Retailing | When the customers of Cape & Cowl Comics in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, heard the store was falling on tough times, they organized a "cash mob" to rescue it: They gathered in a nearby park and walked together to the store, where they each spent at least $10. "We created a lot of ruckus along the way," said Jennifer Welcher, one of the organizers. "The whole idea was to draw some attention to the place, and make a lot of noise on the way up." Beyond selling comics, Cape & Cowl has promoted local crafts and created a safe space for LGBTQ youth, and it's a popular community spot, but like many comic shops, it saw a dip in sales in the last two months. Owner Jay Roy says he was concerned he would have to close up in March, but the cash mob, which spent more than $5,000, brought in enough to get him through the winter. [Truro Daily News]



Best of the year | Jamie Coville has compiled a Best of the best-of-the-year list, going through 94 best-of lists and ranking graphic novels by how often they appeared on. For those interested in more meta-analysis, he includes the spreadsheet he worked from. Spoilers: The most popular book was Kate Beaton's Step Aside, Pops!, and the publisher with the most ranked books was Image Comics. [Jamie Coville]

Creators | Steve Hockensmith talks about The Wrong Wrights, the first of a series of graphic novels he's co-authoring for the Smithsonian; this one focuses on the Air and Space Museum and puts the spotlight on the Wright Brothers' sister, Katherine, who was one of their biggest supporters. [Smithsonian]

Creators | Greg Cravens draws the syndicated comic The Buckets and his own webcomic Hubris, and because he's also a busy commercial artist, his artwork is all over Memphis, in the form of everything from logos to murals. [Memphis Flyer]



Creators | Hayley Nitz may be only 16, but the Olathe, Kansas, teenager is already working on her first graphic novel, Chasing Hitler, a story about two servicemen who are sent to confirm Hitler's death — only to discover he's still alive. Her uncle, writer Jai Nitz, helped her to assemble a team of artists for the book, and she has launched a Kickstarter to pay for its production. [KSHB]

Comics | Walter Yakaboski, whose copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 is expected to sell for up to $400,000 later this week, talks about the steps he went through to get the comic to auction, including having the comics grading company CGC give it a "light restoration" and grade it, then send it to Heritage Auctions in an armored vehicle. Yakaboski bought the comic for $1,200 in 1980. He recently lost his job as a baker at Waldbaum's supermarket, so the money will come in handy; he hopes to use it to keep his family's farm in the family. [Riverhead News-Review]

Digital comics | Pencil United is a new digital comics service that plans to offer digital-native comics that will exploit the possibilities of reading on a screen rather than a page; it will launch an iPad app soon, and plans to buy five UNICEF pencils for every story purchased. [Down the Tubes]

Retailing | Kim Janssen profiles the Chicago zine and alt-comic store Quimby's, which survives in the rapidly gentrifying Wicker Park because of one key fact: The owner bought the building. [Chicago Tribune]