Legal | Turkish cartoonist Mehmet Düzenli began serving a three-month sentence this week on charges of insulting Muslim preacher Adnan Oktar, who espouses controversial views, such as creationism and Holocaust denial. Oktar sued Düzenli over a cartoon about him, and Düzenli refused to appeal the sentence on the grounds that even if it were suspended, he still would not be able to express himself freely. "If Mr. Oktar has the right to claim that he is the Mahdi [the redeemer who is supposed to appear at the ‘end times’], I have the right to say that he is lying," he said. [Reporters Without Borders]
Comics sales | ICv2 has sales estimates for the direct market in May, which was a good month for chart-toppers, with four titles selling more than 100,000 copies, compared to just one in each of the first three months of the year. The top seller was Marvel's Original Sin #1, at 147,045 copies, but ICv2 notes that sales were juiced by incentives, including variant covers and a plastic eyeball, and that orders for the second issue are considerably lower. They also give the top 400 comics and the top 300 graphic novels charts for the month. [ICv2]
Comics sales | John Jackson Miller takes a look at total unit sales for the top 300 comics and graphic novels in May and finds the overall numbers are down from last year but still up considerably from five or more years ago. Year-to-date sales are only slightly less than in 2013, and he thinks it's likely this year's sales will catch up with last year's in June. [Comichron]
Graphic novels | Andrew A. Smith looks at the graphic novels created for the French publisher Futuropolis in collaboration with the Louvre; NBM is publishing them in English. [San Angelo Standard-Times]
Comics | Graham Clark takes a multifaceted look at the Indian comics scene, which is diversifying and growing in interesting ways. [Neon Tommy]
Political cartoons | Saudi Arabia has almost 20 professional political cartoonists, who focus mainly on domestic issues and avoid targeting individuals, as well as a community of up-and-coming creators, but women need more support to enter the field. [Arab News]
Manga | The manga super-group CLAMP is launching a new series in Japan based on its earlier manga Tsubasa. CLAMP frequently revisits earlier stories and characters, and Kodansha Comics is currently publishing an English-language edition of xxxHOLiC Rei, which is based on its earlier xxxHOLiC. [Anime News Network]
Superheroes | Helen Brown looks at superhero therapy, in which psychologists use superhero stories to help patients understand and cope with depression, post-traumatic stress and other disorders. [The Telegraph]
Conventions | Corinna Lawson files her con report on New York Special Edition, noting both the good (the panels, the creators) and the bad (not much cosplay, merchandise or manga). [GeekMom]
Retailing | Dan Wickline interviews Mike Ferrero, the owner of Fat Jack's comic shop in Philadelphia and 38-year veteran of the business. [Bleeding Cool]