Joe McCulloch is here as always this Tuesday morning, to guide you through the week's most interesting-sounding new comics releases. He also writes about some of the manga included in the new 25th-anniversary tribute book to Drawn & Quarterly.
Meanwhile, elsewhere:
—News. The young Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani has been sentenced to over 12 years in prison for drawing a cartoon mocking some of her country's politicians over a vote on restricting birth control.
Over the weekend, Matt Bors made an official announcement about changes at The Nib. It is not entirely clear to me what these changes entail, other than a reduced staff, the cancellation of the regular weekly strips, and apparently a larger focus on "the network aspect" of the site. Does that mean more focus on contributions from unpaid volunteers?
—Reviews & Commentary. Alex Witt is not a fan of Ales Kot & Will Tempest's Material #1. Stephen Burt at the New York Times has mixed feelings about Scott McCloud's The Sculptor. The Herald Scotland is really into the 25th anniversary Drawn & Quarterly book.
Paul Berman writes about the protest against the Charlie Hebdo PEN award, and why France's most important anti-racism organization defends Charlie.
One of the PEN protesters, novelist Jennifer Cody Epstein, has since recanted, and written a letter explaining why.
Marc Singer writes about the G. Willow Wilson/Jill Lepore dustup.
—Interviews & Profiles.Alex Deuben talks to Ed Luce.
J. Caleb Mozzocco talks to Jillian Tamaki.
Ilan Stevens talks to Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Oliver Sava talks to Dustin Harbin.
—Misc. Ben Towle explains the Leroy Lettering Set -- which was used to create the lettering in the old EC comics.
Whoa — Aidan Koch did the cover to the new issue of The Paris Review?
