I've set up a page for all of our politically-themed gear for those of you wanting to order up a Republicans for Voldemort t-shirt or a Protobama tote or some other political trinket in time for Election Day. Please place your orders by Friday, October 17th! We'll probably be able to get you stuff after that date but I would place it by the 17th to be certain to receive it by November 4th.

In other news:

• Frontalot's new disc is so good I made the opening to "Canadia" my ringtone.
• I saw lots of great people at SPX last week! Spike's Templar, AZ is worth your attention. I picked up Keith Knight's monolithic The Complete K Chronicles which will probably provide me with chuckles for months. If that's not enough for you Keith just released his fifth book as well.
• I was in Questionable Content! Fourth panel. No, Mom, I don't smoke. Often.
• I don't want to ruin the surprise, so just go read Sunday's Sheldon. Just go. Kudos, Dave, you made Sundays awesome again.
• I'm positive I'm missing some stuff. I'll add it here as it comes to me.

As you're probably aware by now, I've been working on the new Goats book (to be released next summer through Random House's Villard imprint). I just finished my big list of fixes and changes about a half an hour ago and I am spent. I had really hoped to have a new comic up for you for Monday but given that it is after midnight and I don't even have a script I think we'll push the return of Good Hitler one more day.

That said, I think you guys have been about as patient with the MG strips as you could be expected to be, so rather than subject you to more of that here are two brand-new never before seen Goats pages, straight from the all-new opening that I've drawn especially for the book. There are eight new pages at the beginning and a bunch of new illustrations scattered throughout, so even long-time readers will get something new out of the book. Anyway, please enjoy, and as always thanks so much for your patience, understanding and support.

I hate to subject you to more MegaGAMERZ this week (and possibly next) but I am about two weeks past my deadline for the first Goats book and I absolutely need to finish everything up as soon as possible. I've had to do a lot more brand-new illustrations than I had anticipated (for the cover, for the front matter, for transitions within the book proper, etc.) but I think the extra work will be worth it. Hopefully you will agree.

Anyhow, I will be heads-down trying to finish as quickly as I can this week, please try to imagine that the MG filler is just as good and delicious as the regular comic.

Hey everyone! There's no new comic for Labor Day. I'm taking the day off (actually I will be working but you are not getting a new comic, so there). What I want you to do is check out these three comics I've never plugged before: F Chords, Gastrophobia and Sam and Fuzzy. I have chosen each of these for very good but also very secret reasons. Please read them. Please. For the children.

Thanks to everyone who sent in the link to the article about the discovery of the entrance to Xibalba, the Mayan underworld. It didn't turn up in New Jersey but the whole thing is still pretty cool.

To celebrate, Xibalba Is For Lovers t-shirts are on sale for only $12 until the end of the week. I'm also extending all the sales that were supposed to expire on Monday until Tuesday since you're all going to be away from your computers stuffing yourselves with kielbasa and Pabst.

Hello everyone! Today I am putting all of my books on sale! These original Goats paperbacks will likely be discontinued next year when the new fancy color books start coming out so this is probably your best chance to get them at a reduced price before then.

Single volumes have been reduced to $9 a pop (down from $12) or you can get all three Goats books plus the minicomics for the unreasonably low price of only $18 (down from $35). The sale runs through Monday, September 1.

Reminders: September 1 is also going to be the last day you'll be able to purchase original art or order a handmade Goats Baffler! jigsaw puzzle. It may seem too early to be thinking of awesome christmas presents but I assure you it is not.

Protobama shirts are $10 until tomorrow, and then they go back to their regular $18 price. I'm also hiking the price of the new heavy duty totes from the $9.99 sale price to the normal $12.99 price, so today is probably a good day to pick one up.

In defense of the blatant lift in today's comic, all I can say is that Good Hitler is a very big Dr. McNinja fan. The gag was too good not to recycle it.

In my continued effort to get you guys to give me all of your money, I'm running a new sale this week! Place an order for $50 or more in our store before Wednesday, September 3 and we'll throw in a free paperback book or action figure, on the house.

When you go to check out, just put your book or action figure preference and the promo code FREE50STUFF in the Special Instructions field and we'll take care of the rest. If you don't indicate a preference we'll pick out something nice for ya. This offer is valid only for folks in the US and Canada (sorry international peoples!).

Today is the last day for the $8 enigma sale! Stock up while you still can.

I received a significant number of requests for a donation button on the site during our Financial Desperation Week. A lot of people wanted to help us out even though they didn't need another t-shirt or puzzle. I've done donation drives in the past and they always leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.

A lot of people also mentioned that they would love to buy me a beer, but a lack of physical proximity prevented them from doing so. Now, for whatever reason, my brain makes a distinction between someone buying me a beer and donating money to me. It seems like a civilized sort of thing to do, an act of friendship rather than charity.

So, for Day 5 of FDW, I've added a button to the left-hand column next to the news on the homepage. It's hard to miss, it's the yellow one that says "Buy The Artist A Pint". Please feel free to use it! I suggest a donation of $5 per pint, the prevailing pint price in this neck of the woods, but feel free to fill in whatever number you like.

NOTE: Moneys collected using this button will be used to purchase pints of beer but may also be used to purchase scotch, Red Bull or other art supplies.

First, a reminder: all this week we're running our famous Eight Dollar Enigma sale, where you can get up to five mystery t-shirts for only eight dollars. The sale ends Friday, so if you're planning on buying some tees on the cheap you may want to finalize those plans soon.

Today's Financial Desperation Week ploy is a combination of two limited-time sales.

For those of you with deep pockets, I've cut the price of Goats original comic art from $95 to $75. Each piece of art is one of a kind, hand-drawn and comes with a signed archival print of the finished comic. Since I've switched to digital drawing, no more of these are being produced. And all of the ink-and-paper strips between December 2003 and February 2008 are going to be included in the books being published by Random House starting next year -- just sayin'.

I have recently been told I am a fool for selling these originals so cheaply, so after this last sale I am going to yank them from the site for a while until I've finished book production early next year and have the time to figure out just how much I want to charge for them. So, until September 1, you have an opportunity to grab your favorite original strip for only $75, and then I am taking my ball and going home.

If you are interested in purchasing original Goats art, navigate to the strip you want in the archive. If the strip is still available, there will be an "original art" link right next to the signed print link at the bottom left corner of the comic strip. Click it!

For those of you who are hurting from the recession as badly as I am and don't have $75 to spare, don't fret! For you, I have dropped the price of Protobama T-shirts to a measly ten dollars. That is crazy supercheap and I cannot allow this sort of thing to go on any longer than, say, the end of the Democratic National Convention on August 28th.