Cosplay | Visiting New York Comic Con, Andrea Romano takes a look at the world of cosplay, the issue of sexual harassment -- one person notes it's certainly not exclusive to cosplay, observing, "There’s harassment when a woman is just wearing a crop top on the street" -- and efforts being made to stop it. Convention organizers placed their new anti-harassment policy front and center this year, and it seems to have helped: There were just eight reported incidents of sexual harassment during the four-day event. [Mashable]
Conventions | Fensterman talks at greater length about NYCC's anti-harassment measures in this article, which contrasts the comics scene with what's going on in the gaming world. [Time]
Manga | Deb Aoki rounds up all the manga news from NYCC. The takeaway is that the category has rebounded after a slump a couple of years ago, with more license acquisitions, more sales, and more fans cosplaying Attack on Titan characters. [Publishers Weekly]
Creators | Cory Doctorow talks about his new graphic novel In Real Life, which debuted at NYCC. It's based on his short story "Anda's Game." [Suicide Girls]
Creators | Now that My Chemical Romance is history, Gerard Way (The Umbrella Academy) has more time to write comics, including his first Marvel project, Edge of Spider-Verse #5. He talks with Rolling Stone about that story, comics in general, and his new solo album. [Rolling Stone]
Creators | Indian cartoonist Kanika Mishra is blazing a new trail with her outspoken character Karnika Kahen ("Karnika Speaks"), who issues sharp rejoinders to some of the more sexist aspects of Indian discourse. Cartoonists Rights Network International has awarded her one of this year's Courage in Cartooning awards for taking on Asaram Bapu, a guru who blamed the victim of a gang rape for her fate, in a series of cartoons on Facebook and Twitter. Bapu's followers responded with a barrage of threats and harassment on social media, but Mishra refused to back down; he has since been arrested on charges of sexual assault of a minor. [PRI]
Creators | John Jekabsen, cartoonist for the student newspaper at the University of California, Berkeley, during the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s, reminisces about those heady days. [The Daily Californian]
Characters | Retailer Steve Bennett looks at the recent trend toward more Big Two comics with female leads, including a flurry of announcements at NYCC. [ICv2]
Retailing | Dark Star Comics just opened its doors in Princeton, Illinois, and owner Wülf Cinq-Mars is aiming for a welcoming atmosphere: "This is a fun place for kids to hang out after school and work. It is a social place where people can meet others with similar interests." [Bureau County Republican]