Books, Blogs, and Brain Clouds

No. 45 (June/July 2026)
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Contents:

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-My Latest Projects

-Hopefuls Spotlight

-Reader's Corner

-A Brain Cloud

My Latest Projects

1) Check out this excellently thorough review of my Mark Gruenwald biography in The Comics Journal. I never dreamed I'd see my work discussed in the longest-lasting and most respected comics publication in existence.

2) In late July, I stopped in for a very brief visit to the Kerlan Collection to do some research on Alice Low. I'm working on an essay about her and her two most famous books, The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches and the Beginner Book Summer.

3) Speaking of Beginner Books, we have yet another new one, Dinosaur Day by Edward Miller. I wrote about it for my ongoing Beginner Books Encyclopedia.

3) My comic strip, Zuzu the Groundhog, is up to 10 chapters now. My goal is to finish 14 chapters in 2026, and 14 more in 2027. Check it out here: https://sites.google.com/view/comics-by-paul/zuzu-the-groundhog​

Hopefuls Spotlight

We're feasting well in Hopefuls-land this summer! In addition to Spymob's excellent new album, Another Night, we have a reissue and a new record from two Hopefuls principals. Up until now, Kid Dakota's 2005 album The West is the Future was the only album without a vinyl release, but thankfully Graveface Records has remedied that! Meanwhile on Instagram, Vicious Vicious are teasing a new album - You and I Belong - for a fall release.

Reader's Corner

After spending most of the summer slogging through Peter Straub's Ghost Story, I am doing the literary equivalent of double-parking. I'm alternating between Bob Newhart's memoir I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This and Casey Cep's Furious Hours, which concerns Harper Lee's failed effort to create a follow-up to To Kill a Mockingbird.

Comics-wise, I've devoted the summer to catching up on DC Comics' Absolute line of books. Absolute Batman has been the headline-maker, but Absolute Wonder Woman is my favorite so far. It feels like a true reimagining of the character, and the art is gorgeous.

And Finally, a Brain Cloud