Whenever one of these notes crosses my awareness, I’m rarely surprised. Comics is not a long-term, sustainable business for many people. (As noted on Twitter by Joshua Dysart recently, Almost every single person who got their start in comics from my generation, & from most others too, had some kind of supplemental income, & many people who appear successful today are either being subsidized by a spouse, family money, or some other means. As to why… There’s no union, no […]

In announcing he’s closing his second store, comic retailer Brian Hibbs makes a lot of cogent observations about the state of the direct market for comic books today in his latest Tilting at Windmills column. Some key points: I’ve lost a great deal of faith in the business of periodical comics and, more specifically, of many of the people in charge of shepherding it. Costs of operation are greatly increasing, profit margins are getting tighter, and the industry as a […]

Last year, one of Faith Erin Hicks’ earliest works, The War at Ellsmere, was reissued in a partially redrawn color edition, now titled One Year at Ellsmere. (I previously interviewed her about the process.) Earlier this month, another of her works was also reissued. Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, published in 2013, adapted a story by Prudence Shen. The new edition adds color, with no other changes. It’s the story of a friendship between the basketball team captain and the […]

More news on the upcoming Wizard World Chicago — tickets are now on sale for the October show. Single-day tickets range from $40-60, depending on day, while the three-day weekend is $90. The Gold VIP package, which primarily allows for early entry to the show and programming, is $180. Note that no guests, programming, or exhibitors have yet been announced, so spending this kind of money on the weekend requires quite a lot of faith. “Details on celebrities, superstar creators, […]

Want to see what’s going on in British cartooning? The chunky anthology Meanwhile… might be just the thing. Published by Soaring Penguin Press, the latest, extra-large issue (128 pages) is crowdfunding now. 16 stories, 21 creators, no particular theme other than aiming to present stories that stay with you, and to provide a place where established and rising talents artistically bump elbows. It’s the home of Strangehaven by Gary Spencer Millidge, which I used to read in the 90s (let’s hear […]

This is historical. Most years, there is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. This year, for the first time in 48 years, the Board refused to select one, ignoring the three finalists and selecting “No Award”. The finalists were Lalo Alcaraz, Ruben Bolling (Tom the Dancing Bug), and Marty Two Bulls Sr. This Poynter article explains how the process is supposed to work: [No winner is awarded] if a finalist doesn’t receive a majority vote among the […]

It has been announced that Wizard World Chicago will be held as a live event October 15-17 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. There is no word yet on who will be exhibiting, which guests will be appearing, what tickets will cost, or any other specifics. But given how quickly shows are staking out weekends in the last quarter of the year, it’s important for a major show to get on the calendar. We’re told more […]

Enigma by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo was one of the Vertigo imprint launch titles. The eight-issue miniseries was first released in 1993. Collected in 1995, I recommended it in 2006. It’s an astounding story about dreams and superheroes and imagination and childhood heroes as inspiration to acknowledge one’s true self. Now, the Dark Horse imprint Berger Books is bringing out Enigma: The Definitive Edition (October 2021, $24.99), a hardcover collection with extras “including development art, color sketches, and behind-the-scenes […]