The Sunday Spotlight – The ‘Are You Batman Or Something?’ Edition

The Sunday Spotlight, a weekly attempt by me to cover just a few things that might have been missed. Not exhaustive. Hell, barely scratching the surface of the comics news. But hey, this is just a little of what’s happening…

CARTOON CROSSROADS COLUMBUS ANNOUNCES MORE GUESTS FOR THE CXC FESTIVAL – 18-21 SEPTEMBER…

Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) has long been one of the US’s major comics festivals, an international showcase for cartoon art, and this year promises to be no exception, as the 11th edition of the citywide comics festival takes place September 18th – 21st in Columbus, Ohio.

Joining a stellar line-up including Charles Burns, Katie Cook, Michel Fiffe, Keita Katsushika, Lucy Knisley, Matt Madden, Tony Moore, Ann Telnaes, Carol Tyler, and plenty more, will be pioneering manga translator and scholar Frederik L Schodt, Ignatz-nominated manga artist and illustrator Gigi Murakami, creator of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and the animation Invader Zim, Jhonen Vasquez, and the French-Ghanaian cartoonist Loui.

CXC 2025 take place all across Columbus, Ohio next weekend.

AVERY HILL PUBLISHING EXHIBITION – BEGINS OCTOBER 2025 – HARROGATE, UK…

As you may well know, I consider Avery Hill Publishing to be one of the best UK publishers, with every book they’ve published showcasing all that’s so strong in the diverse world of UK comics.

Well, now there’s going to be an Avery Hill exhibition happening at the Mercer Gallery in Harrogate, UK, from 18th October 2025 – 26th April 2026, highlighting many of the excellent artists in their stable, not to mention celebrating their tenth year as a publisher.

The retrospective exhibition covers the whole 10 years of their publishing, back to their earliest days of publishing zines in the London small press scene and through to where they are right now, a publisher of superb graphic novels. You’ll be able to see original art from many of their books, behind the scenes looks at the creative process, plus video, prints, books on display and interactive elements, including a game designed by one of many artistic discoveries they’ve made along the way, George Wylesol.

Featured artists include Kristyna Baczynski, Tim Bird, Katriona Chapman, Tom Humberstone, Charlot Kristensen, B. Mure, Owen D. Pomery, Claire Scully, J. Webster Sharp, Rachael Smith, Lizzy Stewart, Lucy Sullivan, Zoe Thorogood, Donya Todd, Tillie Walden, and George Wylesol.

If you happen to be at this year’s Thought Bubble festival in Harrogate, take advantage of two guided tours of the exhibition with Avery Hill’s Kat Chapman (Saturday) and Broken Frontier’s Andy Oliver (Sunday).

 

COMIX EXPERIENCE’S GRAPHIC NOVEL CLUB PICKS FOR SEPTEMBER…

Once more, we’re back at Comix Experience, California, one of the best comic shops in the US. Their graphic novel club highlights an adult and kids club each month, and it’s always a great couple of picks.

For September’s adult pick for their graphic novel club, they’ve chosen Space Opera Xanadex by Tom Scioli...

‘Enter the strange new universe of Space Opera Xanadax Across The Unknown Dimensions Of The Galaxy! A supercharged, cybernetically enhanced, brooding loner known only as Xanadax is on a collision course with the kill-crazy Cosmic Enemy Number One, an armada of ruthless Space Pirates, slimy Crime Bosses, deadly Bounty Hunters, an oppressive star-spanning Empire, and an army of homicidal robots! Follow Xanadax on a mind-blowing epic journey as he crosses the galaxy to escape his mysterious troubled past. Don’t miss this intergalactic space odyssey from the author of Fantastic Four: Grand Design, Gobots, and Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre!’

As for the Kids Club pick for September, it’s Laura Terry‘s Adorable Empire.

‘Nothing has been going right for Jinx. People at school think she’s a goth weirdo, and now her parents are getting divorced. She has to move to an unfamiliar apartment building that doesn’t feel like home-and that doesn’t have her dad. And when a new neighbor gives her a mysterious crystal, her life is turned even more upside down by the Adorables, a mischievous band of magical creatures. They are messy, distracting, and, worst of all, they follow Jinx everywhere. She just wants to be left alone! (Well, maybe she’s okay with getting to know another girl in her building, Robyn, a little better…) Getting rid of the Adorables turns out to be harder than expected, but they might just help Jinx find her way back to happiness.’

Comix Experience will be talking to Scioli and Terry later in September and you can find links to watch on their socials as soon as that happens.

ROB WILLIAMS, PATRICK GODDARD & NEIL EDWARDS PROMOTE RED DRAGON AT FORBIDDEN PLANET CARDIFF…

Starting in 2000 AD Prog 2451, out on 17th September, Red Dragon delves back into the world of Zenith and the unfortunate Siadwell Rhys, once Wales’s premier superhero. Of course, the glory days were long behind him when he appeared in Zenith and Siadwell didn’t live beyond their first fight with Masterman. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t stories to tell of the Red Dragon, with Rob Williams joined by artists Steve Yeowell and Patrick Goddard to take a look at the Red Dragon’s past with Brit supergroup Cloud 9, as well as a journalist’s investigation in the present day into the legend of the character.

To promote and celebrate this new series, Williams and Goddard, together with artist Neil Edwards, will be at Forbidden Planet Cardiff on Saturday 27th September.

AND FINALLY, MORE HARKER…

As I set up the lead image for this week’s Sunday Spotlight, I fell into the trap of reading Harker: The Book Of Solomon once more. I shouldn’t have, seeing as I needed to be doing a thousand and one other things instead. But grabbing one image just led me to take a little time out to read one of my all-time favourite comics. Seriously, Roger Gibson and Vincent Danks put together something very, very special when they created this. I’ve covered it plenty here already, but you might need a reminder of just how good it is. Here’s a little of what I had to say about it…

‘A great detective thriller with an intriguing story, wonderful art, cracking dialogue and moments of out and out comedy… an absolute triumph of a comic.‘

‘Essentially, this is a sublime mixing and mashing of all your favourite police shows, whether that’s The Sweeney, Inspector Morse, Columbo, or so many others. But into the mix, there’s also that bit of classic Agatha Christie sleuthing, a little weirdness, The X-Files style, and a wonderful dash of that buddy comedy going on.’

‘Brilliant when I read it years ago, just as brilliant now that it’s in colour, Roger Gibson and Vincent Danks’ Harker is just the finest police procedural you’re ever going to read. A dazzling display of sparkling dialogue, intense action, and just the right smattering of perfectly pitched comedy along the way. You can’t do better than Harker.’

You can, and you should, go and buy all the volumes here from Time Bomb Comics.