Futamigaura. The biographical dates (1871–1946) are apparently uncertain for this Japanese artist about whom little documentation exists. What we do have is the prints he created, a couple of which have appeared here before. Nocturnes were Shoda's speciality, together with other atmospheric scenes created with carefully graded colouring. As always with prints such as these, I'm in awe of the artist's ability to create a sense of verisimilitude in the difficult medium of woodblock printing.

Other than some time off every year for Christmas, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne have delivered a new Oglaf comic, skewering fantasy tropes with absolutely not safe for work humor, every week since 2008...