Conventions | An advocate for the homeless claims San Diego police are harassing homeless people to keep them away from downtown during Comic-Con International. The mayor and police chief deny the accusation and say officers are simply doing outreach, but at least one homeless man has been given a "stay away" order. Comic-Con begins Wednesday with Preview Night. [ABC 10 News]
Digital comics | Following the news that the comics market was estimated at $850 million in 2013, of which $90 million was digital, George Gene Gustines looks at a couple of different digital models, including Thrillbent's new subscription service and Panel Syndicate, Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin's name-your-own-price approach. [The New York Times]
Comics | Liz Watson compares Marvel and DC Comics in terms of diversity of characters, and finds DC severely wanting: "DC Comics uses a slavish adherence to the status quo to prevent anything socially-progressive from taking place on its pages. Co-Publisher Dan DiDio insisted the Batwoman wedding controversy wasn’t homophobic. The wedding was barred because DC heroes couldn't have 'happy personal lives.' Apparently, audiences will believe a man can fly. They just won't (or can't) believe two women can be happily married!" [The Daily Beast]
Comics | Publisher David Fickling (who discovered Philip Pullman) talks about the all-ages children's comic The Phoenix, which he launched because "The natural right of British children to comics needed to be asserted." The weekly story comic has a strong lineup that wins praise from critics, but it only has a print run of 5,000. (It's also available as an iPad app.) [The Guardian]
Creators | Artist Babs Tarr talks about the newest incarnation of Batgirl, which she will be illustrating for DC Comics. This is her first comic, although she has been doing illustration for years: "For so many years, I've been drawing for other people and it was great. It paid the bills, and I learned a lot about collaborating ... but I was working on art that was not mine. DC saw my work and said 'Yes, we like that.' It's my style.... It's cool that DC has embraced the funkier side of comics." [The Post and Courier]
Creators | Al Jaffee goes in depth about some of his favorite MAD Fold-Ins. [Paste]
Creators | Aaron Warner talks about Ghost Canyon, the photocomic he's producing with his wife Angie. [Battle Creek Enquirer]
Conventions | Reporter Andrew Schneider looks at the changes in the convention scene, which is becoming big business: Toronto's Fan Expo was bought by a European multinational, and now Fan Expo is buying shows, starting with Dallas Comicon. [WBAA]
Conventions | Almost 3,000 people came to Glasgow Comic Con to see Gail Simone, Erik Larsen and a host of Scottish creators; organizer Marc Boyle said the growth of the show, which is four years old, reflects the growth of comics culture in Scotland. [The Guardian]