Conventions | Following reports that New York Comic Con attracted 155,000 attendees this year, surpassing Comic-Con International's 133,000, Kerry Dixon scrutinizes producer ReedPOP's counting system and finds it leaves "a lot of room for guesswork and error in attendance size": "So did New York Comic Con beat out San Diego to take over the title of the largest pop culture and comics convention this side of the globe? Well, not really." [Unofficial SDCC Blog]

Publishing | Filip Sablik, BOOM! Studios' president of publishing and marketing, talks about the company's new offering: a $20 bundle of 50 kids' comics that can be handed out to trick-or-treaters. The selection includes Adventure Time, Peanuts, Garfield and other comics from the kaBOOM! line. [Comicosity]

Comics | Collaborators Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez talk about the origins of Spider-Gwen, and the positive reaction to the concept. “As a kid when I was reading Spider-Man, nobody knew who Gwen Stacy was. She was a plot point,” Latour said, explaining his initial uncertainty about the idea. “Maybe she wasn’t in those original books, for people that read them, but for me as a kid who picked it up 20 years later — to me she was just a plot point.” Marvel announced at New York Comic Con that the character will star in her own series, launching in February. [Paste Magazine]

Comics | R. Orion Martin looks at lianhuanhua, black-and-white pulp comics that were popular in China from the 1920s through the 1980s. [The Comics Journal]

Creators | Vivek Tiwary, creator of The Fifth Beatle, tells Michael Cavna about his recent appearance at India Comic Con in Hyderabad. [Comic Riffs]

Creators | John Rose discusses his work as the writer and artist of the long-lived comic strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. [Hagerstown Herald-Mail]

Creators | This profile of Kuwaiti cartoonist Bader Bin Ghaith has an interesting take on the medium: "'I am not here to crack jokes,' he says with a serious nod of his head. 'A cartoonist,' he says, 'is a very serious artist who interprets a certain situation, makes it easily comprehensible by communicating the problem easily. Yes, your first reaction to my cartoon as a reader may be laughter, but this will soon be followed by an understanding of the problem. My cartoons will make you think.'" [Arab Times]

Graphic novels | Sven Larsen and Terry Nantier of the children's publisher Papercutz talk about their original graphic novel line, which kicks off next year with Deb Lucke's The Lunch Witch in March. Two tween titles are in the works as well, The Red Shoes and Other Tales, by the Eisner-nominated team Metaphrog, and Scarlett, by John Buller and Susan Schade. [ICv2]

Retailing | Downtown Los Angeles will get its first comic shop, Central City Comics, in November, and co-owners Aryn Stewart and Tyler Bartlett plan to buck the boys-club stereotype and make their store inviting and inclusive for everyone. [LAist]