Summer is definitely over, as we see a return of the classic Extremely Busy News Week™, so run, don’t walk, to your nearest internet cafe, in order to get the latest edition of this week’s links, below.
— ka92 (@ka92.bsky.social) 2025-09-05T02:38:42.999Z
This week’s news.
• Starting off a law-heavy week with a check-in on the state of Albertan book bans, as Premier Danielle Smith’s pause on a new policy restricting titles in school libraries looks set to refine its primary target to graphic novels, as a number of titles, likely already familiar from recent similar bans in the U.S., were declared “pornographic” and thereby unsuitable for younger readers.
• Elsewhere, a return to the long-running Diamond bankruptcy saga, as new owners Sparkle Pop and Diamond (as was) exchanged motions and objections relating to sales of consignment inventory, and protection of proceeds arising from said sales, and Diamond (as was) filed adversary proceedings against over thirty companies in an attempt to seize for sale all consigned inventory. The ever-increasing docket list for the bankruptcy can be accessed here.
• In other lawsuit news, Warner Bros. Discovery last week filed a lawsuit against AI company Midjourney, alleging mass infringement of copyright, as users of Midjourney’s generative platform are able to synthesise images of copyrighted characters, with the AI apparently returning images including said characters even when they are not expressly mentioned in a prompt. Disney and Universal also sued Midjourney, earlier this year, on similar grounds.
• More from the law/tech/comics beat, as New Yorker cartoonist Jon Adams and investment executive Michael Cohen filed lawsuits against one another, following an altercation over stop signs and road etiquette that spilled out onto social media.
• Staying on the West Coast, as DC Comics this week announced that the newly launched Red Hood series has been cancelled after the publication of just one issue, apparently following comments made by writer Gretchen Felker-Martin on Bluesky, regarding the shooting of right wing political activist and gun control opponent Charlie Kirk, with the publisher stating that “posts or public comments that can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence are inconsistent with DC’s standards of conduct,” although one could note that previous controversies, also surrounding a Red Hood title, have seen the company markedly slower to act.
• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, as news was shared this week of the passing of Star Fruit Books founder Matt Haasch, who just last week announced a diagnosis with lymphoma, having launched a GoFundMe to cover the costs of related medical treatment.
• News was also shared of the passing of author Philippe Goddin, president of Les Amis de Hergé, who has died at the age of 81.
[ #PingPongtheAnimation ]Been watching that ping pong anime. I really enjoy the artistic spirit of it, it's great.
— Katha (@taxkha.bsky.social) 2025-09-10T10:46:18.169Z
This week’s reviews.
TCJ
• Sean McCarthy reviews the careful calibration of Gary Panter’s Flycatcher: Smoke Signal #44 — “It’s a drawing monograph by a master draftsman disguised as a comics newspaper. Every drawing is signed and dated individually, something Panter does even in his graphic novels to remind the reader that each page is a work of art, both whole in itself as well as part of a larger whole . The drawings here are from a five-week period, 4/16–5/20/25; after layout, printing, and shipping, I was holding it in my hands on Aug. 1.”
• Leonard Rifas reviews the historical distillation of Harold Schechter and Eric Powell’s Dr. Werthless — “In a later book, Wertham expressed his belief that understanding violence requires studying how leading German psychiatrists, working in the best public psychiatric hospitals in the world, became directly responsible for mass murdering their patients. He asks us to consider not just the individual psychology of a young man who killed for a gold watch, but also the psychology of the normal, respectable people who organized a holocaust so skillfully that it ran like clockwork.”
AIPT
• David Brooke reviews the unflinching brutality of Benjamin Percy, Julius Ohta, et al’s Punisher: Red Band #1.
• Colin Moon reviews the overstuffed plotting of Erica Schultz, Valentina Pinti, et al’s Daredevil: Unleash Hell – Red Band #1.
• Diane Darcy reviews the continuity drawbacks of Gretchen Felker-Martin, Jeff Spokes, et al’s Red Hood #1.
• Jonathan Waugh reviews the accessible fun of Tom Taylor, Daniele Di Nicuolo, et al’s C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table #1.
• Nathan Simmons reviews the compelling debut of Maria Llovet’s Artificial #1.
• Rory Wilding reviews the rooted honesty of Brian K. Vaughan and Nico Henrichon’s Spectators.
• Collier Jennings reviews the winning return of Brian M. Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming, et al’s Powers 25 #1.
• David Canham reviews the new ideas of Mark Sable, Jeremy Haun, et al’s Boxed.
• Chris Coplan reviews the charming ensemble of Matt Bors, Tristan Wright, et al’s Toxic Crusaders #1.
• Kevin Clark reviews the exuberant heroics of Jimmy Palmiotti, Pasquale Qualano, et al’s The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt #1.
The Beat
• Zack Quaintance reviews the propulsive pacing of Brian K. Vaughan and Nico Henrichon’s Spectators; and the welcome surprises of Brian M. Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming, et al’s Powers 25 #1.
• Jordan Jennings reviews the shallow approach of Jeph Loeb, Simone Di Meo, et al’s X-Men of Apocalypse Alpha #1; and the perfect horror of Cavan Scott, Soo Lee, et al's Star Wars: Tales From the Nightlands #1.
• Samantha Puc reviews the perfect nuance of Lee Lai’s Cannon.
• Arpad Okay reviews the beautiful grossness of Connor McCann’s Demon Summoner Gash Gash.
• Matt Ledger reviews the heartfelt entertainment of Tom Taylor, Daniele Di Nicuolo, et al’s C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table #1.
• Jared Bird reviews the smart combination of Ryan Parrott, Letizia Cadonici, et al’s It Killed Everyone But Me #1.
• Tim Rooney reviews the streamlined straightforwardness of Mark Russell, Nuno Plati, et al’s Racer X #1.
• Clyde Hall reviews the faltering start of Jimmy Palmiotti, Pasquale Qualano, et al’s The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt #1.
• Sean Dillon reviews the melancholy charm of Jason’s Death in Trieste.
Broken Frontier
• Lindsay Pereira reviews the fabulous storytelling of Melissa Mendes’ The Weight.
• Swati Nair reviews the clever juxtaposition of Yudori’s Raging Clouds.
• Lydia Turner reviews the smart chills of John Kenn Mortensen’s Night Terror.
Comics Grinder
Henry Chamberlain reviews the elusive truths of Joe Sacco’s The Once and Future Riot and the exquisite fantasy of Huahua Zhu’s The King’s Warrior.
From Cover to Cover
Scott Cederlund reviews the deceptive simplicity of Giovanna Fabi’s Perfect Love (mini kuš! #133).
House to Astonish
Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #35, Uncanny X-Men #20, Wolverine #13, Laura Kinney: Wolverine #10, Magik #9, and Imperial War: Exiles #1.
The New York Times
Sam Thielman reviews the blossoming narrative of Lee Lai’s Cannon.
Solrad
Hagai Palevsky reviews the streamlined visuals of Michael DeForge’s Brat.
We’ve got some numbers for ya!Nothing to crunch, just to enjoy this coming Saturday and Sunday.Lots of Special Guests, Exhibitors, Panels, Workshops and Ignatz Nominees galore!
— Small Press Expo (@smallpressexpo.bsky.social) 2025-09-08T18:06:24.887Z
This week’s interviews.
TCJ
Ian Thomas interviews Johnny Damm about Technocrat Tales, research and artistic processes, the spread of Elon Musk, and comics collage influences — “The people I refer to as technocrats are the tech billionaires who push their own narrative, and right now that narrative is overwhelmingly centered on the lie that we’re on the cusp of sentient AI, or super-intelligence, which will magically fix all the problems which they themselves are causing. The biggest lie of all is that we should trust them.”
AIPT
• Chris Hassan speaks with David Marquez about Sinister’s Six and Marvel creative retreats, and with Tom Brevoort about X-Men: Age of Revelation and what’s on the horizon.
• David Brooke talks to Kelly Knievel and Rylend Grant about The Last Gladiator, the legacy of Evel Knievel, and balancing history with entertainment.
• Chris Coplan interviews Wyatt Kennedy about Murder Drones and adapting the cartoon for comics, and Sean Peacock about Blood Honey and filmic influences.
The Beat
• Deanna Destito speaks with Joshua Rubin about Time Sensitive, time travel obsessions, and keeping a complex plot grounded.
• E.B. Hutchins talks to Der-Shing Helmer about The Internal Sea, story title changes, and editorial work with Vault Comics.
• Jared Bird chats with Zac Thompson about Cemetery Kids Run Riot, setting up the sequel, and the creative and editorial team on the book.
• Javier Perez talks to Aubrey Sitterson and Jed Dougherty about Free Planet, creative and readership challenges, and the fan reception.
Fanbase Press
Barbra Dillon interviews Steve Mushin about Ultrawild and blue sky thinking, and Nathan Cayanan and Daimon Hampton about Stellar Remnant and the complexities of collaboration.
KTVQ
Isabel Spartz speaks with MSU Billings’ Eileen Wright and Nicole Bernard about the university’s new comics and manga collection.
Steven Heller talks to Tom Gauld about Physics for Cats and becoming more comfortable with wordplay, and to Gary Panter about Flycatcher: Smoke Signal #44 and the origins of the issue.
Publisher’s Weekly
Chris Burkhalter interviews Melissa Mendes about The Weight, familial inspirations, letting your characters guide you, and how the story evolved across a decade of serialisation.
I'm starting OCAF, a comic arts festival totally focused on comics, with my friends at @okcomicarts.bsky.social. It's FREE. It's THIS SATURDAY. I am experiencing feelings about it.
— Robert Wilson IV (@robertwilsoniv.bsky.social) 2025-09-10T17:19:38.329Z
This week’s features and longreads.
• Here at TCJ, Kaoru Kumi writes on the narrative visual clarity of manga, as exemplified by the work of Akira Toriyama, and the path one’s eyes chart when reading outside of your primary language — “The contrast between the firebomb hellscapes of the American air raids and the flood of cheerful pop culture that followed in the postwar years made American comics more than just a creative influence — they were an aesthetic shock. Even for artists like Tezuka, who had already encountered American strip cartoons such as George McManus’ work in Japanese translation as children, the four-color printing, the bold English lettering — it must have been dazzling.”
• Also for TCJ, Joe Sacco presents The Angel Laughs, originally published in French in Le Monde Diplomatique — “[Gary Groth:] Joe Sacco has been chronicling the plight of the Palestinian people for more than three decades. His satirical collection of comics commentary War on Gaza appeared in December 2024. He continues to write and draw about the ongoing genocide and the murderous Israeli regime that is perpetuating it and the murderous U.S. regime that is enabling it.”
• Over at Shelfdust, the site’s retrospective of Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber’s Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen reaches the penultimate issue of the series, as Tim Stevens considers the true meaning of friendship.
• Amaris Ketcham and Nora Hickey introduce the Autobiographix book club to Maureen Burdock’s Sleepless Planet: A Graphic Guide to Healing Insomnia, guiding examination of the book’s exploration of the endemic issue of sleep deprivation in contemporary society.
• The northern hemisphere may be sauntering into autumn, but the Mindless Ones’ Doomed Summer continues, with a new edition of the gang’s newsletter, alongside a peek behind the scenes of John Riordan’s LOS.
• From the world of open access academia, in the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Bidisha Banerjee considers Sergio Nazzaro and Luca Ferrara’s Mediterraneo, the book’s depiction of the sea, and the weaponisation of landscapes against refugees.
• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as the Department of War and shifting balances of political power drove the news cycle, before returning to the perennial topic of gun violence.
— 巽 (@tatsumimi.bsky.social) 2025-09-09T11:55:49.080Z
This week’s audio/visual delights.
• Some recent multimedia offerings from around the comics world wide web, as Thick Lines saw Sally Madden and Katie Skelly reunited to talk about Alex Graham’s The Devil’s Grin and Bonten Taro’s Face Meat, plus upcoming Skelly-penned publications to look out for, and the inside track on editing TCJ.com.
• Austin English hosted a pair of meetings of the New York Comics & Picture Story Symposium, chairing a discussion between Michael McMillan, Gary Panter and Dan Nadel about Terminal Exposure; and interviewing Yvan Alagbé about paths to careers in comics making, and the creation of Misery of Love and Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Creatures.
• A triptych of podcast interviews, as David Harper welcomed Brian K. Vaughan to Off Panel to discuss Spectators and Saga, Gil Roth was joined on The Virtual Memories Show by archivist David Leopold to talk about Hirschfeld’s Sondheim: A Poster Book, and Meg Lemke interviewed Nathan Gelgud about Reel Politik for Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come.
Your weapon drawn, your bearings true.
— beluga's kin (@emmartian.bsky.social) 2025-09-09T10:38:08.919Z
Links are done for the week, finally time to sleep, perchance to dream of Ignatz Awards.
— Evan Dorkin (@evandorkin.bsky.social) 2025-09-10T22:03:01.032Z
English (US) · 