The spookiest possible date for an edition of this week’s links, below, to fall upon, and so, in order to prevent the veil between worlds being pierced, a brief respite from the horror stories regarding company bankruptcies and AI plagiarism that have beleaguered 2025 until the season is less all-hallowed.
BATMAN #5 Variant Cover.
This week’s reviews.
TCJ
• Kevin Brown reviews the major themes of Karenza Sparks’ The Corus Wave — “Ultimately, The Corus Wave is an expression of an author’s love of geology, which she uses to celebrate the importance of strong relationships — particularly the female friendship at the core of this work — and community. There aren’t any grand conspiracies here, just the narrow-minded views of those who would limit science or nature to only what humans can understand.”
• Aug Stone reviews the interconnected tales of Sole Otero’s Witchcraft — “There's also lots of freehand invention and Otero is great at having the illustrations reflect what is going on in the story. Characters are often portrayed at the size of how they’re feeling, i.e. someone who’s belittled will shrink to just a fraction of their normal dimensions. There’s one very cool descending arch of dialogue boxes as a boyfriend is being brought down to reality.”
AIPT
• Marvel Maximus reviews the breezy heroics of DC’s Superman: Red & Blue Special #1.
• David Brooke reviews the thought-provoking punches of Daniel Warren Johnson et al’s Absolute Batman Annual #1.
• Christopher Franey reviews the heartfelt conclusion of Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, et al’s Batman and Robin: Year One #12.
• Colin Moon reviews the corporate synergy of Marvel Comics’ Marvel & Disney What If…?.
• Alex Schlesinger reviews the meandering plotting of Saladin Ahmed, Martín Cóccolo, et al’s Wolverine: Call of the Adamantine.
• Joe Jones reviews the opening shake-ups of Justin Ireland, Lorenzo Tammetta, et al’s Cloak or Dagger #1.
• Collier Jennings reviews the solid hook of Greg Pak and Eder Messias’s Supernatural #1.
• Chris Coplan reviews the satisfying expansion of Alex Paknadel and Troy Little’s Cult of the Lamb: Schism Special #1.
The Beat
• Clyde Hall reviews the smart approach of Mad Cave Studios’ Dick Tracy: Halloween Special #1.
• Khalid Johnson reviews the lovable fun of Mike Marlow, Zach Howard, Steve Ellis, et al’s Moonshine Bigfoot #4.
• D. Morris reviews the commendable ambition of Jonathan Hickman, Iban Coello, Frederico Vincentini, et al’s Imperial #4
• Zack Quaintance reviews the interesting construction of Matt Hardy, Clark Bint, et al’s Cyberarchy #1.
• Ollie Kaplan reviews the empathetic perspective of Umi Takase’s I Wanna Be Your Girl.
• Steve Baxi reviews the engaging horrors of Zac Thompson, Hayden Sherman, et al’s Into the Unbeing.
• Ricardo Serrano Denis reviews the monumental triumph of Ben Wickey’s More Weight: A Salem Story.
Broken Frontier
• Swati Nair reviews the melodic magic of Sarah Lippett and Ziggy Hanaor’s Everything Amplified.
• Gary Usher reviews the wonderful shocks of Sapphira Olson et al’s The Gloriously Untrue Adventures of Sapphira #1.
• Lydia Turner reviews the rich triumph of L. Adassovsky’s Aimé, and the claustrophobic thrills of Benjamin Dickson’s Silent Horizon.
• Andy Oliver reviews the tight construction of Chie Hosaka’s The Waiting Room, and the effective combination of Shanefaced’s Dougborne.
From Cover to Cover
Scott Cederlund reviews the visual focus of Jason's Death in Trieste.
House to Astonish
Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic #41, The Last Wolverine #1, X-Men: Book of Revelation #1, Omega Kids #1, and Radioactive Spider-Man #1.
Journal of Gender Studies
Manuela Di Franco reviews the multifaceted analysis of Sam Langsdale’s Searching for Feminist Superheroes: Gender, Sexuality, and Race in Marvel Comics.
Kirkus Reviews
Have starred capsule reviews of:
• The boisterous action of Mike Cavallaro’s Eowulf: The Creature Connection.
• The honest authenticity of Norm Feuti’s A Kid Like Me.
• The heartfelt charms of Charise Mericle Harper and Rory Lucey’s Wrong Friend.
The Miami Times
Terri Schlichenmeyer reviews the inspirational messaging of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Raymond Obstfeld, and Ed Laroche’s Champion: A Graphic Novel.
Montreal Review of Books
• H Felix Chau Bradley reviews the unexpected mix of Lee Lai’s Cannon.
• Julie Brown reviews the keen pacing of Joana Mosi’s The Mongoose.
• Heather Leighton reviews the thought-provoking fun of Katie Fricas’ Checked Out.
• Emily Raine reviews the unapologetic urgency of Elizabeth Casillas and Higinia Garay’s The A Word: A Global History of the Abortion Struggle, translated by Karen Simon
Solrad
Ian Cordingley reviews the prominent themes of Jen Wang’s Ash’s Cabin.
Yatta-tachi
• Wendeego reviews the cool aesthetic of Tsukasa Hōjō’s Cat’s Eye Omnibus, Volume 1, translated by Andrew Charles Love.
• Reversea reviews the emotional depth of Cogeme and Enji’s The B-Rank Adventurer with a Scary Face, Volume 1, translated by Nate Derr.
A poem by Assata Shakur
— Ben Passmore (@benpassmore.bsky.social) 2025-10-28T14:55:12.714Z
This week’s interviews.
TCJ
• Ritesh Babu interviews Ram V about These Savage Shores, Rare Flavours, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr and more, across a decade of comics writing — “The answer is “What did you do with that?” Did they push your narrative forward? Did they add something that allowed you to complete things that I didn’t fill in for you? I think doing stuff like that is very much something I enjoy, and something that has become more prevalent in my work. I’m always amused when people use the term "pretentious." And so my response is always “It’s only pretentious if you don’t mean it.””
• Bart Hulley interviews Éditions Caurette’s Jean-Christophe Caurette about the publisher’s history and growth — “He doesn’t talk about market analysis or bestseller lists, but that doesn’t mean ignoring the bottom line. Very few books make money — “statistically, less than twenty percent,” he says — so the profitable ones carry the rest. The trick, of course, is you never know which is which until after the fact. “We have some books because they make financial sense, others because someone here really likes them. Ideally both. But you can’t only publish safe bets or you’d never make anything interesting.””
AIPT
Chris Hassan speaks with Tony Fleecs about Omega Kids, X-Men memories, approaching the character of Quentin Quire in 2025, and fun writing challenges.
Anime News Network
Grant Jones talks to Tsukasa Hōjō about Cat’s Eye and City Hunter, creating purely for the simple enjoyment of your reader, and revisiting the visuals of older works.
The Beat
• Ollie Kaplan interviews Chris Ryall and Jacob Phillips about adapting Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis for the page, and how the project came together.
• Dean Simons chats with Ian Edginton about Brass Sun, the series’ clockwork origins, and bringing the comic back after a seven-year hiatus.
Broken Frontier
Andy Oliver speaks with Al Davison about Muscle Memory: A Survivor’s Story and the realities of disability hate crime, with Rein Lee about Tidal Waves and combining digital and analog processes, with Joe Latham about Haru and classical inspirations, and with Kristen Haas Curtis about Princess Wolf and Her Life of Darkness and Middle English.
Fanbase Press
Barbra Dillon talks to Arthur N. Ebuen and Dave Law about ©alifornia, Inc. and working across different forms of storytelling; to Ernie Altbacker about Area 51 Studios and learning by doing; and to Ruben Bolling about crowdfunding The Complete Tom the Dancing Bug and trying to keep the reader entertained.
The Japan Times
Gendel Gento interviews Kodansha’s Ayane Chiba and mangaka Konata about Meaheim, recent pairings of Japanese and European creators for new manga projects, and what makes a manga.
The New York Times
Scott Heller chats with Joe Sacco about The Once and Future Riot, current reads, upcoming project shifts, and problems with the Antichrist.
Steven Heller speaks with Peter Kuper about Wish We Weren’t Here: Postcards From the Apocalypse, wordless comics experiments, and the contemporary climate change crisis.
Publisher’s Weekly
Amanda Ramirez talks to Donna Barba Higuera about Xolo, rockhounding holidays, humanising gods, and character creation and world building processes.
Smash Pages
JK Parkin interviews Joshua Viola about True Believers, charting a path to a bloody conclusion, and potential plans for the future.
Cat Eyed Boy tribute for Mantis zine
— Michael DeForge (@michaeldeforge.bsky.social) 2025-10-27T19:38:01.961Z
This week’s features and longreads.
• Here at TCJ, Chris Anthony Diaz presents photographs from recent stops on Briana Loewinsohn’s book tour in celebration of Raised by Ghosts — “I commend Loewinsohn for having her cartoonists friends and colleagues join her for panels and signings, making them festive and having a Bay Area indie comics espirit de corps of local cartoonists, which has been missing for quite some time at festivals and signings here!”
• Also for TCJ, Jake Zawlacki shares photographs from 2025’s edition of San Diego Zine Fest, which took place earlier this month — “There aren’t concerns over the next possible industry visit that will finally, after all these years, give them a shot at the big leagues, but a meager “hanging out with no pressure.” And there aren’t any middle people, prevaricators, or pap purveyors. There are just uninhibited ideas, creations, and very human creators full of radical politics, provocative essays, killer stickers, and dope comics.”
• Over at The Beat, Comix Experience’s Brian Hibbs presents a fresh edition of Tilting at Windmills, this time out surveying the field of new distributors cropping up in the wake of Diamond’s collapse, and whether any are remotely viable options for your average retailer in the contemporary market.
• For the Los Angeles Review of Books, Ivan Kreilkamp writes on the comedy of Edward Steed’s Forces of Nature, the posthuman nature of that comedy, and the various clustered concerns of Steed’s cartoons.
• Over at Shelfdust, Steve Baxi looks back on Roger Stern and Bob Budiansky’s trip to the confessional with Ghost Rider #68, as Johnny Blaze begs forgiveness before, inevitably, cashing out some vengeance.
• Some fresh Mindless Ones magicks brings with it furtherance of A Brief History of British Comics, as respects are paid to the surprising longevity and quality of Marvel UK’s The Real Ghostbusters.
• From the world of open-access academia, for the International Journal of the Classical Tradition, Henry Jenkins writes on Eric Shanower’s Age of Bronze series of comics, and its archontic reworking of accounts of the Trojan War into one cohesive narrative.
• Over at House to Astonish, Paul O’Brien’s census of the villains of Daredevil continues, as consideration is given to the tenets of the Congregation of Righteousness.
• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, for The Daily Cartoonist, as ceasefires, renovations, shutdowns, elections, tariffs, and physicals headlined a busy week in politics.
Drew this on the Shinkansen to Osaka
I want to write my own picture book and maybe it’ll be about them.
— Molly Mendoza (@mollymendoza.bsky.social) 2025-10-29T00:27:39.823Z
This week’s audio/visual delights.
• Thick Lines returned this week, as Katie Skelly and Sally Madden unravelled the spiralling horror of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki in a seasonally appropriate episode punctuated by animal guests.
• Bill Kartalopoulos hosted the latest meeting of the New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium, as artist Ellen O’Grady spoke on autobiographical comics making and the power of telling your own stories.
• David Harper presented a recording of Off Panel’s recent live event at New York Comic Con with Hayden Sherman, Rachael Stott, Russell Dauterman, and Trung Le Nguyen.
• Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come also came live (recorded) from New York Comic Con, as Calvin Reid, Heidi MacDonald, and Meg Lemke spoke with Jeff Trexler, Tom Scioli, Danny Early, and Tori Orlesky.
• Gil Roth opened the doors to the Virtual Memories Show and spoke with Dean Haspiel and Whitney Matheson about Antimatter and The Feeling, and with Josh Neufeld about A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge and Beyond A.D. and the legacy of Hurricane Katrina.
Waxwing flash from earlier in the month
— Marie Enger - PAX U /Forever Stoked 3809 (@soengery.bsky.social) 2025-10-28T13:50:34.833Z
No more links, no such sights to show you, until next week, of course.
43 years ago today, readers the world over opened their newspapers and gazed upon cow tools for the first time. happy birthday cow tools. you look great.
— cow tools daily (@cowtoolsdaily.bsky.social) 2025-10-28T12:23:11.931Z
The post Fright Night — 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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