Legal | Game company SNK Playmore has dropped its charges against manga publisher Square Enix and will allow the manga Hi Score Girl to use its characters without penalty. Last year, SNK filed a criminal complaint against Square Enix, charging that the manga, a comedy about gamers, included more than 100 instances of unauthorized use of SNK Playmore's characters. As a result, serialization of the manga was suspended while police pursued charges against 16 of the people involved in its publication. Today, Square Enix announced that the two companies have reached an agreement: SNK Playmore has dropped its claim, and the two companies will work together with regard to sharing their characters. [Anime News Network]
Awards | New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast is one of three women nominees for the Thurber Prize for American Humor, which has never been awarded to a woman until this year. Chast was nominated for her book Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? The other two nominations were for prose works: Novelist Julie Schumacher's Dear Committee Members and Annabelle Gurwitch's I See You Made an Effort. [The New York Times]
Retailing | Respected Brooklyn retailer Bergen Street Comics announced it will close in September after six years in business. "Opening the store, becoming a part of the neighborhood, and getting to meet so many great people has been an incredible experience for us," writes co-owner Tom Adams, "and we are grateful to each and every one of you for giving us the opportunity to build something very special." [Bergen Street Comics]
Conventions | Following the success of the inaugural Flame Con in June in New York City, organizer Geeks OUT has announced the "second annual celebration of queer pop culture, comics, games, books, art, and entertainment" for Aug. 20-21, 2016. [Flame Con]
Manga | Dark Horse has acquired the license to Kentaro Miura's Giganto Maxia, the Berserk creator's first new manga in 20 years. [Dark Horse]
Comics | To mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Alabama cartoonist J.D. Crowe shares some of his sketches, which amount to a graphic diary of the events. [AL.com]
Comics | Following the weekend offer on comiXology, Boing Boing now has the first issue of Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's sci-fi tale Descender available for free. [Boing Boing]
Comics | With a Doctor Strange movie in development, Ben McCool introduces the uninitiated to Marvel's Sorcerer Supreme. [Tech Times]
Retailing | Forced Comics and Collectibles has opened in Edmonton, Alberta. [Daily Herald Tribune]