Nancy Powell

Animation legend Willie Ito was prepared to retire after a 50-year career as a pioneering animator at Disney, Warner Brothers, and Hanna Barbera in 1999. However, retirement would have to wait when his childhood friend and collaborator, Shigeru ‘Shig’ Yabu, approached him with an irresistible personal request. “Shig says, ‘I wrote a story, and I thought you might be the one to illustrate it,’” recalls Ito.

The American constitutional right to free speech is entering a fraught new era. The latest battlefield isn’t in a courtroom or in a legislative chamber—it’s at the local comic shop and the school library. At WonderCon, legal experts and advocacy leaders warned of a rising tide of “harmful to minor” statutes designed to bypass longstanding First Amendment protections.

Winter and early spring 2026 are stacked with manga that will thrill, chill, and delight readers of all ages. Wah Kee’s My Soul Mate spins a semi-autobiographical tale of two artists connecting across life and death, while Step on a LEGO and S.arang’s Revenge of the Baskerville Bloodhound delivers a darkly satisfying story of vengeance and survival.