Auctions | The Leicestershire (England) Police are auctioning about 1,200 comics -- most of them are post-2000 DC Comics titles, described as in mint condition -- seized as criminal assets in Dorset (the police force doesn't have its own eBay account). "Some are signed by the artists and they are mainly Superman and Spider Man, that sort of thing," said Dave Hargrave, proceeds of crime asset realization manager. "[...] The person who had the comics was obviously a collector." About 400 comics have been sold, bringing in £600 (about $985 U.S.). [Leicester Mercury]
Publishing | Avatar Press has returned to Diamond Book Distributors as its distributor to bookstores, the mass market, library services, and other markets. Avatar left DBD in 2011 to sign on with BOOM! Studios to distribute its books through Simon & Schuster in the United States and HarperCollins in Canada. [ICv2]
Digital comics | Madefire co-founder Liam Sharp talks about how the motion-comics platform came into being, the Batman: Arkham Asylum comic, and what the company is all about: "Here’s the thing – we’re about reading. That’s core to what we do at Madefire. It’s not passive watching. That’s was our thought — what’s the next stage for reading, in a digital realm? What does that look like? What can it be if we try and unlearn everything, and put any of our innate prejudice behind us? Digital spaces are a lot smarter than paper, so let’s respect that and see what happens — what we come up with." [13th Dimension]
Creators | Heidi MacDonald rounds up some creators' end-of-the-year thoughts on their creative struggles and the problem of making a living in comics. [The Beat]
Creators | Paul Dini discusses his graphic novel Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell. [Previews World]
Comics | Jacob Hall's journey through Austin's comic shops in search of Fear Itself #5 provides the opportunity for some commentary on stores, fans and the world of comics in general. [CultureMap Austin]
Comics | Frank Santoro presents some "Clunkers from the Back Issue Bin," comics that are never going to sell but have just enough redeeming features to keep him from throwing them away. [The Comics Journal]
Digital comics | In an unusual twist on the game-comic tie-in model, Namco Bandai is releasing its Dark Souls II digital comic on Facebook, with new pages every week. The game debuts in March. [Comics Alliance]
Manga | Jason Thompson counts down 10 great zombie manga. [Anime News Network]
Comic strips | Dana Jennings muses on the decline of the Sunday funnies, and suggests some compilations of vintage strips. [The New York Times]
Retailing | Owner Marcus Kent talks about his Bristol, England, comics shop Excelsior!, which opened in 2009 and was featured in 2011 on the cover of Spider-Man #666. Kent opened the store after working for a while at another shop: "The managers at this store told us not to call it a comic shop and to call it a 'sci-fi cult and collectibles store'. They didn't want knowledgeable enthusiasts helping out the customers – they wanted sales people. Feeling fed up and seeing a gap in the market, I did some sums and decided to open my own comic shop."[Bristol Post]