Crime | Three armed men invaded the home of comics collector Antonio Jose da Silva in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and held him and two employees at gunpoint while they stole more than 7,000 comics from his collection of about 200,000. The robbers seemed to know exactly what they were looking for, as they went straight for the most valuable books. Their haul included more than 200 first editions of O Lobinho and O Gibi, which reprinted translations of American comics in the 1930s and 1940s. The value of the thieves haul is estimated at $150,000, and the loss will be borne by da Silva, who was unable to get insurance for his collection. [The Comics Reporter]

Comics | Dana Jennings looks at the renewed interest in EC Comics, once reviled in the popular press as mind-destroying trash that would lead youths astray, now revered by the comics cognoscenti as subversive graphic literature. Locke & Key writer Joe Hill and EC Archives editor Russ Cochran weigh in, as does Fantagraphics President Gary Groth, editor of that company's EC Library, who says, "They were arguably the best commercial comics company in the history of the medium, and their list of artists and writers between 1950 and 1955 represents a Who’s Who of the most accomplished craftsmen working in comics at that time." [The New York Times]



Creators | Peter Bagge talks about his new biography of Margaret Sanger, Woman Rebel. [Toronto Star]

Creators | Archie Comics Co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit went to a New Jersey elementary school (prosaically named "School No. 4") to talk about her anti-bullying comic Rise Above. [NorthJersey.com]

Political cartoons | The Garden of Eden is apparently a standard cartoon trope in Egypt as well as the United States, but Jonathan Guyer writes that since the 2011 revolution, cartoonists who use it risk falling afoul of blasphemy laws. Last year, a religious group sued cartoonist Doaa Eladl for portraying Adam (apparently Eve was OK). Guyer shows some older examples of Adam and Eve imagery in Egyptian cartoons and talks to both Eladl and one of the anti-blasphemy enforcers of the religious right. [Medium]

Retailing | A new comics shop, Defiant Comics, has just opened up in Forest Park, Illinois, and co-owner Brian Fisher said the name comes from their determination to defy the standard comics-shop stereotype: "A lot of comic stores have this environment that's not necessarily welcoming to everybody. It's almost like a private club. We want to make a place where everyone is welcome to come in." [Patch.com]

Exhibits | Just in time for Halloween, an exhibit of tributes to EC Comics is opening at the Mondo Gallery in Austin, Texas. [Austin Chronicle]