Last Update: November 27, 2025
J.D. King has died – The Comics Journal
...a prolific cartoonist whose stylized, jazz-infused illustrations appeared in many magazines in the 1990s, died at his home in Remsen, New York..."
Rekcah Comics Feb 2026 titles – Bleedingcool
Batman II starts shooting in January – Movie Web
Comic book page rates "The crazy thing is that no matter how much time elapses, the rates stay the same and lose more and more value" – Comicsbeat
The article goes into some of the brutal money-making realities of the business, and a lot of it is terrible, in terms of actually earning enough to live. In the 1980s I remember page rate analysis stories which showed that a consistently assigned month-to-month artist at Marvel or DC could make a comfortable middle class level salary (as I remember it, somewhere in the $40,000s, a great deal more money then than now. Roughly the equivalent in 2025 of earning $100K+ in terms of purchasing power). That has apparently changed dramatically in the opposite direction.
David Harper quoted in the article:
You can’t just be a cartoonist anymore. You must be an entrepreneur..."
The quote is pulled from an article at SKTCHD about the state of comic strips:
[Comic] strips had almost become a forgotten part of the comic world, one that can be treated as the less serious, more disposable cousin of graphic novels or comic books. Which is a shame, because even though newspapers aren’t what they once were, the strip is still essential to the world of comics. And it’s having a moment once again...
"
At one time, comic strips were easily the superior to comic books in every monetary way. They earned much more money for their makers than did a typical comic book artist/writer did with a monthly comic book, and plenty of comic book artists had one primary goal in terms of long-term advancement: to eventually graduate to doing a newspaper strip.
As far as "societal creditability," just about anything was above being in comic books (reference: the 2003 talk Will Eisner gave at the Library of Congress. He talks about the opprobrium on comic book makers in past times).
An example of the status that came to newspaper comic strip makers, radically different than the "gutter" world of comic books, is shown in that they were depicted as rather glamorous beings in films like How To Murder Your Wife (1965). That story centers on a creator of a popular long-running adventure strip who is shown as living in a multi-story townhouse in New York City (he is using the entire building), with a butler, wearing a bowler hat and treated and seen as being somewhere on the level of a successful stock broker. In days of yore, Newspaper strip creator personalities like Al Capp, Milton Caniff and Charles Schulz were often profiled in the press and one item that was typically highlighted was the extremely high-earning money that came from comic strips and what was attached to it (syndication, licensing, movie adaptations, etc.)
Superman Number 1 CGC 9 auctions for 9 Million bucks – Newsweek MSN
This story is turning into a boomerang. It is going from one news media outlet to another, many using that very old headline word sequence "Purchased for only ten cents, this comic book is now worth..."
More of the stories, some with video news reports:
"A forgotten Superman comic found in an attic just sold for a record $9.12 million" – Straight Arrow News
"First Edition ‘Superman’ Found in an Attic Is Now the Most Expensive Comic Sold at Auction – In near-mint condition, the comic fetched a heroic $9 million..." – Artnet
"1st ever 'Superman' copy found in San Francisco attic auctioned for $9 million, breaks record" – ABC News San Francisco
"‘Superman No. 1’ Attic Discovery Turns Into Multimillion-Dollar Treasure After Record-Setting Sale" – MSN Mens Journal
"Brothers discover 1939 Superman No. 1 in mother’s attic. Now, it's the costliest comic ever at 9 million" – Money Control
Comic mania unleashed! Vintage Comic Book auction clears $29 million and Superman #1 goes for $9 million! – Hoodline
The problem of worthless collectibles – Alot MSN
Remember the '90s comic book boom? Publishers churned out "special editions" with flashy foil covers and holograms, promising they'd be worth a fortune. The problem? Everyone bought them and carefully tucked them away. When everyone saves something, it never becomes rare. Today, the market is flooded, and most comics from the '80s onward are worth just a few bucks, sometimes less than their original cover price..."
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Batman The Long Halloween - 376 Pages - Amazon
French Ministry of Culture rethinking the funds they pulled from the Angoulême International Comic Arts Festival – Bleedingcool
A lot of controversy/scandal had led to a great deal of money being withdrawn which supports the annual event, but apparently this is being rethought.
Another Diamond Distributors court decision – Bleedingcool
Jim Aparo book is here: Jim Aparo: Brave & Bold Artist from TwoMorrows – Twomorrows
I've been hearing about a Jim Aparo book from TwoMorrows since 2005 when "The Art of Jim Aparo" was first announced (but subsequently never came out).
"No publisher actually has to ask permission to just give comic books away" – Bleedingcool
Universal Distribution in Canada has bought the rights to Free Comic Book Day from Diamond Comic Distributors Inc, the debtors in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case..."
The article describes that Universal is doing the annual Free Comic Book Day in May, as usual, but with a smaller slate or publishers participating, but, for example, Titan Comics is doing its own separate "free comic book day" giveaway with Conan and other titles.
With Spider-Man, "Marvel is selling the fans a lie" – Comicbook
"Shakespeare in space" Brandon Fraser remembers unmade J.J. Abrams Superman movie – Hollywood Deadline MSN
"When art becomes life" - DC Comics' Vertigo title "Art Ops" 2015 – EFSYN [in Greek]
The originality of Art Ops is evident right from the cover of the first issue, which shows the painting of the Mona Lisa — but without the presence of Leonardo da Vinci’s world-famous woman, who has slipped out and is looking at the viewers conspiratorially. On the inside pages, readers follow a bizarre story that begins in the Louvre Museum. A group of specialist agents, operating under the name Art Ops, sneaks in at night, sets up a special device in front of the Mona Lisa, activates it, and the painted woman becomes flesh and blood.... The Art Ops team, tasked with protecting art from malicious people and vandals, removes the figures from the works after first giving them bodily form and leads them to safe locations. The only problem is that these works are not always disciplined and obedient..."
The DC Comics Feb 2026 book release list – Comicsbeat
Does the #9 million dollar Superman comic book sale demonstrate the urgency to buy the studio – Deadline Hollywood
No matter who ends up owning Warner Bros Discovery, Superman will remain a jewel in the crown of the 102-year-old studio. With bids for the company now in from Paramount, Comcast and Netflix, another auction of sorts in Texas that put a winning price tag on Man from Krypton IP could prove a sign of what’s to come for WBD shareholders..."
Related:
Paramount, Comcast and Netflix competing on getting their hands on Warner Bros/DC Comics – KFGO
1939 Superman #1 goes for $9,120,000 million – Heritage Auctions
Doesn't quite look like it to me based on the photoes, but CGC rates it VF/NM 9.0 Off-white to white pages (looks more like a CGC 8 to me because of the edges showing discoloring). All the same, remarkably well-preserved copy of a book that usually shows up rather tattered. Heritage has a "special" PDF containing art and info about the issue, amid the stuff about Heritage itself.
About the new artists's edition book Tyrant by Steve Bissette – Comicsbeat
Tyrant is the autobiography of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and his struggle to survive..."
The article also goes into the plight of comic book freelancing in general, for example mentioning:
Artist Mike Choi pulled the curtain back on his royalties for the first six months of 2025 and revealed that from all his work on best selling Marvel titles, he netted a total of $25.17. That’s as bad as Spotify...."
The Feb 2026 Dynamite book releases – Bleedingcool
The story of the multi-million dollar Superman issues found in an attic – MSN Hollywood Reporter
50th anniversary Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man treasury edition reprinting in 2026 with a Alex Ross cover version – 13th Dimension
Is Pierce Brosnan going to do Dr. Fate again for another film? – Boundingintocomics
Of the frustrating things about Black Adam, one was that it hardly took advantage of Pierce Brosnan on the screen, a similar problem that cropped up in Shazam II, with Helen Mirran on the screen as a secondary character who did very little. In both cases, you've got all that acting firepower and it was so little used. As has been said here before, it's like buying a corvette to deliver the mail.
Greg Capullo doing Spider-Man? – Bleedingcool
Japan revamping "work conditions" for creators in pop culture – Morning Star
Overseas sales of Japanese content, such as anime, comics, video games, film and music, now generate export value comparable to Japan's steel and semiconductor industries, underscoring how soft power has become a significant national asset. Tokyo has set a target of Y20 trillion, equivalent to about $130 billion, in annual overseas content sales by 2033, more than quadruple the Y4.7 trillion recorded in 2022..."
Now You See Me 3 heads box office results: The Running Man remake comes in #2, and "awards darling" One Battle After Another, clears $200 million international – Hollywood Reporter
Universal Distribution of Canada and Diamond getting together – Comics Beat
Batman H2SH tops bestselling list for week – Bleeding Cool
Portland has new comic book & cartooning museum
Northwest Museum of Cartoon Arts, 322 N.W. Eighth Ave., open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. Admission is free until Nov. 20 then will reopen December 3 got official start of the institution. Admission $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, students and veterans. Free for children ages 12 and younger.
Official website nwmoca.org
Disney+ to have content generation via AI by fans
Story at Hollywood Reporter
Probably the most obvious thing here is that Disney cannot seem to (lately) create audience pleasing material on a grand scale that matches the grand-scale of the money they spend in their production budgets. This new AI-based program could turn up some genius creators that will draw audience for Disney, something that is happening anyway for other people as there are torrents of AI generated parodies of Disney properties all over YouTube and Tik Tok, etc. These (hypothetical) new creators in the Disney-controlled AI program, amid a probable very-high level of dross, would essentially be helping Disney gain audience, especially among the young, at a very low cost.
The article at Hollywood Reporter states that Disney has a plan on how to do this AI project and at the same time protect their control of IPs, but plenty of people are already questioning that proposition.
Disney and Universal launch AI-related lawsuit against Midjourney – Hollywood Reporter
New Rocketeer story coming in 2026 based on a Dave Stevens story not previously used – Yahoo News
Written by John Layman and featuring art by Jacob Edgar, with colors from K.J. Díaz, this new adventure "brings readers back to 1938 as Cliff Secord, a.k.a. The Rocketeer, returns to save Amelia Earhart! But this search and rescue mission brings the fan-favorite hero to a mysterious island that is full of surprises,” according to the official synopsis...."
Heavy Metal has a kickstarter campaign – Comicsbeat
Plagiarism problems with cartooning awards, and separately, Al Capp's Fearless Fosdick vs superhero Belinda Kin Fly – Daily Cartoonist
Webtoon is burning up the news with various projects, but also posts a 3rd quarter loss in the $millions – Publishers Weekly
A lot of comics-related links – The Comics Journal
Diamond Distributors UK has been bought – Business Live
The buyout secures Diamond Comics UK, which Barclays calls “the UK’s only nationwide comic book distributor”, and its Runcorn base which employs more than 60..."
Old law still on the books means you can go to jail for selling violent and criminal comic books to kids
Story at MSN Sacramento CBS 13
But what happens if they just sell mediocre comics?
The cartooning side of famed graphic designer Roy Kuhlman 1923–2007 – The Comics Journal
Webtoon vertical digital comics service teaming with Disney – Comicsbeat
Webtoon says they have some 155 million monthly active users.
The company is currently valued at $2.15 billion and has seen its stock price surge 72% over the past six months..."
Fire at warehouse destroys massive trove of comics and artwork archive for Indian publisher Amar Chitra Katha – BBC MSN
The 4-day blaze destroyed materials that went right back to the company's beginning in 1967.
Estimated $55 billion a year lost to pirate manga sites – NHK Japan
ABJ said it conducted similar studies in the past, but only on the 10 most used websites. It added that its largest ever survey has revealed increasing losses across borders in the face of the growing popularity of Japanese manga among a wide range of generations in Asia, Western countries and beyond...."
Paul Pope THB collection coming – Macmillan
The ongoing debate "did Superman make money or did it lose money in 2025?" – Boundingintocomics
I was talking to a friend about this recently. If Supers 2025 had made another $100 million box office, there'd be no doubt it was a "hit" despite being no blockbuster. If the tally had been a $100 million less, then the certainty it had bombed would be solid. Instead it is Phantom Zone Schrödinger's Superman where it's both a success and a failure at the same time.
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