Folks, it’s the finest of weeks here in Comics Disassembled, as this look at ten things I liked or didn’t like from the week of comics is led by a brand new comic by one of the best creative teams in the business.

Brubaker and Phillips, Home for the Holidays

In news that wouldn’t surprise Off Panel listeners, writer Ed Brubaker revealed this week that he and the Phillipses Sean and Jacob are returning in December for another Criminal story. It’s the Criminal XMas Special, which will be a “novella-length” story about Ricky Lawless featuring extras like a comic about the adventures the team had as the Criminal show came together and a RPG module for Criminal created by Kieron Gillen. Brubaker wrote about it in his most recent newsletter and highlighted a bit of interior art in the process, but if you want some extra information about this project, turn your ears to Off Panel where he talked about how it will be printed on newsprint like Jacob’s previous series The Enfield Gang Massacre amongst other things. That’s pretty cool!

That’s also pretty much it. Brubaker and the Phillipses are doing something cool together, and it’s more Criminal! And soon! Getting two Criminal stories between August and December between The Knives and this is a real treat, and it makes sense as the team ramps up to the release of the TV series on Amazon Prime. You love to see it.

Fantagraphics, Fighting Back

In a delightfully up front move related to something that’s as backhanded as you could possibly ask for, comics publisher Fantagraphics announced a 30% off sale this week, one that even earned a title. That’s pretty atypical, but it isn’t even the unexpected part. That’s what the title actually is. It’s “The ‘We’ve Been Robbed’ Sale,” with the publisher sharing the reason such a sale is necessary and how exactly they’ve been robbed in its announcement.

To ensure I don’t get anything wrong, here are some snippets taken directly from the announcement. “Fantagraphics is fighting JP Morgan Chase Bank and former Direct Market monopoly Diamond Comics Distributors, who are colluding to steal our books and use the resulting profits towards the cost of Diamond’s bankruptcy.” “We are looking at millions of dollars’ worth of books being unfairly seized and liquidated out from under us — books that our authors have sweated blood to create and that we’ve expended no little love to produce.” That’s both known and crazy to see in one write-up, because it underlines just how severe the losses from the biggest publishers are as the current iteration of Diamond does what it can to…well, do exactly what Fantagraphics is talking about. It’s a nightmare scenario, one that was unimaginable back in January when the distributor’s bankruptcy was first announced but all too real now.

I wish Fantagraphics the best of success with this sale. As they note in the write-up, its 50th anniversary arrives in 2026, and it has been a staple of the comic industry for so long that it’s painful to see the harm they and other houses are going through because of Diamond’s nonsense. Also, I just want to say, shouts to them for being as direct as they are. It’s a messed up situation, and sometimes the only way you can stand out is by getting bold with your messaging. This is certainly that.