News came today that Golden Age illustrator Al Williamson had passed away. He was 79. Al was a great artist who drew iconic images of Flash Gordon in the 1960s and well beyond. He was also the artist behind the comic strip Secret Agent Corrigan, and, in the work of his that made the most profound impact on me, the Star Wars comic book that Marvel put out when I was a kid.

Ever thought about taking a class to learn to write comics? Now you can. New York's Hofstra University is offering the course "Writing Graphic Novels" this summer as part of its Summer Writers Program. The class will be taught by Keith Dallas, and the description promises students will have finished a 22-page chapter by the end of the course, as well as learned the basics of the business, both in writing and in approaching artists and others for help. Classes take place in nine sessions running from July 6 through 16, from 9:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Congratulations to Raina Telgemeier's Smile, which was just named a 2010 Boston Globe Horn Book Award Honor Book in the nonfiction category. I remember first meeting Raina back in December at the GNR holiday party, and I told her I couldn't wait to read her book. Once I did, I was in love with it and tried to share it with friends and acquaintances. I'm so glad to see she's gotten this distinction from the Boston Globe. The book really deserves it.

Writer Eric Hobbes and artist Noel Tuazon are the creative team behind The Broadcast, a new graphic novel about the night Orson Welles terrified radio listeners with his rendition of War of the Worlds (it's also included on our Hottest Graphic Novels of Summer 2010 list). The two creators are sponsoring an interesting contest in promotion of their book. Their book is about a town in rural Indiana that loses power before its residents discover that there is no alien invasion, and the wild events that transpire as a result.