Comics | An auction of Tintin items held Sunday in southern Belgium broke national and world sales records, and raised $1.57 million. The highest-priced item was a page from the 1963 book The Castafiore Emerald, purchased by an anonymous collector for more than $424,000 -- three times the catalog estimate. [AFP]

Conventions | There's still more coverage from last weekend's Toronto Comic Arts Festival, including photo galleries from Torontoist and Deb Aoki, a roundup from the National Post, and a Doug Wright Awards piece in The Globe and Mail. Scott McCloud also has a good collection of links. [Toronto Comic Arts Festival]

Publishing | According to this article, Friday marked the 25th anniversary of The Transformers comic-book franchise, which debuted in 1984 from Marvel Comics as a four-issue miniseries. It would continue for 80 issues. [Total Sci-Fi]

Retailing | Sean Kleefeld spotlights Haven Distributors, and considers the year-old company's chances. [Kleefeld on Comics]

Retailing | Matt Maxwell looks at catastrophism and the comics market. [Comics Waiting Room]



Publishing | Whitney Matheson has the first look at the cover for Bill Willingham's Peter & Max: A Fables Novel, Vertigo's first foray into prose. It's set for release in October. [Pop Candy]

Webcomics | Warren Ellis has declared this "Webcomics Week" on Whitechapel, and has started a thread for creators to promote their online series. [Whitechapel]

Creators | Jaime Hernandez discusses Love and Rockets, and the inspirations for his female characters: "I’ve always like being friends with women. Besides liking to draw them, there’s just something about women—they’re very interesting creatures, for lack of a better term (laughs). I guess because they’re not boys? It interests me the way in which they react to things, and the way they treat each other, and the way they treat boys. It’s just fun trying to get into their heads. I don’t know if I’m doing it right, but no one’s complained so far." [Omnivoracious]

Creators | Dave Gibbons talks about comics, technology and what he's reading. [Shiny Shiny]

Creators | Mark Sable delves into the marketing effort behind his comic Unthinkable. [Belkis NYC]



Creators | Billy Smoke writer B. Clay Moore chats about his hopes for the planned film adaptation: "In an ideal world, a Billy Smoke movie does well and drives people to the book." [Splash Page]

Creators | Strangeways writer Matt Maxwell is interviewed for the Comic Book Outsiders podcast. I'm listening to it now. [Comic Book Outsiders]

Comics | Jeffery Klaehn runs down the 25 coolest comic-book villains. [Pop]

Pop culture | Hollywood discovers its inner geek. [The Atlantic]

Fandom | British TV host Jonathan Ross bonds with rapper Eminem over comics. [Daily Mail]