The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
Ah, Sunday, here you are again. And that can only mean one thing… it’s time for a quick spin around all the comics news I noticed this week… it’s The Sunday Spotlight…
DAN WHITE LAUNCH PARTY FOR CINDY AND BISCUIT: WILD, WILD LIFE – GOSH COMICS – 22 AUGUST…
File this under a must buy and a must go to… Dan White‘s quite wonderful Cindy & Biscuit, a simple tale of one little girl and her dog, fighting to keep the planet safe from robots, monsters, ghosts, and anything else the world throws at them. It’s one of my all-time favourite things, and it should be yours as well.
The new book, volume 2 of Cindy and Biscuit‘s adventures, Wild, Wild Life, came out from Oni Press on 8th August and should be available in all the best comic shops and bookstores. If it’s not – ask them why not!
The second volume collects strips from Dan’s previously self-published comics, including Abducted Again, Sundays, Year One, and the never-printed What We Did at The Weekend. Plus, three completely new Cindy and Biscuit strips – No Fungi, Things That Go Bump, and Winter’s Going. 182 pages of wonder, just for you. And me, obviously.
As part of the launch, Dan will be at Gosh Comics, London, on 22nd August. So, head to Gosh on the 22nd (all the info here), go buy all of Dan’s great works at his shop, and definitely, whatever you do, buy Wild, Wild Life.
JOE SACCO ASKS WHY HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY INTERVIEW…
Publishers Weekly interviews Joe Sacco. They cover, amongst other things, his new book The Once And Future Riot, documenting a riot in India and exploring political and sectarian violence.
Here’s just a little from the interview. But go read the whole thing, definitely worth it from a master of comics journalism.
‘Joe Sacco believes in the power of the people. But as a comics journalist whose reporting has taken him to some of the most brutal conflict zones on Earth, he’s also keenly aware that people and their prejudices can be leveraged by politicians. “The people are dangerous; the people are our only hope,” says Sacco, via Zoom from his drawing desk in his home in Portland, Ore. “It’s like she loves you, she loves you not—both can be true.”
“As the United States and the West gradually, over the next few decades, decline in relevance, it’s really China and India where trends will be set,” says Sacco, who’s made a career drawing comics from the fields of war. “I began to think, Why does this all happen? We all live in illusion, to summarize the philosopher Ernest Becker. The point is, what illusion do you choose?”
The Once and Future Riot is out on 14th October 2025 from Metropolitan Books.
NEW FROM PAUL RAINEY AND DRAWN & QUARTERLY – MURDER SCHOOL…
Announced at SDCC, Drawn & Quarterly are publishing Paul Rainey‘s Murder School in Fall 2026. It follows Paul’s quite magnificent books Why Don’t You Love Me and There’s No Time Like The Present – two books you should already have on your bookshelves.
Anyway, Murder School promises a look at the horrors of Paul’s school days, all the bullying by teachers and all the childhood friendships, with Rainey dealing in both anxiety and childish freedoms. And, this being Rainey, you can expect a twist in the tale.
‘WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN IF WE COMBINED SMILE WITH UNDERSTANDING COMICS – RAINA TELGEMEIER AND SCOTT MCCLOUD TALK THE CARTOONISTS CLUB AT THE COMICS JOURNAL…
Gina Gagliano has an interview with Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud about their new book The Cartoonists Club.
“To allow kids to see themselves as a creator, not in the model of somebody else, but in what inspires them and what makes them want to be storytellers.”
McCloud is perhaps best known for his instructional trilogy of Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics, not to mention the much-overlooked works such as Zot and Destroy! Telgemeier is a kids comics legend already, with books such as Smile, Sisters, Guts, Drama, and Ghosts selling in their millions, doing more for comics in the last 15 years than perhaps any other US comic maker. They’ve come together on The Cartoonists Club, an instrutional book to give all those comic-loving kids a how-to guide to making comics.
It’s a great interview, celebrating all that’s great about the book and its creators.
CAPTION: REBIRTH FESTIVAL – 16/17 AUGUST – OXFORD, UK – THE UK’S LONGEST RUNNING COMICS FESTIVAL RETURNS…
Caption was always different, a convention/festival where the guests and the fans were altogether, freed from the tables, for a weekend of comics fun, workshops, panels, activities, and a load more. It ran from 1992 to 2017, and now it’s back in 2025. Expect something very different, a social comics event, inclusive and welcoming to all.
There’s plenty of guests already, established names and new talent, plus a whole raft of activities for the weekend – all the details right here.
WELL, SOMEONE DIDN’T LEARN ANYTHING FROM SUPERMAN… DEAN CAIN’S GOING FROM TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND THE AMERICAN WAY TO ICE AGENT…
Superman, the ultimate immigrant, coming to Earth, coming to America, to fight injustice and intolerance for so many years now.
Well, Dean Cain, who was Superman for so many years on TV in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in the ’90s, really doesn’t seem to have gotten the message. He’s now becoming an ICE agent in the US. Oh, Dean, Dean, Dean, you really misunderstood the character you were playing, didn’t you?
HAPPY 87TH BIRTHDAY TO THE BEANO…
87 years of Menacing, 87 years of one of the UK’s best kids comic. Here’s to so many more! Happy Birthday Beano!
FINALLY… COULDN’T RESIST SHOWING YOU MORE OF THAT GORGEOUS MIKE PAROBECK ART…
Every iteration of Batman Adventures, the comics spinning out of the various Batman Animated cartoon series, was a must read. They just did it so right, month after month. For me, it’s the perfect Batman comic. And it had so many great, great artists along the way. But my favourite, and possibly my favourite Batman artist of all time, was Mike Parobeck, who we lost in 1996, taken far, far too young at the age of 30. His beautifully clean lines and wonderfully fluid storytelling was just a joy to behold.
Here’s just a little of the Batman Adventures strip from 1993’s issue 8, Larceny, My Sweet, written by Kelly Puckett, pencils by Mike Parobeck, inks by Rick Burchett, a beautifully done Clayface story of heartbreak and monsters.
