TODAY November 4, 2026
What's releasing today in comic shops – with 537 covers – Fresh Comics
Clayface at $87,086,546 million - - losing steam to turn a profit over production cost – The Numbers
Kat Kan "a tireless advocate for graphic novels in libraries for over 40 years" has died. – ICV2
Graphic novels were still in their infancy in 1983, when Kan began bringing them into libraries; Will Eisner's A Contract with God was published in 1978, and Art Spiegelman's Maus would not appear until 1986. Her "Graphically Speaking" column, which ran in the library magazine Voice of Youth Advocates from 1994 to 2019, was influential in getting libraries to acquire them, as librarians depend on professional reviews for guidance in building a collection..."
"DC Comics is changing Darkseid stuff and its gonna enrage Kriby purists" – Comicbook
Interview with Sandy King Carpenter, editor of Storm King Comics – Comic Watch
Audio interview with Charlie Stickey of White Ash line of comics – Podcasts Apple
Review: Harvey Pekar's THE QUITTER
Published By DC Comics in 2005, The Quitter is often called Pekar's most accessible and comprehensive work in a single volume.
Though partially a nostalgic reminisces about growing up in Cleveland and then decamping for New York, only to return again, Pekar also infuses the tale with a running theme of confused failure and determination to account for it and move on, only to return again to the same personal dilemmas in another episode from his personal history. The repetition isn't in the writing, which carries the tale forward with a variety of perspectives as Pekar questions himself and his view of his events with intelligence. The repetition is in the unexplained (to both Pekar and the reader) why the same destructive decisions were made over and over.
Though he can't explain it, Pekar doesn't leap to a convenient psychological explanation either, which, whether intended or not, Pekar has then made it possible for the reader to interact with the tale and to see and decide about what it means and why it is happening without some "official" social judgment hanging over the central character.
Haspiel's artwork services the story well, though a sameness pervades the geography he depicts, with streets and places seeming generic and not demonstrating the affection Pekar feels in his text for the locations. Since much of the tale is internal to Pekar's own thoughts, this isn't as big a handicap as it could have been. Still, it removes the ability of the visual story to bring Cleveland or New York to life as a character in the tale.
Perhaps the only truly significant flaw in the art is that in the early pages which is a narrative of Pekar brawling and fighting in the streets with other kids, the artwork lead me to believe I was looking at a young teen boy, only to discover through the text the kid throwing the punches is only six years old. Simply put, Pekar doesn't look six on those pages, this inappropriate depiction.
Pekar's story is heartfelt and full of his nostalgic warmth and friendliness towards men and women from his past, many of who are profiled quickly but with a sense of identity, which is a nice feat considering Pekar's own identity overwhelms and dominates this memoir. Unfortunately, this isn't the same way Pekar's own parents are shown, though early his mother and father are presented with a brief, sympathetic biography, but this unwinds later and they come across as caricatured cartoon figures, providing weak comedy or simply so thinly revealed they don't seem real.
Though the story is engaging, the narrative speed is flawed, because history jerks forward at times with only minimal explanation, as if either Pekar's own interest had waned, or the combined writing is cobbled together from a set of incomplete source documents. These problems with tone and speed could have been fixed by any editor at DC Comics because they only crop up in a handful of places. Instead it hangs like a a crude, jarring form of chapter break between stories.
November 3, 2026
Cat-Man Comics #12 goes to Auction – Bleedingcool
This 1942 issue has a Charles M. Quinlan editorial extolling the virtues of "Batman" like characters over "Superman" style characters, it also describes how the onset of war has impacted the comic book industry.
The issue in question is at auction at Heritage and is considered quite "scarce," that is, rated a seven on the "scarcity index."
After decades being absent, Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Swee’Pea will be in Macy’s 2026 Thanksgiving Parade – Dailycartoonist
‘Goltong’ Cartoonist Ha Seung-nam has died – Cineplay
Martial Arts Comics Master Was First Korean Full Member of Japanese Association.."
The "bronze age" roots to Mark Buckingham’s January variant cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #1007 – 13th Dimension
Singapore Comic-Con is expanding – Savepointgaming
Interview with Manga artist Genkidown (ゲンキダウン) – Realsound.jp [Japanese]
Talks about Saenai Jōshi to Omottara ("I Thought He Was an Unremarkable Boss"), a punk-rock comic featuring a seemingly ordinary middle-aged office worker. The artist discusses writing song lyrics before plotting the story, keeping it under 12 pages, and the influence of Motörhead.
There’s a certain demographic and I’m not going to say what it is but they have driven comic book sales into the ground wanting a softer look for the characters. That’s all imma say.
— Raphael’s Sai (@The4thTurtleNyC) November 2, 2026
Monday, November 2, 2026
Ryan Reynolds developing an Alpha Flight project? – Yahoo
"Star-Studded Harvey Awards Celebrate Batman..." – Publishers Weekly
Interview with Dutch cartoonist Aimée de Jongh discusses her new graphic novels Samir and Dessiner Lesbos – Agebd [French]
Batmobile gets pulled over in Canada for traffic violation: amateur Bat-film being made doesn't preclude road law – Jacarandafm
When Harlan Ellison wrote a Daredevil story for Marvel – /Film
Sunday, November 1, 2026
Shojo Comics' growing size – Nippon
Shōjo (少女) — young girl or adolescent girl.
Manga (漫画) — Japanese comics or graphic storytelling.
DC Comics back on top against Marvel for marketshare – Bleedingcool
Examing the work of Japanese manga artist Jirō Taniguchi through a major retrospective at Belgium's Fondation Folon. Jirō Taniguchi: Beyond A Distant Neighborhood – ActuaBD [French]
How DC Comics overtook Marvel with Absolute titles – Viking News
Saturday, October 31, 2026
Manga "is being read everywhere" – Smithsonian Mag
The 10-room exhibition, which includes more than 600 original illustrations, begins with a first-floor introduction to manga. Visitors become acquainted with the medium’s structure, history and two influential mangaka. Those are Fujio Akatsuka, the "King of Gag Manga," who helped push the medium into absurd, comedic realms, and Tetsuya Chiba, a storytelling master who explored themes of war and peace, economic insecurity, sports and social divisions, laying the groundwork for other mangaka to do the same..."
Art of Manga is at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City through January 31, 2027.
New Batman casting? it's getting closer says James Gunn – Los Angeles Times
Diamond Distributors: "...the fate of nearly $50 million of inventory at cost has now been settled" – ICV2
Friday, October 30, 2026
Interview with Frédéric Peynet – Miklmayer [French]
Frédéric Peynet is a French comic book artist whose career spans more than 25 years, encompassing projects focused on fantasy, supernatural thrillers, literary adaptations and Greek mythology. His best known work may be Le Feul (2005–2009), a fantasy series, especially best known among French and Belgium readers, and Le Projet Bleiberg (2017–2019), "thriller" series, which has a larger international audience.
Question: After so many years in the business, how do you see the current evolution of comics and publishing? Has it become more difficult for an author to make a living from an album?
Frédéric Peynet: What I'm noticing is that publishers are now reluctant to sign on to new series. A two-part story is still possible, but most of them now want standalone stories.
That's the hardest part, because you have to reinvent everything with each album. For a series, you create a universe, characters, and the foundations of the story that will serve you over several volumes. There's a whole process of preparation before the first volume that will be used for the subsequent ones..."
Peynet notes that with standalone stories, you have to do this preparation work every time, and that now the environment is more complicated and more "nerve-wracking than when I started..."
Book publishers using more and more AI while suing AI companies for content infringements – ICV2
The coming "Mr Oblivion" graphic novel by Jeff Lemire and Teddy Kristiansen – Bleeding Cool
So why did Lois Lane and Superman get married 30 years back? – Comicbook
Reviews of new books Marvel Explodes: From Bullpen To Big Business by Paul Levitz and Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: The Epic 1980s Saga by Tom K. Mason – Down the Tubes
World's largest comic book store? – Family Destination
Whoa: Absolute Batman #25 had 775,000 copies printed and the Clay Mann foil cover has immediately jumped multiples in dollar value – Bleedingcool
Interview with Stephen Bliss. He discusses how he composed the famed look for Grand Theft Auto – Yahoo Tech
You might not immediately recognize the name Stephen Bliss, but I guarantee you'll recognize his work on arguably the most influential game franchise of our time. As a senior artist at Rockstar Games from 2001 to 2016, he defined the iconic pop art and comic book feel that has become the visual hallmark for Grand Theft Auto..."
It's only October but Publisher's Weekly already has a "best comics of 2026" list – Comicsbeat
The world's first graphic novel... in 1783? – Daily Cartoonist
Patrick Stewart 1940–2026
Story at Washington Post
For a lot of people, I will be locked for all time on the bridge of the Enterprise in my spacesuit," Mr. Stewart told The Washington Post in 1997. "Not only am I reconciled to that, I’m quite proud of it. The show represents quality television. It was intelligent, thoughtful, argumentative, and it also told wonderful stories..."
I remember hearing Patrick Stewart recount on TV a funny story of being recognized on an elevator by a couple. He laughed, saying the woman in the elevator said to her husband "this is Dr. Spock from Star Wars!"
Related: Walter Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov on the original Star Trek, has died – Washington Post
Gerry Talaoc art
Talaoc's distinctive and slightly quirky drawing style was perfectly suited to DC Comics' Unknown Soldier, a character that was literally multi-faced, but also no-faced, owing to a brutal war injury. Usually behind enemy lines and using disguises, espionage, detective work and more than a little bit of outright avenging, the stories had a visual dimension beyond generic comic book war heroics, and sometimes complemented by a splash of 1970s cynicism in the writing.
[Click to expand] Page by Gerry Talaoc from Star Spangled War Stories #186 from 1975
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Musician John Dolmayan of System of a Down rock band buys one of two copies of Action #1 at auction – Des Moines Register
Metropolis Collectibles... sold two copies of Action Comics #1 (1938) for a total of over $2 million...."
Avengers Doomsday presales top $125 million
Story at The Print
Interview with Christian Ward – Short Box Podcast
Toy and hobby sales on Whatnot are up 140% in 2026 – ICV2
Interview with Neyef about his new album Les enfants perdus – Comixtrip [French]
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