Conventions | Comic-Con International organizers have issued a statement regarding the technical problems many experienced Saturday while attempting to purchase badges for this year's event: "Comic-Con badge sales opened this past Saturday and while the allotted badges were processed there was clearly an issue with some customers experiencing a frozen screen. We, along with Epic registration, are in the process of investigating this and hope to have an answer as to what occurred. Please know that we take this issue very seriously and offer our sincere apology for those who found themselves in this predicament. Thank you for your understanding in what we know was a very difficult experience for many." Badges sold out in a little more than 90 minutes. [Comic-Con International]

Fandom | Geeks walk the corridors of power in the Virginia General Assembly, where reporter Julian Walker finds a delegate who wears Batman cuff links, another who proudly bears the moniker "Captain America," and two staff members who are well qualified to serve any comics caucus. [The Virginian-Pilot]

Business | Wizard World Inc., the producer of those eponymous comic cons, has been approved to trade its stock on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board, which CEO John Macaluso says is hopefully the first step toward trading on a "more senior exchange." [New York Business Journal]



Creators | Lucy Knisley talks about her soon-to-be-published graphic novel Relish, which looks at relationships through the lens of food. [Graphic Novel Reporter]

Creators | Writer Justin Jordan talks about The Strange Case of Luther Strode, which was inspired by the Charles Atlas ads he saw in comics as a kid. [El Paso Times]

Retailing | Escape Pod Comics, in Huntington, New York, has a new comics-shop paradigm: No card games, no figures, just comics arranged according to story type — and owner Menachim Luchins got the startup funds from Kickstarter. [Patch.com]



Conventions | Alex Simmons, who writes for Archie Comics and created his own series Blackjack, had some words of inspiration for attendees at the "Blacks in Comics: The Creators and Characters" workshop at the University of Technology in St. Andrew, Jamaica: "I understand that there isn't a huge comic publishing infrastructure here, but the World Wide Web has opened up the market in the United States, and can do the same here." [Jamaica Observer]

Conventions | First Second editor Calista Brill posts her report on Comic Con India. [First Second]

People | Terry Stewart talks about his stints as president of Marvel Comics (in the early '90s) and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. [The Huntsville Times]

Creators | Ray Miller has been homeless for 10 years, but he has turned his experiences into a comic strip that runs in a local magazine, which he hopes will lead to greater opportunities. [Fox 59]

Creators | The University of Tennessee paper profiles another aspiring creator, senior Alex Cline, who has been drawing a strip for them for two years and has also drawn comics for MAD Magazine and Sunday Morning Comics. [The Daily Beacon]

Digital comics | Eric Ravenscraft reviews the Android version of the motion-comics app NARR8. [Android Police]