Passings | Jay Scott Pike, well known for his work as a "good girl" artist, died Sept. 13 at age 91. He started out in 1949 at Hillman Comics, and then moved on to Marvel predecessor Atlas, working on action and romance comics, including Jann of the Jungle and Lorna the Jungle Girl. In the 1960s he moved to DC Comics, where he drew mostly romance comics but also created the character Dolphin, who's resurfaced repeatedly over of the years. Historian Mark Evanier estimates that Pike drew at least 800 comics stories between 1949 and 1973. [News From ME]
Publishing | Waiting for the trade? Your time may vary, as David Harper points out in an analysis of average time from final issue to trade collection for a number of publishers. Unsurprisingly, Image Comics has the quickest turnaround, but No. 4 may shock you. Harper also discusses the strategies behind the delays, although only one publishing representative would actually talk about it, and he takes Omega Man as his case study. [Sktchd]
Political cartoons | The next issue of Charlie Hebdo will be the last for the cartoonist Luz, who announced in May that he would be stepping down. "Yet another lesson in cartoons is happening, and just a week ahead of my retirement," he wrote in this week's issue, referring to the controversy over a cartoon of a refugee child whose dead body was found on a beach in Turkey. [AFP]
Manga | Why don't we talk about manga when we talk about comics? Three experts — manga blogger Deb Aoki, Anime News Network columnist Mike Toole and comics creator Faith Erin Hicks — discuss the differences between manga and American comics in terms of both the industry and the audience. [ComicsAlliance]
Creators | Roz Chast regaled the audience at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, with tales of her family and early life. The museum is hosting an exhibit of her artwork from her latest book, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? [Amherst Bulletin]
Creators | Laura Hudson profiles Kate Beaton, whom she first interviewed in 2008, and finds her in a reflective mood, talking about the journey she has been on since her work first became popular as webcomics, and how she and the world have changed since then: "We’re at the age now where you could cross the line and be out of touch, because the kids in comics now feel like they’re like 10 steps ahead of us. They come out of the womb proficient in Photoshop; they know how to use computers and construct humor in ways that so many really great artists I know didn’t, at least at their age. I don’t know if that’ll make them better in the long run, but they come out of the gates like superstars." [Wired]
Kickstarter | Should you promote your Kickstarter at a convention? The ComixLaunch podcast goes over the pros and cons, and there's a handy outline as well. [ComixLaunch]
Exhibits | Michael Dooley pays a visit to the exhibit "Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby" at Cal State Northridge Art Galleries, and includes plenty of photos. [Print]