Creators | Cerebus creator Dave Sim was scheduled for surgery Tuesday after checking himself into the emergency room for severe stomach cramps. According to Sim's friend, Dr. Troy Thompson, "the presumptive diagnosis is cecal volvulus, which is a twisting of the colon causing obstruction." However, nothing will be known for sure until after the surgery. Sim was already feeling better after doctors inserted a nasogastric tube to remove the contents of his stomach. [A Moment of Cerebus, which is offering updates]
Legal | Matthew Pocci Jr., who in July drove into the crowd of ZombieWalk: San Diego, held annually during Comic-Con International, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of felony reckless driving. His lawyer said that Pocci, who is deaf, was scared for his safety and that of his family when his car was engulfed by a crowd of people during the event. He initially stopped the car but then restarted the engine and moved forward, striking several people. [UT-San Diego]
Legal | "Citizens have the right to say or write anything criticising the government and its measures as far as it does not incite violence or create problems in law and order," the Bombay court ruled Tuesday, in a case that stemmed from the 2012 arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on charges of sedition and insulting Indian national symbols. Critics say that the sedition law, a holdover from colonial times, has been used to suppress political dissent, and Trivedi's arrest drew scathing criticism from international organizations as well as within India. The charges were eventually dismissed, and the court sharply criticized the arrest. Indian law allows third parties to file public interest litigation, and lawyer Sanskar Marathe brought the case at the time of Trivedi's arrest. However, the court took a poke at Trivedi, saying, ""After having seen the seven cartoons drawn by Aseem Trivedi we find it difficult to find any wit or humour in it... It only displayed anger and disgust. But that does not mean that it attracts sedition charges as it did not invoke violence." [Times of India]
Passings | Steve Ringgenberg has a detailed obituary of Golden Age artist Irwin Hasen, who went on to create the newspaper strip Dondi. [The Comics Journal]
Creators | Megan Kelso talks about her comics and how she balances work and family life. [Parent Map]
Comics | Sarah Boxer explains what Charlie Brown and CharlieHebdo have in common. [The Atlantic]
Comics | Sophia Foster-Dimino chats about autobiographical comics on Twitter with fans and creators, including Sarah Glidden, Julia Gfrörer and Eleanor Davis, then collects the results into a Storify. Although the piece is titled "Why do you hate autobio comics?" the tweeters mostly like them — except for certain types. [Storify]
Manga | Amruta Lakhe covers a talk by manga expert Ryan Holmberg, who discusses the manga reactions to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that damaged a nuclear reactor: "The very next day, mangas themed around tsunamis and earthquakes hit the stands. But the stories were about parents losing children and how the tsunami destroyed their homes. No one was talking about the meltdown and the radiation. In the face of disaster, researchers and critics realised that manga was being censored heavily." He gave examples of several manga, including Oishinbo, that were suspended because they raised doubts about the cleanup and the safety of the nuclear reactor. [The Indian Express]