Weltschmerz, Gareth Lind's long-running weekly political comic strip, has come to an end. The final strip appeared Thursday, June 26.
Citing a need to move on after almost 15 years of producing a weekly strip, cartoonist Lind ended the adventures of uber-liberal ranter Horst Weltschmerz on an open note, wrapping up a long-running sub-plot involving comatose terrorism suspect Raj but leaving the relationship crisis of the title character in permanent limbo.
As he writes in the blog post accompanying the final strip, Lind is still planning future projects, perhaps with the same characters, but his loyalties remain with the serialized comic strip form, as opposed to the graphic novel or webcomics:
"... it was hard for me to imagine the characters not living on. They may well, somehow, in some incarnation. But right now it feels like they've lived long enough with me. It's time for Horst -- and me -- to move on [...] But my cartooning ain't over. I've got plans. Whether I can find an economic model for them remains to be seen ..."
The full text of the blog post is worth reading for anyone interested in webcomics economics and the shift away from print.
Running since 1994 in a small number of Canadian alternative weeklies that at one time included Toronto's Eye Weekly as well as Pulse (Edmonton), Echo Weekly (Kitchener-Guelph area), View (Hamilton) and Pulse (St. Catharines/Niagara), the strip revolved around the neurotic political worldview of Horst Weltschmerz (a Woody Allen-Noam Chomsky type and Lind's chief mouthpiece) and his coterie of trend-embracing, buzzword-spouting friends, rivals, and mortal enemies. The strip was decidedly left-of-centre and often concerned with issues surrounding technology and the environment, with particular venom and satire reserved for Conservative Party politicians like PM Stephen Harper and the widely-hated former Ontario premier Mike Harris. In many ways, and to use another German loan-word, with its deer-in-the headlights fascination with neo-cons, the web, sex, and global warming, the strip perfectly captured the zeitgeist of millennial and post-Sept. 11 Canada. By way of example, the most recent storyline featured Horst cyber-stalking his ex-girlfriend, who left him for a lesbian lover who is secretly streaming their sex-life to pay-per-view fans online, while Horst's friend Cosmo has embraced veganism and the SUV-diet, a parody of the 100-mile diet that involves eating only the equivalent of the bio-fuel consumed by a typical SUV in one year, all while their friend Raj hovers on death's door after being abducted by CSIS.
A restless, intelligent strip, Weltschmerz featured inventive design, tight linework, and an economy of presentation that was distinct, instantly accessible, and funny, despite its often dense wordplay and subject matter. A collection of strips featuring a linked continuity, Attack of the Same-Sex Sleeper Cells, was self-published by Lind and released in 2006.
An interview with the Guelph-based Lind, who also runs a graphic design business, accompanied the final strip in select papers.
Faith Erin Hicks (Zombies Calling!) is serializing a new story as a full-colour comic strip in the Halifax Chronicle Herald, according to this profile. (above image)
Is Michel Rabagliati the new Charles Schulz? I don't think so, but Henry Chamberlain at Comic Book Bin does.
If I didn't know better, I'd say that this Dave Sim response to a Heidi MacDonald post from awhile back is part of a long series of seemingly willful misunderstandings on Sim's part.
Toronto Comic Jam Tuesday, March 25, 9pm Cameron House, Queen W. torontocomicjam.com
Skim Booklaunch This Is Not A Reading Series Wednesday, March 26th. 7:30-12pm The Gladstone Hotel, Toronto Free Mariko and Jillian Tamaki will be interviewed by Toronto writer Jessica Westhead, with Brad Mackay introducing.
INDUSTRY NIGHT: NEGATIVE BURN and COMIC EYE BOOK LAUNCH Wednesday, March 26th, 7pm-10pm The Victory Cafe, 581 Markham Street, Toronto FREE NEGATIVE BURN #17 and THE COMIC EYE, a new book-length anthology of comics about comics. Published and Edited by Hamilton's Mark Innes.
Montreal Comix Jam Bar des Pins, 3714 Park, Montreal Thursday,March 27 at 8 PM
Bax Bear Toronto Artists design Vinyl Toy Keep Six Contemporary gallery 938 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Canada, M5R 3G5 Friday, March 28 6-10pm
A bad week for Mr. Big Thing, aka Vancouver cartoonist Colin Upton. He got turned down for a Canada Council grant and then he got some crappy medical news.
This past Saturday, Happy Harbor Comics in Edmonton hosted their annual 12-Hour Comic Challenge for charity. Jamie Hall of The Edmonton Journal has a report.
No, it's not Guy Delisle. Sudbury cartoonist Sue Dewar writes about her trip to China.
Patrick Berube reviews Delisle's Chroniques Birmanes for Comic Book Bin and cofrims it will be translated by D+Q.
This Georgia Straight article makes coherent sense of the latest press release from Zeros 2 Heroes, including the news that Astral Media has committed $18,000 towards script development for the latest winner of the Comic Book Nation contest.
Another Vancouver web-based company, Optimum Wound Comics, has announced their first graphic novel release, Croatian artist Danijel Zezelj's Rex. Comic Book Bin has the press release.
Steve Murray writes about how his parents used comics as positive reinforcement for the National Post.
Teletoon is airing a few animated episodes of U.S. cartoonist's Aaron McGruder's Boondocks after the offending eps were yanked from the Cartoon Network. I can't tell if this is news or not --this isn't really an animation blog and I don't follow the show in question (it's pretty crappy).
The Wintercon anime con takes place this weekend at the University of Alberta and is sponsored by BAKA, the U of A's anime and manga club. Art, film and other events at the links below.
Wintercon Jan 19-20, 2008 University Education building, University of Alberta, Edmonton http://www.bakaclub.com/news.php http://www.bakaclub.com/con1.php more
Below is a rough draft of the 2008 Convention Schedule for all comics and comics-related conventions in Canada. Sequential will hopefully be issuing several of these updated schedules throughout the year, as well as promoting the individual events as they occur. If you have any additions or corrections, please email us. Sequential is interested in all comics-related events that take place across the country and we will do our best to link to your event, even if it is only a relatively tiny, single-day collectibles show in a small town. Please let us know.
2008 Conventions
Wintercon (anime event) Jan 19-20, 2008 University Education building, University of Alberta, Edmonton http://www.bakaclub.com/news.php http://www.bakaclub.com/con1.php more
Edmonton Pop Culture Fair Sunday, March 30, 2008 10 am to 4:30 pm Edmonton Aviation Heritage Centre 11410 Kingsway Avenue http://www.popculturefair.com/
Anime North May 23-25, 2008 Doubletree International Plaza Hotel Toronto Congress Center Renaissance Toronto Airport Hotel http://www.animenorth.com/index.php
VCON Vancouver’s Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Gaming Convention October 19-21 Radison President Hotel, 8181 Cambie Road, Richmond, BC http://www.vcon.ca/
What does Canadian non-fiction cartoonist David Collier have to do with ancient Mexican civilizations? According to the Edmonton Journal's Gilbert A. Bouchard, quite alot. Bouchard also interviews Joe Sacco.
Faith Erin Hicks' Zombies Calling graphic novel is the best-selling book at Strange Adventures in Halifax, according to Michelle Macleod of the Chronicle-Herald. The zombie-battling tale is a big draw for everyone over the age of 13.
Most people are not aware of this, but the Superfriends cartoon was one of the most profound and artful tv shows of all time. Now it will be more readily obvious to more viewers in Ontario, thanks to Cogeco picking up Teletoon retro. (Not comics, really, but I couldn't resist).
Morefallout for the Western Standard over Mohammed cartoons, sort of.
Passing through Edmonton, comic book writer Derek McCulloch flashes back to the heady days of the black and white glut:
This is McCulloch's first graphic novel, but he's had a long history within the comic-book universe. In the '80s, he joined a coalition of comic book enthusiasts, which would eventually come to be known as Strawberry Jam Comics. Through this group, a total of 14 issues of two titles were published in a time that McCulloch refers to as the "black-and-white boom."
"[The boom] followed the advent of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, when all of a sudden, a whole bunch of people at the same time realized that it was actually pretty cheap to publish a black and white comic book," he recalls. "And, as evidenced by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it didn’t really have to be that good to do very well.
"Following the boom, very quickly there was a bust," he continues. "Unfortunately, our publication schedule was very erratic, and we managed to put out a bunch of them before the boom happened, and a bunch of stuff after the bust happened. So we completely missed the window when there was money to be made."
Award-winning graphic novel writer and former Edmonton resident Derek McCulloch will return to his old stomping grounds this October to pass on a little of what he's learned about the blues in his time in America. On Friday, October 5th, McCulloch will appear first at Happy Harbor comics, where he will sign copies of his graphic novel, Stagger Lee. Later that evening, he will appear at the Edmonton Public Library, where he will give a slide show and lecture on the history and myth of Stagger Lee.
Appearing with Derek is local comic historian and professional reviewer Tim Lasiuta who will be signing copies of his book "Brush Strokes With Greatness - Life & Times of Joe Sinnott" and will be available to talk to fans about other great comic legends. You can listen to Tim's weekly, live comic webcast on World News Radio's COMIC ZONE every Wednesday at 2 pm Pacific!
Friday, October 5th, 4 p.m - 6 p.m. - Signing at Happy Harbor Comics, 10112 - 124 Street, (780) 452-8211 7 p.m. - Slide show, reading, Q&A, and signing at Edmonton Public Library, Centre Core, Centre for Reading and the Arts, Stanley A Milner Library, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square, (780) 496-7000
2. Writing for the Edmonton Jounral, Gilbert Bouchard rehearses some old chestnuts about the sexuality of American superheroes, with some choice quotes by Bart Beaty.
2. Haida manga artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is profiled by Heather Ramsay for The Tyee on the subject of representations of First Nations people in Canadian museums.
3. Gilbert A. Bouchard recaps the history of non-fiction cartooning in North America for the Edmonton Journal.
4. The Comic Book Bin's Avi Weinryb reports on the DC panel from FanExpo and has some great video coverage.
5. Brendan Blom writes about reading Tintin in Canada for Culture magazine. After Django Reinhardt, Georges Simenon, and Charlemagne, is Herge the greatest Belgian?
(top, in honour of Omega Flight, a random superhero image by Owen McCarron)
Based on a few recent posts about the new zeros2heroes.com comics-related social network/idea farm, Sequential was contacted by Zeros 2 Heroes spokesperson Matthew Toner. Toner was kind enough to answer a few email questions about his site and its latest projects:
1. How many users does Zeros 2 Heroes have? How many participated in the Reboot promotion?
*** Last time I checked, we were just over 2500 members... hardly Facebook numbers. ;-)
But we did surpass our goal wrt the ReBoot promotion by a long margin - we measured this by more than just members. We looked at time on site, for example, and number of reviews. Online users submitted way more than 10,000 individual ratings, a few thousand comments, and several hundred blog posts. For a relatively small group in a relatively short time, this was a very decent showing. ***
2. Is there anywhere online where anyone interested could read an example of the "standard" contract you will be offering to the winners of the "Canada: Comic Creation Nation" contest?
*** Not yet. Much like some of our better-heeled competitors, we've found that getting legal work done at the end of August is a slow process. But we'll be posting some plain language deal points very soon. ***
3. Why should I care about Zeros 2 Heroes? What are the ways in which Zeros 2 Heroes differs from other social networking sites like comicspace? How does Zeros 2 Heroes differ from other webcomics publishers like clickwheel or wecomincs nation?
*** We think ComicSpace is great and have had many fruitful discussions with Josh (as well as some collaboration around the ReBoot campaign). I guess what sets Zeros 2 Heroes apart from other online comic communities is that we see ourselves as more of a movement - we want to work with or on behalf of these other sites that are on the outside of the mainstream industry. As you may have noticed, we're pretty good at the business/marketing side of the business - we want to use this expertise on behalf of independent, undiscovered or unnoticed creators. ***
4. How is Zeros 2 Heroes better than self-publishing or publishing through a traditional paper publisher?
*** I don't know if I would say "better", but I would say "different". Self-publishing results in product but no distribution or marketing... in the end, it can easily become a big money sink for the creators. Paper publishing is a great, time-tested model, but there are very real barriers to entry for new or untested talent. Most writers I know could paper their house with rejection letters.
Our model is digital and allows creators the ability to self-publish, distribute and promote their own works... and the only real judge of thei worth will be the online audience. The wrinkle we're adding with Comic Creation Nation is the ability to team up undiscovered writers with editors and professional artists to help bring that crucial first work to life. All of this is at no cost to them... and no cost to the audience either. ***
5. There have been other submission contests and collective pitch rating forums in the past, most of which have never resulted in successful properties or even great art. There are already tons of comics in the world (and let's face it, comics is not a mass medium like movies or tv). How will your company be able to market or develop these projects when there are so many competing webcomics and paper comics in the world? Is there any money in it when major comics publishers and even sites like youtube struggle to find ways to generate profit?
*** Well, now we're really talking about our company's "secret sauce". ;-)
I think the short answer is that we've assembled a really good team of entertainment industry professionals and new media specialists: this gives us a certain kind of clout. But more importantly, I think we're approaching the problems of the comic industry in a new way. Von Clauswitz always said to attack "the hinge of the door" and that's what I think online companies can do best. If we can displace industry intermediaries, we can tip the dynamic of the industry back towards consumer and creators of content. We often look to how MySpace has changed the music industry. ***
6. Do you have any funding from anything besides Telefilm? What or who are your backers and what kind of financing have they provided?
*** We do have some private financing in the company, but our investors would obviously prefer that we keep it "private." But I do feel free to say that we are not funded by any giant entertainment conglomerate and don't answer to any other corporate power. Unlike our bigger competitors, this allows us the freedom to do things that we feel are in the best interests of the creators, artists and fans that make up our community. We hope to keep it that way, even though sometimes I get an earful from our Chairman about leaving money on the table. ;-) ***
The Chuckle Bros, a comic strip by writers Brian & Ron Boychuk and cartoonist Ronnie Martin, has been picked up for U.S. and worldwide syndication by Creators Syndicate. The strip is syndicated in Canada by Torstar Syndication Services, a division of Toronto Star:
The cartoon currently appears in 36 newspapers in Canada, including the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Victoria Times Colonist, Regina Leader Post, Calgary Herald, and Edmonton Journal.
Chuckle Bros is the collaborative work of Brian Boychuk, a violinist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, his brother Ron Boychuk, originally from Regina, and illustrator Ronnie Martin, also from Ottawa.
"With Torstar Syndication Services covering the Canadian market and now Creators Syndicate on board for both U.S. and worldwide distribution, the stage is set for one heck of a ride," said Brian Boychuk. "The Chuckle Bros are as ready as we'll ever be."
"The fabulous success of the Chuckle Bros launch was a great beginning, as editors found out what we already knew: this is a terrific little comic that people will love because it consistently delivers a solid punch line and outstanding art," said Robin Graham, Managing Director, Torstar Syndication Services. "Eight months later, we are still adding a steady stream of new customers."
"Chuckle Bros will make a great addition to our line-up and we're so excited to have them on board with their zany humour," said Margo Sugrue, National Sales Director, Creators Syndicate. "I first saw the panel in an editor's office at the Ottawa Citizen, and knew immediately that I'd love to have it."
A good couple of months for Happy Harbor comics: first they win the Shuster award for best Canadian comics retailer and now VUE Weekly has voted them the best in Edmonton:
The shelves at Happy Harbor at Manning Crossing bear pretty much the nerd-store standard stock of comics, manga geek-books and vinyl tchotchkes, but Happy Harbor competes on atmosphere. I was in there killing time while I waited for my ride after a wisdom-tooth extraction, and the staff were all "Have a seat!", directing me to a couple of comfy chairs, encouraging me to sit and read. A refreshing reversal of the police-state customer-is-the-enemy approach of some other shops.
Stephanie Chan interviews Edmonton's Jay Bardyla, owner of the Happy Harbor comics store. Bardyla won the Best Retailer prize at the Shuster Awards. The store does a lot for local creators and for charity, in apart as a publisher of the comics anthology Tales from the Harbor:
"Tales from the Harbor" was a slow building idea and I was afraid it wouldn't work since I've had trouble in the past trying to coordinate people for events and projects. There were a few anthologies around Alberta that selected content and charged for submitting (which is perfectly fine) but I wanted to offer something to the true beginner, to give them a chance to create within a schedule, have their work edited by others and finally to have it seen in a finished volume of work. Currently there are 2 volumes of "TotH" and we plan to continue to publishing twice a year for as long as we can. The first book was about 280 pages and the second was 340 and we couldn’t publish all the material we had. Clearly there's no lack of interest so we should be good for a while.
Our first books were based on the works from our charity events so there are 2 "12 Hr Comic Challenge" books and 2 "24 Hour Comics Day" books, a portion of the proceeds from each continue to go to their respective charities.
We also published a "Comic Talks" books after our 2005 sessions and are currently working a book based on the 2006 shows. And finally, one of our staff members has begun to produce an all-women's charity anthology in support of La Salle, a long term women's shelter based in Edmonton. We have gotten some strong support and feedback for the book so we are hoping to have it published by the end of the year.
A recent episode of Sandra Bell-Lundy's Between Friends strip made mention of Canadian watercolour painter Jack Reid. The 81-year old Reid was surprised by the number of phone calls he received from fans of the strip, according to the Orillia Packet & Times:
Usually, when people say "see you in the funny pages," it's just an expression.
For local artist Jack Reid, however, it rings true.
Reid's name was mentioned as part of an ongoing storyline in the comic strip "Between Friends," which appeared in The Packet & Times May 11-12.
"I was very pleasantly surprised," said Reid on the phone from Quesnel, B.C., where he was holding a painting workshop last week. "That's quite an honour."
The artist, who has lived in Lagoon City for more than a year, wasn't familiar with the syndicated comic strip and didn't learn of his mention until he started receiving calls from people in Victoria and Edmonton - and even Hawaii - asking him if he is the Jack Reid in the strip.
Sandra Bell-Lundy, the creator of "Between Friends," is a big fan of watercolour art, the medium in which Reid paints, and so was familiar with the painter.
"I didn't know him, but I knew his work," she said.
When she started creating the storyline, Bell-Lundy said she thought it would make the content funnier if she inserted an artist's name, and Reid's was the first that popped into her head.
"I just really think he's got a lot of talent," she said.
Reid, who will celebrate his 82nd birthday June 1 in Whistler, B.C., said he's lost count of the number of pieces he's created over the course of his career.
Aside from his artwork, Reid has also written a number of art books and, as a rough estimate, has taught more than 25,000 people through classes and workshops.
Free Comic Book Day took place last Saturday. I was at the Clothing Show so I missed out on the festivities (I was also away from my computing machine and missed the reminder about the Paradise Comics event from Kevin Boyd --sorry Kevin). FCBD is like a big world-wide comic book convention. The Clothing Show is sort of like a comic book convention, except with lots of fashion-obsessed women instead of cosplayers and comic book fans. I only spotted a few young women in Supergirl & Wonder Women t-shirts, one joker in a West Coast Avengers tee, the now ubiquitous "I Love You! I Know!" gay Batman and Robin image, and this leather masterpiece from the kids at MonsterMuffin:
As for the rest of Canada, Free Comic Book Day went something like this:
The Calgary Comic Expo took place this past weekend. Lots of U.S. guests like Bruce Timm & Gail Simone plus some home-grown heroes. By all accounts it was a professional and satisfying experience for those who attended. Here are a few con reports:
This week, Ethan Peacock from Vancouver's Elfsar Comics agreed to answer a few email questions about his business. Elfsar occupies 2,500 square feet in Vancouver, BC. and opened May 2003 with some help from the folks behind Happy Harbor in Edmonton. The store is a participant of Free Comic Book Day and 24 Hour Comic day as well as fundraisers for charities (it donated over $1,600 to the Vancouver Ronald McDonald House last year). Peacock was nice enough to list some of his current bestsellers. Looking over the lists, it's tempting to say, as Elfsar goes, so goes the Direct Market. From Peacock's description, the store seems to attract a huge number of traditional Marvel/DC-type fans/collectors. I'm also reminded I should ask more specific questions about Canadian comics sales.
Q. What is the general age/gender breakdown of your customers?
The average age is about 25-30 years of age. The Male/female ratio is 85% Male 15% Female.
Q. What do you sell more of by volume, graphic novels (including trades and manga) or monthly comic books?
Well, it's kind of hard to say. Comics (floppies) still rank as #1 but that is mostly due to our saver file subscriptions for monthly books. However for floor traffic Trades are definitely #1. We track every sale at our store via our point of sale system so we know exactly what is selling, customer purchase history & loads of other useful data which helps us with our ordering.
Q. What do do you sell more of by dollar value?
Again, same as above.
Q. What are your bestselling books?
1. 52 weeks 2. Civil War 3. Mighty Avengers 4. Astonishing X-men 5. New Avengers 6. All Star Superman 7. Justice League of America 8. Justice Society of America 9. Walking Dead 10. The Boys
Q. What are your bestselling non-manga graphic novels?
1. Superman Death of Superman TP 2. Batman The Long Halloween TP 3. Astonishing X-men Vol 1 TP 4. Ultimate Spider-man Vol 1 TP 5. Batman Hush Vol 1 TP 6. Walking Dead Vol 1 TP 7. Batman Dark Knight Returns TP 8. Sandman Vol 4. TP 9. Superman Red Son TP 10. Watchmen TP
Q. What are your bestselling non-superhero graphic novels?
1. Walking Dead Vol 1 TP 2. Watchmen TP 3. Sandman Vol 4. TP 4. 300 HC 5. Y the Last Man Vol 1 TP 6. Bone One Vol Edition SC 7. Transformers G1 Vol 1 TP 8. Conan Vol 1 TP 9. Pride of Bagdad HC 10. Transmetropolitan Vol 1 TP
Q. What percent of your manga sales are driven by "TheYTV effect" and other media (anime, movies, toys, etc)?
Not much or at least I have not noticed anything significant.
Q. What do you see as the major trends in graphic novels and comics retailing over the next year? The next 5 years?
Our sales greatly depend on what the Top companies decide to put into print. I believe that Graphic Novels (Trades) are the future and we have been adjusting out orders accordingly. I think publishers are starting to have more faith in this format. But it is kind of anti-collecting and certain companies (i.e. Marvel) make it obvious that they do not like that which is why they seem to let so many of their trades go out of print. Other companies (i.e. Dynamite Entertainment) are starting to publish variant covers for Trades which again I feel is the wrong direction. I believe that Trades belong on a bookshelf and are aimed at people who want to read stories. Plain and simple.
Over the next year I foresee more collections of older material from the large publishers. I foresee more independent creators skipping the single issue format and going straight to trades, which will cost them more at first but in the long run they will sell out as opposed to having tons of #3's and #4's that they can't sell without reprinting #1's and #2's.
In the next 5 years I think the larger publishers will be pushing to put ads in Trades weather at the end or throughout the book (I have already seen this in a Top Cow Hardcover). I think that there will be more comics on the web and I think single issues will crash in sales and many comic book stores will close. This will be also due to comics being pushed to things like blackberries for a subscription, etc.
Hey, when you have Jonny Q [sic] at Marvel saying "The paper form of Comics will be extinct in 30 years," it doesn't give me a few positive outlook on my business of selling paper comics.
Q. What comics do you find yourself recommending the most?
Hard to say, for those looking for great stories, we recommend good stating points or one-shot books from some of our favorite writers. For those looking for good art, we point out different art styles and see what they bite on. Each employee has their personal faves. I like Mignola's work myself.
Q. What are your favourite comics?
I like any Comics/Trades that sell well and stay in print.
Q. Why are you a comics retailer?
At first it was because I was a comics fan. I was an aspiring artist and comics were very attractive to me. I was ordering so many comics that it was time to open a store. Now, that I have been exposed to the other side my fandomship has died down a fair amount. Now it's just a business and my priorities have changed.
Q. What bothers you the most about the current comics industry?
The "Comic Book Day Wednesday" situation. As much as I love the fact that we have customers that can't wait to buy our product. A lot of it is already spoken for. All other industries get at least a day to sort through inventory, check damages, make displays, enter items that were not in their database & get knowledge on the product. We have customers eagerly hounding us for stuff as our product arrives. The customer will also ask us "So how's this book?" when we have not even had time to get it out (quite literally) of the box, let alone read it. This causes a lot of unnecessary stress and I personally believe is the #1 reason that comic book shops are a dying breed.
Ideally we would get our stuff a day early or during the previous night so that we could set everything up during closing hours. Ideally all comic shops would agree to not sell the books before the next day. But we are breed that feeds off ourselves and that will never happen. All it takes is one to break the rule and other have no choice but to follow suit or go out of business. If I was the only Comic Book shop in Vancouver, I would totally make Thursday "Comic Book Day", but I am not. So I have no choice but to suffer.
Also we are not ever ordering for tomorrow like most businesses ... you run out of something ... you order more. Instead we have to order 2 months in advance or we have to order for 6 months down the line. It is impossible to predict your next weeks invoice so cash flow is always a problem.
Q. How important is the web to your business?
Very, it acts like a giant business card and with the increase in webcomics it will become more and more important as time goes on. It gives store the opportunity to showcase their Events/Sales/Product/Signings/etc...
ELFSAR COMICS & TOYS. FEATURED IN BEST OF VANCOUVER 2006! www.elfsar.com (604) 688-5922 Open 7 Days a Week 1007 Hamilton St. Vancouver , BC Canada V6B 5T4
In honour of hockey legend Mark Messier (The Oilers are retiring his jersey), the Edmonton Journal printed a comic strip biography of the man on Sunday, now available as a pdf (warning, it's not very good).
-Colin Upton switches from Blogspot to Livejournal and sums up the past year in one of his first new blog posts
-Hamilton Spectator political cartoonist Graeme MacKay chooses his faves from his own batch of local cartoons of 2006
-Comic Book Bin profiles Rosena Fung, creator of the comic strip Soap Box
-Ottawa Citizen cartoonist Cam Cardow looks back at the year in editorial cartoons and talks about free speech and how funny politicians are, etc
-The Edmonton Journal reviews a batch of recent graphic novels, including Guy Delisle's SHENZHEN.
-Miles Fielder writing for Living Scotsman.com provides a review of Wimbledon Green that declares "some kind of childhood's end informs the bittersweet tone of the book"
-Dave Sim compares Cerebus and Lynn Johnston's For Better or For Worse in a recent blog post:
"My own opinion is that Lynn Johnston's For Better or Worse is probably the closest analogue because it's also done in comics form and it's also a rare instance where comics characters actually age and change. A lot of people will tend to roll their eyes at that because For Better or Worse is not seen as a particularly sophisticated (as opposed to populist) strip and certainly if you were to try and read the entire history of the strip it would far more resemble a soap opera than it would a novel, but in terms of large narratives it is a very large narrative and it does strive for realism and the sense of being a document of actual lives, as opposed to the latest try at breathing life into an old trademark."
The Edmonton Journal profiles Jorden Oliwa, author of a graphic novel series set in Edmonton. The latest volume, E-Town Envy, was recently released to coincide with the launch of Oliwa's brother's clothing line. The two brothers head up related companies, No Dice INK and No Dice ThreadZ:
"As the title of the latest book suggests, this chapter of the story is based in Edmonton and features characters dredged up from Jorden's life.
It's the old case of the pen being mightier than the sword -- or, in this case, the gun. Jorden's characters switch between pens, markers, and spraypaint as weapons in the stories. Even when guns are used, the line gets blurred, such as blood splatters that look like ink sprays from a pen.
The business runs in a holistic fashion, with each area feeding off the others. The characters from the graphic novels show up in No Dice's clothing line, photographic art displays and company logo designs.
It's all quite methodical.
ThreadZ, for example, will release distinct lines of clothing based on each of Jorden's graphic novels and the fashions portrayed by characters."
Longtime Edmonton Journal political cartoonist and "how-to-cartoon" tv host Yardley Jones is featured in an exhbition of his work at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
Ross Moroz of Vue Weekly has a review of the show and short bio of the artist.
Having originally set his sights on becoming a classical watercolourist, the Welsh-born Jones left the UK for Canada with his wife in 1957. Upon arriving in Edmonton, he found work as a house painter, but, having done a bit of freelance cartooning back home, he soon found himself peddling cartoons to local publications, delivering sketches to the publisher of the Edmonton Journal almost daily.
"He would chuckle pleasantly, but say no," remembers Jones, surveying the collection of originals and prints crowding the tiny gallery. Undeterred, he continued to sketch, and one afternoon in January of 1962, while watching workers scale the treacherous heights of a building being demolished on the corner of Jasper Avenue and 101 Street as the Western world was transfixed by American astronaut John Glenn's heroics as the first non-Soviet in space, he had an epiphany, drawing a simple cartoon on an envelope and delivering it to the Journal publisher, who this time relented, hiring Jones as the paper's full-time editorial cartoonist.
Jones went on to work for the Toronto Telelgram and then the Montreal Star in the '60s and '70s before coming back to Edmonton to work for the Sun in the '80s and finally retiring in the early '90s after returning to the Journal.
To Nov 8 Yardley Jones: A Life of Character(s) U of A Extension Centre Gallery (2nd floor, 8303 - 112 Street)
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