Creators | Michael Cavna talks to cartoonist Richard Thompson in-depth about his Parkinson's disease, its effect on his cartooning, and the brain surgery he had this year to combat it, and shows the cartoon Thompson drew during the surgery. The story includes an update on how Thompson has been doing since the surgery and interviews with other cartoonists, including a rare comment from Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson, about Thompson's work and his struggle against the illness. [Comic Riffs]

Publishing | The French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, whose offices were firebombed in 2011 after it published cartoons mocking Mohammed, has released a comic-book biography of the Muslim prophet. Editor Stephane Charbonnier, who has lived under police protection since the magazine first published the cartoons, says the biography is a properly researched educational work edited by Muslims: "I don't think higher Muslim minds could find anything inappropriate." [AFP]

Publishing | ICv2 looks back at the top business stories of 2012, including the biggest one of all: Sales in comics shops were up more than 14 percent in 2012 from the year before, while digital sales tripled. [ICv2]

Comics | Creator Rob Liefeld posts the first part of his look back at what the past year has been like for the comics world, or at least his part of it. [Rob Liefeld Creations]

Comics | Tom Spurgeon talks to Jason Grimmer, manager of Librarie Drawn And Quarterly, the bookshop run by publisher Drawn and Quarterly. [The Comics Reporter]

Creators | Caitlin Plovnick interviews Aline Kominsky-Crumb about her own work and the collaborative comic she draws with her husband, Robert Crumb, which has recently been collected as Drawn Together. [No Flying, No Tights]

Creators | Matt Thorn writes about the life and work of Keiji Nakazawa, the creator of Barefoot Gen, who passed away Dec. 19. [The Comics Journal]

Creators | James Kochalka talks about the end of American Elf. [Seven Days]

Graphic novels | James Adams looks at Art Spiegelman's Maus and the way it has changed popular perceptions of graphic novels. [Globe and Mail]

Best of the year | The Onion's A.V. club lists their picks for the best superhero and "mainstream" (eh?) comics of 2012. [The A.V. Club]

Best of the year | I made my own list of the best manga of 2012, from Alice in the Country of Hearts to Sakuran. [MTV Geek]