The Sunday Spotlight – The ‘You’re Sucking Eggs Here’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
Time for another quick spin around a few bits of comics news I noticed this week. Yep, it’s the Sunday Spotlight…
DEADLINE/A1 – HAVE YOU SIGNED UP YET?…
For those of us around in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Deadline and A1 were essential reading. Two very different things, one, Deadline, a mag created by Steve Dillon and Brett Ewins, both sadly passed now, that hit the ground running with strips such as Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin‘s Tank Girl, Philip Bond‘s Wired World (still shockingly never collected), and Ewins’s own Johnny Nemo. It would go on to showcase some magnificently wacky and wonderful comics – I’m thinking Nick Abadzis‘s Hugo Tate for a start – and plenty of music and pop culture features over its publication history. Likewise, A1, was something very special, a graphic novel anthology created by Garry Leach (again, one we’ve lost, dammit) and Dave Elliott. It featured a who’s who of comics in the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Alan Moore, Steve Parkhouse, Garry Leach, Barry Windsor-Smith, Dave Gibbons, Ted McKeever, Eddie Campbell, John Bolton, Brian Bolland, and – well, the list goes on.
They burned bright and then they were gone. By 1995, both were no more. Until now. Dave Elliott’s getting the band(s) back together with the new A1/Deadline, Deadline/A1, call it what you want – it’s a new 80-page comics mag coming… well, soonish. Right now, it’s promising this sort of thing – Tank Girl by Hewlett and Martin; Carp Diem by WH Rauf & Rhoald Marcellius; The Beard by Alison Sampson and Fred Van Lente; Image Duplicator by Rian Hughes, with David Leach, Steve Cook, Dave Gibbons, and more; Cap’n Dinosaur by Shaky Kane and Kek-W; and Bandits by Mark A Nelson. And no doubt plenty more besides.
It’s going to launch on Kickstarter at some point in the not-too-distant future. Just a one-off for now, but you can’t help wishing and hoping that the inevitable success of this first one will lead to more.
More details here. Kickstarter launch page here.
‘A1 and Deadline return as one great comics magazine, with a stacked lineup of visionary talent who pushed the edge of comics forward. Inside, you’ll find the groundbreaking artwork and stories from legends the world just wasn’t ready for, but maybe the world is ready now! Talents like Steve Pugh, Mark Nelson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Rufus Dayglo, Ron Marz, Shakey Kane, Rhoald Marcellius, Toby Cypress, and Kevin Eastman – each bringing their unique magic to the page. And this is just the beginning!’
JIM LEE SAYS NO TO AI-GENERATED STORY OR ART AT NYCC…
This weekend saw NYCC happen. Amongst the many stories that came out of it, a couple caught my eye. First, there’s this one, reported at the Comics Beat, where Jim Lee, Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics, delivered the keynote speech at the 2025 Retailer’s Day at NYCC. You can read the whole transcript at the Comics Beat article. It’s a nicely done speech, full of positivity.
But one bit that needs pointing out, one thing Lee specifically said, one thing he signed up to, was a pledge to not have AI-generated storytelling or artwork. It’s something that ever publisher, big and small, needs to say, needs to shout from the rooftops. Because, as I’ve said before, AI-generated stories and art are just theft, pure and simple. And theft robbing comics and other artforms of their creativity. They have no place in comics. No place at all.
Here’s a little of what Lee said…
‘But let me make one prediction I know I can stand by: DC Comics will not support AI-generated storytelling or artwork. Not now. Not ever—as long as Anne Depies and I are in charge.
‘Because what we do—and why we do it—is rooted in our humanity. It’s that fragile, beautiful connection between imagination and emotion that fuels our medium—the thing that makes our universe come alive. It’s the imperfect line, the creative risk, the hand-drawn gesture that no algorithm can replicate. When I draw, I make mistakes—lots of them. But that’s the point. The smudge, the rough line, the hesitation—that’s me in the work. That’s my journey. That’s what makes it come alive. It’s the product of true effort. Of inspiration and perspiration. Fans sense that. They can feel when something was made with care—when it cost the artist time, energy, heart, and e?ort. People have an instinctive reaction to what feels authentic. We recoil from what feels fake.
‘That’s why human creativity matters. AI doesn’t dream. It doesn’t feel. And it doesn’t make art—it aggregates it. Our job—as creators, as storytellers, as publishers—is to make people feel something real. That’s why we create. That’s why we’re still here.’
MORE FROM NYCC – THAT LONG-LOST RICK VEITCH SWAMP THING STORY IS COMING IN 2026…
Also announced at NYCC, the news that, after some 36 years, we’re finally getting the controversial Rick Veitch Swamp Thing storyline from 1989. They’re publishing the final four issues from March 2026, bringing to a close a long, long, long-lost storyline that very few thought we’d ever see.
Back in the late ’80s, when Alan Moore left Swamp Thing, the comic that had made his name in the US, frequent artistic collaborator Veitch signed on to write the comic. He did a damn fine job as well. His run on the comic was meant to end with a series of issues of Swampy bouncing around in time, eventually to end up at Jesus’ crucifixion with Swampy as the cross at Calvary in issue 88, drawn by the late Michael Zulli. Except that issue, and the issues meant to follow it never happened. Management got cold feet, and the editorially approved tale never made it to publication. The ensuing fallout meant that Veitch left the book, and both Jamie Delano and Neil Gaiman, meant to contribute to, or even take over the comic, also dropped out.
So, now we’re getting Swamp Thing issues #88-91 as the four-issue Swamp Thing 1989. Veitch and Zulli’s issue 88 will be published, with Vince Locke doing inks, and Veitch, Tom Mandrake and Trish Mulvihill will be putting together the other three issues.
RAINA TELGEMEIER IS OUT ON TOUR – KIDS EVERYWHERE IN THE US CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS….
As I’ve said before, a quick check-up to do of your local comic shop. Do they stock Raina Telgemeier‘s books? Do they even know who she is? If the answer to both of those is yes, congratulations, you have a local comics shop that understands that kids getting into comics is vital for the future of the comics industry and that Raina’s one of those creators who drives sales into their stores. If no, well, they’re not only ignoring a huge chunk of cash, but they’re basically saying that they don’t understand comics as they are today.
So yes, Raina Telgeimeier, multi-million selller graphic novelist and author beloved by millions of kids. Her new book, Facing Feelings, is published on 2st1 October. Like all her other books, it will be a bestseller.
In support of the book, she’s out on the road across the US in November. You want to see what the future of comics looks like and how it’s in very good hands? Go look at the hordes of comic-loving kids lining up at any of these.
ANOTHER MIKE MIGNOLA HELLBOY UNIVERSE HUMBLE BUNDLE – WHY YES, WHY NOT?…
Another Humble Bundle to get behind now. So many of Mike Mignola‘s works on offer, including Hellboy, Witchfinder, and more.
As with all Humble Bundles, this is a PDF-only thing where you pledge what you want at various tiers to get the books you want. You can even cater your pledges to support both Humble Bundle, the publisher, and the chosen charity, which, in this case, is World Central Kitchen, an organisation that provides worldwide food relief to those in need.
You can find the Humble Bundle here.
