Keeping it brief, up top, as it’s a busy edition of this week’s links, below, and sometimes you have to dash out of the house, in order to answer a deluge of questions about exhibits at the Science Museum, posed by a seven year old, and resist the age-old temptation to go full Calvin’s Dad sicko mode with your responses.
another fat dragon
— Linnea Sterte (@decassette.bsky.social) 2026-09-01T15:15:20.748Z
This week’s news.
• Dipping into the comics crime files to start the week, as mangaka Masami Kurumada, creator of Saint Seiya and Ring ni Kakero, filed suit against a former executive colleague, who is alleged to have embezzled ¥4.6 billion (around $29 million) from three of Kurumada’s companies, with the help of six other individuals, before being discovered by the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau in 2024.
• Elsewhere, a former production assistant on Amazon MGM Studios and Big Indie Pictures' TV adaptation of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Criminal has filed suit against the companies, alleging that they failed to investigate claims surrounding Brubaker, currently serving as the adaptation's showrunner, who is alleged to have fomented a hostile work environment, by engaging in, per The Hollywood Reporter's story, “sexual and racial harassment, religious discrimination, assault, and battery,” - the lawsuit claims that multiple people on the set of the adaptation witnessed incidents of the alleged harassment, with linked claims that senior executives directed others involved in the production not to document these incidents or other complaints raised.
• Checking back in with the slowly wafting fallout of Diamond Comic Distributors’ bankruptcy, as the mooted settlement between the Diamond estate and consignors whose stock is currently in Mississippi warehouse limbo hit a roadblock this week, with objections raised against the terms of the settlement by new Diamond owners Sparkle Pop, who are seemingly determined to erase any possibility of goodwill with their potential clientele, through their ongoing demands and attempts to seize said stock — ICv2 has a summary of recent proceedings.
• Comics prizes news, as the winners of the Massachusetts Book Awards were announced, with Bulgilhan Press taking home the Notable Contribution to Publishing Prize for Qu’s Slices of Life: A Comic Montage.
• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, as news was shared of the passing of author, journalist, and historian Will Murray, co-creator of Marvel Comics’ Squirrel Girl, who has died at the age of 73. Donations in Murray's name can be made to World Central Kitchen.
The Final Blind Alley Guest Strip ( @reweki.bsky.social )
This week’s reviews.
TCJ
• Hagai Palevsky reviews the cosmic grandeur of Jean Pleyers’ The Children of Light, translated by Luke Burns — “This, then, is the tension that lurks at the heart of The Children of Light: the need for a greater vision that stems from oneself versus the need for the affirmation of authority; a disdain for the ingrained dystopian mindset on one hand, a fear of revolution — of revolt — on the other. Pleyers doesn’t try to reconcile these warring impulses, instead fully inhabiting the inherent contradiction. It is this lack of resolution that makes him frustrating; it is this lack of resolution that makes him, in a way, admirable.”
• Alex Dueben reviews the singular approach of Susan Simensky Bietila’s Front Lines: A Lifetime of Drawing Resistance — “Late in the book Bietila quotes Paulo Freire, the great educator and philosopher who asked his students to “analyze personal experience and connect it to the causality of oppression. Collective power comes from putting personal experience into the social context and revealing the root causes we must overturn, together.” It’s a good way to sum up how Bietila thinks about the world and about the intention of the book.”
AIPT
• Kevin Clark reviews the industry satire of Steve Skroce’s Tales of Wonder #1.
• Jonathan Waugh reviews the beautiful malaise of Darcy Van Poelgeest, Nico Henrichon, et al’s The Doom Patrol #1.
• Michael Guerrero reviews the pacy action of Matt Fraction, Matteo Scalera, et al’s Batman #13.
• Collier Jennings reviews the gritty violence of Tom Waltz, Jamie Infante, et al’s Marvel Zombies: War Zone #1.
• David Brooke reviews the narrative density of Joe Kelly, Jack Kelly, Kenny Ruiz, et al’s Marvel Mangaverse: Web of Blood #1.
• Jonathan Jones reviews the birthday celebrations of Ann Nocenti, Dan Watters, Stefano Raffaele, Andrea Broccardo, et al’s Spider-Woman 50th Anniversary Special #1.
The Beat
• Sean Dillon reviews the hidden delights of Darcy Van Poelgeest, Erin Connally, et al’s The Cutting Garden.
• Khalid Johnson reviews the compelling details of Frederick Noland’s Major Taylor, the World’s Fastest Man.
• Jordan Jennings reviews the masterful relaunch of Ben H. Winters, Fábio Moon, et al’s Archie #1.
• Jared Bird reviews the fascinating start of Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen, et al’s Crowbound #1.
• Samantha Puc reviews the propulsive brilliance of Olivia Dufault, Rebekah Isaacs, et al’s Prima Apparata #1.
• Zack Quaintance reviews the literary breeziness of Darcy Van Poelgeest, Nico Henrichon, et al’s The Doom Patrol #1; and the visual prowess of Joshua Williamson, Hayden Sherman, et al’s Legion of Super-Heroes #1.
• Diego Higuera reviews the contemporary identity of Kyle Higgins, Daniele Di Nicuolo, et al’s Teen Titans #1.
Broken Frontier
Andy Oliver reviews the visceral honesty of Raguelle Jac’s Bimbo Agitprop; and the strange charm of Jacques Tardi’s The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, Volume 1, translated by Kim Thompson.
Four Color Apocalypse
Ryan Carey reviews the enticing puzzle of Ron Regé, Jr.’s Duravit, and the razor-sharp intent of Emily Zimmer's Skeleton Army.
From Cover to Cover
Scott Cederlund reviews the expansive questions of Pierre-Henry Gomont's Soviet Land, translated by Edward Gauvin
House to Astonish
Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men #36, Wolverine #26, Tomb of Apocalypse #1, X-Men: Outback #3, Gambit: Wanted #2, and What If…? X-Men #1.
The New York Times
John Hendrix reviews the confident pluralism of Shaun Tan’s Hometown.
Nippon.com
Ishida Kanta reviews the multilayered entertainment of Matsuki Ikka’s Nippon Sangoku.
The Observer
Killian Fox reviews the illustrative devices of Frederick Noland’s Major Taylor, the World’s Fastest Man.
School Library Journal
• Andrea Lipinski has a starred capsule review of the thoughtful sensitivity of Danie Stirling’s Trove.
• Jessica Fenster-Sparber has a starred capsule review of the cultural richness of Sophie Li’s Last Night I Dreamed of Home.
• Carolina Youssif has a starred capsule review of the iconic characters of Quino’s Mafalda, Volume 2, translated by Frank Wynne.
TMG Journal for Media History
Rik Spanjers reviews the fresh avenues of Benoît Crucifix’s Drawing from the Archives: Comics Memory in the Contemporary Graphic Novel.
Another little wildflower guy: silly edition.
— Cuyler Keating (@cuylerkeating.bsky.social) 2026-08-31T21:45:04.916Z
This week’s interviews.
TCJ
Ramon Vitral interviews Marcelo D’Salete about Tiodora's Letters: An Enslaved Woman's Fight for Family and Freedom, the contemporary Brazilian political cycle, the research that went into the book, and the history of 19th-century Brazil — “Reading Tiodora’s letters had an enormous impact. I remember crying as I read them because she is very powerful. She is very direct in expressing her emotions and her desire to gain her freedom. And, of course, to have contact with the people from whom she was separated. This collection of letters is, as historian Cristina Wissenbach notes, truly unique for thinking about the city of São Paulo in this period.”
AIPT
• Chris Hassan speaks with Steve Orlando about Gambit: Gone, specific universal numbering of Remys LeBeau, and four-legged cameos.
• Chris Coplan talks to Darcy Van Poelgeest about The Karman Blade and Doom Patrol, creative relationship dynamics, and the realities of scripting a serialised series.
• David Brooke interviews Saladin Ahmed about ThunderCats: Cheetara and the truths about prophets, and Steve Skroce about Tales of Wonder and when friendships end in the swipe files.
The Beat
• Masha Zhdanova talks to Akiko Higashimura about Gintaro-san, Much Obliged, digital and remote working in the post-COVID era, and making stories for different demographics.
• Avery Kaplan chats with Colleen AF Venable and Stephanie Yue about Katie the Catsitter, Mayoral elections, ending changes, and shoulder pad inspirations.
• Taimur Dar speaks with Steve Skroce about Tales of Wonder, filmic influences for the book, and metafictional superhero teams.
Broken Frontier
Andy Oliver interviews:
- Roberta Gregory about Bitchy! The Exasperating Existence of Midge McCracken and bringing Midge to a new audience.
- Marina Lisa Komiya about On Their Frontlines: The Lives of Japanese War Brides and the story’s transition from digital to print media.
- Yudori about Lovers of the Empire and the complexity of human identities.
Fanbase Press
Barbra Dillon speaks with Michael Stradford about Grindhouse Comics Presents and collaborators who understand the assignment, and with Robert Saucedo about Curse of the Where Wolf and key lycanthrope source texts.
Forbes
Josh Weiss interviews Alex Ross about Marvel Dimensions, the surprises contained in the book, and reinventing superhero universes.
FreakSugar
Jed W. Keith talks to Liam Johnson about Vampirella: Winter Special 2026, history with the space-vampire, and the plasticity of the character.
GraphicMemoir
Jonathan Sandler chats with Matthew Dooley about Flake and winning the Observer Graphic Short Story Prize, and with Pedro Martín about Mexikid and writing the story for a middle grade audience.
The Guardian
Kat Wong interviews Melissa Chan and Badiucao about You Must Take Part in Revolution, the global dangers of authoritarianism, and trying to get readers thinking about resistance movements.
The Manitoban
Boris Tsun Hang Leung chats with Sam Beiko about the Prairie Comics Festival’s tenth anniversary, and what to expect at this weekend’s edition at the Manitoba Museum.
NPR
• Stephan Bisaha speaks with Alter Ego Comics’ Marc Bowker about the uncertainty in the retail sector caused by the chaotic tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
• Adrian Florido talks to Offbeat’s Phillip Rollins about the Ink Alliance, increasing the visibility and awareness of Black comic shop owners, and plans for literacy promotion through comics.
Philadelphia
Patrick Rapa interviews Brian ‘Box’ Brown about WTF is a Podcast with Marc Maron, Forevr, and Legalization Nation, and the differences between non-fiction and fiction storytelling.
Publisher’s Weekly
• Antonia Sacon chats with Shaun Tan about Hometown, the origins of the book, musical inspirations, and returning to watercolours after 40 years.
• Bets Groban talks to Shannon Hale about Dream Big, collaborative storytelling and making graphic novels, and the return of Austenland.
San Francisco Chronicle
Zack Ruskin interviews Frederick Noland about Major Taylor: The World’s Fastest Man, Taylor’s celebrity in Europe, and the Bay Area’s diminishing comics institutions.
Solrad
• Latonya Pennington speaks with Saturday AM’s Frederick L. Jones about Clock Striker, WEBTOON partnerships, and normalising diversity within manga.
• Cassy Lee talks to Emil Wilson about The Nightingales, the emotional exploration at the heart of the book, and hybrid analog/digital creative processes.
Yomiuri Shimbun
Yayoi Kawatoko interviews Botan Kohagi, Jun Takagi, and Cocoro Kikuchi about their roles in keeping the legacy of Momoko Sakura and Chibi Maruko-chan alive as the manga celebrates its 40th anniversary.
explaining my CHASER hat to CIS people (1/2)
This week’s features and longreads.
• Here at TCJ, Tegan O’Neil considers the past, present, and future of DC’s Vertigo line of comics, as the Distinguished Competition tries once again to put the cork on a good old fashioned bottle of lightning — “No one in 1993 could have foreseen the imminent death of the newsstand, nor the sudden leapfrog of imported manga over domestic offerings. Manga was a reliable but tiny niche within our domestic comics market for fifteen years, until a sudden sharp shift around the turn of the century. Just ten years after Vertigo launched, our entire domestic industry had reoriented itself around Berger’s vision, because there was no longer any viable alternative to the hard work of building a readable backlist.”
• Also for TCJ, Marceline Chevako looks back on Jane Mai’s underrated 2015 comic, Soft, and the terms under which it should be approached by prospective readers in 2026 — “This scene represents the purest fulfillment of Mai’s aesthetic interests: constrained, feminine beauty contrasting with savage violence. If you were to pare down her artistic voice to its most essential element, this is what you would be left with. Understanding its origins, however, requires turning to So Pretty/Very Rotten, a book of essays and comics made by Mai in collaboration with writer and artist An Nguyen in 2017. Its focus is Lolita fashion, an obsession of extreme importance to both writers’ careers.”
• Finally for TCJ this week, Brigid Alverson writes in remembrance of art director, comics historian, educator, and contributor to TCJ Steven Brower, author of From Shadow to Light: The Life and Art of Mort Meskin and Breathless Homicidal Slime Mutants: The Art of the Paperback amongst others, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 74 — “Brower wrote and edited over a dozen books on a variety of topics. Music was one: He designed and edited a book of artwork by Woody Guthrie and visual biographies of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Elvis. Golden Age comics were another interest, and he authored a number of collections of those, including the droll Comics Ad Men, featuring ads from the 1950s peopled by familiar-looking characters by the creators of Hi and Lois and Dennis the Menace.”
• For Yatta-tachi, Adam Wescott reports from this year’s American Manga Awards ceremony, which took place last month in New York, and featured some resounding calls-to-action for publishers in the United States to pay their translators fairly.
• Nicole Anderson writes for Architectural Digest on the “Snoopy in Style” pop-up exhibition running this month at 25 Little West, and the evolution of the American home across the decades, as documented in Charles M. Schulz’s magnum opus.
• Elizabeth Sandifer’s Last War in Albion continues, over at Eruditorum Press, as the latest chapter charts the decades through which Alan Moore travels in Voice of the Fire, and the final bifurcation of the magical path trod by Moore and Grant Morrison.
• Print’s Steven Heller shares a revised edition of an essay on the life and work of political cartoonist and concept designer Ron Cobb, on the occasion of news of a new documentary in the offing, also on the life and work of Cobb.
• Hank Kennedy writes for FAIR on the 2026 US Senate race in Michigan, and the various forms of racism directed at Democratic nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, as the storied historical playbook of America's editorial pages to feature anti-Arab racism and negative portrayals of Arabs in political cartoons has been followed to the letter, alongside the now commonplace accusations that any Democratic nominee must, of course, be a Communist in the Soviet mould.
• For Shelfdust, Steve Morris uncovers the evidence log of Jack Cole’s Police Comics #1, in order to unearth the action-packed debut of Plastic Man, aka Eel O’Brien.
• Comics Grinder’s Paul Buhle and Henry Chamberlain celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fantagraphics, situating the history of the publisher alongside that of Comic Aht and the city of Seattle, and considering the changes in the comics industry over the past five decades.
• From the world of open-access academia, in Library Trends, Meli Taylor writes on the origins of Danmei romance novels in Japanese boys’ love comics, and the form’s evolution into a unique form of Chinese literature, which should be championed and protected against platform and government censorship.
• For the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Shannon Sandford presents analysis of Safdar Ahmed’s webcomic Villawood: Notes from an Immigration Detention Centre and the webcomics of Eaten Fish, in order to explore the insights that such works can give into the lived experiences of refugees and asylum seekers.
• A fresh Mindless Ones newsletter is beckoned into existence, as this week consideration is given to Transformers, Grant Morrison and Curt Swan’s Secret Origins, and Pat Mills and Simon Bisley’s Sláine: The Horned God.
• Paul O’Brien’s review of the villains of Daredevil continues, for House to Astonish, as we are briefly introduced by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr. to Skip Ash and Number Nine, alongside some 80s politics and animal-rights activism.
• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as one wonders whether we’re about to (finally) enter the FO period of FAFO that this decade seems to be embodying for American capitalism.
— Evan Dorkin (@evandorkin.bsky.social) 2026-08-24T10:26:12.462Z
This week’s audio/visual delights.
Checking in with some recent pod- and vodcasts from around the World Wide Web, as the New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium began its autumnal programming with Ben Katchor hosting a talk from Roman Muradov on what makes humour funny, Robin McConnell welcomed Raquelle Jac to a fresh episode of Inkstuds to talk about Bimbo Agitprop and the forthright nature of the book, Gil Roth was joined by Dash Shaw for the Virtual Memories Show as they discussed Like Swimmers and constructing new storytelling shapes, Brian Hibbs spoke with Anna-Laura Sullivan about The Marsh Fellows’ apocalyptic mystery for the Comix Experience Graphic Novel Club, and 2000 AD’s Molch-R and KLO-E talked to Zoe Tunnell and Chloe Brailsford about the return of Scream! and the joys of horror.
Sketching hands and dance moves and different ways to hold a soda can.
Links are done for this week, as it’s insomnia season, again, so time must be spent staring blankly at a wall after forgetting why a room was entered.
— やしろ学/Manabu YASHIRO (@yashiro-manabu.bsky.social) 2026-09-01T09:02:07.517Z
The post September in the Rain — 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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