Publishing | As the movie version of 2 Guns heads toward theaters this weekend, BOOM! Studios CEO Ross Richie talks about his company's "creator share" model and his career in comics publishing, from Malibu Studios to Atomeka to BOOM!, which he co-founded on a suggestion from Keith Giffen, whom he describes as "the Aerosmith of comics": "If Steven Tyler came up to you and said, 'You really ought to produce albums,' you probably would listen." [The New York Times]
Legal | The prosecutor for Singapore's Attorney-General's Chambers has decided not to pursue sedition charges against cartoonist Leslie Chew, who was arrested in April on charges stemming from a cartoon at his Demon-Cratic Singapore Facebook page. Chew still faces charges of contempt of court for "scandalising the Judiciary of the Republic of Singapore." That case will be heard on Aug. 12. [Straits Times]
Publishing | I rounded up the kids' comics news at Comic-Con International, including Viz Media's rebranding of its children's line and Papercutz's announcement of its WWE and Rio graphic novels. [Publishers Weekly]
Creators | Neil Gaiman discusses his return to The Sandman, the controversy DC Comics caused 10 years ago by releasing the collected editions, and his frustrations with digital comics: "There is nothing digitally yet that can compares to the effect of turning a page to a double-page spread." [Underwire]
Publishing | Art Ayris, CEO of the Christian comics publisher Kingstone Media, explains why Christian comics are important: "The fact is comics and graphic novels reach a prized demographic extremely difficult to crack with traditional Christian messages — teenage boys and young men." He's also interestingly up-front about the fact that he's in business to make money. [Fox News]
Legal | Although Marvel and DC Comics share the trademark to the term "superhero," Gerry Giovinco provides plenty of examples of the term in common usage, including porn, which makes this article more entertaining than the usual legal news but also NSFW. This is in the news right now because Marvel and DC are trying to prevent independent publisher Ray Felix from registering his comic A World Without Superheroes, and he is fighting back. [CO2 Comics Blog]
Creators | Tom Spurgeon interviews Charles Forsman, whose The End of the Fucking World (TEOTFW) is due out this month from Fantagraphics. [The Comics Reporter]
Conventions | Nearly 400 people attended the third annual River City Comic Con, held Sunday in Marietta, Ohio. [The Parkersburg News & Sentinel]
Conventions | Meghan McCoy chats up the cosplayers and exhibitors at last weekend's Rob-Con convention in Bristol, Tennessee. [TriCities.com]
Events | More than 30 independent comics creators gathered last weekend at Elite Comics in Overland Park, Kansas, to celebrate "Independents Day." [KSHB]
Retailing | The Filipino comics retail chain Filbar's has reinvented itself under new ownership, with a new flagship store and more changes on the way. [GMA News]