Et tu, Brute? – This Week’s Links

Spending the run up to this year’s Ides of March as I do every year - closely observing my surroundings for any signs and portents that may foreshadow my upcoming, untimely betrayal and assassination by 60-80 of my friends and colleagues, while also closely observing the internet to collate 60-80 of this week’s links, below.

This week’s news.

• A GoFundMe was started this week in support of Welsh cartoonist R.E. Burke, who was detained last month by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, after being refused entry into Canada from the US during a backpacking trip, due to confusion over visa requirements - Burke’s father, Paul, launched the fundraiser this week in support of expected legal fees and travel costs, with any excess funds to be donated to charities in Seattle that help support individuals in similar situations, as Burke is currently being held in a detention centre in Tacoma, Washington.

• In other fundraising news, a GoFundMe was also launched this week in support of writer Peter David, after David was rejected for Medicaid support while recovering from long term health issues - David’s family are looking to raise $50k to cover associated bills.

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Aug Stone reviews the dream logic of Andrzej Klimowski’s Edifice - “The book’s panels mostly portray individuals or duos so these crowd scenes – watching films and TV, and especially congregated at the party at the end – really stand out. Klimowski making excellent use of light and shade, and his choices over how much detail to put in a background, often just completely white, make for a pleasant meandering of mood.”

• Brian Nicholson reviews the rigorous precision of Michael Banas’ One-Eyed Want - “This is where Banas shows he can give his drawing a maniacal tightness, rather than achieving visual grandeur by extended noodling. We also see his skill as a plotter, as, while lost to their own interiority, we get a very impressive payoff from retelling the same scene twice from different characters’ perspectives.”

• Tom Shapira reviews the shackled storytelling of Mike Mignola’s Bowling with Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown - “I am not interested in the shared universe of Lands Unknown, and it seems unlikely you could get me invested with anything less than a double-barrel shotgun, but I am interested in the future work of Mike Mignola. There’s bite to that old dog yet.”

 

AIPT

• Rory Wilding reviews the narrative density of Tom King, Bilquis Evely, et al’s Helen of Wyndhorn.

• Landon Kuhlmann reviews the potent subtlety of Michael Avon Oeming, Mirko Colak, et al's Assassin's Creed Mirage: A Soar of Eagles #1.

• Nathan Simmons reviews the wonderful bizarreness of Matt Fraction, Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, Mike Allred, et al’s Welcome to Twilight #1.

• Alex Schlesinger reviews the complex characterisations of Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Francesco Mortarino, et al’s NYX Vol. 1: What Comes Next Will be Marvelous.

• Lukas Shayo reviews the winning spectacle of Jed MacKay, Ryan Stegman, et al’s X-Men: Homecoming.

• Colin Moon reviews the super-spy sampling of Marvel Comics’ Thunderbolts: The Saga of Yelena Belova.

• Ryan Perry reviews the excellent payoffs of Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval, et al’s Absolute Superman #5.

 

The Beat

•  Michael VanCalbergh reviews the gorgeous explorations of Michael DeForge’s Holy Lacrimony.

• Zack Quaintance reviews the intricate richness of Julia Gfrörer’s World Within The World – Collected Short Comix, 2010 – 2022.

• AJ Frost reviews the skillful subversion of Noah Van Sciver's Beat It, Rufus.

• Kerry Vineberg reviews the stylish substance of D. Bradford Gambles' Shred or Dead.

• Avery Kaplan reviews the engaging mythology of Chris Grine’s adaptation of K.A. Applegate and Michael Grant’s Animorphs #1-6.

• Sean Dillon reviews the barnstorming ideas of Deniz Camp, Eric Zawadzki, et al’s Assorted Crisis Events #1.

• Diego Higuera reviews the intense tone of Dan Watters, Hayden Sherman, et al’s Batman: Dark Patterns #4.

• Tim Rooney reviews the monster madness of J. Michael Straczynski, Elena Casagrande, et al’s Nick Fury vs. Fin Fang Foom #1.

• Hayami Kawachi reviews the captivating storytelling of Maru Kubota’s If It’s You I Might Try Falling in Love, Volume 1, translated by Avery Hutley.

• Clyde Hall reviews the supernatural mystery of Paul Tobin, PJ Holden, et al’s Dark Pyramid #1; and the satisfying snack of Matt Fraction, Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, Mike Allred, et al’s Welcome to Twilight #1.

 

Blogcritics

Jeff Provine reviews the haunting surreality of Michael DeForge’s Holy Lacrimony.

 

Broken Frontier

• James Calderbank reviews the charming escapism of Jean Fhilippe’s Leftstar and the Strange Occurrence.

• Gary Usher reviews the varied pairings of Domino Books’ Crease, edited by Austin English.

• Lindsay Pereira reviews the effortless humour of Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie’s Aya: Face the Music, translated by Edwige Renée Dro; and the distinctive approach of Michael DeForge’s Holy Lacrimony.

• Andy Oliver reviews the narrative extrapolations of Deniz Camp, Eric Zawadzki, et al’s Assorted Crisis Events #1; and the careful curation of Jonathan Baylis’ So Buttons #14.

 

Four Color Apocalypse

Ryan Carey reviews the compelling communication of Shirakawa Marina’s UFO Mushroom Invasion, translated by Ryan Holmberg.

 

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ Uncanny X-Men #11, NYX #9, Storm #6, and Wolverine #7.

 

Kirkus Reviews

Have starred capsule reviews of:

• The irresistible mischief of Graham Annable’s Hide & Seek With Clyde & Monique: Clyde in Plain Sight.

• The enchanting simplicity of Sylvie Kantorovitz’s Pickle on Wheels.

 

Montreal Review of Books

• Julie Jacques reviews the intimate portrait of D. Boyd’s Denniveniquity.

• Jack Ruttan reviews the harrowing recording of Rick Trembles’ Gesticulating Gentrification.

• Billie Gagné-LeBel reviews the evocative stylings of Michael DeForge’s Holy Lacrimony.

• Ian McGillis reviews the masterful orchestration of Ned Wenlock’s Tsunami.

This week’s interviews.

TCJ

Alex Dueben interviews Will Franz about The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz, comics origins and the pull of war stories, Charlton Comics work, and the research that went into writing war comics - “I knew guys who got drafted. I knew guys who were over there. I was 4-F from age 14, so I was ineligible. Families would argue. People asking, should I go or should I stay? People saying, if you don’t like the country, go to Canada. People burning draft cards. My generation didn’t go over as a unit, nor come back as a unit. It was all individuals. And they would come back at night and they’d be spat at.”

 

AIPT

• Chris Hassan talks to Benjamin Percy about Deadpool/Wolverine, favourite Marvel characters, humour as a survival instinct, and not being beholden to continuity.

• David Brooke speaks with Deniz Camp about Assorted Crisis Events and it being the right time for this kind of story, with Corinna Bechko about Blood Type and having fun with your food, and with Mark Russell about POLIS and crafting protopian worlds.

 

The Beat

• Diego Higuera interviews Jennie Wood and Mike Perkins about Invader Comics’ new edition of A Boy Like Me, and the personal and publishing processes behind the book.

• Christian Angeles speaks with Kriota Willberg, R. Sikoryak, Hyesu Lee, Olivia Fields, and Melissa Chan and Badiucao about upcoming appearances at this year’s MoCCA Fest, and what they’ll be bringing to the show.

 

Forbes

Tiffany Leigh chats with Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda about the tenth anniversary of Monstress and the importance of presenting the essence of a character and fictional world in your story’s opening page.

 

The Guardian

Vanessa Thorpe talks to Jamie Smart and Philip Stone about the current sales boom of children’s comics in Britain, running in the face of an overall decline of reading habits in children.

 

Hyperallergic

Dan Schindel speaks with Art Spiegelman about Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse, Maus, and MetaMaus, comics not needing adaptations, and collaborating with Joe Sacco.

 

ICv2

• Brigid Alverson talks to Yen Press’ Mark de Vera about the publisher’s recent sales trends, business relationships with Diamond, and diminishing returns on anime adaptation sales boosts.

• Milton Griepp interviews DCBS and Lunar Distribution’s Christina Merkler and Cameron Merkler about Lunar’s origins and the ongoing fallout from Diamond Comic Distributors’ filing for bankruptcy, and Viz Media’s Sarah Anderson about manga market evolutions and looming tariffs.

 

Kansas Reflector

Eric Thomas speaks with Greg Kearney about the realities of life as an editorial cartoonist, the ongoing decline of print newspapers, and syndication in the internet age.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

• Brigid Alverson talks to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation’s Judey Kalchik about the organisation’s disaster relief and individual support programs.

• Tobias Carroll speaks with Ricky Lima about Undergrowth, working with Top Shelf on the collected edition of the comic, and character inspirations.

 

Solrad

Ruby May Valentine interviews Diskette Press’ Angel Perez, Robin R, and Dylan Box about taking over operations of the RISO studio, and the press’ place as a bridge publisher for artists.

 

The Sunflower

Kass Lewis speaks with Darren DeFrain about development of the Vizling app, which uses audio and haptic feedback to aid visually impaired people with reading comics and graphic novels. 

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, Marc Tessier and Jean-Dominic Leduc report from this year’s edition of the Angoulême International Comics Festival, surveying the contingent of creators attending from Quebec, and contrasting changes at the festival during a year marked by controversies - “Aiming to be an international event, Angoulême is trying every year to be more accessible and attract more visitors, sometimes at the expense of the authors who would like the focus to be more on the artistry of making comics while using mediation to help the public appreciate and understand the different visions involved in making these bandes dessinées.”

• Comics at TCJ, as Angela Fanche also reported from Angoulême in diary comics form, and NBM Publishing present an excerpt from Wilfred Lugano and by Stéphane Fert’s Surrounded: America’s First School for Black Girls, 1832.

• For The Beat, Heidi MacDonald writes on Emerald City Comic Con and the decisions and logistics that drive the growth of conventions, as events wrestle with vibe shifts and audience retention.

• Over at Shelfdust, Elias Rosner writes on J. Michael Straczynski and Keu Cha’s inaugural issue of Rising Stars, the comic’s existence as a product of its time, and the way it breaks from expected norms despite this.

• For ICv2's Manga Week Coverage, Richardson Handjaja examines the sales trends in Japan's manga markets, as digital manga sales are starting to show signs of a possible plateau, driving publishers to target overseas markets in alignment with the Japanese government's continuing 'Cool Japan' drive.

• Rob Salkowitz reports on the arrival of the 'Asian Comics: The Evolution of An Art Form' exhibition at Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture, for Forbes, as the ambitious travelling show looks to fit a packed history into the space afforded to it.

• Ryan Carey takes a look at some recent publications from Whit Taylor, on the Four Color Apocalypse Patreon's free-to-read feed, admiring the economy of line to be found in Fizzle #4 and #5 and Dead Air #1 and #2.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as we continue to see what sights the administration of President Donald Trump has to show us.

This week’s audio/visual delights.

• Ben Katchor hosted the most recent meeting of the New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium, as historian and commentator Danny Fingeroth moderated a panel discussion on the life and work of Jules Feiffer, including speakers Mort Gerber, Karen Green, and Peter Kuper, as part of 2025’s Will Eisner Week.

• Drawn & Quarterly celebrated the publication of Holy Lacrimony with a fresh edition of At Home With, featuring author Michael DeForge, speaking on the making of the book, the themes at the core of alien abduction stories, the 1989 motion picture Communion, and choices behind the colouring of the comic.

• Brian Hibbs hosted a pair of meetings of the Comix Experience Graphic Novel Club, as Ben Kahn and Georgeo Brooks discussed Mr. Muffins: Defender of the Stars and the way in which comic book readers ultimately set the timing for pages and sequence, and Hugh D'Andrade spoke about The Murder Next Door: A Graphic Memoir and the occasional need for formal constraints when making art.

• Gary Lactus was joined by TT for the latest edition of SILENCE!’s Drifting Reviewniverse, as they discussed Chuck Dixon and Sal Velluto’s Marc Spector: Moon Knight #12, Dixon’s position as a combat-focused writer, hinged boots, and views of the world outside of the US put forward by the comic.

• Calvin Reid welcomed Jamar Nicholas to this week’s episode of Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come, as they spoke about Leon: Worst Friends Forever, the process behind developing the book’s cast of characters, the dance of visual storytelling, and building a work ethic while in school.

• David Harper was joined by Books With Pictures’ Katie Pryde for this week’s episode of Off Panel, as they discussed this year’s edition of ComicsPRO compared to previous years, the current retail landscape, and building communities around retail spaces.

• John Siuntres was joined by Melissa Menta, Senior VP of Global Brand and Communications for Peanuts Worldwide, on Word Balloon, as they spoke about the upcoming 75th anniversary of Peanuts, Connie Boucher’s work on licensed products based on Peanuts, and the enduring audiences for Charles M. Schulz’s work.

No more links this week, for it is time to convene the senate and enact more centralisation of state powers under my individual authority.

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