Digital comics | Tom Spurgeon reports that Bongo Comics has quietly left comiXology and will be putting its comics in a new Simpsons Store app instead. While users won't be able to buy new Bongo comics on comiXology, they will still be able to access those they already purchased. [The Comics Reporter]

Political cartoons | The American Freedom Defense Initiative has a new advertising campaign, placing Bosch Fawstin's cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad on billboards around St. Louis. Transit systems in several cities, including New York and Washington, D.C., have stopped accepting political advertising rather than carry the group's ads depicting the Prophet Muhammad. In St. Louis, they have drawn mixed reactions: Dr. Ghazala Hayat of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis says she would like to see the signs removed but not at the cost of violence or property damage, while Jim Hanson, the executive vice president of the Center for Security Policy, said that freedom of speech is more important than avoiding offense. [WKRC]

Creators | The webcomic A Softer World has just come to an end after a 12-year run. Creators Emily Horne and Joey Comeau discuss the origins of the comic, go into depth about their creative process, and recommend some other comics for readers who are going through withdrawal. [Eyezine]

Creators | Marc Alan Fishman, Matt Wright and Kyle Gnepper, who met in sixth grade and started making comics together as adults, discuss their comic Samurnauts, which is about a monkey that was sent into orbit in the early days of the space program and came back with superpowers. As is often the case with these local-creator profiles, this article includes an interesting discussion of the business side of things; while the comic is on comiXology, the creator say that the vast majority of their sales come from hand-selling the comic at conventions. [Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle]

Graphic novels | The Federal Trade Commission has released several photo graphic novels (fotonovelas) designed to warn recent immigrants about different scams. The most recent one, Cómo se enteraron Myriam y Pedro de las estafas de notario, shows readers how to tell the difference between a notary and a lawyer. [Consumerist]

Events | The Joeten-Kiyu Public Library handed out 1,200 free comics at year's Free Comic Book Day in Garapan, on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, and the celebration continued at Green Flash Comics with art and cosplay contests and more free comics. (FCBD was held in June on Saipan because it took that long for the comics to get there.) [Marianas Variety]

Academia | Rob Salkowitz rounds up a couple of stories about comics in academia, including the publication of Nick Sousanis's PhD thesis in graphic novel format, his own class on using comics as a means of communication, and the Crafton College incident. [ICv2]

Lifestyle | In an article focused on manga and anime fans and their "waifu," Lauren Orsini explains why people fall in love with two-dimensional characters. [Forbes]

Arts and crafts | Denise Smaldino explains how to turn old comics into coasters for a one-of-a-kind Father's Day gift. [The Orange County Register]

Exhibits | The Louisville Slugger Museum is hoping to attract more visitors with an exhibit about superheroes, featuring costumes from the iconic Batman television series. [Chicago Tribune]