§ Via the Fantagraphics blog possibly the most awesome Mark Trail squirrel montage ever. We’ve reproduced but a pittance of its majesty. Go to the link for the whole amazing thing. Mark Trail is one of those things that will forever keep the comics faithful gathering, even if they be forced to gather in secret.

§ Dick Hyacinth gives us what has long been foretold

At long last, the long-promised Liefeld career retrospective is here. Or at least the first part of it. Just to be clear, let me explain what I’m doing. I’m not a Liefeld fan. I liked him quite a bit when I was a teenager, but that was a long time ago. What I’m trying to do here, actually, is put myself back into that adolescent mindset in order to reconstruct what it was about Liefeld that attracted young boys in droves back about 15-20 years ago. I’m not here to mock Liefeld or persuade you re: the quality of his work. This is a descriptive project, not a prescriptive one.

§ We were sent some PR from AniBOOM which appears to be a pretty wide ranging web resource for animators; a little Googling and we dug up the following:

Aniboom, an Internet home for animators to create and share original clips, is launching its own channel on video site YouTube with the aim of hatching the next animated blockbuster that could rival “The Simpsons” or “South Park.” A small startup founded in Israel last year, Aniboom offers professional and amateur animators a place to showcase their clips and test their popularity with Web audiences.

§ Speaking of cartoons, Floyd Norman is to be named a Disney Legend

§ Jog looks at COMIC FOUNDRY:

Comic Foundry is a good-natured magazine, eager to attract a wide swathe of readers with its light, peppy coverage of a broad range of comics. I ought to clarify ‘coverage’ – Tim Leong, the editor in chief/art director/co-creator (with Amber Mitchell), describes the magazine’s journalistic focus as “lifestyle stories – how comics relate to your everyday life.” As you have probably heard, the magazine has no interest in engaging with comics as individual artistic works, or at least no more such interest than it takes to facilitate an interview’s progress or fill a “what to buy” sidebar. Mind you, this isn’t to say that the magazine is bereft of criticism, but all such critical thought, when it comes up, is directed toward cultural considerations.