What Was I Thinkin’ In My Head — This Week’s Links

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Clark Burscough | June 13, 2025

A bad week for losing giants of other creative fields, and yet the world continues to turn, as it will do, and so comics news continues to be generated, as it will do, subsequently collated into a fresh set of this week’s links, below.

So glad we got to see Brian Wilson sing live. I couldn’t resist drawing him during the gig so I could say it was drawn from life. Here he is at his piano at the Manchester Apollo.

— Jonathan Edwards (@jontofski.bsky.social) 2025-06-11T17:39:53.409Z

This week’s news.

• Starting this week’s selection with an announcement from Uncivilized Books' Tom Kaczynski, disputing a recent piece from Bleeding Cool’s Rich Johnston, which (incorrectly) claimed the publisher had taken over distribution of all Living the Line titles — Kaczynski used the announcement to further voice concerns about the lack of communication to publishers from the new owners of Diamond Comics Distribution, and questioned when payment can be expected for invoices on books already delivered.

• In other Diamond bankruptcy news, as dockets filed in the proceedings pass 500, fresh litigation has arisen from item no. 493, summarised here at ICv2, as Diamond’s new owners Ad Populum have filed for a temporary restraining order in the wake of Alliance Entertainment, the also-ran bidders for Diamond, having hired away a number of former employees of the distro company, with the filing claiming that Alliance’s actions in this context represent a “brazen disregard of binding non-disclosure and non-solicitation obligations and … theft of valuable of trade secrets.”

• In comics prizes news, last week’s Toronto Comics Art Festival saw the winners of this year’s Doug Wright Awards announced, as Maurice Vellekoop’s I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together was named Best Book, Boum’s The Jellyfish took home the prize for Emerging Talent, and Patrick Allaby’s Customer Service won for Best Small- or Micro-Press Book, with Richard Comely and Lou Skuce named as 2025’s inductees into the Giants of the North: Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame.

And then @cabfolio.com drew this and I'm laughing again

— Boum @ SCHLOOP (Atomic Café) (@boum.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T17:42:44.855Z

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Hagai Palevsky reviews the frictionless monotexture of Rebellion’s The José Muñoz Collection — “It’s a formula that requires a relentless sort of proficiency: every page sports between seven and nine panels, every single panel brings with it new actions and moving parts, and not a single one is ever wordless. Such rhythmic fixity doesn’t allow for much ‘flash,’ let alone atmosphere, only a compromised clarity, and indeed Muñoz here does not resemble the artist of Alack Sinner, with his ruminative chiaroscuro; if anything, the thin, labored dry-brush tilts him closer to the stoic rigidity of studio-owner Solano López.”

• Tom Shapira reviews the warping plasticity of Pat Mills, Angie Kincaid, Massimo Belardinelli, Mick McMahon, et al’s Sláine: The Definitive Edition, Volume 1 — “Even when writing high-adventure, Mills’ personal politics were front and center; likewise the romanticism towards the ancient Celts as a noble savage type (though with more of the "savage" aspect than usual), compared to the morally-compromised civilized societies of later eras.”

AIPT

• Kevin Clark reviews the anarchic freedom of Corinna Bechko, Andrea Sorrentino, et al’s Blood Type #1.

• David Brooke reviews the thoughtful introspection of Greg Pak, Sumit Kumar, et al’s Death of the Silver Surfer #1.

• Ryan Perry reviews the poor choices of Tom King, Belen Ortega, et al’s Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #1.

• Alex Schlesinger reviews the perfect storytelling of Murewa Ayodele, Lucas Werneck, et al’s Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant.

• Jonathan Jones reviews the emotional resonance of Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Rod Reis, et al’s Giant-Size Dark Phoenix Saga #1.

The Beat

• Zack Quaintance reviews the compelling concept of Michael Schwartz, Ismael Hernandez, et al’s Armored.

• Michael VanCarlbergh reviews the recognisable narrative of Askel Aden’s Love, Misha.

• Kristina Elyse Butke reviews the engrossing continuation of Keri Kusabi’s Wails of the Bound: Return, Volume 1, translated by Christine Dashiell.

• Avery Kaplan and Ollie Kaplan review the welcome focus of Marvel Comics’ Marvel United: A Pride Special.

• Diego Higuera reviews the engrossing layers of Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen, et al’s Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #1.

• Clyde Hall reviews the winning introduction of Corinna Bechko, Andrea Sorrentino, et al’s Blood Type #1.

• Jared Bird reviews the triumphant return of Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá, et al’s The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1.

• Hilary Leung reviews the heart-wrenching core of Dokjin and Hottu’s adaptation of JANG dahye’s Dear Hongrang.

• Heidi MacDonald reviews the charming humanisation of Sook-Yin Lee’s adaptation of Chester Brown’s Paying For It.

Broken Frontier

• Andy Oliver reviews the intense focus of Mamita’s The Metalhead Next Door, and the touching tenderness of Rowan Frewin’s Treading Water.

• Gary Usher reviews the heightening absurdity of Justin Gradin’s Pageant.

Four Color Apocalypse

Ryan Carey reviews the skilled storytelling of Brandon Hayes et al’s How to Survive in Your Mental and Advance Directive, and the enjoyable showcase of Brian Canini’s Airbag.

From Cover to Cover

Scott Cederlund reviews the emotional devastation of Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá, et al’s The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #1.

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic #24, X-Men #17, Storm #9, Laura Kinney, Wolverine #7, and Hellverine #7.

Kirkus Reviews

Have starred capsule reviews of:

• The enchanting sweetness of Trung Le Nguyen's Angelica and the Bear Prince.

• The timeless manifesto of Chris Grabenstein and Douglas Holgate's Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics.

• The engaging balance of Ngozi Ukazu's Flip.

• The wild originality of Scott Campbell's Cabin Head and Tree Head.

• The heartfelt memoir of Daniel Miyares' How to Say Goodbye in Cuban.

• The chewy brilliance of Lindsey Leigh's The Dirt: Wild Life Under the Soil's Surface.

Solrad

Hagai Palevsky reviews the visual delineation of Anders Nilsen’s Tongues.

Yatta-tachi

• Penn reviews the bold visuals of Sumiko Arai’s The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, Volume 1, translated by Ajani Oloye.

• Kelly S reviews the unbeatable suspense of Mokumokuren’s The Summer Hikaru Died, Volume 1.

Summer 2025 edition

— Ben Sears (@bensears.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T04:51:48.780Z

This week’s interviews.

TCJ

• Excerpted from The Comics Journal #311, Sarah Glidden interviews Kate Beaton about Hark! A Vagrant, readership dialogues in the peak webcomics age, and comics community iterations — “But I think building a nice relationship with your audience, you could treat it like part of the job, but it’s also a thing you should do. It’s a normal thing you should do. Why would you be weird and off-putting [laughter]? I don’t know. We all have blind spots and we all come from some place that doesn’t know everything about everybody. So be open to what people have to say.”

• Robert Aman interviews Cornélius’ Jean-Louis Gauthey about publishing journey beginnings, fictional pigs, L’Association connections, and submission vetting — “There’s a fairly well-known French pulp fiction writer, Gustave Le Rouge, who wrote The Mysterious Doctor Cornélius, which I read as a kid. Cornélius was also the name of Roddy McDowall’s character in my favorite film, Planet of the Apes, and, of course, the grandfather in Babar is called Cornélius too. So, in the end, I guess it wasn’t just pulled out of thin air.”

AIPT

• Chris Coplan speaks with Steve Thompson about Ill Vacation, and the history of unethical chemical experimentation, and with Jason Shawn Alexander about Scrooge: A Christmas Carol and revisiting past projects.

• Chris Hassan talks to Ashley Allen about Magik, the character legacy of Illyana Rasputin, sports inspirations, and decisions behind the comic’s supporting cast.

• Marvel Maximus chats with Christopher Priest about Vampirella, the desires of a space vampire, and priorities when writing genre comics.

The Beat

• E.B. Hutchins interviews Jeremy Whitley about Aces & Aros, the anthology’s origins, story statements, and future projects.

• Avery Kaplan and Ollie Kaplan speak with Matt Braly and Ainsworth Lin about Family Force V, idea pitches, and pleasurable celestial body aesthetics.

Broken Frontier

Lydia Turner talks to David Perry and Max Beaudry about Aw, Nuts!, career aspirations, iconic duos, and favourite cuisine.

CBC

Mattea Roach interviews Alison Bechdel about Spent and Fun Home, communal living, the unchanging record of memoir, and the realities behind Spent.

La Jolla Light

Ashley Mackin Solomon speaks with Lauren Lockhart and Ethan Banegas about the La Jolla Historical Society’s Wisteria Cottage gallery’s ‘Kumeyaay Visual Storytelling Project’ exhibition.

The Los Angeles Times

Tracy Brown talks to George Takei about It Rhymes With Takei, pronunciation education, coming out of the closet later in life, and civil rights activism.

Newcity Lit

Theodore Anderson interviews John Pistelli about Major Arcana, the novel’s comic book influences, and the generational clash the story addresses.

Times Union

Jim Shahen Jr. speaks with Marcus Kwame Anderson about Big Jim and the White Boy, building a new world from Mark Twain’s source material, and the challenging nature of the project.

made a little comic last year but posting it today for fun

— Ramon Villalobos (@ramonvillalobos.bsky.social) 2025-06-12T14:31:23.280Z

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, Kaoru Kumi writes on Akira Toriyama’s Dr. Slump, eyes a-popping at the gags to be uncovered in its opening pages, and editor Kazuhiko Torishima’s push to change the manga’s lead — “Torishima, who retired one year before the passing of the most brilliant and talented manga artist he nurtured, made the following statement on a radio program dedicated to honoring Toriyama: "Don’t be sad, and don’t forget him. What you do with what you’ve received from him is up to you. If you have time to shed tears, use it to break a sweat!" Toriyama-sensei, you’re unforgettable.”

• Also for TCJ, Chris Anthony Diaz shares a report from last October’s Ann Arbor Comics Arts Festival, with a plethora of photos from the event — “It's a great show to attend in a very nice setting and town, and there will be another one in 2025, around the same time again. Be on the lookout for their announcements in the near future! Top notch work by festival/library staf and Athenaeum Comic Art for organizing and getting the word out to get the buzz going for an indie comics celebration in Ann Arbor!”

• For ICv2, Milton Griepp reports on the potential catastrophic loss of sales data faced by retailers in the wake of Diamond’s bankruptcy and sale, speaking with Comix Experience’s Brian Hibbs about why this is such a looming issue for the direct market’s brick and mortar stores.

• Over at Shelfdust, David Brothers continues the site’s retrospective on Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber’s Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, as issue 8 of the series reduces the time-to-punchline and increases the narrative density by orders of magnitude.

• A pair of pieces on Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano Lopez’s The Eternaut, as the book is discovered anew by a fresh generation thanks to its Netflix adaptation, as The Guardian’s Jordana Timerman and NPR’s Bob Mondello cover the show’s success in translating the themes of the source material.

• Elsewhere on the Argentinian beat, at The Paris Review, Julia Kornberg writes on Quino’s comic strip Mafalda, recently released internationally in English for the first time, and the sociopolitical context under which the strip was first published.

• For VTDigger, Kevin O’Connor shares questions and answers from a recent live event for the launch of Alison Bechdel’s Spent, with Bechdel considering the role played by Vermont in the book, and recounting the decisions for telling a story of autofiction.

• Over at Broken Frontier, Eve Greenwood and Spire Greenwood give a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Ruin of the House of the Divine Visage, and the real life inspirations for the story to be found therein.

• Midway through Pride Month, and there’s reading recommendations to be had, from Charles Arrowsmith for The Washington Post writing on the good and the bad of Mike Curato’s Gaysians, and The New York Times’ George Gene Gustines recommending 8 comics to read in June.

• Nestled in amongst the comedowns and travelling piggly wigglies, the Mindless Ones latest dispatch contains discussion of the work of Satoshi Kon, Grant Morrison, and Peter Milligan, as you would expect; and there’s further affiliated comics writing from Illogical Volume with some capsule reviews of recent direct market offerings, Anya Davidson’s response comic to the discourse around Alex Graham’s recent Instagram comic, and Gilbert Hernandez and Jamie Hernandez’s Love and Rockets #16.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as mobilisation of armed forces in response to protests in Los Angeles against ICE abductions shifted focus away from the fracturing of the Musk/Trump oligarchy.

doppelgänger

— Nicole Rifkin (@nicolerifkin.bsky.social) 2025-05-24T02:26:13.039Z

This week’s audio/visual delights.

Some recent goings on from across the web of comics podcasting and vodcasting, as Drawn and Quarterly presenting a couple of fresh At Home With sessions with Katie Fricas speaking about Checked Out and Marc Torices speaking about Cornelius: The Merry Life of a Wretched Dog, SILENCE! continued its voyage through the Drifting Reviewniverse and stopped off at an island worryingly marked Batman and the Outsiders #8, the doors to House to Astonish opened once more as Al Kennedy and Paul O’Brien spoke in remembrance of the recently departed Peter David, Off Panel’s David Harper spoke with Cape and Cowl Comics’ Eitan Manhoff about the current climate in the retail sector, and Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come had similar fare with an update on Diamond’s bankruptcy chaos and further tributes to Peter David.