Retailing | A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order halting the $21.4 million purchase of retail chain Hastings Entertainment by Joel Weinshanker, president and sole shareholder of Wizkids parent National Entertainment Collectibles Association. The order was granted at the request of two Hastings shareholders who sued to stop the sale, insisting the price paid for the retailer is too low; it will remain in effect until a hearing can be held on June 12. Hastings issued a statement Monday pledging to "vigorously dispute these claims." Hastings operates a chain of 149 stores that sells books, comics, video games and more. [Amarillo Globe-News, via ICv2]
Retailing | Amazon may be charging full price for Hachette's graphic novels as part of its continuing contract dispute with the publisher, but Barnes & Noble has leaped into the breach with big discounts and a buy-two-get-one-free promotion on Hachette's Yen Press manga and Little, Brown's Tintin books. [ICv2]
Events | Calvin Reid and Heidi MacDonald give a good overview of the graphic novel scene at Book Expo America, talking to publishers and Diamond Book Distributors' Kuo-Yu Liang, who was impressed by the crowds at Saturday's BookCon, the consumer element of this year's event. [Publishers Weekly]
Creators | Veteran writer and editor Denny O'Neil discusses the origins of the Batman villain Ra's al Ghul. [13th Dimension]
Creators | Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner chat about DC Comics' Harley Quinn series. [Man Cave Daily]
Creators | Dan Abnett talks about his digital-first comic Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse, which ties in with the game of the same name. [Kindle Post]
Creators | In a podcast recorded at Motor City Comic Con, Don Rosa discusses his Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck comics and Gerry Conway reminisces about the old days at Marvel, among other things. [Collected Comics Library]
Creators | Today's local-creator story is about Dennis Ward of Front Royal, Virginia, who has self-published a collection of his Mortimer comic strips through Amazon. One interesting element is that he describes his weekly comic as an online comic strip rather than a webcomic, and the article includes a brief interview with Brendan Burford of King Features Syndicate about breaking into the world of newspaper comics. [The Northern Virginia Daily]
Manga | Viz Manga has licensed the series Trinity Blood for digital release. It's the third former Tokyopop series the publisher has picked up in recent weeks; Viz is also publishing Chibi Vampire and D.N. Angel in digital-only format. [Anime News Network]
Digital comics | Jen Krueger discusses why she prefers reading her comics digitally on the iPad as opposed to in print. [ComicMix]
Awards | The Cartoonists Rights Network is now accepting nominations for its Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award. [The Daily Cartoonist]
Retailing | A combination comic shop and craft beer store is in the works for Decatur, Georgia. Although My Parents' Basement won't open for another few months, owner Tim Ensor is keeping busy with pop-up shops, as well as a yard sale this weekend that will feature comics by the pound. [Decaturish]