Creators | Kuroko's Basketball creator Tadatoshi Fujimaki remained silent over the past year while hundreds of threatening letters were sent out to retail stores that sold the manga and anime, venues that hosted doujinshi (fan comics) events connected with it, and even his alma mater, but now that police have arrested a suspect in the case, he has made an official statement. Fujimaki expressed relief that the suspect had been caught, thanked the police who were involved in the investigation, and promised that more chapters of Kuroko's Basketball are on the way. [Anime News Network]
Conventions | Salt Lake Comic Con producer Dan Farr is voicing his support for the construction of a "mega hotel" near the Salt Palace convention center. The Utah state Legislature ended its legislative session without passing a $100 million bill to fund such a hotel, but backers hope to see it revived in the next session. Ticket sales for the 2013 convention topped 50,000, and Farr told the local news station, "A convention center hotel would be a big help for us." [Fox News 13]
Passings | Jerry Fine, who introduced his childhood friend Joe Shuster to his cousin Jerry Siegel, passed away Sunday in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. He was 97. [The Plain Dealer]
Creators | Tom Spurgeon interviews Colleen Doran, creator of A Distant Soil. [The Comics Reporter]
Creators | Spurgeon also talks to Jeff Lemire, who just wound up his Vertigo series Sweet Tooth and is now working on the sci-fi story Trillium. [The Comics Reporter]
Creators | Brian Heater interviews comics writer, editor and colorist Marie Javins in the latest Recommended If You Like podcast. [BoingBoing]
Movies | Leo Sun lists three forgotten characters who should get their own movies. [The Motley Fool]
Best of the year | Dinosaur Comics creator and Adventure Time writer Ryan North presents an eclectic list of his six favorite comics of the past year. [Paste Magazine]
Graphic novels | Dan Brown looks back at the London graphic novel scene in 2013. [lfp]
Comics | Joe Sergi looks back at Will Elder's version of "The Night Before Christmas," published in EC's own Mad knockoff Panic, which was banned in Boston and led to two arrests. [CBLDF]
Retailing | The Tulsa, Oklahoma, comics shop Starbase 21 is going out of business after a 29-year run; the article cites "an aging owner and declining sales" as factors but never gets more specific than that. [KJRH News]
Retailing | Ace Comics of Colchester, England, offered kids a visit with the Star Wars characters instead of Santa this year. [Essex County Standard]