Manga | Call it the Manga Paradox: Manga sales are way down, but traffic on scanlation sites is robust and attendance at anime conventions is way up. What's the story? I crunched some numbers and talked to some publishers to get a picture of the new normal for the manga market in North America. [Publishers Weekly]
Comics | A collection of 60,000 comics sold for $200,000 at auction over the weekend in East Vancouver. It seems impressive until you do the math and realize that's a little more than three bucks a comic. The star of the collection was a restored Hulk comic that went for $6,500. [CBC]
Comic strips | Universal Uclick editor Lucas Wetzel rounds up some comic strips from the past that gently rib the late Roger Ebert. [Laugh Tracks]
Creators | Jeff Lemire talks about writing, Canada, and his new stint on the Green Arrow: "I loved Green Lantern as a kid, and Green Arrow was always just, you know, around. I never thought much about him until I was offered him, then I thought about him, and he is grounded as a character because he has no superpowers. He is a guy tackling street-level crime. Which has a dash of noir. Plus, Superman: It's all so enormous and cosmic." [Chicago Tribune]
Creators | When Dubai journalist Mai El Shoush covered Middle East Comic Con last year, she was dismayed at the portrayal of women in comics, both the way they looked and the way they didn't contribute to the story. So she made her own comic, Drawn, about a female character with a strong personality, not a supple spine, and she was back at MECC this year to promote it. [PRI's The World]
Creators | Gerry Giovinco reminds us that women in comics are not a novelty, with a parade of features about women creators from the mid-1980s that are being featured in the second volume of Comics Interview: The Complete Collection. [CO2]
Creators | Liv Combe meditates on the reclusiveness of Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson. [Salon]
Comics | Former Marvel editor, current thinker and writer Danny Fingeroth takes the mic in the latest Trip City podcast. [Trip City]