Labels: can-con, cartoon reportage, comics on tv, conventions, events, international, Montreal, pod casts, Quebec, video

Bonjour a tous le 5 octobre prochain, dans le cadre du festival Atenne_a, lancement du prochain fanzine bidon accompagne d'un cd du groupe (swedish) death polka. et une merveilleuse couverture realisee par Valerie Morency. 5a 7 plus spectale a 19hr a la chapelle de l'amerique francaise a Quebec. histoire ecrite par samuel murdock basee sur le premier effondrement du pont de quebec 2, cote de la Fabrique. merci et au plaisirs http://www.swedishdeathpolka.com/ http://www.antenne-a.com/ http://pishier.blogspot.com/ http://kabochenook01.blogspot.com/

Labels: book launches, can-con, comics with music, events, francophone, links, music, new books, news, Quebec, undergrounds, zines

Labels: awards, can-con, conventions, events, Expozine, links, Montreal, news, Ontario, Ottawa, Quebec, small press, Toronto, zine fair, zines

Getting my attention early on is Cameron Stewart's SIN TITULO is an interesting noir thriller than catches my eye as a notable point of evolution in style for the creator. Cameron has always been a virtuoso in his work, displaying almost machine like consistency and skill in his past work. With the weekly SIN TITULO he's engaging in a paring back and simplification that appeals to my personal sensibilities, and complements his work a great deal. It's too soon to make a true comparison but so far the story is reminding me of one of my all time favourite books, City of Glass by Paul Auster & David Mazzucchelli. Very promising beginnings. This is a first for Cameron as a writer as I understand it, and so far he's displaying a good instinct for intrigue and suspense, and some nice touches with atmospheric details like the radio story about disappearing bees during a cab ride and other little notes like that. Great stuff.

Brilliantly drawn and bound to be engaging for many, is Karl Kerschl's The Abominable Charles Christopher. Kerschl has been working professionally for some time, and in the Transmission X web cast he explains that his motivation with this strip is to get away from the intense planning that typically goes into his long form comic book work and just have fun with a stream of consciousness narrative. The weekly strip is well under way and so far entirely enchanting. Backing up and often stealing the show, the mute wall eyed soother sucking Abominable headliner is supported by a cast of snappy talking animals. It's all superbly drawn and the art looks like it will be well worth seeing in print one day, elegant and subtly rendered, it's really something. 14 pages in a sub plot is now beginning to immerge about some kind of immanent peril to the forest, I'll be looking forward to seeing were this one is going.

Last for this post, Papercut is the monthly short story offering from Michael Cho. So far two have been posted, Smoke and Stars. Michael's background is in illustration work more than anything, and in a way it shows. His choice of image, subtle moods he achieves, they feel indicative of the challenges you often face in that medium. As a mode of expression it forces you to think in subtler terms than comics often do. His short stories are very introspective, and sombre so far. Their nostalgic air reminds me of Seth's work, but frankly I think more tightly rendered and lacking the obsession with a specific bygone era. Thanks to that in part, Michael's stories manage to be more contemporary feeing and broader scoped. Lovely work and when he completes a book of these shorts, I'm betting a best seller too.

Labels: can-con, comics on tv, digital comics, manifestos, Ontario, reviews, Toronto, webcomics

Labels: British Columbia, events, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Toronto, Vancouver

Labels: Alberta, Calgary, conventions, events

The organizers of The Doug Wright Awards, Canada's premier comics and graphic novels awards, are happy to announce that three of the country's best-known cartoonists, Chester Brown, Seth and Dave Sim, have created one-of-a-kind original artwork to be auctioned off during their 2007 fundraising drive.

Each an internationally respected cartoonist, Chester Brown (Louis Riel: AComicStripBiography, Ed TheHappy Clown), Seth (Clyde Fans, Wimbledon Green ) and Dave Sim (Cerebus), have agreed to provide The Wrights with their interpretation on a unique theme: the monster comics of Jack"King" Kirby.

The revered artist behind such superhero comics as Captain America, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Silver Surfer and the X-Men, Kirby had an illustrious career that stretches back to the early days of comics. Long before he came up with his popular superhero creations, he was honing his skills on Marvel's "monster comics" of the 1950s and early 1960s -- many of which have earned a cult status among cartoonists and comic fans.

These pre-superhero Kirby comics featured such unforgettable characters as Fin Fang Foom, Groot!, Goom, Gagoom (Son of Goom), and Korilla, among many others. As an homage to this era, each cartoonist has taken their pen to paper and given us a unique take on a Kirby Monster.

Each one-of-a-kind artwork will go up for auction on eBay beginning Monday October 8th 2007, with all of the proceeds going towards the non-profit Wright Awards.

Labels: auctions, awards, events

The New Narrative? Comics in Literature, Film, and Art

An interdisciplinary conference University of Toronto 9-11 May 2008

Keynote speaker: Seth

Comics, whether in the form of novelistic illustrations, newspaper serials, animated films, film adaptations, graphic novels, or sequential art narratives, have been with us since the rise of literature itself, yet until recently such media have never been considered "serious"—or at least, serious enough to be considered novels that might be on university syllabi. However, with the recent rise of the graphic novel and related filmic adaptations, comics—otherwise generically grouped as "comix"—garnering considerable attention, are (yet again) being hailed as the "next big thing." The (Canadian) publishing industry acknowledges that comix are the largest growth area: is the future now?

But are comix literature? Are they more than Saturday morning cartoons? Does the study of the genre belong in an art class? Are illustrated novels and live action films really about the pictures and not the narrative? How can the history of the form be reconciled with consumer culture and the ill-defined categories of "high" and "low" culture?

Papers which examine and interpret these "new" narratives in interdisciplinary forms are most welcome. Essays on novelistic illustrations, newspaper serials, animated films, film adaptations, graphic novels, or sequential art narratives may consider the following:

- Graphic novels and auto/biography (Seth, Julie Doucet, Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan, Alison Bedchel's Fun Home, David B's Epileptic)

- The bande desinee and European influences (Tintin etc)

- Illustrated and multi-media works (Barbara Hodgson, Umberto Eco, Eddie Campbell)

- Geopolitics/war and the graphic novel (Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis; Art Speigelman's Maus; Joe Sacco's oeuvre)

- Conceptions of early illustrations as series (William Hogarth) and engravings and caricatures (Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray)

- Film adaptations of comics (Spiderman, Superman etc)

- Hokusai Katsushika and the "invention" of manga

- The "inventors" of the comic strip and their influences (Rodolphe Toepffer [or T Öpffer] ; Christophe's Fenouillard Family and Camember Sapper; Nadar; Cham; Grandville; Gustave Dore and Caran d' Ache)

- Canadian and American early comics (Alberic Bourgeois; Richard Felton Outcault; Rudolph Dirks; Violet Keene)

- The Comics Code Authority and Frederic Wertham

- Illustrations in literary novels (George Cruikshank; Thackeray)

- Woodcut and "silent" artists (Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, Giacomo Patri, Laurence Hyde)

Proposals should be 400-500 words and must clearly indicate significance, the line of argument, principal texts considered, and relation to existing scholarship (or originality). One email copy of the proposal, along with a 100 word abstract and 50 word bio note must be included, as an attachment in MS Word. Final papers should be no more than 10 pages (not including artwork to be shown). Accepted papers must be submitted in advance of the Conference. Deadline for proposals is 05 January 2008. Please mail to:

Dr Andrew Lesk, Assistant Professor
Department of English, University of Toronto
170 St. George Street, #928, Toronto, ON M5R 2M8
E-mail: andrew DOT lesk AT utoronto Dot ca

Labels: analysis, can-con, comics history, comics in school, comics on film, events, misunderstanding comics, Ontario, Toronto

Whalley, the son of an Anglican clergyman, was born in Brockville, Ont., on Feb. 20, 1921. He grew up in Halifax, where he attended the Nova Scotia College of Art.

He sold his first cartoon when he was 16, but the Second World War interrupted his budding artistic career. He served in the merchant marine during the war.

After the war, he moved to Montreal with intentions of becoming a serious artist, but once he began working for the Standard, "cartooning won out. It paid more," he once said.

He moved to Morin Heights in the Laurentians, joined the local volunteer fire brigade, and for the rest of his life worked out of his home office.

He hit his stride in the 1960s and '70s, when he turned out covers for Maclean's, Weekend and the Montrealer magazines and did other commercial work.

He was a regular contributor to the CBC's Observer television program, in which he illustrated the week's top news stories with cartoons, and he did film strips for the National Film Board.

Labels: cartoonists, Halifax, Nova Scotia, obituaries, Quebec

Labels: cartoonists, obituaries, Ottawa

Labels: obituaries, political cartooning, Quebec

Ok, got the planers out?

Vancouver Sept. 28th @ 7-10pm

Therefore Repent! will have it's formal BC Launch!

@ Lucky's Comics (3972 Main St., Vancouver).



He's presenting our post-Rapture graphic novel THEREFORE REPENT! along side new issues of Fred Grisholm's HATESONG, Brian Fukushima's JOBGOBLIN. And Jason Turner & Manien Bothma's True Loves 2!

Then it's back to old Hog town for Word on the street Sunday Sept 30th to present Therefore Repent! He'll be signing books at his table in Fringe Beat as well as giving a presentation called Be Your Own Boss In The World Of Publishing.

And you can also catch him participating in a panel with Willow Dawson and Ray Fawkes called "I Have A Great Idea For A Story, But I Need An Artist!"

Get your handbook to the Apocalypse here

The first third of Therefore Repent! - 60 pages - is now available for your browsing pleasure.

And not only is it free to read, it's also free to use: we're licencing the jpg versions of these as remixable under this Creative Commons licence.

So, if you've ever wondered what'd it'd be like to be the writer of a comic book and work with as talented an artist as Salgood Sam, now you can.

Download them from this site, and open the pages up in Photoshop or Gimp to replace my words with more interesting ones.

Colour the pictures.

Use the images as graphics for your non-commercial projects. Send the results to us and we'll put 'em up on the site: even better, we'll send the three most inspiring remixes a free book.

Labels: book launches, British Columbia, can-con, contest, digital comics, events, graphic novels, new books, Ontario, preview, Toronto, Vancouver, webcomics

Labels: can-con, cartoonists, links, Montreal, news, Quebec

Monster Island Three is a collection i (billy mavreas) edited. it's chock full of comics and drawings and essays revolving around the theme of comics and monsters and fandom and ......

here's some styley info :

This book straddles the line between comic anthology and art book but also contains
essays to give historical context to the art. Rick Trembles provides a tribute in comic form to movie director Ray Harryhausen. Mavreas contributes a feature on
Inuit artist Alootook Ipellie. There is Joe Ollmann's comic on the history of his drawing implements and Andy Brown's essay on the significance of the publishing history of one of Jack Kirby's final comic series. Bernie Mireault provides a comic about a horrific poker game while Patrick Burger writes about German pulps from the 1930s which were set in Africa. Of course the book also includes
many monster drawings including those by Fiona Smyth. Other contributors include: John Mavreas, Carlos Santos, Jesse Bochner, Tessa Fenger, Jennifer MacIntyre, Shawn Jefferies, Guy Boutin, Helene Brosseau, Leyla Majeri, Rupert Bottenberg, Howard Chackowicz, Sean McCarthy, and Shawn Cheng.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location:
casa del popolo, good people

st-laurent, Montreal

Labels: book launches, events, graphic novels, Montreal, Newfoundland, publishing, Quebec

Labels: bd, comics on film, Edmonton, international, links

Labels: conventions, events, Montreal, Quebec

Labels: exhibits, international, links, Quebec

Hey folks,

Sorry for the late notice on this, but the venue for the jam has been COMPLETELY booked for this saturday and is not available the following Saturday due to UFC (again!).

Maybe it's time to look at an alternative venue for situations like this. If anyone has suggestions, please fire them my way. Maybe we can sort out some sort of more informal place to meet up this month.

I have us booked in for October 20th at Original Joes, so at least that will happen.

Labels: British Columbia, comic jams, events, Vancouver

Labels: Edmonton, fanexpo 2007, international, links, misc

In 1900, renowned Island portrait painter Robert Harris illustrated "A semi-detached house ... and other stories" by John Tri-Davies. Both were founding members of Montreal's Pen and Pencil Club in 1890, which included many prominent Canadian writers, painters and musicians. On display will be many of Harris' original illustrations and copies of the original book.

Labels: events, exhibits, graphic novels, publishing

HALIFAX COMICS JAM. Artists of all styles and skill levels creating collaborative comix (somebody draws the
first panel, somebody draws the next, etc.) Anyone over 19 can
participate and don't forget to bring your own pens. Gus' Pub, 2605
Agricola Street, 7PM to 1AM, 423-7786

Labels: comic jams, events, graphic novels, Halifax, Nova Scotia, publishing

Labels: comics criticism, comics scholarship, events, publishing, Quebec

Labels: awards, Global Links, graphic novels, links, Lynn Johnston, misc, Quebec

Labels: blogosphere, conventions, events, links, Lynn Johnston, misc, Ontario, Toronto

An exclusive program dedicated to animation influenced by the New Yorker Magazine illustrator Saul Steinberg. Best known for his "View of the World from 9th Avenue,". Steinberg's elevated self-consciousness, reduced design to its essentials; freely melded the naive with the modern, and more than any other 20 century artist obliterated the wall between media and art. Animators as varied as Stefan Schabenbeck, Candy Kugel, Mo Williams and the "modernistic" designs from UPA and Zagreb owe much to Steinberg. The influence goes beyond the surface to include an abstract view of space, identity, and language. Curated by New York animator George Griffin.

Labels: blogosphere, comics on film, international, links, Lynn Johnston, misc, Ontario, Ottawa, Toronto, zines

Labels: can-con, comics history, Montreal, Quebec, zines

For CollectorTimes.com I have my full written TCAF report, which 
includes podcasts of 5 panels.

Panels are:
Make Mine Manga
WebComics
Spotlight: Evan Dorkin/Sarah Dyer
Spotlight: Paul Pope/James Jean
Bookstore Graphic Novels

Also regarding FanExpo, I have 45 videos from the event now on youtube. 
About 40 of them are from the masquerade. Others include the lobby, 
Video Game sections, Celebrities, & Artists Alley.


A written report on FanExpo will be online October 1st.

Labels: conventions, events, pod casts, Toronto, video

Labels: graphic novels, Ontario, reviews, Toronto

Labels: events, exhibits, Montreal, Quebec