Corrections, contracts and something else presumably beginning with C in the most recent instalment of The Sunday Pages! Plus some links to some of our non-Comics Daily work at Den of Geek – a feature about death in comic books and an interview with Dave Gibbons!

First of all, a correction from one of last week’s reviews – I stated in reviewing Hellblazer #244 that I believed it to be the end of Andy Diggle’s run, as I’d seen that another writer was coming on board next month. I’ve since been informed by Alex Sarll, though, that that’s not true – the upcoming story is merely a fill-in, and Diggle will indeed be back to finish his run afterwards. So, yay. (SP)

It’s unlikely you’ve not seen something about this over the last week, but just in case, here’s Bryan O’Malley’s evisceration of Tokyopop’s “Manga Pilot” program, as well as a rebuttal he later posted. The storm’s mostly over now, and Tokyopop evidently aren’t too worried, but it’s a debate worth reading for any aspiring creator, if only so when the time comes you know what sort of contractual elements to be wary of. (JH)

This week’s Alternate Cover column at Den of Geek is “5 Comic Book deaths that’ll stick” though, as Seb pointed out, even as we speak one of them is being threatened with reversal… (JH)

…and quite aside from what’s being teased in Batman at the moment (and I firmly believe it is just that – a tease), and from the imminent return of Barry Allen, another comics resurrection has taken place recently. Stephanie Brown, aka Spoiler, aka the fourth Robin (for a brief stint), made her return in the latest issue of Robin – and it’s a rare example of a complete and total retcon (short version : her death was faked) that actually makes a whole heap of sense. I’d believe that it was planned all along, except it blatantly wasn’t – when Steph was killed off, DC didn’t care about her in the slightest, and I’d wager that the main reason she’s back now is thanks to the return of her original creator Chuck Dixon to the book. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that certain remarks he’s made in the past have made me slightly hesitant to praise him too much on a personal level, I applaud Dixon for making reference to an issue that was the reason for the creation of this website (a site that has since grown out of those origins into an excellent port of call for female-related issues in comics) – even if the suggestion that Batman knew all along (and that was always the reason for the lack of a memorial) feels like something of a pretence. After all, you can explain away the lack of a memorial, but can you explain her barely being mentioned since? Nevertheless, it’s good to be able to draw a line under the distasteful circumstances of her demise, and get on with enjoying the return of a character that (unlike a number of people) I always rather liked. Tim’s life was always that bit more interesting with her around, and Robin might just be finding its way back on to my pull list. (SP)

Oh yeah, there’s this Dave Gibbons Interview as well. It wasn’t conducted by Seb or I, though we are credited because we gave them some of the questions to use. He talks about the Watchmen Movie, his involvement with the Bristol expo and more! Well worth a read. (JH)