> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.fromcovertocover.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # This Week in Comics Journalism - January 8, 2022 - URL: https://www.fromcovertocover.com/this-week-in-comics-journalism/ - Published: 2022-01-08T14:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2022-01-08T14:00:00.000Z - Description: Remember when the start of the year was a "slow news week?" Yeah, we don't either. Here's a selection of what we found interesting in the last week. - Author: Mike Baxter - Tags: Comic Bookmarks, Juni Ba, image comics, Joe Ollman, naoki urasawa, Mike Carey, Olivia James It hasn't been the biggest week for writing about comics, but we're always about quality vs. quantity anyway. - [At ComicsXF](https://www.comicsxf.com/2022/01/04/juni-bas-monkey-meat-is-the-first-great-new-comic-of-2022/?ref=fromcovertocover.com), Armaan Babu and Ritesh Babu capture their conversation about Juni Ba's **Monkey Meat #1.** - In awesome news for an industry with a terrible history of exploiting labor, [the employees of Image Comics voted to certify their union - Via io9.](https://gizmodo.com/image-comics-workers-have-officially-certified-their-gr-1848317203?utm%5Fsource=twitter&utm%5Fmedium=SocialMarketing&utm%5Fcampaign=dlvrit&utm%5Fcontent=io9) But in some more distressing news, it sounds like Image co-founder Jim Valentino has removed the names of unionizing members of the staff from the office credits of a recent comic from his Shadowline imprint. > apparently Jim Valentino specifically removed the unionizing members of the Image Comics staff from the Shadowline book [#HELLCOP](https://twitter.com/hashtag/HELLCOP?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=fromcovertocover.com) office credits. It may fully be his right, but I still think it's cruel, and perhaps reveals a little bit of something about old boy culture in comics. > > — Sasha E Head (@sievish) [January 5, 2022](https://twitter.com/sievish/status/1478776007607918593?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=fromcovertocover.com) - [Arizona O'Neill interviews Joe Ollman in comic form for the Montreal Review of Books about his Drawn and Quarterly graphic novel, **Fictional Father**. ](https://mtlreviewofbooks.ca/reviews/joe-ollmann-fictional-father-arizona-oneill/?ref=fromcovertocover.com) - Via Publisher's Weekly, [Jim Milliot details the growth in print publishing in 2021.](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/88225-print-book-sales-rose-8-9-in-2021.html?ref=fromcovertocover.com) Even better, graphic novels grew 103% for **adult** audiences. - Congrats to Brigid Alverson on the new title she has at ICV2. > Starting the new year with a new job title:[https://t.co/bJF52kd60t](https://t.co/bJF52kd60t?ref=fromcovertocover.com) [pic.twitter.com/dm5e1SzZni](https://t.co/dm5e1SzZni?ref=fromcovertocover.com) > > — Brigid Alverson (@BrigidAlverson) [January 5, 2022](https://twitter.com/BrigidAlverson/status/1478878776511631363?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=fromcovertocover.com) Brigid has been a favorite of mine for a long time. If she likes something, I feel the need to check it out. And I don't want to be the guy who says "great, but take a look at her husband's accomplishments" but take a look at her husband's accomplishments: > She recently retired from a job in municipal government and lives north of Boston with her husband, a physicist who was **part of the team that found the Higgs Boson.** A lot of prestige in that household there! - Naoki Urasawa's work is now available digitally... in Japan. Deb Aoki uncovered this right after Christmas. > whut! long-time "my manga shall not be digitally distributed" holdout Naoki Urasawa now has several of his titles available on the Japanese [@BOOK\_WALKER](https://twitter.com/BOOK%5FWALKER?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=fromcovertocover.com) site now? [https://t.co/Co0gU2tnxM](https://t.co/Co0gU2tnxM?ref=fromcovertocover.com) (h/t [@hermanos](https://twitter.com/hermanos?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=fromcovertocover.com)) [pic.twitter.com/bDBovenvUZ](https://t.co/bDBovenvUZ?ref=fromcovertocover.com) > > — Deb Aoki (@debaoki) [December 30, 2021](https://twitter.com/debaoki/status/1476386531904417793?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=fromcovertocover.com) I wonder how long it will be before Viz or Kodansha (remember Billy Bat?) gets to release his work digitally in English. Urasawa has always been anti-digital releases, preferring to be a book and magazine artist up until now. If you check out [the follow-ups to Deb's post](https://twitter.com/debaoki/status/1476388142076731392?ref=fromcovertocover.com), she links to a YouTube video that Urasawa released (don't worry, it's subtitled) to talk about the whys and hows of this change to his publishing strategy. - Shelfdust head bunny, Steve Morris, [dives into The Unwritten #1](https://shelfdust.com/2022/01/05/only-thing-worth-dying-for-the-unwritten-1/?ref=fromcovertocover.com). - Not necessarily news or journalism, but there is an [Ed Brubaker Humble Bundle available now](https://www.humblebundle.com/books/ed-brubaker-image-comics-books?ref=fromcovertocover.com). Also, issue 3 of **What's the Furthest Place from Here** is due out next month, but you can hear the Restorations cover "Radio Free Europe" from the 7 inch deluxe version at [Stereogum](https://www.stereogum.com/2172124/restorations-radio-free-europe-r-e-m-cover/music/?ref=fromcovertocover.com). Finally, Strangers Fanzine and Publishing now has a new web address [www.strangerspublishing.com](https://strangerspublishing.com/?ref=fromcovertocover.com) and it looks state of the freaking art. - To close, here's a great Nancy strip for anyone who got snow this week and had to deal with school closures. > Nancy by Olivia Jaimes for Tue, 04 Jan 2022 [https://t.co/NlSA91WHZA](https://t.co/NlSA91WHZA?ref=fromcovertocover.com) [pic.twitter.com/gJfNiXG23d](https://t.co/gJfNiXG23d?ref=fromcovertocover.com) > > — Nancy (@SluggoIsLit) [January 4, 2022](https://twitter.com/SluggoIsLit/status/1478358669586845696?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=fromcovertocover.com)