Passings | Dexter Taylor, the longtime writer and artist of The Adventures of Little Archie, has died at age 84. He began working for Archie Comics in the 1950s, first in the production department and then as an assistant to artist Bob Bolling on Little Archie before taking the reins on the title in 1965. His run continued until the series ended in 1983. “The first day I came to work at Archie Comics I met the nicest, most helpful, friendliest and honest person: Dexter Taylor,” Victor Gorelick, Archie's longtime editor-in-chief and co-president, said in a statement. [Archie Comics, Den of Geek]

Creators | Daniel Way returns to his self-publishing roots after his Deadpool stint at Marvel, crowdfunding his new graphic novel Kill-Crazy Nymphos ATTACK!: "I only do creator-owned stuff now, and I definitely see myself doing more with Kickstarter. You are able to speak and sell directly to your audience without all the machinery that’s usually placed between you. It’s sometimes crushing to realize that out of everyone who’s getting a piece of your work, you’re getting one of the smallest pieces. And it also feels more pure somehow—you can call a book Kill-Crazy Nymphos ATTACK! and not have to tone it down, or try to sell it through a comic shop that is mainly superhero books, where people might regard it as a niche within a niche within a niche." [Indy Week]

Creators | Bastien Vivès talks about his graphic novel series Last Man, which is being published by First Second, and how manga has influenced his work. [Broken Frontier]

Creators | Rich Barlow profiles Boston University alum Joel Gill, creator of Strange Fruit, Tales of the Talented Tenth, and other comics based on African-American history. Gill, a lifelong comics fan, started out as a painter but moved to comics after a friend told him "It seems like your paintings are trying to tell stories, and they’re failing." [BU Today]

Creators | Wes Locher's inspiration for Unit 44 came while he was watching Storage Wars: "I asked my wife, what would happen if someone opened a storage unit and found items the government had been hiding. I turned off the TV and started writing." [Panama City News Herald]

Political cartoons | Michael Cavna asks 15 political cartoonists if there are "red lines" they will not cross in their work. [Comic Riffs]

Publishing | Deb Aoki explains how manga publishers are adding other products, such as games and merchandise, to grow the market. [Publishers Weekly]

Publishing | Drawn and Quarterly has promoted Julie Pohl-Miranda to director of marketing. Her previous title was editorial and marketing manager. She will now be responsible for publicity operations, festivals, and author appearances. Pohl-Miranda started at D+Q in 2008 as an intern. [ICv2]

Libraries | Laura B. Mehaffey, head librarian of the traveling Carolina Manga Library, explains how it works: Mehaffey and a staff of volunteers maintain a collection of about 3,000 volumes of manga, which they bring to conventions. They just crowdfunded some nice wooden shelves, and they can set it up in three hours or less. It started at Columbia's NashiCon and now travels to conventions around the area, typically one every four or five weeks. [The State]

Education | Students in Professor Corinne Kahn's German class at Duke University are studying German history through graphic novels, and they have created an exhibit to go with their class. [Duke Today]