Comics | Tammy Oler considers the roles of Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel within a growing movement to make superhero comics more diverse: "The devoted fans in the Carol Corps and Kamala Korps view themselves as part of a movement for a bigger and more diverse comic book universe, and it seems like publishers might finally be starting to pay attention. Both Ms. Marvel and the rebooted Captain Marvel are part of Marvel NOW!, an effort by the publisher to attract new readers by providing a lot of accessible places for new readers to jump on board with ongoing series. (DC Comics has done something similar with its New 52 initiative.) Marvel and DC have also taken some steps to address their lack of superhero diversity, in part by launching some new female solo titles, including Black Widow, She-Hulk, and Elektra. Of course, there’s a whole world of mainstream and indie publishers beyond Marvel and DC, but the big two still matter the most because they create the pantheon of superheroes that make it into movie theatres and onto the racks of Halloween costumes at Target." [Slate.com]
Comics sales | ICv2 dissects March comics numbers a bit more with an analysis of sales in the direct market where, the website notes, for the third month in a row only one comic sold more than100,000 copies. There's also the top 300 comics and graphic novels for March. [ICv2]
Graphic novels | Paige Crutcher rounds up reactions from South Carolina booksellers to the state House's vote to cut funding to the University of South Carolina Upstate and the College of Charleston by the amount they spent on reading programs that featured gay-themed books, including Alison Bechdel's Fun Home. [Publishers Weekly]
Manga | We reported Monday that the initial Japanese print run for the 13th volume of Attack on Titan was 2.75 million; putting that in perspective, ANN translates a list of the top print runs from the top three publishers in Japan. [Anime News Network]
Legal | Rob Salkowitz looks at the question of creators' rights and some past and present moves to get them both cash and credit. [ICv2]
Creators | Artist Ramon Villalobos talks about his latest comic, What If? Age of Ultron 2: Iron Man, one of a series written by Joe Keatinge and illustrated by different artists. [Stockton Record]
Creators | Catwoman writer Ann Nocenti, who will be a guest this weekend at Asbury Park Comic Con, talks about her time at Marvel, her stint as an editor at High Times, and her first comic. [13th Dimension]
Creators | Danica Novgorodoff discusses her new graphic novel The Undertaking of Lily Chen, about the Chinese tradition of ghost brides, which leads a man and a woman who on a tangled quest. [Hero Complex]
Graphic novels | Sohaib Awan, founder of Jabal Entertainment and creator of Jinnrise, talks about the new young-adult graphic novel his company launched at the Middle East Film and Comic Con, Blades of Hope, which features a strong female protagonist. [The National]
Comics | The Harvard Business School's publisher has started turning some business case studies into graphic novels; it insists the manga-style case studies are as rigorous as the prose-only ones, just more visual, and students find them more appealing. Memo to The Wall Street Journal: It's good journalism to include the actual name of the artist involved in a project like this, not just his or her nationality. [The Wall Street Journal]
Conventions | Eric Henrickson looks at the lineup of conventions coming to Michigan this year, including three new ones, and he talks to organizers about how it's going. [The Detroit News]
Conventions | Time has a short video report on the Middle East Film and Comic Con in Dubai. [Time]