Conventions | The standalone Stumptown Comics Fest may be history, but an event has popped up to help fill the void: Linework NW, organized by Zack Soto and Francois Vigneault, a free, one-day show that will take place April 12 in Portland, Oregon. Michael DeForge has been announced as a special guest for the event, which will include such exhibitors as Fantagraphics, Koyama Press, Oni Press and Top Shelf Productions. [The Comics Reporter]
Creators | Scott Snyder is the subject of a glowing profile in The New York Times, which states the writer has "reinvented Batman in the past two years, deepening and humanizing the Dark Knight’s myth — in the making since 1939 — like no one since Frank Miller in the 1980s." [The New York Times]
Creators | SF Weekly's Jonathan Curiel accompanies Neil Gaiman as he lays eyes on the Cartoon Art Museum exhibit "Grains of Sand: 25 Years of The Sandman," and sees some of the pieces for the very first time: "'This is Mike [Dringenberg] changing the history of comics,' Gaiman says as he looked at original pages of "The Sound of Her Wings." 'This is where everything changed. Sandman up to that point was a horror comic that sort of recapitulated other DC horror comics. It existed in a very solid tradition. Sandman No. 8 — it found its voice. I found my voice. I think Mike found his voice. And we did something that was not like anything anybody had done before.'" [SF Weekly]
Creators | Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver discuss their comic Edison Rex, the story of the world's smartest man. [Comicbook.com]
Creators | Ben McCool talks about his work on the Valiant 8-bit motion comic. [13th Dimension]
Creators | Brothers Sean and Jonathan Eike and their father Donald have written and drawn a comics-themed Christmas story, The Night Before Christmas at the Comic Shop, and they published it on Kindle, all within a matter of a few weeks. [Iowa Public Radio]
Best of the year | The list of best novels and children's books of 2013 compiled by Slate books editor Dan Kois includes three graphic novels: Barrel of Monkeys, by Florent Ruppert and Jérôme Mulot; Hilda and the Bird Parade, by Luke Pearson; and March: Book One, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. [Slate.com]
Gift guides | The Advocate compiles a list of 10 graphics novels "that any LGBT fan would love to receive this season." [Advocate.com]
Conventions | Manga creator Est Em has been announced as a special guest at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival; Lissa Pattillo explains why that's so awesome. [Kuriousity]