Conventions | Last week's Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo drew 53,000 attendees, the largest crowd yet for the Chicago-based show, which is in its fourth year. Reed Exhibitions Group Vice President Lance Fensterman talks about the high points of the show and plans for the next couple of years. [ICv2]

Graphic novels | Heidi MacDonald tracks the rise in popularity of graphic novels among librarians, whose support has been integral to the growth of the industry. Her well-researched article includes interviews with public librarians, school librarians, and academic librarians, as well as publishers and others in the field. It's a comprehensive overview of one of the most important, and least reported-on, areas of our world. [Publishers Weekly]

Comics | Alex Hern looks at three comics that have long been out of print but are now back, or possibly on their way back: Flex Mentallo, Marvelman and Zenith. [The New Statesman]



Creators | Writer Prudence Shen and artist Faith Erin Hicks discuss Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, the story of a high school robotics team that comes to the rescue of their school. The story is currently being serialized online and will be published by First Second soon. [Finding Wonderland]

Comics | Professor Carol Tilley, who recently published some groundbreaking research on Fredric Wertham's methodology, has some thoughts about comics that are particularly relevant to librarians, but useful reminders for us all. [Connect the Pop]

Graphic novels | Dalia Hutuqua writes about Budrus, a graphic novel based on the documentary film of the same name, about a Palestinian village's peaceful resistance to an Israeli attempt to run a boundary wall through the center of town. [Al-Monitor]

Comics | Matt Krantz looks at the options for would-be investors who want to put their money into comics — company stock, not the funnybooks themselves. The options are pretty limited: Disney (Marvel) or Time Warner (DC), and comics sales aren't a big part of the bottom line for either company. [USA Today]

Piracy | Viz Media's SuBLime yaoi manga imprint sells comics as downloadable PDFs; when one of their stories showed up on a pirate site, they moved swiftly, demonstrating that the best DRM may be as simple as a watermark and a loyal readership. [Good E-Reader]

Retailing | Claremont, Californias newest comic store, A Shop Called Quest, opened its doors on Free Comic Book Day. [Inland Valley Daily Bulletin]