Passings | Artist and writer Harry Harrison, who worked with Wally Wood on many EC Comics — and persuaded them to start their sci-fi line — has died at the age of 87. Harrison is best known in science fiction circles as the author of the Stainless Steel Rat stories, and the movie Soylent Green was based on his 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room! [The Comics Reporter]
Publishing | Marvel is ending its Premiere Classics line of hardcovers collections with Vol. 106. [Blog@Newsarama]
Conventions | ComiCONN is this weekend, and although it is the largest comics and sci-fi show in Connecticut, you won't need your jet pack to navigate it, says Life With Archie writer Paul Kupperberg. Kupperberg and Peter David will be among the guests. [Connecticut Post]
Conventions | Eric Lindberg looks back at last weekend's Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con. Shorter version: No big comics news, but lots of fun for fans. [Broken Frontier]
Creators | Jeff Smith talks with his hometown newspaper about the conclusion of RASL, and his creator-owned career path: "If you look at the industry, all of the greatest innovations and success of the last 20 or 30 years have come out of the independent press, by which I mean the cartoonists who own their own copyright — starting with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and going all the way up to The Walking Dead. I think it’s because the independent comics are books by authors who have a vision, a voice — as opposed to Superman and Spider-Man, who are corporately owned characters and can be fun. But they are written and drawn by a team of employees. You’re just going to get infinitely richer work out of those who are working from their hearts. There is no shame in working for Marvel or DC. But it is a job. ... If you’re willing to stomach the insecurities and take the risk, it’s certainly worth it to go the indie way." [The Columbus Dispatch]
Creators | Nathan Edmondson talks to CNN's Security Clearance blog about The Activity, a comic about a special ops team that is so secret the Army won't admit they exist, and how a variety of insiders helped him make it accurate nonetheless: "We have an e-mail account set up into which we receive e-mails from soldiers all over who appreciate the accuracy and attention to detail. Officially working with the military on this is tricky as they cannot to this day acknowledge the existence of the ISA, but we have received much support in general regarding simply our respectfulness of the armed forces." [CNN]
Creators | Writer David Wohl describes Homecoming, his new Aspen Comics series, as "more like a teen angsty story that's not nearly as dark as the stuff I usually work on." Aimed at a young adult audience, and set in a high school, the story mixes teen drama with alien invaders. [USA Today]
Creators | Christopher Hastings discusses the world of Dr. McNinja and the rules he keeps in mind while writing it: "The main thing that keeps it all together is that everything has a consequence within the story, and the characters don't know that they're in a comic, so they don't act like it. I think sticking to those two things is what keeps everything from getting too wacky-random while still letting it be a fun book full of random weird stuff." [Comics Alliance]
Creators | Writer Christopher Irving and photographer Seth Kushner talk about their book Leaping Tall Buildings, which began as a series of interviews and photographs of New York-based comics creators and morphed into something less local, although it still has a strong New York aesthetic. [Capital New York]
Manga | Kellie Fox-Gonzalez counts down ten feminist-friendly manga that are licensed in the U.S., from Hayao Miyazake's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind to Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon. [The Mary Sue]
Comics | KC Carlson, a veteran of many moves, talks about his most recent move, which involves more than 400 shortboxes. [Westfield Comics]