Legal | A Judge Dredd comic that makes fun of McDonald's and Burger King is finally being reprinted in a collection, thanks to a change in the European Copyright Directive, which now allows creators to use copyrighted characters if the intent is clearly parody. In the "Burger Wars" story, first published in 1978, Judge Dredd is captured on a trip to the United States and force-fed fast food; the story includes images of Ronald McDonald and the McDonald's logo. Another story, "Soul Food," has a mad scientist creating versions of the Jolly Green Giant and the Michelin Man. Ben Smith of Rebellion Publishing says fans have been asking for years for these story to be reprinted in their collected editions, but they were held back for fear of legal action. When the law was changed, Smith said, they took another look: "It was like a light bulb went on. We thought: ‘Surely this means we can look at Burger Wars?’ We looked into it and here we are. This is straight-out pastiche, parody and arch satire. There didn’t seem any reason not to bring them to the public again." [The Independent]



Best of the year | Publishers Weekly kicks off the holiday season with its list of the best books of 2015, which of course includes a category for graphic novels. However, comics can also be found in the picture book, middle grade and young adult sections. [Publishers Weekly]

Political cartoons | Chinese cartoonist Bai Budan can't post his cartoons on Weibo, the Chinese social media service, because his account was shut down by the authorities, so he shows them in private exhibits instead. The cartoonist Wang Liming (Rebel Pepper) left the country after having his social media shut down and his house searched because of his cartoons. Says art critic Li Xianting, "There are fewer and fewer cartoonists in China. This is because there is no space for them to grow. They have no access to the public and there is no platform for them. In the past, newspapers and print media played a very important role." [South China Morning Post]

Creators | Writer Matt Miner's superheroes in Liberator and Critical Hit are animals, and in real life he rescues pit bulls as part of the New York City group Redemption Rescues. [The New York Times]

Creators | Gavin Aung Than quit his day job and sold his house to devote himself full time to Zen Pencils, a webcomic inspired by a self-help book and some Wikipedia articles; it took a year and a half, but now he's making a living at it. [Forbes]

Creators | Polish artist Katarzyna Witerscheim uses Instagram as the platform for her webcomic @1995regi, which follows the adventures of a girl named Regina, who not only posts pictures of her life on Instagram but chats with the audience. "You can write to her, you can talk to her, you can say to her about what she should do," Witerscheim says. "I don't have one solid script. The plot can change because of the people who write to her." [The Daily Dot]



Graphic novels | Michael Dougherty, director of Trick 'r Treat, talks about Days of the Dead, the grahic novel he's creating with a team of artists and writers that includes Fiona Staples and Mark Andreyko. [Hero Complex]

Copyright | The Huffington Post recently asked Mark Parisi if it could run one of his cartoons, with no payment. Parisi posted the proposed agreement, which included handing over worldwide non-exclusive rights for as long as the article is up. [Mike Lynch Cartoons]

Conventions | Coming up this weekend: ComiqueCon, the convention that focuses on women creators, with a lineup that includes Mairghread Scott, Alex de Campi, and Marguerite Dabaie. [Detroit Free Press]