The soft hiatus continues. I have 193 working hours ahead of me for August, and I worked 184 in July (not counting time spent in shock from the big Marvel news). Told you I’d be busy.

Here are some quick recs from our vacation:

Vacation read: It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time: The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote by Bruce Vilanch. I can confirm that the title is fully self-explanatory. Recommended for fans of showbiz gossip, How Did This Get Made?, and anyone still familiar with Paul Lynde.

Vacation soundtrack: And Away… (Unabridged) by Bob Mortimer. It’s the rare audio memoir read by the author that doesn’t sound like the author reading their audio memoir. Bob sounds like Bob. You want Bob to sound like Bob. Highly recommended to practically everyone.

San Diego Comic Con just happened, and as usual, I wasn’t there. Some upcoming projects of mine were announced; Maximum X-Men,^* a Venom relaunch, and The Demon (written and drawn by James Harren)!

^*NOTE: That is Justice on the cover, not Gambit. Don’t let the glowing purple hand and open-dome headpiece fool you. Everyone’s fourth-favorite, open-dome-headpiece-wearing mutant is finally an X-Man!

Sound Effect of the Month:

Community:

• This was too good not to share. Colleen Doran wrote about surviving the financial ups and downs of her career…and adjusting for inflation. An absolutely essential read for my fellow freelancers.

• My Kubert School buddy Emmett Yonemura was on X-Men Horoscopes, and it’s a delight! No, I’m not sharing this because my name gets dropped—I’m sharing because Emmett is a living beam of light, and you all should know about them. Emmett gives me hope! Also, they’ve directed episodes of at least two of your favorite superhero cartoons (X-Men ‘97 and Invincible), so there’s the rest of your incentive.

• Chris Samnee was on Comics For You! and it’s a must-listen episode for anyone interested in comic art. Boy, is he dedicated.

• Some friends and collaborators won awards! Caspar Wijngaard, Belén Ortega, and the Boss (a.k.a. Kelly Sue DeConnick) won Inkpot Awards, and Absolute Batman, Absolute Batman Annual, Jordie Bellaire, Hassan Otsmane-Elahou, and Andrea Shea (for DC Pride 2025) won Eisners! I was especially glad to see David Harper/SKTCHD win the Eisner for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism. SKTCHD and Off Panel are the about-comics media I consume the most, and I was thrilled that David finally got his trophy. Congrats to all!

Stuff with my name in it (August 2026):

8/3:

• X-Men ‘97: Strike Files Infinity #7 (I did a bunch of these last month too)

8/5:

• Batman #12

• Batman by Tom King Omnibus vol. 2 HC

• Gotham City: Year One Deluxe Edition HC

• Queen in Black #2

• Uncanny X-Men #33

8/10:

• X-Men ‘97: Strike Files Infinity #8

8/12:

• Batman by Tom King Book 3 TP

• Batman and Robin: Year One - Dynamic Duos #1

• DIE: Loaded #8

• Showdown #3

• Venom #260

• X-Men #35

8/17:

• X-Men ‘97: Strike Files Infinity #9

8/19:

• Alien: King Killer #5

• King in Black Omnibus HC

• Queen in Black #3

• Star Trek: The Last Starship #10

• Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge - Echoes of the Empire #5

• Uncanny X-Men #34

• Wonder Woman #36

8/24:

• X-Men ‘97: Strike Files Infinity #10

8/26:

• Alien vs. Captain America TP

• Batman: Bad Seeds - Sunset #1

• Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories - Jace #4

• Predator vs. Planet of the Apes #2

• What If…? X-Men #1

• X-Men #36

And finally, the cat photo:

Please continue to have a neat summer!

-Winnie