• Real World: This news item is the perfect example of what has come to be called "not comics" --the only tangential relation to comics is that is was forwarded by ex-comics publisher David Widgington. Anyway, readers of Sequential may want to follow this story, about Canadian mining giant Barrick-Gold slapping Montreal publisher Editions Ecosociete with a nuisance lawsuit in an attempt to block publication of a book critical of corporate practices in Africa (the book links Barrick Gold Corp. to the alleged 1996 deaths of miners in Tanzania). The publication of the book, Noir Canada: Pillage, corruption et criminalite en Afrique, was delayed after the $6 million (!) lawsuit appeared, but the publisher is fighting back with a solidarity campaign and responses from the Canadian Labour Congress and press coverage.

• Publishing: Robin Bougie and Maxine Frank present MAXIMUM SUPEREXCITEMENT #2: LIBRARIAN ISLAND.

• Publishing: Stuart Immonen has just released CENTIFOLIA, an art book collecting sketches, strips, and finished art. I saw a copy in my local shop today and it is a handsome package.

• Retailing: Ben Benedict talks to Brahm Wiseman of London, Ont.'s Heroes on the occasion of its grand re-opening this past Saturday.

• Conventions: Andrew Nguyen posts the first report from this past weekend's Anime North event in in Toronto.

• Weird: Chester Brown redrew this classic Jack Kirby story, the cover of which was recently plagiarized in The New Yorker, last year for the Wright Awards.

• The Critics: Jeet Heer on John Stanley and Carl Barks; Chris Butcher on smut comics for Eye Weekly; Eddie Campbell on Dave Sim; Laura Hudson on Dave Sim (and Chester Brown); Shannon Smith on Dave Sim's Glamourpuss; Ken Parille on Glamourpuss.

Labels: comics retailers, graphic novels, Ontario, Quebec, real world, Toronto