Comics | In advance of a radio show titled "White Men in Capes," to be broadcast Tuesday, BBC News looks at diversity in comics and finds it lacking; as DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Dan DiDio says, there "doesn't seem to really be a proper representation of ethnic characters across the entire industry." He talks about DC's efforts to bring diversity to its line, and he explains why: "There's a very hungry audience, excited audience and the reason why we know that exists is because we go to the conventions and we hear from our stores and you hear the make-up of the people shopping in those stores." [BBC News]



Comics | Gregory Schmidt looks at the LGBTQ comics scene, from small publishers such as Northwest Press to the DC Comics character Midnighter, with interviews with Jim Lee, Phil Jimenez, Joey Stern of Geeks Out! (which organized last month's Flame Con), Zan Christenson of Northwest Press and Lumberjanes editor Shannon Watters, among others. [The New York Times]

Digital comics | The digital comics portal LINE Webtoon is bringing in some big names: Stan Lee, who will judge a superhero comics contest; makeup artist Michelle Phan, who will publish her science fiction story on the site; and Image Comics co-founder Marc Silvestri, who will run a Cyberforce series on the site that will cross over with a print comic, Aphrodite IX. Line is based on a model that has been very successful in South Korea, where their site draws in over 6 million readers a day and has spawned several successful TV shows and games. [The New York Times]



Publishing | With Tokyopop making a comeback and conducting portfolio reviews at Anime Expo and this week's Comic-Con International, former Tokyopop creator Alex de Campi talks about her experience with the publisher and offers some advice to creators about what to watch out for in a contract. [Alex de Campi Tumblr]

Digital comics | David Barnett rounds up the digital-comics scene, including interviews with David Lloyd of Aces Weekly, Gail Simone, Kieron Gillen and U.K. television personality Jonathan Ross, who reads digital comics for convenience but won't be giving up his floppies: "It’s cool to have a load of new issues permanently with you. I still prefer reading in pamphlet form given the choice and still buy most books that way. I can see the storage benefits but you can’t beat physical ownership for the true comic experience." [The Guardian]



Creators | Misako Takashima, who uses the pen name Misako Rocks!, talks about her path to becoming a graphic novelist, which included stints as a puppeteer and a teacher, as well as a period of homelessness in New York. [The Japan Times]

Comics | An effort is under way to digitally remaster and re-publish the works of the late Indonesian comics artist Teguh Santosa, who died in 2000. His son, Dhany Valiandra, is also updating the language to make the comics more appealing to modern readers. "If the strength of Japanese manga is in their movement, Teguh’s works are like paintings. His surrealism gives his scenes the effect of a painting. We love staring at them. Although the costumes are weird, the imagination is strong," said comics expert Seno Gumira Adjidarma. [The Jakarta Post]

Education | Sue-Ellen Ross pays a visit to a manga class for teenagers in Hammond, outside Chicago. Two things stand out about this story: One is the continuing popularity of manga among teenagers, and the other is the rigor that the teacher seems to be putting into it. [Chicago Tribune]

Conventions | The advocacy group Geeks for CONsent is asking Comic-Con to improve its sexual harassment policies, [KPBS]

Conventions | Marc Alan Fishman has some advice for creators on how to make the best of a bad comic con. [ComicMix]