Creators | For Slate's "Doers" feature -- "People who accomplish great things, and how they do it" -- David Wiegel spotlights Rob Liefeld's decision to revive his Extreme Studios line by handing over the properties to creators like Brandon Graham, Joe Keatinge and Tim Seeley. Acknowledging his critics prefer these new versions of Glory, Prophet and Bloodstrike to his originals, Liefeld tells the website, "“The internet snark has zero effect on me. I was there 20 years ago, I'm out there on the convention circuit, I experience the real and tangible enthusiasm for me and my work. You can't rewrite the history books, you can't eliminate the impact of my work and my characters. [...] Rob Liefeld is to today as Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan are to my kids.” [Slate.com]
Passings | Paul Gravett pays tribute to the late British writer and critic Les Coleman. [Paul Gravett]
Creators | Rick Remender discusses his plans for Uncanny Avengers: "To be very clear, it's not a new universe. The Marvel Now initiative is a reboot of the line that respects past continuity. What happened in the books prior to Marvel Now still happened. This is a creative shakeup more than anything else." [Previews World]
Manga | Hisashi Sasaki, former editor-in-chief of Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump (and now the deputy director of Shueisha's shonen manga group), talks about the state of digital comics in Japan, why there won't be a Japanese digital Shonen Jump any time soon, and some of the new series running in Shonen Jump that have yet to reach non-Japanese readers. [ICv2]
Manga | Dave Roman suggests some manga for non-manga readers. [Astronaut Academy]
Comics | Ape Entertainment CEO David Hedgecock guests on the Comic Geek Speak podcast to talk about the return of Poison Elves and to critique the latest Previews offerings. [Comic Geek Speak]
Events | Dre Grigoropol reports in from the first eve- Black Comic Book Festival, which took place Jan. 12 in Harlem. [The Beat]
Editorial cartoons | Scott Stantis and Matt Wuerker talk about drawing President Obama. [NPR]
Editorial cartoons | Sylviane Gold takes a look at the exhibit "Cartoonists Against the Holocaust," although they were not actually crusading against the Holocaust so much as the way other countries were ignoring it: "The cartoonists represented here were, rather, using their art to cajole, embarrass and pillory the politicians in London and Washington who failed to help save Jewish lives when they had the opportunity." [The New York Times]
Publishing | First Second editor Colleen AF Venable takes us on a field trip to the printer's, where she takes us step by step through the printing of the cover of Astronaut Academy II, by Dave Roman. [First Second]
Publishing | Colleen Doran has some words of encouragement and advice for beginning creators: Publishers really are looking for talent, but most of what comes in over the transom is terrible (having been in charge of the slush pile at a national magazine for a while, I can vouch for this). And publishers fear new creators will flake out on them. "So, next time you think that publisher isn’t going to give you a chance, think of it from the publisher’s point of view. If your portfolio is good, and you show a real, steely willingness to produce, there’s a publisher looking for you. Really. Don’t give up." [A Distant Soil]
Publishing | Just ahead of the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting, DC Comics executives say they are taking the library market seriously; there's a bit of eye-rolling in the comments section. [Publishers Weekly]