Passings | As Comic Book Resources reported, Joanne Siegel, wife of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and the model for Lois Lane, passed away Monday in California. She was 93. Although news of her death first circulated online via Brad Meltzer's Twitter account, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Michael Sangiacomo had the first official report, only hours after he wrote about the installation of signs bearing the honorary street names "Joe Shuster Lane" and "Lois Lane" in the Cleveland neighborhood where Siegel and Shuster created the Man of Steel. CBR's Kiel Phegley spoke with Meltzer, who met Joanne Siegel while researching his novel The Book of Lies. Heidi MacDonald, meanwhile, has reaction from Bradley Ricca, who's working on a documentary about the Siegel family. The Hollywood Reporter and The Superman Super Site also have obituaries. More will certainly appear throughout the day. [Comic Book Resources]
Publishing | Acclaimed cartoonist Alison Bechdel (Fun Home, Dykes to Watch Out For) has been named the guest editor of the 2011 edition of The Best American Comics, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. [Shelf Life]
Publishing | Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson spotlights the "quiet revolution" at Archie Comics that finds the publisher expanding into graphic novels and digital delivery, further diversifying its characters and tackling more topical issues. [Publishers Weekly]
Retailing | Comic Relief, the famed Berkeley, Calif., store that's struggled since the death of founder Rory Root, closed Monday. The inventory and fixtures have been purchased by Jack Rems, founder and owner of Dark Carnival Books. There are plans to open a new store, but it won't be called Comic Relief. [The Beat]
Broadway | Despite overwhelmingly negative reviews, the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has seen a 3 percent increase in ticket sales, grossing $1.33 million in the past week. It's the second-highest grossing show on Broadway, behind the long-running Wicked. [Arts Beat]
Creators | Sean Michael Robinson begins a three-part interview with Cerebus collaborator Gerhard. [TCJ.com]
Creators | Mike Mignola discusses the setting and architecture of the Hellboy universe: "I have never done a story in a shopping mall because, even if I’m not drawing it myself, I don’t want to see somebody draw a shopping mall. In the Hellboy world, and in other things I’ve done, those places almost don’t exist. When I do Eastern Europe — and I’ve been to Eastern Europe, and I’ve seen the shopping malls and the god-awful housing projects and things, and there are horror stories that take place in there, I have no doubt—but I gravitate toward the classic, clichéd, spooky places, whether they truly exist in this world or not." [BLDGBLOG, via The Comics Reporter]
Creators | Brian Truitt talks to Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik and collaborator/longtime friend John Mahoney about the upcoming miniseries Last Mortal. [USA Today]
Comics | Douglas Wolk recommends five comic-book collections to read as an introduction to Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. [Techland]