Political cartoons | Joyce Brabner, the widow of Harvey Pekar and a comics creator in her own right, is raising funds to bring a group of cartoonists to Cleveland to do a live feed of comics and videos about the Republican National Convention "by people who detest everything Donald Trump stands for." Tim Fielder, Ted Rall, Tony Puryear, Vishavjit Singh and Seth Tobacman are on board already, with other names to be announced. Brabner works with Gerta Oparaku, a Muslim artist who lives in Albania, and she is particularly interested in bringing more women and Muslim cartoonists into the mix. She will be providing housing, food, and escorts when needed; the GoFundMe is intended to pay travel expenses for artists who would not otherwise be able to participate. [GoFundMe]
Creators | As Rep. John Lewis led a sit-in this week in the House of Representatives, Nate Powell, the artist for the congressman's graphic memoir "March," talked about watching the man he has studied so closely make history once more. [Comic Riffs]
Creators | Ryan North answers readers' questions about "Romeo and Juliet," Squirrel Girl and other random topics. [io9]
Creators | Georgia Ball, who watched "Strawberry Shortcake" cartoons as a child and even had a Strawberry Shortcake-themed bedroom, talks about writing the modern iteration of the comic for IDW Publishing. [FreakSugar]
Creators | Sean Williams, writer of "Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja" and "Artful Daggers" and co-founder of the publishing company Comicker LLC, talks about the biz in a radio interview. [SDPB]
Characters | Sarah Kuhn writes about her changing feelings toward the character Jubilee, as an Asian-American, and her own anxiety after she wrote a novel starring two Asian-American women: "Instead of worrying that the entertainment I consumed elevated bad representation, I worried that the entertainment I created did the same. Or that people longing for mirror characters would feel let down by my Asian Girls Doing Stuff the way I had with Jubilee – because while I never thought she was a stereotype, she still wasn’t everything I wanted." [The Toast]
Manga | I talked with translator Zack Davisson about yokai, the Japanese spirits who found new life in the manga of Shigeru Mizuki. [Barnes & Noble Sci Fi/Fantasy Blog]
Digital Comics | Will Nevin does a quick compare-and-contrast of the three Neflix-style digital comics services: Marvel Unlimited, ComiXology Unlimited, and ComicBlitz. [AL.com]
Conventions | Creo Noveno files a con report on the third Queer Comics Expo in San Francisco. [KQED]
Retailing | Zach Doria's mother told him he should open a comic shop, so he did; the 24-year-old is now the owner of House of Heroes in Naples, Florida. His store is open late (till 11 p.m. most nights) because, he says, "Nerds are nocturnal." [Naples Daily News]