The Sunday Spotlight – The ‘In His Mind, He Could Hear Them Laughing’ Edition

It’s Sunday – and you know what that means? Right, time to take a trip into the wonderful world of comics news, or at least a few things that caught my eye this week – it’s time for The Sunday Spotlight…

A very quick one this week as we’ve been at the mercy of the gods of the Internet most of the week – by which I mean Cox Communications, who came in to install new wi-fi at the new house, which worked for a bit, then gave up the ghost. So, in-between sortign out boxes and boxes of stuff, I grabbed an hour to get coffee and wi-fi and send this off to you…

BRITISH COMICS NOW DELEGATION TO BRUSSELS ANNOUNCED & BRITISH COMICS NOW CATALOGUE ANNOUNCED…

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival has a pair of announcements regarding British Comics Now, its promotional programme for British comics in the Euro and world comics market.

First, there’s the announcement of the second wave of creators forming the British Comics Now delegation to Brussels in October for a special weekend of Ninth Art events. Second, LICAF has also revealed the creators who will feature in its first British Comics Now catalogue, a selection of exciting new work by UK-based creators.

LICAF has been invited by the Comic Art Museum in Brussels to run a British Comics Now weekend, running 17th October – 19th October 2025. The weekend coincides with the ‘Museum Night Fever’ initiative, where Brussels Museums open their doors to the public until midnight, and will feature events by British Comics Now creators, as well as invited Belgian creators; plus there will be opportunities for ‘speed-dating’ with Belgian and Francophone publishers, and for networking with each other as well as with a wider group of creators, the Museum team and other partners. The creators involved are Neill Cameron, Peony Gent, Shane Melisse, Jenny Robins, alongside artist, writer, and LICAF patron Lucy Sullivan.

LICAF is also publishing a British Comics Now catalogue, promoted to overseas publishers, festival directors, and industry professionals between October and September 2026. The first catalogue will feature the following 32 creators – James Albon, Yomi Ayeni, Hannah Berry, John Biggs & Thomas Armstrong, Tim Bird, Corey Brotherson, Tal Brosh, Neill Cameron, Alba Ceide, James Corcoran, Wolfgang Crowe, Matthew Dooley, Dominique Duong, Mereida Fajardo, Ed Firth, Chris Geary, Leo Healy, Lord Hurk, Ilya, Norm Konyu, Beck Kubrick, Chie Hosaka, Shazleen Khan, Kamila Krol, Shane Melisse, Chris Shepherd, Zara Slattery, Rachael Smith, Mark Stafford, Gustaffo Vargas, Asa Wheatley, and Lyndon White.

More info and details about the British Comics Now project on Comics Can Change the World.

JOHN WAGNER PLOTS THE DEATH OF A JUDGE – BUT MAYBE NOT DREDD, NOT YET…

A few weeks ago 2000 AD released this little ‘thrills of the future’ teaser for something by John Wagner and Mike Perkins happening sometime later in the year. Titled ‘Death of a Judge’, it led to some speculation about whether this was Wagner’s swan song, the story we all knew he’d have in his head, the one about the death of Judge Dredd.

Wagner mentioned it in a Tripwire Magazine interview about the just-released Spector collection, saying this when asked about a possible Spector Book 2:

‘It’s possible, though I’m putting most of my effort into my Dredd with Mike Perkins, which may be my last, and especially into Rok 3. We’ll see how that goes but I would even consider a Rok 4.’

Rok, of course is Rok of the Reds, created by Wagner, Alan Grant, and Dan Cornwell. Two volumes of that have been published so far, currently being reprinted in Judge Dredd Megazine, with the third, all new series coming out in The Megazine in 2026. But it’s that little phrase, ‘I’m putting most of my effort into my Dredd with Mike Perkins, which may be my last,’ that got people speculating. Could this be Wagner’s final Dredd, or could it be a final Dredd?

Well, that speculation prompted a follow-up piece from Tripwire contributing writer Paul N Neal where Wagner had this to say:

‘I’m nearing the end of my career… I’m not saying I won’t write another Dredd, but I have no wish to start turning out second-rate material just for a bit of cash, so unless my heart is truly in it, I won’t. Of course, if the perfect Dredd story pops into my head, I’ll be happy to write it.’

So no, it’s perhaps neither Wagner’s last nor the death of Dredd. But it is John Wagner writing a six-part Dredd, and that’s always a great thing.

TIME BOMB COMICS PUT QUANTUM ON HIATUS…

After a very laudable 11 monthly issues of their direct-to-newsagents anthology, Quantum, Time Bomb Comics has reached the difficult decision to put the title on hiatus. Issue 12 was expected into shops later this month, but that will no longer be the case. However, all existing subscribers should have received a limited-edition variant of Quantum #12 in April.

The reasons for the hiatus are many, but mostly it’s due to the difficulties of making a direct-to-newsagents and comic shops model work. Time Bomb’s decision to make the comic initially print only and available through the financially problematic world of newsagent sales was a brave one indeed, but Time Bomb cites many problems, such as readers not being able to consistently get hold of copies. The added uncertainty of Britain’s biggest newsagent chain, WH Smith, finding itself in financial trouble, closing outlets, and eventually selling up certainly didn’t help matters either.

This from Steve Tanner and Time Bomb Comics:

‘Delays and lack of availability are frustrating for readers, but they also have a knock-on effect for us, as most of the revenue generated for the sales of the comic fund the advance costs needed to publish it. Basically, if we don’t receive it when we need it, then it creates a problem. So, rather than continue to swim against the tide, it seemed the sensible thing would be to get out of the water for a while, which would help put us in a better position to continue publishing Quantum rather than not publish Quantum at all. It will also give us some time to bring all the varied distribution methods we have for Quantum in line, and build on some newer ones, such as digital and printed editions of Quantum being available through Kickstarter.’

It’s a real shame that Time Bomb have had to make this decision of course, but, as Steve says, better to do it this way and still have the possibility of more Quantum to come. You can get issues of Quantum and plenty more of Time Bomb’s really consistently good comics line-up at their website.

SMALL PRESS DAY 2025 IS COMING- HERE’S THIS YEAR’S POSTER BY DAVID ZIGGY GREENE…

Small Press Day is an annual event in Britain and Ireland that celebrates and promotes the always fascinating and innovative world of the small press, small publishers, micro-publishers, self-publishers and all the rest of the wonderful creativity of comic creatives away from the big boys.

You can find details of Small Press Day at their site, and get ready for 25 July, where comic shops and other outlets will join in the fun with events, appearances, workshops and more, all to bring in new fans of this medium we love.

This year’s SPD’s poster comes from SPD co-creator David Ziggy Greene, giving it a full My Neighbor Totoro vibes…

HOLIDAY TIME – THE 2000 AD SUMMER/SCI-FI SPECIAL COVER BY CHRIS WESTON…

As a kid, there was no feeling like heading off on holiday and scouring the seaside newsagents for the summer specials. To me, it didn’t matter whether it was 2000 AD or Beano, they all just made the holiday that little bit more wonderful.

Well, here’s Chris Weston‘s rather splendid cover to this year’s 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special, with Dredd and the gang all off on their holidays… love Johnny Alpha’s pink casuals…