Hello, everyone! This is the Comics NEWS digest, an aggregation of all the top comics and comics-related stories that caught my attention that I thought you might enjoy reading. I post these two weeks after every regular newsletter.
NEWS
I’m celebrating a friend’s birthday as this goes live, so I may have missed something. If I have, be sure to let me know in the comments!
We’ll start with the sad and unfortunate news that website Multiversity Comics has ceased active operations after fifteen years of providing excellent coverage and commentary on the comics art form. Several current and former staff members provided heartfelt statements, including social media manager Kate Kosturski and former editor and current publisher of SKTCHD
, who wrote in his own newsletter, “You wouldn't have SKTCHD without Multiversity, and I'm happy it was part of my journey.”At SKTCHD, you can find this interview with
, who talked about the closing of his comics retail shop, Variant Edition, due to flooding. Mr. Schatz also wrote about this experience for The Beat and at his own newsletter, . Fortunately, it has since reopened. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for retailer Edward Uvanni, who spoke with The Comics Journal about the closure of his New York shop, Pure Folly Books.Reimena Yee, creator of one of the best comics of 2021, was interviewed about comics, along with retailers and readers, for a Malaysian newspaper. Ms. Yee expanded on her answers in a blog post on her website.
In manga news, major publisher Shogakukan has invested in the possibility of creating AI translations, angering many translators and letterers who (rightly) say the money could be better spent on simply providing them with a living wage. This is an incredible waste of money; generative AI is incapable of producing the kind of subtlety and nuance required of translation work, I don’t care how sophisticated it becomes. I could go on, but I won’t. Also, Tokyopop will move its book distribution to Penguin Random House starting in 2025.
The Beat once again visited Webtoon to look at its new “Super Likes” payment program for creators, which has proven to be “super” unpopular. It’s almost as if these massive corporations don’t have the best interests of creative people in mind when they try to find ways to make money.
This isn’t directly about comics, but we here at the Comics Book Club are staunch defenders of libraries and a public library in Idaho will become “adults only” starting July 1 to comply with restrictive and censorious new laws that would allow parents to sue them over “inappropriate material.” I know the people behind such laws would like nothing better than to abolish libraries and dictate how people read, think, and behave. Anyway, support your local library!
Interviews & Criticism
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two by Emil Ferris is out! The first volume is the reason the Comics Book Club exists, and is one of my favorite comics from the past ten years and will probably remain at the top of my personal favorites list for the rest of my life. The Chicago Reader spoke with Emil, as did The Guardian and Vulture, about Book Two. She also spoke at the Harold Washington Library here in Chicago a couple days ago, which is where I picked up my copy and got to reconnect with her. It was wonderful.
Speaking of my personal heroes publishing comics later in life through Fantagraphics, comedian Maria Bamford and her husband, artist Scott Marvel Cassidy, spoke with the AV Club about their autobiographical comic Hogbook and Lazer Eyes.
In long-form criticism, two articles caught my attention. First, at SOLRAD, Helen Chazan wrote her Comics Gridlock column about comics that inspire the same blissful high as drugs for her now that she’s sober.
Second, Shea Hennum, writing for The Comics Journal, looked at one of the most famous law enforcement figures in comics, Judge Dredd, through the lens of the Defund the Police movement.
Awards
It was a busy month for awards! The Eisners are arguably the biggest, and they released their list of nominees. There are a lot of the same candidates from years previous, but a few pleasant surprises. I’m especially happy to see that they’ll be recognizing journalists and periodicals after all, many of whom are cited above. The winners will be announced at San Diego Comic-Con in late July.
The 2024 Doug Wright Awards for Canadian cartoonists were given out on May 11. You can watch the live stream of the whole awards show here.
The winners of Best Long-Form Comic and Best Short-Form Comic for the 2024 Cartoonist Studio Prize were announced. The winners for the 48th Kodansha Manga Awards also were announced. Carmilla: The First Vampire by Amy Chu and Soo Lee won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel from the Horror Writers Association at their convention on June 1.
Last but not least, the 2024 Cartoon Award from the RFK Human Rights organization was given to Peter Kuper. I first encountered Peter Kuper’s work when he was criticizing the George W. Bush administration, and then The Nib reprinted this comic of his from 1990, which renewed my appreciation for it.
Obituaries
As always, there is sad news to report. Artist Don Perlin has died at the age of 94. His career spanned the Golden Age of comics in the 40s through the Bronze Age of the 70s and into the 1990s. He may be best known as the co-creator of Moon Knight for Marvel, which he got to see adapted into live action in 2022.
Publisher and editor Michael Dowers passed away at the age of 74, a pioneer and champion of independent artists and comics. Colorist Tom Luth has died at 70.
Finally, Ricardo Padilla, co-founder of the Latino Comics Expo (LCX) passed away. He was a beloved figure who is remembered fondly by those who knew him. He was 57.
That’s all for this month. Feel free to subscribe if you haven’t already. The Comics Book Club will be meeting again on June 19 to discuss Bitter Root, Volume 1: Family Business, and you can expect another one of these in early July. Thanks again for everything.