Comics | After all of these years, the evangelical comics of 88-year-old cartoonist and publisher Jack Chick still stir controversy. The latest is in Buffalo, New York, where a mother is upset that a local church left on her doorstep a Chick tract that was read by her 7-year-old daughter. "It seems like a Lifetime movie or something that was put into a kid's comic book and expose my 7-year-old to this horrible of an idea of a family life," Brandi Gillette says. Titled "Happy Hour," the 2002 comic depicts an alcoholic, abusive father whose wife dies following a beating (while he's bellied up to the bar). When his two children start to go hungry because he's spending the family's money on alcohol, the girl smashes his liquor bottles and, after threatening to cut him with the jagged glass, convinces him to go to church, where he devotes his life to Christ. Chick Publications, which publishes the tract, says "Happy Hour" is intended for adults, not children. [WIVB]
Conventions | Calvin Reid surveys the comics scene at the Frankfurt Book Fair and comes up with some gems, such as a short interview with NBM Publisher Terry Nantier about comics he was hoping to acquire that week, and the news that comiXology is the top iPad book app in France, and among the top five in several other countries, despite having no foreign-language content. [Publishers Weekly]
Graphic novels | To keep the aboriginal Blackfoot language from extinction, the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth is publishing graphic novels in English and Blackfoot. According to John Medeiros, editor of the society's magazine, "Graphic novels were a way to get them to read from start to finish. In time, inadvertently, they’d learn some words in the Blackfoot language that might encourage them to learn more in the future." [The Calgary Herald]
Creators | The French government has named Leiji Matsumoto, creator of Galaxy Express 999 and many other classic sci-fi manga, a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters). [Anime News Network]
Conventions | Richard Whittaker looks forward to this weekend's Wizard World Austin Comic Con [The Austin Chronicle]
Creators | xkcd creator Randall Munroe explains the thinking behind some of his better known comics, including the tic-tac-toe decision tree and his map of the interactions between characters in The Lord of the Rings. [Math Horizons]
Creators | Lea Hernandez talks about her comics project The Garlicks, which is nearing the end of its crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. It's a supernatural tale with a foodie bent, about a young girl who is born into a family of vampires but has no vampire powers herself. "Girls need more graphic novels/comics that are about them, but aren't just fashion/dating/consumerism/mean-girl-oriented, or books that are diluted so boys will want to read them," Hernandez says. "My Little Pony proved you can make something that is flat-out for girls, and it can still find a wider audience with an appreciation of good writing and art." [USA Today]
Creators | Robot 6 contributor Chris Mautner inteviews Glyn Dillon, who recently returned to the comics medium with a new graphic novel The Nao of Brown. [The Comics Journal]
Digital comics | The Kindle will launch in Japan today with 15,000 manga in the Kindle Store. [ICv2]
Workspaces | Colleen Doran was horrified when she realized a Hoarders-esque photo of a messy workspace was the office of a cartoonist — and she offers some resources and inspiration for getting organized. [A Distant Soil]