Comics | Wim Lockefeer translates and digests the annual report of the ACBD, the French association of comics journalists, which reveals that Asterix continues to rule the roost: The latest album had a print run of 2.25 million, dwarfing the next largest, Titeuf, with 550,000. Overall, sales are up 3.5 percent, but some of the old standards — like Asterix — are down from their historical peaks. Oh, and relevant to the recent debate involving Angouleme: The report lists about 1,400 active comics creators in France and French-speaking Switzerland and Belgium, of whom only 173 are women. [Forbidden Planet]

Political cartoons | The Ecuadorian Federation of LGBT Organizations has filed a complaint against the newspaper El Universo regarding a cartoon by Xavier Bonilla that depicts a man asking a pregnant woman if she was expecting a boy or a girl, and the woman responding "I don’t know. We must wait to see which it chooses on the identity card." The cartoon was referring to a recent act of the legislature that changed the wording on the national identity cards from "sex" to "gender," allowing the user to self-identify with the gender they prefer. Supercom, the government agency that controls Ecuador's media, accepted the complaint under Article 62 of the country's communications law, which prohibits the dissemination of "discriminatory content that has the purpose or effect of undermining or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights recognized in the Constitution and by international entities." In 2014, Supercom fined El Universo because of a Bonilla cartoon they found defamatory toward government officials, and the agency required Bonilla to create a "correction" cartoon. Last February, Supercom ordered Bonilla to apologize to National Assembly member Agustín "Tin" Delgado for a cartoon lampooning him. [Journalism in the Americas]



Comics | Using the selection of Gene Luen Yang as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature as the news hook, Glen Weldon looks at the history of kids' comics, from early misgivings through the Wertham years to the current boom in comics and graphic novels for young readers. [Monkey See]

Creators | Michael Cavna covers Gene Luen Yang's inaugural address and visits with March writer Rep. John Lewis in his Capitol office. [Comic Riffs]

Best of the year | Writer John Seven picks his 10 favorite comics of 2015. [Vermicious]

Retailing | When Clint Thomas, owner of Clint's Comics in Monroe, Louisiana, died in October at the age of 50, Claire Chandler reached out to his family and said she would like to keep the store going. Clint's was known as a welcoming place for enthusiasts and hobbyists, and Chandler plans to keep that vibe: "I work a day job, so all I have to do here is make enough money to pay the bills," she says. "This is my hobby. This is a place for me to hang out and meet awesome people and for them to come and hang out and enjoy themselves." [The News Star]

Exhibits | Mark Roberts files a video report on the exhibit "Superheroes in Gotham" at the New-York Historical Society. [CBS This Morning]