Hello 2026

And Cave People

Dear gentle reader,

Happy New Year. I hope 2026 is off to a good start for you and yours.

I know 2025 was a gauntlet for many and for many reasons. I get it. I lived it too. But here’s the thing about comic book creators, we don’t quit, right?

So, out with the old, in with the relentless pursuit of stories that make a difference. Because that’s what 2026 is about, same as every year before it: Wash, rinse, repeat, have a lot of persistence, and/or the stubborn, beautiful refusal to stop creating.

Making comics is hard. It is what it is, and theres no way around it. Whether you’re a writer staring down a plot hole at 2 a.m., an artist redrawing that same panel for for the seventh time, an inker finding the soul in the linework, a colorist setting the mood, a letterer making words sing, a designer building a logo from scratch/dressing the book, a publisher navigating the ever-changing landscape, or someone just trying to get books into readers’ hands… It’s fricking hard, man!

But we do it for the passion. For the sheer, ridiculous joy of participating in a craft as old as humanity itself. And yes, I mean that literally.

The first comic creators? Cave people. You heard that right. “About 31,000 years ago, someone stood in the Chauvet cave in southern France and painted a rhinoceros in motion. Not a single frozen image—a sequence. A story told across time. Movement. Narrative. The same instinct that drives every single one of us today.”

Check out the source:
History of comics: from cave drawings to newspaper cartoons

For thirty-one thousand years, humans have been compelled to tell stories through sequential images. You’re part of that lineage. Let that sink in.

Cool panel

Or a full page Splash

And speaking of caves, is it a coincidence that our umbrella company is called Mad Cave Studios? That our four imprints: Mad Cave, Nakama, Maverick, and Papercutz, all live inside a cave? A place where stories have been born since the dawn of humanity? Ha! Something to nibble on.

Now, I can’t say too much yet, but 2026 is shaping up to be something special. Projects are coming that I genuinely cannot wait to share with you. Stories that remind me why I fell in love with this medium in the first place. You’ll see soon enough.

But more importantly, I want you to keep creating. That script youre tinkering with? Finish it. That character design you’ve been sitting on? Develop it. That story you’re afraid might be “too weird” or “too personal”? Hey, that’s probably the one the world needs the most. Celebrate your wins, big or small. I’ve been at this for twelve years now, and that may seem like a lot to some, but it’s not. I keep learning, pushing every single day, and taking an occasional 500mg of Tylenol for a headache here and there. But I’ll take whatever comes my way. I always remember a Colombian proverb: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

Just this morning, I was surprised to read that Heidi MacDonald of The Beat mentioned Mad Cave Studios in an article. It’s an honor, and I’ll take the mentions every day and twice on Sunday. I’m not only proud, but I also know everyone at Mad Cave Studios is grateful.

Check out the article.

The Beat

We’re in this together, believe it or not—this industry, this community, the craft. The struggles ARE real, but so is the magic and the satisfaction of the outcome. Big or small, try to remember that. Here’s to 2026. Here’s to persistence. Here’s to the cave painters in all of us. Stay creative. Stay positive and don't be too hard on yourself. Stay happy or Mad. That’s fine too.

Mark London

CEO & Chief Creative Officer

MAD CAVE STUDIOS