The Sunday Spotlight:The ‘And Meet The Sun’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
Time to rise and shine, sleepyhead. Sunday’s here, stop lazing in bed. Don’t you know comics news to be reading? Yes, that will be The Sunday Spotlight …
RIP TATJANA WOOD — ONE OF COMICS GREATEST COLOURISTS (1926-2026)…
Sadly, Tatjana Wood, one of the legends of comics, a colourist without measure, passed away on the 27th of February 2026 at the age of 99.
Perhaps best known to modern readers as the colourist on the Alan Moore run of Swamp Thing, she’d been working at DC extensively from the 1960s, perhaps one of the first colourists to really bring the sense of artistry to the work. In 1973, she became the regular cover colourist for DC’s entire line, a role she maintained for over 10 years. She was later inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame, the first colourist to be recognised.
In those pre-digital days, she was the first to really push the role of a colourist, utilising the incredibly limited colour palette of the time in ways that revolutionised how creators imagined comics could be brought to vivid life.
Another great lost. But never forgotten.
INAUGURAL BOOKSELLER GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED…
Well, the Bookseller has expanded the categories for its Book of the Year awards to include a graphic novel category, and they’ve just announced the shortlist…
Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business! — By Jamie Smart (David Fickling Books/Phoenix Comic Books)
Dog Man: Big Jim Believes — By Dav Pilkey (Scholastic)
Ginseng Roots — By Craig Thompson (Faber)
InvestiGators: Case Files — By John Patrick Green, Steve Behling, Chris Fenoglio (Macmillan Children’s Books)
This Slavery — By Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, text adapted by Sophie Rickard and illustrated by Scarlett Rickard (SelfMadeHero)
Who Killed Nessie? — By Paul Cornell and Rachael Smith (Avery Hill Publishing)
Now, that’s an impressive shortlist, packed with talent, and congratulations to all included. But I can’t help but think it’s a weird list that should actually have been two lists — adults and childrens graphic novels? Maybe next year.
CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF MISCHIEF WITH DENNIS THE MENACE(S) – BUT ONLY THE BRITISH ONE GETS HIS OWN COIN…
Yes, in one of those strangest of all creations, both the US Dennis the Menace by Hank Ketcham, the US comic strip character, and the British Dennis the Menace created by George Moonie, David Law and Ian Chisholm made their debuts on the 12th of March 1951. Weird, huh?
Well, as a Brit kid and a devout Beano reader, I know which one always springs to my mind when I hear Dennis the Menace – that certain ruffian with the red and black striped shirt, mop of black hair, and knobbly knees, complete with Gnasher at his side, always ready and willing to get themselves into trouble.
A new range of commemorative 50p coins featuring both Dennis and Gnasher are available right now at the Royal Mint’s website, starting at £15.
TWO HUMBLE BUNDLES TO GET INTO – DC VERTIGO & INDIE COMICS…
You know the deal, yes? Humble Bundle puts together a series of digital comic collections at a great ‘pay at least’ price, with the option to adjust who gets what — publisher, Humble Bundle, and charity.
Well, right now there’s two particularly good Humble Bundles up for you to peruse and buy, with two particularly worthy charities.
First, the Indie Comics United Humble Bundle. The charity’s the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the bundles 60 books for at least $18. And there’s some really damn good books in there. Things like Paul Rainey’s magnificent There’s No Time Like The Present, plenty of Heavy Metal, Torpedo 1972 with art by Eduardo Risso, Emil Ferris’ My Favourite Thing Is Monsters, and a hell of a lot more.
The only downside, this one ends 12 March.
As for the second, the Dive into DC Vertigo Humble Bundle is, not surprisingly, a large bundle of DC Vertigo titles, including some truly legendary comics. Again, it costs at least £18 for 26 books, with the Book Industry Charitable Foundation as the charity. Books include V For Vendetta, Fables, Hellblazer, 100 Bullets, Animal Man, Y The Last Man, Preacher, and The Invisibles.
That one ends on the 21st of March.
JAIME HERNANDEZ SIGNING AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS, LA — 10 MARCH…
To celebrate the release of Locas: The Maggie and Hopey Stories, the legendary Jamie Hernandez will be at Skylight Books in LA on the 10th of March. Signing starts at 7.00 pm.
It’s all part of the 50th anniversary of Love and Rockets publisher Fantagraphics, plus it’s the 45th anniversary of Love and Rockets itself, the product of Los Bros Hernandez, Jaime and Gilbert, still one of the finest pieces of comics literature there is.
LEW STRINGER’S BRICKMAM RETURNS…
The second of three collections of Lew Stringer‘s Brickman is available right now – 28 pages of guffaw-worthy comics from a comics gent who always made guffaw-worthy comics.
Brickman is an unashamed Batman parody of course — featuring Loose Brayne, struck on the head by a brick whilst contemplating his destiny… yes, he shall become a brick. This time, more of the same silliness with Brickman, The Poker, The Mad Cobbler, Man-Brick and a load more. You can pick it up directly from Lew at his webshop.
