Graphic novels | BookScan's list of the bestselling graphic novels in bookstores in March divides neatly into eight Image Comics titles (six volumes of The Walking Dead and two of Saga), eight volumes of manga (four Attack on Titan, four Viz Media titles) and four volumes of media tie-ins. For the second month in a row, not a single DC Comics or Marvel title cracked the Top 20, although an older DK Publishing character guide to the Avengers (not actually a graphic novel) came in at No. 11. The top-selling title was the 20th volume of The Walking Dead, and the No. 2 was the third volume of Saga. It's also interesting to note that the first three volumes of Attack on Titan charted higher than the most recent release, which suggests new readers are still coming into the franchise in substantial numbers — and sticking with it. [ICv2]
Publishing | Archie Comics Co-CEO Jon Goldwater talks about how the company has changed since he took over, focusing on some recent moves, such as hiring writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa as chief creative officer and bringing Alex Segura back as marketing director and editor of the Red Circle Comics superhero line. [Comic Riffs]
Creators | Dean Haspiel discusses creative challenges, making choices and the occasional frustrations of being a comics artist. [Freaksugar]
Creators | Darryl Cunningham translates an interview he did with the French psychiatry magazine Alter Ego, in which he discusses Psychiatric Tales (called Psychiatric Fables in the interview) and how making comics changed his life. [Darryl Cunningham]
Creators | Nathan Hale (yes, that's his real name) talks about the historical research he does for his graphic novels. Hale is the illustrator of Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack, and he's working on a series of historical graphic novels, Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales, which feature the historical Nathan Hale, on the gallows, telling stories from American history to a stuffy British soldier and a buffoonish hangman. "The books may look cartoony, the facts may be interrupted by jokes, but everything in a Hazardous Tales book has been researched, fact-checked, then researched again. Double the research, double the fun!" [The Kindle Post]
Creators | Writer (and native Iowan) Phil Hester spoke at the University of Northern Iowa as part of its minicomic convention. [WCF Courier]
Comics | A new comic about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi portrays him as a heroic child: "The 45- page comic book shows Modi rescuing a drowning boy, swimming in crocodile infested waters, serving tea and food to soldiers going to war in 1962, taking on school bullies, helping his father sell tea, acting in theatre, strategising his team's kabaddi win and saving a trapped bird." For some reason, the comic bears no creator credits. [IBN Live]
Legal | Doujinshi, or fan-made comics, are a big part of the Japanese anime and manga scene — Comiket, the largest comics convention in the world, is a doujinshi event — so creators and fans are concerned that the Trans Pacific Partnership will lead publishers to enforce their rights more stringently, casting a chill on the doujinshi scene and possibly cosplay as well. [TechDirt]
Exhibits | Peter Crimmins checks out an exhibit of comics by black creators that is currently being showcased at Philadelphia City Hall, and he speaks to Yummy Odom, founder of East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, about the comics on display. [Newsworks]