Conventions | HeroesCon, which begins Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina, will double in size this year, with the exhibit area increasing from 100,000 to 200,000 square feet. "There's a whole lot more of everything," says founder Shelton Drum. Including people? Last year's convention drew in 17,000 attendees, and Drum thinks this year's event will attract more newcomers curious about the source material of their favorite movies. [Winston-Salem Journal]
Creators | Peter Bebergal talks with Alan Moore about Jerusalem, magic, comics, and the tendency to conflate gods with superheroes: "It is contrived, because they’re not at all the same. Superheroes are the copyrighted property of big corporations. They are purely commercial entities; they are purely about making a buck. That’s not to say that there haven’t been some wonderful creations in the course of the history of the superhero comic, but to compare them with gods is fairly pointless. Yes, you can make obvious comparisons by saying the golden-age Flash looks a bit like Hermes, as he’s got wings on his helmet, or the golden-age Hawkman looks a bit like Horus because he’s got a hawk head. But this is just to say that comics creators through the decades have taken their inspiration where they can find it. Before I was interested in magic as a viable way of life, I was certainly aware of the occult, and wouldn’t be above taking names or concepts or ideas from the occult." [The Believer]
Creators | Geoff Johns looks back on his nearly decade-long run writing Green Lantern and forward to his new projects. [Comic Riffs]
Creators | In a video interview shot at Long Beach Comic Expo, Brian Buccellato talks about writing the New 52 version of The Flash. [Forbidden Planet]
Creators | Matt Miner talks about his new comic Liberator, published by Black Mask (of Occupy Comics fame): "The concept of the book is a gritty, underground, animal liberation, adventure/vengeance story, with two young antiheroes who take direct action in defense of animals. So, instead of fighting intergalactic war, or taking out supervillains in tights, they're more grounded in reality, and based on real people who actually do this kind of thing in real life." [punknews.org]
Publishing | Jim Salicrup, dubbed the "Kick Ass Jew of the Month," discusses his long career as an editor, starting at Marvel when he was 15 and now as the co-founder of Papercutz. [Jews Kick Ass]
Conventions | A cosplayer and a collector explain why they enjoyed last weekend's Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con. [Delaware County News Network]
Conventions | Marietta, Georgia, got its first comic con this year, and organizer Mario Russo explained why small can sometimes be beautiful: “This is kid-friendly — there’s comics kids can read, they can dress up in costumes and just be with their families.” And at $5 per ticket, as opposed to DragonCon's $130, it's wallet-friendly as well. [The Marietta Daily Journal]
Retailing | The New York Post's newest blog polls retailers about which comics sell surprisingly well in their stores. [Parallel Worlds]
Retailing | Retailer Chris Bullard is offering a free comic to every student who brings their report card to his store, Game Master's Emporium, in Chatham, Ontario. “The whole point is that you prove that you've stayed in school for a year,” said Bullard, who believes comics can help students learn to read, and he hopes to expand his Comics for Grades event next year. [Chatham Daily News]