Legal | Crime comics, including most superhero titles, are illegal in Canada, thanks to a seldom-enforced 1940s-era law that's still on the books. The law, which was enacted during one of the early waves of anti-comics hysteria, bans the publishing, sale or possession with intent to sell of any comic that depicts a crime. Elton Hobson tells the whole tale, which starts with a murder and ends with a shrug from a retailer who's confident she won't be clapped in irons for selling Spider-Man comics. [Global News]



Cosplay | Here's the story of Myrtle Douglas, aka Morojo, a super-fan from the 1930s to the 1950s who was the first cosplayer: She and fellow fan Forrest J. Ackerman showed up at the sci-fi convention Wondercon in 1939 in costumes that she designed and made. [Racked]

Comics | David Barnett looks at how Love and Rockets changed the world, with Neil Gaiman and Gail Simone weighing in on what it meant to them. [The Guardian]



Creators | John Patrick Green winds up his series of Children's Book Week interviews with a chat with Raina Telgemeier. [The Roarbots]

Creators | James Sturm's wordless graphic novel Birdsong is inspired by the Japanese art of kamishibai, basically storytelling with pictures. Two performance artists — one a storyteller, the other a musician — have been using the images from the book as a springboard for their own original works. [Seven Days]

Creators | Maris Wicks went from program director of the New England Aquarium to creator of graphic novels such as Human Body Theater and the recently released Science Comics: Coral Reefs: Cities of the Sea, in which she mixes science and storytelling. [Comic Riffs]

Comics | Kaleon Rahan reads and reviews five recent Malaysian comics. [Star2.com]



Publishing | The Seattle comics paper The Intruder is shutting down after 20 years of publishing the work of local comics creators. The paper not only provided a sense of community but also inspired several other comics-only papers in nearby cities. [The Stranger]

Libraries | The Atlantic City Free Public Library of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Birchwood School Library of Columbia, South Carolina, are the winners of this year's Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries. The award includes a $2,000 credit for purchasing graphic novels from Diamond Book Distributors, $1,000 to host a graphic novel-themed event, and $1,000 to go towards travel expenses for the American Library Association's Annual Conference, plus a complete set of all the books and comics nominated for the Eisner Award this year. [ICv2]

Education | Roshni Nair pays a visit to the Indian Institute of Cartoonists, where aspiring cartoonists go to hone their craft, studying both Indian and European cartooning styles. The institute has an art gallery, and a library is in the works. One trend that managing trustee VG Narendra notes: An increase in the number of women who are attending the institute's two-day cartooning workshops. [The News Minute]

Conventions | Carolina Gonzalez files her con report on the Barcelona Comics and Manga Fair. [Comicosity]

Retailing | First Age Comics in Lancaster, England, celebrated 10 years in business on Free Comic Book Day.[Down the Tubes]