Courtney Crumrin creator Ted Naifeh talks about his new series, Princess Ugg, about a barbarian princess at a posh finishing school: “So it’s a fish out of water story in a fantasy setting,” he told CBR. “I thought it’d be fun to mash up sword and sorcery fantasy with the more mainstream Disney-style fantasy.”

Here’s a treat for fans of MAD Magazine: Sergio Aragones has drawn a massive, intricately detailed cartoon of the magazine’s history.

And here are two great documentaries about comics creators: One about Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of manga, and one about Charles Schulz, the father of Peanuts.

Zainab Akhtar posts a list of great comics for kids, with an interior page from each one so you can get a sense of the style and reading level.

Sad news: Silver Age artist Nick Cardy, whose titles included Teen Titans and Aquaman, has died at the age of 93.

Calvin Reid of Publishers Weekly has a great interview with Charles Brownstein, executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which often provides assistance with library challenges.

Cliff Bellamy writes about a group of teenagers who are making their own superhero comics to explore their experiences with racism.

UK cartoonist Lew Stringer posts a classic Beano cover showing Biffo the Bear with his Halloween turnip. Back in the day, you see, Halloween wasn’t a big deal over there—it was pretty much eclipsed by Guy Fawkes Day—but there was a tradition of carving turnips into Jack O’Lanterns. I lived in Scotland for a year and I had one of these; I’m partly saving this link just so people won’t think I was making it up. In other UK comics news, Stringer wishes prolific comics artist Leo Baxendale a happy birthday by showing off some of his work.

Previews

Regular Show #5

Reviews

A Library Girl on vol. 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Richard Bruton on this week’s issue of The Phoenix (Forbidden Planet)
Little Willow on A Stray in the Woods (Guys Lit Wire)