Chris Riddell: ‘Maurice Sendak taught us playfulness could be profound’

The author-illustrator on being read Tolkien at school, the perfect picture book and struggling to crack The Da Vinci Code

On my radar: Paula Hawkins’s cultural highlights

The author of The Girl on the Train on discovering Alison Bechdel, identifying with Physical, and her favourite new crime novel

The Delicacy by James Albon review – razor-sharp restaurant world parable

Two ambitious brothers are driven to despair by the pressures of the kitchen in a vivid, shrewdly observed satire of fine dining

Batman’s sidekick, Robin, comes out as LGBTQ+ in new comic

DC’s latest issue of Batman: Urban Legends shows the superhero’s companion accepting a date invitation from another male character

Marvel and DC face backlash over pay: ‘They sent a thank you note and $5,000 – the movie made $1bn’

As the comics giants make billions from their storylines and characters, writers and artists are speaking out about their struggles for fair payment

Wake review: a must-read graphic history of women-led slave revolts

Rebecca Hall and illustrator Hugo Martínez uncover hidden stories, vital truths and deep, unhealed, intergenerational pain

Forget AC-12, meet DS-5: Jed Mercurio on his new graphic novel Sleeper

Fresh from the record-breaking Line of Duty, Mercurio has created a conspiracy thriller set in the 24th-century, with co-writer Prasanna Puwanarajah and illustrator Coke Navarro

How we made Viz: ‘We printed 150 copies for £42.52’

‘There were complaints that The Fat Slags stereotyped women as sex objects – but they were using their sexuality to get what they wanted, so it was quite the opposite’

The Witches of the Orient review – very strange but true sports history

Julien Faraut’s documentary recounts how a Japanese women’s volleyball team recruited from factory workers became national heroes in the 60s

From the archive: a century’s worth of comics remembered, 1974

Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat, Christmas puddings like cannon balls… Yikes! By Chris Hall

In. by Will McPhail review – only connect

The cartoonist’s debut graphic novel is a fresh and moving account of a withdrawn young man waking up to the world

Lupin III: The First review – spectacular return for the legendary gentleman thief

Takashi Yamazaki’s version of the classic tale is visually arresting and boasts a cheeky, charming hero in a family-friendly CG animation

‘Who are we performing for?’: Will McPhail on the strange art of small talk

The New Yorker cartoonist’s debut graphic novel In follows an aimless artist who struggles to connect with others. He talks about his own experiences, and his love for drawing ‘characterful’ pigeons

Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train review – an anime fever dream

Good, bad and powerful spells collide in this impressively animated romp that inspires touching reflections on life suspended

Stone Fruit by Lee Lai review – breaking up is hard to do

Lai’s debut graphic novel is a downbeat but moving exploration of the aftermath of a relationship