Milestones | Tintin isn't the only beloved comics character celebrating his 80th birthday this month: E.C. Segar's Popeye first appeared in Hearst newspapers on Jan. 17, 1929. The years have been kinder to Tintin, I think. Popeye looks pretty rough. [Wales Online]

Weirdness | Speaking of Tintin, a 96-year-old Danish man claims a trip he took around the world as a teen-ager was Herge's inspiration for the famous adventurer. [The Copenhagen Post]

Interviews | Writer Pádraig Ó Méalóid is soliciting questions for an interview he's conducting with Alan Moore in advance of the release of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 1910. [via the Forbidden Planet International blog]

Politics | Barack Obama certainly isn't the first president -- or president-elect -- to appear in a superhero comic. Jossip spotlights a handful of other cameos, from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton to George W. Bush. [Jossip]

Publishing | Comics-website columnist William Gatevackes wonders where to point fingers, this time around, for the cancellation of DC's Manhunter: "... it is a bit too simplistic to lay the cancellation of Manhunter exclusively at the feet of the readers. Some of the blame has to lie with DC as well." [Broken Frontier]

Creators | Cartoonist Derf talks about The City and Punk Rock and Trailer Parks, his work process, and his first paid work: "My first PAID cartoon was drawn in the sixth grade. A horny classmate gave me $2 to draw a comic starring our teacher—in the nude—which one must assume he used for masturbatory purposes. I can't think of a better way to kick off my professional career." [Bookslut]

Publishing | Even more attention is being lavished on author Jeff Kinney, whose Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw hits stores today. [USA Today, The Chicago Tribune]