Links: Binky under the microscope

At Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie Opipari reviews Binky Under Pressure and interviews Binky creator Ashley Spires about the inspiration for her lead character:

I grew up with eights cats and a dog, so cats are the natural star to all my imaginings. When I got my own apartment, I got two kittens and for the first time I had strictly indoor cats. They are different than other cats and I believe their imaginations kick into high gear when they aren’t able to chase mice and birds outside. Suddenly moths and mosquitoes get the brunt of all that pent up instinct. So it was from them that the space cat mythology arose. The look and name of Binky came from my sister’s cat, whom she rescued from a shelter. He had a rough past that left him mostly blind, deaf, short several teeth and suffering from respiratory problems. But his love of people is still so strong that he will literally throw himself at anyone for a cuddle. I figured if anyone deserved to be a superhero it was this guy.

Suvudu has a preview of volume 8 of the Flight anthology.

Dark Horse has a new miniseries starting this month, House of Night, based on the novels by P.C. and Kristin Cast, and they look like a good bet for teens who have outgrown Harry Potter. Shaun Manning of Comic Book Resources interviewed P.C. Cast about the comic and artist Joëlle Jones about how she developed the look of the book, as well as how she integrates her work with that of the other artist, Karl Kerschl.

The editors of Spitball magazine have announced the finalists for the CASEY awards for the best baseball books of the year, and 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente is among them. (Via Robot 6.)

In digital news, the Islamic superhero comic The 99 got its own iOS app and webstore last week.

And Marvel will start including a code in each print copy of its Ultimates line that allows the user to download a free digital copy of the same comic. But Graeme McMillan catches a bit of hyperbole in the press release: Marvel wasn’t the first publisher to offer digital comics on the same day they come out in print—Archie beat them to it.

Julie P is giving away two sets of the fall Toon books at Booking Mama.

Reviews: Rob McMonigal reviews Snarked! #1, Peanuts #0, and some other recent offerings from BOOM! Studios at Panel Patter.

Sam Kusek on Americus (Comics Alliance)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Archie: A Celebration of America’s Favorite Teenagers (Comics Worth Reading)
Sterg Botzakis on Beowulf (Gareth Hinds adaptation) (Graphic Novel Resources)
Chris Mautner on Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes (Robot 6)
Drew McCabe on Power Lunch, Sketch Monsters, and Unico (Comic Attack)

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