The October Country — This Week’s Links

A classic bumper catch-up edition of this (and last) week’s links, below, as I return from Scotland with an average daily step count of 17,000, an average daily Irn Bru count of 1, an average daily muddy pawprint on my trousers count of 7.5, and an inbox count that I’m trying my best to not even contemplate for fear of the irreparable psychic damage it would cause to me and to those in a one mile radius around me. 72 shopping days until Christmas, let’s goooooo.

This week’s news.

• Opening things up with a return to the comics crime files, as an individual was arrested in Portland last month after stealing books from Floating World Comics while brandishing a knife during a chase with security in the Pioneer Place Mall — Floating World celebrated its 20th anniversary this summer, and had moved to its new location in Pioneer Place in August, after its former location at the Lloyd Center Mall closed down.

• Checking in with how things are going with regards to the finances of the Webtoon market, as it was announced last month that Kakao would be shutting down Tapas, the digital comics platform it bought in 2021, as the company consolidates its operations to support its focus on the jangling keychain of AI development, with the former allure of infinite #content revenue now apparently passé.

• Diamond Comic Distributors bankruptcy news, a phrase which may now be the most-often used in the last few years on the Links round-up, as The Beat and ICv2 covered a fresh settlement proposal between owners of inventory currently in limbo who had not been included in the previous settlement proposal, which is currently being contested by the ever-fascinatingly named Sparkle Pop LLC, for, seemingly, not being invited to whet their whistle — Brigid Alverson’s recaps for TCJ of how we got to now start here.

• Comics prizes news, as the 2026 winners of the Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards were announced, with Craig Thompson named as Best Cartoonist, Deniz Camp named as Best Writer, Javier Rodriquez named as Best Artist, and Mike Kunkel’s Herobear and the Kid named as Best Original Graphic Novel, amongst others.

I am SO THRILLED to announce the AMAZING lineup of writers that will be featured in The Comics Courier Issue 5. This issue is gonna be 🔥www.kickstarter.com/projects/tif…

This week’s reviews.

• Tegan O’Neil reviews the genre convictions of Henry Barajas, Rachel Merrill, et al’s Death to Pachuco— “But trust: it comes together in the last chapter. The last chapter is strong enough, downright thunderous, to put the whole series in a better light. When you’re done and looking back it just works. It throws a lot at you and expects you to keep up, and if you do keep up you’re rewarded with a real knockout ending. I mean it! Real breath kicked out of your chest hours.”

• Kevin Brown reviews the conveyed emotions of Frederick Nowland’s Major Taylor: The World’s Fastest Man— “Noland also uses color to offset different sections of the story. When he provides context, he often slides into more subdued colors, sometimes using only black and white, such as when he provides the overall context of cycling. However, when he shows races or important moments in Taylor’s lives, the pages are much more colorful, a fitting choice given how much people’s perceptions of color impacted Taylor’s life.”

• Tom Shapira reviews the shallow approach of Joe D’Esposito’s The Outsider— “Krigstein was one of a kind. Which means Joe D’Esposito’s new comics biography has its work cut out for it — trying to tell the story of a master of the medium, within the medium he mastered.  An unconventional, or a “convention defining” artist deserves something that tries to live up to their standards.The Outsideris a fairly tame work, holding back where its subject struggled to break forward.”

• Brian Nicholson reviews the unapologetic presentation of Rotem Anna Diamant’s Dancing With The Sheyd— “Diamant doubles down on the strange and indigestible as an assertion of otherness. Distanced from Canadian society by Jewishness and queerness, and estranged from family members’ ideas of Jewishness due to her anti-Zionism, the book asserts her own sense of identity most strongly through the peculiarities of drawing.”

•Colin Moon reviews the impeccable cartooning of Noah Van Sciver’s The Mess.

•Jonathan Waugh reviews the gory surprise of Kieron Gillen, Geraldo Borges, et al’s Alien vs. X-Men #1.

• David Brooke reviews the worthy celebration of Marvel Comics’ Amazing Spider-Man #1000.

• Rory Wilding reviews the accessible appeal of DC’s Batman of Two Worlds #1.

• Collier Jennings reviews the self-contained storytelling of Erica Schultz, Valentina Pinti, et al’s Vampirella x Witchblade #1.

• Kevin Clark reviews the dark delights of Eric Powell’s Hillbilly: The Treason of Twelve-Toe Maggie #1.

• Lily Abreu reviews the kid-friendly horror of Jeremy Melloul, Adam Seats, Rebecca Nalty et al’s Adventure Time Halloween Special: Those Who Fight Monsters.

Sarah Boslaugh reviews the realistic struggles of Archie Bongiovanni’sLeo Rising.

• Mike Donachie reviews the swashbuckling satisfaction of Ian Edginton, I.N.J. Culbard, et al’s Brass Sun, Volume 1 – The Wheel of Worlds.

• Kathryn Hemmann reviews the gothic grandeur of Riotbones’ Strange Cases.

• Zack Quaintance reviews the clever return of Chris Condon, Jacob Phillips, et al’s That Texas Blood – Hell Comes to Allison Ranch #1.

• Gianni Palumbo reviews the stellar start of Eliot Rahal and Mattia Monaco’s Crimes Against Nature #1.

• Khalid Johnson reviews the layered horror of Nero Villagallos O’Reilly, Francesca Ciregia, et al’s Hellraiser: Resurrections – Hell’s Council #1.

• Jordan Jennings reviews the phenomenal update of Jim Zub, Jesus Merino, et al’s Conan – Tides of the Tyrant King #1.

• Tim Rooney reviews the playful experimentation of Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson, Michael Avon Oeming, et al’s Ghost of a Ghost #1.

• Lawrence Marable reviews the faltering momentum of Bryan Edward Hill, Valentine De Landro, Nico Leon, et al’s Miles Morales: Spider-Man #2.

• Diego Higuera reviews the intoxicating creativity of Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, et al’s Absolute Wonder Woman #24.

• Harish P. I reviews the visual appeal of Jean Cremers’ Across the Widest Sea,translated by Joe Johnston.

• Edward Picot reviews the inventive playfulness of Tor Freeman’s Boss of theUnderworld: Shirley vs. Seven Deadly Dangers.

• Swati Nair reviews the powerful message of Arianna Irwin, Prenzy, et al’s Penelope’s Escape from the Platypusary.

• Lindsay Pereira reviews the delightful absurdity of Mark Alan Stamaty’s Who Needs Donuts?,and the deep research of Frederick Noland’s Major Taylor: The World’s Fastest Man.

• Andy Oliver reviews the haunting atmosphere of Roman Muradov’s All the Living,and the intricate otherworldliness of Kristina Stipetic’s The Flesh of the World.

Henry Chamberlain reviews the sparkling originality of Karl Stevens’Pepper.

Ryan Carey reviews the competent execution of Sam Grinberg’sScumburbia: Sleepover,and the honest conclusion of Whit Taylor’sFizzle #7.

Jed W. Keith reviews the unsettling horror of David Dastmalchian, Leah Kilpatrick, Soo Lee, et al’sKingdom of Earth #1.

Scott Cederlund reviews the layered explorations of Deniz Camp, Javier Rodríguez, et al’sAbsolute Martian Manhunter.

Micaela S. Arenas reviews the cartooning expertise ofYokai: Shigeru Mizuki’s Supernatural Parade, translated by Zack Davisson.

Paul O’Brien hascapsulereviewsof Marvel Comics’DNX #1, X-Men #37, X-Men: Outback #3, Wolverine #28, Generation X-23 #8, Bishop #4, Infernal Hulk vs. Wolverine #1,andGambit: Gone #1.

Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society

• Blair Davis reviews the impressive scope of William Grady’s Redrawing the West: A History of American Comics and the Mythic West.

• Antonio Mirizzi reviews the multifaceted portrait of Nicolas Labarre’s Moebius.

• Mahriana Rofheart reviews the important work of Michelle Bumatay’s On Black Bandes Dessinées and Transcolonial Power.

Have starred capsule reviews of:

• The warm wit of Audrey Alwet, Christophe Arleston, Mini Ludvin, et al’sElfie’s Grimoire,translated by Rebecca Potters.
• The bold originality of Nicole J. Georges’The Ballad of X-Ray and Koko.
• The gut-wrenching memorial of Rodrigo Terrasa and Paco Roca’sThe Abyss of Oblivion, translated by Andrea Rosenberg.

• The dazzling challenges of Akane Torikai’sWandering Cat’s Cage, translated by Jocelyne Allen.
• The cozy immersion of Kat Leyh’sSpoke.
• The wry satire of Brian ‘Box’ Brown’sForevr.

Ryan K Lindsay reviews the beautiful reminders of Matthew Rosenberg, Mark Elijah Rosenberg, Andy MacDonald, et al’sIf Destruction be Our Lot….

• Tony Yao reviews the opening setups of Kuwahali and Tetsuo Ideuchi’s Girl Meets Rock!, Volume 1, translated by Catherine Delange and Sarah Moon.

• Borealis Capps reviews the mahjong accessibility of Yoshiki Suda and Mio Junta’s Crybaby Mermaid: Illustrated Memoir of Yuumi Uotani,translated by Miina Lin.

This week’s interviews.

• Alex Dueben interviews Sharon Rudahl about A Dangerous Woman: A Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman,pathways to writing and cartooning, and working in different mediums — “I do enjoy Philip K. Dick-ian science fiction, and I think it’s a great place for comics to go. I’m sorry I didn’t get to do some of the stories I would have liked to do along those lines. I’m writing something right now, maybe for another cartoonist to draw. It’s the movie that dolphins are going to write about humans after we’re reduced to a few gibbering primates on the beach somewhere where they make money selling souvenirs to the dolphins.”

• Ana Woulfe interviews Mickey Zacchilli about GAR, pandemic creativity challenges, Jiu Jitsu, rising risograph costs, and reflecting the brutality of modern life ˆ “WithRAVI had all these scans of Zip-A-Tone that someone gave me and I would copy and paste them and put them in a multiply layer over the drawings. Then I would color select the dots and gradiate them and erase or whatever. WithGARI couldn’t find my tones so I just used a clip studio brush but I think it looks like SHIT.”

• David Brooke speaks with Frederick Noland about Major Taylor: The World’s Fastest Man and the Black American experience, and with Jesse Moynihan about Formingand bringing the story to a close after 17 years.

• Chris Coplan talks to Eric Palicki about Dragonproof and genre fiction worldbuilding, and to Nate Powell about Diana and unique creative processes.

François Vigneault chats with Brecht Evens about The Jellyfish King, notebooks of ideas, childhood inspirations, and working on the next installment in the trilogy.

Lara Boyle interviewsMichael D. KennedyaboutMilk White Steed, comics making origins, literary influences, and working with Drawn & Quarterly to bring the book to publication.

• Adam HodgeaboutPaxton Porter and the Agents of D.E.A.L.and setting up rules to be broken.
• Omar SalihaboutExtinction Warand the impossible decisions of survival.
• Josh ViolaaboutThief: Pulse of Promiseand canonical placement within theThiefvideo games’ narratives.
• Aaron Sammut about Maurice & The Metal and the best part of publishing a comic.

Jonathan Sandler talks toGrace FarrisaboutSee One, Do One, Teach Oneand tailoring the graphic memoir to a wide readership, and toTeresa RobertsonaboutTwinsand the book’s journey to publication through zine experimentation.

Cyrus Farivar interviewsFrederick NolandaboutMajor Taylor: The World’s Fastest Man, comics evangelism, and the often communal nature of solitary pursuits.

Nick Spacek speaks withBeck KubrickaboutDead Girls, moving from the world of small press to working with a Big Five publisher, and the joys of heightened realities in fiction.

Steven Heller talks toMark Alan StamatyaboutWho Needs Donuts?and the book’s journey out of and back into print, and toPeter KuperaboutWorld War 3 Illustratedand the emerging artists who appear in the comic’s pages.

JK Parkin chats withGemma Correll and Nicole GeorgesaboutAnxietylandandEmotional Support Animals, integrating mental health perspectives into their work, and mental health misconceptions.

Josh Sims interviewsNicole Rousmaniere and Helen McCarthyabout Brooklyn Museum’s “Art of Manga” exhibition andThe Manga Bible, and the global proliferation of manga.

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, Kaoru Kumi examines the interplay between Japan’s military history and the evolution of key military manga, alongside manga more generally, and the changing influence that foreign politics has on this evolution — “In the immediate aftermath of World War II, comic books originally created for U.S. troops found their way into the hands of Japanese readers, who were starved for visual entertainment. These imports catalyzed the transformation of children’s manga. Gradually, Japanese comics began to incorporate themes of sex, death, and violence — often obliquely, but unmistakably.”

• Also for TCJ, Ian Thomas shares an excerpt from Unbound in the Square: Superhero Auteurs in Reagan’s America, exploring the path to publication of Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley’s The Dark Knight Returns, the politics found therein, and the book’s lasting legacy — “Dedicated as they may be, diehards are fickle, finicky, and vocal with their displeasure. Since genre entertainment forms the bedrock of popular culture, the marketing of it is an effort to expand, perpetually, the fan base. Any new material must be sold as though it’s different from everything that came before it, while allowing for the implication that it is also the same as everything that came before it.”

• More for TCJ, as John Kelly writes in remembrance of Len Brown, storied executive at Topps Chewing Gum Inc., who died earlier this year at the age of 84, also collating remembrances of Brown from colleagues, peers, and family — “During his four decades at Topps, Brown worked with scores of comic artists, including Wallace Wood, Basil Wolverton, Jack Davis, Jay Lynch, Art Spiegelman and many others to create bubble gum cards and stickers that delighted children and sometimes horrified their parents and teachers.”

• Continuing recent publications, here at TCJ, as Chris Anthony Diaz shares photographs from this year’s edition of Pride in Panels — “A huge obstacle to PiP continuing is the California College of the Arts (CCA), which gave institutional support to PiP, closing down in June 2027. And Vanderbilt University has bought and is taking over the campus at that point. But Vanderbilt will not be continuing CCA at all; in fact, there still isn’t much of a clear idea what they intend to do with the campus, and if any of the CCA faculty or staff will be hired for Vanderbilt’s new school, which is named the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang College of Art, Architecture, and Design (after the co-founder of Nvidia, who donated 75 million dollars for the new school).”

• More west coast events reporting at TCJ, as Jake Zawlacki visited 2026’s edition of the Compressed zine and music fair — “This isn’t to say that beauty can’t be employed in a DIY space, but the economic realities might be losing a bit of the thread when it’s $25 for a 20-page comic, albeit, one of the nicest printed comics I’ve ever seen. I just can’t help but think a Xerox would get the point across just as well.”

• Finally for TCJ across the last fortnight, our illustrious editors present an excerpt from Barbara “Willy” Mendes’ Queen of Cosmos Comix Trilogy — “Inspired by Jewish mysticism, Mendes presents a creation myth shaped by feminine cosmic consciousness, with new, immersive worlds— and a radical reimagining of this one.Includes an illuminating and entertaining interview with Mendes, as well as the 3rd never-before-published chapter of the trilogy.”

• For the New York Times, Joanne Kaufman writes on the life and legacy of cartoonist Hilda Terry, creator of the comic strip Teena, as part of the NYT’s Overlooked series of obituaries for notable people whose deaths previously went unreported in the publication.

• Over at Publisher’s Weekly, Don Vaughan writes on the history of Entertaining Comics, EC’s tangle with McCarthyism and the Comics Code Authority, and the return and preservation of EC under the auspices of Fantagraphics and Oni Press.

• Shelfdust’sSteve Morris writes on the perennial blank slate of Batman, how the Caped Crusader reflects the soul of the writer back out at the reader, and the blast of melodrama one receives from an issue penned by Doug Moench, taking Detective Comics #557as an example of this.

• For Solrad, Fer García writes on the tension between labour and creativity in independent artistic circles, and the way that convention floors lay this tension bare; and Emre Altindag examines the quiet contemplation of silent comics, and the storytelling considerations that come with spaces between wordless panels.

• Print’sSteven Heller shares an adaptation of a presentation that arose from the “Brad Holland: Making It Personal” exhibition, tracing Holland’s early years in New York, providing comments on a selection of Holland’s work.

• For the Portland Mercury, Corbin Smith writes on Portland’s ascendancy in the U.S. comics landscape, as OBP’s documentary, Indie Comics City,shines a spotlight on the artists and writers who make their home in the city.

• A double helping of the MindlessOnes’ newsletter, as A Brief History of British Comics bows to the audience while Suggested For Mature Readers waits in the wings, appreciation continues of Pat Mills and Simon Bisley’s Sláine: The Horned God,and Batman day is celebrated in time-honoured fashion alongside consideration of Gotham villain The Black Mask.

• From the world of open-access academia, a new issue arrives of Inks, the journal of the Comics Studies Society, this edition featuring pieces on the life and work of Donna Barr, illustrated scrolls and manga history, comics fandom of the 70s, and more, as well as an obituary for scholar John A. Lent.

• For Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Felix Cheong writes on the state of graphic novel publishing in Singapore, following an initial boom after the success of Sonny Liew’s The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye; and Ronny Chan connects the dots between personal favourite queer and feminist comics and their creators from the Hong Kong scene, providing analysis of key pieces from their catalogs of work.

• In the Journal of Public Health, André Hajek and Hans-Helmut König present a study on individual interests in varying genres of manga and anime and associated mental health outcomes and relative social disconnectedness.

• Paul O’Brien’s survey of the villains of Daredevil continues, for House to Astonish, as some new players enter the scene, with Gregory Wright Cam Kennedy, and Ron Garney introducing readers to the pithily named Lifeform and (ahem) The Crippler.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the weeks’ editorial beats, for The Daily Cartoonist, as we see the current administration of the United States wage war on the freedom of the press, as reporting on upcoming midterm elections continues, a coincidence there, I’m sure, and all eyes turned to the case of the Cornell 7.

No more links this week, because that was already two week’s worth, and we don’t want to get greedy now.