Archive Page 2263
April 2026
Obit of famed international cartoonist Hermann Huppen – The Comics Journal
Huppen was an autodidact who found comics by chance. Born in 1938 in Bévercé, a village in the Ardennes close to the Belgian-German border, he was trained for industrial decoration. He employed those talents at Brussels' Expo '58 (the source of that city's well-known Atomium monument). He also worked briefly in Manhattan and Montréal. But, when he returned to Belgium, Hermann settled down.
His various works include: Bernard Prince, Comanche, and Jeremiah – "Considered a master of European comics realism."
After 23 year, Marvel Sales head David Gabriel is out – Comicsbeat
Today's DC and Marvel releases – Fresh Comics
52 Marvel and 49 DC Comics come out today. Covers at the link.
Comic book exhibits "come alive" at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum – Ever After
In Columbus, Ohio - official web site for the museum
"Box office rebound" at theaters – Variety MSN
Another copy of Action Comics #1, is headed to auction – Comicbook – the auction will happen at Heritage Auctions
The Diamond Distributors ongoing legal morass: it's still a morass – Comicsbeat
How about DC puts out an omnibus of The Amazing World of DC Comics? – 13th Dimension
New Superman game wants to "break the gaming curse" – Polygon
Preview art for Superman-Spider-Man crossover – icv2
Sam Kieth Obit – The Comics Journal
....He was a rabid fan of certain artists," said Scott Dunbier of his longtime friend. "The top five artists that he loved, we talked about a lot: Frank Frazetta, Bernie Wrightson, Vaughn Bodē, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Robert Crumb, and Arthur Suydam. He loved Arthur Suydam's work, especially his Mudwog comics in Heavy Metal. He loved the portfolio that Arthur did. He loved Crumb. Sam looks almost like a cross between Frazetta and Crumb to me a lot of the time. It's kind of funny how he could make those styles work and integrate them so beautifully..."
"The Case Against Free Comic Book Day" – Bleedingcool
The complaint seems to be that not only has the day stopped bringing in new customers but has morphed into a "customer appreciation day" with free comic books being handed out, meanwhile it is getting more and more complicated as there are now two different competing events, the original "Free Comic Book Day" and "Comics Giveaway Day."
I assumed the publishers sent out the free comic books based on what the stores had ordered, and the publishers were paying for them. I mean, if giving away free comics was such a great thing, wouldn't the publishers be supporting it more? I was ignorant and wrong..."
The return of the "superstar artists" with DC's Absolute Line – Hollywood Reporter
The return of the artist as superstar "is good for the business, it is good for the artform," he [Jim Lee] says. Key to the rising artists phenomenon is the runaway success of DC's Absolute line. Launched towards the end of 2024, the line led by Absolute Batman, Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Superman, reinterpreted characters and origins in a truly sweeping way. Unlike other so-called "relaunches" that DC or Marvel have done, this one has reinvigorated publishers and retailers alike, unexpectedly brought in new readers, and created name artists who can turn a simple three hour signing into a caffeinated, we're-still-signing-at-midnight mania, as Dragotta and Johnson did late last year in an Oakland, Calif. comic shop. Or have hundreds upon hundreds line up in a shop in Spain, as Jimenez did in February. And they are now capitalizing on that newfound mainstream recognition..."
Fraud Alert: Bad actors pose as Ingram Content Group using lookalike websites, emails, social media, calls, and texts requesting payment – Ingram Content Group
Hugo Pratt and how his wartime experiences influenced Corto Maltese and other comics – NY Times
Pratt’s own life was as eventful as any of Corto’s stories. His father, Rolando Pratt, was a Fascist by marriage: His father-in-law, a pedicurist named Eugenio Genero, had been among the first Venetians to join Mussolini’s Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, in 1919. Eugenio was proud of his role as an early supporter of Mussolini, and of his Axis connections, which he used to find work for Rolando, who had no family of his own. "The Fascist brotherhood was like a new family to him," Pratt said of Rolando. The cartoonist’s favorite relative was his uncle Ruggero, a sailor, an anarchist, a bit of a creep and an early model for Corto..."
The article is a great overview of Hugo Pratt's life and the events that impacted him (such as being forced into Mussolini's army and the world of anti-fascism Pratt dwelled in from both Europe and in Brazil), plus an introduction of a sort to the new publishing of CORTO MALTESE: Fable of Venice and Other Adventures from Fantagraphics.
Matt Baker's romance comic books – Bleedingcool
Wednesday's new comics covers and reactions – AITP Comics
You cannot say the comic book industry is doing healthy and well when the largest entity, which is still Marvel, is struggling, bad. Their main tentpole characters, X-Men, Spider-Man, The Avengers, all are struggling to get over 80K copies, many of them not even close to that... That's a major problem..."
7th Lake Como (Italy) Comic Art Festival coming April 24-26 – Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal
The Marvel-DC crossovers are being put together into a Collected Edition – icv2
The tangled legal morass around Diamond Distributors remains a tangled morass – icv2
The warehouse holding the inventory that the various publishers all want back (since it was never paid for) is also now getting upset over the unpaid rent to house the stuff. Meanwhile the judge working on the case has a new ruling.
Interview with Jordi Lafebre – The Comics Journal
Looking at the sample artworks used in the interview, there is a fantastic use of backgrounds, simply head-and-shoulders above typical comic books.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a "megahit" but reviews are poor – NY Times
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" bore the hallmarks of Hollywood’s "too big to fail" machinery. Hoping for another $1 billion hit, Universal began marketing the sequel in November, lining up a dizzying array of tie-ins (Lucky Charms cereal, McDonald’s Happy Meals, Old Spice deodorant) and building colossal castle-window advertisements in the United States, France, Spain and Chile..."
The Numbers says the movie has already gathered in some $372 million worldwide.
Mini Review: Jew Gangster by Joe Kubert, 2005, 142 Pages
This little hardcover graphic novel is a compact story of the development of a Jewish boy from the streets of New York City into an adult gangster, moving the youngster-then-man through moral choices that sometimes coincide with background family pressures.
More review Joe Kubert's Jew Gangster 2005
New Dave Sim pages for Diamond bankruptcy benefit comic – Bleedingcool
"The Dark Knight Returns" gets homage treatment in the Batman: The Animated Series – AOL.com
The tribute arrives in "Legends of the Dark Knight," the 19th episode of "The New Batman Adventures," a continuation of "Batman: The Animated Series"" In one of the segments, Carrie Kelley (Anndi McAfee) imagines herself as an older Batman's (Michael Ironside) Robin fighting against the Mutants gang of Gotham City. This is a direct homage to the original story from "The Dark Knight Returns."
"Superhero comics & movies aren't dead despite what trolls say, and DC architect Scott Snyder says Darkseid is a personification of anti-superhero trolls"
Story at Pop Verse
"Re-writing the superhero genre" with the HBO series superhero show Lanterns – Soap Central
The 2022 The Batman Silver Age Omnibus Volume 1 is getting a Volume 2 in 2026 – 13th Dimension
80th Anniversary of the National Cartoonist Society – National Cartoonist Society
Review of Manga’s First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905-1989 by Andrea Horbinski – History Today
Spider-Man/Superman crossover will have Spider-Gwen and Supergirl – Polygon
"Reinterpretation" of War of the Worlds coming from Titan – Comicsbeat
The superhero comic book coins – WFTV
Batman: Knightfall animated film to come out first at France's Annecy Animation Festival – MSN Superhero Hype
"Comics scholar wins Eisenhart Award" – Rochester Institute of Technology
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What's next at DC Comics? Panel at Emerald City Comic Con – Comicsbeat
The Comics Journal Magazine at 50 years of age – The Comics Journal
Comic Book Store closings – Bleedingcool
Marvel Comics movie prop sale – Maryam Hampton
Yoshiharu Tsuge has died – The Comics Journal
1937–2026 – a highly influential manga artist known for pioneering personal comic story telling using introspection and surreal elements.
Stars and Stripes newspaper ends Sunday special color comic strip section – Daily Cartoonist
Is James Bond... a joke? – UK Mail
The online digital comic wars
Story at Comics Beat
Interview with Apostolos Doxiadis – Lifo [Greek language]
Question: Your big successes were "Uncle Peter" and "Logicomix?"
Doxiadis: Commercially, if you mean, and internationally, etc., these were two works with the theme not so much of mathematics but of mathematicians as obsessive characters. This too began by chance. My good friend, the cartoonist Alekos Papadatos, asked me for an idea for a graphic novel that was "unusual," as he put it. I told him: the story of the attempt to base mathematics on strict logic. Since he is also crazy, he was enthusiastic...."
Three foot life size inflatable Spider-Man @ Walmart
Profile of cartoonist Rick Friday – Creston News
Spider-Woman Omnibus coming – 13th Dimension
Get into the Public Domain archives that are online at Graphic Chatter
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Original page May 2, 2026