Moving towards the end of the year and walking in the cold November rain, just as Guns n’ Roses prophesied, with only the warmth of this week’s links, below, to keep the flame of hope alive until British summertime rolls around once more.
Shin Godzilla vs samurai
— Justin McElroy (@thoughtographic.bsky.social) 2025-11-06T03:16:49.583Z
This week’s news.
• Beginning our selection with news out of Japan, as a group comprised of various publishing companies, the Association of Japanese Animations, and the Japan Cartoonists Association last week released a statement declaring intention to take legal action against copyright infringement by OpenAI’s recently released Sora 2 generative model and accompanying app. The group’’s statement comes hot on the heels of a similar announcement last month by the Content Overseas Distribution Association, which has requested that express permission be sought from publishers before creative works are used to train generative AI models. The ongoing ‘Cool Japan’ strategy of increasing cultural exports has seen a steep rise in pursuit of prosecution of anime and manga pirates based overseas, with a recent watchdog report claiming that online manga piracy causes $55 billion of losses per year.
• Elsewhere, reports emerged last week regarding claims that an employee of publisher Viz Media had been compromised by hackers, resulting in an alleged breach of data at the company, with the bad actors purporting to have for sale a database of NDAs, licensing agreements, business plans, and employee details.
• Continuing our time in the comics crime files, as ICv2 covers the story that Kathleen Lincoln, owner of North Carolina’s Marvelous Issues Comic Shop, has been charged with a felony, for allegedly giving a copy Grendel Tales Featuring Devil’s Hammer #1 to a minor during a Halloween event, an act which, it’s claimed, violates local obscenity laws.
• Checking in with how WEBTOON’s unending push for digital market reach is going, as Anime News Network reports on allegations of unfair labor practices at the digital platform being shared during South Korea’s National Assembly audit this week, with claims that creators have been subject to lengthy periods of unpaid work and predatory contract terms. WEBTOON announced an expansion of their partnership deal with Disney in September, which saw the company’s stock price spike, although its current trading has once again plateaued.
• Closing out with friends in high places news, as Dilbert creator Scott Adams took to X (née Twitter) this week, petitioning President Donald Trump to intervene regarding delayed access to the cancer drug Pluvicto, as part of Adams’ ongoing treatment for metastatic prostate cancer, with said access apparently being arranged within a matter of hours — the current US government shutdown, largely centered around affordable access to healthcare, is now the longest in history.
We're launching a new imprint to publish the very best East Asian comics: Takumigraphics! Head to Fantagraphics.com/Takumigraphics for more information and follow us on Instagram at @takumi_graphics for updates
— Fantagraphics (@fantagraphics.bsky.social) 2025-11-05T19:31:15.196520767Z
This week’s reviews.
TCJ
• Leonard Pierce reviews the genre purity of Shintaro Kago’s Brain Damage, translated by Zack Davisson — “Kago can be his own harshest critic, as evidenced by some of his one-page story commentaries at the end of the book, but he's put together a very good collection here. Alternately horrific and hilarious, corny and horny, it's less audacious than what longtime fans might be used to, but it's stronger for the fact that its story structures are in the vein of familiar horror classics that it should provide a good entry point to his weirder back catalogue.”
• Tegan O’Neil reviews the through line of Jason’s Death in Trieste — “There’s nothing grim in Jason, not outside the occasional nods to real-life history. Occasional notes of the macabre, sure, nods to horror imagery and motif, but no misanthropy. The adventure occasionally gets rough but never gratuitously so. Action, when it arrives, is understated and functional. He doesn’t shy from it, but neither does he bend to its rhythms.”
AIPT
• Michael Guerrero reviews the fantastic showcase of Joshua Williamson, Dan Mora, et al’s DC K.O.: Knightfight #1.
• Landon Kuhlmann reviews the stunning romance of Erica Henderson’s Harley & Ivy: Life & Crimes #1.
• Alex Schlesinger reviews the condensed fun of Cody Ziglar, Andrea Di Vito, Luigi Zagaria, et al’s Miles Morales: Spider-Man/Deadpool - Pools of Blood.
• Colin Moon reviews the satisfying mystery of Derek Landy, Carlos Magno, et al’s Doctor Strange of Asgard.
• David Brooke reviews the pulpy energy of Stephanie Phillips, Aaron Kuder, et al’s Planet She-Hulk #1.
• Diane Darcy reviews the strong start of Dan Watters, Sami Kivelä, et al’s Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #1.
• Collier Jennings reviews the rich horror of Rodney Barnes and Elia Bonetti’s Crownsville #1.
• Kevin Clark reviews the heartfelt nostalgia of Kevin Smith, Mark Reihill, et al’s Quick Stops Volume 3 #3.
The Beat
• Clyde Hall reviews the entertaining start of Bryce Ingman, Alan Robinson, et al’s Death Dog #1.
• Jordan Jennings reviews the excellent action of Joshua Williamson, Tom Reilly, et al’s G.I. Joe #13.
• Tim Rooney reviews the inventive opening of Matt Kindt and David Rubin’s Space Scouts #1.
• Jared Bird reviews the emotional thread of Denis Camp, Eric Zawadzki, et al’s Assorted Crisis Events #6; and the fascinating characters of Yvan Alagbé's Misery of Love, translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith.
• Hilary Leung reviews the odd pacing of Kurumada Masami, Kenji Saito, and Shinshu Ueda’s Saint Seiya: Dark Wing, translated by Motoko Tamamuro and Jonathan Clements; and the memorable characters of Kenji Hamada’s Gran Familia, Volume 1, translated by Motoko Tamamuro.
Broken Frontier
Andy Oliver has reviews of:
• The horrifying realities of R.E. Burke’s Diary of a Detainee.
• The visceral confrontation of Dominique Duong’s Fury.
• The acute observations of Junooo’s Shetland Travel Comics.
• The connective symbolism of Jua OK!’s Road to Chimera.
• The beautiful melancholy of Rein Lee’s I Will Meet You on the Other Side of Space.
• The existential angst of Hannah Berry’s 5 More Minutes.
• The immersive innovation of Peony Gent’s All the Effort You Are Making Will Ultimately Pay Off.
• The delightful gusto of Paul Cornell and Rachael Smith’s Who Killed Nessie?.
• The angular intensity of Martin Simpson's Rasp, Book 1.
• The excellent execution of Ria Grix's Bicycle Vampire Hunters.
• The comic timings of Cat Laird's A Duel of Fools 1 and 2.
Comics Grinder
Henry Chamberlain reviews the layered arguments of R. Crumb’s Tales of Paranoia.
House to Astonish
Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic #41, Expatriate X-Men #1, Undeadpool #1, Cloak or Dagger #1, and Emma Frost: The White Queen #5.
The New York Times
Sam Thielman reviews the witty eccentricities of Carol Tyler’s The Ephemerata.
what are you, strange creature
— Dorothy (@dorothyinhell.bsky.social) 2025-11-05T22:35:17.684Z
This week’s interviews.
TCJ
• Gina Gagliano interviews Mariko Tamaki about This Place Kills Me, generational dynamics, the challenge of plotting a mystery story, and high school memories — “I also think that your tormentor in any situation is very rarely all that far away from you, you know what I mean? A lot of my tormentors in high school, when I've spoken to them as an adult, were tormented in their own way. You would wish that they wouldn't have taken it out on me, because I was just hanging out and trying to be nice, and give everybody fruit-flavored certs so they would leave me alone, you know, but . . . what are you gonna do? The past is the past!”
• Tammi Morton-Kelly interviews Mimi Pond about Do Admit! The Mitford Sisters and Me, biography obsessions, the history of the Mitford family, and personal familial history — “Something that frustrated me as a kid was end papers on books that were illustrated beautifully, then you'd open the book thinking there will be more beautiful illustrations, and no! There's no drawings, just pages full of words, and I'd be so disappointed. I thought, what if you could have a whole book that was nothing but those kinds of images over and over again? That would be the thing to do. A book of end papers.”
AIPT
• David Brooke chats with Paul Pope about Total THB, returning to the beginning, the politics of the book, and visions of the future coming to pass.
• Chris Hassan talks to Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan about Marvel Zombies: Red Band and taking the gloves off, and to Cavan Scott about Iron & Frost and the varied personas of Tony Stark and Emma Frost.
• Chris Coplan speaks with Joseph Illidge about Bloodletter and adding to the Spawn universe, with Andreas Butzbach about Big-Ass Sword and media influences, and with Bryce Ingman about Death Dog and humour as a tool when dealing with important issues.
The Beat
• Ollie Kaplan chats with Lena Atanassova about TOKYOPOP’s LoveLove imprint, the publishing imprint behind LoveLove, and figuring out a target audience.
• Tate McFadden talks to Alex Hood about Haus of Decline, social media personas, anti-merchandise sentiments, and autobio and visual punchlines.
Broken Frontier
Andy Oliver interviews:
• Michael Schwartz about Armored and upcoming projects.
• Neill Cameron about Donut Squad and playing with reader expectations.
• Dave Cook about Killtopia: Phantoms and crowdfunding challenges.
• Duane Murray and Ahmed Raafat about Who Are the Power Pals? and the collaborative nature of comics.
Fanbase Press
Barbra Dillon speaks with:
• Maureen Burdock about Sleepless Planet and history with Graphic Medicine.
• Max Huffman about Dogtangle and cardinal sins of the cartoonist.
• Mel Hilario, Katie Longua, and Lauren Davis about Agent Cupcake and publisher responses.
• Pascal Girard and Cathon about Pastimes and Fruit Salad and signature styles.
• Neil Gibson and Silvano Beltramo about Black Mirror: USS Callister and hewing to the source material.
Smash Pages
JK Parkin talks to Tara Ford and Colleen AF Venable about The Space Cat and Katie the Catsitter, feline fancies, and favourite cat-focused graphic novels.
Solrad
Sofia Warren interviews Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell about The Joy of Snacking, focusing on the food in an autobio book, disordered eating, and lessons learned for structuring stories.
fragile being
— ssunstrum.bsky.social (@ssunstrum.bsky.social) 2025-11-04T15:31:34.832Z
This week’s features and longreads.
• For Eruditorum Press, Elizabeth Sandifer’s Last War in Albion returns, as book four kicks off proceedings with consideration of Alan Moore’s work on early Image Comics titles, and the legal maneuvering of Todd McFarlane and Neil Gaiman.
• Print’s Steven Heller previews New York Review Books’ upcoming collection of Joe Brainard et al’s The Complete C Comics, looking back on Brainard’s collaboration with the likes of John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Ted Berrigan and Frank O’Hara.
• Over at Shelfdust, David Brothers writes on Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez’s Batman #1, how to sustain interest in the familiarity of superhero comics, and parallels with Michael Mann’s pilot for Miami Vice.
• For Autobiographix, Nora Hickey shares the solving of a mystery regarding the work of artist and writer Nellie Jones and the Ebony Greeting Card Company.
• Some recent entries from the Domino Books blog, as Austin English shares thoughts on R. Crumb's Tales of Paranoia and the state of transgressive media in 2025, and Joe Brainard et al’s The Complete C Comics and the inherent poetic potential of comics.
• Four Color Apocalypse’s Ryan Carey reports from last weekend’s edition of the Short Run Comix Festival, sharing photographs from the event.
• A new Mindless Ones newsletter brings with it another edition of A Brief History of British Comics, and the untimely demise of IPC Magazines’ Scream! is mourned, and the eternal horror of Judge Death is recounted.
• From the world of open-access academia, a special issue of Arthuriana examines the parallels between the varied canon of Arthurian legends and fractured realities of serialised comics, with focus on, amongst others, Mouse Guard, Camelot 3000, Prince Valiant, Code Geass, Unholy Grail, and the works of Grant Morrison.
• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as the election of Zohran Mamdani to the office of the Mayor of New York got a fair bit of headline focus.
Halloween Haunted House
This week’s audio/visual delights.
A check-in with some familiar favourites, as Lilli Carré hosted the most recent meeting of the New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium with Clyde Petersen speaking on the importance of creative communities and getting your work seen in exhibition spaces, CBC’s Tom Power spoke with Lee Lai about Cannon and the questions that form the core of the book, David Harper welcomed Erica Henderson to Off Panel to discuss Harley and Ivy and and writing vs drawing, and Gil Roth was joined by Rian Hughes for The Virtual Memories Show to speak about Typeractive and work on the new EC Horror line of comics.
I made a special ACID NUN painting for the annual @powerpulpcomics.bsky.social fundraiser, happening this Saturday, Nov 8th!
Powerpulpcomics.com
— Corinne Halbert
(@corinnehalbert.bsky.social) 2025-11-03T17:15:30.839Z
No more links this week, as it’s dark by 4pm, and so slug-a-bed by 5.
A sneak peek at the cover of next week’s issue, which celebrates Zohran Mamdani’s historic win. #NewYorkerCovershttps://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/451hFM
— The New Yorker (@newyorker.com) 2025-11-05T03:15:10.203565Z
The post Dirge for November — 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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