Wow that’s an interesting list.

Applications are open for the Kuš! Comics Residency 2026! We’re offering six free spots for international artists to spend one or two months in Riga. This opportunity is aimed at artists to focus on their personal comics projects in an inspiring environment away from home. 👉 komikss.lv/residency

Part of me is very curious to try the Dragon Quest 7 remaster. I had a really fun summer playing the 3DS port way back when. That said, I also remember how long it was - something like 80-130 hours. It’s a long one that I have already experienced (and loved) Really does look great though.

Over at @comicsbeat.bsky.social last week, @deansimons.bsky.social and @zackquaintance.bsky.social looked back over the last year of 2000 AD! What were their highlights from The Galaxy's Greatest in 2025? https://bit.ly/4aEfp45

Currently reading Stephen King’s ‘The Shining’. I have read a handful of King novels over the years and a few other novels in the “horror” category but chapters 25 through 30 actually scared the crap out of me. Don’t remember the last time a book has done that.

Here’s what I currently know is coming up in 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine - based largely on what was previously teased in both publications last year. The first issue of 2026 comes out Wednesday. My subscriber copy may show up by then. (P.S. Don’t forget to check out our Review of 2025)

Anyone Else Here xkcd.com/3188/

A large overview of 2025 by me, and we check in on @zackquaintance.bsky.social as he concludes his second year as a weekly reader.

Look Back today, Look Forward on Monday (I think).

Watching a delightful musical with my client (he slept through most of it) #catsitting

I can’t tell if this was done because of censorship or enshitification on Kindle post-Comixology app closure. The cover of this book was “removed” until you open the file. It is The Muse, by Zidrou & Oriol. Curiously the cover does show up when you find the Amazon listing

Watched the famous 1967 movie ‘The Graduate’ last night and…yikes. Grooming in the first half, stalking in the second. Toxic after the first 20 minutes. Whatever made it a cinematic classic has completely eroded with the passage of time.

Got round to finishing one of the manga series I started this year. Übelblatt. A confusing start, a chaotic end, but a very interesting middle. The final battle featured a lot of characters and I couldn’t tell which side was which as some looked too similar. Not a classic but entertaining enough.

Opened the Pokémon Go app randomly. First critter on my screen is a shiny. Great timing too

Well. OK, then.

I have a bunch of complaints about ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, especially the last act/hour of the film….And yet I kind of want to see it again. The first hour was really good and heartbreaking/shocking. While the tech hasn’t leapt as much as between 1 and 2, Pandora remains fascinating.

The War Between the Land and the Sea was pretty decent until the last episode. It was all so abrupt. Not a single plot thread felt like it had concluded satisfactorily. I can’t even say it was terrible. It was just so….eh.

Managed to get a £20 last minute ticket for ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’. I was passing by the theatre in London and saw the box office open. It was standing only for 3.5 hours so my back is absolutely killing me, but think I got a decent deal. Just need some ibuprofen and a lie down

I think I crammed 7 different sets of award news into this piece.

Had a wild time putting this together. Hope people have as much fun reading these titles as we did.

Snuck four books onto this list. Had a fair few that I really enjoyed this year but assumed they would be well covered by others - here or elsewhere - so went for curveball books that I also really dug.

Decent little overview of the rise and acceptance of comics as the 9th Art in France. It jumps a fair bit but as a summary it is fine. Bear in mind that the YouTube autotranslate (as expected) is a bit weird. Broadly passable tho. Also you will need to slow to about 0.75 speed to follow subtitles.

Catching up on everything from the past 7 days. As for the “unOfficial Selection”, I can do my usual deep dive if people wish. It just takes me ages to do.

Swung round the London Illustration Fair today. Went a bit late - winter energy and replacement buses - but even in the last hour it was very busy. Stocked up on greeting cards (for others) and stickers (for my 2026 journal)

A reminder that Iron Circus is gonna get WALLOPED with Baker & Taylor bankruptcy backdraft for the next several months, turning our usual distro payout into bills. If you'd like to help a small business making weird-ass comics weather the storm, a 💥30% OFF💥 sale is on now! store.ironcircus.com

Netflix Confirms Cancel Membership Button Will Be Leaving Streaming Service Next Month

Ooo

This book is pretty curious. Really interesting artistic approach.

The latest goings on in this saga

Check out the finalists for France Info’s 2026 Graphic Journalism and Current Affairs Prize The Prix France Info has announced its ten finalists. Running since 1994, the award is a fascinating glimpse at documentary, non-fiction, and news-based fiction comics produced in France

Idly comparing release dates of manga. In this case, One Piece vol. 111 Note: original Japanese release of vol 111 was March 2025 (btw vol 113 is the most recent release there, November 2025) Release of vol 111 by language: Italian: Sep 2025 Spanish Oct 2025 French: Dec 2025 English: Apr 2026

Bit of international award coverage. Love me some Chabouté. “Alone” is one of my all time favourite graphic novels.

Fleshed out the breaking story from earlier in the day so if you saw it before a couple hours ago, it is muuuuuch longer now www.comicsbeat.com/angouleme-20...

A somewhat expanded version of the news piece from today (I kept adding things as they developed)

Always another twist. This one is just a news bit as this was breaking, but I will hopefully have a fuller update on the wider situation soon.

A little bit of international award coverage

And in lighter news: STAMPS! No international shipping though - BOO! (Anyone able to sneak copies of the 2024 and 2025 stamp booklets from Canada over to the UK...?) I wonder if Royal Mail would do the same - and who could make the spotlight list of 10 British graphic novelists 🤔

My latest piece on the Angoulême Crisis is less an update but explaining/covering a key detail that acted as the spark for the wave of protests against the Festival organiser 9e Art+ that began in January, and the human story behind it.

Rounding up the news and hopefully cutting through the confusion of this ongoing story.

Rounding up and explaining the latest events in this ongoing story. Covers a very busy Thursday through to Friday morning.

“To be honest, it’s not exactly what I had in mind…”

Bringing you up to date on everything that happened since…//checks notes//…Monday.

Angoulême Festival Update: A lot happened over the past few days, a heckovalot today, and probably a lot more to come. But can/will it still take place in January 2026? Or ever again?

Comics section of a tabac in Brussels Midi station. It as comprehensive as in France but still decent if you like Disney. Also I highly rate DAD. It’s a single page gag strip about a single father and his 4 daughters. Europe Comics translated first three but so far no rights pickup. It’s hilarious

Fun research times in the documentation room of the Brussels Comic Art Museum. Looking up a few things…and getting ideas for other things I would like to look into down the line. (Not sure how I keep ending up with photos featuring zero people. There were several others there.)

Oh and here is a Smurfy portion of the same graffiti. Plus a wide view of the site

Spotted some fun graffiti using classic Belgian comics characters on the enclosure around a building site in Brussels Brussels has proper “official” commissioned murals on buildings around the city but this is likely rogue agents having a laugh

Spare few minutes before departure so here is a glance at the comics/bande dessinée section of this newsstand. The French editions of American material (capes and tights) are squeezed in above the manga/manwha. Most of the BD seems to be nonfiction or comedy. Kids stuff bottom shelf.

Made me laugh (Not enough to buy it) I wouldn’t mind discovering the random (often invented) English idioms inserted into the French language Belgian series Blake & Mortimer. Maybe I will find it in a library down the line and write them down.

The Daniel Maghen exhibition for Cosey was also decent. Just…I was a bit spoilt by everything in those folders. It covered bits of Cosey’s Jonathan series and his most recent book Yiyun. Leave tomorrow and more galleries on my list. Hopefully I have time for one or two in between other duties