Best of the year | Amazon lists its Top 20 graphic novels of 2015 in order of sales, but the editors chose The Sandman: Overture Deluxe Edition by Neil Gaiman and J.H. Williams III as the best graphic novel of the year. Other notable titles include Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine DeLandro's Bitch Planet, Scott Snyder and Jock's Wytches, Noelle Stevenson's Nimona, and Kate Beaton's Step Aside, Pops. Amazon also included Victoria Jamieson's Roller Girl, and Marika McCoola and Emily Carroll's Baba Yaga's Assistant in its lists of the best children's books of the year. [Amazon]
Comics | Wayne Bell says his new comic book ISIS: A Culture of Evil, is a valuable tool to tell stories of atrocities the media won't cover: "It’s factual, it’s accurate, it’s the real deal, and unlike a TV program it absolutely goes to the bone quick." Some veterans who were shown the book weren't so sure, though, especially as it looks like a coloring book; they felt the medium wasn't appropriate for the message. [CBS St. Louis]
Creators | Ben Towle talks about Oyster War and creating graphic novels in general for his hometown newspaper: "Any kind of storytelling is at its core problem-solving, and comics present a special kind of visual problem-solving that I enjoy. It’s often frustrating, but ultimately rewarding." [Winston-Salem Journal]
Creators | I interviewed Jennifer Hayden about her graphic memoir, The Story of My Tits (which just made the Amazon best of the year list). [Publishers Weekly]
Creators | Artist Matt Huynh discusses his graphic adaptation of Nam Le's The Boat, a fictionalized story based on the experiences of refugees fleeing Vietnam after the fall of Saigon. [Hyperallergic]
Creators | Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers, the Scottish creators who work together under the name Metaphrog, talk about their new graphic novel The Red Shoes and Other Stories, published by Papercutz. [The National]
Comics | Brian Cremins will moderate a panel on architecture and comics for the upcoming Chicago Architecture Biennial, and the panelists, Edie Fake (Memory Palaces) and Keiler Roberts (Miseryland) discuss their architecture-influenced comics. [Chicago Reader]
Graphic novels | In his graphic novel Betty: The Helen Osborne Story, David Alexander Robinson focuses on a 1971 murder, but also raises the issue of violence against indigenous women, who make up a disproportionate number of the missing and murdered women in Canada. [The Huffington Post]
Manga | Satoshi Yamazaki looks at the recent uptick in interest in war-themed comics in Japan. [The Asahi Shimbun]
Conventions | The fourth Piqua (Ohio) Comic Con takes place this weekend, with an array of guests, vendors, and raffles. The con is strictly nonprofit, with attendees and exhibitors asked to donate to two local charities in lieu of ticket and table fees. This year's event is in the National Guard Armory, but next year the con will have to move—not because of size issues, the usual reason, but because the armory is on high alert. [Piqua Daily Call]