The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘Skreeee! Parp!’ Edition

Sunday once more? Well, then it’s obviously time to shine a spotlight on a few comics news stories I saw this week. Whatever should we call it? Oh, yes, The Sunday Spotlight it is …

NEBULA AWARDS NOW INCLUDES COMICS CATEGORY FOR THE FIRST TIME…

The 61st annual Nebula Awards recently announced their finalists, including, for the first time in its history, a category for comics/graphic novels. Recognising the best works of sci-fi or fantasy published in the USA, the awards are organised by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). The 61st Nebula Awards happen during the Nebula Awards Conference in Chicago from the 3rd of June until the 7th of June, 2026

And it’s an impressive list indeed. Of course, it would have been a damn sight better if the Nebula Awards would have actually listed both writer AND artist for the books up for the awards instead of just the writers in some cases where it’s not one creator doing it all. FFS, it’s not hard, surely? It’s comics, not books, and that means there are a whole load of people involved — writer, artist, colourist, letterer — and they’re all creators of the final book.

Below are the books up for the awards as the Nebula Awards listed them. I’ve added in the rest of the creative teams that I could find. Hopefully the Nebula Awards will do the same …

Second Shift, by Kit Anderson (Avery Hill)
Carmilla Volume 3: The Eternal, by Amy Chu (Berger Books) — Art by Soo Lee, Colours by Sal Cipriano
Helen of Wyndhorn, by Tom King (Dark Horse) — Art by Bilquis Evely, colours by Matheus Lopes, letters by Clayton Cowles
Fishflies, by Jeff Lemire (Image)
Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone, by Jessica Maison (Wicked Tree) — Art by Anna Wieszczyk, letters by Mark Krotzer
Strange Bedfellows, by Ariel Slamet Ries (HarperAlley)
The Flip Side, by Jason Walz (Rocky Pond)
The Stoneshore Register, by G. Willow Wilson (Berger) — Art by MK Perker, letters by Richard Bruning

GET YOURSELF A HELL OF A LOT OF LOVE AND ROCKETS FROM HUMBLE BUNDLE — YOU’VE GOT TILL 26 MARCH…

If you’ve never had the pleasure of reading one of the greatest comic book series of all time, Love And Rockets by Los Bros Hernandez, or maybe you have the whole lot in print but always fancied getting your hands on a good set of digital copies — Humble Bundle has a real bargain for you right here and right now!

As with all Humble Bundles, you pay a minimum for a bundle, but can increase what you pay and adjust what proportion goes to the Publisher, Humble Bundle, and the chosen charity.

This Love And Rockets Humble Bundle is a great, great deal. First, there’s the eight volume bundle, which includes the handy Love And Rockets Primer priced at the ridiculously cheap pay at least $10. But why not go for the pay at least $18 for an enormous 57 book collection? That includes a hell of a lot of the brilliant Love And Rockets saga from Jamie and Gilbert Hernandez, plus the L&R Covers book and the L&R Sketchbooks, mini-series and one-shots. It’s a hell of a lot of digital books for your money!

And every purchase includes a contribution to the charity American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), responsible for protecting everyone’s liberty for nearly 100 years, and never needed more than it is right now.

MARCH’S COMIX EXPERIENCE GRAPHIC NOVEL CLUB PICKS — TWO DEFINITES TO PICK UP…

Again, no apologies for flagging this up — Comix Experience in CA is one of the best comic shops, and its graphic novel club is a perfect example of the sort of innovation that makes them so good. Essentially, I treat their monthly picks as a guide to a couple of great books that I might have missed that I really should be picking up.

This month’s Adult Club pick is David and Maria Lapham‘s The Ends. Having loved Lapham’s work from Stray Bullets on, this was one I was always going to be looking at in this new collection.

‘It’s 1985 and Jennifer End and Angelo Rodriguez are deeply in love. But Jennifer can never reveal their relationship to their family. The Ends are considered by some to be traditional, but by most, they are known as intolerant, discriminatory, and bigoted. Her brother, Jack, is the worst of the bunch and a full blown, hardcore skinhead. During the summer, when Jennifer travels to Oceanside, a retirement home for veterans, to be with Angelo under the guise of visiting her grandparents, Jack discovers their relationship. Jack is crushed by the betrayal. He decides it’s time to take a stand. Jack organizes a rally in the peaceful town of Oceanside. Soon the town is overrun by neo-Nazi youths. The police struggle to maintain control, leaving the only hope with the aging World War 2, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans who reside in the town.’

The Kids Club pick is The Extraordinary Voyages by Denis-Pierre Filippi and Silvio Camboni.

‘Every day after school, cousins and fellow mecha-maniacs, Naomi and Everett, work on machines in their hideout-treehouse. Coded elevators, ships, and more! In the backdrop, the world is at war and mysterious giant robots are attacking both sides … Everything changes for our heroes when Naomi’s parents pull them from school — Everett’s father is missing and their new nanny, Amelia, is not quite who she appears to be. Can the kids stay safe, find Everett’s father, and continue inventing? Find out in this beautiful graphic novel, inspired by the fantastically adventurous stories of Jules Verne.’

CE’s owner Brian Hibbs will be interviewing the Laphams later this month, with the upload to their YouTube channel shortly after.

MORE COMICS FOR YOUR EARS — 2000 AD THRILL CAST CREATOR FILES ON BEN WHEATLEY…

The 2000 AD Thrill Cast continues to give us plenty of long listens in addition to the weekly In Orbit Every Wednesday podcast. After the long and thoroughly entertaining three-part interview with the legendary John Wagner, there’s now an interview with movie writer/director Ben Wheatley about his love of comics and his recent debut series, Judge Dee, in 2000 AD.

GOSH! COMICS PRESENTS ALEX POTTS’ WAS THAT NORMAL? LAUNCH PARTY — 26 MARCH, LONDON…

Gosh! Comics, surely one of the best comic shops in the world? They’re headed into 2026 with the usual incredible stock mix, limited editions such as the recent Kevin O’Neill Silent Pictures, and plenty of events spotlighting the very best in comics.

This very week, they’re hosting Alex Potts for the launch of Was That Normal? published by Avery Hill.

I’ve followed Potts’ work for many a year and this looks every bit the book that should bring him to far wider attention. Described as ‘A contemporary graphic novel about disenchantment, alienation, and introspection,’ here’s a little of what it’s about:

‘It was like he’d missed the main part of the story and arrived between the big climax and the end credits. A new order had established itself and everyone, apart from him, was living happily ever after. Nothing interesting could possibly happen between now and the ending.’

‘Philip is searching. For meaning. For connection. For someone to share a moment with. By day, he works from a rented room. By night, he drifts through cafés and bars, dodging awkward chats with his landlady and hoping for something more. When he meets Gina, a local musician, things begin to shift. But relationships are messy, and Philip’s discomfort grows as he stumbles through miscommunications, emotional misfires, and the looming presence of Gina’s intense ex.’

‘Add in a crumbling tower, gong baths (whatever they are), and the quiet ache of modern life, and you have a story that’s tender, funny, and deeply human. A beautifully observed graphic novel about connection, confusion, and the spaces in between.’

Alex will be at Gosh! in London from 7pm on Thursday 26th March.

AND FINALLY — THINK OF POOR ROBERTA GREGORY AND FANTAGRAPHICS…

Incredibly talented writer/artist, lovely person, Roberta Gregory has found herself impacted in a strange way by the war in Iran. It turns out that the entire print run of her collected Bitchy Bitch, due to be out from Fantagraphics this summer, along with The Atlas Comics Library No. 9: Adventures Into Weird Worlds Vol. 1, was onboard a cargo ship that was struck by an Iranian missile either in or near the Strait of Hormuz.

Fantagraphics editor Mike Catron broke the news in a Facebook post, saying this…

‘Fantagraphics Books learned today that a cargo vessel carrying the full print runs of two of our books was struck by an Iranian missile in or near the Strait of Hormuz. The report we have is that the ship has limped to a safe port, where we await further news. Our thoughts are with the crew, and we hope and pray for their safety.

‘The two books, The Atlas Comics Library No. 9: Adventures Into Weird Worlds Vol. 1 by Russ Heath, Bernard Krigstein, Bill Everett, Joe Maneely, Carmine Infantino, et al. and Bitchy! The Exasperating Existence of Midge McCracken by Roberta Gregory and Helen Chazan, were printed in India and were bound for the Port of New York. Both books had been scheduled to go on sale in early June, but that timeframe now seems unlikely. If the books themselves were not damaged and the crippled ship’s cargo can be offloaded to another vessel and that vessel can then safely exit the danger zone, it could add a month or more to the delivery time. We have no information on the cargo ship’s itinerary, but our speculation is that it was dropping off other cargo from India to that region or picking up additional cargo bound for the U.S.

‘Bitchy Bitch is most exasperated by this unexpected turn of events, echoing the title of one of Weird World’s horror stories “When a World Goes Mad!”‘

Similarly, Roberta had this to say:

‘Oh, great. From bad to worse. The ship with my book on it (and lots of other stuff as well) was hit by a missile. I don’t REALLY believe my cursed existence is somehow responsible for this latest, but I’m not lying when I say there’s days I honestly wonder …’

Of course, in these troubled times, it is just a load of books. There’s far bigger problems happening in the world right now. But we still feel for both Roberta and for the whole Fantagraphics community at the loss of the books. Even worse, of course, generally insurance doesn’t cover acts of war. The story was updated a few days later with the news that, possibly, the cargo remains all right, and the ship isn’t too badly damaged. But there will, no doubt, be a hell of a delay on this one.

So, if you do get a chance to do a little good these days, head over to the Fantagraphics website and pre-order their books or make a purchase of something that’s in stock. You can find the pre-order of Bitchy right here.

If you don’t already know, Bitchy Bitch was Midge McCracken, Gregory’s character that ran in her Naughty Bits comic across 40 issues from 1991 to 2004. Outspoken, unrelentingly exasperated, annoyed, and just plain angry at the world, her tales were wonderful, cathartic things, something much loved by me for many a year, and I was very much looking forward to this exhaustive collection. But, I’ll simply have to wait that little bit longer.

The new book, Bitchy, will (eventually) collect everything Bitchy-related by Gregory, 450+ pages of fabulous cartooning to enjoy, tackling Midge’s life from school days to menopause, as Gregory chronicles ‘The exasperating existence of Midge McCracken’…

As for Bitchy herself, well, Gregory found this from 23 years ago that sums up how she’s feeling nicely…