Blood of the Virgin by Sammy Harkham review – to live and cry in LA
The cartoonist’s singular book, 14 years in the making, imbues the tale of a harried 1970s B-movie editor with panoramic scope
The Faber/Observer/Comica graphic short story prize 2023 – enter now!
The annual award for aspiring cartoonists offers the chance to be published in the Observer and win £1,000, with past winners going on to land film deals
On my radar: Ari Aster’s cultural highlights
The Hereditary and Midsommar film-maker on the genius of Daniel Clowes’s Eightball, a haunting Iranian drama and the revelatory writing of Édouard Levé
Work-Life Balance by Aisha Franz review – richly comic takedown of the wellness industry
This well-aimed tale of a self-obsessed therapist and her angsty clients nails the neuroticism of the digital age and its snake-oil remedies
Al Jaffee, legendary Mad magazine cartoonist, dies aged 102
The artist behind the magazine’s famous “fold-in” drawing, Jaffee was Mad’s longest-tenured contributor and only retired when he was 99
Rachel Pollack, trans activist and comic book writer, dies aged 77
Pollack, who created the first mainstream transgender superhero, Kate Godwin, had been fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Superman review – Christopher Reeve’s superhero origin movie still looks swell
Richard Donner’s 1978 event movie brought Hollywood grandeur, a great John Williams score and a gentlemanly hero quite unlike any other
Alice Oseman reveals plans for sixth volume of Heartstopper graphic novels
Forthcoming fifth volume of the hit series was planned to be the last but writer says a sixth book will give characters ‘their final moment to shine’
Manga-nifique! How France became obsessed with Japanese anime
In the 1970s, giant robot cartoons sparked a love affair with French fans (including Emmanuel Macron) – now the country is the world’s largest manga importer, and home to a new Murakami film
Spa by Erik Svetoft review – how the other half dies
An oozing discharge in the corridors of a five-star hotel symbolises the corruption of the rich in the Swedish artist’s mordant gothic debut
We’re All Just Fine by Ana Penyas review – home truths in a tyrant’s reign
Rich in detail, this award-winning debut explores the evolution of Spanish womanhood through drudgery, dictatorship and liberation
‘He created something magical’: Calvin and Hobbes fans rejoice as creator plans first work in decades
Bill Watterson to publish a sombre ‘fable for grown-ups’ after disappearing from public eye in 1995
Maus Now: Selected Writing, edited by Hillary Chute review – the Maus that made history
While Philip Pullman and Adam Gopnik illuminate Art Spiegelman’s towering graphic novel, few others in this collection succeed in capturing its spark and sophistication
Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night review – dungeon-crawler drama
The latest outing from the multimedia franchise finds its heroes still trapped inside an RPG, where they learn lessons about cooperation
Why Don’t You Love Me? by Paul B Rainey – a marriage made in hell veers into the unknown
In this clever and savage tale about a horribly miserable couple, redemption comes with a sci-fi twist