Retailing | Retailers are "cautiously ecstatic," ICv2 reports, ecstatic because comics sales have increased in the direct market every month for the past 12 months, and cautious because this "return to floppies" comes after years of a seesawing market and they know things can change at any time. The article contains links to the news and analysis site's lists of the top graphic novel properties in a number of categories, including superheroes, manga, and kids' comics. [ICv2]

Creators | The Sri Lankan political cartoonist Prageeth Eknelygoda has been missing for 1,000 days as of Tuesdayy, and his wife is convinced the government has something to do with that. [The Daily Cartoonist]

Creators | This article about T. Casey Brennan, who wrote for Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella, takes a number of weird turns, not least when Brennan claims to have shot JFK — and when he shows up in the comments section to dispute everything in the article. Brennan's life seems to have taken a turn after he was injured in an automobile accident, and he now is homeless and but apparently happy. [The Washtenaw Voice]



Creators | Carol Tyler talks about "Soldier's Heart," the final volume of her You'll Never Know trilogy, and about how her parents have reacted to her retelling of family stories. [Phoenix New Times]

Creators | As part of iFanboy's "Upstarts" series, which focuses on up-and-coming cartoonists, Robot 6 contributor Chris Arrant takes a look at the work of Ming Doyle. [iFanboy]

Retailing | The East Hartfort, Connecticut, comics shop Buried Under Comics will reopen Thursday. The store closed after the unexpected death of its owner Brian Kozicki, and was purchased by his friend April Kenney, who will rename it A Hero's Legacy. [Patch.com]



History | Larry Cruz prepares for Halloween with a look back at Tales from the Crypt. [The Webcomic Overlook]

History | Sean Kleefeld shows off the first draft of his attempt to create a comics timeline out of classic covers. [Kleefeld on Comics]

Comics | Robot 6 contributor Graeme McMillan notes the quiet disappearance of DC's National Comics. [Blog@Newsarama]

Manga | A previously unpublished, full-color chapter of Shotaro Ishimori's Cyborg 009 has turned up in Japan. The 24-page comic was completed 42 years ago but for some reason never published; it will be included in the third volume of the latest edition of the series, which is being published by Fukkan.com. ComiXology is publishing all Ishimori's works in the U.S., so presumably this story will make it there eventually. [Anime News Network]

Webcomics | Girl Genius creators Phil and Kaija Foglio announced Tuesday that they are going to hand over their online sales to the retail site TopatoCo. "We aren’t getting any younger. The last thing I want is to be shlepping forty-five pound boxes when I’m sixty," Phil Foglio said in the press release, explaining why the Foglios decided to stop handling sales and fulfillment of online orders to TopatoCo. Diamond Comic Distributors will continue to be their distributor in the brick-and-mortar world. [The Beat]