Conventions | Kandrix Foong, founder of Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, cautions latecomers that all 56,000 tickets for this weekend's event are sold out. “We tell everybody now: ‘There are no on-site ticket sales,’” he said. “So they say: ‘OK, I’ll just try my luck when I get there.’ ‘No, no, no, you don’t understand. There are no on-site ticket sales. The end. If you show up you will be turned away. Sorry, but that’s the way it’s going to be.’” [Calgary Herald]

Conventions | Wizard World has released its annual report for 2012, and while its convention business was way up, from $3.8 million to $6.7 million, the company still finished the year with a net loss of $1 million. [The Beat]

Comics | Apple has been granted a patent for a system that transforms a player's in-game choices into a graphic novel at the end of the game. [Joystiq]



Creators | Brian Azzarello discusses the challenges of writing different characters, from Rorschach to Wonder Woman. [Redeye Chicago]

Creators | In an piece drawn from the afterword of Fantagraphics' new compilation of Crockett Johnson's Barnaby, Philip Nel focuses on the moment of Barnaby's creation. [The Comics Journal]

Creators | New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly talks about the apparent dearth of women cartoonists, the culture of cartooning, and why political cartoons are important. [Cartoon Movement]

Creators | James Stanton explains how he mines Craigslist's Missed Connections ads for ideas for his webcomic, appropriately titled Missed Connections Comix. [The Atlantic Cities]



Fandom | Jason Rockman, frontman for the Montreal band Slaves on Dope and proud bearer of a Greg Land tattoo talks about his favorite comics, goes old-school in the print-versus-digital debate, and his first encounter with Montreal Comic Con, for which he is now media co-ordinator: "I first got involved when I wrote an article for a local paper on the event. I met Oscar, Liz and Alex, who are the founders of the event, and they arranged for me to take The Honky Tonk Man, Lou Ferrigno and Jeremy Bulloch to dinner. It was the most surreal dinner of my life." [Bloody Disgusting]

Comics | Retailer Steve Bennett reminisces about participating in the first Earth Day and getting ... a comic! [ICv2]

Retailing | Carmine Street in New York's West Village, where a young Bob Dylan once chased his muse, is getting a new comics shop, Carmine Street Comics. The new store will take over part of the storefront of Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books, which is in a location with a long history of comics shops, and their plans include inviting artists to use the store as a temporary studio. [The Long & Shortbox of It]

Retailing | The Florence, Kentucky, store Comics 2 Games is expanding, doubling the size of its retail area to make the store feel less cramped and adding in a kids' comics section. [Cincinnati.com]