The Lay of the Lacrymer by Molly Hayden does a very simple thing that I’m surprised (and a little sad) that more comics don’t do.

It makes me wonder, on nearly every page, what’s going to happen next.

Simple as that. A little thing, really. And yet, in the end, it’s everything.

[Thanks to @geminica]

Here’s a question that has nothing to do with comics (or sports, for that matter*). It’s a family dilemma.

Sky just got accepted into two universities she likes and is having a tough time deciding between them.

The choice is between two University of California schools; UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz.

We have plenty of basic information. We know their rankings (edge to Berkeley) and Ivy and Sky have visited both and will make return visits soon.

Sky likes both schools for a lot of reasons, but every time she starts leaning toward one, the other starts gaining on it again. It’s driving her bananas.

So, I figured I’d risk embarrassing her and crowd-source this one a bit. What do YOU think? Any experience or opinions about these two schools?

Sky is visually impaired (pretty significantly, though her peripheral vision is good, so she can get around well). She’s a socially-lefty nerd (like her parents), a vegan (unlike her parents — sorry), and would like to study film and video with an eye toward making same in the long run (possibly after two years of post-grad at a place like USC).

Big questions center on the relative quality of their film departments and related media studies, academic culture, disability services, neighborhoods, local art and culture, faculty strengths and weaknesses, equipment, housing and food services, and anything else you might have an opinion on.

(And feel free to email me instead if you’d like to share your thoughts in a less public way.)

Thanks for your help, The Internet! Back to our regularly-scheduled comics blogging tomorrow.

————–

*’Cause that would be just sad.

I’m off to the Finnish Comics Society’s International Comics Seminar in Helsinki this week, flying bright and early on Tuesday, so I’ll be taking this week off from blogging (probably, unless something huge comes up).

Enjoy some Chopin and Liszt in the meantime.

See you again Monday, March 28th. Have a great week/weekend!

Hit full screen on your browsers. BLUE by Australian cartoonist Pat Grant is an impressive debut with rich designs and an intriguing narrative style.

Just a few installments online so far, but each one is its own little world and worth setting aside a few minutes to let it all soak in. Grant plans to print the final result, but I think it looks great on the screen as well.

Thanks to Melbourne-based Rebecca Clements of KinokoFry fame for the link. Grant’s guest strip for KinokoFry is up this week.

Terry Laban has begun online serialization of Muktuk Wolfsbreath, Hard-Boiled Shaman (gotta love that name).

It’s a funny and smart strip so far, but that’s no surprise. Laban is a terrific writer and cartoonist and I’m sure he’ll have many great surprises up his sleeve in the coming weeks.

Definitely bookmark this one.

If any of you still “bookmark” things.

[link first seen on CR, I think]

***

Meanwhile, Shaman on YOU, anyone who’s stealing t-shirt designs from Jess Fink (or anyone else for that matter). There are some sick people out there!

Okay, I officially love these guys now.

Got this letter this morning.

Dear Scott,

Mind if I call you Scott?

Oh, Scott, you have done so much for us comic geeks.
Reading comics is no longer childish. It’s «de la culture» !
One book and everything changes. *sigh*
Thank you for that.

I have to tell you first how much my friends and I like you. We admire you.
But I have something else to say, and it won’t please you. Ooooh no.

Do you like french people, Scott?
You don’t have to answer. We know how Americans see us… They think they know us, they think froggies are full of self-esteem, arrogant… even rude sometimes.
Do YOU think we are? Do you, Scott?
You are so far from the truth.
We are worse.

This «24 hour comics day» you created, you know… it was a really good idea. Congrats for that.
But, eventually, we realised it was way too easy.

We decided to do the same, but in 23 hours.
Yep, 23 hours.
Because we choose the shortest night of the year, when daylight savings time begins.

And we did it. We’ve been drawing faster than you and your pals for 3 years now.

We just wanted you to know. We are just the best.

And on march 26th, we’ll do it again.
In your face!
But with respect.
And a lot of compassion.

Yours faithfully,

Zia, for the amazing Turalo, Piak, Paka, Kéké and hundreds of french comics artists.

(So who else is surprised they even *have* daylight savings time?)

Good luck from all us slowpokes!

One of the things I like the most about this pitch, apart from the fact that The Wormworld Saga looks really nice on the iPad, is that it wouldn’t have made any sense just a few short years ago.

This scene is moving fast, People.

Following on last Thursday’s post, here’s another cool comic we got a sneak peek of in an old blog post that’s finally hitting the stands: Nate Simpson’s Nonplayer.

Simpson says on his blog that now’s the time (and by “now” I actually mean today, since I didn’t link to this sooner) to tell your local shops to order Nonplayer.

Looks amazing, no?

Not in a very chatty mood this morning, watching things like this.

I’m sure we’ll hear shortly where to send contributions. Just a reminder that it’s easier than ever to give, especially with things like text donations.

Our hopes and warm wishes to those with friends and relatives in the affected areas.

Update: Text REDCROSS to 90999 right now if you’d like to make a $10 donation.

More than a year and a half ago, I wrote about four upcoming books and promised to post updates as each became available.

Those books were David Small’s Stitches, David Mazzucchelli’s Asterios Polyp, Hope Larson’s Mercury, and Vera Brosgol’s then-untitled graphic novel for First Second.

Well, the first three came out to well-deserved acclaim, and now at last that fourth one—quite possibly my favorite of the whole bunch—is finally available for pre-order. And it has a name!: Anya’s Ghost.

Brosgol points out on her blog that now’s the time to tell your local comics store to put in their orders through Diamond. I can very highly recommend this one (as does a rather famous Neil on that cover, above, in case you didn’t notice).

Vera Brosgol is the kind of cartoonist I want to be when I grow up, and I know several other cartoonists who feel the same way. Get a copy of Anya’s Ghost for yourself and find out why.