This is a little old at this point, but I missed it earlier and I thought it was amusing enough to share here now: Huffington Post reports on psychologists analyzing Batman's horde of crazy archnemeses and finds that Batman has been doing a rather terrible job of dealing with the crazy in his daily life. Of course the real question is who's crazier, the villains or Batman?

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One of the works featured in the documentary Comic Book Literacy, which was directed by Todd Kent, has now been published, and it's well worth noting for both its content and its charity work. Echoes of the Lost Boys of Sudan is a story about four boys growing up in Sudan who find their lives irrecovably changed by war. The book's timely content ties in with the recent independence of Southern Sudan, and proceeds from its sale will benefit Proceeds benefit the DTA, USTA, NJTL Program founded by Arthur Ashe.

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Pacific Northwest College is starting a new graphic award for comic arts, called the Oregon Book Awards in Graphic Literature. Anyone can submit an entry before the deadline of August 26 at 5:00 p.m. (for a $40 fee). The award is to honor outstanding graphic work by Oregonian creators and will be given out during the spring 2012 Oregon Book Awards. If you know of a work eligible and deserving, go here for more information on submissions.

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Those in the New York area: MoCCA has announced a new discussion, Will Eisner's Evolution: From The Spirit to A Contract with God and Beyond for Thursday, August 4th. The panel will be moderated by Danny Fingeroth and will feature Denny O'Neill, David Hajdu, and N.C. Christopher Couch. It takes place at 7 p.m. and costs just $7 (but is free for members). The panel ties in with MoCCA's current exhibits Will Eisner's New York and In the Spirit of Will Eisner. For more details, visit www.moccany.org.

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This might have been my favorite announcement from San Diego Comic-Con. I'm a huge fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes. In fact, it's my all-time favorite. It's the first comic book I ever bought, and I love it to this day. And everybody loves Star Trek, right? So a team-up between these two legendary institutions is an epic event in my book.

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There's a very interesting article in the latest issue of Wired (and online here) about dwindling monthly issue sales for comics and the upcoming market for comics on the iPad. Writer Douglas Wolk profiles comiXology cofounder David Steinberger and analyzes how the digital marketplace (currently only about 1% of sales for the industry) is expected to grow exponentially soon. As someone who's been resisting the urge to adopt an iPad or any other ereader into my reading habits (whether for prose or comics), I'm intrigued...lately I have very much been feeling the notion that it's time for me to change my mind. My romanticized ideas about the feel and smell of paper are perhaps just overinflated memories from my youth. That's not to say I'm now ready to go jump into the ereader pool...but I'm dipping my toe and realizing I don't want to be the last adopter. It might be time.

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I can only say I agree wholeheartedly with this opinion piece: Seeing Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) all grown up "perturbed the universe." It's not that the artist didn't do a phenomenal job (he did; I love the look of it, actually...it makes me nostalgic for the strip, in fact), but Calvin as a grown-up is disturbing (and there's something hipsterish about him, too, which is just awful beyond words). I say no, at least for this strip.

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I'm happy to announce that the following press release is going out today, announcing the reteaming of Brodart Company, Diamond Book Distributors, and GraphicNovelReporter on another milestone giveaway for libraries. The drawing will take place at the upcoming American Library Association annual meeting in New Orleans in June. See the press release below for full details. Good luck to all the libraries who enter!

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The end of this month will see the massive Book Expo America return to New York City, where the huge celebration of all things related to the publishing industry will also include some comics-related panels. I'll be moderating the panel Hot Fall Graphic Novels for Libraries, taking place on Wednesday, May 25, at 11:00 a.m., in room 1E16 of the Javits Center. If you're attending BEA, please make time to attend the panel.

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