Everything’s Broken, From Immigration to Tariffs, but the Comics Are Still Good— The Comic Bookmarks April 6th, 2025

This is unfair to those of us Larry Hama turned into lefty anarchists.

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— Jason (@jason1749.bsky.social) April 4, 2025 at 6:55 PM

I think/hope that Jason speaks for a lot of us right now.

Previously on FC2C

Headlines

The deportation paper Becky signed bans her from the US for the next 10 years. Paul tells me they are going to try to appeal it, but Becky says America isn’t the country she thought it was. Her advice to anyone planning to travel to the US is simply not to go. “First, because of the danger of what could happen to you. And, secondly, do you really want to give your money to this country right now?”

Becky Burke’s story is just one of many that are going on right now. It’s horrific to think of what people are going through because of mistakes. And we’ve got a government right now that continually demonstrates that it just doesn’t care.

I usually hate variant covers but I may need to check out these Phineas and Ferb ones.

It’s weird that after being enthralled by American comics for so long and knowing the in-and-outs of the publishers that the structure and organization of Viz remains a bit of a mystery to me. So this change up for Viz seems interesting, getting a new CEO who seems to be more from the entertainment world than the manga world.

Mike Barr wrote a lot of great comics in the 1980s. I’m glad that it looks like this GoFundMe is well funded but it’s another thing wrong with this country that we need to crowd source our medical care.

Comic Sites on Comic Sites

Last week, I linked to the Prana interview with Heidi MacDonald so this week, Rob Salkowitz offers up his own thoughts that were spurred by that interview.

And Salkowitz has an interesting answer to the question posed in the headline.

And again, I honestly don’t like the idea that the problem is with the readers and the idea of ad blockers killing the monetization of sites, which both the interview and this piece ultimately advocate for. That makes it sound like the problem is with the consumer and not with the business of journalism.

I really like this answer to the question of what critical faculties does Babb look for?

I think what I’m always looking for in a writer is someone who can draw our attention to something and justify our time with that topic. That seems really simplistic, but it’s hard to capture someone’s attention in our online age. Being able to come up with an article pitch that gets someone to go “Oh, I’ve got to read this,” is a challenge. Then, putting together a piece that makes it worth it for the reader, that’s the tough follow through.

Business

The story of the week is tariffs.

First few minutes features Jacob from @fantomcomics.bsky.social in Washington DC talking about tariffs and their impact on comic book stores: youtu.be/E0Jl7WWyxfk?...

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— Comic Book Couples Counseling (@cbccpodcast.bsky.social) April 5, 2025 at 6:52 AM

Andrew Chen, co-founder of one of my favorite denim brands, 3sixteen, breaks down how the tariffs affect his company IG 3sixteen

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— derek guy (@dieworkwear.bsky.social) April 5, 2025 at 6:46 AM

Steve Jackson Games posted this to their blog and the post is getting so many hits their site is effectively crashed but the point is worth repeating

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— Christopher Bird (@mightygodking.com) April 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM

These last couple aren’t comics but does talk about how a small business (at least relatively small) have to rethink nearly everything to deal with these tariffs.

I think I only ever bought anything from TFAW once or twice, probably during some damaged good sale.

And for some good business news…

17 years ago today, on a cold, gray, wet Monday, March 31st morning, Challengers Comics + Conversation opened for business! Thank you to anyone who has been a part of these 17 years. Let’s keep it going, shall we? KEEP READING COMICS!!! ChallengersComics.com

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— Challengers Comics (@challengers.bsky.social) March 31, 2025 at 2:50 AM

The Funny Pages

SOLD!!! You're in the trolley problem! @alexkrokus.bsky.social

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— Athenaeum Comic Art (@athenaeumcomicart.bsky.social) April 5, 2025 at 8:03 AM

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— Haus of Decline (@hausofdecline.bsky.social) April 1, 2025 at 11:07 AM

Interviews

With the publication of PulpHope2, TCJ has an interview with Paul Pope talking about the design and evolution of this new book.

And about halfway in this interview is the news (at least news to me) that we’ll finally be getting THB released again. And new Battling Boy, which I wasn’t all that excited about the first time around.

I don’t see too many interviews with Naoki Urasawa so this one on a French manga site caught my eye, as did that great poster. It’s short and not really too informative but it’s worth it just to look at Urasawa artwork.

I’ll admit that sometimes I forget just how savvy Todd McFarlane is.

Reviews & Features

I need to get more familiar with the growing Swedish alternative scene.

I didn’t touch upon this in my review of the book but the last pages of this comic are something that really only works in the physical format because it makes you work for it a bit as well. There’s a different kind of payoff in this comic that requires you to actively participate in the act of reading.

This pair of The Beat’s weekly DC and Marvel review columns caught my eye because of the focus in both of them on the art. Both reviews place their focus first and foremost on the work of the artists and on how that drives the storytelling.

We always need more western-themed comics but one thing this piece highlights is just how many of them there have been over the past 10 or so years. And how many of them have come from Image.

Always glad to see Katherine Darcey out there with her reviews.