A collection of interviews with underground comix legend, house cartoonist for Fortean Times: Hunt Emerson! Purported to be heavily illustrated with rare or seldom seen art from throughout Emerson's "50-odd" years of cartooning. We have a soft spot in our hearts for Good Nose Art.
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We have complete faith in you Heavy Metal Library Kickstarter:
Kickstarter
Ever get the feeling the new stewards of the Heavy Metal legacy are two dudes operating out of their Mom's basement? That would be awesome. Anyway, I pledged for this Ranxerox hardcover, mostly because I was always intrigued by the Catalan translation that was advertised in TCJ way back when. I don't know if we'll ever see any of these books. It'd be fun if we did, though
Stephen Pellnat does Sonic:
At Optical Sloth: Kevin Bramer reviews Mach the Hedgehog, a different sort of comic from the talented Stephen (Upstate) Pellnat! Still available.
Paul Gravett top December 2025 titles:
Always worth a look. Mr. Gravett separates the good stuff from the boring stuff in the world of graphic novels. December 2025 picks here.
Remembering J.D. King (1951-2025):
John Kelly, of Dummy Zine fame, assembles a highly reverential and informative obituary/biography/memorial on the one and only cartoonist J.D. King.
Coming across the cover of Twist 1 in the back issue bins in the early 90s was a real revelation, much later I found the other two issues. However, that first issue - with Peter Bagge, John Holmstrom, Dan Clowes, Josh Gosfield, and Stephen Blickenstaff - really captures the underground origins of a certain time in pop culture. Kind of the space-age bachelor pad, tiki bar, ugly art vibe that became a fad not to much later on.
Those three Twist covers are still an inspiration:
GCD
Comix Reading List:
Catching up on a bunch of old Carol Swain Fantagraphics releases on Comixology Unlimited. I have to admit to being a little underwhelmed, but that may be what Swain was going for. Foodboy is some kind of masterclass in pacing and tension, however.
And, for something completely different. Joe Coleman's brutally raw true crime sories. Highly recommended.
As a follow-up to his Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead, The Fun Never Stops is a disappointment. These are commercial assignments that are so blandly conceived that the occasional weirdness of "Fred and Ricky Join Nambla" (written by Howard Stern) seems not only out of place, but obtuse. The pointillism of Drew Friedman is still on a whole other level.
Comics Video Watchlist:
Tom Fellrath has been digging up some real gold in his "Classic Zines" series on YouTube. This episode, in particular, highlights a hidden black and white boom gem from the 80s (bonus comment from creator Daryl Hutchinson):
It's been about six months since the unfortunate passing of small press comics tub-thumper Larned Justin (1942-2025). Seems like a good time to revisit his final Talking Small Press Comics episode (with the amazing Steve Keeter by his "side"):
This 2022 Don Newton birthday tribute at 13th Dimension focused on his Charlton work, including all his Phantom covers. (Top illustration from GCD)
Don Newton also puts in appearance in Ken Meyer Jr.'s November Ink Stains blog. A young Gary Groth also figures into the history of Nebulous 1.
Duck Comics Revue examines a Bob Gregory Daisy and Donald story from the 70s. Gregory is better known as underground comix cartoonist Roberta Gregory's Dad.
Gilbert Hernandez Gets Some Love (Finally):
With the release of Lovers and Haters it's good to see some press for the most famous unsung cartoonist around.
Greg Hunter at TCJ takes the scholarly approach to Lovers and Haters. I particularly love this quote:
"He exists lately in, if not a purposeful exile, than the territory one finds while privileging creation over legacy."
Brad Curry is back in Canon #6 with three articles on Gilbert Hernandez. Curry is my favorite writer on Beto Bro Hernandez, you should check out his work (also in Canon #1, iirc).
Thomas Batten reviews the book for Library Journal.
Swedish cartoonist spotlight:
Fantagraphics has been translating a lot of Swedish alternative comics, including Moa Romanova's Buff Soul and Bim Eriksson's Baby Blue this year. Austin English has imported four books from another Swedish creator, Emilie Ostergren:
ComicKrakk and 420lanpartier69 are two great Comics YouTubers from Winnipeg, Manitoba who are always digging up treasure in their city. A Moment of Cerebus highlights comics dealer Doug Sulipa of Steinbach, Manitoba and his Million(!) comic book inventory.
Comix Reading List:
Two of the most recent Richard Corben Library volumes. I absolutely loved the all black and white Rowlf volume, Corben's talent really comes out when not hidden behind that luscious coloring of his. Rat God is a bit Lovecraft-like with some bizarre time-twisting, I just started it but I'm sold on Corben's story already.
Comics Video Watchlist:
Two of my most watched Comics YouTubers are ComicKkrakk and Hercules Petix. There was a little serendipity between the channels in the form of Young Master by Larry Hama and Val Mayerik.
Here's a rundown of what I'm reading, reviewing, or watching in the land of comics, hopefully on a semi-weekly basis:
Comics Video Watchlist:
Dan Elsen, well-known from ComicKkrakk live chats, has started his own channel. Weird does not do justice to the comic he spotlights in this video-
Donald Rex is someone I've admired for years. He's currently putting a lot of effort into preserving the work of the foreign artists that contributed to Charlton from the late 60s to the mid 70s-
So many great interviews and reviews centered around Thought Bubble 2025 can be found here.
Image: Domino Books
My feature on Ines Estrada and her Gatoshop online store is included with an amazing array of interviews, reviews, and articles. Donald Rex is interviewed herein. My personal highlight would be more Brad Curry writings on Gilbert Hernandez. Order from Colin Blanchette here
I also (with equal amounts reservations and enthusiasm) contributed seven entries to the "100 Best Superhero Comics of All-time" coming up in DIE WITH YOUR MASK ON #3. Pre-order (also from Colin Blanchette) here
In the works Five Highlights of The Comics Journal 51 and 52...
THE COMICS JOURNAL 50 (October 1979) Twenty-fifth Gary Groth-edited issue!
Executive Editor: Gary Groth
Editor/Circulation Director: Kim Thompson
Consulting Editor: J. Michael Catron
Assistant Editor: Robert H. Boron
Correspondent (UK): John Dakin
Correspondent (Undergrounds): Bruce Sweeney
1. NEWSWATCH: Undergrounds
Bruce Sweeney and company dug up some new releases that are hard to find today! All hail the Poopsheet Foundation! Rick Bradford's database is essential in researching these mini-comics from the dark ages of the 70s.
GCD
GCD
Last Gasp
Internet Archive
GCD
Heritage Auctions
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Poopsheet Foundation
Internet Archive
Poopsheet Foundation
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Poopsheet Foundation
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mycomicshop.com
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Head Comic Wiki
GCD
Worthpoint
Poopsheet Foundation
2. NEXT ISSUE: Wildman & Rubberoy by Richard "Grass" Green
3. BLOOD & THUNDER: R.C. Harvey responds to the Greg Potter Will Eisner article from The Comics Journal 47.
The Met Report, 2013
"The art of the comics is not so much in their stories and themes as it is in the storytelling. It's how the stories are told - with pictures as well as words - that reveals the craft and the art of the medium. If your reviewers adjust their sights to their perspective, they might enjoy more what they're doing. They might even find some minor masterpieces on the newsstand. And then when a Dickens or Tolstoy finally emerges on the pages of the comics, your reviewers will be in a good position to properly appreciate his entire accomplishment - not only the affecting themes of a powerful story but the art (both verbal and visual) involved in telling that story."
This whole series is still available in print and digital format from Chick Publications, which is still pumping out content to save all our lost souls (as a Catholic, pretty sure I'm only a few steps up from Satan in their eyes) despite Jack T. Chick passing in 2016. The artist on most of these has since been revealed as the talented, unsung African-American cartoonist Fred Carter.
GCD
From Cat Yronwode's review: "As noted above, every story has an obligatory airplane scene. In addition, each one has, at the climax of the story, right where the fight would be in a standard comic, one or more obligatory conversion scenes. 'Conversion' is a technical term for a person deciding that his life has been a failure and deciding to enlist in the forces of God. This is accomplished by a process known as 'accepting the Lord Jesus into your heart' and results in tearful joyousness and relief. Most people resist conversion out of a desire for self-determinism. It is the secondary mission of the Crusaders to convert anybody they can. Thus, in the middle of their cat-and-mouse game with the KGB in Bucharest, they score a real coup by converting a Russian spy. In #9, 'Angel of the Night,' they convert two hippies who have narrowly escaped being killed by psychopathic killers. One of the most interesting conversion scenes takes place in 'The Broken Cross,' when a cannibalistic teenager named Jody is converted and subsequently kidnapped by the Satanic town sheriff and his leader, a Christian preacher. The men are actually double agents working for satan, but Jim [a Crusader] overpowers them by calling the Lord's name and causing them to vomit."
5. DOC'S BOOKSHELF: The Gods From Outer Space by Dwight R. Decker
Dwight Decker uncovers a real outlier in these early days of European comics translations, a German comic put out by Dell Publishing. A bonus is the subject being a fictionalized graphic novel based on Erich von Daniken's equally fictitious ancient astronauts theories!
English-language, GCD
German-language: GCD
"Now, however, some years after the crest of the Von Daniken wave, a West German publisher, Bastei-Verlag, has released the first issue of what promises to be a series of comics based on the 'Gods' theme [there turned out to be eight albums in the series from 1978-83]. That this is the authorized version there can be no doubt: an inset photo of Erich von Daniken himself appears on the cover next to the words, 'based on the work of Erich von Daniken,' the copyright is held by Econ-Verlag (Von Daniken's regular publisher), and the translator of the English-language version is Michael Heron (who has translated all of Von Daniken's books to date).
"The Gods From Outer Space certainly looks impressive. The size is standard European soft-cover album format (the English edition is about 8 1/4" x 11 1/4"; the German edition was slightly larger) with 48 interior pages. The art is generally good, if a little stiff, and the printing and colour work are excellent. Not a bad buy for $1.95 these days. "
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