Graphic novels | France 24 examines the Thursday release of Asterix and the Picts -- the first album by new creative team Jean Yves-Ferri and Didier Conrad -- from a political perspective, noting that the story, in which Asterix and Obelix journey from ancient Gaul to Iron Age Scotland, has already become part of the current debate about Scottish independence. [France 24]

Creators | Chinese cartoonist Wang Liming, who spent a night in police custody last week on charges of "suspicion of causing a disturbance," spoke to the press this week. Liming, who has more than 300,000 followers on his microblog account, first ran into trouble two years ago for one of his cartoons, but police told him that China has freedom of speech and he could continue drawing. Nonetheless, another of his cartoons, depicting Winnie the Pooh (a frequent cartoon stand-in for Chinese President Xi Jinping) kicking a football was deleted and suppressed by censors. "For them, drawing leaders in cartoon form is a big taboo," the cartoonist said. "I think the controls on the Internet are too harsh. They have no sense of humor. They can't accept any ridicule." [Reuters]

Digital comics | A tech/business site takes a look at comiXology in sort of a case-history format, looking at what they have done right and how they have helped grow the overall comics market. [CruxialCIO]

Publishing| ICv2 covers the launch of HarperCollins Christian Publishing's new graphic novel imprint Vital Shift, which was announced at New York Comic Con. The books will be released by sister companies Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. [ICv2]

Creators | Andy Kubert talks about his upcoming series Damian: Son of Batman, and how he felt when Damian was killed as a child in the main Batman series: "I knew that Damian was pretty much cannon fodder from the get go. When Grant [Morrison] and I first started working on him, myself in particular, I didn't think the character was going to be around that long since I had heard rumblings that he might get killed off early on. As it turned out, he was a character people loved to hate and I think the characterization that Grant had given him a good balance with the rest of the Batman cast. So he has stuck around. When I saw the page that he had died on, it didn`t bother me at all. He`s not real!" [Kindle Post]

Creators | Pádraig Ó Méalóid presents the first part of a three-part interview with Alan Moore about his history with the character Marvelman/Miracleman. Marvel will begin publishing a new edition of the 1980s run of the comic in January, but Moore, who was one of the writers, is not credited, apparently at his request. Part 2 of Ó Méalóid's interview is scheduled to be posted today. [The Beat]

Creators | David Harper interviews Greg Rucka and Michael Lark about Lazarus. [Multiversity Comics]

Creators | Gene Luen Yang talks about his latest work Boxers & Saints. [NPR]

Creators | New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly talks about using the medium for both journalism and commentary. [The Michigan Daily]

Comics | Zachary Clemente interviews First Second designer Colleen AF Venable, who talks about the nuts and bolts of book design—and about her connect-the-dots tattoo. [Amazing Stories]

Manga | Deb Aoki looks at the manga scene at New York Comic Con, including an appearance by Lone Wolf and Cub creator Kazuo Koike and the announcement of a raft of Attack on Titan spinoffs by Kodansha Comics. [Publishers Weekly]

Creators | Bob Fingerman talks about the return of Minimum Wage. [Bleeding Cool]

Political cartoons | Political cartoonist Christian Adams explains the role of the editor in the creative process for his particular line of work. [The Telegraph]

Manga | Tom Gill writes about some stories by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (The Push Man, A Drifting Life) that have not been published in the United States. [The Hooded Utilitarian]