Captive of the Sun — This Week’s Links

Features

Clark Burscough | April 24, 2026

Compiling this week’s links, below, while searching for my accursed passport, as the links brigade heads off for a wee spring holiday, getting away from the constant grind, seeking to expose pasty white skin to more solar radiation in seven days than would otherwise be experienced in a decade of London living, and maybe even seeking out una fumetteria o due, in amongst (hopefully) copious stops for gelato. Come si dice “a pint and a packet of pork scratchings, please, mate”?

More Megrez inks 💫

— Maria Capelle Frantz (@mariacfrantz.bsky.social) 2026-04-13T16:03:14.986Z

This week’s news.

• Beginning our selection with a Franceward gaze, as proceedings surrounding the next iteration of the Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême remained convoluted, with the announcement this week from the Association pour le Développement de la Bande Dessinée à Angoulême that the Morgane group, which currently organises the Francofolies de La Rochelle and the Printemps de Bourges events, would be taking over organisation of the festival, led by Marie Parisot (formerly of Dargaud) and Céline Bagot (found of the Pop Women Festival). This was followed by the issuing of a statement from the (soon not to be) current festival organiser 9e Art +, which accused the ADBDA and Morgane of unfair competition, and gave notice that they would now also be filing suit against the Morgane group for damages, as well as the ADBDA, putting the 2027 edition of the festival in doubt, which would be the second cancellation of the festival in the event’s history (setting aside the COVID lockdown years), following the boycott and eventual cancellation of 2026’s edition, over 9e Art + and owner Franck Bondoux’s alleged mismanagement of the festival, which led to the launch of Le Grand Off free festival, which 9e Art+ also disputed. Mon dieu.

• Elsewhere, shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery, current parent corporation of DC, this week approved a $111 billion buyout deal from Paramount Skydance, despite opposition from various Hollywood celebrities and other interested parties, which will now go to federal regulators for the final seal of approval, before, presumably, the layoffs begin.

• In comics awards news, the Center for Cartoon Studies announced the winners of the 14th annual Cartoonist Studio Prize, as Mimi Pond was named this year’s long-form winner for Do Admit! The Mitford Sisters & Me, and Suerynn Lee was named 2026’s short-form winner for Two Snakes.

• The Los Angeles Times announced the winners of the 46th Annual Book Prizes, with Jaime Hernandez winning this year’s Graphic Novel/Comics Prize for Life Drawing: A Love and Rockets Collection, and Trung Le Nguyen winning 2026’s Young Adult Literature Prize for Angelica and the Bear Prince.

• The Festival littéraire international Metropolis bleu announced that Guy Delisle will receive this year’s Metropolis bleu Avenir et société prize, to be presented during this weekend’s edition of the festival in Montreal.

• Finally, it was announced that Lee Lai’s Cannon has been shortlisted for this year’s Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, with the winner to be announced in June at a ceremony in Toronto.

the minotaur aka the winged lion

— Deb JJ Lee (@jdebbiel.bsky.social) 2026-04-22T20:28:23.654Z

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Tegan O’Neil reviews the relative horniness of Suzushiro’s Maid to Skate, translated by David Evelyn — “The affection for skating feels real. The book is defined by frequent digressions on skating basics, from building and refurbishing boards to moves and shoes. And, it must be emphasized: Suzushiro can draw. They can really draw. No shortcuts. Get out your jeweler’s loupe. Those frills are serious business. Serious enough to break your heart.”

• Valerio Stivé reviews the evocative sensitivity of Mokumokuren’s The Summer Hikaru Died — “A drama of quiet psychological unease resisting easy classification, the story's strength lies precisely within its ambiguity. It is hard to define what the series is really about, which genre it falls into, where its creator comes from artistically, and what kind of readership it is addressed to. Put this way, it might sound like a list of defects, but the ephemeral, the elusive, the ungraspable are what The Summer Hikaru Died is made of.”

AIPT

• Colin Moon reviews the delightful world of Ben Sears’ Young Shadow & the Watchdogs.

• Justin Harrison reviews the interesting reinterpretation of Zack Rosenberg and Jared Cullum’s Usagi Yojimbo: Kaito '84 #2.

• Tiffany Leigh reviews the fine-tuned beats of Tyler Boss, Martin Simmonds, et al’s Universal Monsters: Phantom of the Opera #3.

• George Loftus reviews the poignant conclusion of Ryan North, Vincenzo Carratù, et al’s Hulk: Smash Everything #5.

• David Brooke reviews the excellent execution of Jordan Morris, Joe Kelly, Pere Pérez, et al’s Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity #1.

• Lily Abreu reviews the phenomenal construction of Erica Henderson’s Harley & Ivy: Life & Crimes #5.

• Michael Guerrero reviews the narrative shifts of Jeremy Adams, IG Guara, Montos, et al’s Green Lantern #34.

• Collier Jennings reviews the expert violence of Benjamin Percy, Geoff Shaw, et al’s Wade Wilson: Deadpool #3.

The Beat

• Clyde Hall reviews the lightweight beginning of Michael Chaves, Matthew Roberts, et al’s Corpse Knight #1.

• Jared Bird reviews the hypnotic tension of Aditya Bidikar, Som, et al’s In Your Skin #1.

• Khalid Johnson reviews the chilling start of Christian Ward, Rob Carey, et al’s Event Horizon: Inferno #1.

• Jordan Jennings reviews the characterful beginning of Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Thomas Sniegoski, Peter Bergting, et al’s Frankenstein New World – The Speed of Darkness #1.

• Mike Donachie reviews the idiosyncratic satisfactions of Michael DeForge’s All the Cameras in My Room.

• Zack Quaintance reviews the creative freedom of Olivia Sullivan’s Oracles.

• Samantha Puc reviews the underscored desire of Susanne Kuhlendahl’s adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando.

• Diego Higuera reviews the emotional core of Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, et al’s Absolute Wonder Woman #19.

• Tim Rooney reviews the violent delights of Andrew MacLean et al’s Head Lopper #1; and the grounded thrills of Brad Meltzer, Pepe Larraz, et al’s Marvel/DC: Spider-Man/Superman #1.

Blogcritics

Jeff Provine reviews the memorable cast of Anouk Ricard’s Animan, translated by Monatana Kane.

Broken Frontier

Lindsay Pereira has reviews of:

• The continued fascination of Seth’s Palookaville #25.
• The stylistic shift of Michael DeForge’s All the Cameras in My Room.

Andy Oliver has reviews of:

• The gripping start of Daisy Crouch’s Very Hungry Women #1.
• The defiant tone of Pleasure Pie’s We [Palestinians] Are Not Going Away.
• The artistic connection of Olivia Sullivan’s Oracles.
• The unconventional symbolism of Leo Fox’s BLJ – mini kuš! #139.

Comics Grinder

Henry Chamberlain reviews the genuine enthusiasm of Ethan Llewellyn and Francis Todd’s HELP!.

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men United #2, Inglorious X-Force #4, Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant #3, and Magik & Colossus #3.

Kirkus Reviews

Have starred capsule reviews of:

• The heartfelt nostalgia of Jarett Sitter’s Cassette City: Ready, Cassette, Go!.
• The nuanced insights of Richard Mercado’s Coming Out Perfect.
• The terrifying atmosphere of Paige Hender’s Witch’s Inheritance.

Solrad

Lara Boyle reviews the beautiful construction of Cooklin’s Ace of Hearts: Lessons In Love From An Asexual Girl.

Yatta-tachi

LB Bryant reviews the rewarding silence of Iwakuni Kogyo’s Great Metal God.

— Katherine Lam (@katherinelam.bsky.social) 2026-04-21T00:43:40.484Z

This week’s interviews.

TCJ

Alex Dueben interviews Jennifer Hayden about Where There’s Smoke, There’s Dinner: Confessions of a Cartoonist Cook, the t-shirt origins of the book, repetition and variety, and storytelling unities — “There's something fabulous about childhood ignorance, and what it leads us to do. And boredom! All of the chapters that are about my childhood really are a hymn to boredom. Boredom is the best. It's the best thing. It's so good for kids. It is the home of all kinds of creative fertility. Without boredom, you don't get art.”

AIPT

• David Brooke speaks with Lazlow, Shelly Bond, and Chris Anderson about American Caper, the black humour of the book, and defining rules before breaking them.

• Chris Coplan interviews Andrew Whyte about Basileus, the crowdfunding campaign to bring the book to print, and the creative freedoms of fantasy stories.

Annapolis Valley Register

Wendy Elliott talks to Conondrum Press’ Andy Brown about the publisher’s 30th anniversary and the origins of the press.

The Beat

• Diego Higuera chats with Luke McGarry about Weird Hill to Die On, collecting a decade of jokes into a single tome, and the longevity issues associated with making cartoons topical.

• Ricardo Serrano Denis interviews Chris Condon, Charlie Adlard, and Andrew Ehrich about Of the Earth, horror preferences, and healthy processing of influences.

• Samantha Puc speaks with Harrison Doan about Mahjong Pros’ new manga division, licensing specifics, and the imprint’s launch line-up.

CommonWealth Magazine

Julien Oeuillet talks to Joan Yang about The Cave, life in Yancheng, the Taiwanese zine culture, and Riso printing.

Deadline

Damon Wise interviews Duncan Jones and Stuart Fenegan about adapting Rogue Trooper for the screen, Platonic inspirations, voice acting, and the visual design process for the film.

Fanbase Press

Barbra Dillon chats with:

• Stephan Franck about Palomino and the journey to the series’ final volume. 
• JD Glass and Kris Dresen about Punk Like Me and working with Street Noise Books to bring the adaptation to print.
• Ben Stenbeck about Lands Unknown: The Skinless Man and creating new worlds with Mike Mignola.
• Olivia Sullivan about Oracles and sharing insights around grief and the process of grieving.
• Nadine Takvorian about Armaveni and the creative process from initial idea to publication.

GraphicMemoir

Jonathan Sandler speaks with Maureen Brudock about Sleepless Planet and Queen of Snails, the snail as a metaphor, and the pandemic of insomnia.

The Print

Samah Qundeel interviews Falah Faisal about Musalman, the book’s online origins, and the comic’s evolution following the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act protests.

Smash Pages

JK Parkin talks to Mark Russell about The Forgotten Divine and being willing to turn a story over to itself, and to Matt Kindt about Mind MGMT: New & Improved and moving publishing from Dark Horse to Oni Press.

Akira tribute commission.

— Bhanu pratap (@bhanupratap.bsky.social) 2026-04-21T07:52:10.825Z

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, RJ Casey inks authorization for this month’s Arrivals and Departures, comprising Oliver Arthur’s Seeds, Audrey Deng’s My Life is Anti-Strategic, Moritz Junker’s Ride the Red Funnel, and Caitlin Du’s Rotten Beings — “I once saw a goose steal a ladies purse outside an apartment complex in Schaumburg, Illinois. There was a loud scream for help and when I turned the corner I was flummoxed and full of adrenaline. I scrambled around looking for a solution that didn’t include creeping closer to the hissing heinous beak.”

• Over at Forbes, Rob Salkowitz highlights three recent comics initiatives focused on the varied realities of contemporary life in the United States, spotlighting the Times Like These anthology edited by Tony Wolf, the Islands in the Sky anthology edited by Andrew Aydin, and Crucial Comix’s digital collection of Ice Out: Cartoonists Against Ice comic strips.

• For The Conversation, as Dan Dare prepares to enter a 76th year of exploring the stars, Elizabeth Stanway writes on the scientific verisimilitude to be found in tales featuring Frank Hampson’s creation over the decades.

• The Hankook Ilbo and The Korea Times have a report from the Leipzig Book Fair on the popularity in Europe of K-pop romance novels, and the moves being made to establish manhwa and infinite scroll print adaptations to ride the wave of success that manga has seen on the continent.

• As summer workshop season approaches, Autobiographix’s Amaris Ketcham and Nora Hickey provide a handy-dandy round-up of various classes, residencies, and conferences taking place across the globe, which have sign-ups open now.

• David Brothers returns to Shelfdust, this time out looking back on Victor Santos’ Ginger’s Revenge, the criminal thrills to be found therein, and the satisfactions to be found in a visually dense comic book story with little narrative dead space.

• Considerations from the Mindless Ones return unerringly to the comic book realm once more, as this week thoughts are shared on Blue Jeans Photo Novels, Al Ewing and Steve Lieber’s Metamorpho: The Element Man, and the peak 2026 bingo card centre square of Lego AI diss track slopaganda.

• From the world of open-access academia, in the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Aprilla Firmonasari, Wening Udasmoro, Merry Andriani, and Romane Viau present analysis of Tahnee Juguin’s Mentawaï! and François Debois’ La Javanaise and the Western perceptions of Indonesian cultures to be found in both books; and Dominic Davies writes on sketchbooks and the practice of sketching, examining John Berger’s Bento’s Sketchbook and Joss López’s Serres: Reportage of a Journey Through Sketching, and exploring how sketching connects the artist with the world around them.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, for The Daily Cartoonist, as we continue to live in a world with a weakening divide between reality and fabrication, all in the service of sweet, sweet market growth.

It's St. George's Day, so I'm resharing a 2019 piece of mine, "Revenge On St. George." A copy of it is currently hanging in the office of the Head of St. George's School, which I always found very flattering and validating. He told me it sparks interesting theological conversations with students.

— Cathy G. Johnson🏴 (@cathygjohn.bsky.social) 2026-04-23T12:41:30.000Z

This week’s audio/visual delights.

• Lilli Carré hosted the latest meeting of the New York Comics & Picture-Story Symposium, as George Wylesol spoke about 2120 and the environment as character, not enjoying drawing people, and the importance of using reference for getting the details correct.

• Michel Fiffe returned with a bonus episode of the Fiffe Files, following the conclusion of a retrospective series on the career of Keith Giffen, this edition turning the spotlight onto the often unsung work of Paris Cullins, Steve Lightle, and Ernie Colón.

• Al Kennedy and Paul O’Brien opened the doors once more to the House to Astonish, as discussion was given to layoffs at Marvel and Adam Hughes’ recent announcement of a cancer diagnosis, alongside reviews and previews of comics from the Direct Market.

• Some recent video offerings from the comics institutions of Ohio, as Cartoon Crossroads Columbus released more videos of events from the 2025 edition of the festival, including roundtables and spotlight talks, and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum’s Caitlin McGurk spoke with Brian Walker about Mort Walker’s The Lexicon of Comicana.

• Closing out our week with a couple of podcast stalwarts, as David Harper welcomed Pornsak Pichetshote to Off Panel to discuss Absolute Green Arrow, and the team at Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come discussed the recent layoffs at Marvel and Stars and Stripes recent forced dropping of comic strips from the publication.

i wouldn’t on a final illustration but I’m enjoying doing these kinds of visible corrections w/ different coloured paper in my sketchbook

— Jenny (@slowedmountains.bsky.social) 2026-04-23T09:45:56.598Z

No more links this week, or next week, as there is an airport to arrive needlessly early to, for I must carry on the traditions of my father and my father’s father.

Batman commission

— James Stokoe (@jamesstokoe.bsky.social) 2026-04-22T06:29:48.768Z