Graphic novels | BookScan's January list of the Top 20 graphic novels sold in bookstores shows a bit more variety than the previous month, in which 10 of the slots were taken by volumes of The Walking Dead. This time it's just six, with Building Stories, Saga, and the latest volumes of Sailor Moon and Fables cracking the Top 10. An adaptation of the Book of Revelation from evangelical publisher Zondervan was No. 9, followed by perennial bestseller Watchmen. (Note: The original version erroneously reported the number of Walking Dead titles in the Top 20.) [ICv2]

Creators | Paul Pope talks about his graphic novel Battling Boy, due out this summer, as well as the prequel comic The Death of Haggard West, which will released in in July. [Kotaku]

Creators | Rina Piccolo, who writes the syndicated comic strip Tina's Groove, explains why writing newspaper comics is hard — but how working under a constraint can make her more creative. [Tina's Groove]

Comics | Neil Cohn, who studies the language of comics, offers his thoughts on why some people have trouble reading comics. [The Visual Linguist]



Digital comics | This is kind of cool: Every badge for Emerald City Comicon will include a download code for a special Atomic Robo digital comic. And the comic is designed as a digital comic, with balloon and panel reveals rather than page turns. [ComiXology]

Comics | University of Oregon professor Ben Saunders (who was an Eisner judge last year) explains why UO offers a comics studies minor: It is a way to teach history, print culture, and psychology. "I could teach you for two weeks about the history of American comic art form, and you’d know more about all those things," he said. "That’s an amazing shortcut to a huge amount of knowledge.” [Daily Emerald]

Awards | The National Cartoonists Society will give its Silver T Square Award, which honors “persons who have demonstrated outstanding dedication or service to the Society or the profession of cartooning,” to Universal Press Syndicate executive Lee Salem. [Comic Riffs]

Retailing | The local Patch pays a visit to New England Comics in Coolidge Corner, a pleasant neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts. The store has a special area set aside for comics by local creators, which is a particularly rich vein in the Boston area. [Patch.com]

Comic conventions | Eric Wecks checks in with his report on Comic Con in Portland, Oregon, where guests included Gail Simone, Kurt Busiek and Shannon Wheeler. [GeekDad]