A Gigantic Nuclear Furnace — This Week’s Links

Features

Clark Burscough | July 10, 2026

I am sure there is a word, likely in the German or Japanese dictionary, surely, which concisely conveys the experience of staying up until the small hours, waiting vainly for your home to cool down sufficiently to let sleep find you, passing the time by making digital deliveries in your truck simulating video game of choice, and intermittently nodding off as your virtual counterpart simultaneously experiences the unnerving horror of falling asleep at the wheel, travelling the baking freeways of these ersatz United States, blasting your airhorn to signal the bringing of this week’s links, below, to the screens of those who will have them, with naught but a copy of Nancy Wears Hats for company in your passenger seat. It ain't much, but it's honest work.

— The Amanda Lee Mystery House (@amandalee.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T14:25:17.530Z

This week’s news.

• Starting our week with a check-in on the acquisition-in-progress of Warner Bros Discovery Inc by Paramount Skydance Corp, and, by extension, the reveal as to who is next up in the ever-changing role of DC’s parent corporation, as concessions were made to unruffle the feathers of European regulators, ahead of their deadline for a decision on the acquisition of 22nd of July, and a multistate antitrust suit was prepared in the US, attempting to block the acquisition, which would put paid to plans to have the absorption of WBD signed off by September.

• Comics prizes news, as the nominees were announced for the 11th Annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics (winner to be awarded at this month’s San Diego Comic-Con), and the nominees also announced for this year’s Harvey Awards (winners to be announced in October at New York Comic Con).

• In comics grants awards news, the Comics Advocacy Group announced this year’s class of CAG Mini Grant Awardees, with 20 creators provided with a $500 mutual aid grant, as part of the third year of Mini Grant awards.

Morning & have a good a weekend as you possibly can.

— Stephen R Bissette (@stephenrbissette.bsky.social) 2026-07-04T11:05:53.635Z

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Tim Hayes reviews the relative potency of Rebellion’s Action 50th Anniversary Special — “So perhaps, somewhere in the 2000 AD metabolism, the Action gene is stirring, now that Rebellion's period of explicitly calling to an all-ages readership has concluded. But that leaves just the regular old-age readers. Rebellion's core audience is former teenage boys tending a nostalgic flame for their original comics, and anything branded as Action has been made to scratch that existing itch.”

• Tegan O’Neil reviews the zany nastiness of Robert Vendetti and David Lapham’s Hank Howard, Pizza Detective: The Two Hollywoods #1 -=— “It looks so good. So good. Bad Idea print their books on a grainy newsprint that looks so good, especially for black & white. It’s a pleasing comic to hold in your hands. Just because it’s funny doesn’t mean Lapham phones it in, not at all. There’s a drive-by shooting of a pizzeria in the first issue of the series, daunting for its precision and detail. This is a joke book. It’s funny, but he’s not laughing. Someone has to draw all that shattered glass. He makes it look so damn easy.”

AIPT

• David Brooke reviews the imaginative fun of Kelly Thompson, Tokitokoro, et al’s Jeff the Land Shark: Superstar #1.

• Lily Abreu reviews the cute mischief of Jacob Chabot et al’s It’s Symbie #1.

• Jonathan Waugh reviews the classic action of Ryan North, Vincenzo Carratu, et al’s Hulk: Smash Everything.

• Diane Darcy reviews the solid conclusions of Sophie Campbell et al’s Supergirl #15.

• Christopher Franey reviews the narrative momentum of Morgan Hampton, Fernando Pasarín, et al’s Green Lantern Corps #18.

• Collier Jennings reviews the gritty action of Gabriel Hardman, Dean Kotz, et al’s The Rocketeer: Infiltrator #1.

The Beat

• Kathryn Hemmann reviews the inclusive pageantry of Fiona Marchbank’s Ladies of the Knight.

• Ricardo Serrano Denis reviews the undermining whimsy of Heath Corson, Nathan Fillion, Soo Lee, et al’s Witness Point #1.

• Khalid Johnson reviews the compelling start of B. Clay Moore, Daniel Gete, et al’s Dispatched #1.

• Diego Higuera reviews the complementary visuals of Scott Snyder, Werther Dell’edera, et al’s Absolute Batman #22.

• Zack Quaintance reviews the pulpy combination of Kenny Porter, Tyrell Cannon, et al’s Operation – Iron Coffin #1; and the intriguing beginning of Tyler Boss, Dylan Burnett, et al’s Exquisite Corpses: Rascal Randy #1.

Broken Frontier

• Lydia Turner reviews the refreshing honesty of Rachael Ball, Chie Hosaka, Nuala C. Murphy, Jenny Robins, Rebecca Lightbody, Rebecca K. Jones, Emily Maher, Lara Callaghan and Hannah Lee Miller’s Periodical.

• Andy Oliver has reviews of:

• The shifting absurdity of Ed Pinsent’s Drake & Dog Armed.
• The bold fascinations of Fidelia Schlegl’s Smoke.
• The meditative beauty of Shri Gunasekara’s Built for Love.
• The cheeky celebration of Joe Stone’s Absolute Cinema and Other Stories.
• The nightmare logic of Francis Todd’s Caribou #1-3.
• The delightful cruelty of Fraser Geesin and Laurie Rowan’s Pricks #5.
• The haunting atmosphere of Ferry Gouw’s Limbo.

Comics Grinder

Paul Buhle reviews the personal approach of Riad Sattouf’s The End of the Arab of the Future: A Youth in the Middle East, Volume One, 1992-94, translated by Sam Taylor.

Four Color Apocalypse

Ryan Carey reviews the solid overview of Fred Noland’s Our Little Wild Time, and the anarchic immediacy of Emily Zimmer’s Wallow.

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men United #5 and Moonstar #4, 

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics

Chinmay Murali reviews the intersectional approach of Jeanne-Marie Viljoen’s Comics and Women’s Mental Health: Five Stories.

The Observer

Killian Fox reviews the manic whirl of Jean Pleyers’ The Children of Light, translated by Luke Burns.

Solrad

Marceline Chevako reviews the material realities of Cam Marshall’s Flying Saucer Video.

Yatta-tachi

• AJ Mack reviews the unremarkable simplicity of Takidon’s My Super-Cute Black Mage!, Volume 1, translated by Minna Lin.

• Stephanie Liu reviews the niche appeal of Utako Uguisu’s My Cat’s Aura is Strong, translated by Caroline Winzenried.

We're moving to Pioneer Place Mall!"This July marks the 20 year anniversary of Floating World Comics, and also 4 years at Lloyd Center Mall, which is closing next month..."floatingworldcomics.com/archives/26694

— Floating World Comics (@floatingworld.bsky.social) 2026-07-08T20:42:57.403Z

This week’s interviews.

TCJ

Jason Bergman interviews Evan Dorkin about Nerd Inferno: The Essential Evan Dorkin and Beasts of Burden, personal comics history, things about which to be angry, and career shifts — “The funny thing is nobody has ever asked me to do that, to give them a story. That's the nice thing. The only people who have ever come to me with that sort of mindset have been Hollywood people. I have something called File 13. It's old, because people used to actually have to write you a letter. And it's full of producers and production companies, and channels, cable channels, people from those places, writing me saying, we think that Milk and Cheese could be this and that, and we have ideas. And these ideas always went against the strip entirely.”

AIPT

• Chris Coplan chats with Doug Wagner about Yumi: 00EX, turning spy tropes upside down, putting weirdness on full display, and committing to the bit.

• David Brooke speaks with Charles Soule about Venom Unchained and symbiote bonding conundrums, and with Jadzia Axelrod and Sarah Webb about adapting the Worlds Beyond Number podcast for comics.

Autobiographix

Nora Hickey and Amaris Ketcham interview Mohammad Saba'aneh about Welcome to Hell: From the West Bank to Gaza, and documenting the realities of Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Broken Frontier

Andy Oliver talks to Linnea Sterte about A Garden of Spheres and A Frog in the Fall (And Later On) and the temporal advantages of comics, and to Henry McCausland about Eight-Lane Runaways and River Rangers and making a physical object for readers.

DIVA

Nic Crosara interviews Alice Oseman about Heartstopper, the conclusion of the hit series, the joys of mini comics, and learning not to write in order to please other people.

Fanbase Press

• Barbra Dillon speaks with:

• Clover Press’ Hank Kanalz about The DC Art of Michael Turner and the DC history to be found in the book.
• Mary Bellamy about Faux Facts: The Truth Can Be Strange and the difficulties inherent to self-publishing a long-running series.
• Jordan Mechner about Liberty! and unsung heroes of the American Revolution.
• Shaun Simon about Open Caskets and the joys of creative collaboration.

Graphic Memoir

Jonathan Sandler chats with Andre Frattino about We Are Pan, the origins of the project, and the research and interviews that went into the making of the book.

Irish Examiner

Colin Sheridan talks to Karen Harte about Effie is Offline, visual literacy in contemporary generations, and journeys towards making a graphic novel.

The New York Times

Scott Heller speaks with Alice Oseman about Heartstopper, recent and enduring reading favourites, and looking ahead to creating new characters and stories.

PinkNews

Emily Maskell interviews Alice Oseman about Heartstopper, deciding on the ending of the series, not shying away from the realities of life for queer young people, and saying goodbye to the books after more than a decade of making them.

RetroFuturista

Dominique Musorrafiti talks to Ralph Steadman about evolving artistic styles over a lifetime of illustration, collaborating with Hunter Thompson, and the importance of making mistakes.

Seven Days

Dan Bolles interviews Stephen R. Bissette about taking up the position of Vermont’s Cartoonist Laureate, initially refusing the role, and the return of Tyrant.

Smash Pages

• JK Parkin speaks with:

• Abby Denson and Matthew Loux about My Tokyo Summer and My Journey to Japan and Japanese influences.
• Phillip Sevy and Christie Porter about She Comes With Magic and developing the story together.
• Katie Skelly about Heaven and retaining the mystery in order to retain the fun of a story.
• Jordan Mechner about Liberty! and differences between the French and American perspectives on the Revolutionary War.

Lo Spazio Bianco

Angela Pansini Valentini talks to Kengo Kurimoto about Wildful, the comic’s animation origins, monastic creative processes, and the universal yearning to connect with nature.

Happy birthday, America! Comic from almost 20 years ago, sadly still relevant.

— Michael Kupperman (@mkupperman.bsky.social) 2026-07-04T17:52:06.370Z

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, our illustrious editors kick off a season of Rebuttals and Regrets, celebrating the 50-year history of The Comics Journal, beginning with Helen Chazan’s thoughts on James Kochalka’s 1996 “Craft Is The Enemy” letter to The Comics Journal, and the #Discourse that poured forth in its wake — “But the more interesting dilemma is what craft is, what craft is for me, and to that I see not the dazzling technical skill that my friends in comics have developed on their own path, but the way that I want to do comics, the way that I will do comics, and how I am going to become able to make those comics.”

• Also for TCJ, as part of Rebuttals and Regrets, Zach Rabiroff looks back on the life and work of writer and editor Jim Shooter, who passed away last year at the age of 73 — “In the end, I think, the great artistic work of Jim Shooter’s life was Jim Shooter’s life. His repeated defiance of the gods, his triumph and his petty tyrannies, his ultimate antiheroic bathos: even more than the story of Siegel and Shuster, they all add up to a microcosm of what American comics were, and are, and probably will always be.”

• Finally for TCJ this week, Zach Rabiroff writes in remembrance of writer and editor Gerry Conway, co-creator of the Punisher, who passed away in April of this year at the age of 73 — “In truth, just like the generation of journeyman cartoonists who preceded him, Conway had learned the hard way that comics wasn’t a business that paid the mortgage. He called the industry his “golden handcuffs” — it paid just enough to keep him bound to it.”

• For The Barcelona Review, Garry Smout talks with Mick Mercer about the once and future state of comics, and writes on the experience of revisiting Alan Moore and Ian Gibson’s The Ballad of Halo Jones more than forty years after the strip’s debut.

• Over at The Beat, Samantha Puc collates the various statements that have been issued due to claims surrounding the originality of Tillie Walden’s work on Charity & Sylvia, by the author Rachel Hope Cleves who penned a book of the same name.

• On the occasion of the publication of the final volume of the Heartstopper series, The i Paper invites author Alice Oseman to share thoughts on five favourite graphic novels, including Tillie Walden’s Spinning, Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell’s Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, Mars Heyward’s Long Exposure, Zoe Thorogood’s It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, and Wren James and Beth Fuller’s The Victors.

• Shelfdust cranks the volume as Steve Morris is once more Spawn de Replay, as consideration is paid to the parallel histories of Medieval Spawn and McFarlane Toys, and the many hats a budding entrepreneur can wear; and Curt Wildschutt looks back to the '00s heyday of Marvel Comics’ crossover events, and the violent imagery that looms large over the happenings of Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel’s Siege #2.

• From the world of open-access academia, for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Jaina Wildfeuer, Ielka van der Sluis, and Lora Dimitrova present a study examining the ability of readers to process and reconstruct multimodal content in the form of comics depicting the procedural steps of the Heimlich manoeuvre.

• The Mindless Ones brave the heat to send forth a new new newsletter into the world, previewing attendance at ARC festival this weekend, peering into the gaps between and within the panels of Grant Morrison et al’s The Invisibles, and presenting further thoughts on Jules Scheele’s adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando.

• For House to Astonish, Paul O’Brien opens the guestbook of Daredevil villains once more, as Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr.’s run continues, and the chaos of a crossover issue brings with it the debut of Ammo and some attendant violence.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as we are once more left to ask whether certain truths are indeed held to be self-evident, in 2026.

not the full piece, but im just happy i finally drew utena and anthy 🌹#utena | #revolutionarygirlutena | #fanart

— courtney @ ✨project & 🍯🍋 S2✨ (@courtneywirthit.bsky.social) 2026-07-03T15:03:33.244Z

No more links this week, as the ARC festival of contemporary comics is coming up this weekend, and I’ll be volunteering there, so if you see someone red-faced and struggling to cope with the eternal heatwave and sensory overload of being in a comics event-space, say hi, chances are "it me."

— ARC London (@arcfestivallondon.bsky.social) 2026-05-03T00:03:35.297Z