Publishing | Publishers Weekly teases its forthcoming lists of the best books of the year with a Top 10 that includes David Small's National Book Award-nominated memoir Stitches. [Publishers Weekly]

Publishing | UK newspaper The Times rolls out a package marking the 70th anniversary of Marvel Comics with profiles of Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr., 70 facts "you didn't know" about the company, and a gallery. [Times Online]

Publishing | Back issues of Cerebus Archives, Dave Sim's bimonthly DVD extras-style collection of letters, stories and artwork, are now available through print-on-demand publisher ComiXpress. [ComiXpress]

Blogosphere | Mike Nebeker, co-host of the Geek Tragedy Podcast, passed away Oct. 27 from an apparent stroke. He was 41. According to this blog entry, his co-hosts plan on Tuesday to post a new episode that will contain their farewells and Nebeker's unaired interviews from the Alternative Press Expo. After that, they'll take some time off from the podcast. [Geek Tragedy Podnotes]

Comic strips | Amazon has announced the 10 finalists for its Comic Strip Superstar contest. [Digital Strips]



Sales charts | R. Crumb's The Book of Genesis Illustrated is the top hardcover for the second week on The New York Times Graphic Books bestseller list, followed by The Absolute Death, which debuts at No. 2. The sixth collection of Jack of Fables bows as the No. 2 paperback, behind The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks, while the 46th volume of Naruto continues to lead the manga chart. [The New York Times]

Creators | Jeff Kinney, author of the bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, discusses, among other things, response to the books' hybrid diary-comic format: "The mix of a handwritten font and lots of illustrations makes the books feel accessible to kids. I haven’t gotten a lot of backlash for not having written 'real' literature, but I wouldn’t mind it. My books are just for fun, and I think they’re a gateway to more legitimate reading. I’ve gotten thousands of emails from parents and teachers saying my books turned have their kids into readers. I can’t say that’s what I set out to do, but I’m proud that it’s happening." [School Library Journal]

Creators | Ben Towle and Chris Pitzer cover an appearance earlier this week in Richmond, Virginia, by R. Crumb and Françoise Mouly. Also, art critic Kenneth Baker provides your Crumb interview of the day. [Comics Worth Reading, AdHouse Books Blog, San Francisco Chronicle]



Creators | This Modern World cartoonist Tom Tomorrow (aka Dan Perkins) chats briefly about politics, inspiration and hate mail: "Hate mail seems to be cyclical. The immediate post-9/11 era was the worst I’ve ever been through. Every bloodthirsty moron who ever disagreed with me about anything suddenly felt empowered and angry. I was living in New York City at the time, and the threat of terrorism was constant and pervasive, but these people frightened me almost as much, at least on a personal level. That all faded away as the Glorious Victories they kept predicting failed to materialize; you could almost chart the disenchantment with George W. Bush by the decline in hate mail I was getting. These days, they’re starting up again, but I can’t say I pay a lot of attention anymore. The problem is, e-mail flattens everything. In the old days, people had to care enough about whatever they wanted to send you to find a stamp and an envelope and track down an address. With e-mail, you’re subject to any random brain fart someone might feel like sending. I tend to filter a lot, just to not let it eat up too much of my time." [Campus Progress]

Comics | An auction will be held Sunday and Monday for a stash of more than 30,000 Silver Age comics discovered in the basement of a home in St. Louis County, Missouri. The collection is expected to bring in more than $500,000. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]