Paul Cornell's *Sunday* Newsletter

For 13th July. My SDCC panels! Commando release date! Something big on Tuesday!

Author

Paul Cornell
July 13, 2025

My San Diego Comic Con Panels

I am doing a lot of panels at San Diego Comic Con this year. Here they all are.

Thursday, 24th July:

Comics creators Tula Lotay (Groupies, Barnstormers, Somna), Paul Cornell (Doctor Who, Saucer Country), Kim-Joy (Turtle Bread), Curt Pires (Stillman, Simulation Theory, Wyrd), Michael Conrad (The 99 Legs, Neptune, Doom Patrol), and Becky Cloonan (Wonder Woman, Somna, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys) test their knowledge against each other in a fun-filled game show in the categories of literature, movies, TV, music, comics, food, and drink. You may get asked a question, too! Bring your game face. Moderated by David Hyde (Superfan Promotions).

Friday, 25th July:

The old creative model advised creators to put all their energies into one specific "brand," but today, many comics writers also work in other mediums: novels, screenplays, children’s programming, radio dramas, etc. Melissa F. Olson (Archaic), Rachel Pinnelas (Creepshow), Mark Russell (The Flintstones), Paul Cornell (The Might Avengers vs. the 1970s), and Meghan Fitzmartin (All-Star Superman audiobook) have a candid discussion of why some writers move across different mediums and the various challenges, benefits, and drawbacks to bouncing back and forth.

Each year the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers presents the Scribe Awards to celebrate outstanding works tied to popular licenses, such as novelizations of movies and TV shows, as well as numerous original works set in the worlds of Star Wars, the MCU, the DCU, video games, popular TV shows, and much more. The awards event at SDCC includes a lively panel discussion with current nominees and past winners. Hosted by New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry, president of the IAMTW.

Award-winning writer Scott Snyder (By a Thread, Batman), acclaimed writer Paul Cornell (Doctor Who), celebrated writer Taki Soma (Alienated, Sleeping While Standing), acclaimed writer Curt Pires (Stillman, Simulation Theory, Wyrd), and rising star Omar Morales (Major Thomás, LA Strong) give a soul-baring, behind-the-scenes look at how to write comics. Moderated by award-winning TV and comic book writer Marc Bernardin.

Saturday, 26th July:

Go behind the scenes with Legendary Comics, the publishing arm of the studio that brought you A Minecraft Movie, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Dune parts 1 and 2, and hear the latest about their comics, graphic novels, art books, and other tie-in publishing across all of the company's franchises. Panelists include Brian Buccellato (Justice League v Godzilla v Kong 2), Rosie Knight (Monsterverse Declassified), Paul Cornell (Monarch: The Lost Adventures), Drew Zucker (Canto, Monsterverse Declassified/Monarch), and David M. Booher (Monsterverse Declassified, Canto). Be sure to brush up on your Monsterverse and Dune lore for a special giveaway!

Hugo award–nominated sci-fi writer of TV, comics, and prose Paul Cornell (Doctor Who), Hugo Award–nominated artist/colorist/writer Taki Soma (Alienated), Eisner Award–winning artist Michael Avon Oeming (Alienated, Galaxy of Madness), acclaimed writer Curt Pires (Stillman, Simulation Theory, Wyrd), and rising star Omar Morales (Major Thomás, LA Strong) discuss the best in science fiction and their newest comics featuring highly imaginative concepts, including advanced technology, space travel, dystopian societies, and extraterrestrial life and why these concepts are so fun to play with in comics and beyond. Moderated by journalist Ernie Estrella.

Sunday, 27th July:

Bloomsbury Presents: Introducing Marvel Age of Comics—The first authors to contribute to Bloomsbury Academic’s new collaboration with Marvel will dig into the specifics of how each approached their subject with moderator Barbra Dillon (co-founder and editor-in-chief of Fanbase Press). Chris Ryall will preview his examination of the Daredevil: Born Again books and how they forever changed the ways super heroes and their secret identities have functioned; Paul Cornell will focus on The Mighty Avengers as icons of the 1970s; Ytasha L. Womack explores the hugely successful reimagining of one of the most popular super hero characters as Afrofuturist and Latinx in her upcoming Spider-Man: Miles Morales; and Stuart Moore tells the story of Doctor Strange, one of Marvel’s most bizarre, otherworldly heroes, discussed against the turbulent backdrop of the 1960s.

I'll also be doing some signings, which won't get announced until Tuesday, because...

There’s a Special Newsletter on Tuesday with a Big Surprise!

Because this Tuesday, 15th July, I have a major announcement to make! (It’s not Doctor Who.) This is one of the two big announcements I’ve been mentioning for some time.

Commando Release Date and Cover

'The Longest War', by myself and the great artist Steve Yeowell, will be Commando #5881, out on 16th August. It'll be in many UK newsagents and superstores, I'll have copies at Thought Bubble, and nearer the time you'll be able to order it by post here at Mags Direct.

I’m a Guest at Caption!

On the afternoon of Sunday, August 17th, I’m going to be a guest at the Caption Small Press and Comics Festival in Botley, Oxford. I’m on the Networking in Comics panel. Do come along if you can!

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.

And you can now pre-order!

“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 also up for pre-order, and out on the same day is The Lychford Collection, which contains my first three Lychford novellas. (Cover design for both by FORT.)

Who Killed Nessie?

On 18th September, Avery Hill will be releasing a bookstore edition of Who Killed Nessie?, the graphic novel by myself and the great Rachael Smith.

And you can pre-order it here.

You can also pre-order it from Amazon UK and Amazon US. And from all good bookstores and comic shops.

The reviews are already coming in, including this lovely one from Monkeys Fighting Robots.

On Saturday, 20th September, from 1pm-2pm, Rachael and I will be signing the book (copies of which will be on sale) at Waterstones London-Piccadilly!

Those of you who backed the graphic novel on Zoop, don’t worry, you’ll be getting a unique edition with a different cover. (And you’ll be getting it first.)

“A cosy comedy murder mystery… with a monstrous twist! Lyndsay Grockle has just started her new job at an isolated hotel. She’s trying to get over heartbreak. She’s amazed to be left in sole charge just before a big convention. When the terrifying guests start to arrive, she realises why: this is a gathering of the fantastic beasts of myth and legend! The attendees ask her to stay in her room and let them be. But when the Loch Ness Monster is found dead, there’s nobody else they trust to solve the murder. She may not entirely believe in them… but they believe in her! Lyndsay is going to have to dig deep into her own fears and vulnerabilities to discover… WHO KILLED NESSIE?”

The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s

On November 13th, 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. 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 you can now pre-order it from the publisher (and from all good booksellers)!

Thought Bubble

Our application has been accepted, so I’m pleased to say that Lizbeth Myles and I will once more be tabling at the wonderful Thought Bubble comic convention in Harrogate on November 15th and 16th. (You can find the full list of exhibitors 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.

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 July (covering 1959) are Noggin the Nog and The Twilight Zone. 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.

Logo by Lizbeth Myles

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

The novelist and comic writer Adam Christopher has a new three-part audio novella in the World of Warcraft universe. “Embark on a legendary narrative journey with "The Doom of K’aresh," written by Adam Christopher and illustrated by Cynthia Sheppard. Join Ray Porter, the voice of Locus-Walker, for a reading of the thrilling and tragic tale behind the fall of K’aresh, shattered home world of the brokers and the ethereals, and setting for the second major patch of World of Warcraft: The War Within.”

Multimedia writer David Quantick (Veep, Harry Hill) has a book launch, on Thursday, 7th August at 6pm, for his wonderful short story collection And Other Stories at the Printed Matter Bookshop in Hastings.

And comics and audio writer Meghan Fitzmartin has had her forthcoming creator-owned title from Boom, Mary Sue, announced. The artist is the acclaimed Lisa Sterle. (You can order it from your local comic shop now.) “Despite what her mom thinks, Cassie has lots of friends—they just all happen to be online, where she can talk to them about her beloved favorite show, Riverview, and get their feedback on her fan fic WIP, starring Jessica, her very own hot Vampire OC. But her fic writing persona is revealed to the entire school when her former best friend finds it and can’t resist reading some of it out loud to their classmates. Cassie thinks things can’t get any more humiliating, until her very own Mary Sue pops right out of her fan fic to save the day—or make it much, much worse…”

My Week (and a bit!)

It’s so hot! It’s actually now a bit scarily hot, in that Britain these days isn’t used to such sustained heatwaves and it speaks worryingly of climate change. Thus, I’ve been staying inside in daytime, and often falling asleep in the mid-afternoon. The sunshine, and me keeping up with my exercises, has, mind you, kept me in a pretty great mood. I’ve been counting my blessings. I’m surrounded by love, I get to make my art, I’m helping to bring up a great kid. I’ve kept up with my word count on the unnanounced official sequel novel, and left it at that for a pretty easy work load in the heat. On Friday I popped down the Railway Inn and then hung out at the Cricket Club in the cooler evening. Take a step back and it’s actually pretty idyllic.

As I mention above, on Tuesday, in advance of SDCC, I’ve got a major announcement to make, one that I think a lot of you will find a bit surprising. It’s something I’ve been working on for literally years. I’m incredibly psyched to finally bring it to you. I’d really love it if you could get onboard and help spread the word. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

As always, I’m enormously looking forward to San Diego. I’ve given myself a much looser schedule this time around. Liz Myles and I are planning on trying an offsite attraction! (Hopefully without too much queueing.) I’m taking important meetings only, and not so many long shots. I seem to get more into this show every year. This time around I’ve gone so far as to print out the floor plan and mark it out so I’ll be able to quickly locate the booths I want to visit. And, through sheer happenstance and the call of new projects, as you’ve seen above, I’m doing so many panels!

Caroline and I went to see Superman, in the cool of an air-conditioned theatre, and it was exactly what I needed. No spoilers, but, floods of tears. So enormously apt and relatable. It breaks all the rules of the super hero movie and is the perfect super hero movie. It made me very proud to have written this (wide) panel for Action Comics.

Art by Axel Giménez and Ronan Cliquet.

I still can’t bring myself to look forward to autumn. I love the British summer and basically want to live there. But… maybe it’s outstaying it’s welcome a little? But there’s still the Proms! And I haven’t even had any Pimms yet! And of course, there’ll be all the joy of San Diego!

To Be Continued

Hey. I’ll see you on Tuesday, right? For the big announcement?

And I hope to see all of you again next Friday too!