Retailing | Books-A-Million had a good second quarter, and CEO Terry Finley gives at least part of the credit to graphic novels: “We also saw strong growth in the graphic novel category, with continued success with titles related to AMC’s The Walking Dead series and a renewed interest in several manga series [that] drove sales increases.” And to boost that, the retail chain, which operates more than 250 stores nationwide, is planning Marvel promotions throughout September. [ICv2]

Conventions | Salt Lake Comic Con co-founder Dan Farr is trying to measure how much money attendees are spending. In terms of hotel beds, at least, the convention seems to be dwarfed by trade shows, but with people coming to Salt Lake City from 48 states for the recent spinoff event FanXperience, that may be changing. Still, even in San Diego, attendees spend only about $600 per person; if Salt Lake attendees are similarly thrifty, the convention may not be a significant player in the Salt Lake City convention scene. [The Salt Lake Tribune]

Legal | A 28-year-old Chinese man has been charged with selling unlawful publications after he illegally published comic books and sold them online, essentially without a license from the government. He was detained in April by police, who seized more than 10,000 comic books from his home. [Ecns.cn]

Creators | Alan Moore talks about H.P. Lovecraft, and his own Lovecraftian miniseries Providence, set for release from Avatar Press. [The Quietus]

Creators | Grant Morrison discusses his Legendary Comics series Annihilator, and touches upon some of his DC Comics work -- Animal Man, The Multiversity and Wonder Woman: Earth One. [SuperHeroHype]

Creators | Michael Cavna reprints the text from Gene Luen Yang's speech about diversity, in which the late Dwayne McDuffie plays a central role, delivered over the weekend at the 14th annual National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. [Comic Riffs]

Creators | Ray Fawkes is interviewed about his involvement in DC Comics' weekly event series Batman Eternal. [CTVNews]

Creators | Tim Seeley chats about his new Dark Horse series Sundowners. [Hollywood Soapbox]

Manga | Justin Stroman talks with Jay Hoare of Renta! about the manga renting service. [Manga Bookshelf]