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Graphic Novel Cabaret at the Toronto Reference Library Atrium 10 PM Sept 30th
Panel discussion/interviews with local cartoonists and Beguiling personnel including Kalman Andrasofszky, Chris Butcher, Ramon Perez, Chip Zdarsky, Peter Birkemoe and stef lenk.
Tuesday, October 3rd Boa Bar, 5301 St-Laurent, Montreal, PQ, 8pm, free
Announcing the Montreal Book Launch for NOG A DOD: Prehistoric Canadian Psychedooolia edited by Marc Bell!
This is news to both book lovers and art afficianados. Presented by Conundrum Press, the event will include a one day art show by contributor S.P. Ehman.
Nog A Dod: Prehistoric Canadian Psychedooolia
Please join us at BOA BAR for the release of Nog A Dod, a landmark in Canadian Oddball Art Publishing, edited by Marc Bell (cartoonist responsible for Worn Tuff Elbow, Shrimpy and Paul and The Stacks).
This new book from Montreal's Conundrum Press documents nearly a decade of work by a loosely affiliated group of artists including Bell, Peter Thompson, Jason McLean, Amy Lockhart, Keith Jones, Owen Plummer, Tommy Lacroix, Tara Azzopardi, Jonathan Petersen, Dirty Debbie, S.P. Ehman, Scott Evans, Julie Voyce and Mark Connery.
Their work falls somewhere between children's book art, comics, psychedelia and fine art. Nog A Dod focuses on some of their greatest self-published achievements: The Book Of Sweden, Bucktooth Magnifying Glass, Ultra Sommy, The Perpetual Motion Machine, Carousel, Strawbaby, Flip Flop Prophets, Volvo Rollbars, Knoze Clippah, Pee On The Owl, Long Time Journey and many more. Several "Nogs" will be in attendance for this launch including Marc Bell and local artists who are featured in the book.
In this weeks MIRROR "For most folks, open-ended doodling is an activity limited to occupying fidgety hands while tied up on the phone. For the Canadian artists assembled for the latest book from Montreal's Conundrum Press, however, it offers a whole new vista of expression. Nog a Dod: Prehistoric Canadian Psyckedooolia is a weighty tome... ...bursting with sketches, jams, abstract comics, odd texts, collages, altered photos and all manner of combinations thereof. Expect wizards and wildlife, hobos and hot rods, priests and pyramids, monster machines and mustachioed macho men. Do not, conversely, expect to make heads or tails of the damn thing." - Rupert Bottenberg
This weeks Hour "...The impressive, extensive, half-colour tome by Conundrum Press, edited by comic artist Marc Bell, unites the work of dozens of artists, loosely related by either style or provenance, in a pleasing order that doesn't really presume any. The idea was to present in a new context works from a particular scene that were originally created as self-published artists' books. Treat yourself to a chunk of psychedoolia history..." -
According to Michel Viau at BDQ this weekend is chock full of comics events in Quebec:
1. Week of BD Launch in conjunction with www.lecteurs.ca, a bookshop-based week of comics-related talks and roundtables beginning with a talk about webzines but continuing on Friday with a roundtable talk with Jimmy Beaulieu, Michel Viau, Eric Theriault, Alexandra Oakley et Francois Mayeux.
UNDERCARD, a new six-issue serialized comic by creators Chris Gumprich ("Evening Shift") and Dennis Culver ("Funwrecker," "Plastic Farm"), will be debuting its first issue at the Stumptown Comics Festival, Table 70, October 29-30 in Portland, Oregon.
UNDERCARD focuses on Joe White, a journeyman boxer who never got his shot at a championship. After losing everything, he finally sees a way out, unfortunately, it's through his iron-fisted protege.
"Every boxing story seems to be about the underdog champion," Chris Gumprich, writer and co-creator, said, "but for every Rocky Balboa, there are thousands of other guys who never quite make it. UNDERCARD is about one of those guys - a past-his-prime loser who still thinks he has what it takes."
"I've always wondered why there weren't more boxing comics," said Dennis Culver, artist and co-creator, "for some reason it's an overlooked genre. But after Chris and I worked together on the ROUND FOUR mini last year, we both realized that there was a solid story to tell."
"We plan to self publish this in limited quantities on a quarterly basis and if demand is strong we'll publish in wide release as a trade paperback," said Gumprich. "However, if there is an interested publisher out there, we'd be willing to put this out at an accelerated pace. We feel so strongly about it that we're putting our money where our mouths are. It's not easy for either of us, but that's what the story's about - sometimes you have to make sacrifices."
A French-language book festival featuring guest-appearances by several foreign and Quebec cartoonists, including Pascal Girard, Tristan Demers, Jocelyn Jalette, Yvon Brochu, & Fabien Rypert.
Lillian S. Robinson, a feminist scholar and activist, has died of ovarian cancer in Montreal. A respected lecturer and writer, Robinson was for the past six years Principle of the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia Univerisity. A seasoned protestor and former SDS-member, she wrote several scholarly books of criticism and cultural theory. Her last, Wonder Women: Feminisms and Superheroes, was published in 2003 by Taylor and Francis.
Concordia has posted a full obituary and has established and is soliciting donations for the "Lillian S. Robinson Scholars Program" to bring lecturers to the Institute.
Masters of Innovation: Chris Landreth & Donald McWilliams
Join TAIS and the NFB for an evening of unique perspectives on animation. At 7pm, Academy Award-winning animation filmmaker Chris Landreth (Ryan) will discuss his creative process. At 8PM, Academy Award-nominee and McLaren's friend and biographer Donald McWilliams (Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square, Creative Process - Norman McLaren) will reveal 'The Unknown McLaren'.
WHEN Thursday, September 28 Chris Landreth @ 7PM Donald McWilliams @ 8PM
THE TORONTO ANIMATED IMAGE SOCIETY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE INSTITUTO ITILIANO DI CULTURA PRESENTS:
THE FILMS OF BRUNO BOZZETTO (IN PERSON!)
September 26 + 27
Please join TAIS and the Italian Cultural Institute for two very exciting events with renowned Italian animator: Bruno Bozzetto. Born in Milan in 1938, Bozzetto is the master animator behind several features and countless shorts. Over the course of his prolific career, he has achieved international success and acclaim for his vast body of humorous, sophisticated and satirical animations. (www.bozzetto.com)
Allegro Non Troppo (1977) is both a celebration of Fantasia's artistry and a witty lampoon of it. In this satirical, feature-length animation a theatre manager brings together an orchestra, a pompous conductor, and a cartoonist - who draws a series of clever animated vignettes to accompany each musical number. Highlights of this animated classic include Bolero in which the contents of a bottle of Coke dropped by a spaceship evolve into amoebas, then vertebrate animals and eventually humanity. (Newly restored 35 mm print!)
Bozetto's Short Animations (1967-2004) An eclectic collection of sardonic shorts spanning Bozzetto's lengthy career. In recent years Bozzetto has turned his hand to flash cartoons, most notably with the award-winning "Europe and Italy", a witty and graphically elegant commentary on European vs. Italian socio-cultural attributes.
ALLEGRO NON TROPPO Filmmaker in attendance RESTORED 35mm film print! Tuesday, September 26 7 pm Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto PWYC
BOZZETTO'S SHORT ANIMATIONS (1967-2004) Wednesday, September 27 7pm Innis Town Hall. 2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto PWYC
CONTACT Toronto Animated Image Society 60 Atlantic, Studio 102 Toronto, Ontario M6K 1X9
The long-hinted-at Captain Canuck movie project seems to be inching forward, according to the profile of TVO kiddie show producer JJ Johnson in the Toronto Star.
Richard Comely's Captain Canuck property is one of those "half-decent ideas in search of competent content and execution for 30 years" stories but in today's wacky media environment a movie based on the mostly defunct 1970s property seems almost possible. Johnson, a successful producer who idolizes Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, may well be the man for the job.
Co:expozine.ca This year's Expozine, Montreal's annual small press, comic and zine fair, will be held on Saturday November 25, 2006 from 11 am to 6 pm, at 5035 St-Dominique, between St-Joseph and Laurier.(map)
This is the same location as last year - a first for Expozine which in previous years had to seek larger spaces each year - The space is a large hall in an old convent in the north west end of the fashionable Plateau district of Montreal, just before the hip Mile End neighbourhood.
Growing substantially every year it's been held so far, it's organizers expect over 200 creators of all kinds of printed matter in both English and French to attend this time. In the past five years, Expozine has become one of North America's largest small press fairs, attracting thousands of visitors as well as exhibitors from as far afield as Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa, and Quebec City! Decidedly one of the city's cultural success stories.
Exhibitors: To reserve your table at Expozine, fill out the super easy web registration form before November 1, 2006. You can also register by phone by calling 514-278-4879, or register in person at Monastiraki, 5478 St-Laurent corner St-Viateur, from Wednesday to Sunday from 11-5 p.m.
Sponsors: For information on becoming a sponsor, contact organizers at expozine@archivemontreal.org, or call 514-282-0146.
ComicBookBin's Herve St.Louis ">reviewsLes Derniers Corsairs, the new book from Quebec publisher La Pasteque. The book is a historical adventure by Jocelyn Houde & Marc Richard:
"Something I liked about this story, is that it wasn't bugged down in military details that non experts could not decipher. I would have loved to see more development of secondary cast members, such as the other officers and sailors s on the ship or some of the soldiers in the headquarters of the Royal Navy. More link to other pirates of the seas to ground the title of the book with the past of both corsairs and the British navy would have improved the story.
The artwork is a mix of Blain and Milton Caniff from Terry and the Pirates. The line work clearly dates the work in earlier days and suits the story."
A reminder that this September Comix jam will be held in our usual lair at Sala Rossa's Restaurante Espagnol (in the room near the stairs), 4848 St-Laurent, this coming Wednesday, September 27 at 8 PM. Don't forget to bring your pen, pencils, papers, clipboards and imagination!
Un pense-bete pour vous rappeller que le Comix Jam de Septembre aura lieu dans notre repaire habituel du restaurant espagnol de la Sala Rossa (la salle juste a cote des escaliers) au 4848 St-Laurent, ce mercredi, 27 septembre at 8 PM. N'oubliez pas vos stylos, crayons, papiers, planches et votre imagination!
N'oubliez pas de visiter notre blog pour admirer quelques realisations de nos jammers sur: www.comixjam.blogspot.com
Torontoist reminds us that Chester Brown is shilling the new trade paperback edition of Louis Riel at Booth 200 at Sunday's Word on the Street. Click the link to find the link to the Globe's quickie interview with the man in question.
Thanks to The Beat, an update on fledgling publisher Hope Larson's struggle to get Diamond Distributors to carry her first book, Rebecca Kraatz's House of Sugar.
Diamond had initially refused to carry the book because of it's "unprofessionalism" --a position the distributor explained in a crappy form letter filled with hilarious typos and non sequitors.
Apparently, after the publicity and maybe some intervention from helpful net types (?), Diamond has reversed it's decision and the book will be carried after all.
And don't forget, you can meet both Larson and Kraatz at the Word on the Street event in Halifax this Sunday.
Cartoonist Roy Peterson, in my mind most associated with Alan Fotherinham columns in Maclean's during the 80s (do they still do those?), attends the funeral of his brother who died in battle during WWII.
People just can't seem to stop blogging about last week's Wright Awards. This time around it's Dave Sim who provides a lengthy recap of the ceremony and several personal observations and photos of his experience.
Included is Sim's reminiscence of Doug Wright:
I did an interview by mail with Mr. Wright for the first issue of the Now & Then Times back in 1972 and still remember vividly the excitement of getting two syndicate proofs of the Max & Mini panel he was attempting to syndicate at the time, a long hand-written letter (unfortunately) both long ago misplaced, as well as a paperback of his Doug Wright's Family strips and a Doug Wright's Family original both of which I still have.
And a blow-by-blow of the Chester-Seth interview:
At one point, answering a question about his Libertarian political views Chet said, "All of my friends are liberals" and I momentarily considered yelling "HEY!" really loud from the back of the room for comedic effect (being, I was pretty sure, the only other person in the room besides Chet whose politics were to the right of Pierre Trudeau's) but thought better of it (yelling tends to frighten liberals terribly at the best of times and therefore has limited comedic applications in their native habitats)
Everyone linked to this new feature at For Better or For Worse --"The Making of a Comic Strip". Apparently it has something to do with pencils and paper...
Toronto's The Beguiling have added a blog to their homepage. It looks like it will be about new releases and signings, something Chris Butcher seems to cover at his own blog and at Torontocomics.com. But at least its all in one place.
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Another comics event in Vancouver --part of the national Word on the Street literary festival (kind of funny that this event in Vancouver is all "alternative" and underground but has a prominent place on the main program's website).
(Sequential mentioned the Halifax version of this yesterday and Chris Butcher has more details.)
Lots of punk rockers (like Nardwuar), scenesters, and zinesters but also lots of cartoonists. Look for a full cohort of the West Coast's inky-fingered fraternity, including Colin Upton. Joe Sacco (at least his publisher is Canadian) also makes an appearance.
Sunday, Sept 24.
THE WORD UNDER THE STREET Presented by Min[t] Records
all day Comics Contest Create your own three-panel creation here and enter it to win a fabulous library of signed books, courtesy of Drawn & Quarterly and Raincoast Books.
all day The Ink Muffins Keep your eyes peeled for this impromptu cheerleading squad led by WUTS regular Robin Konstabaris. “You can do it, you’ve got guts, you won’t get no paper cuts. ’Zines are clever, ’zines are fun, bet you can’t stop at just one. Go ’zines!”
12:00–4:00 Nardwuar the Human Serviette and punk rock photographer Bev Davies If you don’t know who MuchMusic’s Nardwuar the Human Serviette is by now, his 2007 Punk Rock Calendar (featuring photography by the lengendary Bev Davies) and recent 2-DVD set, Doot Doola Doot Doo... Doot Doot!, will certainly bring you up to speed in no time. This annoying, brilliant, bizarre and astounding character has made a name for himself by interviewing everyone. From former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to Snoop Doggy Dogg, he has tackled them all. And at the Mint Records table, you’ll have the chance to meet him and get signed copies of his latest stuff.
ON STAGE
12:00 Self-Publishing Comics Want to find out how to create and market your own comic? Kevin Leeson and Todd Ireland of Critical Hit Comics, and Owen Plummer and Jo Cook from Perro Verlag Books, discuss the joys and perils of self-publishing comics and how to get your book into the public’s hands. Moderated by Leonard Wong (Vancouver Comicon).
1:00 Art Class with Robin Thompson Interested in comics or cartooning, but not quite sure how to put pencil to paper? Check out this introductory art class to try your hand at drawing, creating characters and coming up with stories. Materials supplied, and all students will receive a free copy of Thompson’s comic book, Captain Space Man. Class limited to a maximum of 20 participants, so sign up early to avoid disappointment. Ages 11-16.
2:00 Webcomics Comics delivered to your house via computer! Local webcomic artists Ed Brisson, Jason Pultz and Jordan Nuefeld talk about their online efforts and give tips on what it takes to create a webcomic that people will want to keep coming back to. Moderated by Leonard Wong (Vancouver Comicon).
Host: Sean Cranbury, Sophia Books
3:00 Joe Sacco (Seattle, WA) But I Like It This collection of rock-and-roll and blues oriented strips includes Sacco’s graphic novelette of life on the road with punk band The Miracle Workers, newly-expanded and supplemented with sketches, notes and a CD. Add some stories done for German magazines and papers and some Sacco-designed rock show posters, and you’ve got an eye-popping compendium of life on one of the most dangerous beats of all: the world of rock’n’roll. Sacco is a widely acclaimed, award-winning comics journalist, whose publications include Palestine, The Fixer and Safe Area Gorazde: The War In Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995. He is currently working on a book about the southern Gaza Strip — both journalistic and historical — called Footnotes in Gaza. (Fantagraphics Books) Adopted by Eve Corbel and Sarah Leavitt.
4:30 Comics and the Classroom Educators and comic creators Ken Boesem, Sarah Haxby, Julian Lawrence and Leonard Wong share ideas on how to use comics as a cross-curricular learning tool and a resource for promoting reading and literacy.
Apparently, Michel Rabagliati's newest French-language graphic novel Paul a la Peche (Paul Goes Fishing) has its proper release today. According to his publisher La Pasteque's website, the book was extensively reviewed by major Montreal media this past weekend. An interview and review from La Presse, an interview with CBC radio, and others are available online. (thanks to Google translation)
In Other News
The awesome new Marc Bell-edited Nog A Dod: Prehistoric Canadian Psychedooolia from Conundrum Press has its official launch in Toronto this Sunday, September 24th at the Gladstone Hotel. Bell and contributors Amy Lockhart and S.P. Ehman will be on hand for the festivities.
As well -Two comics-related perspectives on the Dawson College shooting in Montreal last week. First, editorial cartoonist and Dawson College teacher Stan Roach describes his experience of the event for his paper. Second, Comic Book Bin's Herve St.Louis discusses the political issues that are emerging in the wake of the shooting.
-The Beat reports that the Toronto Fan-Expo had a crowd of 42000 a few weeks ago, a 21% increase in attendance over last year, according to the show promoters.
-Guelph cartoonist Seth launched his new strip in the New York Times this past Sunday. The first installment can be seen here. An excellent Marc Ngui-Seth interview from Carousel magazine has also just been made available online (the same issue has an excellent Ngui strip) and Seth (recently nominated for an Ignatz for Wimbledon Green) will be appearing in Halifax at the Word on the Street Festival this weekend.
-Speaking of the Halifax Word on the Street Festival, this year there is a huge Graphic Novel component to the fest, including a "How to Draw Comics" workshop. Guests include: J. Bone, Scott Chantler, Michael Cho, Darwyn Cooke, Eric Kim, Rebecca Kraatz, Hope Larson, Steve Manale, Steve McNiven, Ryan North, Mark Oakley, Bryan Lee O'Malley and Seth.
-Lastly, Chris Butcher has more on the art of Canadian cartooning Giant George Feyer.
Among other things lately, Sequential missed linking to two of the larger Canadian comics events: comic book conventions in Montreal and Vancouver.
Robin Bougie filed one of the only reports on the Sept. 10 Vancouver Comicon, reviewing the latest Real Gone Girl by Vancouver's Miriam Libicki. Colin Upton doesn't really do a con report but he has a great rant about US Cultural Imperialism.
The Wright Awards homepage has been updated and there are now several photos of the event online, including the one to the left featuring Sequential's own Max blogging away as the festivities wind down.
Other reports: -Robert Haines reports on both the 2005 and 2006 Wright awards, showing off some weirdly sad Seth ephemera. -The torontoist has a great photo of Lorenz Peter and a concise summary of the winning books -D&Qblogs the celebrities on hand (but forgets Shortbus star and former Chester Brown girlfriend Sook Yin-Lee) -the lowdown on the Beguiling employee health plan -CBC Arts Online also has a full report, including an interview with Lorenz Peter -a limited edition 24-page collection of Hall-of-Fame-inductee George Feyer's cartoons also was available at the awards --a few copies may still be available at the Beguiling for cheap
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Thursday, September 14, 2006
Chester Brown interviewed by Seth and the winners of the 2006 Doug Wright Awards
If you really just cant stand these you can rest assured that in a few days a version of the interview recorded for the CBC directly from the board will the released. But for more immediate gratification you can download a 13.426kb mono file here of the interview.
But, who wone you ask?
I'm very please to announce the 2006 Doug Wright Awards for Canadian cartooning recipients. For Best EMERGING TALENT
I'll leave the publishing of audio of the nights events to be released by others with a better audio view on the nights occasions than I.
So that's it for another year kids. I'm going to go shmooz, you all go and make or read some more great comics!
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Syndicated cartoonist Sandra Bell-Lundy is the judge in the Fifth Annual CanWrite! Conference Story Contest presented by The Canadian Authors Association.
"The top ten selections will be published in an anthology launched at the 86th CAA Annual Conference in Ottawa July 5-8, 2007. The top three winners will also receive $500, $200 and $100, plus free conference registration. This short story contest is open to all ages and all Canadian and US residents."
According to the article, "Lundy is also the author of two best-selling book collections - Hello, Daughter and Coffee, Tea and Reality."
Journalist and Wright Awards honcho Brad Mackay has pulled off a stellar bit of promotion for Thursday's Doug Wright Awards event --he's written an article about Doug Wright for the Ottawa Citizen! The piece reveals many interesting tidbits of biographical information about Wright, the creator of the pantomime strip Nipper (later called Doug Wright's Family), including the fact that Nipper debuted before Wright had any children of his own or was even married.
Mackay also talks about his earliest encounters with Wright's work:
"My earliest memory of the strip goes back to the first time I picked up a small, mail-order collection of Doug Wright's Family strips nearly 30 years ago [...] This strip, along with most of the ones included inside the book, are so well-drawn and well-observed that over the years I confused them with my own childhood experiences."
According to La Pasteque's website, Wright-Award-nominated cartoonist Michel Rabagliati is hitting the road for a whirlwind tour of Quebec bookstores in support of his new graphic novel, Paul a la peche.
Thursday September 28: Librairie Monet, Montreal Friday September 29: Librairie Champigny, Montreal Saturday September 30: Librairie Pantoute, Quebec City Sunday October 1st: Bouquinerie Cartier, Quebec City Thursday Oct. 5: Le Fureteur, St. Lambert Saturday Oct. 7: Fichtre, Montreal
At the BDQ forums, Michel Viau gathers the latest info about Quebec BD that has made the bestseller list of the major Quebec comics-friendly stores. Unsurprisingly, of the stores mentioned, the indie-loving Fichtre has the most local books among its top 15 sellers.
Nathalie Atkinson breezes through a carload of comics in her monthly review column for the Globe. This time around the focus is on the latest kids comics and Atkinson provides pithy one-sentence summaries of several popular books, including Northwest Passage, Scott Pilgrim, Flight 3, and several other books created by people who are not Canadian.
Curator Dan Nadel has put together an exhibit called Telling Tales: Contemporary Women Cartoonists for a New York City gallery. Included among the chosen artists are former-cartoonist Julie Doucet and emerging cartooning giant (and 2005 Wright Awards nominee) Genevieve Castree:
"Telling Tales is a subjective look at the last four decades of comics drawn by women.
Long a boys club, comics have, since the rise of the late 1960s underground, opened up to women as a medium like any other. Unfortunately, most current historical surveys are notable not only for the absence of women artists but also the absence of women as protagonists or even subjects in the medium itself. And while a gender-based exhibition might marginalize women even further, Telling Tales seems necessary as a slight corrective to the usual historical narrative.
The seventeen artists included here were chosen for their unique points of view and their idiosyncratic approaches to cartooning. All are free from the usual stylizations of comics, making stories that rely as much on line and mark as narrative and dialogue. Each artist has made an indelible mark on the medium..."
According to THE BEAT, Chester Brown will be touring the Western part of the country to promote the paperback release of Louis Riel. The tour really gets started with Chester being interviewed by Seth next Thursday at the Wright Awards, but the rest of the tour, beginning with a stop at McNally-Robinson in Winnipeg, doesn't get properly underway until October:
Wednesday, October 11th Winnipeg, MB McNally-Robinson
Thursday, October 12th Brandon, MB Pennywise Books
Friday, October 13th Saskatoon, SK McNally-Robinson
Saturday, October 14th Calgary, AB Calgary Wordfest
Monday, October 16th Edmonton, AB Greenwoods Bookshoppe
Tuesday, October 17th- Saturday, October 21 Vancouver, BC Vancouver International Writers Festival (exact date TBA)
Kevin Frank's Christian-themed syndicated comic strip, Heavens Love Thrift Shop, was profiled by the NYT awhile back. Now comes the ultimate honour: a profile in Lindsay This Week, a newspaper from the Kawartha region that Mr. Franks calls home.
In the article, Franks talks about his religious beliefs, his correspondence with Charles Schulz, and his Canadian citizenship.
The official launch of Quebec cartoonist Djief's new comic, Tokyo Ghost T.1 takes place tonight in Montreal. Apparently a sort of horror comic in the spirit of the latest wave of films from Japan, the book is a full-colour tour-de-force.
L'Imaginaire 2740 boul. Laurier à Ste-Foy: (3e étage du centre commercial Place Laurier) 6:30 PM
Wright Awards-nominated cartoonist Guy Delisle has a new book out. Shenzhen documents his time in China, and is billed as a sequel of sort to Pyongyang.
Delisle also recently visited his English-language publisher, drawn and quarterly. That's him with Chris Oliveros.
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Probably the last on this subject for awhile, unless someone emails me something amazing.
-Filip Vukcevic does a con report at IGN.Comics. He argues that, given the population of Canada, the show is equivalent to San Diego. Also includes lots of nerd-speak about the cavernous nature of the convention hall ("You know the Geonosis droid factory in Attack of the Clones?") and the escalator system, as well as an attempted interview with a Hobbystar official (Aman Gupta?):
"I tried asking the head Fan Expo organizer a few questions, really, just things about the new space and the attendance - I wanted to help him pimp the con - but he briskly declined (while he was basically standing around, not doing much of anything). It seems that unlike Marvel's Civil War, this conflict may have a "bad guy" and a "good guy" - the question remains: who is who?"
According to a press release, a Winnipeg creative team and publisher have announced the release of a graphic novel called Burnt Soul. The press release is pretty funny:
"Following in the footsteps of Sin City, Burnt Soul seeks to bring the same sensibility to the comic book medium and will hopefully appeal to fans of Frank Miller's acclaimed series."
Vaneta Rogers has a nice little interview with Toronto's Cameron Stewart as part of the Fan Expo coverage at Newsarama. A fan favourite for his collaborations with Grant Morrison, Stewart's new project for DC's Vertigo imprint sounds like a change of pace from the work he's best known for:
"Cameron Stewart said the five-issue miniseries he's drawing called The Other Side is 'quite a departure' from the superhero stuff he'd been doing. The comic, which takes place within the Vietnam War, will be coming out in October from Vertigo.
'I've said before that I'm best known for a Batman spin-off and a comic about a scuba diver and a talking fish, so doing a war comic was something that I never really thought that I would do,' he laughed. 'But it's been a challenge and I'm enjoying it.'
He called the comic a war horror story. 'It's very, very intense. Very dark. Definitely R-rated,' he said. 'There are two main characters: one is an American solider; one is a North Vietnamese solider. And the story is told from both perspectives. We see the war from both sides. And their stories intersect and overlap.'
Stewart said he thinks readers of superhero stories should give it a chance. 'I think, genre aside, it's just a great story. I mean, I was won over by it. I would never really consider doing a war story, but then I read the script, and I knew immediately that I wanted to work on it,' he said. 'So yeah, I think anyone who enjoys a good story will like it.'"
Thanks to Dirk Deppey's new Journalista I learned of this article profiling several comic strip creators in the Montreal Gazette. It's all in honour of the new line-up of strips on the Gazette comics page.
Canadian Sandra Bell Lundy is included:
"I'm really thrilled to be in Montreal," said Sandra Bell-Lundy, a Canadian comic-strip artist who started sketching her friends in high school and hasn't stopped.
She was always known among family and friends as "the one who drew."
Creator of the Between Friends strip that features stories of three modern working women, Bell-Lundy, 48, has juggled children and a home life with her demanding job of producing a daily strip.
"It's a full week's work," she said from her Welland, Ont., home. "It's not so much a job; it's a lifestyle."
The three women in the strip - Maeve, Kim and Susan - are all in the working world, "dealing with daycare and the things working women deal with," Bell-Lundy said. "These women characters have their own personalities; they're individuals."
When she signed on with the King Features syndicate in 1994, her husband was worried she'd run out of ideas, she said.
She had no such worries. And she intends to have her characters age as the strip progresses.
"That's, I think, how you stay fresh - at least for me."
Yesterday I promised some positive news about the Fan Expo held this past weekend in Toronto and have done my darned-est to dig up the goods from the blogosphere and elsewhere. For my own part, and as a distant (well, 100km) observer, I have enjoyed reading most of the reports and looking at all of the pictures --it is my duty not only as a contributor to Sequential but also as a student of and patronizing commentator on subcultures and aberrant behaviour. And while I used to be embarrassed by the attention cosplayers and sci-fi fans brought to the otherwise "serious" world of comic art and graphic novels, I now look on these displays as a charming (if not vital) part of what I have come to identify as the always-nebulous, constantly-evolving world of "comics culture."
Some more-or-less positive reports:
Thom Zahler, creator of Love in Capes and of the "Spock money" above, has some nice words to say about the Expo, calling it
"...a pretty good show, and one that won a sizable amount of brownie points with me. See, I went up there and my registration was messed up. This seems to be fairly common this year, as evidenced by my trials in Southern California this year. On this occasion, though, some of my woes may have been my fault. Not sayin' they all were of course, but it was certainly a more mutual thing than San Diego's. But here's the thing: We worked it out. Other shows I know (and you know who I mean) would have shut me down. It took some talking on my part, and doing on theirs, but when we were done, we managed to get me set up. It's not that there was a problem that defines the situation, but what we were able to do to resolve it. On that count, FanExpo did really well, and I appreciate it.'"
Eric Theriault gives a Quebec creator perspective and talks about what it was like being an "indie" guest of the show (mostly negative) but adds a positive postscript:
"Good points: some of the artists I met like Ghastly from Ghastly Comic , Paul D. Storrie, Sulley Fattah, Larry Handcock, Michael Chan of Anime Iku and a few others !"
Everybody seems to have something good to say about U.S. cartoonist Jim Lee, one of the show's featured guests. Jamie Coville, who took tons of photos and recorded several interviews/videos with con-goers (coming soon to his site), preferred the comics pros over the other celebs who placed quite a few restrictions on fans and media:
"All of which makes me happy to be a comic fan and not a sci-fi one. Jim Lee was the HUGE star of the comic end and he was down to earth and nice with everybody. He did a lot of signings and a couple of panels. There were long line ups for him everywhere. Even if stayed at his table for 72 hours straight to do signings and sketches he probably still wouldn't be able to get everybody that wanted one."
And I'm not sure this is exactly good news (more likely, a boring infantile ugly piece of crap and confusing to boot), but many people seem to be enthusiastic about a newly-announced Marvel comic book project involving a super-hero team with some connection to Canada , referred to yesterday as The Collective but it may be called Omega Flight --I can't really be bothered to find out for sure but Danny Truong has the low-down, including links to a Newsarama interview on the subject.
And Comic Book Bin has some more reports, mostly about video games and DC Comics.
On the negative side again, Paradise show promoter and comics educator Kevin Boyd emailed with a few comments of his own:
"I definitely see the comments I'm reading online heading in two distinct directions - comic book readers/fans/collectors/pros (from accepting to generally disappointed to frustrated & annoyed) v. the rest of fandom (enthusiastically excited about dressing up and meeting celebrities). Would like to read more reports from comics fans but these seem few and far between. My dealer friends said that when they asked their customers where they were from, they found that many of the people buying comics were coming in from outside of Toronto, and that many local collectors were conspicuously absent (although they could have been stuck in a line somewhere for all they knew). No one complained about terrible sales, just average - slightly higher or slightly lower. I have not spoken to the two largest comics retailers at that event, but I know from talking with them or their staff beforehand that comics are not their priority sales-wise at the Fan Expo. It's all about toys, anime and related merchandise."
Well, the convention everyone loves to hate, Hobbystar's Fan Expo, happened over the past weekend. Among all the news about minor Hollywood celebrities, horror movies, anime, and science fiction television there is some actual comics-related news out there. Of course, since "good news is no news," the negative comments lead. I'm sure many of the pros and fans who made it to Toronto have some good experiences to report, and we will dutifully try to link to those reports, but for now, the bad news:
"ALREADY there are rumors running around about what is going to happen next. If you were at the Hobbystar show, you got to read the 'application' for space at the 2007 show. In which we were informed that we are not guaranteed space for next year and a representative will call us. I of course have misgivings about this statement, but as I said, I am not here to stir the pot.Recently there have been some 'behind the scenes' talk about what can be done to fix the situation that has so many of us still up in arms and wondering about our futures at the shows.As I said as I stood on the loading dock speaking to another retailer, I Just want us all to be able to do shows and not worry about anything."
The most interesting analyses and discussion of numbers comes from Robert's blog:
"Oddly, all the comic dealers are were together by the con entrance, but the feeling I had was they were placed in the 'comic ghetto'. Let's face it comic book fans, this conventions is about the other stuff: the Anime, the Sci-Fi, the Horror, the Gaming. I would guess there was a legitimate crowd of 20,000 people this weekend (though expect a trumped up number closer to 40,000; which brings up an interesting question: if you are going to put out fake numbers, why not go crazy? Just say there were 73,000! It was so damn crowded that many people would believe it). Now, 20,000 is a great number if you look at con numbers across North America, but 15,000 of those people don't give a damn about comic books. And they all seem to just stand around. Get Out Of The Aisles, Dammit!"
"This year just plain sucked ass. They had it during the last long weekend of the summer,which if I had a cottage to go to i would be there instead of a con.As for the company that puts it on I just fucking hate them, they are greedy selfish bastards. The con was in the lower level, a sub basement for all the morlock people, it was dark enough for a morlock cave too."
Gatekeeper's Blog. A comicon virgin and writer for the Gate media website based in Toronto, on being denied access to celebs like William Shatner:
"I was mainly interested in the special guests. If you're advertising those kinds of people, and you tell me that I have media access to the show, I'm going to start planning elaborate things involving quotes and photos with those people. If you don't have room/don't want me in there-- just tell me up front. It's really that simple."
As far as mainstream media attention goes, The Toronto Sun's Jack Boland calls it "fantasy central" and provides a few quotes from Alice Cooper who must have been there promoting his 1979 Marvel Comic Book.
Of course, Labour Day began in Canada as an annual event commemorating the 1872 Toronto Printer's Strike and John A. MacDonald's repeal of anti-labour legislation. The U.S. labour movement copied the Canadian example and Grover Cleveland made it an official holiday in the 'States by 1887, choosing the first Monday in September because anarchists and socialists preferred May 1st.
The image above is from a comic book called Joe Worker, published by the "National Labor Service, USA" and Commercial Comics. It is illustrated by Jack Alderman, a Canadian cartoonist "who did work for more than 15 companies in the 1940s," according to information dug up by Tom Christopher. Christopher's site is well worth exploring for a look at rare propaganda comics with a labour theme.
Chris Butcher lets his readers in on a little secret: Darwyn Cooke will be doing an impromptu signing at the Beguiling in Toronto later today, Saturday Sept 2.
the real reason for my post is because of another Beguiling "exclusive". It seems we'll be having a signing with Darwyn Cooke at The Beguiling this Saturday at 6pm (that's Saturday, September 2nd 2006). Darwyn won't be making any other comics-related appearances this weekend either, which makes this a nice little coup. I have a feeling we'll even be staying open a little late on Saturday? Anyway, it should be fun. Hopefully I'll see you there.
Check out his blog for the beautiful new Maurice Vellekoop drawing on the theme of graphic novels (original art also available from the Beguiling). I envy the lucky owner of that art an it can be yours for only $1695.00! (Special quiz: can you name all of the famous graphic novels pictured? First right answer gets a Maurice Vellekoop collectible from my private stash!)
-It's the last Long Weekend of the Summer and Gareth Lind's Weltzchmerz is relaxing at the cottage and thinking about how we got here (and how 55 percent of our U.S. cousins think we got here). Lind's blog also features a look at an unsuccessfully syndicated strip that he abandoned and is now cannibalizing for gags. An interesting look at the creative process.
-At bloggasm, Toronto cartoonist and illustrator Patricia Storms is interviewed. You probably have seen Storms illos in various magazines but my favourite piece by her is a comic strip about comic-ophile writers Jonathan Lethem and Michael Chabon. Storms also has a blog called BookLust which chronicles her reading habits and showcases her art.
-Chris Nolan has made a delightful little map of the Toronto comic book shops participating in "The Great Toronto Comic Book Contest."
New Books:
1. The Daily Cartoonist has the low-down on Lynn Johnston's upcoming collection, "She's Turning Into One of Them", due out soon.
2. Toronto animator Blair Kitchen has just released The Possum #1, a self-published humourous adventure/superhero parody comic, from his own Possum Press. The book is available from the website, from Silver Snail in Toronto, and from the author himself at this weekend's FanExpo, which many people are boycotting because of Hobbystar's business practices.
Co:Andy Brown
