The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘Bobbies, Blobbies, Blooobies’ Edition

It’s Sunday, do you know where your comics news is? Well, some of it’s right here – yep, it’s The Sunday Spotlight…

SPEAKING OF ANDI WATSON – HIS NEW ALL-AGES BOOK, PUNYCORN AND THE PRINCESS OF THIEVES IS OUT 22 JULY…

Andi Watson, as you may well know, is one of my all-time favourite comic makers, whether it’s his adults work such as Breakfast Afternoon, Dumped, and The Book Tour, or his all-ages books including Glister, Gum Girl, and Punycorn.

Well, his second Punycorn book has just been announced. Get your orders in now. It will, of course, be rather bloody magnificent.

PUBLISHERS FILE SUIT AGAINST BOOK BANNING IN THE USA…

A group of major US publishers are reported at The Guardian as having filed suit against Idaho’s book ban legislation that impacts school and public libraries. The suit includes publishers Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks, alongside three authors, a public library district, the US writers’ body the Authors Guild, a teacher, two students and two parents.

Idaho’s HB 710, in place since July 2024, ‘forbids anyone under the age of 18 from accessing books deemed “harmful to minors”, including those depicting “sexual conduct”, in school or public libraries.’ Which is both ridiculously vague and horrifyingly all-encompassing. The Guardian goes on to say that it has affected ‘classics and bestsellers, including The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Game of Thrones by George RR Martin, and nonfiction books such as The “What’s Happening to My Body?” Book for Girls by Lynda Madaras.’

This is, of course, a good thing. There’s far too many US states and counties where book bans have either happened already or are on the table. The problem is that many public libraries and schools will fear the threat of book bans and, without sufficient funding to fight them, will pre-emptively remove books from the shelves. These book bans focus on stories by and featuring LGBTQ+ people and people of color, according to PEN America. They’ve also focused on graphic novels, where any sign of nudity is like catnip to these book banning groups.

BILLY CONNOLLY & MALKY MCCORMICK’S THE BIG YIN COMIC DONATED TO EAST AYSHIRE LEISURE TRUST FOR POSTERITY…

Pauline McLean at BBC.com has an article here on the donation of Billy Connolly and Malky McCormick‘s The Big Yin and Malky comic to the East Ayshire Trust, along with McCormick’s archive.

Scottish comic Connolly became known as The Big Yin thanks to Scottish cartoonist and fellow banjo player Malky McCormick, who performed in the same folk clubs as Connolly in the ’60s and ’70s. Together, they created The Big Yin and Malky that ran in Scotland’s Sunday Mail newspaper from 1975 – 1977, is part of a huge personal archive which has just been given to East Ayrshire Leisure Trust by McCormick’s fmaily.

McCormick trained as a commercial artist and his comic art and illustrations appeared in DC Thomson comics and various newspapers. But the Big Yin strip is his most famous work.

The BBC article has Connoly saying this about his friend and collaborator:

‘We were always getting in trouble and we did (the Big Yin) to get away with stuff – we could blame this non-existent person, who looked like me and behaved like me, but wisnae me… we could say wild, wild things… we broke a lot of ground. We pushed art. People don’t look at cartoons as art. But it is art – and it’s very important.’

BECKY BARNICOAT’S CRY WHEN THE BABIES CRIES – LAUNCH PARTY AT GOSH COMICS! LONDON – 13 MARCH…

Becky Barnicoat‘s new tale of new parenthood from Jonathan Cape, Cry When the Baby Cries looks like a must for any new parents out there and all of us who’ve been through the parenthood thing. Gosh! have a launch party on Thursday 13th March 2025, from 7-9pm. More info here.

Here’s what Jonathan Cape say about it:

‘A glorious antidote to parenting books, this darkly humorous, candid and insightful graphic memoir brings the early years of parenthood to life – in all their chaos, wonder and delirium.

Intimate, relatable and very funny, Becky Barnicoat explores everything from the anatomy of the hospital bag to the frantic obsession with putting your baby down drowsy but awake, to the tyranny of gentle parenting. From pregnancy to the feral toddler years, Barnicoat extends a sticky hand to all new parents grappling with the impossible but joyous jigsaw puzzle of their lives. Barnicoat gives us permission to cry when the baby cries – and also laugh, snort, lie on the floor naked, drool and generally revel in a deeply strange new world ruled by a tyrannical tiny leader, growing bigger and more loved by the day.’

IN AUDIO/VISUAL NEWS – HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT THE NEW 2000 AD PODCASTS?…

For those of you wanting some intelligent, entertaining, and enlightening comics podcasts for your audio and visual delight, might one suggest the 2000 AD Thrill-Casts, now split into three different varieties.

You’ve got a weekly half-hour Wednesday pod, In Orbit Every Wednesday, hosted by 2000 AD’s Michael Molcher and comics critic and creator of The Gutter Review, Chloe Maveal. So far it’s given us 2000 AD’s hottest, 2000 AD’s most villainous, and 2000 AD’s best horror, along with a weekly look at everything new from the Prog and the Megazine. Then there’s The Deep Dive, hosted by 2000 AD’s Steve Morris, whose first episode featured Dan Abnett and Mark Harrison’s The Out. And from 22 February we have the first of The 2000 AD Creator Tapes, big interviews with the biggest creators.

Go on, subscribe to the 2000 AD podcasts. They’re very, very good.

A BIT OF GOOD COMIC SHOP NEWS — MEGA CITY COMICS SAVED & BECOMES FORBIDDEN PLANET CAMDEN…

Last year it was announced that long-term fixture of Camden, London, the great Mega City Comics would be closing due to owner Martin Kravetz retiring.

Well, from Friday 14th February 2025, the shop’s been saved, taken over by the Forbidden Planet chain here in the UK. Mega-City’s sales staff, Vik and Jack, will be staying on to keep things as much the same as things can, and it’s good to see the Mega City logo popping up on the Forbidden Planet Camden storefront.

The store will briefly close for a refurb before reopening in a few weeks time. At last, some good comics shop news!

KIERON GILLEN’S LATEST PROJECT IS A SURPRISE…

This popped up on Kieron Gillen‘s socials… it’s either an announcement of a very surprising new project with Dav Pilkey or it just so happened to be that his signing coincided with a Dog Man signing.

Gillen’s comment:

‘Most impressive superstar I’ve been signing simultaneously with since McKelvie and me were signing opposite Margaret Atwood’