Friday, January 30, 2009  
This Weekend: Hobbystar Toronto Comicon

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/30/2009 02:22:00 AM
With guest of honour, U.S. comic book artist Kevin Maguire.

Sunday, Feb. 1
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
North Building
255 Front Street
Toronto
11-5
$5 admission

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   Thursday, January 29, 2009  
Weekly Bestsellers: January 28

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/29/2009 02:42:00 AM
bookmanager logo

The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (4) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
5. (6) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (5) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Yen)
7. (7) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
8. (8) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
9. (10) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
10. (11) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
-----
11. (9) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
12. (18) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (12) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
14. (15) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (13) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
16. (14) Che, Spain (Verso)
17. (17) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
18. (16) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
19. (21) Black Cat 18, Yabuki Kentaro (VIZ)
20. (-) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
-----
21. (28) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
22. (-) Bleach 1, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
23. (25) Vampire Knight 3, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
24. (-) Daniel X: Alien Hunter, James Patterson et al (Little, Brown)
25. (27) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
26. (29) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
27. (26) DC Comics Encyclopedia, Rbt Greenburger (DK)
28. (27) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (28) Death Note 13, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
30. (-) Death Note 2, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: No first-time titles.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everything from Jack Kirby's The Demon to Jim Woodring's Complete Frank battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is the battleground where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (4) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (3) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (7) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
8. (8) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
9. (9) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
10. (10) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
-----
11. (11) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
12. (13) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
13. (12) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
14. (14) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
15. (15) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
16. (16) Striking a Cord, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
17. (17) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
18. (22) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (19) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
20. (20) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
-----
21. (21) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. (22) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
23. (-) In Me Own Words: Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
24. (23) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
25. (24) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fantagraphics)
26. (25) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
27. (26) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
28. (27) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (28) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
30. (20) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)



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   Wednesday, January 28, 2009  
Canadian Budget Quick Links

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/28/2009 03:42:00 AM
Some links to reports on the money devoted to culture in the Federal Budget, announced yesterday. Besides disapointing numbers for technology, the environment, and social programs, especially for the poor and unemployed, there were other areas that raised concerns. Culturally, very little new money overall was promised, even though something like the film and tv industry is bigger than the auto industry. Not much new for publishing, although museum/infrastructure and magazine subsidies.

The CBC sums things up.

The Globe: "almost nothing"

rabble.ca

charities respond

The Star

more to come, I'm sure...

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The C-List: Updike, et al

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/28/2009 02:48:00 AM

Some quick links:
  • Wow, John Updike is dead. Onetime cartoonist, novelist and critic, Updike was one of the great American artists and the master prose stylist of his time. As the long-time book reviewer for the New Yorker, his style of writing and critical understanding made his essays miniature masterpieces of education. Jeet Heer has written extensively on Updike, including notes on his early comics fandom. He writes again here and in a longer obituary here.
  • Sean Rogers writes about Matt Groening for the Walrus blog. The article (part one of two) examines some little-talked-about aspects of the Life In Hell strip and Groeings contribution to the latest Kramer's Ergot anthology.
  • Proving that the new online version of Globe Books has something to offer, Brad Mackay contributes a short essay on jazz and comics: specifically, how superhero comics concepts like Batman are like old Tin Pan Alley standards that are constantly reworked by artists.
  • The Shusters blog features an interview with Toronto cartoonist Willow Dawson, who discusses her recent No Girls Allowed book.
  • Canadian wrestler-turned-actor James Preston Rogers is lobbying for the role of Marvel superhero Thor in the film slated to be directed by Kenneth Brannagh (!), a filmaker known more for his acting chops and Shakespearian productions than comic book actioners. (Caveat: the linked to article says that Thor was created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. Even the dumbest kid knows that Jack Kirby (created the superhero incarnation of the Norse god of thunder, along with a little help from plotter Stan Lee and dialogue contributor Larry Lieber.) Sequential wants to know: has everyone forgotten about the original Canadian Thor, aka 1970s Heavy Metal god John Mikl Thor?!?!
  • (there are several other Canadian Thor connections: Mount Thor in Nunavut; Thor Eaton, great-great-grandson of Timothy Eaton; and last but not least, Thor Hansen, one of the greatest Canadian visual artists and designers of the 20th Century.)

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   Tuesday, January 27, 2009  
80s Renaissance

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/27/2009 02:42:00 AM

Two new issues of comic book series by popular 1980s creators are out this week.

Dave Sim's Glamourpuss #5 and Dean Motter's Mr. X #2 are impressive benchmarks for an ongoing renaissance of sorts for a perspective and style of comics that that was once pioneering but now is de rigueur. Both are available at comic shops tomorrow. It's funny that both are being serialized as floppies, rather than as complete graphic novels. Wasn't the transition to the graphic novel paradigm what the 80s were all about? And what does it say about the economy that these small circulation, oddball projects are still finding a home in the direct market? Sequential will keep you posted...

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   Monday, January 26, 2009  
Tonite: Kill Your Boss Booklaunch, Toronto

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/26/2009 03:40:00 AM


Mon Jan 26, 7:30 (doors 7pm) $5 Cover (Book Rebate)
Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St West
(a This is Not a Reading Series event)

Graham Roumieu launches his 101 Ways to Kill Your Boss

A celebrity panel, including cartoonist Evan Munday, will help Roumieu illustrate scenes from his book at this event.

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   Friday, January 23, 2009  
R.I.P. Mensuhell

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/23/2009 01:53:00 AM

Mensuhell is no more. I mentioned this when it was first announced last year, and again in the year-end wrap up, but I neglected to mention the actual appearance of the final issue.

The long-running fanzine went out with a bang with issue #109 in December with a "Sergeant Pepper's"-style cover by cartoonist Sirkowski featuring many of the characters and cartooning styles that had appeared in the zine during its long run. Mensuhell was basically the best comics anthology published on a regular (monthly! for 6 years!) basis in Canada, responsible for introducing many young talents from the Quebec comics scene, as well as providing a home and community for more established cartoonists and fans. It was also a source of learned history about BDQ (bandes dessinees from Quebec). The few issues I have in my possession reveal that the zine was a veritable who's who of the times and of cartooning talent. Publisher Francis Hervieux should be congratulated for his long effort. As well, congratulations are in order for the many contributors. Good luck and bon voyage.

There is a long discussion of the final issue at the BDQ forum (google translation).

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TCAF Announcement

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/23/2009 12:01:00 AM

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival officially announced its 2009 program and dates Thursday. The event will take place over the weekend of Saturday May 9 and Sunday May 10 and features the first Canadian appearance of Japan's Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Tatsumi is regarded by many as the godfather of serious adult manga and his work has been the subject of retrospective short story collections from Drawn and Quarterly (Good Bye, Abandon the Old in Tokyo, and The Push Man and Other Stories). Tatsumi is debuting the English translation of his massive comics autobiography, A Drifting Life, published by D+Q, at TCAF.

Other international headliners include Adrian Tomine (USA), Ivan Brunetti (USA), Paul Pope (USA), Emmanuel Guibert (France), and Anke Feuchtenberger (Germany).

The free Festival is organized by the Beguiling bookstore and takes place at the Toronto Reference Library, at 789 Yonge St.

Events include talks by the various authors, book launches and artists tables. An off-site gallery show by U.S. cartoonist Jordan Crane will take place at the Magic Pony gallery and the annual Doug Wright Awards are also scheduled for the same weekend.

See the TCAF site for full details and a complete list of Canadian and International guests.

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   Thursday, January 22, 2009  
Weekly Bestsellers: January 21

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/22/2009 02:45:00 AM
bookmanager logo

The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (4) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
5. (-) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Yen)
6. (5) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
7. (6) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
8. (12) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
9. (8) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
10. (7) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
-----
11. (10) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (16) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
13. (13) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
14. (11) Che, Spain (Verso)
15. (18) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
16. (9) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
17. (19) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
18. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
19. (-) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fitzgerald/DeFillippis (Quirk)
20. (-) Chibi Vampire 12, Kagesaki Yuna (Tokyopop)
-----
21. (22) Black Cat 18, Yabuki Kentaro (VIZ)
22. (-) Chibi Vampire 11, Kagesaki Yuna (Tokyopop)
23. (-) American Born Chinese, Gene Yang (First Second)
24. (-) Asterix and the Roman Agent, Uderzo (Orion)
25. (-) Vampire Knight 3, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
26. (14) DC Comics Encyclopedia, Rbt Greenburger (DK)
27. (20) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
28. (-) Death Note 13, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
27. (15) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
28. (17) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
29. (27) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
30. (21) Simpsons/Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Based on the popular fantasy prose novels, Maximum Ride the OEL manga features a tribe of genetically-engineered angel teenagers trying to save the world debuts at #5.
In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everything from Jack Kirby's The Demon to Jim Woodring's Complete Frank battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is the battleground where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
5. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (15) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
8. (11) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
9. (7) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
10. (12) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
-----
11. (21) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
12. (-) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
13. (27) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
14. (28) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
15. (12) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
16. (-) Striking a Cord, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
17. (17) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
18. (22) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (-) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
20. (13) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
-----
21. (14) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. (16) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
23. (18) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
24. (20) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fantagraphics)
25. (19) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
26. (24) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (26) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
28. (29) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (30) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
30. (-) Hall of Best Knowledge, Ray Fenwick (Fantagraphics)


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Newsflashes

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/22/2009 02:03:00 AM
Let's check in with a few of our comix news departments, shall we?

The Hills Have Eyes Dept: Not really a comics story, but this profile of Will LeRoy, a former editorial cartoonist from Halifax who now runs one of the most popular Canadian news aggregators is interesting for what it reveals about the changing face of news, print journalism, and national politics.

Get yer Ya Yas Out Dept: Should young adult graphic novels be shelved with prose fiction in libraries and bookstores? This interesting blog post discusses how books by Cecil Castelucci or Mariko and Jillian Tamaki might circulate better if the were not shelved with graphic novels.

International Floppies Dept: The well-regarded (by me, anyway --yes, Sequential readers, I have enjoyed at least one high concept Big-2 superhero project of the last decade) cult favourite Seaguy, the subject of a one-shot mini/graphic novel by Grant Morrison and Toronto's Cameron Stewart, returns in a new book this April.

Tripping Up Evil Dept: Faith Erin Hicks takes a flying leap at superhero comics and purse snatchers.

Behind the Dumpster Dept: Ottawa cartoonist and MAD magazine contributor Tom Fowler is interviewed at the Shuster blog. He talks about a comic book he is illustrating for DC/Wildstorm, Mysterious the Unfathomable, written by Jeff Parker. The first issue came out January 21.

Diamond in the Ruff Dept: Retailer Chris Butcher pipes up about the new order minimum Diamond Distributors have imposed on publishers, which many see as bad news for smaller publishers (ie, not Marvel, DC, and maybe Image and Dark Horse). It certainly looks grim. Great books from publishers like Oni and PictureBox would never make it to most comic shops because most initial orders for these books are in the hundreds or low thousands.

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   Wednesday, January 21, 2009  
Tonight: Mysterius Booklaunch, Toronto

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/21/2009 03:05:00 AM

Mysterius the Unfathomable Comic Book Launch

artist Tom Fowler will sign copies of this new series

Wednesday, January 21
5-7pm
The Beguiling, 601 Markham Street, Toronto

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Publishing: Never As Bad As You Think

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/21/2009 02:30:00 AM

One of the more graphically interesting webcomics of recent years, Never As Bad As You Think, by husband-and-wife team Stuart and Kathryn Immonen, is now available as a print graphic novel, from Boom! Studios. Publisher's blurb:

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN artist Stuart Immonen teams up with HELLCAT writer Kathryn Immonen for a fascinating original graphic novel! NABAYT tracks the alarming failures of paranoid urbanites, murderous waitstaff, heart-broken ambulance drivers, mariachi bands, talking cats and dogs, people who like cake and many who wield knives for a variety of purposes. This full-color printing contains all 52 strips from the Immonens' year-long web project along with two new strips and fresh, revealing bios in a perfect-bound deluxe edition hardcover designed by the House of Immonen. A gorgeous collection in a handsome limited edition!


Never As Bad As You Think
Kathryn Immonen, Stuart Immonen
Boom! Studios
$15.99
January, 2009
ISBN13: 9781934506738
Diamond Code: OCT083926

preview

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   Tuesday, January 20, 2009  
Tonight: Pascal Girard Launch, Montreal

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/20/2009 03:55:00 AM

Pascal Girard will launch his latest English-language comic, Nicolas, at the Drawn and Quarterly store tonight.

Libraire D+Q
211 Bernard W.
Montreal
Tuesday, Jan 20
7 PM
    
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   Monday, January 19, 2009  
What's Culkin, Good Lookin'?

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/19/2009 02:59:00 AM


News from the world of comics and beyond:

In news sure to inspire either spirited debate, bewilderment, or tepid boredom, a Culkin brother (Kieren Culkin) has just been cast in the Scott Pilgrim movie. Bryan Lee O'Malley, meanwhile, has his hands full keeping track of all the internet gossip and misinfo abut the project. The latest Scott Pilgrim drops at midnight on February 3 during the run-up to the New York Comic Con. Look for Harry Potter-levels of excitement.

The Globe and Mail is reporting that Mirvish Books, the wonderful art book store located across the street from The Beguiling, is closing after 30 years. A sad day for retail and book lovers. Through the years, I've found many wonderful treasures there, including comics.

Another comics-friendly space, Marc Glassman's Pages bookstore, has put off closing or moving for another six months, thanks to a reprieve from the landlord, according to the CBC.

Jamie Coville has a short report from last November's one-day Hobbystar con in Toronto. There are also some photos here (that's one of his pics up top).

The Shuster Awards blog features an interview with Marc Sims of Big B Comics in Hamilton.

The critic, comics historian, and peerless political pundit Jeet Heer offers up his best of 2008 list.

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   Saturday, January 17, 2009  
Sunday: Vancouver Comicon

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/17/2009 01:03:00 PM

The monthly Vancouver con takes place Sunday, Jan. 18 at its regular Heritage Hall location.

Vancouver Comicon
11am to 5pm
Heritage Hall, 3102 Main St, Vancouver

featuring the World's Toughest Cartoonist, David Boswell, and a host of others.

Dealer Tables: $45/centre; $55/wall

Admission: $4.00
Kids under 14: Free

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   Friday, January 16, 2009  
Saturday: Vancouver Comix Jam

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/16/2009 12:57:00 AM
From organizer Ed Brisson:

Just a reminder that the next Vancouver Comic Jam is on Saturday, January 17th from 8pm until sometime between midnight-1am.

As usual, I've reserved the upstairs room at the Clubhouse Japanese Restaurant for the Jam.

Bring your own pencils, pens and erasers. Paper is provided.

If you're drawing with markers that bleed through paper, be sure to either bring a drawing surface or place extra sheets of paper under the paper you're drawing on.

Crosspost as you see fit.


Ed

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Weekly Bestsellers: January 14

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/16/2009 12:01:00 AM
bookmanager logo

The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (4) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
5. (5) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (6) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
7. (7) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
8. (8) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
9. (24) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
10. (9) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
-----
11. (10) Che, Spain (Verso)
12. (17) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
13. (11) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
14. (12) DC Comics Encyclopedia, Rbt Greenburger (DK)
15. (13) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
16. (14) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
17. (15) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
18. (16) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
19. (20) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
20. (18) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
-----
21. (19) Simpsons/Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
22. (-) Black Cat 18, Yabuki Kentaro (VIZ)
23. (21) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
24. (23) Marvel Encyclopedia, Tom Defalco (DK)
25. (22) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
26. (25) Daniel X Alien Hunter, Patterson et al (Little, Brown)
27. (26) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
28. (-) Vampire Knight 2, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
29. (27) Asterix the Gaul, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
30. (-) Shugo Chara! 5, Peach-Pit (Random House)



Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: 2 new volums of popular manga series are released: Shuga Chara! continues the adventures of the kids' comic about a alienated little girl with magical guardians; Black Cat continues the adventures of the titular bounty hunter with a heart of gold.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everything from Jack Kirby's The Demon to Jason's The Living and the Dead battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is the battleground where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
5. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (7) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
8. (8) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
9. (12) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
10. (15) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
-----
11. (10) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
12. (9) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
13. (16) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (22) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
15. (11) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
16. (25) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
17. (14) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
18. (17) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
19. (18) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
20. (19) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fantagraphics)
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21. (20) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
22. (21) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
23. (-) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
24. (23) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. (24) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
26. (26) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (27) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
28. (28) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (30) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
30. (-) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)

Until I read the interview with Brian K. Vaughan in the most recent Comics Journal, I was disinclined to include Y: The Last Man in our All-Canadian List. While the book was conceived and written by Vaughan, the much-lauded art for the book is by Canadian Pia Guerra, who Vaughan credits with several plot points and story ideas, not to mention the obvious character designs and actual cartooning of the book. Traditionally, for the purposes of this list, my definition of "Canadian" means "created by a Canadian." I simply ask myself, "Would this book exist in some form without the involvement of a creator from the Frozen North?" The answer, especially for collaborative works, and especially for works published by U.S. publishers like Marvel and Warners/DC/Vertigo, is usually yes. Thus, Pride of Baghdad, Y, and Nextwave: Agents of HATE don't make the cut, whereas books by Darwyn Cooke, who is more often than not writer/artist these days, do. That being said, if Y: The Last Man were actually considered for this list, volume 2 would currently sit at #7. Other volumes would occupy several more spaces.

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   Thursday, January 15, 2009  
Karl Kerschl makes some waves with The Abominable Charles Christopher

:: Posted by max @ 1/15/2009 03:34:00 PM
I was just having diner with Karl last night and remembered that he had a profile in the local weekly, the Montreal Mirror this week as part of their Noisemaker annual revue of hot local talent...


Though he's risen through the ranks of mainstream comic artists over the last decade and a half, notably for work on titles like Superman and The Flash, Montrealer Karl Kerschl, a native of Welland, Ontario, admits he's not the biggest superhero fan. He's more interested in the themes that transcend the genre, even the medium-"Loyalty and brotherhood," he says.

"I get excited by characters who are honest and sincerely written, and who genuinely need each other in order for the story to be told. When one of them has to rise above whatever he or she is accustomed to in order to help the other, those are the moments that resonate with me. There's heroism in that, but it goes beyond traditional genre classifications."....

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   Wednesday, January 14, 2009  
Histoire d'hiver

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/14/2009 08:00:00 AM
Hachette Canada 2009 Bande Dessinee Contest

After the relative success of its first contest and publication, Contes et legendes du Quebec, Hachette has announced a new contest, "Histoire d'hiver." Designed to give unpublished comics creators their first professional credit, the contest will be
winners will be determined by a jury made of Francois Avard, Christian Chevrier, Fabien Deglise, Marc Delafontaine, Annie Leonard, and Eva Rollin.

Prizes: a grand prize of $2000, $1500 for 2nd and 3rd place, and 3 special mentions of $1000 each will be handed out to worthy recipients. All winners also get a spot in the anthology.

A synopsis and 2 pages must be mailed to the contest by April 1, 2009.

Concours 2009 de bande dessinee Hachette Canada
9001, boul. de l'Acadie
Bureau 1002
Montreal, Quebec
H4N 3H5

full details here (pdf)

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Canadian Comix People Rock

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/14/2009 03:59:00 AM

Chad Solomon's Rabbit and Bear Paws series has won the ImagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival "New Media" award.

Scott Pilgrim is a character to watch in 2009, according to Newsarama.

The comics critic and political historian Jeet Heer comments on Alan's War, a France-U.S. co-production based on a World War II memoir.

Hot on the heels of last week's "Popeye enters the public domain" news, the cbc digs up a few Canadian authors whose works are now free for the taking.

The Shuster Awards have a spiffy new blog and website that seem destined to give Sequential a run for its money in the "Canadian comix and culture" category. Contributors include friends of Sequential Kevin Boyd and Jason Truong. The latest features on the blog include the announcement of a new kids comics prize at the Shusters and an interview with Toronto's Marcio Takara, who draws a comic based on the Incredibles animated movie.

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   Tuesday, January 13, 2009  
2008 in Review

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/13/2009 01:27:00 AM
2008: The Year in Review
by Bryan Munn

We try to cover all aspects of the art of cartooning and comix here at Sequential, but sometimes its hard to see the big picture in the daily grind of blogging about the various press releases, publishing events and awards presentations that make up the comic book culture of Canada. That's why it's important to try to stand back and take a breath once in awhile, and the beginning of a new year is as good a time as any to look back over the past months and ask, 'what was it all about?' Of course, being a relatively tiny, amateur operation, Sequential can't hope to be anywhere near definitive in its coverage and analysis, especially when trying to get a handle on how, as our mandate has it, the "notable international tectonic movements of the Sequential arts" effect us here in our little regional tidal pool. Specifically, how does what's happening in the publishing world of New York, or in Hollywood, Europe or Japan, determine how comics are made and enjoyed (or not) in our country? This year, I've attempted to narrow the focus of this year-end review to a tiny trio of items that hopefully will speak to these questions.

Here are the top stories of 2008:


1. The Economy

(keywords: comics retailers, the dollar)

Whether it was news of the Quebecor bankruptcy, Raincoast downsizing, or discussions by Canadian comics retailers about the dollar and the price of U.S. comics, every other story that we blogged about in 2008 seemed to have an economic aspect to it. Last year, the misadventures of the Canadian dollar were at the bottom of Sequential's list of trends and newsmakers. This year, the economy is unavoidably first and foremost, even if you take the current round of 'panic in the streets'-style hand-ringing and headline-writing with an enormous mound of salt. The fluctuation in the dollar that everyone was talking about in 2007 seemed to stabilize at parity with the the U.S. greenback before tumbling down around the 80% mark where it currently hovers. At the very least, this means that U.S. monthly comic books (floppies) are once again more expensive in Canada. As are imported graphic novels and other books. Combine this with the other effects of the recession in Canada (lost savings from the market meltdown, joblessness, and the general anxiety about the stagnating economy) and the effects on the market for comics are bound to be notable. Although I haven't seen any hard numbers, anecdotal evidence suggests that the book retail market, slowing for a decade, is in a slump, and that book sales, at least through traditional bricks-and-mortar stores, will continue to decline. Of course, graphic novel and manga sales through bookstores have been one of the few growth areas in recent years (to expect endless growth in unrealistic and really one of the causes of the current crisis), so it remains uncertain whether or not these specific categories will decline. Sales of comics and graphic novels through Canadian comic book shops also remain a numerical mystery overall, since Diamond, the U.S. company that controls distribution of most comics product in Canada (and introduced an expensive computerized ordering system for retailers in 2008), does not make separate sales figures for this country available, although a few recent Diamond statements indicate slight (5%) growth in the U.S.-Canada graphic novel market in 2008. According to Brian Garside, owner of Canadian online retailer All-New Comics, several small town comics retailers have shut down recently as prices have risen,which means that, even if sales seem to be rising in some areas, there are likely many overlooked niches where the opposite is true.

How comics publishers will fare in the recession remains unclear. Certainly a larger Canadian publisher like Drawn and Quarterly, which maintains a strong international profile and exports to larger Anglo markets in the U.S. and United Kingdom, is in a better position than the handful of relatively tiny French-language and boutique English-language Canadian publishers, although these publishers are putting the most actual Canadian content into print. It is safe to say that publishers will be cautious, if not exactly draconian in terms of publishing schedules and print-runs. Certain trends are just visible: Internationally, actual new releases by U.S. manga publishers are expected to decline up to 10%, according to one source. Canadian retailer Chris Butcher has some very cogent analysis and predictions about the market for translated Japanese comics in a pair of recent blog posts here and here. Most intriguingly, Butcher predicts a greater synergy between U.S. manga publishers (including the imminent arrival of Japanese giant Kodansha) and the Direct Market. He also predicts that prestige volumes of adult-oriented art manga, pioneered by D+Q with books like Red Colored Elegy and the Tatsumi project are one of the few areas where growth may be possible. Other future aspects of the U.S. publishing industry remain a black box of mystery. U.S. retailers continue to complain about Marvel and DC publishing strategies as they seem set for the foreseeable future.

The economic recession may also effect those actually making a living from creating comics, whether they are political or strip cartoonists working within the ever-shrinking newspaper industry, writers or artists producing work-made-for-hire comics for U.S. publishers, or cartoonists who make the bulk of their living doing illustration for magazine or business clients. Since record numbers of Canadians are doing comics work for foreign publishers, this is shaping up to be a big story. With the slowdown expected to last at least until the end of 2009, this story is not going away anytime soon and we encourage readers to contact us or comment about their own experiences.



2. Skim

(keywords: skim)

This graphic novel by two cousins, cartoonist Jillian Tamaki and writer Mariko Tamaki, was the buzz book of the year, and wins a spot in this annual summary because it personifies a number of 2008's biggest trends. First, the book is a high quality work, well-reviewed online and in the mainstream press, and a brisk seller, as seen by its regular placement on the Sequential Bestseller List. These facts alone make the book a big story. While there was quite a bit of wonderful comics released in 2008, none had quite the impact of Skim. One of the trends that the book rode to its advantage was the move to larger publishers. The book was published by Groundwood, a major children's publisher owned by Anansi Press, with excellent international distribution and a strong publicity department. Skim is Groundwood's first graphic novel but the trend is widespread, involving not only the New York publishers, but also smaller Canadian organisms like Penguin Canada and Kids Can Press. This trend relates to another which Skim embodies: the move to a focus on children's and young adult comics material at the expense of adult-oriented material. Whether or not this is actually a long-term trend, as commentators like Tom Spurgeon and Eddie Campbell have speculated, there are certainly many more teen-oriented books being issued by traditional book publishers, and Skim is the most high-profile of these. This issue was brought to prominence when Skim was nominated for a Governor General's award, the first graphic novel to receive that honour. Despite being a mature work of art, embraced by all ages of readers and reviewers, Skim was nominated in the children's book category and, notoriously, the artist Jillian Tamaki was not mentioned in the nomination. This event resulted in a campaign lead by several prominent Canadian and international cartoonists to have the awards recognize both creators. The campaign had no effect and the book lost out to a prose work, the whole debacle illustrating how, despite widespread recognition and honours, the graphic novel is still largely misunderstood by the publishing industry, even though the best possible people are on the case.


3. Lynn Johnston

(keyword: Lynn Johnston)

Johnston was number one on the Sequential list in 2007 and she remains one of the top comics newsmakers for 2008. Besides her status as the de facto Queen of Canadian Comics --by virtue of the enormous financial success and popularity of her For Better or For Worse comic strip-- Johnston makes our list this year almost as much for what she didn't do. Sure, her latest book collection was consistently in the top ten of the Sequential bestseller list. And sure, she was inducted into the Canadian Cartoonist Hall of Fame, the first woman to be so honoured. And sure, she continued to be a major philanthropist, giving of her times and money to numerous animal, medical, and cultural causes across the country and internationally. But the most significant news story, and the story that dominated comic strip news over the entire year, was the continuing saga of the drawn-out ending of For Better or For Worse and its reincarnation as a reformatted, redrawn, zombie-Frankenstein version of its former self.

Johnston's decision to continue her strip, after effectively, and with much fanfare and philosophizing, ending it, wrapping up all of the plotlines and halting the Gasoline Alley-like aging of her characters, is significant in several ways. The decision to revisit aspects of the strip using a photo-album format, in essence as a mixture of legacy strip and 'greatest hits' package, drew criticism from comics fans and young cartoonists, everywhere from The Washington Post to The Comics Journal Messageboard. Many critics saw the continuation of the strip as unfair to the many cartoonists with fresh ideas and no repeats who have no hope of finding space in the newspaper. As well, Johnston's partial retirement also marks an end of sorts for an era of newspaper cartooning. She represents one of the last of the generation of creators who began their strips before 1980 and attained the kind of circulation and numbers that are almost impossible to achieve these days, influencing several generations of younger readers and cartoonists in the mean time. With the impending death of print (or at least, the death of print comic strips in newspapers), and the attendant decline in newspaper culture and journalism, Johnston can be seen as sort of a poster-child for old media and a world that is passing. Despite a robust web-presence for the strip and an active, opinionated face in public, the 62-year-old Johnston seems out of touch with the 21st-Century world of webcomics and graphic novels, preferring, as in her interview at the Giants of the North ceremony, to dwell on the past highpoints of her amazing career.

---


General 2008 Overview and Summary

Publishing

Montreal publisher Mecanique generale had the most diverse and graphically innovative line of graphic novels in 2008, while upstart publisher Conundrum released a few gems. David Widdington's Cumulous Press closed down, as did the extremely long-running anthology and fanzine Mensuhell.

(keywords: publishing, book launches, graphic novels )

Awards

(keyword: awards)

Those seeking a guide to some of the best and the most beautiful Canadian comics recognized this past year could do worse than review the various comix awards handed out in 2008:

Prix Bedeis Causa

Prix Bedelys

National Newspaper Award

Shuster Awards

Prix Expozine

Wright Awards

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   Monday, January 12, 2009  
Publishing: 101 Ways to Kill Your Boss

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/12/2009 06:00:00 AM

A new humour book from a cartoonist who is a regular feature of our bestseller list.

101 Ways to Kill Your Boss
Graham Roumieu
Plume/Penguin
$12
isbn 978-0452290051



From the publisher:

The author/illustrator of the hilarious Bigfoot: I Not Dead and Me Write Book comes out of the woods and charges straight into the corporate jungle. For any embittered employee who’s ever fantasized about executing the chief executive, Graham Roumieu takes the fantasy many steps further. Imagine how different work could be if you could: turn a World's Greatest Boss card into an eye-piercing paper airplane of death, create a corporate catapult, a lethal laser pointer, or even a urinal conversion kit (don't ask). This wickedly funny collection of black-and-white cartoons will induce uncontrollable laughter in every disgruntled underling and cranky cog who’s ever wanted their CEO DOA.

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   Friday, January 09, 2009  
Weekend Links

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/09/2009 12:38:00 AM
On January 1, Popeye became public domain in the EU, according to this article. Popeye's creator, the great Elzie Segar, died in 1938, so the statute of limitations, or whatever you want to call it (the author's lifespan + 70 years) is up. New, copyright-free adventures (and t-shirts, toys, etc) of the super-powered sailor are sure to be forthcoming.

And in local news:

Jeet Heer pre-Xmas interview with Tom Spurgeon.

Sean Rogers reviews Dave Lapp's Drop-In and Albert Chartier Un Petite Brunette for the Walrus comics blog.


This article talks about how to get kids to read using comics and recommends a slew of current releases.

Rocker and comics blogger Rachelle Goguen, whose band the Stolen Minks made several Canadian "best of" lists themselves, presents her comics-related Top 20 of 2008 list.

Should we feel guilty for buying extremely cheap used books online?

SUN Media fires Calgary Sun political cartoonist Thomas "TAB" Boldt.

New kids publishing strategy: make books look like video games.


Leigh Walton and Laura Hudson have started a blog to discuss all 300 issues of Cerebus, in order.
Matt Forsythe interviewed on Inkstuds.

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   Thursday, January 08, 2009  
Udon to Launch Kids Manga Line

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/08/2009 12:57:00 AM

Sort of old news now, but we try to give you the most complete coverage possible here at Sequential:

Coming hard on the heels of its announcement of a Korean manwha line, UDON, Canada's largest manga publisher, has announced the launch of a children's manga line. The line, dubbed "UDON Kids," will feature translated Japanese comics targeted at the pre-teen market. According to UDON CEO Eric Ko, the titles "are meant to be enjoyed for their captivating stories, and are not trying to sell kids on the latest animated series or card game like too many manga series are these days."

The series will launch in May, with The Big Adventures of Majoko Volume 1 by Tomomi Mizuna, and Ninja Baseball Kyuma Volume 1 by Shunshin Maeda.

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   Wednesday, January 07, 2009  
Publishing: Baloney by Pascal Blanchet

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/07/2009 02:00:00 PM


I just bought this on Tuesday from the local comic shop and it is a very pretty book, although I wish a cd had been included.

Baloney
by Pascal Blanchet
80 pages
Drawn and Quarterly
$16.95
ISBN: 9781897299661

publisher's copy:

Following White Rapids --named "Best Comic of 2007" by The Onion—Pascal Blanchet brings us Baloney. Winds swirl and darkness reigns over a hamlet perched atop a craggy peak. Russian fatalism sets the tone as Blanchet orchestrates the tale of a village butcher, his disabled daughter, and her tutor, in their doomed uprising against the swaggering Duke Shostakov, local governor and owner of the only heating company in town.

Curvy, retro lines and atmospheric, full-page panels evoke plaintive melodies, staccato passages and soaring solos. In a graphic novel about love and despair that is also a homage to the music of the 1930s and 40s, double bassists and trombonists lean into the frame, striking up a score that blends vaudeville with Kurt Weill and Russia's great modern composers. Rendered in two-color, red and black chiaroscuro, light struggles to emerge from darkness and endurance makes way for heroism, all to no avail. Read Baloney as a reverie composed to the melodies of Prokofiev and Shostakovich: a beautiful conjuring of moods, or a call to arms against the exorbitant rates charged by utilities.
December 2008/January 2009


chapters/indigo

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Weekly Bestsellers: January 7

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/07/2009 06:00:00 AM
bookmanager logo


Our weekly snapshot of the comics retail scene, covering New Year's week.

The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (4) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
5. (5) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (6) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
7. (7) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
8. (8) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
9. (8) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (14) Che, Spain (Verso)
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11. (12) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
12. (10) DC Comics Encyclopedia, Rbt Greenburger (DK)
13. (11) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (17) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
15. (13) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
16. (16) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (15) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
18. (-) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
19. (23) Simpsons/Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
20. (28) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
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21. (18) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
22. (20) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
23. (19) Marvel Encyclopedia, Tom Defalco (DK)
24. (21) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
25. (25) Daniel X Alien Hunter, Patterson et al (Little, Brown)
26. (22) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
27. (24) Asterix the Gaul, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
28. (26) Big Brilliant Book Of Bart, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
29. (27) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
30. (29) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Nothing new this week, just a shuffling of the deck.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Frank Miller to JRR Tolkien battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (8) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
8. (7) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
9. (11) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
10. (15) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
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11. (9) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
12. (12) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
13. (10) In Me Own Words/Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
14. (12) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
15. (14) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
16. (17) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
17. (18) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
18. (-) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (23) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fantagraphics)
20. (24) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
-----
21. (-) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
22. (29) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
23. (-) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. (16) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
25. (20) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
26. (19) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (21) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
28. (25) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (27) Zombies Calling, Faith Erin Hicks (Slave Labor)
30. (-) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)

Not much new here. Lynn Johnston is still the Queen of Canada. The Spirit may have got a bump from the Frank Miller movie. And I'm beginning to suspect that the D+Q bookstore may be a Bookmanager client.

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Roy Carless, 1920-2009

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/07/2009 02:15:00 AM

Canada's Working Class Cartoonist

by Bryan Munn

Cartoonist and union activist Roy Carless died Friday, January 2, 2009, in Hamilton, Ontario. The cause of death is believed to be a heart attack.

An assembly-line worker turned fierce proletarian political cartoonist, Carless was known for sticking up for the little guy and sticking it to politicians and bosses of every stripe and nationality.

Born in Swansea, a village that is now part of the High Park region of Toronto, Carless began drawing cartoons while attending Runnymede Collegiate High School, publishing in the school newspaper. He quit school in Grade 10 and went to work in a General Electric plant, designing machinery and drawing for The Lamp Worker, GE's house organ. In 1948 he moved to Hamilton and began working on the assembly line for Westinghouse (later Camco). Cartoons he created lampooning his bosses and plant management eventually found their way into the newsletter of the Electrical Workers Union, and from there he began to moonlight as an editorial cartoonist, providing gags and illustrations to a variety of labour publications. His work eventually came to the attention of Duncan Macpherson, then the dean of Canadian political cartoonists and cartoonist for the Toronto Star, when Carless's wife Audrey secretly convinced Macpherson to look at some cartoons in 1966. Macpherson wrote Carless with advice and encouragement, eventually sponsoring his membership in the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists in 1971.

While continuing to work in the factory and acting as Chief Steward for his union, representing over 1500 workers in contract negotiations, strikes, and in front of the Workmen's Compensation Board, Carless freelanced for over thirty union publications in Canada and the U.S., including Canadian Transport and Canadian Dimensions. He also did work for NDP publications, and magazines and newspapers published by steelworkers, fishermen, and electrical workers. Blacklisted as a communist, Carless was often hassled by the RCMP and once had trouble crossing the U.S.-Canada border. Nevertheless, over the years he earned many awards and commendations, as well as letters and requests from some of the famous subjects he caricatured, including Tommy Douglas, Lyndon Johnson, Rene Levesque, Pierre Trudeau, and many Ontario politicians. His work was regularly anthologized in Best Canadian Cartoons and the annual Portfoolio collection, in addition to inclusion in several international salons and competitions. A
book collection was released in 2006, entitled The Carless Cartoon Collection: Not Bad for An Old Bastard.

While he began his career drawing in the unadorned big-nose, gag cartoon style, Carless's style evolved considerably over the course of his life. On Macpherson's advice, he developed his gift for caricature, and the cartoons of his most prolific period show a strong sense of composition, use of light, and texture. Carless began signing his work "Roi" (French for king) in the late 1970s, shortly after he quit drinking.

Involved in a car accident in 1987, Carless suffered head trauma and lost the use of an eye, eventually becoming unable to draw to his own satisfaction, and quit cartooning in 1990. In 2003 his wife convinced him to begin drawing again and he began publishing work in the Hamilton Spectator.

Carless's public persona was that of a cigar-chomping, cowboy-hat-wearing raconteur, anti-authoritarian and champion of workers' rights. He was also a devoted family man, and a self-educated debater and activist, who also happened to be one of the most unique post-War political cartoonists to work in Canada.

Roy Carless is survived his wife, Audrey Carless, his son Marc, and five grandchildren.

There will be a memorial at the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, 51 Stuart St., in Hamilton at 1 pm, January 17.

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more:
photo
Hamilton Spectator

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Publishing: Time Management for Anarchists

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/07/2009 12:49:00 AM
time management for anarchists

self-published/No Media Kings
22 pages
October, 2008

We missed this when it was released late last year. Available as a free download/pdf/webcomic/etc, this comic by creator Jim Munroe and illustrator Marc Ngui is a cartoon version of a talk Munroe (writer: Therefore Repent) has been giving at writer gatherings for awhile now.

You can find it online, along with more details, here.

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   Monday, January 05, 2009  
Back from a Break

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/05/2009 05:00:00 AM

Welcome back to Sequential. We hope the Holidays were good to you.

First up for 2009, a quick round-up of recent news-bites about comics in Canada:

-The Top BD of 2008 at Fichtre in Montreal, courtesy of Michel Viau.

-cartoonist Diana Tamblyn adds one more pick to her Holiday Wishlist

-Seth gallery show profiled in construction magazine

-The Globe and Mail Books section, one of the highest profile book review venues in the country that devotes space to the occasional graphic novel, has ceased to exist as a separate section of the Saturday paper and will incorporate into the regular Review section of the Globe beginning January 10.

-The D+Q blog features photos of mock-ups of 2009's George Sprott and Doug Wright books.

-Speaking of D+Q, Matt Forsythe is interviewed by Tom Spurgeon here.

-The Shuster Awards are moving to a new web address.

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   Thursday, January 01, 2009  
Weekly Bestsellers: December 31

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/01/2009 05:00:00 AM
alt="bookmanager logo" border="0">

One more kick at the can for 2008. I'm pretty sure these lists represent sales through Dec. 27, so next week's list will be the "last" list of 2008 even though it will be dated 2009.

The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (5) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
5. (4) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (6) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
7. (7) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
8. (12) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
9. (8) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (11) DC Comics Encyclopedia, Rbt Greenburger (DK)
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11. (24) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
12. (9) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
13. (18) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
14. (-) Che, Spain (Verso)
15. (15) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
16. (10) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (13) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
18. (-) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
19. (29) Marvel Encyclopedia, Tom Defalco (DK)
20. (14) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
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21. (19) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
22. (21) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
23. (17) Simpsons Comics Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
24. (-) Asterix the Gaul, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
25. (-) Daniel X Alien Hunter, Patterson et al (Little, Brown)
26. (-) Big Brilliant Book Of Bart, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
27. (-) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
28. (16) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
29. (-) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
30. (-) The Potpourrific Great Big Grab Bag of Get Fuzzy, Darby Conley (Andrews McMeel)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: The just-released graphic novel adaption of thriller writer James Patterson's popular Daniel X kids series makes a strong showing. As well, there are five books by Canadian creators but only 2 books from a Canadian publisher.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Frank Miller to JRR Tolkien battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (-) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
8. (8) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
9. (7) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
10. (-) In Me Own Words/Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
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11. (22) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
12. (9) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
13. (12) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
14. (11) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
15. (15) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
16. (17) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (10) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
18. (19) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
19. (13) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (24) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
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21. (16) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
22. (14) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
23. (-) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fantagraphics)
24. (-) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
25. (-) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
26. (20) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (21) Zombies Calling, Faith Erin Hicks (Slave Labor)
28. (23) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (25) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
30. (26) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)

High-ranking books that don't qualify as sufficiently Canadian (but would otherwise be in the Top 30 Canadian): Y The Last Man, the KRAZY! catalog, JSA Volume 1, and many others. Something else that I find utterly fascinating: POWR MSTRS #2 outsold the bottom 13 (ie, #s 18-30) Canadian books this week. It also outsold Garfield Dishes it Out, Y: The Last Man Vol 3, The Hardy Boys Sea You Sea Me, Aya, Chobits, Gary Larson's Last Chapter and Worse, Bleach Vol 9, Jimmy Corrigan, Bleach Vol 17, Inuyasha, The Evil Dead, Love and Rockets: New Stories Vol 1 and thousands of other comics. Congrats to C.F. and publisher Dan Nadel.

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Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

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Happy New Year!

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/01/2009 12:01:00 AM


Happy New Year from Sequential!

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