Clark Burscough | May 2, 2025
An impending bank holiday in the UK, married with some surprisingly decent weather, means thoughts immediately turn to bike rides and reading in green spaces, however, being away from a reliable internet connection would mean missing out on, with some rough napkin-maths, the next two hundred and forty three motions filed in the ongoing attempt to sell Diamond Comics Distributors - the adventure continues, below, in this week’s links.
"Look I am gonna put this out there... you wanna go somewhere?"
— Dr Julian Gravy (@drjuliangravy.bsky.social) 2025-04-27T16:53:52.681Z
This week’s news.
• Starting this week, as prefaced above, with the ongoing attempt to find Diamond Comic Distributors a new owner, after their declaration of Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the beginning of this year – you can follow the various twists and turns as they happened via the 403 (to-date) dockets filed, otherwise The Beat and ICv2 have been summarising events at a fair clip — as this week saw Alliance Entertainment cancel their purchase of Diamond and then sue Diamond (again), with allegations that Diamond obfuscated the terms of a contract held with Wizards of the Coast that was ending, before one of the Trustees for the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed to convert this to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy to liquidate the company due to failures to file monthly operating reports, and, finally, possibly, court approval was received for the sale of Diamond to Universal and Ad Populum, while Yakety Sax played at deafening volume throughout.
• In other courtroom news, a New York District Judge last week dismissed a lawsuit filed in January by the estate of Superman co-creator, Joseph Shuster, against Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics, alleging that the company had failed to pay royalties overseas, due to a lack of jurisdiction in the federal court — the lawsuit was subsequently refiled in New York state court demanding a jury trial for the case.
• Some recent comics awards news, as the Los Angeles Times announced the winners of their 45th Annual Book Prizes, with Taiyō Matsumoto’s Tokyo These Days named as Best Graphic Novel/Comic; Michael de Adder won this year’s prize for editorial cartooning in the National Newspaper Awards; the nominees for the 21st annual Doug Wright Awards were announced, with inductions to the Giants of the North: Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame for Richard Comely and Lou Skuce, and winners across all categories to be announced next month; and the Cartoonist Cooperative announced the nominees for this year’s Minicomic Awards, with final winners in each category announced via livestream last night.
• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, as news was shared this week of the passing of artist, writer, and educator Jack Katz, creator of The First Kingdom, who has died at the age of 97 — Steven Ringgenberg’s obituary for Katz can be read here at TCJ.
— Giannis Milonogiannis (@musashinoelegy.bsky.social) 2025-04-05T10:58:53.121Z
This week’s reviews.
TCJ
• Frank M. Young reviews the compassionate approach of Dan Nadel’s Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life — “The general story of Robert Crumb’s life is well-known to most comics-literate people. Nadel’s book expands far beyond what has been known or rumored. It debunks legends (e.g. the iconic image of Crumb peddling Zap Comix from a baby carriage) and renders Crumb, his friends, partners and family as real people. They aren’t glamorized or exaggerated — they are who they are.”
• Brian Nicholson reviews the freaky orbs of Keiichi Koike’s Ultra Heaven, Volume 1, translated by Ajani — “The reader is compelled onward just as much by a desire to see the artist continue the escalation of his visual imagination as to see how the story will further complicate itself. The drawing is extremely clean, yet so exuberant that it is always making a mess for itself. It should be said that this is a style that looks much better on paper than it does on screen.”
AIPT
• Colin Moon reviews the beautiful reprinting of Fantagraphics’ Lost Marvels No. 1: Tower of Shadows.
• Piper Whitaker reviews the fantastic reboot of Heavy Metal International’s Heavy Metal #1.
• Justin Harrison reviews the strong conclusion of Bryan Lee O'Malley, Leslie Hung, et la’s Snotgirl #20.
• David Brooke reviews the retro rampaging of Joe Kelly, Nick Bradshaw, et al’s Godzilla vs. Spider-Man #1.
• Collier Jennings reviews the refreshing appeal of Aubrey Sitterson, Jed Dougherty, et al’s Free Planet #1; and the solid setup of Derek Kolstad, Robert Vendetti, Tomas Giorello, et al’s Planet Death #0.
The Beat
• Kerry Vineberg reviews the seamless craft of Craig Thompson's Ginseng Roots.
• Zack Quaintance reviews the demonic differences of Anna Meyer’s Saint Catherine; and the technical elevation of Guy Delisle’s Muybridge, translated by Helge Dasher and Rob Aspinall.
• Joe Grunenwald reviews the satisfying finale of Alex Segura, Cian Tormey, et al’s The Question: All Along the Watchtower #6.
• Harrison Stewart reviews the refreshing finality of Michel Fiffe’s Death of Copra #4.
• Jordan Jennings reviews the undercutting humour of Joe Kelly, Nick Bradshaw, et al’s Godzilla vs. Spider-Man #1; and the nuanced composition of Wes Craig et al’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero – Silent Missions – Duke #1.
• Ricardo Serrano Denis reviews the bittersweet fun of John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, Dan Cornwell, et al’s Spector: Incorruptible; and the enjoyable puzzle of Justin Richards, Val Halvorson, et al’s The Slasher’s Apprentice #1.
Broken Frontier
• Edward Picot reviews the character discoveries of Paddy Wolfe’s Ever & Always.
• Andy Oliver reviews the appealing charm of Jamie Kinroy’s Night Shift.
• Gary Usher reviews the powerful visuals of Steven Solomon’s Many Opinions and Errors.
The Daily Californian
Afton Okwu reviews the resonant heart of Anna Meyer’s Saint Catherine.
House to Astonish
Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men #15, X-Force #10, Magik #4, Deadpool & Wolverine #4, and Sabretooth: The Dead Don’t Talk #5.
Solrad
Hagai Palevsky reviews the unfunny humour of Sugiura Shigeru’s Ninja Sarutobi Sasuke, translated by Ryan Holmberg.
Yatta-tachi
Kelly S reviews the solid gags of Igarashi Masakuni’s Detectives These Days Are Crazy! Volume 1.
You know it’s getting real when we receive the Ignatz Awards logo…Here it is… 🎶🎺🎺🎶The awesome 2025 Ignatz Awards logo by last year’s Promising New Talent winner, Léa Murawiec!!!It’s a beauty!
— Small Press Expo (@smallpressexpo.bsky.social) 2025-04-21T17:49:32.142Z
This week’s interviews.
AIPT
• Chris Coplan speaks with Mike Carroll about Silver: Perfidious and serialising stories for 2000 AD’s (and Tharg’s) weekly schedule, and with Guy Adams and Megan Huang about Ghosted and the structure of the story.
• Chris Hassan talks to Amy Chu about Emma Frost: The White Queen and X-Men influences, and to Jeffrey Brown about The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Fun and childhood spending habits.
The Austin Chronicle
Tom Buckley interviews Janine Barchas and Isabel Greenberg about The Novel Life of Jane Austen: A Graphic Biography and research field trips.
The Beat
Jared Bird speaks with Norm Konyu about Downlands, English history, creative freedoms, and the folklore of the black hound.
Broken Frontier
François Vigneault talks to Ned Wenlock about Tsunami, childhood inspirations for the narrative, life in the suburbs, and leaning in to the conflict of the story.
Comics Grinder
Henry Chamberlain interviews Craig Thompson about Ginseng Roots, the book’s serialized origins, getting out of the house, and telling immersive stories.
Forbes
Josh Weiss talks to Joshua Rubin about Strange Land Comics, bypassing corporate approvals, and storytelling for comics and video games.
Publisher’s Weekly
Shaenon K. Garrity interviews Yudori about Raging Clouds, writing about places you’ve never been to, and leaving character backgrounds ambiguous.
Rolling Out
Tonya J Williams speaks with Barbara Brandon-Croft about Where I’m Coming From, amplifying Black women’s voices, and the therapeutic nature of telling stories.
Smash Pages
JK Parkin talks to Michelle Fus and Anna Meyer about Saint Catherine and Ava’s Demon and explorations around demonic possession stories, and to Corinna Bechko about Blood Type and getting in with the EC Comics revival.
Southwest Review
Mary Miller interviews Lynda Barry about the ending of stories, the meditative nature of the paintbrush, and family histories.
UC Riverside News
Imran Ghori speaks with John Jennings about adapting Olivia Butler’s Parable of the Talents, real world parallels, and the joys of the source material.
Yatta-tachi
Sara Linsley interviews Sabrina Heep about lettering Nana and Chainsaw Man, changing norms in localisation, working to deadlines, and hand drawing FX.
Nominations for the 2025 @ringoawards.bsky.social continues. Nominations are open to fans and pros alike, so submit your ballot today!ringoawards.com#ringoawards #ringoawards2025 #baltimorecomiccon
— Ringo Awards (@ringoawards.bsky.social) 2025-04-28T16:15:08.126Z
This week’s features and longreads.
• Here at TCJ, High-Low returns to the site, as Rob Clough dives into the history, and shifting outputs, of Ari S. Mulch’s Toxic Metal Press — “What set Toxic Metal Press apart from similar publishers (Diskette Press seemed to be an inspiration as well) was Mulch's willingness to dip into darker and more extreme places than the comparatively cheery Silver Sprocket.”
• Also for TCJ, Gina Gagliano follows up January’s discussion of the subsequently plastic tariffs of the Trump administration, speaking once more with publishers from across the medium of comics about the potential such charges have to cause disruption to the industry — “Industry organization the American Booksellers Association rounds up the full effects of the tariffs on the industry and on American readers, “It is likely that tariffs will increase the price of books and shipping, mainly because of how they could impact the cost of producing books (imported paper and ink except Canada and Mexico if USMCA-compliant) and possible increases in fuel prices.”
• For The New York Times, Shivani Vora reports from the Miami Children’s Museum’s Take Care with Peanuts: The Exhibit, celebrating 75 years of Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip, which is set to go on an extensive road trip later this summer.
• Over at LitHub, Harry Bliss shares memories of first meeting Seymour Hersh, the process of visually capturing New York, and classic New York City mindfucks.
• In the Southwest Review, Jeet Heer writes on the life and work of R. Crumb, as Dan Nadel’s Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life hits bookstores, and charts the changes across Crumb’s professional and personal lives.
• If, understandably, you need a full recap of the week’s Diamond bankruptcy proceedings, then Rob Salkowitz has a summary of this week’s events for Forbes.
• For Shelfdust, Steve Morris writes on Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson’s Harley Quinn #2, and focuses in on the fundamental duality of Two Face, aka Harvey Dent, and what explorations of the character’s numerical neurodivergence are actually left for creators wanting to flip the coin.
• The return of the Mindless Ones continues, as this week’s newsletter features writing on John Smith, Jim Baikie, Sean Phillips, Duncan Fegredo, et al’s New Statesmen in comparison to the looming genre reinvention that preceded it; and the comforting arrival of Benito Cereno, E.J. Su, et al’s Blood and Thunder to the stands.
• Paul O’Brien’s survey of the villains of Daredevil returns, for House to Astonish, as this week Jim Shooter arrives and (briefly) ushers the Smasher (mk. II) onto the stage.
• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as the calendar marks one hundred days in office for the new administration of President Trump.
Angel's Whisper 🦢
— Anya Chalina (@anyachalina.bsky.social) 2025-04-26T10:37:10.797Z
This week’s audio/visual delights.
• A couple of recent meetings of the New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium, as Ben Katchor hosted a talk from Olivier Schrauwen on Sunday and the mind’s way of constructing a narrative; and Austin English hosted a discussion between Sam Seigel and Sarah Kirby on their work and collaborations.
• Noah Van Sciver presented a new cartoonist chat, this edition speaking with Kayla E about Precious Rubbish, pulling from comics history, reading between the lines in work, and the magic of art revealing more about who you are.
• The Mangasplaining team returned from a brief hiatus, as David Brothers hosted discussion of Jiro Taniguchi’s Guardians of the Louvre, the nature of sponsored works, the Louvre series of books, and the varied artistic delights of Europe.
• For Off Panel, David Harper spoke with Sophie Campbell about Supergirl, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mothra: Queen of the Monsters, workload juggling, the writer/artist split, and lessons learned from other projects.
• Kate Fitzsimons, Heidi MacDonald, and Calvin Reid reconvened to go through a busy period in the world of comics distribution, for Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come, and discussed Hiveworks’ recent decision to call time on print publishing.
• 2000-AD’s Thrill Cast presents part two of a career-spanning interview with artist Simon Bisley, as MOLCH-R spoke with Bisley about Sláine: The Horned God Anniversary Edition, process decisions that went into the original strip, and the timeless nature of Celtic lore.
• PBS News’ Jeffrey Brown spoke with Ann Telnaes and Michael Ramirez about the changing nature of political cartooning, also interviewing the Library of Congress’ Sara Duke about the history of the medium.
野生の王国
— こまちみゆた (@comatimiyuta.bsky.social) 2025-04-28T01:59:48.471Z
No more links this week, no more court documents, please, my need for hard copy to work from is causing my printer to smoke alarmingly.
English (US) · 