Milestones: In this week's "Permanent Damage," Steven Grant marks the passing of Julius Schwartz, the ending of Cerebus, and the return of word balloons to comics covers:

"It's usually argued there's something inherently unsophisticated about word balloons on covers, which is what Micah finally succeeded in pushing through. That's sort of true. There was a time when word balloons appeared frequently on covers, and often injudiciously. A lot of badly written cover balloons led to a general perception that there was something dull and unsophisticated – juvenile – about comics that used them. As with most things, it's not the technique itself that's automatically good or bad, but the way it's used."