Awards | Victoria Jamieson's Roller Girl, a graphic novel about a middle-schooler who joins a roller derby team that changes her life, was one of three children's books named Newbery Honor Books over the weekend by the American Library Association during its midwinter meeting. The John Newbery Medal is given each year to the "most distinguished" children's book published the previous year, and the Newbery Honor Books are basically the runners-up. Three other graphic novels were Honor Books in different categories: Liz Suburbia's Sacred Heart won an Alex Award, given to adult novels with teen appeal; Written and Drawn by Henrietta, by Liniers, was a Mildred Batchelder Honor Book, which recognizes books originally published in languages other than English; and Don Brown's Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans was a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book, a category that recognizes excellence in nonfiction young adult books. [Publishers Weekly]



Graphic novels | Three volumes of The Walking Dead Compendium made the December BookScan graphic novel list, including volumes 3 and 1 in the first and second spots, respectively. Bookscan tracks graphic novels sold in bookstores and other general retail channels. Coming in third was the first volume of One-Punch Man, the manga series that started out as a webcomic spoofing superheroes and has turned into a breakout success; the series was nominated for an Eisner Award last year while it was still only available digitally. Three volumes of One-Punch Man, four volumes of Tokyo Ghoul, and three Star Wars graphic novels made the list, as did two very different Batman properties: Alan Moore's Batman: The Killing Joke and a collection of Batman newspaper comics from 1939-45. [ICv2]

Political cartoons | Myanmar's shift to a less authoritarian style of government has brought greater freedom for political cartoonist Maung Maung Ang to say — and draw — what he really thinks about his nation's politics. [Channel News Asia]

Political cartoons | Christian Allard, a member of the Scottish Parliament who was born in France, has proposed that Jan. 7, the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack, be designated as Cartoonists Day, "an occasion when rather than dwelling upon the violent act of terrorists we remember the importance of humour, satire and tolerance of dissenting opinion as hallmarks of a healthy democratic society." [Cartoonists Rights Network International]



Publishing | Michael Cavna spotlights AfterShock Comics, which boasts a lineup of creators that includes Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, Garth Ennis and Marguerite Bennett, among others. Editor-in-Chief Mike Marts says the company is built on the premise that readers nowadays are more connected to specific creators than specific properties. "The creator-owned comics initiative has never been stronger, and our feeling is that we have only experienced the tip of the proverbial iceberg," he said. [Comic Riffs]

Publishing | Radio talk show host Charity Nebbe interviews Deborah Whaley, the author of Black Women in Sequence: Re-inking Comics, Graphic Novels and Anime, and comics artist Phil Hester. [Iowa Public Radio]

Publishing | Lily Kuo profiles the Nigerian company Comic Republic, which develops superhero characters for African readers. It publishes its own comics online for free and also develops characters for NGOs and private companies to use in their educational literature. [Quartz]

Comics | Benito Cereno celebrates Tintin's 87th birthday with a look at the comic's problematic origins — and the way the creator, and the comic, evolved over time. [Comics Alliance]

Comics | Valerie D'Orazio discusses several money problems that are afflicting the comics industry, including part-time creators who are willing to work for a low rate — and thus drive down the rates for everyone else, the unlikelihood of going from free to paid work, and the perils of creator-owned comics where no one gets paid up front. [Comic Book Editor]