• As Kevin pointed out yesterday, the new Comics Journal Web site is up and running -- at least the beta version of it anyway. There's lots of good stuff to pick through, but if you've got the time, let me point you towards Gavin Lees' review of Ball Peen Hammer, Noah Berlatsky's review of Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu, Marc Sobel's two part (of five) essay on Gilbert Hernandez's Birdland, and R. Fiore's riff on life in Metropolis pre-Superman.

• Joe McCulloch offers an amazing examination of an obscure manga anthology, titled, appropriately enough, Manga, and ends up critiquing the Western perception of the art form and how's it's altered over time. (read the first part here)

• Charles Hatfield, meanwhile, provides one of the best examinations of the work J.H. Williams I've seen yet.

• Think the AV Club's "best of the decade" list was too mainstream-heavy? Check out Paste Magazine's list.

• Forbidden Planet reviews and intriguing looking book entitled Badger: Then and Now.

• Tim Hodler reviewed a new biography of Herge for Bookforum magazine: "[It] fails to arrange the facts into a convincing, rounded portrait."

• Sandy Bilus didn't care for All and Sundry: "There simply wasn't enough meaty comics content to really sink my teeth into."

• Johanna Draper Carlson raves about the sixth volume of Oishinbo: "I’m loving this series about the wonders of food, cooking, and eating, and this installment is the best yet."

• J. Caleb Mozzocco reviews the first issue of The Order of Dagonet: "While it’s a great concept, and it’s laid out quite effectively in the first issue of what’s to be an ongoing series, I have some reservations about the execution."

• Finally, both Jason Green and Richard Cook have a go at Image United.