TOOLS (update)
Google Trends now has specific results for individual URLs so you can track things like what other websites visitors to PVP like to go to.

META
Steve Frug thinks through what length should mean when talking about graphic novels (hint: it's not the same as a text-only novel). (h/t Journalista!)

INTERVIEWS
Tom Spurgeon interviews alt-comix star Lynda Barry.

Sean Collins reposts an interview with alt-comix stars Gilbert and Jamie Hernandez he conducted last year.

(not comics but what the hey) ComixMix interviews World War Z author Max Brooks.

CONVENTIONS
Webcomic creators:  you're not invited to Okaton this year but hey feature the con in our contest and win something... (that's what this press release read like to me anyway...)

Posting may get light through the July 4th weekend but be sure to check out the reader talk posts while I'm being lazy...

Okay I didn't see that one coming...  Journalista! links to a Platinum Studios news release that they are in negotiations to buy WOWIO.  Wowio is a website in a state of suspended animation right now -- and was the subject of lots of speculation last week.

Newsarama interviewed some of the creators, including Park and Barbara Lien-Cooper, who entered Tokyopop's comics contest.  Heidi MacDonald comments on the ongoing Platinum and Tokyopop stories and  Lea Hernandez weighs in again on the Tokyopop contracts.

While I'll admit I do get annoyed at the more judgmental commentators on these stories, I do think that work-for-hire contracts giving the publisher the copyright to original material is horribly horribly wrong for comics.  It's great for companies interested in amassing IP for sales to Hollywood.  But that IP-centric model -- especially when such companies don't really get around to publishing comics -- somedays it seems a lot like the company that buys up a lot of patents without any intent to actually manufacture anything.

DJ Coffman blogs again about his ongoing issues with Platinum over the Hero By Night comic.  Coffman states that he's now paid in full and that Platinum has terminated his consultant contract with them.  Final results?  Coffman paid what he's owed; Platinum boxing up Hero By Night like the Ark of the Covenant.  Platinum owns the copyright on it so it can do what it wants, including never doing anything with it again.

FLEEN has an interview with Rich Stevens on his recent announcement that he'll stop production of the newspaper version of Diesel Sweeties later this year.  Stevens has been maintaining both the web version and a second newspaper version since striking a syndication deal with United Features.  Stevens notes that Diesel Sweeties appeared in about 50 papers at its height, but that "My website and merch were a little over 90% of my gross income last year."

Also Stevens slips that he and Meredith Gran spoke at the Googleplex recently and their talk should be online some time soon.

Another webcomic inspired game -- Wired reports on user-created games appearing on X-Box's portal:

Another game shown off by Microsoft at GDC, Little Gamers is based on the webcomic of the same name. The adorable drawings belie the gruesome violence; most of the gameplay consists of hacking people to death with a surprisingly large variety of guns and melee weapons.

Comics Worth Reading writes that it's been a year since DC announced the coming of  Zuda (the site actually went live last October) and this July, Zuda will be holding the "Zuda Comics 2008 Invitational" sort of a supplemental contest to their regular monthly contest.  It will feature 10 comics selected by "fan response".

Zuda is essentially another IP farm, like Platinum, TokyoPop (and Marvel and DC...) and now that it's had a number of "winners" I'd really like to see some stories on how the winners are faring and whether their experience with DC/Zuda has lived up to their expectations.

FLEEN spots that the WOWIO site is now one page titled "WOWIO is Going Global".  This is odd and probably ominous, not only because as FLEEN noted that language such as “retooling content agreements” might be PR-speak for “drop the payment rate through the floor” but because you've got a site down for at least two weeks.  I suspect that WOWIO in its previous format made no profits -- because if it was making a profit there'd be no reason at all to pull it down.  When you do a new site you don't have to take the old one down -- you have this thing called a development server where you can get the new one shiny and ready to go and for the most part there's no reason for any downtime at all.

UPDATE: Brigid Alverson rounds up more about the WOWIO situation, including some idea of how much money WOWIO has paid out to creators so far.  Heidi MacDonald notes that, she had heard rumors that the company was slow on its payments to creators and that the company has been sold.  No sources cited on either rumor though.

Chris Jones' Grumps is over!  And it was just a foul-mouthed kids tv show?...

Chris Bobby Crosby's and Remy Mokhtar's Marry Me is almost done, climaxing with a not completely unexpected marriage proposal between the main characters.  This story of a pop star's snap marriage to someone in the audience is completely high concept but Crosby and Mokhtar made a really enjoyable comic out of it, filling out the two main characters pretty well. 

Here's hoping Crosby does get a movie made out this story. Why not?  It's a good concept and would make a pretty damn funny romantic comedy.

UPDATE: Yes this is the same Bobby Crosby who seemingly exhibits tourettes-like symptoms everytime he posts on a message board.