Publishing | John Jackson Miller dissects the latest sales numbers and finds July 2013 to be the second-best month for comics sales in the direct market so far this century—actually, since 1997. Combined comics and graphic novel sales were up almost 17 percent compared to July 2012, and year-to-date sales are up almost 13 percent compared to last year. [The Comichron]
Retailing | Brian Hibbs, one of the founding members of the direct-market trade organization ComicsPRO, has left the group "because of the reactions of the Board to recent DC moves." He revealed his decision in the comments on his blog post about DC's allocation of 3D covers for Villains Month: "The org that I formed was intended to look out for the little guy; the current Board seems much more interested in keeping the big guys big. Democracy in action, I suppose, so I vote with my dollars." [ICv2]
Creators | Tom Spurgeon talks to Steven T. Seagle, the writer of the graphic novel Genius as well as a number of other comics, including The Red Diary/The Re[a]d Diary. [The Comics Reporter]
Creators | Writer Mike Johnson says he takes a cinematic approach to writing the Star Trek comics: "One of the best things about Star Trek is that it is not just explosions and action. Much of the story is driven by ideas and conversation. That can be challenging, because you don’t want the comic to just look like a bunch of talking heads, so I do my best to balance the quieter moments with more visually striking images for the artist to draw." [PopMatters]
Creators | Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare discuss the financial side of creator-owned comics in a podcast. [Podcorn]
Conventions | Otakon will move to Washington, D.C., in 2017; with almost 35,000 attendees this year, the show has simply outgrow its current home, the Baltimore Convention Center. [Anime News Network]
Manga | Vertical Inc. will publish Fumi Yoshinaga's What Did You Eat Yesterday?, a series about a gay couple that focuses on the meals they prepare and eat, and their different approaches to food and money. The announcement was made over the weekend at the Vertical panel at Otakon. [Anime News Network]
Comics | The Dalai Lama is the star of a comic that was debuted this week in India. This is actually not his first appearance in a comic: He was the subject of a manga biography, which was made in Japan and translated into English. [Hindustan Times]
Digital comics | Deb Aoki looks at five digital manga stories that came out of this year's summer conventions: Shonen Jump expands beyond North America, Kodansha drops its iPad app for e-book distribution, Doraemon gets licensed (digital only), Seven Seas and UDON sign on with comiXology, and motion comics comes to manga with Manga 2.5. [Publishers Weekly]
Culture | The New York Times Style Section fielded a question about a 5-year-old girl who was invited to a friend's birthday party, then dis-invited when the parents announced it would have a superhero theme and therefore (?) would be boys-only. There's reaction at The Beat. [The New York Times]
History | The Walla Walla, Washington, newspaper digs into its archives for a story about a city commission formed in 1949 to review comic books and make recommendations to their publishers for cleaning them up; the group suggested that 93 comics be banned. [Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]