The Sunday Spotlight – The ‘Her Nose Is So Easily Put Out Of Joint’ Edition

Time once more for that Sunday thing where I spotlight some bits of news I’ve seen… yes, it’s The Sunday Spotlight…

ANGOULÊME CANCELLED, THE DRAMA CONTINUES…

After the various allegations of abuses, including sexual assault, bullying behaviour, and a lot more, and faced with a mass boycott of artists and publishers, the 2026 Festival has been cancelled, leaving a huge hole in Angoulême’s finances and a town reeling from the consequences. For Europe’s premier comics festival to go down, at least temporarily, like this is a disaster for comics.

Obviously it will return, but it will no doubt be in a vastly different form, will be without its organiser 9e Art+, and perhaps without Association FIBD.

As always, Dean Simons at the Comics Beat has been doing a great job on this, reporting the facts so well on a story that just refuses to go away.

To give you an idea of what’s happening, here’s the opening para…

‘The Angoulême saga continues to unfold: mayor Xavier Bonnefont faced a bruising meeting at the first town hall meeting since the collapse of the International Comics Festival (FIBD) became official on Monday. Also, plans may be afoot to fill the festival’s now-vacant late January slot, Élise Bouché-Tran retells her story on social media (with some new info), and another former 9e Art+ employee opens up to the press.’

RIP ARTIST ADAM STONE – GONE FAR, FAR TOO SOON…

Word came down the wires this week that another talent had been lost to us. Adam Stone, an artist really just starting out, has died following a tragic accident. It was awful news.

Adam won the annual Thought Bubble/2000 AD artist talent search at 2024’s Festival, and, in July of this year, he saw his very first professional art job, his prize for winning the talent search, published in 2000 AD Prog 2349, Future Shock: Infiltrator.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Adam about his win and his first pro work at the 2000 AD site, where he had this to say…

‘It feels really exciting and a bit surreal. I’ve been drawing and creating art for a long time, and it’s amazing to be at the point where it’s at a high enough standard for something like 2000 AD.’

Our sympathies and best wishes go to Adam’s family at this terrible time.

MIKE W BARR STILL NEEDS YOUR HELP…

And now a reminder that veteran comic creators, who, after providing us with so much enjoyment over the years, really deserve so much more than they often get.

A case in point is Mike W Barr, perhaps still best known in comics for the creator-owned Camelot 3000 (with Brian Bolland) and Batman and the Outsiders (with Alan Davis), who has been suffering from multiple health issues and needs our continuing help. We covered his plight earlier this year, but there’s been a new push for donations to the GoFundMe page that’s been set up to help with covering the things his insurance won’t, the medical bills, therapy, and living expenses, so it’s good to give it a boost, especially this time of year.

Regardless of how terrible the American health system is, where there’s every chance a serious illness and hospital stay could see you bankrupt, there’s a terrible truth that comic creators who gave us so much have to suffer way too much financial hardship in later life.

So, seeing as it’s Christmas and you really should – go donate to the GoFundMe for Mike W Barr, and then go and donate to Hero Initiative, the charity that exists to support comic creators in need.

NORTH WEST MUSEUM OF COMIC ARTS HAS A PACKED DECEMBER…

The North West Museum of Comic Arts (NWMOCA) officially opened earlier this month, but it’s already posted up a big list of names and events for its first month. So, Portland, Oregon has a new comics museum that looks like it’s well worth a visit…

You can find out more at nwmoca.org.

THE LAKES INTERNATIONAL COMIC ART FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES NEW COMICS EVENT/FESTIVAL FOR 2026 WITH BARROW DOES COMICS…

In addition to its annual festival, now moving back to Kendal, UK for 2026, LICAF has announced a new festival in Spring 2026 in Barrow, Cumbria.

This new festival is looking to assemble a youth production team and is looking to help shape this new festival, Barrow Does Comics, promising a new event looking to ‘bring a vibrant, creative, comics-filled festival right into Barrow Town Centre. Think storytelling, graphic art, workshops, exhibitions… the full LICAF magic!’

AND FINALLY… THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND DREDD????…

Well, they either don’t understand the concept of Judge Dredd, a representative of a fascist, authoritarian state where democracy has died, or they just don’t care. But here’s what the Department of Homeland Security put this up on their socials… unbelievable…