Retailing | Image Comics took seven of the Top 20 spots on Nielsen BookScan’s list of graphic novels sold in bookstores in May, with multiple volumes of Saga and The Walking Dead once again appearing, joined by the first collection of Sex Criminals. Kodansha Comics took six spots, with the most recent volume of Attack on Titan at the top of the chart, followed by the first volume. Four more volumes were scattered around the list. Legendary's Godzilla movie tie-in, Godzilla: Awakening, placed at No. 3. [ICv2]

Legal | The Japanese legislature has moved forward with a bill that would criminalize possession of child pornography, which is expected to pass the Diet before it recesses on June 22. The new law would ban photos and videos made using real children but excludes manga and anime. [The Japan Times]



Publishing | Calvin Reid digs deeper into the news that Dynamite Entertainment has signed deals with prose novelists Brandon Sanderson, Dean Koontz, Patricia Briggs and Jim Butcher, as well as the estate of Shaft author Ernest Tidyman, to produce graphic novel adaptations and new stories based on the characters. [Publishers Weekly]

Creators | Lana Jaeger interviews Lilli Carre. [Women Write About Comics]

Creators | The Taiwanese cartoonist Wan Wan (real name: Hu Chia-wei) apologized publicly to her fans after news broke that she had an extramarital affair just three weeks after her highly publicized wedding. Wan Wan is a national figure, thanks to her cartoons on social media, and has appeared in TV commercials and a movie. She faced the media Wednesday with a mask over her mouth and did not speak but bowed in apology; her publisher read a prepared statement. [Taipei Times]



Publishing | Charles Forsman talks about his small press, Oily Comics, his own work, including The End of the Fucking World, and his experiences with digital publishing. [Den of Geek]

Political cartoons | Jeff Danziger discusses the role of political cartoonists and his experiences as the sole American among 12 cartoonists featured in the French documentary Cartoonists - Foot Soldiers of Democracy; he went to Cannes when the film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival. [Vermont Public Radio]

Commentary | LL Fikeni puts the cartoon that was removed by South Africa's Eyewitness News into context; it portrayed both the ANC and the voters who put them in power, most of whom are black, as clowns: "How is this cartoon different from the racist narrative of blacks as lazy, foolish and incompetent? Some invoke the 'freedom of speech' argument when talking of this cartoon; others demand a little sense of humour. For a people who’ve been massacred, violated and called names, you must understand Mr Cartoonist that 'clown' takes on a different hue, a racial hue, considering all the elements in your cartoon and the elements of our history." [Mail & Guardian]

Manga | Ryan Holmberg looks at Matsumoto Katsuji's The Mysterious Clover, an early shoujo manga work. [The Comics Journal]

Events | Caitlin McGuirk of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum reports in on her weekend at CAKE. [The Comics Reporter]