Publishing | Chart-watcher John Jackson Miller wades into the grim direct-market sales figures for August, and notes that they mirror the state of the market in 2000: "Like 2010, 2000 was a year with a successful super-hero movie release — the first X-Men film. In that year, however, it had little impact on the market partially due to the cash-poor position of retailers at the time — and we might expect retailers were in the same position this year. [...]  In 2000, by contrast, the reason wasn't the general economy, but rather the seven-year industry recession that preceded it. Another similar element: price increases. From 1999 to 2000, Marvel went from benchmarks of $1.99 and $2.50 to $2.50 and $2.99. Other titles increased as well; $2.95 first became the industry's median price in late 1999.  The 2000 jumps are one of the more drastic previous increases by percentage — eclipsed, of course, by the current $2.99-to-$3.99 move." [The Comichron]

Legal | India's Delhi High Court has refused to hear a complaint by Archie Comics challenging the use of the name "Archies" by Mumbai-based Purple Creations. The court said it had no jurisdiction in the matter because Archie doesn't have an office in India. [Deccan Herald]



Publishing | Jeff Smith's Cartoon Books is moving its bookstore distribution from Diamond Book Distributors to Publishers Group West, effective Oct. 1. [ICv2.com]

Publishing | Sarah E. Needleman spotlights Dark Horse President Mike Richardson. [The Wall Street Journal]

Retailing | Diamond Comic Distributors will release more details of its "Day Early Delivery" program on Oct. 8 during a Retailer Appreciation Breakfast at New York Comic Con. [ICv2.com]

Retailing | Comics Cubed is set to open today in Kokomo, Indiana, thanks in part to a $15,000 loan from the city designed to encourage businesses to locate downtown. [Kokomo Perspective]

Organizations | Valerie D'Orazio has announced that as of Jan. 1 she'll no longer be president of Friends of Lulu, the troubled comics-advocacy group that's in danger of losing its tax-exempt status. She was elected president in September 2007. [Occasional Superheroine]



Conventions | Heidi MacDonald reports on last weekend's Small Press Expo, which drew slightly more than 2,000 paid attendees, up 18 percent from 2009 and 30 percent from 2008. [Publishers Weekly]

Conventions | Cincinnati Comic Expo will be held Saturday at Xavier University's Cintas Center. Guests include Murphy Anderson, Russ Heath, Lora Innes, Tony Moore and Michael Uslan. [FOX19.com]

Creators | Brian Heater kicks off a three-part interview with Lisa Hanawalt. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Comics | The Yale Law School library's exhibit "Superheroes in Court! Lawyers, Law and Comic Books," which runs through December, showcases comics ranging from Action Comics #359 ("The Case of the People vs. Superman") to Wolff & Byrd: Counselors of the Macabre, as well as documents like the 1955 report to the U.S. Senate called "Comic Books and Juvenile Delinquency." [The New York Times]

Comics | Jesse Schedeen counts down the 10 most dangerous places in comics, from Marvel's Eastern Europe to DC's Middle East to Bludhaven. [IGN.com]

Comics | Eight superheroes that turned evil but got better. [Topless Robot]