Creators | Political cartoonist Ted Rall talks to the local news about his firing by the Los Angeles Times, which concluded a post he wrote in May for its OpinionLA blog about being stopped by police in 2001 for jaywalking contained "inconsistencies." Rall, who worked for the Times on a freelance basis, insists the audiotape of the incident provided to the newspaper by the Los Angeles Police Department doesn't contradict his statements about being treated rudely and handcuffed. “I would do it all over the same way today,” Rall told CBS Los Angeles. “I’m disgusted that the Times took the LAPD’s word, based on nothing.” [CBS Los Angeles]

Crime | Production of the web series Comic Trips screeched to a halt when the camera used to record the episodes was stolen from the producer's car; much of the footage from the second season of the show was still inside. The show's producers, Paul Brown and Kat Habrukowich, go to comic shops, flea markets and other venues in search of rare treasures, and now they are raffling off a few of those to raise money for a replacement. [Press of Atlantic City]



Comics | It's the summer of Superman in Cleveland, where where young Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster first dreamed up the Man of Steel. The Siegel and Shuster Society has held a series of lectures on connections between the city and the comic, and there's a 30-foot statue of Superman in the works as well. [Cleveland.com]

Creators | In a podcast interview, Lucy Knisley talks about making autobio comics that include real people as well as the vicissitudes of the comics life. [Deconstructing Comics]



Creators | Paul Gravett profiles Korean artist Sung-hee Kim, who creates comics about her own life and larger issues such as forced removal of families from a neighborhood to make way for real estate development and the increased incidence of leukemia among workers in semiconductor factories. [Paul Gravett]

Creator | Aaron D'Errico dreamed of playing soccer like his father did, but his cerebral palsy made that an impossibility. So instead he created a comic about Ammon Walker, a soccer player who has cerebral palsy — but also has special technology to counteract it. [KPLU]

Libraries | Bob Conrad, the new director of the Richmond Public Library in Batavia, New York, is sharing his enthusiasm for graphic novels through a four-part discussion series. The only superhero comic Conrad read as a child was Captain Carrot, but as an adult he came to appreciate the novelistic aspects of graphic novels, and his favorite is Craig Thompson's Habibi: "I wouldn’t recommend it for children or even teens, because of its violent nature. But I would recommend it to book readers. This is a good way to give graphic novels a chance and try out the genre. I think book readers would be really interested in this one." [The Daily News]

Conventions | The inaugural Tampa Bay Comic Con, in 2010, drew 600 people; last year there were 44,000, and the organizers expect a similar turnout this year, in part because of several celebrity guests. [Bradenton Herald]

Retailing | The owners of comic shops in the Springfield, Missouri, area discuss the correlation between what's current in pop culture (movies, mostly) and what their customers want to see. [KSMU]

Retailing | Heroes and Villains opened in Cortland, New York, in the spring, but the owners put a year and a half of research and preparation into it before launching the business. [Ithaca Times]

Retailing | Jennifer Sangalang pays a visit to the Infinite Mushroom comic shop in Titusville, Florida. [Florida Today]