Banned Books Week | National Public Radio's Lynn Neary covers Banned Books Week, with interviews with frequently banned creators Jeff Smith (Bone) and Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants). Although Smith acknowledges he was initially shocked to see his acclaimed fantasy adventure among the 10 most challenged books of 2013, he soon came to terms with the distinction. "I mean my heroes are on this list," he says. "People like Mark Twain and Steinbeck and Melville and Vonnegut, so part of me also kind of says, 'OK, fine I can be on this list.'" [NPR]

Banned Books Week | Michael Dooley runs a brief excerpt from Fun Home, and Keith Knight does a show-and-tell of his comics that were too controversial for some newspapers. [Print Magazine]

Banned Books Week | Eva Volin and I look at Fredric Wertham's anti-comics crusade and the long road back, including the rise of underground comics and Marvel and DC's breaks with the Comics Code Authority. We also have the real story on the urban legend about librarians painting diapers on the naked kid in Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen. [School Library Journal]

Publishing | Timothy Inklebarger profiles the small publisher Silver Phoenix Comics, which releases one-shot comics about zombies, roller derby and local history, among other subjects. Owner Charles Moisant is the creator of many titles, although it sounds like others are involved as well; he funds some of the comics via Kickstarter, distributes them via Diamond, and also sells them at conventions. [OakPark.com]

Creators | A kindergarten class interviews Jim Zubkavich about Figment, the comic he writes based on Disney's purple dragon. [Zub Tales]

Creators | Illustrator Cece Bell discusses her first graphic novel El Deafo, a memoir about growing up as a deaf child in a hearing school in the 1970s. [Comic Riffs]

Creators | Drew Friedman talks about his new book of portraits of comics creators, Heroes of the Comics. [NJ.com]

Creators | Emily Steinberg, who teaches painting and comics-making at Penn State Abington, discusses her graphic novel, Broken Eggs, about her struggle with infertility. [Penn State News]

Conventions | There was no local comic con in Chico, California, so comics artist Shane Will started his own, Chico-Con. Guests include artists Ramon Villalobos and Robert Love; proceeds from the show (admission is $3) will go to the local veterans' post, which donated the venue. [ChicoER]