Retailing | What do creators really think of comic shops? Dan Jurgens, Mike Mayhew, Greg Pak and Jimmy Palmiotti weigh in on what they feel retailers do right — and wrong. Spoiler: They prefer stores where the staff actively engages their customers rather than putting down books they don't like. Palmiotti's local store, Emerald City Comics in Clearwater, Florida, definitely has his number: "Emerald City will email about things that are in my interest range. They’ll say, ‘Hey, we know you’re into Frazetta, and here’s this book that’s available. Do you want us to order one for you?’ They get to know their customers, and honestly, they turn me on to stuff I would have otherwise missed." [ICv2]
Creators | John Martz draws a comics tribute to his hero, "Cul de Sac" creator Richard Thompson, who died this week. [Slate]
Creators | Born in Romania, raised in Sudan, and now living in Qatar, political cartoonist Khalid Albaih (who is of Sudanese descent) says "If you were to ask me where I’m from, I would say I’m from Internet." [The Huffington Post]
Publishing | Abrams has made a deal to publish the collected editions of the SpongeBob Squarepants comics. [ICv2]
Manga | Deb Aoki rounds up all the manga news from Comic-Con International in San Diego, including the latest on the "Attack on Titan" anthology, Vertical's new edition of Tsutomu Nihei's "Blame," and Viz Media's announcement of some new "RWBY" books. [Publishers Weekly]
Manga | Yen Press announced two new licenses this week: "Spirits & Cat Ears" by Miyuki Nakayama and "A Kiss and White Lily for Her" by Canno. [Anime News Network]
Fans | Evil Genius Mum describes her first Women's Comic Book Club meeting. [Geek Dad]
Conventions | Manga and anime fans at the Otaku Festival in Havana, Cuba, agree that it's not easy to be an otaku in Cuba, where internet access is still restricted and cosplay accessories are not readily available. But they are a dedicated lot: Fans get anime as part of a media package available on USB drives, and they make their own costumes—sometimes for nonexistent characters. [Star2.com]
Conventions | Zach Selwyn took his son to Comic-Con to get an autograph from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and what looked like it could be a disaster was saved by a kindly staffer. [Nerdist]