Comics | The Lussier family of Barrhaven, Ontario, will be offering more than 25,000 comics for sale June 7 in their garage to benefit the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. The Lussiers not only collect comics, they use them as part of their homeschooling curriculum, and when a comics shop in New Hampshire closed last year, they bought 20,000 comics from the owner; they also buy comics online. “We use comic books to really teach kids about life, and about finances and about debt,” said father Rob Lussier. Their collection includes The Incredible Hulk #271, which has appreciated quite a bit in value because it contains the first an early appearance by Rocket Raccoon, who's featured in Marvel's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Still, 12-year-old Alexandre is philosophical: “If the movie is good, [the value] will go up, but if it’s really bad, it might just plummet.” [Metro]



Awards | Nicole J. Georges' Calling Dr. Laura: A Graphic Memoir has won the 26th annual Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Graphic Novel, presented Tuesday in New York City. (The other nominees in the category were: Artifice, by Alex Woolfson and Winona Nelson; Duck! Second Chances, by Tana Ford; and The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story, by Vivek J. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson, Kyle Baker and Steve Dutro.) Alison Bechdel was also honored with the Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Literature for her body of work. [Lambda Literary Awards]

Political cartoons | South Africa's Eyewitness News has removed a political cartoon from its site and the cartoonists have posted an apology after several political parties protested and called it racist. The cartoon depicted both newly appointed government officials and the voters who put them into office as clowns; the voters were labeled as "we the poephols," using an Afrikaans term for "idiots." The African National Congress, which was targeted in the cartoon, led a march on the Johannesburg offices of Primedia, the owner of EWN; ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said the cartoon was "racist, an insult to voters, and showed disrespect to the public office." [News24]

Digital comics | In the wake of the Graphicly shutdown, Rob Salkowitz looks at risks and rewards for creators, readers and entrepreneurs in the digital comics space, and gives a concise history of the industry in the past five years. [ICv2]



Creators | Writer Jeff Lemire discussing resurrecting the Longbow Hunters in DC Comics' Green Arrow. [USA Today]

Creators | Bill Oterson, creator of the comic strip Mister Stupid, which ran in a Tallahassee, Florida, newspaper, doesn't do much cartooning any more, but it's interesting to read the local paper's account of how he became a cartoonist and balanced it with his other livelihood, carpentry. He still gets occasional requests to design T-shirts, but, he says, “I’m sure by the end I’m making five dollars an hour. It’s for love and not for money.” [Tallahassee Democrat]

Comics | The South Australia courts have created a comic book celebrating 20 years of "restorative justice," a strategy that brings juvenile offenders together with their victims to discuss their crimes and make amends. The comic follows the story of a group of teens who steal a car and go joyriding and go through the alternative to juvenile court. [news.com.au]



Conventions | Gail Simone, Lora Innes and Mick Foley were among the guests over the weekend at the TriCon comics convention in Huntington, West Virginia. Reporter Jack Suntrup hit the exhibition floor and talked to a number of exhibitors and attendees, including a 14-year-old girl who cosplayed as Loki who told him, “I can relate to Loki because he’s misunderstood and kind of an outcast.” [The Charleston Gazette]

Retailing | Aaron Haaland, owner of the Winter Park, Florida, store A Comic Shop, has taken to IndieGoGo to fund the expansion of Geek Easy, the "bar and geek destination" that's part of his store. [Orlando Business Journal]

Retailing | Tony Stevens explains what's so great about the Hamilton, New Zealand, comics shop Mark One, which just celebrated 25 years in the business. [Pikitia Press]

Retailing | The Gates, New York, comic shop 1st Print Comics has commissioned a special run of 1,000 copies of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #34 with a variant cover by local artist Salvador Otero. [Rochester Democrat and Chronicle]