Passings | Longtime comic artist Ken Barr has passed away at age 83. Born in Scotland, Barr his start drawing covers in the 1950s for the science fiction magazine Nebula, moving on to covers and posters for Star Wars, Star Trek, and the first 14 issues of the British comic Commando. Barr moved to the United States in 1968 and began drawing covers for comics published by Warren (Creepy, Vampirella, Doc Savage, Planet of the Apes). He was a penciler, inker and writer for a number of DC's war comics under editor Joe Kubert, and he drew the first Losers story in Our Fighting Forces. He also worked on some of Marvel's black-and-white comics, and continued to create book covers and trading cards until his retirement in 1987. [Down the Tubes]
Legal | Arlene Combs has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for her part in a 2010 home invasion that led to the death of 77-year-old comic collector Homer Marciniak. Combs was one of a group who broke into Marciniak's home in Medina, New York, to steal his comic books, which were worth between $40,000 and $100,000, as well as his coin collection and other items. Marciniak was attacked and tied to a chair during the robbery, and died hours later from a heart attack. Combs was convicted of racketeering. [MassLive]
Manga | Kodansha Comics has announced five new manga licenses: The Fairy Tail spinoff Fairy Tail: Twin Dragons of Sabertooth, by Kyouta Shibano and Hiro Mashima; Neo Parasyte f, a collection of shoujo stories set in the world of the classic manga Parasyte,; Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai, by Shaman King creator Hiroyuki Takei; Black Museum: The Ghost and the Lady, by Ushio and Tora creator Kazuhiro Fujita; and Interviews with Monster Girls, by Petos. This announcement comes on the heels of the seven new licenses announced last week week. [Crunchyroll]
Creators | Riad Sattouf talks about his life in France, Syria and Lebanon, and the graphic novel he is writing about his experiences, The Arab of the Future. [The Guardian]
Creators | Daniel Clowes is doing a lot of interviews lately; today's outing is a conversation about his new graphic novel Patience and the concept of time travel. [Wired]
Creators | Leela Abdelrazaq talks about her graphic novel Baddawi, which tells the story of her father's life as a Palestinian refugee growing up in refugee camps in the 1960s and 1970s. [Rapid City Journal]
Creators | Critic and creator Dan White (Cindy and Biscuit) talks about kids' comics and comics criticism. [The Comics Journal]
Comics | S.I. Rosenbaum discusses why superhero costumes have gone from skin-tight to fully armored. Bonus word: "greebling." [Boston Globe]