I was somewhat naively thinking that 2025 was done with its offering of big comics-related news stories, as we head into the penultimate edition of this week’s links of the year, below, but then news broke that Netflix was moving to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, aka DC Comics’ parent corp, before President Donald Trump decided to wade into the fray, as son-in-law Jared Kushner’s investment firm tacked onto a competing hostile takeover bid from Paramount, and a class action lawsuit looms no matter who wins, all presumably building to a fresh round of "streamlining" at the Distinguished Competition, once the dust settles. Meanwhile, across the aisle, Marvel Comics' parent corp Disney confirmed yesterday that they would like a slice of the Artificial Intelligence imaginary-money pie too, actually.
more frog, again. seasonal frog
— Linnea Sterte (@decassette.bsky.social) 2025-12-10T19:20:15.655Z
This week’s reviews.
TCJ
• Tom Shapira reviews the coasting speed of Aubrey Sitterson, Jed Dougherty, et al’s Free Planet, Volume 1 — “Even considering a whole planet having a smaller population than some countries, the series' notion of interplanetary combat seems widely undersized. Much of Free Planet is spent in large double-spreads that feature an interaction of action and information. These are more impressive than they are good. It is well and good that the creators can juggle all these elements at once, but the end result is that Free Planet more often than not feels like its own fan-wiki.”
• Tate McFadden reviews the undermining pay-off of Yudori’s Raging Clouds — “It’s only when the focus of a scene becomes the body, in all its tortures and pleasures, that the overwhelming environmental detail dissipates, leaving a page awash in sensuousness. It is in these moments when Yudori’s work is at its strongest.”
AIPT
• David Canham reviews the intriguing conceit of Joni Hägg, Stipan Morian, et al’s Our Soot Stained Heart #1.
• David Brooke reviews the unapologetic nostalgia of Marc Silvestri, Ed Benes, et al’s The Darkness #1.
• Jonathan Waugh reviews the surprise hits of Joelle Jones, Jason Howard, Cary Nord, et al’s DC K.O.: Wonder Woman vs. Lobo #1.
• Collier Jennings reviews the small town focus of Mark Waid, Skylar Partridge, et al’s Action Comics #1093.
• Crooker reviews the exciting shake-up of Robert Kirkman, Dan Mora, et al’s Transformers #27.
The Beat
• Steve Baxi reviews the historical hook of Christopher Cantwell and Tyler Crook’s Out of Alcatraz.
• Zack Quaintance reviews the escalating outrageousness of Scott Snyder, Jock, et al’s Absolute Batman #15.
• Tim Rooney reviews the thrilling fluidity of Chris Condon, Alessandro Cappuccio’s Ultimate Wolverine #12.
• Jordan Jennings reviews the exhilarating start of Gene Luen Yang, Freddie E. Williams II, et al’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13.
• Clyde Hall reviews the solid approach of Dan DiDio, Alex Sanchez, et al’s Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #1.
Broken Frontier
Edward Picot reviews the refreshing romance of Mimi Szeto’s A Little Step, Volume 1; and the masterly horror of Gou Tanabe’s adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Out of Time, translated by Zack Davisson.
Comics Grinder
Paul Buhle reviews the subconscious art of Fletcher Hanks’ Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All!.
House to Astonish
Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men: Age of Revelation Infinity Comic #5, Amazing X-Men #3, Binary #3, and Laura Kinney: Sabretooth #3.
Polygon
Aimee Hart reviews the divergent sanitization of Julia Jackman’s motion picture adaptation of Isabel Greenberg’s 100 Nights of Hero.
RogerEbert.com
Monica Castillo reviews the beguiling storytelling of Julia Jackman’s motion picture adaptation of Isabel Greenberg’s 100 Nights of Hero.
Solrad
Elias Rosner reviews the claustrophobic hyperreality of Kazuo Umezz’s Orochi, translated by Jocelyne Allen.
Dear Boston and @massmice.bsky.social I have had a wonderful time talking to you and drawing small ridiculous pictures for you. one day perhaps I shall return
This week’s interviews.
TCJ
Zach Rabiroff interviews Books With Pictures’ Katie Pryde about the origins of the Portland store, different promotional avenues, financial realities, and changing business needs — “I really just buy comics for everyone. This is a place where whatever you look like, you should be able to come in and find at least a couple of books that are a mirror to you. Of course, we shouldn't only read books that are a mirror to us. We should read books that stretch us, that give us different perspectives that do all of those things. But we should all do that. You shouldn't only have to do that if you don't look like that white dude.”
AIPT
• Chris Hassan speaks with Steve Orlando about The End 2099 and Sorcerer Supreme, multiversal crises, and the ongoing evolution of Wanda Maximoff.
• Chris Coplan interviews:
- Joni Hägg and Stipan Morian about Our Soot Stained Heart and the cultural origins of the story.
- Daniel Ziegler and Nick Cagnetti about Spirit of the Shadows and Universal Classic Monster inspirations.
- Violet Kitchen about Crawlspace and the performative nature of childhood meanness.
Bluedot Living
Teresa Bergen talks to Tim Mulligan about Twitchland, the realities of toxic waste sites in the United States, and researching the history of Tri-Cities.
Brookline.News
Sabrina Lam interviews Friar Tuck’s Comics & Collectibles’ Rob ‘Friar’ Tuck about finding the perfect location for the store, and the comics collection that built the business.
CBC
Elizabeth Whiten speaks with Rob Williams and Karin Murray-Bergquist about Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Ghost Ships of Labrador and the folk tales and history that feed into the comic.
Deadline
Jesse Whittock interviews Manta CEO Asher Won about the webtoon platform’s original vision and growth, and the developing vertical scroll market.
Fanbase Press
Barbra Dillon talks to:
- Rafael Scavone about Devil’s Luck and the historical inspirations behind the story.
- Jesse Lonergan about Miss Truesdale and the Rise of Man and telling more stories in the Mignolaverse.
- Jason Brubaker, Jeff Yagher, and Eben Matthews about Phobos Volume 2 and the Frenz n’ Fienz publishing label.
- Ben Crane and Andy Alves about Cosmic Cadets: Accused! and the touchstones of the series.
FreakSugar
Jed W. Keith interviews John Lees about Orla!, monstrous romantic comedies, the truths at the core of a good horror story, and the team behind the book.
Literary Hub
Anthony Silverston talks to Mark Modimola, Lisa Maria Burgess, and Deena Mohamed about visualising African stories, definitions of visual storytelling, and storytelling processes.
Publisher’s Weekly
• Rob Kirby speaks with Shay Mirk and Eleri Harris about Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide for Graphic Narrative and sustaining focus in comics through community.
• Shaenon K. Garrity interviews Jennifer Hayden about Where There’s Smoke, There’s Dinner, the conference origins of the book, and recipes reigniting a love of writing.
Smash Pages
JK Parkin interviews Magnetic Press’ Mike Kennedy about the publisher’s crowdfunding campaign for the complete collection of Florent Maudoux’s Freaks Squeele.
This week’s features and longreads.
• Here at TCJ, Henry Chamberlain writes in remembrance of cartoonist Dalton Webb, illustrator of Wally Mammoth: The Sled Race, who died last month at the age of 53, also sharing memories of Webb from friends and fellow cartoonists — “As much as one might try to draw a distinction between this or that comic being high art or not, a lot can depend upon context and even how you brand a work. That said, I know this was not a concern for Dalton. I think, again, he was mostly concerned with making the art and letting what happens next to get figured out later. He knew more than enough about comics and illustration to know that he’d done his homework.”
• Also for TCJ, Brent Galen Adkins reports from this year's edition of the Philly Comics Expo, which took place back in October, sharing photographs from the event - “We don’t do the things we love because we think they’ll lead us to a home with walls insulated with greenbacks and crypto thumbdrives, we do them because we have something we need to express and we believe it’s worth taking the time to express them properly—that comic may last a year or a century, but the heart of PCX is building upon the never-ending dialogue of relationships we need to keep this culture alive.”
• For nippon.com, Ishida Kanta covers the continued success of Fujimoto Tatsuki’s Chainsaw Man, and cuts into what makes violent protagonist Denji such a compelling antihero.
• Season two of Tom Ewing’s Discourse 2000 continues, over at Freaky Trigger, as 1978 serves up one of the runts of the 2000 AD litter in the form of Colony Earth! and why the story was poorly served by the emerging house style for the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic.
• For Shelfdust, Keith Pille looks back on the subversive delights of Peter Milligan and Darwyn Cooke’s X-Force, and the joys of finding a comic that defies all expectations.
• E.B. Hutchins presents part one of a two-part feature for Cartoonist Cooperative, speaking with creators, editors and publishers about the complicated realities of winning comics awards.
• Over at The Beat, Heidi MacDonald returns to the other big bankruptcy story in comics for 2025, breaking down the intercontinental collapse of Humanoids, and the varied machinations of one Fabrice Giger.
• Print’s Steven Heller previews the upcoming publication of a new edition of Ralph Steadman’s A Life in Ink, sharing excerpts from the book, and memories of working with Steadman at The New York Times.
• For FAIR, Hank Kennedy writes on the depictions in cartoons and caricatures of Zohran Mamdani, during the recent mayoral election for New York City, and the tropes employed against Mamdani in print by right-wing cartoonists.
• Robin McConnell presents a fresh selection of Inkstuds reading, sharing thoughts on Aaron Lange’s Ain’t It Fun, Andrew White’s Spring Tides, Jason’s Death in Trieste, Marvel Comics’ Marvel Fanfare #40, Charlotte Pelissier’s The Loser Zeitgeist, Jack Lloyd’s The Yard, Julian Lawrence’s Rubberneck #3, David Lasky and Tatiana Gill’s Om #4 – Tintin on Mars, and Briana Loewinsohn’s Raised by Ghosts.
• A fresh weekly info blast from the Mindless Ones’ newsletter, as further consideration is given to Grant Morrison and Chris Weston’s The Filth, and British Comics History continues to be briefed with IPC Magazines’ MASK.
• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as sportswashing, unlicensed use of children’s book characters to gloss over alleged war crimes, and Russo-American relations were all business as usual in the White House.
all views expressed on this account are my own and do not represent those of my employer :)
This week’s audio/visual delights.
• Thick Lines returned as Katie Skelly and Sally Madden opened the dome of Junko Mizuno’s Pure Trance, its original publication in the booklets accompanying Avex Trax’s Pure Trance compilations, the fashions or lack thereof to be found therein, and exhibitions of the Japan Society.
• Some recent meetings of the New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium to carry us through the dark nights of winter, as Austin English hosted talks on creative processes from Jordan Crane and Molly Colleen O’Connell, Bill Kartalopoulos hosted a talk from Leila Abdelrazaq on graphic novel Baddawi, and Lilli Carré hosted talks from R. Kikuo Johnson and Dash Shaw about Rea Irvin’s The Smythes and Xander Morro on 25 years of The Dirt Palace and opening up the archives to researchers.
• Michel Fiffe presented part one of a new six-part video retrospective on the career of Keith Giffen, this time out taking an extensive dip into the early years of Giffen’s career, including Marvel and DC breakthroughs and giving the Direct Market what it truly desires.
• Some recent radio broadcasts, as Joe Sacco spoke with NPR’s Andrew Limbong about The Once and Future Riot for Book of the Day, and Dav Pilkey spoke with CBC’s Tom Power about Captain Underpants and Dog Man and the importance of graphic novels for early readers.
• Some recent deliveries to the Links’ mailbag, as the most recent episode of Sean McTiernan's SFUltra featured a discussion with Cameron Kunzleman on the works of (amongst others) H.P. Lovecraft and Alan Moore, and author Graeme Burk launched The Comics Code podcast with a first season leaping into the origins and creation of Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
• Closing out the week with recent interviews from David Harper and Off Panel, as discussions were had with Grant Morrison on the craft of writing comics, Gene Luen Yang on reptilian half-shelled heroes, Lunar Distribution and Discount Comic Book Service’s Christina Merkler on the business of comics distro in 2025, and Terry Dodson on Ultimate Endgame and AdventureMan.
Hot reminder that applications for the 2026 Comics Criticism Mini Grant are OPEN! If you're a comics critic, please apply!forms.gle/Cy8FtCcqVSWa...
— Tiffany Babb (@explodingarrow.bsky.social) 2025-12-06T00:32:17.000Z
No more links this week, but some more links next week, and then no more links until 2026.
costume design for a mech pilot
— ssunstrum.bsky.social (@ssunstrum.bsky.social) 2025-12-10T19:07:24.567Z
The post No Cheeses For Us Meeces — 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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