Welcome back, welcome back!

This is the second part of the second annual HoliDave Q&A. We are going to answer the remaining ten questions that we got from our readers. BUT FIRST we have two exciting updates that have happened since posting the first part of this segment.

As previously mentioned I wrote a short story in DC’s Supergirl Next Door #1, their 2026 Valentine’s Day anthology, which is on sale January 28th, 2026 and the final order cut-off for the issue is this Monday December 15th, 2025. What I can now share with you is who my story is about and who I did my story with…

It’s a Green Arrow & Black Canary story.

And I am thrilled to share it’s pencilled by a very talented artist named Dylan Dietrich who I will be interviewing here on the Weekly UpDave in January. The story is inked by the legendary Wade Von Grawbadger, colored by the great Ivan Plascencia, and lettered by wonderful Wes Abbott. Take a look at the two colored pages below. Order the book! And then buy it in January! LOVE!

“Dave, is the whole Justice League in this story?”

=)

I had an great time tabling at Emerald City Comic Con this past year. Which makes me thrilled to tell you that I am going to be back at Emerald City Comic Con in 2026 from Thursday March 5th through Sunday March 8th, in Artist Alley. I do not have my table number yet but once I do I will let you know. I hope you come by, bring books for me to sign, and come get new books from me. It’s going to be AWESOME.

Now without further ado…

Let’s dive in to the conclusion of the second annual HoliDave Q&A!

Question: Do you have a favorite format to own comics in? Singles? Trade? Deluxe Edition? Absolute or Gallery?

Answer: The Deluxe Hardcover is the best bang for my buck. Larger format for the pages, it ends to collect twelve or so issues maximum which is just the right amount without being overwhelming, it is readable, you can show it to other people. And they look really nice on a bookshelf. But I also have trades I love, gallery editions I love, single issues, and certainly Absolute Editions. I have many Absolute Editions.

Question: Do you have a favorite X-Men character?

Answer: Guys…you have to be true to your heart…and love who you love.

I could write lovingly about Cyclops, Wolverine, Archangel, or Beast…all of whom I have a deep affection for but…there’s a character I love in the X-Men world who surpasses them all.

I love Emma Frost.

I think the decision to make Emma Frost one of the primary X-Men in the early 2000s starting in New X-Men and making her a bigger presence in Astonishing X-Men onward is one of the best narrative decisions that franchise has made. She is sophisticated, complicated, a total snob, funny, withering, could constantly be ready to turn heel at anytime, and genuinely truly loved Scott Summers more than anyone else has. You read into that sentence what you will, I’m not afraid. She’s a great character to read. I bet she’s a hell of a lot of fun to write. And her presence makes any scene better, you know conflict is never far behind Emma Frost. She is almost like Green Arrow in a way.

…Boy, now I want to write a Green Arrow/Emma Frost crossover where they briefly dated as young rich kids.

Question: Any updates on Creator-Owned Comic Projects in the year ahead?

Answer: On the Blue Tiger Revenge podcast artist Tadd Galusha and I confirmed we are working on a Creator-Owned project that we cannot talk much about yet. What I can say it is that it’s the longest thing I have written in sometime, and it is not a short story.

I have a few Creator-Owned comic pitches that I am trying to find homes for. Two that I have been developing with the amazing Sid Kotian. And there’s another one I developed with a different artist that as of last week seems like it is going to go, so that’s exciting.

Question: Favorite splash pages of all-time?

Answer: I grew up in the wide-screen comic book era of the very late 90’s and 00’s, so I was never at a loss for great splash pages…here’s a few that have always lived rent free in my brain for many years…

Question: Favorite sitcom couple?

Answer: Forever and ever.

Question: Do you have creative aspirations outside of comics?

Answer: I do. I probably should start doing some of them, at the very least for fun, but I feel like I have a little bit of a ways to climb up in my professional comic career before I start doing other creative things on top of that. I want to get really good at one thing, stabilize, and then maybe add something else to the repertoire of things I do.

Question: Is there a popular comic book that you have struggled with as a reader?

Answer: I really wish I liked Conan: The Barbarian. I know I love A LOT of things that are inspired by or clearly owe a great debt to Conan: The Barbarian. And I look at how many amazing creators have worked on that character over the years, I have tried a number of runs, quite a few of them by creators I adore and it has not clicked for me yet. Every few years I try and dive in. This may be the year I get it and I get it more than I have ever gotten anything! I have a cousin who adores Conan, he’s a huge fan. I would love to call him and say I wrote a Conan story, but I have to…get Conan first. And then have the Conan people want me to write Conan once I get Conan.

Question: Do you have any big plans for the Weekly UpDave in 2026?

Answer: I would love to do more interviews with creators. As I mentioned above I am going to be interviewing Dylan Dietrich about the Green Arrow story we are doing together. And then there’s another artist I want to interview about a short story that we are going to have announced soon. So if I get more projects in 2026, I will have more collaborators to talk to.

If the project Tadd Galusha and I are working on comes out next year I would love to figure out some kind of multi-part process, behind-the-scenes, feature to do on it. I think it would be fun, it’s a way for us to add another dimension to the project, and we are going to need to beat the drum on the project a great deal anyway, so we might as well have fun and be innovative in the process.

Interviewing creators about projects I have nothing to do with also might be cool. I enjoyed interviewing Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill about Death to Pachuco.

Beehiiv, the platform the Weekly UpDave is hosted on, has a lot of great features that I owe it to myself to explore more. Maybe those features will lead to…great features? We will see. I am also always open to suggestions, if there is something you would like to see me do on here, email me!

Question: With the WTF Podcast having come to a close this year, do you have any episodes you loved and would recommend to people?

Answer: Dozens. But Danny McBride’s episode where he talks about trying to make it in Hollywood, working at the Crocodile Cafe, and getting into a fight with this terrifying man his ex-girlfriend was involved with is one of the greatest WTF Podcast episodes ever, and just one of the best podcast episodes ever.

Question: Want to try Manifesting a couple things for 2026?

Answer: The things I want most out of 2026 and I am going to try to keep them broad.

-More comic book writing assignments, and LONGER comic book writing assignments.

-Health, stability, and happiness.

-More time spent with friends.

-Let’s meet a famous Boston icon.

-More subscribers to the Weekly UpDave.

And that was the second annual HoliDave Q&A! Thank you everyone who submitted questions and thank you everyone for reading.

We have one more post in 2025 coming your way next week.

Until then?

Stay safe!

—Dave Wielgosz