You can't do any better than reading Charles Bowden, an American original, a spiritual successor to Hunter Thompson, stylistically his own man, but with the same urgent, soulful, pit-bullish, existential reaction to the continuing American scourge. tinyurl.com/y84eeh6s

RIP, Tomi Ungerer. It was my privilege to get to know him briefly and conduct what may be his last interveiw, excerpted here: ow.ly/XyQf30nDOpU. In the print edition, I wrote a 13,000 word essay covering his career which he reportedly liked: fantagraphics.com/tcj-303/.

My good friend and comrade in arms Tom Spurgeon, 14 years my junior, just died, unexpectedly, shockingly. We worked closely together in our office, long into many nights, when he was managing editor of The Comics Journal for five years (94-99).

Spurg and I worked late together for years, bantered, argued, laughed, had dinners, swung by the gym on our way to our respective homes at 1 in the morning and lifted weights, goaded each other on.

When Tom burned out on the Journal and quit, he had by then somehow got comics in his blood, and never left, despite my unsolicited supplications and imprecations to the contrary. We we better off for it, though I'm not sure he was. RIP, pal.

A farewell to my good pal and esteemed author, Gene Deitch. Although a smart and adventurous animator, it was his pen and ink drawings I liked most, and editing and publishing his jazz book, CAT ON A HOT THIN GROOVE, was one of the highlights of my career. tinyurl.com/yahz8oyf

My fears have been allayed: Irony is not dead. A 1st Amendment organization issuing an NDA.

I just requested a new diploma because my high school is now John R. Lewis High School. This is a change that has great personal resonance to me but also symbolizes the shifting attitude of the wider culture. tinyurl.com/yyhxft99

If you're an artist, of you're a lover of art, if you care about art, you owe it to yourself to watch this: imdb.com/title/tt230448… I is dizzyingly inspirational.

All my heroes are dying! Little known is that he was a comic book editor in the 40s (something he didn't talk about). goo.gl/lQPc33

This goes beyond mere stupidity —much less naiveté— into serious moral cretinism. tinyurl.com/nt7g6w3

How could you trust a critic who writes an over-ther-top panegyric about a silly movie? goo.gl/uikK0f

This was shockingly good, all things considered. Amazing how Nicholson was Nicholson even then. imdb.com/title/tt005786…

"Triviality is more dangerous to the soul than wickedness." —R.H. Tawney tinyurl.com/kdnj8st

This loser made bad business decisions, so fuck 'im, right? No, wrong. A comrade in need, fighting the good fight. bit.ly/1m43PQr

This is the most honest and truthful piece of writing I've ever seen about cops and cop culture in America. wapo.st/1djn6Mq

Trump calls for black votes: 'What do you have to lose?' - video theguardian.com/us-news/video/…

Today I received (belated) Christmas cards from Robert Crumb, Bob Blechman, and Seth. Not a bad Christmas Card day!

I love the cop just standing there mum. Nothin' to say. Because, what is there to say? x.com/Choco_Optimus/…

Michelle Wolf deserves a medal. tinyurl.com/ybwrlmzx Compare to that chickenshit routine with Stephen Colbert that poked fun at Sean Spicer by way of Melissa McCarthy's impression. Oh, and the Washington press corp that booed perfectly reflects of how gutless they are.