Conventions | Tokyo Comic Con has reversed its prohibition on males cosplaying as females (a practice known as "crossplaying"). On its official Facebook page, the convention stated "As a result of a committee conference, we’ve moved forward with removing the ban on (men) dressing as women (characters)." But there's something new: The convention will issue gender-specific color-coded cosplay badges that will be checked when attendees enter restrooms or changing areas. The Tokyo Comic Con, which is in its first year, is organized by the same planners that run Steve Wozniak's Silicon Valley Comic Con. [Kotaku]

Passings | Underground comics creator Joyce Farmer remembers her colleague Lyn Chevli, who died October 8. Chevli and Farmer's "Tits & Clits" was the first underground comic created by women, predating "Wimmin's Comix" by a few weeks. Finding the comic wasn't getting much coverage outside the alternative press because of its title, Chevli and Farmer changed its name to "Pandora's Box" for the second issue but later reverted to the original name. The two creators, who had been involved in birth control and pregnancy counseling for the Laguna Beach Free Clinic, also created an educational comic about abortion, "Abortion Eve." "Bitchy Bitch" creator Roberta Gregory said that Chevli and Farmer "gave women’s liberation’s second wave a very badly needed dose of sass. The spirit of their comics was uniquely unlike any other aspect of the literature, and even other women’s comics of the era. They were my mentors, encouraging me to publish my own comics." [The Comics Journal]

Creators | Raina Telgemeier, creator of best-selling graphic novels "Smile" and "Sisters," talks about how she developed as a creator, her writing process, and why she likes to write for young readers. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Manga | Veteran manga editor Kazuhiko Torishima discusses what he learned as editor of "Weekly Shonen Jump," working with Akira Toriyama to develop "Dragon Ball," bringing gaming into manga magazines and his part in the creation of "Dragon Quest," and how he is challenging the traditional hierarchy of Japanese business in his current role as president of the publisher Hakusensha. [Forbes]

Manga | Viz senior director of sales and marketing Kevin Hamric talks about how the Pokemon manga are doing in the wake of the popularity of Pokemon Go (spoiler: very well) [ICv2]

Publishing | The illustrated book publisher Insight Editions is launching a new graphic novel imprint that will launch in March 2017. The line will consist of both licensed and original properties, and the first season will include a print edition of Nilah Magruder's webcomic M.F.K. and four translated comics from Europe; also in the works are original graphic novels based on the video games "Mafia" and "X-Com" and the movie "Die Hard." [Publishers Weekly]

History | As this year's Wizard World Tulsa wound down, columnist Jimmie Trammel looked at how Oklahoma reacted to the comics scare in the 1950s, with bans, comics exchanges (kids could swap five horror comics for one "good" comic, or 10 for a "real" book), and some newsstands just refusing to carry them at all. “Kids were wasting time, sitting in front of the stands reading funny books and we couldn’t tolerate it,” said one drugstore owner. “We had been culling out (objectionable) books for a long time, but it got to a point where we didn’t have time and we couldn’t cull out the ones we didn’t want.” Trammel also talks to Danny Fingeroth to put the anti-comics crusades into context. [Tulsa World]

Collectors | Father Greg McCallum, pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Traverse City, Michigan, has a comics collection that once reached 10,000 comics, but he has parted with most of them over the years. Now he has donated the pride of his collection, 200 Marvel comics featuring Iron Man, to a fund-raising auction for local Catholic schools. McCallum's comics, which include the issue in which Iron Man made his first appearance, “Tales of Suspense” #39, is valued at $4,320. [Traverse City Record Eagle]

Retailing | Anna Cebrian, owner of Illusive Comics and Games in Santa Clara, California, talks about the state of women in comics and how she encourages diversity in her own store. [The Almanac]