The Dude" Rude since he crashed the comics scene with a bang, with his and Mike Baron's great Nexus back in the day. He's so good and so committed, that almost across the board, anything he touches is gold. I was wary when i first saw this book on the shelf. As often as not, many of these sort of monographs can turn out lame, or worse, butt ugly. I'm happy to say, this book rocks. Dude fans keep for eyes peeled for this baby.

• Olle Eksell: Swedish Graphic Designer. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Beautiful. I nicked this cover image from a fellow blogger. (See link.) Check out this link at Happy Mundane for a series of digital snaps from this wonderful design art book.

• Street Sketch Book, edited by Tristan Manco. I'll be up front about this; while i've never had any beef of any sort with it, neither have i had any real interest in Street Art (re: graffiti). I admire the context and lifestyle of the bulk of the practitioners, but the work itself doesn't float my boat. Then along comes this book, "Inside the Journals of International Street and Graffiti Artists" to rock my world. A visual cocktail for any fan of contemporary art. (Yet one more feather in the cap for Chronicle Books.)

• And big ups to legendary local retailer Reading Frenzy, for stocking these last two items. From the ashes of the once vibrant print zine scene in the pre-blogosphere 90s, RF has been in an ongoing evolution, constantly redefining itself to stay alive in an ever decreasing world of print media. The last few years have had ups and downs, but in the last year or two, i'm happy to report that they again have created an eclectic, interesting, and auteur-friendly shopping experience.

• Fabulous new interview with James Kochalka by Gabe Bullard over at the Playback website.

• Former intern Brendan Wright interviews, why ME on his blog The Wright Opinion.

• • • NOT COMICS • • •

• Chalmers Johnson throws down at TomDispatch with some sobering statistics about the ongoing War/Defense Economy and it's crippling long-term affect on the our nation. (This is a bleak assessment, and in a just world is exactly the kind of stuff that should be plainly spelled out to all citizens.)

(Example: our military spending is more than the rest of the world combined.)

• On a lighter, and much more hopeful note, Ana Ivanovic from Serbia has made it to the Australian Open Finals, matching up against the Russian Maria Sharapova. This should be a great match. Sharapova is so annoying with her on-court demeaner, but she's playing with fire. Ivanovic, on the other hand, is a goddess. Beautiful and deadly. I think i'm in love.

On the men's side, i predict Djokovic (Serbia) and Federer (Switzerland) in the Final. Djokovic might win two sets, but if he makes it to the fifth set, Federer will pounce on him for the kill, without mercy. Oh, and boy would i love to be wrong about this. Love Federer's play, but i loathe dynasties in any sport. Djokovic has a huge game and is so much fun on the court.

Tennis fans should be pleased, no matter the outcome. I say Go Serbia!

...had a small role in this killer music video by a band called Scrabble. James wrote:

"Last time I was in San Francisco, I ended up drawing this diary comic strip about a guy I met. Well, it turned out he was in a rock band, and the rock band is pretty awesome and they made a video and now my diary strip is in the video. The song is "Emily, I" and the band is Scrabbel. Here's the video on YouTube."

• More sweet art from Michael Golden. This is promoting the Phoenix Comic Con, January 25-27.

• An excellent review of Tom Hart's beautiful, understated masterpiece Banks/Eubanks can be read here at Comic Book Bin.

Tom is hands-down one of the single most under-rated North American cartoonists in our field. If you're not familiar with his work, then you've no right to call yourself anything close to being part of the comics cognoscenti.

• From the desk of Comics Historian Craig Yoe:

"Starting Friday January 17 there will be a new feature on the Arf Lovers Blog...THE FLYING FLICK! Not only that, but this new weekly segment will be hosted by an exciting new superhero...THE FLYING FLICK! Every Friday there will be weird and wonderful flicks, i.e. incredible videos related to the history of comics and cartoons. And quirky and quickie flicks that are plain nutty FUN!

"What Doll Man is to Mondays, D.J. David B. is to Tuesdays and Wacky Wonder Woman is to Wednesday THE FLYING FLICK will be to Fridays!

"Marvel and DC are rumored to have a rule that the word "FLICK" can't be used in their comic book scripts. They're worried that it might be misread as a dirty word. I have no such morals or sense of responsibility. :)"

At the Onion website. Oh. My. God. Jimmy Carter on FIRE!!

•Â Steve Lafler has posted a fun piece called "Is Print Dead, or Does it Just Smell Funny?" on his blog. It features myself, Jesse Recklaw, and Dylan Williams among others. The piece is slated to run in the multi cultural arts/music mag out of Chicago, ALARM.

• From the desk of Eric Reynolds:

"Don't miss “REBEL VISIONS: The Underground Comix Revolution” opening this Saturday, January 12 from 11:30 to 8:00 PM at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle. This colorful art show will complement “R. Crumb’s Underground” exhibition opening January 26 at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle.

"Organized by comix historian, author and archivist Patrick Rosenkranz, in association with Fantagraphics resident curator Larry Reid, “REBEL VISIONS” features original artwork, artifacts and relix from masters of the underground era. Highlights include a previously unseen original drawing by Rick Griffin, recently discovered by L. A. collector Greg Escalante; rarely viewed original art by feral genius S. Clay Wilson; and locally created original artwork by the legendary Greg Irons, who followed his underground work with a prolific career as a tattoo artist working at the storied Seattle Tattoo Emporium prior to his untimely death in 1984."

For more info (store locations, etc.), head to the Fantagraphics website.

Yeah, The Spurg is back, and Comics Reporter is online again!! I've really missed this blog … easily a favorite, and my only "must-read daily" comics website. Lot's of stuff to catch up on, including great interviews with cartoonist Frank Santoro, Eric (Fantagraphics) Reynolds, Chris (AdHouse) Pitzer, Karen (Vertigo) Berger, and pop-culture writer and bon vivant Sean T. Collins.

• Jeff Lemire's wife Lesley Anne made this fabulous "action figure" of his character Lester, from the graphic novel Tales from the Farm. Killer!

Jeff has also drawn this beautiful cover for our annual Top Shelf Sampler, this year's 2008 edition.

• Some neat art by web comix contributor Lode Devroe.

• Dash Shaw's new strip is now being serialized on a weekly schedule on his website. Dash is one of the most engaging cartoonists to come around the pike in a long while, and certainly one of the few who challenges the formal limits of the medium.

• Got this in an email from Wayne Shellabarger. Great stuff.

"Here's a provocative Jimmy Olsen page that I've wrestled with for years. Like a Marcel Duchamp, an 11 minute Bob Dylan song, or a comon dollar bill, it's "right there" on the surface but impossible to reduce to one singular meaning. The mystic power of ancient rituals and symbols collide with crass mass produced images working in tandem solely to bail Jimmy out of a minor back-alley scrape with cheap, maize-phobic hoods. Product placement? Did the writer have a giant bowl of canned corn at 2am, later waking on the floor near his bed with terrifying rarebit-like visions of fantastic terror? Truly revolutionary in its pop-culture vest, any serious analysis dead-ended by a maddeningly deflective Warhol-like non-response in the Jimmy's Pen-Pals page."

• Bill's Kelter's new VEEPS website/blog kicks ass! (Ostensibly created to promote Bill and Wayne's upcoming masterpiece VEEPS, this blogs plans to be an evolving commentary on all things political that catch their fancy.)

• How much does Nate Duke, a fan working right now at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica as a power plant operator, supplying power for the 1000+ people there (and a part of the National Science Foundation), love Top Shelf? Check it out. We're representing on all seven continents now!! (Thanks to Chris Staros for the info... Chris' first contribution to the Top Shelf blog!!)

2008 is upon us. Just in time for me to get a cold.

I've been doing so much family stuff, that i don't have much fodder for the blog. So i think i'll continue to run some of the nice art i've been receiving throughout the years.

From Ulf K.

Brian Biggs

Dean Haspiel

Jean Bourguignon