Paul Cornell's Friday Newsletter

L.A. Strong is Out Now!

I have a strip, with art from the great Dennis Calero, in L.A. Strong, a charity comics anthology in support of the victims of the L.A. fires, which is now out from Mad Cave. The line up of comicker talent is extraordinary, as you can see below. You can order a copy, and read all about it, here and you can see an exclusive preview, including many finished pages, at The Beat, here.

And if you’re in the UK, you can order a copy from Forbidden Planet mail order here. 

There will be a launch event for the book, from 7pm tomorrow, March 22nd, at the Revenge Of Comics and Pinball store in Los Angeles. You can find all the details here.

Of Intrigue and Espionage

I have a story in this just-announced forthcoming volume from Stars and Sabers publishing, which is due out in October 2026. I’m in good company, as you can see from the full announcement here.

Ace Jacket

I’ve contributed a short story to this anthology in aid of autism charities, edited by Sophie Aldred and Shawn J. Levy. It’s out on June 17th. You can read all about it and pre-order a copy here.

‘The Longest War’

That’s the title of the issue of Commando I’ve written, which is tentatively due to be released in August. The artist is the great Steve Yeowell, and it’s amazing work. I’m delighted to have contributed to this very exacting classic format. More news nearer the time!

The Mighty Avengers Vs. the 1970s (now with publishing interview!)

I’ve got a book coming out from Bloomsbury that’s part of a new range of popular studies of Marvel Comics! The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s is fully illustrated with panels from the comics, and is my journey through how Marvel’s main super team navigated that difficult decade. (Release date, etc., TBA.) You can read the announcement here at AP News. This is very much a labour of love for me, a book I’ve wanted to find a way to write for the longest time.

And now The Beat have done an interview with Bloomsbury Academic’s Director of Publishing, Haaris Naqvi, about the whole project. You can read this fascinating insight here.

Gnomes of Lychford and The Lychford Collection

On 9th September, Tor.com Publishing is releasing the sixth book in my Lychford series of rural fantasy novellas, Gnomes of Lychford. It’s a re-editing of the serial I ran on this newsletter, and I’ve taken the opportunity to sort out a couple of little plot problems. I think it’s my best Lychford book, and, weirdly, it’s a great jumping-on point, because everything about the series is explained at the start. You can read all about it here.

“An unlikely group of supernatural creatures terrorizes the sleepy village of Lychford. Okay, they're gnomes. That's not a spoiler: you worked it out it from the title. When an ancient prophecy clashes with an unfortunate modern design aesthetic, the people of Lychford must band together to put out fires (both literal and metaphorical) to save their town before the king of the Gnomes (King Greg, and it's dangerous to laugh at a gnome) calls in the terms of an old promise. Trouble is: no one knows what the promise is, nor how to fulfil it. It's going to be a long night.”

And out on the same day is The Lychford Collection, which contains my first three Lychford novellas. (Cover design for both by FORT.)

Telefantasy Time Jump

The new podcast from me and Lizbeth Myles covers the history of SFF on TV, from 1953 onward, with our regular episodes (on the 14th of every month) covering a show released that year in the UK, and the Patron Bonus episodes (on the 28th) covering a show from the rest of the world. The shows for March (covering 1955) will be Quatermass 2 and Science Fiction Theatre. The main episode is available free wherever you get your podcasts. To get the bonus episode, you need to follow us on Patreon at £3/$3 or above. (And you get access to seven years of Hammer House of Podcast bonus episodes!) You can find all the info here.

My Ko-fi and eBay Stores

Here’s my Ko-fi store, where you can buy my books and comics, signed and personalised, for shipping worldwide. And here’s my ebay store, full of Bronze Age Marvel comics at bargain prices.

My Linktree

You can now find all my social media links, my website/blog and links to where you can buy my books, in one place here, thanks to Linktree!

The Work of Friends

My friend Cavan Scott has written his third episode of Young Jedi Adventures, ‘Yoda Rescue’, which can be found on Disney Plus right now!

And my friend Riley Silverman, geek comedian and newly-minted Doctor Who audio writer, writes for a regular podcast, Troubled Waters, in which two teams of comedians compete against each other in order to settle their meaningless debates once and for all. Winner takes home the right to be right. It’s ‘get the annual support together’ time at her podcast network, Maximum Fun, so if you fancy checking out a whole range of fun audio and hopefully supporting her show, take a look at the levels here.

My Week

I really enjoyed the mass comicker signing in Bristol on Sunday afternoon. The new incarnation of the Excelsior shop is really excellent, with comics and games stores on the bottom floor and a gaming area and first-class coffee bar up top. That was where they held the signing. (Is the South West becoming the Portland of UK comics?)

It was lovely to catch up with Cav Scott, Simon Furman, Kieron Gillen, etc., and I had a dive into the back issue bins afterwards, but what really stood out for me that day was this: a Bernice Summerfield fanzine created and given to me by the amazing Ella Staddon. It’s a love letter to the work of Jac Rayner, Lisa Bowerman, David Warner and, err, me! And now I have the only copy! It’s moments like that that make one’s whole career worthwhile.

Despite a tough mental health day on Monday (I hadn’t had a moment to stop moving over the weekend), I’ve been pushing hard on the fantasy novel this week, hitting 80k words and, today, should finish off the third act of four. All sorts of enormous stuff continues to brew in the background. I dropped the ball on one important thing, recovered it, was starkly reminded what a big game I’m in with one of the things that hasn’t been announced yet. I had one project turned down and one accepted. One treats these imposters just the same, as the poem puts it, hence my even keel at such events as the signing… until a one-off fanzine about one’s work turns up.

Thomas, meanwhile, is being encouraged to converse more, through Lego sessions at school. (He brightens up when I mention them.) He’s so keen on his routine at home that any unusual interaction past a few sentences will result in him protesting and getting anxious/annoyed. That’s a difficult place to be in when one desperately wants to just talk to one’s child about everyday stuff. I’m told by people who don’t see him often, however, that his speech is enormously improved. It’s hard to see the incremental changes day to day. I asked him not to tickle me while we were waiting for his drumming lesson on Monday (when I was very down and kept flinching away), and he went into a non-tickling sulk, but, thank goodness, this primal means of communication between us was back the day after.

Tickling and recognition, that’s all I need!

To Be Continued

Next week I’ll be doing something new in terms of professional work (with a partner!), but it’ll be a while before you hear about it.

I hope to see you all next Friday!