Legal | A 48-year-old man has been charged in the theft of the extensive comics collection of artist Jim Wheelock last month from a storage facility in Brattleboro, Vermont. William Brown pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 17 counts of burglary, petit larceny and unlawful mischief after he was allegedly recorded on security camera breaking into numerous units. Brown said he sold all of the items, and none of Wheelock's comics has turned up in searches of the suspect's home and car. [Brattleboro Reformer]
Retailing | Comics retailers surveyed by ICv2 were more optimistic than ever before, thanks to strong sales and excitement around upcoming titles in the superhero, creator-owned, and kids/teens sectors; the analysis also includes charts of the top-selling properties during the fall and holiday season of last year. [ICv2]
Political cartoons | The annual political cartoon festival at the Caen Memorial museum in France has been canceled this year due to security concerns. "Under no circumstances can we take the slightest risk for the cartoonists, for our audience and for the employees of the Caen Memorial," said museum director Stephane Grimaldi. The museum's website was hacked last month, shortly after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, to display the message "I confirm that there is only one God and that is Allah. I confirm that Mohammed is the messenger of Allah" in Arabic and French. [Yahoo News]
Creators | "I thought I was writing the last Marvel comic book," writer Brian Michael Bendis says of his first visit to the Marvel offices; the publisher had just declared bankruptcy and all the filing cabinets had already been sold. In an interview with his hometown paper, Bendis talks about his new Marvel contract, the Avengers movie and the television series Powers and A.K.A. Jessica Jones, all of which are based on his work, and his upcoming trip back to Cleveland. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
Creators | Writer James Wright and artist Jackie Crofts talk about their new comic Nutmeg, about a pair of teenage girls who turn to crime. [Comicosity]
Creators | Daniel and Dawna Davis came up with the idea for their first comic, Monster Commute, during their three-hour daily commute; after a visit to Comic-Con International in San Diego, they resolved to come back as exhibitors. Ten years later, they have created a whole cottage industry of comics, art prints, and monster-themed products under the name Steam Crow, and they are regular exhibitors at Comic-Con and other conventions around the country. [The Arizona Republic]
Comics | Are you doing it wrong? Alex Abad-Santos presents a primer on how to read a comic, with a glossary of basic terms and an explanation of how a comic page is structured, with Ody-C artist Christian Ward providing additional commentary. [Vox]
Webcomics | The Korean webtoon startup Lehzin provides a regular salary, comparable to entry-level salaries in other industries, for its comics creators, so they don't have to work part-time to make a living. Unlike its competitors Naver and Daum, Lehzin is aiming comics at adult readers, who are not as big a part of the comics audience in Korea as in the U.S. and Japan. [Korea Herald]
Fandom | KK Miller reports on the backlash in Japan against fujoshi (female yaoi fans; the word means "rotten girls") who draw themselves as boys-love characters and post the results on Twitter. [RocketNews 24]