They Melvined Me – This Week’s Links

Another Valentine’s Day arrives, and so I blow kisses to all the comics on my shelves, and in my longboxes, to which I vaguely intimated that I would re-read them at some point in the near future and then emphatically forgot to do so, instead leaving them to further collect dust and/or sun damage. What did I read in their place? Why, this week’s links, below, of course!

“Nothing amazing ever happens here”

— Rosemary V-O (@hirosemary.bsky.social) 2025-01-25T16:38:55.701Z

This week’s news.

• Shuffling into the courtroom once more, as it was announced that Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster have filed suit against book banning legislation in Idaho, which targets public libraries as well as school libraries - similar lawsuits are rumbling on in Iowa and Florida, but the US Department of Education last month announced that it was dismissing various complaints against such book-bannings in schools, labelling them as a ‘hoax’, a claim quickly refuted by PEN America.

• Elsewhere, in libraries wanting people to read books, actually, news, the American Library Association announced the latest Best Graphic Novels for Adults Reading List, sharing 2024’s top ten list alongside the full rundown of titles, while the American Booksellers Association released their first Indie Comics and Graphic Works Bestseller List of 2025.

• Looking to the comics publishing industry machine now, as layoffs were announced at Ablaze and Alien Books this week, while Mad Cave shared news of new hires to its editorial staff and marketing teams - Diamond Comic Distributors’ filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month continues to reverberate.

• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, as news was shared this week of the passing of retailer, writer, and editor KC Carlson, who died earlier this month at the age of 68.

• News was also shared of the passing of artist and author Turtel Onli, originator of the term ‘Black Age of Comics’, and who developed a ‘rhythmism’ style of work, who died last month at the age of 72.

Testing stuff

— Roque Romero - Comms open (@roqueromero.bsky.social) 2025-02-07T16:57:43.550Z

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Tim Hayes reviews the subversive havoc of Alan Martin and Brett Parson’s The Tank Girl Trilogy - “More recently, in comics drawn by Parson and some others, Tank Girl has – among much else – murdered a school bully, taken acid, pulled a sword from a stone to become the rightful ruler of Britain, endured further traumatic encounters with her own past, and ended up asleep in a glass coffin like Snow White, where it almost seemed for a minute as if Martin was going to leave her. He did not.”

• Tasha Lowe reviews the wonderful layout of Peter Hoey and Maria Hoey’s In Perpetuity - “The bounces between sunshine-backed pages and the grey ambiance of the underworld come faster, but the artwork maintains a certain calm. You know that you are in the hands of master storytellers and artists that possess a steady hand. The increase in action only accelerates the small and interesting details.”

AIPT

• Christopher Franey reviews the excellent chemistry of Jeremy Adams, Morgan Hampton, Fernando Pasarin, et al’s Green Lantern Corps #1.

• Marvel Maximus reviews the familiar beats of Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, et al’s Absolute Batman #5.

• David Brooke reviews the ambitious opening of Ryan North, R.B. Siva, et al’s One World Under Doom #1.

• Colin Moon reviews the dry density of Tom Scioli’s Fantastic Four: Grand Design.

• Alex Schlesinger reviews the exemplary thrills of Ta-Nehisi Coates, Brian Stelfreeze, Chris Sprouse, et al’s Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet.

• Collier Jennings reviews the compelling start to Jason Aaron, Mahmud Asrar, et al’s Bug Wars #1.

The Arts STL

Sarah Boslaugh reviews the preemptive choices of Wilfrid Lupano and Stéphane Fert’s Surrounded: America’s First School for Black Girls, 1832.

The Beat

• Matt Ledger reviews the promising start of Jeremy Adams, Morgan Hampton, Fernando Pasarin, et al’s Green Lantern Corps #1.

• Jared Bird reviews the solid core of Jason Aaron, Mahmud Asrar, et al’s Bug Wars #1.

• Jordan Jennings reviews the confusing decisions of AJ Lieberman, Mike Henderson, et al’s The Hive #1.

• Arpad Okay reviews the comic timing of Connor B’s Bring Me the Head of Susan Lomond.

• Michael VanCalbergh reviews the stunning artwork of Edel Rodriguez’s Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey.

• Merve Giray reviews the transformational energy of MAKIHIROCHI’s Sketchy, translated by Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley.

• Kristina Elyse Butke reviews the romantic tension of Oreco Tachibana’s Firefly Wedding, Volume 1, translated by Andria McKnight; and the striking details of Fumi Tsuyuhisa’s Palace of the Omega, Volume One, translated by Adrienne Beck.

Blogcritics

Jeff Provine reviews the complex worlds of Michael D. Kennedy’s Milk White Steed.

Broken Frontier

• Lindsay Pereira reviews the interesting approach of Rick Geary’s A Treasury of XXth Century Murder Compendium II.

• Andy Oliver has reviews of:

The strange shifts of Walker Tate’s mini kuš! #127: Swelling.
The careful curation of Yazan Al-Saadi et al’s Lebanon is Burning and Other Dispatches.
The tranquil escapism of Apolonija Lučić’s mini kuš! #128: Silent Observations.

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic #9, Phoenix #8, and Wolverine #6.

Solrad

Hagai Palevsky reviews the undercutting limitations of Taiyō Matsumoto’s Tokyo These Days, translated by Michael Arias.

Thrilled to announce that #CZF2025 will be held Saturday July 19th at a brand new venue: Chicago Public Library's Harold Washington Library. We're taking over the Winter Garden, folks! #zines #ZineFests

— Chicago Zine Fest (@chicagozinefest.bsky.social) 2025-02-09T17:27:37.967Z

This week’s interviews.

AIPT

• Chris Hassan talks to Joe Casey about Weapon X-Men, looking back on previous work with Marvel’s mutants, and approaching the writing of superstar characters.

• David Brooke speaks with:

• Christopher Cantwell and Tyler Crook about Out of Alcatraz and the dehumanising nature of the carceral system.

• Justin Jordan about Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave and folk magic traditions.

• A.J. Lieberman and Mike Henderson about The Hive and unexpected reveals.

• Jordan D. White about All-New Venom and dental decisions.

BBC

Pauline McLean chats with Jane McCormick, Lyndsay Jess, Ruby Davidson, and Jestein Gibson about work towards making public an archive of works by cartoonist Malky McCormick.

The Beat

• Deanna Destito interviews Joe Casey about Space Quest, following in the footsteps of Doug Wildey and Alex Toth, and the cosmic nature of God.

• Jared Bird speaks with Louis Southard about Midnight Western Theatre, regaining publishing rights to the book, and shifting to a crowdfunding model for publication.

Boston.com

Peter Chianca talks to Brian Anderson about Dog Eat Doug and the Sophie graphic novels, syndicated strip contract considerations, and appealing to readers across generations.

Comics Grinder

Henry Chamberlain interviews Anders Nilsen about Tongues, thoughts on completing big publishing projects, the allure of the myth of Prometheus, and the work involved in colouring comics.

io9

Isaiah Colbert speaks with Kumar Sivasubramanian about translation work on Dandadan, how freelance translation assignments come about, and localising pop culture references.

NPR

Chats with Benjamin Clark, curator of Santa Rosa’s Charles Schulz Museum, about the enduring popularity of Peanuts on the 25th anniversary of Schulz’s passing.

Polygon

Susana Polo talks to Ryan North about One World Under Doom, the core of Victor Von Doom, what happens when the villain wins, and the considerations behind crossover events.

Publisher’s Weekly

Tiffany Babb interviews Alex Krokus about Loud & Smart & in Color, separating yourself from your cartoon avatar, artistic experimentation, and the excitement when a comic goes viral.

DCAF has a New Venue! We’re very excited to be setting up at The Complex for 4 events in 2025 starting with our first event of the year on Sunday, April 6th!With the larger space at The Complex DCAF is back to a single day event for the first time since 2019! All 100 exhibitors on 1 day!

— Dublin Comic Arts Festival (@dublincomicarts.bsky.social) 2025-02-09T16:03:59.616Z

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, Philip Nel examines the ending of the comic-strip Barnaby by cartoonist Crockett Johnson, the various pressures that may have influence Johnson’s decision, and the nature of the strip’s narrative conclusion - “One possible cause for Barnaby’s conclusion not mentioned by Johnson is his rising profile as a suspected Communist. In April 1950, the FBI identified Johnson as a “concealed Communist” and opened a file on him. That August, when one agent knocked on his front door, Johnson opened it and chatted, while a second agent covertly took his photograph.”

• The first of a pair of pieces for TCJ from opposite sides of the aisle regarding generative AI, as Ben Passmore writes on how the contemporary artificial intelligence frontier is just another shopfront for exploiting artists - “Artists are just part of the production line for outlets that sell our work, and an inconvenient one at that. We need to eat, sleep and pay our bills, in addition to our exhausting need for free time away from work to find inspiration. The people that make the most money from the monetization of our labor, which is to say rich people, have been using all sorts of tricks to bypass us for a long time.”

• Contrastingly, Ilan Manouach writes in defence of ‘synthetic comics’, and how use of the term ‘AI comics’ is a limiting descriptor, with some lively discourse in the comments - “Synthetic comics are works whose forms, material characteristics, and operations are entrusted to technical systems programmed to generate an infinite array of distinctive and original outcomes, leveraging annotated datasets.”

• Moving back to comics made by people, Tom Shapira wrote for TCJ on the contrasting collaborative modes of Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows, in the context of Get Fury and Babs, and the relative successes of each - “Is there something that unites these two books other than the creative team and the publishing dates? Not much, though one can certainly posit that they are at their best when dealing with people who make all the wrong decisions. Some of the best stories by Ennis are about "hard men" making "difficult choices" … only to find out that they chose badly.”

• Finally for TCJ this week, reporting from Centre Pompidou’s Comics, 1964-2024 exhibition, Tiffany Babb considers the miniature architecture on display in the form of Seth’s Dominion, and contrasts the physical making of models with traditional cartooning - “Dominion, though its cardboard buildings may be on display in a museum exhibit about comics, exists for a reason outside of an audience. It was made for Seth’s enjoyment. Because we know this, we can assume that the artistic choices Seth makes with Dominion are made solely to follow his own aesthetic and his own interests.”

• For more from Seth, The New Yorker has a strip from the cartoonist which celebrates the life and work of Rea Irvin, first art editor for The New Yorker, and creator of the cover caricature Eustace Tilley.

• For Lit Hub, Paul Morton writes in remembrance of cartoonist and writer Jules Feiffer, who passed away last month at the age of 95, and considers the complexities of the artist and the anger that came across in a lifetime of work.

• Over at The Beat, as the fallout from Diamond Comic Distributors’ bankruptcy announcement continues to settle, former Sales Manager John Shableski shares memories of the early days of Diamond Book Distributors, the company’s division servicing the book market.

• For Forbes, covering a legal story that could have some fairly big implications for this summer’s box office, Allen Secretov looks up in the sky and charts the litigious copyright history of one Clark Kent, aka Superman.

• Over at Shelfdust, in a similarly litigious mood, Steve Morris makes the case as to why Hank ‘Beast’ McCoy should, oh my stars and garters, be sent to prison for war crimes, amid a fairly concerted heel turn over the last decade and change, which shines a light on the issue of ‘complex’ character in serialised superhero narratives.

• For more on said "complex" characters, for Gizmodo, James Whitbrook writes on the history of Marvel Comics’ Ruth Bat-Seraph, aka Sabra, and the character’s indelible connections to the Israeli government and Mossad.

• For PopMatters, as Brian K. Vaughan and Steve Skroce’s We Stand on Guard crests a wave of SEO resurgence, given current political grandstanding, Hank Kennedy writes on the book’s depiction of a hypothetical war between Canada and the United States of America, and the real-life inspirations the story drew upon.

• Ahead of the Philippe Labaune Gallery’s upcoming Will Eisner exhibition, Boing Boing and Creative Bloq have previews of the show, featuring extensive original artwork from A Contract With God.

• From the world of open-access academia, for the Journal of Science Communication, Isabelle Baxter, Andy Ridgway, Heather Doran, Niamh Nic Daeid, Rachel Briscoe, Joe McAlister, and Daniel Barnard present research on the use of scientific comics to help lay readers understand scientific evidence from a mock trial, and whether such comics could support the decision making and scientific comprehension of juries in the future.

• For House to Astonish, Paul O’Brien’s survey of the villains of Daredevil continues, as this edition sees the pulpy arrival of the Copperhead, amidst some revolving writer upheaval.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as the machinations of one President Donald Trump and various hyper-wealth allies of this administration continue to dominate the headlines.

New venue secured, dates set, all we need is you! Exhibitor application details coming shortly…

— Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (@cakechicago.bsky.social) 2025-01-23T22:11:03.234Z

This week’s audio/visual delights.

• Ben Katchor and Bill Kartalopoulos hosted recent meetings of the New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium, as artist, publisher, and historian Jonas Delaborde spoke on the work of Elles sont de sortie (aka Pascal Doury and Bruno Richard) and the legacy of their pseudonymously eponymous publication; and journalist and historian Glenn Fleishman discussed the technical expertise and crafting considerations involved in the reproduction of newspaper comics during the metal printing era.

• David Harper welcomed Polygon’s Susana Polo to the latest episode of Off Panel, as they discussed journalism on page-to-screen adaptations, connecting motion pictures more to the source material, and the current status quo across the Big Two’s publishing endeavours.

• Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come follows up last week’s preview of comics yet to be with a similar rundown from Shaenon K. Garrity and Meg Lemke for upcoming manga, manhwa, manhua, and infinite scroll titles to keep an eye out for in this most hectic of years.

• Closing out the week with a couple of Word Balloon conversations with John Siuntres, as Dan DiDio spoke about Defenders of the Earth and the difficulties inherent in interconnected lines of superhero titles, and Brian Michael Bendis discussed Fortune and Glory: The Musical and current superhero reading recommendations.