Links of note

• Shawn Hoke has started a blog focusing specifically on mini-comics called Size Matters, providing a steady stream of content about books people might not hear about otherwise (and, in many cases, not care to hear about at all). Also, I adore Shawn, so there's that--good comics and good people.

• Rodrigo Baeza has links to scans of two issues of Air Pirates Funnies, meaning that anyone curious about these historically significant comics can check them out for now at least.

• Sean Maher has an early review of Smoke and Guns that has me looking forward to it even more.

• Over at The Beat, Heidi takes a look at the recent Paul Levitz interview at ICV2, and has some comments regarding mainstream and independent comics:

I remember visiting DC in 1986 for the very first time, and talking to someone who later went on to become a very successful editor there, trying to persuade him to TRY to read LOVE & ROCKETS, which was then virtually the most acclaimed book in comics. “I just don't have time to read everything,” he told me. Marvel and DC editors love to raid the indie ranks for new blood, but the influence of indie tooners who go mainstream -- from Gilbert Hernandez to David Lapham -- has been negligible. Is the real Ed Brubaker the one who wrote LOWLIFE or the one who wrote SLEEPER?

Of course, indie art can't go mainstream without losing its cachet. But with all the excitement going on in comics today, it seems like some of the people running the joint don't have time to check out all that excitement, and that's sad. Hybrids are always stronger.

• I'm a bad comics fan. I always forget to check what's shipping, and I also forget to preorder from time to time. Luckily, Kevin Church includes some good stuff in his weekly Shit That's Killing Comics List, where I'm reminded that Jim Mahfood's Stupid Comics #3 is coming out this week.

• EDIT: EBAY ALERT! If I had crazy money to spare, I'd be bidding on this, the cover to Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life