While Dirk has rolled up his welcome mat, and The Beat has been loafing, at least a couple of bloggers have been WORKING.

Brian Heater at Daily Cross Hatch polls a wide-ranging list of cartoonists on their favorite comics of the year. Much love for Julia Wertz’ The Fart Party but the whole list should be perused by all.

Meanwhile, Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter goes all the way with a series of wide-ranging, informative interviews covering manga, the mainstream, and indies. How DOES he do it? Read them all when you have a quiet moment.

§ The great Joe Sacco
§ Manga guide author Jason Thompson
§ Artist Simon Gane
§ Writer Will Pfeifer
§ D&Q’s Tom Devlin
§ Comics Comics’ Tim Hodler
§ Cartoonist Julia Wertz
§ Cartoonist Frank Santoro

If Tom adds more, we’ll update this page.