PW Comics World: More To Come: Recent Episodes
Publishers Weekly
Heidi MacDonald, Eisner-nominated writer of The Beat; Calvin Reid, senior news editor for Publishers Weekly Magazine and editor of PW Comics World and producer Kate Fitzsimons present More To Come: PW's weekly comics podcast.
This week on More to Come, Heidi “The Beat” MacDonald and Kate Fitzsimons salute their colleague Calvin Reid, who has been awarded the 2023 Tom Spurgeon Award for contributions to the field of comics by the CXC festival; plus, the cohosts lament the lack of Direct Market retail sales charts, react to news about the upcoming New York Comic Con; recap the business news of the week; and preview the SPX and Baltimore Comic-Con shows which open over the weekend.
From the archives, Calvin interviews the late comics writer, editor and historian Tom Spurgeon, recorded at the 2019 Cartoon Crossroads Columbus comics festival, of which he was executive director; and Heidi talks with comics legend Grant Morrison about his comics past and present, their shared comic con history in 2015.
This week on More to Come, Calvin Reid interviews Levi Hastings and Josh Trujillo, cocreators of ‘Washington’s Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben,’ a graphic biography of an intriguing leader of the American Revolution. Hastings and Trujillo talk about the life of von Steuben, a brilliant 18th century military strategist, described as being “flamboyantly gay” at time when queer people could be put to death, and as “one of the greatest military leaders in the history of the U
Image’s move to S&S for book distribution and the $1.6B acquisition of S&S by KKR; the cancellation of some titles planned for the IDW Originals line; malaise over Marvel’s comics and the MCU; James Gunn’s sales-boosting Twitter (X) posts, and a salute to Flame Con 2023, NYC’s LGBTQ comics and pop culture convention.
This week on More to Come, Meg Lemke interviews comics creator Peter Rostovsky about his debut MoCCA Fest excellence award winning graphic novel ‘Damnation Diaries,’ which is set in hell and follows a suffering soul through torture and, unexpectedly, psychotherapy with hell’s top therapist. Also, Kate interviews Michael Dialynas ('Wynd'), Isaac Goodheart ('Christopher Chaos'), Stephanie Williams ('Nubia and the Amazons') and Rachel Silverstein ('Renegade Rule') at Flamecon 2023, NYC's LGBT comic con.
This week the More to Come crew is joined by PW graphic novel reviews editor Meg Lemke to recap San Diego Comic-Con 2023. Heidi describes the crowds, publishers, and mood of this year’s Comic-Con, Meg reacts to her first visit to the show; and the cohosts discuss the Eisner Awards, the parties, panels, and the Hollywood actors missing from this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.
In part 3 of More to Come's SDCC 2023 coverage, Calvin Reid interviews Mark Siegel, co-founder of First Second; PW Comics Editor Meg Lemke interviews Tay Taylor; and Heidi 'The Beat' MacDonald interviews Jeffrey Brown.
In part 1 of More to Come's SDCC 2023 coverage, it’s a Four Women in a Hotel Room crossover as Heidi is joined by Brigid Alverson, Deb Aoki, and Meg Lemke to discuss this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Topics include metadata, Junji Ito and finding food.
A preview of San Diego Comic-Con 2023 (July 19–23, at the San Diego Convention Center); the WGA and SAG strike and its impact on the SDCC; David Harper’s new report on comics retailing; the manga-fication of the DCU Infinite; Viz Media's upcoming price hike; and Lance Fensterman’s new job at Fanatics.
In a Stargazing review segment, Calvin and Meg Lemke discuss ‘The Talk,’ a graphic memoir of the life of the Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist Darrin Bell, the biracial son of a Black father and a fiercely protective White mother. The book offers a creative look at Bell’s life and at one family’s experience with “The Talk,” the warning parents deliver to their Black children about the racist society they will encounter outside of the home.
A talk with graphic novels reviews editor Meg Lemke about the Comics and Graphic Novel Announcement issue; plus PRH’s new Inklore comics imprint, San Diego Comic-Con news, investment in the GlobalComix platform, and the Kirby family’s response to Disney’s Stan Lee documentary.
An interview with Anelle Miller, retiring executive director of the Society of Illustrators about her long career as an illustrator, educator, and entrepreneur; and her visionary acquisition of the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art and relaunch of MoCCA Art Festival, its annual showcase of independent comics and graphic novels.
A tribute to the memories of the lateMarvel comics artist John Romita Sr. and cartoonist Ian McGinty; #ComicsBrokeMe; PW’s annual Graphic Novels In Libraries feature, more layoffs at CBR; and the new animated feature ‘Across the Spider-Verse.’
Heidi talks with co-managing editors of The Comics Journal Austin English and Kristy Valenti about Comics Journal Yearbook Best of 2022, a new publication spotlighting ten of the best comics of 2022, discovering emerging talent, indie comics in the pandemic and English's publishing company, Domino Books.
A recap of graphic novel authors at The U.S. Book Show; Image’s controversial change in comics shop distribution; the launch of the Ten Speed Graphic imprint at PRH; Bryce Gold joins Kickstarter, the Nib’s closing; plus manga piracy and book news.
From the archives, Heidi talks with comics creator and illustrator Jillian Tamaki in 2014 about her graphic novel 'This One Summer' (created with Mariko Tamaki) and more; Calvin interviews Stephen Graham Jones at NYCC 2022 about 'Earthdivers: Kill Columbus'; and at Flamecon 2015, Kate talks to comic creators James Tynion IV of 'Someone is Killing the Children', Owen White of 'Tripping Over You', Sophie Labelle of 'Assigned Male', and Molly Ostertag of 'Strong Female Protagonist' and 'The Owl House'.
A preview og Comics and Graphic Novel Day (May 23) at this week’s U.S. Book Show (May 22-25); the 2023 Eisner award nominations; recap layoffs, and reorganization at IDW Publishing; new Viz and Kodansha apps; creeping AI in manga; and news of a shocking Marvel death.
A flashback interview episode of More To Come, in which Heidi talks with graphic novelist Maia Kobabe at SPX in 2022; Calvin Reid interviews comics creator Thi Bui at MoCCA Fest in 2017; and Kate interviews comics creators Greg Pak, Magdelene Visaggio and Sophie Campbell live at Flame Con in 2016.
In a Stargazing review segment, Meg and Calvin discuss two works of graphic nonfiction: Elizabeth Colomba and Aurelie Levy's 'Queenie: Godmother of Harlem'(ComicArts), a rollicking bio of a legendary 1930s Black lady racketeer, and 'Last On His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century' (Liveright) by Youssef Daoudi and Adrian Matejka, a vivid examination of the historic 1910 title fight between Johnson, the first Black heavyweight champ, and Jim Jefferies, the country's 'white hope'
A ticket giveaway for the first comics and graphic novels day at the US Book Show; a talk about manga sales and popularity with Deb Aoki; Flash trailer break down; the Black Comic Book Festival in Harlem and comics awards news.
An interview with Archie Bongiovanni, a queer cartoonist in Minneapolis, about their first full-length adult graphic novel, 'Mimosa', an ensemble comedy of manners that follows a tight-knit group of queer and trans friends in their 30. Bongiovanni is the creator of 'A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns', the long-running web comic 'Greasebats', and 'History Comics: Stonewall'.
DSTLRY, David Steinberger and Chip Mosher’s much-anticipated publishing/collectibles venture; la growing list of book bans; happily recap MoCCA 2023; the expansion of Abrams ComicArts; revisiting Ike Perlmutter’s departure from Marvel and a tribute to the late groundbreaking trans author Rachel Pollack.
Chris Robinson, comics writer, former Marvel editor, and editor of the 75th anniversary edition of Orrin C. Evans’ ‘All-Negro Comics;’ first published in 1947, it’s the first full comic book created and produced solely by Black Americans. Using crowdfunding, Robinson created a digitally remastered hardcover reprint edition of the historic anthology, with essays on the history of Black comics, Black fandom, and racist barriers to Black artists in comics.
This week the More to Come cohosts wave Goodbye to Marvel’s troublesome chairman Ike Perlmutter and assess a new round of Disney layoffs; DC’s restructuring and the Shazam/Black Adam movie debacle; ReedPop president Lance Fensterman is leaving the company; plus convention news, and MoCCA preview
In a Stargazing review segment, Meg and Calvin discuss ‘Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story’ by Julia Wertz, a bleakly humorous graphic account of struggles with both alcoholism and group therapy; and ‘Esther’s Notebooks’ by French cartoonist Riad Sattouf, a page-turning comics recreation of the colorful schoolyard observations of an irresistibly profane, thoroughly entertaining, nine-year old girl.