Comics | Auction prices for comics and original comics art have soared over the past few years, ever since a copy of Action Comics #1 broke the $1-million mark in 2010. Barry Sandoval of Heritage Auctions (admittedly, not a disinterested party) and Michael Zapcic of the comics shop Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash discuss why that happened—and why prices are likely to stay high. [Underwire]
Crowdfunding | Homestuck is a phenomenon. Kickstarter is a phenomenon. Put them together and you get ... a Kickstarter to fund a Homestuck game that raises $275,000 in a matter of hours. [Kotaku]
Creators | Brian Michael Bendis looks back on his eight-year run on Marvel's Avengers franchise. [Marvel.com]
Creators | Hope Larson discusses the difficulties of adapting prose to comics and her own adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, due out this fall: "Initially, it seemed like the publisher expected me to compress the book into a couple hundred pages, and I figured that would be doable, but as I sat down and really looked at the meat of the book, I realized the important stuff is the little moments, the emotional shifts, and you can't compress that. It's funny to me how small, delicate scenes take up more space than big, spectacular ones." [Badass Digest]
Creators | Sean Kleefeld continues his interview with Derek Kirk Kim, discussing how First Second supports the online version of Tune and why Kim decided to stop drawing the comic and hire an artist: "I just can't stand drawing comics anymore. That's the simple truth. Being a cartoonist ... unlike a lot of other jobs, it's not just about skill. You have to have a very unique, specific sort of personality. You have to be the kind of person that doesn't mind sitting at a desk endlessly and not go batshit stir crazy while you ink a line you've already drawn 3 or 4 times. Times a million. Unless you've done it, you can't imagine the monotony." On the other hand, Kim says, "When I'm writing, I feel engaged and alive." [MTV Geek]
Creators | Eliza Frye, whose first short comic "The Lady's Murder" was nominated for an Eisner Award, talks about her decision to quit her day job and make comics, her graphic story collection Regalia, and her current webcomic Death. [Hero Complex]
Exhibits | Fans of all ages turned out to visit an exhibit of Peanuts strips at the University of Oregon, curated by English professor (and Eisner judge) Ben Saunders. Some folks wandered in while they were waiting for the football game to start, but everyone got into the spirit of the thing. [The Register-Guard]
Comics | In the 1950s it was a big deal that Elvis read comics; the unlikely celebrity comics fan this week is Ziggy Marley, who credits "Batman, Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Spiderman -- all of those guys" for sparking his creativity. Marley helped create the graphic novel Marijuanaman, (written by Joe Casey and illustrated by Jim Mahfood but based on a character conceived by Marley), and now he wants to do an audio-only release of it—like the old Superman radio shows, only with more weed. [Times-Standard]
Graphic novels | Teen librarian Robin Brenner, school librarian Esther Keller and mom Lori Henderson discuss the objections raised last week to the inclusion of Matt Loux's SideScrollers on a summer reading list for incoming high school freshmen. [Good Comics for Kids]
Publishing | In response to a question on Quora, Erica Friedman explains the structural differences between the U.S. and Japanese comics industries. [Quora]
Advice | Should you hire a freelance publicist? First Second marketing director Gina Gagliano suggests you consider what your publisher can do for you, and what you really want from a publicist, before moving forward. [First Second Books]