Another week brings another unfortunate set of behind the scenes moves we must discuss, but I’m not about starting with bad news once again. So, instead, let’s talk about a cool comic from a cool creator getting a cool new edition you’re all sure to love.

Do a Powerbomb, Now in Black and White

As a proud owner of Urban Comics’ already black-and-white-afied edition of Daniel Warren Johnson’s exceptional series Do a Powerbomb (albeit in French rather than English, as is always the case with Urban’s releases), I can speak to the fact that this comic about a daughter and father duo entering a multi-national, multi-planetary, somewhat magically powered wrestling tournament in hopes of changing fate might look even better in that form. That’s no slander to Mike Spicer, a king of kings, but there’s something special about seeing DWJ’s art in its purest form.

And now, English language readers are going to get that experience as Do a Powerbomb is getting a Black and White Edition. It’s coming to comic shops starting this July from Image Comics. Instead of a single collection (which I am sure will come eventually), this seven issue series will be reproduced across three new ones. How will that work exactly? Well, the first issue will collect two of the original, the second two more, and and the third will close the whole thing out with a giant-sized edition assembling the final three issues. While there’s a part of me that kind of wishes this just went straight to collection, DWJ and Image know what they’re doing, and I’m sure this will do quite well in this form and will still get a collection at the end. Plus, there’s the added benefit of variant covers, and each issue — as you can see above for the first issue — will have a tremendous vintage Japanese wrestling magazine variant from Johnson and Spicer, amongst others. I love it so, so, so much. It totally rules.

This is a fun thing. Comics need more fun things, so I fully support this release.

Mad Cave, Dialing Back

It’s been an absolutely brutal stretch for people who work at comic publishers, as we’re now onto the third house that has went through very public layoffs in the past month or so. First was BOOM! Studios, then there was Marvel, and now there’s Mad Cave Studios, a publisher that actually let a couple other folks go in 2025 (including its then-VP of Marketing in Allison Pond) before this recent wave hit. This one included senior editors James B. Emmett and Chas! Pangburn as well as senior marketing manager Maya Vee, with The Beat reporting that as many as two more folks may be following them.

What’s the reasoning behind these moves? Well, it’s the typical messaging you get when these things happen, as Mad Cave’s President Mark Irwin spoke to how these changes were “necessary to ensure the long-term health of the company” and how they’ll allow the publisher to continue being “forward-focused, resilient, and able to invest in the areas that will sustain and grow our business.” Whatever the rationale was, it was a bit of a shock to the system of comics to have another layoff so soon after the others, especially with each of these folks being rather well-liked individuals who seemingly did their jobs quite well.

Hopefully that’s it on the layoff front for Mad Cave and beyond, but it’s been a curious moment for direct market publishers as they go through significant turnover during a time that’s widely considered to be a strong one for the space. But as noted previously here on the site, even though it is a potent period for the direct market, that doesn’t mean everyone’s seeing equal results from it.