Welcome back! So many good things all over the internets, that it’s hard to know where to begin. Ivan Brunetti talking about anthologies, bits and pieces of historical interest on George Carlson and Percy Crosby or even the obligatory Watchmen link, there’s enough here to fill a few of your weekend minutes. Click away!

IVAN BRUNETTI: Bryn Evans over at Bookslut has a nice interview with cartoonist, editor and New Yorker cover artist Ivan Brunetti (Misery Loves Comedy) He talks a lot about editing his Yale University Press book, Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True Stories and the choices he had to make for the second volume, including leaving himself out. Says Ivan: “There must be 3,000 cartoonists in North America. I included 85 in this book, and if I count the first volume, there are probably a total of 125 artists represented. That leaves 2,875 artists who are probably mad at me. What can I say? I’m sorry. I wish I had more pages and we could have made an infinite anthology.”

Brunetti doesn’t talk about it in the interview, but he does have a new book coming out from Fantagraphics in May: HO! It’s a collection of “the vast majority of his morally questionable, aesthetically confused — and absolutely gut-busting — ‘gag’ cartoons.” I vote yes by waving my credit card at the Amazon link.

GEORGE CARLSON and PERCY CROSBY: Brian Cronin writes the kind of column at Comic Book Resources that makes you think: “I’d totally read this if someone collected it in book form.” And now Plume books has delivered on my printed dream. Was Superman A Spy? And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed collects Brian’s column Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed from CBR. The book is due at the end of April but you can pre-order it at Amazon. If you’d like a taste of the book, you can check out the current column. He has a ton of great info and graphics about two no-longer-tip-of-the-tongue comic artists who deserve a fresh look: George Carlson and Percy Crosby. Carlson is primarily known as a major contributor to Jingle Jangle Comics and for – well you’ll see when you get there. Crosby is the creator of Skippy, the wonderful comic strip character who became a licensing phenom and had something to do with peanut butter…at the link. Someone out there should publish a collection of Carlson’s Jingle Jangle Tales work – I’m looking at you Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, IDW. There’s probably a limited market for it but I’m down for one copy, guaranteed!

R. A. JONES: I have a double connection here. In the past, I worked for a company that published comics by both the interviewer Kirk Chritton (Velvet) and the interviewee R. A. (Dark Wolf, White Devil, Scimidar). Check out both over at Comics Career.

OBLIGATORY WATCHMEN LINK: Over at Forbidden Planet International’s blog, Tom Crosshill has an interview up with Clay Enos talking about his book, Watchmen: Portraits, which features “gorgeous black and white portraits in the book, ranging across a variety of subjects, from the film’s stars to background extras and crew members, all given equal treatment.” Must reading, if only because it’s illustrated with some of the sample portraits.

OBLIGATORY WATCHMEN NON-LINK: Despite David Hayter’s heartfelt and well-written plea, I have yet to see the movie. Does this make me a bad person? (In my defense, I am reading the graphic novel again, as a 12-step program.)

Have a great weekend and check back with all of us again!
(artwork: cover to Was Superman A Spy? by Brian Cronin)