Conventions | ReedPOP Senior Vice President Lance Fensterman talks about how New York Comic Con reached 151,000 attendees this year, what went well, what could have gone better, and what he learned for next time. The new badges and check in/check out system, introduced last year, let producers know exactly how long people stayed at the show, and that turned into a nice surprise for two attendees: "There was a couple [last year] who literally spent every minute that was possible at New York Comic Con for three and a half days. We reached out to them and did something special for them—gave them a bunch of free stuff and free tickets because they were at the show longer than anyone who wasn’t paid to be at the show." [ICv2]
Political cartoons | Egyptian cartoonists Mohamed Anwar and Andeel discuss the difficulty of critiquing Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who doesn't tolerate dissent; Anwar is a cartoonist for a mainstream newspaper and pulls some punches as the tradeoff for reaching a wide audience, while Andeel has moved over to the alternative press, where he can speak more freely. [The Guardian]
Comics | Katy Wildman writes about how comics are well suited to depictions of mental illness, and she talks to Marbles creator Ellen Forney about how that worked for her: "Comics can give presence to tone and feeling and emotion in a way that’s difficult to do in other media. What happens with mental illness is that while there’s a lot of the story that is very specific—like text, which says a precise thing — there’s also a lot that’s really difficult to put into words. That’s where the language of comics comes in, the reliance on visual aspects that are strong in presenting mood." [Slate]
Comics | Alex Dueben interviews critic and author Jeet Heer about his latest project Walt Before Skeezix, a collection of early Gasoline Alley strips. [The Comics Journal]
Comics | Robert Plummer looks at the past and the future of Belgian comics with visits to the Herge Museum, the Comics Art Museum and the small startup publisher L'Employe du Moi. [BBC News]
Creators | Alex Abad-Santos profiles Kelly Sue DeConnick, focusing both on the flawed and complex Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, and her advocacy for women in comics. [Vox]
Creators | Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl discuss their new DC Comics series Gotham Academy. [Paste]
Creators | Writer/artist Felipe Smith chat's about his work on Marvel's All-New Ghost Rider. [Comic Riffs]
Creators | Author Cory Doctorow and artist Jen Wang talk about their new graphic novel In Real Life, a story about "gold farming" in online games that touches on larger issues such as the notion of property and the social issues underlying the practice. [Kindle Post]
Creators | Katha Pollitte writes about the unorthodox personal life of Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston, as revealed in Jill Lepore's new book, The Secret History of Wonder Woman. [The Atlantic]
Graphic novels | Charu Sharma looks at the growing popularity of graphic novels in the classroom in India, where the practice not only benefits students but also has been a stimulus for the local comics industry. [Times of India]