Graphic novel sales | The top-selling graphic novel in bookstores last month was the 18th volume of The Walking Dead, according to BookScan, followed by Naruto, Vol. 61, Saga, Vol. 2, Sailor Moon, Vol. 11, and perennial bestseller The Walking Dead Compendium, Vol. 1. It was a good month for manga, which took 10 of the Top 20 slots; not so much for DC, which had just one book in the Top 20, and Marvel, which had none. [ICv2]
Comics sales | Comic and graphic novel sales were up in the second quarter of 2013 compared to the same period last year, but ICv2 termed it a "solid but unspectacular" quarter compared to a "torrid" Q1. Anemic sales in June were partly to blame — comics sales were up, graphic novel sales were down. [ICv2]
Crime | A Muslim student at the University of Duisberg-Essen in Berlin is accused of vandalizing a collage of artwork by Rutu Modan (Exit Wounds) that was part of a graphic-novel exhibit at the school's library. The student allegedly took a pair of scissors to the collage and cut out images of a peace demonstration and the word "Shalom" in Hebrew. The article also states that Muslim students took exception to another part of the exhibit, images from Craig Thompson's Habibi. [The Jerusalem Post]
Comics | A year after the launch of Monkeybrain Comics, founders Chris Roberson and Allison Baker look back on what they've accomplished. "It seemed as though within a matter of weeks, people no longer had to define what they meant when they talked about a Monkeybrain title," Roberson says. "It was just taken as given that if you said there was a new Monkeybrain book, at least within a certain segment of the comics readership and creative community, everyone knew what that was." [USA Today]
Creators | Stan Sakai talks about his long-running Usagi Yojimbo and his newer comic, 47 Ronin. [Hero Complex]
Creators | Lisa Hanawalt talks about B. Kliban, Miley Cyrus and her own debut book, My Dirty Dumb Eyes. [Bullett]
Comics | Deb Aoki files the definitive con report on Image Expo 2013, including what went on and why it was important. She talks to Image execs and attendees and even addresses the timing of the event, which was held on a Tuesday. [Publishers Weekly]
Graphic novels | Jonathan H. Liu continues his series on "Serious Comics" with a look at some graphic novels about politics and religion. [GeekDad]
History | To celebrate the release of the first issue of Batman '66, Tim Beedle steps into his time machine and takes a look at what else was going on when the Batman TV show debuted in 1966, including a Superman musical, a Riddler song, and Jim Shooter's first comic. [DC Blog]