September Roundup

NEWS

September brings spring to Australia, with wildflowers blooming, warming weather, and Oz Comic-Con on the calendar. It’s also a month of big questions for Australian comics, as a new industry report argues the sector is culturally thriving but needs stronger government support, coordination, and policy investment to keep growing.

Elsewhere, HarperCollins launched Kazé, a new manga imprint bringing Japanese, Korean, and Chinese comics to English-language readers, while the Diamond bankruptcy saga continues as Sparkle Pop challenges the settlement. On a brighter note, Raina Telgemeier and Gale Galligan are teaming up for the first time on Baby-Sitters on Board, marking the franchise’s 40th anniversary.

In manga news, Weekly Shōnen Jump’s print circulation fell below one million as readers increasingly shift to digital platforms. And for anyone looking ahead, Book Riot rounds up 2026’s most notable and anticipated graphic novels, while School Library Journal recommends 12 new manga spanning cute animals, school drama, fantasy, and action.

The Comics Journal

• A manga industry scandal exposed editors rehiring convicted offenders under pseudonyms, highlighting how digital platforms reshape editorial authority, accountability, and trust.
• The article argues Vertigo’s revival lacks the original imprint’s creative vision, cultural influence, and editorial identity despite strong talent
• Tribute to Steven Brower, celebrating his influential career as designer, historian, author, educator, and champion of comics culture
• Usually comics become movies, but Minnesota Opera is adapting The Many Deaths of Laila Starr into a unique operatic experience

Publishers Weekly

• The American Manga Awards celebrated manga’s legacy and future, honoring creators, publishers, translators, and industry achievements.
• HarperCollins launched Kazé, a new manga imprint publishing Japanese, Korean, and Chinese comics for English-language readers.
• Alex Ross’s Marvel Dimensions revisits classic Marvel origins, challenging modern reinterpretations while experimenting with new storytelling formats.
• Graphic biographies use comics’ unique storytelling tools to explore legendary creators’ lives, influences, challenges, and lasting cultural impact.
• After three years of decline, manga sales jumped 40% in 2025–2026, but with figures still below pandemic peaks, publishers remain unsure if the rebound will last.

The Comics Beat

• Sparkle Pop challenges the Diamond bankruptcy settlement, prolonging disputes over consignment inventory, fees, warehouse access, and ownership.
• Frederick Noland’s Major Taylor celebrates pioneering cyclist Marshall Taylor, highlighting his achievements, perseverance, and overcoming racial barriers.
• Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing becomes a graphic novel, adapting the bestselling dragon-rider fantasy with art by Anabel Rossi.
• Amazon MGM Studios, Ed Brubaker, and producers deny harassment allegations, seeking dismissal of a lawsuit tied to the upcoming Criminal series.

Other

• The article argues Australian comics are thriving culturally, but need stronger government support, coordination, and policy investment to grow.
• Weekly Shōnen Jump print circulation fell below one million as manga readers increasingly shifted to digital platforms and e-comics.
• Billy Bat, The Summer Hikaru Died, and other titles won major honors at the third American Manga Awards.
• Marvel’s Midnight Universe reimagines Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and X-Men through horror, body transformation, mystery, and darker storytelling.
• Webtoons are mobile-friendly digital comics that originated in Korea, featuring vertical scrolling stories across many genres and platforms.
• Raina Telgemeier and Gale Galligan team up for the first time on Baby-Sitters on Board, a graphic novel marking the franchise’s 40th anniversary,
• Dark Horse launches a new line of travel-sized compact editions starting May 2027, beginning with The Witcher, Black Hammer, Cyberpunk 2077, and Canto.
• 2026 Next Manga Award winners have been announced, with Someone Hertz taking first place in the comics category.  
• Medical illness can be daunting and dry, but graphic novels are turning illness into image. Helping make sense of diagnosis, care, and the body’s harder truths.
• Scholastic Graphix will reimagine five classic Osamu Tezuka manga series, bringing beloved stories to a new generation of readers.
• A major shake-up in digital comics: Kakao Entertainment is closing Tapas, retreating from direct North American operations to focus on content and licensing.

REVIEWS

• The Cutting Garden is praised for its beautiful artwork, poetic storytelling, and haunting atmosphere, creating a deeply emotional experience.
• Robin Ha’s comic cookbook transforms instant noodles into creative, accessible recipes while mixing food history, culture, and storytelling.
• Front Lines chronicles Susan Simensky Bietila’s lifelong activism, highlighting art, community organizing, social justice, and collective resistance.
• Jean Pleyers’ The Children of Light blends cosmic science fiction, political conflict, and spirituality through striking, imaginative artwork.

INTERVIEWS

• Marcelo D’Salete discusses Tiodora’s Letters, exploring slavery, Black resistance, historical research, and Brazil’s past through comics
• Steve Skroce’s Tales of Wonder celebrates comics fandom through friendship, reconciliation, satire, superheroes, conventions, and creator culture.
• Hometown, Shaun Tan’s first new book in four years, follows an alien-hybrid girl who rejects a human visitor’s claim that she belongs in his world instead of her own.
• Warren Bernard discusses decades of comics collecting, preservation, rare ephemera, museum loans, and building Library of Congress archives.

COLLECTIONS

• Book Riot’s collection highlights the most notable and anticipated graphic novels and comics released throughout 2026.
• School Library Journal recommends 12 new manga featuring cute animals, school drama, fantasy adventures, cultural themes, and action.

MEDIA

• Erica D’Urso on co-creating Inferno Girl Red, tokusatsu influences, and her path through Xena, Captain Marvel, and Immortal Legend Batman.
• Nonplayer earned Nate Simpson an Eisner and three film options after issue one in 2011 — but its painstaking art has kept a third issue elusive for years.
• A documentary traces Naoki Urasawa’s path from aspiring artist to master of Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto, and Billy Bat, unpacking how that mastery was built.
• Retailer Shannon Live discusses Bat City Comic Professionals’ indie focus and product mix, managing burnout, new reader trends, DC’s success, and the direct market’s overall health.
• Writer Olivia Dufault discusses her path into comics, the theater-to-comics overlap, and her new book Prima Apparata with Rebekah Isaacs, from its origins to its ballet elements.
• Valiant’s history follows two cycles. The90s breakout success ending in a corporate buyout, then a successful 2012 relaunch. Its future is still uncertain.
  

NEW RELEASES

Junior

• Crescent Moon Marching (Volume 1) by Hamachi Yamada (9781761817298) [Scholastic]
• Earth to Chris Cleevy by Christof Bogacs, Hannah Krieger, Sammy Savos (Harper Alley) [9780063086135] [Australian creator]
• Journey to the West: The Beginning by Cheng’en Wu, CharA, Jim Zub, Julien Choy (Manga Classics) [9781947808331]
• Kirby Manga Mania, Vol. 9 by Hirokazu Hikawa (VIZ Media) [9781974765898]
• Kodi: A Place to Call Home by Jared Cullum (Top Shelf) [9781603095952]
• Magic Tree House: Sunset of the Sabertooth The Graphic Novel by Mary Pope Osborne (Penguin) [9780241712160]
• Meet the Invisibles From Gravity and Gas to Bacteria and Bugs by: Mike Barfield, Jess Bradley (Michael O’Mara Books) [9781837250707]
• Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars Battle Tales by Various Creators (Hardie Grants Children’s Publishing) [9781761218408]

YA

• And Then There Were None, Vol. 1 by Agatha Christie, Aya Nikaido (VIZ Media) (9781974769391)
• Comet Club by Yi Yang (Takumigrpahics) [9798875002564]
• Hometown by Shaun Tan (Levine Querido) [9781646146987] [Australian creator]
• Phantom Busters, Vol. 4 by Neoshoco [VIZ Media] (9781974765805)
• The Long-Lived King: An Original The Owl House Graphic Novel by by: Dana Terrace, Daun Han (Random House) [9781368104548]
• Lord of Mysteries, Vol. 4 The Faceless by amixy, webnovel, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving (Yen Press) [9798855414295]
• Queens of the Crypt Vol 1 by Dom&Ink (Hotkey) [9781471421891]
• Shiba Inu Rooms, Vol. 1 by Esu Omori ( VIZ Media) [9781974766819]
• Tiger Girls by Felicia Low-Jimenez, Claire Low (Maverick) [9781545835951]
• Witch Hat Atelier Grimoire Edition 2 by Kamome Shirahama (Kodansha) [9798888777800]
• Yuletide: Curse of the Winter Witch by George Northy, Rachele Aragno (Oni Press) [9798894883205]

Adult

• The Amazing Digital Circus, Vol. 1 by Glitch Productions, Gooseworx, Sakura (VIZ Media) [9781974716937]
• Badducks Vol 1 by Toryumon Takeda (Alien Books) [9781962201629]
• Batman Under the Red Hood: DC Compact Comics Edition by James Starlin, Judd Winick (DC Comics) [9781799508212]
• Books, Iced Coffee & a Side of Dragons by Amanda Lovelace, Raquel Trave (9798881600860) [Andrews McMeel Publishing]
• Call Me by Your Name: The Graphic Novel by André Aciman, Sarah Maxwell-McNicol (Faber) [9780571386130]
• Cocoon by Machiko Kyo (VIZ Media) [9781974716845]
• The Cutting Garden by Darcy Van Poelgeest, Erin Connally (Image Comics) [9781534330801]
• DC/Marvel: The Cosmic Kiss Caper & Other Stories by Various authors (DC Comics) [9781799513544]
• Delusion Vol 1 by Hongjacga (Inklore) [9798217092925]
• The Dissidents: Autocrats! Vigilantes! Communists! … And Cartoonists! by Derf Backderf (Abrams Comic Arts) [9781419772559]
• Hotel and Farm by Ben Katchor (Pantheon) [9780307906915]
• Marvel/DC: The Dead Of Knight & Other Stories by Various authors (Marvel Comics) [9781302970239]
• Murder Podcast Volume 1 by Jeremy Haun, Mike Tisserand (Random House) [9781968063054]
• Sound of a Blink, Vol. 1 by Shuzo Oshimi (VIZ Media) [9781974766031]
• W0RLDTR33 Deluxe Hardcover Volume 1 by James Tynion IV, Fernando Blanco, Jordie Bellaire (Image Comics) [9781534333307]
• You Must Take Part in Revolution by Melissa Chan, Badiucao (9781761827891) [Affirm Press]