An international edition of this week’s links, below, hailing from Europe, as Belgium is explored, bringing with it murals of Tintin and the Smurfs and copies of Spirou, as you’d expect, along with industrial strength/quantities of monk-brewed beers, chocolate, and fries, also as you’d expect, married with a continent-wide heatwave, culminating in one doozy of a headache.
Hailing from Hell’s Kitchen
— Michel Fiffe (@michelfiffe.bsky.social) 2025-08-07T14:54:18.449Z
This week’s news.
• Starting the week’s selection with some awards news, as we head towards the autumnal convention season, with this year’s class of Harvey Award nominees having been released, and winners to be announced at New York Comic Con in October, following the close of voting by industry professionals in September; while the Ignatz Award nominees for 2025 have also been revealed, with voting ballots to select the winners available soon, and winners to be announced at this year's Small Press Expo in September.
• Elsewhere, in manga industry news, HarperCollins appears to be in the process of acquiring Crunchyroll’s manga publishing operations in Europe, as Crunchyroll announced layoffs and restructuring to implement “a new organizational model that supports regionally-empowered teams to lean into anime fandom even further” — editorial staff from Japanese publisher Kadokawa last week commented on an (apparent) increasing paucity of homegrown manga talent, especially when it comes to adapting light novels and other works, while speaking on the winners of this year’s Wordless Manga Contest.
• Looking to the digital frontier, as Webtoon stock jumped in price, following the announcement that it would be partnering with the Walt Disney Company, bringing various Marvel, Disney, and Star Wars properties to the vertical scroll format - Webtoon's initial public offering last year lead to the filing of a class action lawsuit, amid allegations that the company failed to disclose drops in ad revenue and IP revenue to investors, prior to shares in the company going on sale.
other vacation inks
— Chloé Stawski (@chlowski.bsky.social) 2025-08-08T16:21:20.475Z
This week’s reviews.
TCJ
• Kevin Brown reviews the historical context of Guy Delisle’s Muybridge - “Late in the biography, Delisle even breaks the fourth wall, drawing himself as he traditionally appears in his autobiographical works talking about when he first bought a book of Muybridge’s work in 1987 when he was learning about animation. Such decisions reinforce the idea of setting Muybridge’s achievements in a wider tradition of technological and artistic development.”
• Oliver Ristau reviews the frenzied frames of Lina Muller and Luca Schenardi’s Plant-Based Monster Trucks - “But why is your comics 'n kinship dissector for hire asking such diverging things, and not coming to the actual point? Because the main crux some people might have with Plant-Based Monster Trucks is its proudly exhibited absence of words, and — at least at first sight — no existing connection between the single illustrations.”
AIPT
• Joe Jones reviews the character focus of Jed MacKay, Netho Diaz, et al’s X-Men #20.
• Lukas Shayo reviews the undercutting humour of Tom King, Belén Ortega, et al’s Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #3.
• Colin Moon reviews the cluttered narrative of Matteo Casali, Rachele Aragno, et al’s Aquinnah.
• Nathan Simmons reviews the narrative incomprehensibility of Kevin Smith, John Sprengelmeyer, et al’s Quick Stops Volume 3 #1.
• David Brooke reviews the unsettling hook of Dan Watters, Morgan Beem, et al’s The Twilight Zone #1.
• Chris Coplan reviews the thoughtful horror of Zac Thompson, Daniel Irizarri, et al’s Cemetery Kids Run Rabid #1.
• Christopher Franey reviews the emotional drama of Ryan Parrott, Vincenzo Federici, et al’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III #1.
• Collier Jennings reviews the glorious action of Alex Paknadel, Amancay Nahuelpan, et al’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones #1; and the gory action of Jason Aaron, Mahmud Asrar, et al’s Bug Wars #6.
The Beat
• Jared Bird reviews the compelling style of Zac Thompson, Daniel Irizarri, et al’s Cemetery Kids Run Rabid #1.
• Clyde Hall reviews the effective close of Doug Wagner, Daniel Hillyard, et al’s I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #5.
• Jordan Jennings reviews the heroic heart of David Pepose, Jonathan Lau, et al’s Space Ghost #1.
• Matt Ledger reviews the formal experimentation of W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, et al’s Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1.
• Tim Rooney reviews the packed excitement of Deniz Camp, Cody Ziglar, Jonas Scharf, et al’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion #3.
• George Carmona 3rd reviews the solid return of Rosarium Publishing’s The Adventures of Lion Man.
• Kathryn Hemmann reviews the rewarding delve of Syd Madia’s Hero Cave.
• Hayame Kawachi reviews the unpolished brevity of ZENZO’s Bonds.
• Sean Dillon reviews the visual storytelling of Keezy Young’s Hello Sunshine, and the thrilling mystery of Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux's This Place Kills Me.
• Zack Quaintance reviews the dry wit of Keiler Roberts’ Preparing to Bite, and the emotional journey of Jonathan Baylis et al’s So Buttons #14.
• Kristina Elyse Butke reviews the entertaining silliness of Senmu Sakishita’s Cute But Not Cute, translated by Dylan Jekels.
Broken Frontier
Lindsay Pereira reviews the rewarding details of Shirato Sanpei’s The Legend of Kamui, Volume 2, translated by Richard Rubinger and Noriko Rubinger.
Four Color Apocalypse
Ryan Carey reviews the bamboozling beauty of Fergus Nm’s Eye Contact Chimera, the perfect art of Richard Alexander’s Selections From the Richy Vegas Songbook #2, and the pleasing smattering of Hal Weaver’s Reluctant Sadist #9.
House to Astonish
Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic #31, Uncanny X-Men #19, Storm #11, Hellverine #9, and Wolverines & Deadpools #2.
ImageTexT
• Hyunjung Kim reviews the nuanced reimagining of Robin Ha’s The Fox Maidens.
• Patrick Callahan reviews the thoughtful innovation of Jordan Holt’s Theseus, Volumes 1 and 2.
Japanese Studies
Saffron Nyx reviews the thorough investigation of James Welker’s Transfiguring Women in Late Twentieth Century Japan: Feminists, Lesbians, and Girls’ Comics Artists and Fans.
PopMatters
Ryan Dyer reviews the disturbing horror of Junji Ito’s Gyo.
Publisher's Weekly
Have capsule reviews of:
• The ingenious wit of Mimi Pond's Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me.
• The captivating choreography of Jesse Lonergan's Drome.
• The spectacular worldbuilding of Evan Dahm's Vattu: The Name and the Mark.
Solrad
Tynan Stewart reviews the summoning darkness of Julia Gfrörer’s World Within the World.
Yatta-tachi
• Alex Henderson reviews the social commentary of Tsuno Mizoko’s You Can’t Live All On Your Own!, translated by Katie Kimura.
• Taylor Drew reviews the intriguing tension of Yoruno Hitsujigumo’s The Other Side of the Clouds, Volume 1, translated by Matthias Hirsh.
• Wendeego reviews the exemplary design of ohuton’s Seaside Beta, translated by rkp.
Stop!! Hibari-Kun! by Hisashi Eguchi!COVER-SPINE-BACKCOVER-OBI REVEAL!And YES, you can pre-order the book (and it comes with a pre-order gift)
This week’s interviews.
TCJ
William Schwartz interviews Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill about Gil Thorp and Death to Pachuco, editorial suggestions, collaborative processes, and differentiating mustaches — “It's Henry's show script-wise but sometimes I'll mention a funny real event (my niece is a high school teacher) for him to use if he cares to. That said, I have a great deal of input on the costuming and styling and Henry has always been wonderfully receptive to all my unhinged suggestions!”
AIPT
• Chris Hassan speaks with Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Pornsak Pichetshote about X-Men, reading history with the Marvel Mutants and opinions on characters they’ve not personally written.
• David Brooke talks to Mike del Mundo about The Marvel Art of Mike Del Mundo and charting artistic evolutions, and to Rodney Barnes about Crownsville and the comic’s intimate scope.
• Chris Coplan interviews Zac Thompson about Cemetery Kids Run Rabid and the key to a good story, and Power Pulp’s Chris Anderson about the collective’s business model.
The Beat
• Javier Perez speaks with Curt Pires about Indigo Children and Lost Fantasy and the dilution of contemporary comics, and with Stephanie Williams about Street Sharks and the moral good of giant cartilaginous brawlers.
• Ollie Kaplan talks to Ben Wickey about More Weight and correspondence and collaboration with Alan Moore, and Anna Meyer about Saint Catherine and the book’s journey to print.
Fanbase Press
Barbra Dillon interviews Lewis LaRosa about Carbon Based: The Art of Lewis LaRosa and looking back on your own growth as an artist, Chuck Suffel about Renfield Pest Control and genre storytelling inspirations, and James Coats about Galaxy Gods and Power Pulp Comics' aims as a distro collective.
Publisher’s Weekly
Wyatt Erchak talks to Rob Edwards about Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls, the origins of and research behind the book, and personal storytelling evolutions.
Reno Gazette Journal
Mark Robison speaks with Ann Telnaes about personal history with the city, working to pay for art school, and the history and uncertain future of political cartooning.
https://ift.tt/NRG2TeW happened. Preorders are live for 5 new titles + some other goodies! We can't wait for you to see these new books the GBB staff have worked so hard on! Please check out the campaign and preorder some (ALL!) of our new books, they're worth it!
— Glacier Bay Books (@glacierbaybooks.com) 2025-08-12T22:02:41.421Z
This week’s features and longreads.
• Here at TCJ, Helen Chazan examines the sociopolitical messaging of Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba’s Ashita no Joe, currently being published in newly translated form as Fighting for Tomorrow — “Joe is gaunt, angry, firy and desperate, battling not only his opponents but his inner fury and ignorance as he wrestles with the crushing weight of poverty. It's a vision of sports not unlike that Kinji Fukasaku's vision of the yakuza underworld in his Battles Without Honor And Humanity film cycle -- a world of proletariat for whom the patriotic vision of living by a code of conduct has already been denied.”
• Also for TCJ, J.D. Harlock reports on the nascent Lebanese comics scene, and Samandal Comics’ publication of Nour Hifaoui’s Titties, speaking with Hifaoui about the book’s reception with readers — “Contrary to the widespread perception of Arabs as inactive until their honeymoons, the vignettes presented in Titties aren't wish-fulfillment on Hifaoui's part but authentic depictions of sexual relations among local youth, inspired by her real-life hookups.”
• More for TCJ, as Kaoru Kumi writes on Hinako Ashihara’s Sexy Tanaka-san, the manga’s adaptation for television, character ownership and Ashihara’s decision to engage with said adaptation, and the circumstances culminating in Ashihara’s death by suicide — “Many creators harbor frustration when adaptations fail to align with the clearly defined personalities and character traits they have established for their protagonists. What was unusual in Ashihara’s case was her decision to act. Manga creators might be given the right to request changes to adaptation screenplays, but what was unusual in Ashihara’s case was her exercising the right to claim full control over a completed script by discarding it and personally rewriting it.”
• Finally for TCJ this week, our illustrious editors present an excerpt of Weng Pixin's Wake Up, Pixoto!, published by Drawn & Quarterly — “Weng Pixin revisits her art school days where rivalries develop, friends disappear or are cast out, and her instructor’s words take on a caustic edge. Pix becomes unmoored and less sure of herself than ever before. "Was I manipulated? Was I tricked?” The insidious thing is maybe she can never be certain.”
• Autobiographix’s Nora Hickey and Amaris Ketcham explore Richard McGuire’s Here and its recent less-than-enthusiastically received silver screen adaptation, contrasting the storytelling (or lack thereof) of the two pieces of media.
• For Comics Grinder, Henry Chamberlain writes on the enduring gamble of comics speculation, and the work of one Todd McFarlane in the pages of Spider-Man.
• Over at The Beat, Sean Dillon writes on the arrival of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić’s Aliens vs Avengers in collected form, charting the history of the xenomorph across various on-screen outings and page-based showdowns with superheroes.
• For Shelfdust, continuing the site’s retrospective of Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber’s Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen Rhi Daneel Olivaw examines the character core to which James Olsen always returns, as exemplified in issue ten of the series.
• Broken Frontier presents a new edition of its series of Inside Look features, this time out shining the spotlight on Dan White, and the making of Cindy and Biscuit: Wild, Wild Life.
• Checking in with the Mindless Ones, as this week’s newsletter continues a retrospective consideration of Grant Morrison et al’s Doom Patrol.
• From the world of open-access academia, leading off a packed week, a new edition of ImageTexT arrives with essays this issue on Chris Ware, Soviet political cartoons, Australian cartoons of the 1800s targeting relationships between Chinese men and White women, and the perceived political barrier between mainstream comics and underground comix.
• From the University of Michigan Press, Chera Kee’s Corpse Crusaders: The Zombie in American Comics charts the shuffling/sprinting/soaring history of zombies in comics, from the 1940s through to the present day.
• In the Journal of Fine and Creative Arts, Music, Media and Communication Studies, Chidiebere Onwuekwe, Chidi Uzor, and Ruphina Nkamnebe present a study of the influence of Marvel and DC publications on the work of Nigerian comic creators.
• For the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Aura Nikkilä writes on Nina Bunjevac’s Fatherland, analysing its depiction of the life and death of Peter Bunjevac and the idea of ungrievable figures.
• For the Davao Research Journal, Mark Aljen D. Binocal and Carmela N. Hadia present a study on the effectiveness of using comics as an educational medium for enhancing disaster preparedness in locales prone to earthquakes and landslides.
• In Axon: Creative Explorations, Elizabeth MacFarlane, Ronnie Scott, and Bernard Caleo write on how teaching and researching graphic narratives, in the context of a creative writing program, can change comics making practices.
• Paul O’Brien’s registry of the villains of Daredevil continues to expand, over at House to Astonish, as this edition sees Frank Miller draft in a certain Wilson Fisk to proceedings.
• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, for The Daily Cartoonist, as federal control of Washington DC and redistricting of Texas looms, but Schrödinger’s Epstein files continue to loom larger.
The world is so open, like crushed eggs. Take the table away please.Pen and masking tape on paper and masking tape.
— Bhanu pratap (@bhanupratap.bsky.social) 2025-08-06T13:53:10.710Z
No more links this week, as an abundance of 9%ABV beers really has left me a bit fragile.
Zatanna!!!
— Chloe Brailsford (@comixbychloe.bsky.social) 2025-07-31T15:02:26.408Z
The post Pump Up The Jam — This Week’s Links appeared first on The Comics Journal.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
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