* Comic Con International is staying in San Diego through at least 2014. I think that’s really good news. I like going to San Diego, I like the familiarity of the environs and the rituals, and I thought moving the Con to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or Anaheim would only serve to heighten the show’s most unpleasant aspects. Tom Spurgeon interviews CCI’s David Glanzer about the decision and offers additional commentary.
* Highwater link #1: The oral history of Highwater Books continues. This installment focuses on publisher Tom Devlin’s stubbornly idiosyncratic design sense and take on the role of a publisher, as well as his John Locke/Benjamin Linus-style relationship with Jordan Crane.
* Highwater link #2: Greg Cook presents some behind-the-scenes photos from the Highwater art show opening tonight, for which the oral history was assembled.
* Highwater link #3: Cartoonist Jim Rugg explains how Highwater influenced him. He also posts a few pages from a pamphlet he made up out of the email snippets that ran across the bottom of every page in the Comics Journal issue Highwater guest-edited. For the publisher that introduced twee to comics, there was an astonishing amount of shit-talking!
* Speaking of awesome-sounding Highwater-related art shows I’m probably never going to get to see, Dan Nadel has posted some awesome photos from Mat Brinkman’s show at The Hole in NYC. The drawings are all actually black and white–each room in the gallery is lit with a different color.
* David Bowie’s coming out with a book of photos and essays called Bowie: Object, containing the stories of 100 things from his archives and vaults and what have you. I always loved this Kirlian aura photograph from his Nazi/Crowley/cocaine freakout days. Such a meticulous note-taker! (Via Pitchfork.)
* Speaking of books in progress by my all-time heroes, work on Clive Barker’s Pinhead sendoff The Scarlet Gospels proceeds apace. (Via Dread Central.)
* I kind of slept on last year’s album and haven’t listened to this year’s yet, but it’s important to remember that Electric Six are actually pretty great. (Via Matthew Perpetua.)