Education | Jean Schulz, widow of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, has donated $1 million to the Ohio State University Cartoon Library & Museum for the renovation of Sullivant Hall, future home of the research facility. She also pledged an additional matching gift of $2.5 million if the university raises an equal amount. [The Daily Cartoonist]
Publishing | Acclaimed manga creator Takehiko Inoue told a Japanese newspaper that his acclaimed samurai series Vagabond will end "within one or two years." Inoue has been drawing the award-winning manga since 1998. Vagabond is published in North America by Viz Media. [Anime News Network]
Sales charts | Although the Watchmen collection is tumbling down the USA Today bestseller chart, it still rests comfortably atop the paperback and hardcover sections of The New York Times' Graphic Books Best Seller List. And while the manga category is again dominated by Naruto, in seven of the 10 spots, the paperback list has a couple of noteworthy entries in the second and third spots: IDW's move prequel Star Trek: Countdown, and Drawn & Quarterly's Yoshihiro Tatsumi autobiography A Drifting Life. [ArtsBeat]
Comic strips | Jaime Weinmen surveys the comics pages, and sees a lot of hand-wringing about the recession. I like the headline: "They ignored Vietnam, 9/11 and Iraq but Archie, Blondie and Co. sure are worried about the economy." [Maclean's]
Creators | In a two-part interview with Kiel Phegley, writer Ed Brubaker discusses his lengthy run on Marvel's Captain America: "Bucky seems to be the Little Engine That Could. Everyone who was completely resistant to the idea of Bucky coming back totally embraced him as a character after about a year. There's probably one or two that didn't, but most people were like, 'Wow! They pulled it off. Unbelievable.' And then when Bucky became Cap, it was the same thing. 'Oh, this is terrible.' But now, the book is selling better with Bucky as Cap than it ever did with Steve as Cap." [Marvel.com]
Creators | Writer Sterling Gates talks about DC Comics' Supergirl: "At the end of the day, I want Supergirl to not only be an iconic superhero in the DCU, but also a good role model for kids and adults alike." [Living Between Wednesdays]
History | Sean Kleefeld explains why Martin Goodman called his company Atlas Comics in the 1950s and -- what I found more interesting -- why he and other publishers operated under so many different company names in the '40s. I'll happily file the last part under "You Learn Something New Every Day." [Kleefeld on Comics]
Conventions | Everdeen Mason files a report from last weekend's Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo in Columbus, Ohio. [The Lantern]
Retailing | Ben Fulton spotlights Salt Lake City's Night Flight Comics, whose downtown location is at the city's main library. "There's something about being near a library that validates comics somehow," says store employee Josh Stasinos. [The Salt Lake Tribune]
Retailing | These horrible comic books-as-investments stories refuse to go away. All that's missing is Jim Kramer ringing a cow bell. [KDKA.com]
Comics | Yesterday, I posted about the 25 greatest superhero romances. Today, Michael Cavna asks creators to name the best comic-strip love affair ever, while John Jakala lists his 20 greatest romances in manga. [Comic Riffs, Sporadic Sequential]