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Cartoonist Cameron Stewart (Seaguy, Batman and Robin, Sin Titulo) will be signing books at Strange Adventures in Halifax, Saturday March 20, 2-5 pm, according to the Living Between Wednesdays blog.
IDW artist / writer Troy Little will be visiting Strange Adventures to sign copies of his new graphic novel "Angora Napkin" and showing previews of the upcoming animated pilot that will be airing on Teletoon this spring!
Strange Adventures is also holding a sale that day! Go Green for St. Patrick Day and save 20%!!
Is Halifax the new comics capital of Canada? With a number of big name talents residing there, the city is certainly gaining a rep as a cartoonist colony. This latest profile of up-and-comer Faith Erin Hicks adds fuel to the fire.
Jay Stephens has a new animated tv show starting this Friday on Teletoon and is profiled in The KW Record.
The Prix Bedelys people have added another category to their awards lineup for French-language Quebec comics: Le Prix Bedelys Fanzine. Fanzines published in 2008 should send copies to the addresses in the link.
Eye Weekly blogs about the reinvention of the Weekend Post lifestyles section, featuring some comics, and the end of the long-running satirical Frank magazine.
Tom Spurgeon rounds up thoughts on the recession and its effect on the U.S. comic book industry, with some thoughts on Japanese imports and the dollar. Herve St Louis also musters some thoughts.
Is Chester Brown the model for a character in Mark Millar's violent action comic Kick-Ass?
"I've been covering the comic book industry for years and have always found the level of professionalism and maturity of players involved lacking. Many times, I have written and said that what passes for public discourse in this industry would get all participants fired from their respective jobs, were they in any other mature industry." - Herve St-Louis
This to me this is ironic as it's not how i've found MOST of the people in the business in my 18 or so years in it, just an annoying minority.
The piece seems to be a little light on facts for the strong opinions it presents, and is rather dubious as a National Overview given it spends 939 of the 2727 word article raging on one small part of the huge loose collection of comics communities based in Toronto and attacks the city in a very predictable conservative mid west way for essentially being big and both commercially and culturally vibrant. Meanwhile he talks about not even half the other cities in the country.
Why is it that people spend so much time bitching about Toronto, while in the same stroke so often talking about no one else very much anyway? Thus themselves only talking about Toronto for so much of their time. Herve does not even tell us anything about what is happening in his own City of Calgary other than to say "...the majority of comic book readers supported American products rather than Canadian ones".
Me thinks he has something a little narrower to grind than the National state of anything, but I'm not going to waist my time speculating. I will however add a few facts and my own opinions to you perspective
One small definite mistake I'm sure of is that Montreal does not actually have a regular 'Anglo' comic jam. Rupert still hosts events from time to time, but he's bilingual, if not trilingual. I'm not sure which was his first tongue, but today he's more Alophone than Anglo if you want to get all uptight about it and put everyone in boxes or schools. Bottenberg is the son of a nice pair of German/American immigrants from out east. And while i'm sure he speaks with an accent to my near uni lingual clod hopper ears he's pretty damn comfortable chatting fast and furious in French and is thoroughly integrated into his corrner of Montreals' bilingual culture.
But then this also gets to why i find that aspect of the conversation annoying - the constant need to categorize and separate people by language - and specifically which one they spoke first, not what they speak now - seems even more subjective and discriminatory than to do so by race! [to be clear i'm not advocating for the latter but stating something about the former] And yet it's done often by politicized francophonie wanting to claim oppression or discrimination in this country - again pretty ironic if you think about it.
Some years ago when I hosted the Monthly Montreal Comix Jams what Herve wrote would have been partly true, about it being organized by an Anglo, though the events themselves were very bilingual in attendance.
But after I stopped hosting, over time the Monthly Jams shrank and are now run and attended largely by a small group of mostly francophone cartoonists who used to always sit at a table together in my day and call themselves 'the French Table'. They run the only regular comic jam in town today that I'm aware of. They seem to have fun still and the shrinking mostly has to do with the current core groups lack of interest in promoting the event beyond sending out usually a very short reminder of the event. Posting no posters or fliers that I'm aware of around any of the campuses or other locations in town that would bring in the new blood. Seems like since they stated a facebook group that's been changing a little maybe but this is very recent and remains to be seen what will come of it.
The Anglo community, along with the rest of the folks in town these days do however have many 'Drink n' Draw' get togethers, vernissages and signings. They seldom reflect linguistic community boundaries so much as genre and style, and are plentiful! I frankly cant keep up with it all.
There is the grand canard that the Doug Wrights Awards are discriminatory against Francophones. Not to mention he's writing about them and in the same breath saying the site does not recognize them, quite a trick. You have to ignore them if your going to do that i think but who am i to say. I've said all i care to about all that here already.
Another point I'd challenge him on is the degree to which comics are supported by grants in this country, which I suspect is pretty minimal. Much of it is funding for smaller publishers that are NOT economically viable without support which includes most of the French indy press here in Montreal last time I heard.
Sidebar: In the 2006 Statscan numbers, nation wide there are 109,415 who define themselves as bilingual. After that there are 6,860,990 French speakers and 18,122,780 English speakers. That's the entire national potential market in a nutshell. Anyone who knows much about marketing, publishing and the percentages involved, and how much more US and International product floods the small Canadian market, can see why so many of our cultural institutions need to be subsidized.
The Canadian publishing industry as a whole gets help from grants in this country out of market driven necessity! Without it we'd not have a Canadian publishing industry in the shadow of the US and would only be able to put out the most commercial and mainstream content exclusively.
For a few years now the council has funded graphic novels under the writing program but were talking about 4 or 5 grants at the most a year and it's reasonable to assume not all are totally successful projects in the end. Many of those works would not have been possible without the support either. As a former recipient and later juror, i think i can vouch for the fact that most of what gets funded is work generally felt to need it - in other words to merits creators who want to do something they can't just get a publisher to fund with advances or find an easy market for.
That being said it would be totally misleading to suggest our comics publishing industry is substantially supported by such funding - most of it makes it or breaks it based on the efforts and sacrifices of a few small publishing outfits and the proximity of the huge US market, for whatever that's worth these days.
On the other hand, not sure he meant to sound reductionist or just lacks the info readily found here on this site, but local Montreal Comic community - which is huge and decentralized - gets support and acknowledgment from many of the summer festivals and book fairs, not just Just for Laughs.
I'd love to see better, more imaginative stuff going on, but that's more pie in the sky than dire need. Personally i've always thought we are perfectly located to set up an international event here, our own Angouleme one day maybe.
We are also quite aware of the Gatineau scene here, with a lot of new kids coming out of UQO each graduating year. Not the day to day blow by blow but there was quite a bit of excitement in Montreal when the programs at the university there started up. And the Rendez-vous international de la BD de Gatineau, which I'm attending this year as a guest, has been doing nicely as well.
I'm sure there's some friction between Quebec city and Montreal, but i've not heard much about it in some time - mostly that's between individuals, not the communities. And i kind of doubt it has much to do with any lack of involvement here in the Gatineau scene.
And the Toronto community - which is also huge, very diverse and decentralized - seems to me to be, from the conversation i have there, very aware of what goes on in the country that's good and worth paying attention to as well. Just as in other large cities with thriving scenes, not so many feel the need to track mediocre work when there is so much great stuff going in your own neck of the woods. But on the whole they get as excited as anyone over the things people else where are up to and have long standing romantic fascination with the Montreal scene.
Not to mention how very much movement there is here in Montreal between Halifax, Quebec City, Gatineau, Toronto and Vancouver and other points. Each city has at least some comic's community bleed over with the others. Which reminds me I owe Marc Bell a visit; he's living in Montreal again now, after spending a long stint in BC. He also used to reside in Toronto, and hails from London Ontario originally. The man is an archetypical indy Canadian cartoonist! :)
Also found it kind of funny Herve would choose of all people to present Canadian advertising guru, Terry O'Reilly as likely to argue "awards are nothing but attempts to make the public care about a product instead of using traditional advertising means" - take the nothing out and you'd be right, but O'Reilly would himself I bet point out it's a bit more multi faceted than that. They do that job, but they also help support the creators, raise the prestige of a community and the medium they celebrate, and raise awareness of specific books that the public may not even know about, let alone care about. The more elite and prestigious the Judges and selection process for the books, the more effective they are at that job. {see: I believe he implied something like this argument in it's broadest terms in Season 3, episode 16 of 'O'Reilly and the Age of Persuasion: In Defence of Advertising' 2008-04-26 }
And since when was any of that bad for the state of the comics industry?
Once more Harvey is casting things in a much more exclusively balkanized light than they really are. I feel in truth it's a much more fluid and vibrant national collection of communities and scenes, that has it's spats and chatty cathys, but on the whole tends to mind it's own business most of the time really.
That given, here's the link again, feel free to continue the conversation in the comments.
I will say the closing sentiment is positive, in a way at least. I certainly hope he finds more time to cover local stuff, though i hope he'll learn to differentiate his own balkanized opinions from those of the community at large.
ABOUT OJINGOGO: Nominated for 2 Eisner Awards for best web comic, winner of an Expozine award, and hailed by the Montreal Mirror, Matthew Forsythe's Ojingogo is already highly anticipated. Exuding simplicity in design and narrative, Ojingogo is an illustrated, dreamscape of abstracts and events. The otherworldly pantomime about a girl, her squid, and the creatures and calamities they experience together, is an intrinsically expressive and deeply rewarding journey. Drawing from Forsythe's Korean influences, Ojingogo is accessible for all ages, tossing aside traditional narrative conventions in favour of creating its own world, language and rules that anyone can find a home of their own in.
ABOUT MATT FORSYTHE: Matt Forsythe was born in Toronto in 1976. He studied politics and religion at McMaster University and has worked variously as a database programmer in Dublin, a motorcycle courier in London, and a kindergarten teacher in Seoul, South Korea.
Ojingogo was originally serialized as a Web comic in 2004. It was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2005 (Best Digital Comic) and featured in the "Year's Best Graphic Novels, Comics, and Manga." Ojingogo was nominated again for an Eisner Award (Best Digital Comic) and won an Expozine Award (Best English Comic) in 2006.
He works at the National Film Board of Canada in Montreal and teaches journalism at Concordia University. His illustrations have also appeared in a variety of magazines and periodicals including the Wall Street Journal, Chickadee Magazine, and Kayak: Canada's History Magazine for Kids.
Just in time for next week's Doug Wright Awards comes news of this great gallery show of work by a wonderful selection of some of the best comics creators in the country, including panels from Chester Brown's Louis Riel graphic novel (parts of which have been on display previously). Co-curated by Sean Craig, who has been working with the organizers of the Wright Awards over the past year, the show has its opening reception just two days before the actual awards are handed out (August 7 and 9, respectively) at the Katherine Mulherin gallery. See the Facebook page of the event here.
The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning and BOARD OF DIRECTORS, a curatorial project at Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Arts Projects, are pleased to present an exhibition of original work by some of Canada's most recognized and promising cartoonists.
Strip Stories features works by artists who focus on sequential arts and graphic novels, many of whom have either won a Doug Wright Award in the past or have received nominations.
The show also marks the first time Toronto audiences will get a chance to view originals from Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography, Chester Brown's critically-acclaimed graphic novel. Originally published in comic book form, Louis Riel was released as a book in 2003 . Publisher's Weekly hailed it as "a strong contender for the best graphic novel ever."
Alongside Brown will be King cartoonist (and 2008 Doug Wright Award juror) Ho Che Anderson, Lorenz Peter, the 2006 Wright Award Best Emerging Talent winner for Dark Adaptation, and Montreal's Joe Ollmann who won the 2007 Best Book Award for his collection of short stories This Will All End in Tears.
Also included in the show will be Halifax-based artist/cartoonist Ray Fenwick, the mind behind the world's only typographic graphic novel, Hall of Best Knowledge, and 2008 Best Emerging Talent nominees:
Jason Keiffer, for Keiffer#1
Jeff Lemire, for Essex County
Nick Maandag, for The Experiment
Ethan Rilly, for Pope Hats
As well, 2008 nominees for the inaugural Pigskin Peters Award for Non-Narrative Cartooning, Emily Holton (Little Lessons in Safety) and John Martz (Excelsior 1968), will exhibit their experimental and progressive redefinitions of cartoon art.
Strip Stories will consist entirely of works with sequential, narrative or relative qualities. The exhibit presents viewers with a rare opportunity to witness the comics medium outside of conventional mass distribution.
Runs August 7-23.
Opening reception: August 7, 7pm.
Featuring works by
Ho Che Anderson
Chester Brown
Ray Fenwick
Emily Holton
Jason Kieffer
Jeff Lemire
Nick Maandag
John Martz
Joe Ollman
Lorenz Peter
Ethan Rilly
and Doug Wright!
The show is curated by Katharine Mulherin, Erin Stump, and Sean D.B. Craig.
Halifax-based Bryan Lee O'Malley provides a public service by dissecting the new Tokyopop contract. O'Malley, who has a successful series of books in print and a major Hollywood film based on his books planned, knows a few things about creative control and, I would expect, contracts. All contracts, Hollywood, webcomic, or book, should be looked at by a lawyer (better still, a lawyer who is familiar with publishing or copyright).
Reanna Alder of The Tyee interviews Vancouver curator Bruce Grenville and has a nice review of both the show and catalog for the KRAZY! exhibit. I saw the book myself at the Beguiling last week and it is quite a handsome volume, with great visuals and nice notes by all the co-curators on their selections.
Sequential didn't get the press release, but the Beat reproduces the pertinent text of the inductees to the Shuster Awards hall of fame. The inductees this year are U.S. citizen John Byrne (co-creator of Alpha Flight), 1930s-40s cartoonist/writer Ted McCall (creator of the Men of the Mounted and Robin Hood comic strips), satiric cartoonist Pierre Fournier (Capitaine Kebec), and 70s satirist Stanley Berneche (Fuddle Duddle, Captain Canada). The induction ceremony will be part of the awards Saturday, June 14th in Toronto.
Bruce MacKinnon, editorial cartoonist of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, is at the centre of a new controversy being investigated by police and the Nova Scotia Human Rights Tribunal.
A MacKinnon cartoon that appeared April 18, depicting Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal, the wife of Qayyum Abdul Jamal, one of the so-called "Toronto 17" --men arrested in 2006 on the grounds that they were members of a terrorist cell-- has been accused by the Halifax-based Centre for Islamic Development, represented by Will King and Zia Khan, of inciting hatred.
The cartoon depicts Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal with a a sign declaring "I want millions" --a reference to her reported intent to sue the federal government after charges against her husband were stayed. The cartoon also depicts Jamal as saying "I can put it towards my husband's next training camp" --a reference to the alleged terrorist activities of the Toronto 17.
MacKinnon recently won the Atlantic Journalism Award for editorial cartooning.
This past Saturday, May 3, was Free Comic Book Day across the U.S. and Canada, an event intended to promote comics through local comic book shops. I largely agree with Kevin Boyd that the event should be an opportunity to reach out to the larger community of people who might not venture into comic shops normally or even read comics. This is a great time for local shops to get some free press coverage and lots of potential new customers. With few exceptions, I don't really see this happening. For the most part, the people who show up for this event usually have found out about it in one of their weekly visits to the shop. No press releases are sent out and no outreach or cross-promotion with other organizations is ventured. When I wandered into my own local comic shop around 5 pm to ask how things went, the teenage clerk painting a role-playing model at the large table that takes up the front window of the empty store informed me that most of the free comics vanished in the first hour of the promotion, around 9am, gesturing to a pile of brochures and 3 copies of the VIZ/Shonen Jump giveaway to indicate all that remained. As far as I could tell, the sole message to the outside world that something unique was happening today was a lone poster in the window, competing with the other posters.
The events that I heard of before hand include the signings at the Silver Snail and the Beguiling event at the Toronto Public Library (which began at noon).
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.
The CBC radio programme As It Happens features an interview with the Danish filmaker behind Killer Cartoons who discusses the recent arrests in the alleged cartoonist assassination plot. (podcast, second 1/2 hour)
The Halifax Daily News has been closed down and replaced by a free daily, according to severalsources. All of the paper's staff, including journalists and cartoonists, have been fired.
The Daily News was owned by Quebec-based Transcontinental. It's replacement, Metro Halifax, is part of the cross-Canada Metro line and will be produced Metro International S.A. and Torstar Corp.
Begun in 1974, The Daily News employed award-winning editorial cartoonist Michael De Adder.
According to the Canadian Press article:
As journalists left the Halifax Daily News, several said they're worried a free newspaper aimed at commuters will mean a decline in the city's journalism.
Michael de Adder, an award-winning cartoonist for the newspaper, said "it doesn't sound like it (Metro) can serve the population as well as a daily newspaper can or two daily newspapers can."
De Adder said cartoonists across the country are starting to wonder about their craft.
"What is the future? It looks pretty bleak today," he said.
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.
Big changes may be afoot for the Joe Shuster Awards, Kevin Boyd hints at his blog. These may include venue, sponsor and rule changes. Boyd is one of the organizers behind the awards and his recent move away from the award's previous host Paradise may have prompted some movement. Also, check out what Kevin has to say about the so-called Bronze Age of comics (basically, U.S. comic books from the 1970s).
Faith Erin Hicks is profiled by hometown paper The Halifax Daily News about her graphic novel, Zombies Calling: ""When I was a kid, I really wanted to be a journalist like Tintin," she said, referring to the popular European comic-book character, created before the Second World War. When she grew a little older, Hicks began to read more mature comic books, such as Bone."
The Post's book guy Robert Wiersema refers to something called "graphica" before reviewing some of the more popular U.S.-published genre comics of recent times.
Apparently, the new graphic novel by Alan Moore, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, is not for sale in Canada, a fact asserted in the recent Beguiling mailing. The mailing also asserts that the Beguiling does have copies of the book in stock.
The Globe reports that Quebecor World, the giant printer (comics and everything else), continues to have money problems, including a refinancing scheme and a tumbling stock. Discussion here. Stock talk. CBC. Quebecor World is owned by Quebecor, a multimedia empire that owns Videotron cable, Sun newspapers, the Montreal Mirror, and everything else. The printing arm has been losing money due to price wars (the dollar and China), less business, and general, good old-fashioned Canadian "operating inefficiencies". (via Journalista!)
The first of Jeet Heer's 2 articles on David Michaelis's Schulz bio prompts a response from Schulz's widow Jeannie.
Strange Adventures in Halifax hosted a signing for Faith Erin Hicks and her new graphic novel, Zombies Calling, over the weekend. The publisher's blog has a wrap-up of links about the event.
Wright Award winner Lorenz Peter is launching his new book this Wednesday: Side-Effects is a collection of short works and will be launched at the Katharine Mulherine Contemporary Art Projects, 1080 Queen Street W at 6:30 PM
a little late, but here are some photos from the Halloween costume party hosted by Strange Adventures, the Halifax comic shop
for good measure, here are the pics from the Silver Snail's Toronto costume party
Please send Sequential your news about cartooning, comics and graphic novels in Canada so we do not have to post links to stories tangentially related to Alpha Flight and pictures of people dressed as superheroes!
Looking over the links to news and reviews about people who create sequential cartoon images and/or static caricatures reveals a short list of interest to loyal Sequential readers. Seemingly no-one published the great Canadian graphic novel over the weekend. But then again, nobody ever does.
1. Halifax policart Michael deAdder has a new book of cartoons out, according to this Daily News profile. de Book is published by the Daily News and features 88 pages culled from the artists distinctive brand of daily craft and bile:
his finest work, including a depiction of Bert and Ernie heading to Canada for a gay marriage, and Premier Rodney MacDonald living rent-free and playing video games in his parents' house - after getting a substantial raise.
2. Cartoonist Norm Muffit remembers daredevil pilot, Flying Bandit "Willy" Laserich, and a time when crawing a cartoon could jeopardize a plum government job:
Northern News Services cartoonist Norm Muffitt, a former RCMP officer, pilot and Transport Canada official, remembers the controversy well. He drew many a cartoon in support of Laserich, which made for an uncomfortable moment when applying for an enforcement job with Transport Canada.
"I had done a cartoon of a Transport Canada guy behind a desk, and on the desk was a nail with a cord attached to it. The other end was fastened to Willy's licence," said Muffitt.
"When I went in for my interview, the first thing that happened was the guy sat down with this cartoon in front of me and said, 'before we start, maybe you'd like to explain this.'"
3. Writing for the Vancouver Courier, Shawn Conner reviews a trio of the latest contenders for great Canadian graphic novel status: White Rapids, Southern Cross, and Therefore Repent, by Sequential's own Salgood Sam. (link via BDQ)
4. Pierre-Luc Gagnon reviews two new French-language graphic novels by Leif Tande that had their debut at this past weekend's Salon du livre de Montreal. Great Canadian Graphic Novels (GCGN)? Time, and translation, will tell.
Some reports from the various Word on the Street events from last week. I spent a fun 2 hours at the Toronto event myself. Brad Mackay and I talked onstage about cartoonists from Canada's past. Later, we watched Chester Brown talk about the series of strips he did for the Live with Culture program. Chester created a zombie romance comic that is currently being serialized in NOW magazine --his first new published work in a while! Chester is very funny and it's too bad that the Live with Culture hierarchy nixed putting his strip on giant banners around the city (the banners they are currently using have generic clip-art style images on them). I also took in the panel on artist/writer collaborations hosted by Chris Butcher. Writers Jim Munroe and Ray Fawkes talked about divvying up the cash and riding herd on artists, while artist Willow Dawson talked about how not to waste a cartoonist's time if you have a pitch to make. This panel was a real eye-opener for me in the sense that there were people (wannabe published writers, mostly) actually taking notes and asking questions about how to meet cartoonists, etc. Butcher is a good host for these sorts of events and kept the ball rolling smoothly. Most of the talks at the Comics and Graphic Novels tent had a fair crowd of between 25 and 50 people. The Beguiling had a book table set up as well as its own tent where artists were doing signings, as did several comics publishers.
This Sunday, September 30th, at the Word on the Street literary festival, a sort of mini comics festival is taking place. Last weekend, the Halifax event hosted J. Torres, Mike Lobel, Scott Chantler, Darwyn Cooke & Steven McNiven. This week, both Vancouver and Toronto host comics-themed events.
1. In Vancouver, the Word Under the Street event is a zine and comics fair. The show has been relocated to the front of the Canada Post Main Post Office building, at the corner of Homer and Georgia Streets, across the street from Library Square.
2. In Toronto, The Comics and Graphic Novels Tent features appearances by Chris Butcher, Peter Birkemoe, Chip Zdarsky, Kagan McLeod, Mark Asquith, Eric Kim, Svetlana Chmakova, Noel Tuazon, Jim Munroe, Chester Brown, Ray Fawkes, Willow Dawson, Csott Chantler, Jeff Lemire, Zach Worton, Ty Templeton, Jim Zubkavich, Ryan North, John Martz, and Nadine Lessio. Also on the agenda, the Brad and Bryan Show, wherein "comics historians" Brad MacKay and Bryan Munn (ahem) offer up 30 minutes of Canadian Comics History in a chatty, informal session, hopefully abetted by some pretty pictures.
Peter Whalley, cartoonist, sculptor, Giant of the North. One of only two or three important postwar Canadian magazine cartoonists, Whalley died Tuesday, September 18.
Whalley, the son of an Anglican clergyman, was born in Brockville, Ont., on Feb. 20, 1921. He grew up in Halifax, where he attended the Nova Scotia College of Art.
He sold his first cartoon when he was 16, but the Second World War interrupted his budding artistic career. He served in the merchant marine during the war.
After the war, he moved to Montreal with intentions of becoming a serious artist, but once he began working for the Standard, "cartooning won out. It paid more," he once said.
He moved to Morin Heights in the Laurentians, joined the local volunteer fire brigade, and for the rest of his life worked out of his home office.
He hit his stride in the 1960s and '70s, when he turned out covers for Maclean's, Weekend and the Montrealer magazines and did other commercial work.
He was a regular contributor to the CBC's Observer television program, in which he illustrated the week's top news stories with cartoons, and he did film strips for the National Film Board.
1. There is now a Halifax Comic Jam --they've already had a few meetings and published a zine:
HALIFAX COMICS JAM. Artists of all styles and skill levels creating collaborative comix (somebody draws the first panel, somebody draws the next, etc.) Anyone over 19 can participate and don't forget to bring your own pens. Gus' Pub, 2605 Agricola Street, 7PM to 1AM, 423-7786
2. Mark Oakley, the cartoonist behind the Thieves and Kings graphic novel series, has set up his I Box publishing shop in an old building in Halifax.
In what the Toronto Star is calling a legal precedent for the protection of artists' works, Superior Court Judge Thomas Lederer ruled yesterday that Richard Harnett is not the legal owner of over 2800 cartoons left behind by the son of cartoonist Ben Wicks.
As Sequential reported almost two weeks ago, the long-simmering case that the Wicks estate launched against Harnett several years ago when the existence of the cartoon hoard became known finally reached Superior Court in Toronto. After a week of testimony, the judge retired to write up his 11-page report, framing a verdict that seems in retrospect inevitable. In his judgement he has ordered that the artwork in Harnett's possession, found in several garbage bags when Wicks' son Vincent Wicks moved from Toronto to B.C. in 1992, be returned to the Wicks family and that $450 Harnett made selling two of the drawings also be remitted.
The 26th annual Atlantic Journalism Awards were held Saturday night in Halifax and Michael de Adder won in the category Editorial Cartoonist. De Adder is the policart for the Halifax Daily News and is the president of the Canadian Association of Editorial Cartoonists.
He has won two previous Atlantic Journalism Awards. The award was based on a portfolio of deAdder's work submitted to the jury.
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 Atlantic Journalism Awards has announced its 2006 finalists. The awards will be handed out at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel on Saturday, May 12. Finalists receive a framed Certificate of Excellence in Journalism. One of the 3 finalists in each category receives the "Gold Award".
Editorial Cartooning Finalists
- Michael de Adder - The Daily News, Halifax, NS - Bruce MacKinnon - The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, NS - Greg Perry - Telegraph-Journal, Saint John, NB
The Q & A with Halifax comic shop owner Calum Johnston went so well I'm going to try to make it a regular feature. This time around the profiled shop is a little closer to home: The Dragon in Guelph serves a city of 100 000, including 10 000 or so university students. Dragon manager Amy Restemayer was kind enough to answer the short list of questions emailed to her.
Q. What is the general age/gender breakdown of your customers?
The general age for graphic novel and manga customers ranges between about 15 and 30, with the odd older collector getting into newer series via trades. Graphic novels and trades are higher sellers for males and manga is mostly females.
Q. What do you sell more of by volume, graphic novels (including trades and manga) or monthly comic books?
A. By volume we sell more monthly comic books than graphic novels and manga combined.
Q. What do do you sell more of by dollar value?
A. Also comics, the sales of single issues outweigh all other print material in our store.
Q. What are your top 10 bestselling books?
A. Top ten books would be Inu Yasha, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fables, Ultimate Spiderman, Fruits Basket, Naruto, Bleach, Walking Dead, Angel Sanctuary and Berserk.
Q. What are your bestselling non-manga graphic novels?
A. Top ten non-manga titles are Fables, Ultimate Spiderman, Walking Dead, Y the Last Man, Sandman, Preacher, Runaways, Kingdom Come, Watchmen and Sin City.
Q. What are your bestselling non-superhero graphic novels?
A. You will notice the theme here, Fables, Walking Dead, Y the Last Man, Sandman, Preacher, 300, Sin City and V for Vendetta would be the top sellers (yes, I consider V a non-superhero book, though other may argue that). The other two top spots would be a mix of titles such as Goon, Conan, Bone, Blankets and Strangers in Paradise.
Q. What percent of your manga sales are driven by "TheYTV effect" and other media (anime, movies, toys, etc)?
A. It's hard to say just how much of the manga industry is fuelled by other media. Though they are still heavily editing the shows broadcast in North America they are not as strict with the manga translations and therefore we get a lot of crossover for titles such as Inu Yasha, Fullmetal Alchemist and Bleach, which are airing on YTV, because fans want to know the whole story. The manga story is also usually different from the anime, depending on the control of the original creator. I would estimate that something close to 80% of readers were introduced to manga through other media, whether going from an anime to the manga it was based on directly or from an anime to a similarly themed manga.
Q. What do you see as the major trends in graphic novels and comics retailing over the next year? The next 5 years?
A. Over the next year I think that the trends of the new comic book based movies will cause those properties to skyrocket. We've already seen it with 300 and the movie is only being released this month. My hope is that over the next five years Vertigo will continue to lead our sales due to the speed at which they release their trades and the low costs of each volume.
Q. Any upcoming events/signings?
A. We are hoping to make our November signing a yearly occurrence, but we don't have any firm plans as of yet.
The Dragon 3 Wyndham Street North Guelph, Ontario
(top photo: cartoonists Jay Stephens & Cameron Stewart @ The Dragon, 2005)
The Halifax comic book store Strange Adventures is celebrating its 15th year of continuous operation on Friday, March 2nd. Founded in 1992 by Calum Johnston, the business has since expanded to a second location and become the center of a thriving East Coast comix culture that includes cartoonists like Darwyn Cooke and Hope Larson.
In honour of this landmark anniversary, Sequential lobbed a few questions to owner Calum Johnston via email and began by asking about the store's beginnings.
Johnston started Strange Adventures with his own "large comic collection on March 2nd 1992 in a small second floor location in Fredericton, NB. It's moved a couple of time to larger spots, now located on [the] ground floor in beautiful downtown Fredericton. Opened second location in Halifax, NS on April 1st, 1995. Why? I love comics and sharing the joy of comics is a wonderful feeling. That I can make an okay living and employ some nice folks is an additional blessing."
Johnston describes his staff as follows:
"In the Fredericton shop, we have long-suffering mangler Derek who started out with me in 1992 filling in one or two days a week and in 1994 was asked if he could do 2 weeks of full-time while Calum went to Halifax for a contract design job. Thirteen years later, Derek's still filling in for Calum at the Fredericton shop while Calum opened the Halifax location. Derek is ably assisted by artist, musician and raconteur, Jason."
In Halifax, Dave (our resident Supersnipe cartoonist) is the manager and the staff is made up of Mike (voted Halifax's best salesperson two years in a row by a weekly newspaper reader's poll), Tiina [yes, (Mrs. Grant Morrison and the bassist in The Stolen Minks), Ben (gonzo cartoonist), Cassandra (the fairy pirate girl), Jaime (Vitamin J), Addison (our kids comics advisor and daughter of the boss) and Rachelle (Mrs. Batman and keyboards in The Stolen Minks)."
For Johnston, some of the best memories of the past 15 years center on the experience of his customers and their growth as comics readers. He has seen some of his customers "go from Spawn to Grendel to Mage to Morrison and Moore and Eisner, as well as going from elementary school, to high school, university, jobs, marriage, kids and now getting their kids hooked on comics!" In addition, the store has been a rich source of family memories, including the time when Johnston's wife Sandy came into the Halifax shop to tell him she was pregnant. In fact, Jonston can't think of any negative experiences relating to his business: "I always make lemonade out of lemons, so I don't have any really bad memories."
Over the years, Johnston's customers have been treated to the occasional sight of well-known visiting personalities, cartoonists, musicians, and actors. "We've been lucky enough to have several "celebrity" sightings in the shops over the years: Billy Bragg, Linda Hamilton, Corbin Bernsen, Snow, Tom Selleck, Rick Mercer, Cathy Jones, Dean Cain, Gilbert Gottfried, Sarah Dunsworth, Colin Mochrie. We've played host to numerous signings, including Seth, Chester Brown, Mark Oakley, Stuart Immonen, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Darwyn Cooke, Steve McNiven, David Finch, J. Bone, J. Torres, Steve Rolston, Scott McCloud and Mike Holmes."
In terms of store demographics, Strange Adventures attracts an interesting mix of customers: "all ages, and all genders, customers from 4 to 94 and roughly 60% male, 35% female, 5% other."
This crowd has equally wide-ranging shopping habits reflective of current trends in the comics marketplace. In reference to Milton Griepp's recent report about North American graphic novel sales, Johnston is leery of indulging in graphic novel triumphalism. "Remember that the ICv2 folks, like everyone, have their own agenda and read it with that in mind," he writes. Johnston further notes, "I hate the term graphic novel, they are comic books. Comics are published in various forms. Some are periodicals, such as the serialized adventures of Superman; and others are published in book form, such as Pride of Baghdad; and some are collected editions of the peiodicals, such as Batman: Year One. In sales terms, it's just about the same, periodicals are bigger one month, then the next it's books."
It is this open-minded policy that may be the secret to Johnston's success. And he is pragmatically optimistic about the future: "More comics in more outlets, hopefully good comics in good outlets so we don't get another artificial "boom" like the early 90s."
(Strange Adventures in Fredericton is celebrating the anniversary with a 2-day 25%-off sale this Friday and Saturday and the Halifax store is planning a big event for this summer.)
Strange Adventures 5262 Sackville St., Halifax NS & 68 York St., Fredericton NB www.strangeadventures.com
(Calum Johnston enjoying the perks of comics-store ownership: the comic book featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man, found at a local auction)
The Saint Mary's University professor who posted the controversial Mohammed cartoons on his office door last year has entered the intellectual freedom arena once again with a promise to debate a U.S. white supremacist. Philosophy prof Peter March stirred up controversy on his Halifax campus when he posted copies of the 12 Danish cartoons last February in order to engage public discussion, part of his job as a philosopher. This time around, March is facing off against white supremacist Jared Taylor who was banned from speaking at Dalhousie University and had an encounter with protesters on January 16 of this year. According to the Halifax Chronicle Herald, the debate, a sort of Suzuki vs Rushton II, will take place March 6.
Popular Halifax-based cartoonist and Wright Award-winner makes a special trip back to Toronto for an appearance sponsored by the Toronto Public Library. There is also a live online chat with O'Malley today:
Sit down with critically-acclaimed graphic novel creator Bryan Lee O'Malley, the man behind the witty and hilarious Scott Pilgrim series. This bestselling series will soon be transformed into a big-screen movie by the team behind the fan-favourite zombie flick Shaun of the Dead. So come out and discover why Entertainment Weekly selected Scott Pilgrim as the Independent Comic of the Year (2006).
Also: Meet the comic book superstars of tomorrow as youth from Second Street Junior Middle School and the Albion Manga Club exhibit their amazing creations.
Location: North York Central Library (Concourse) Date and TIme: Tues. Feb. 20, 6 - 7:30 p.m. This event is presented in partnership with The Beguiling, Toronto's pre-eminent comic book store. The Beguiling's Peter Birkemoe hosts.
The Guelph Mercury profiles Richard Comely, one of the creators of Captain Canuck. Comely is teaching a comics course in Brantford and hyping the latest incarnation of his patriotic superhero, a new comic book series begun last Fall, and has some funny things to say:
"Comely admits the superhero's changing persona irritated some readers. 'But I felt that since I'm the writer, I'll do what I want,' he says bluntly.
Comely estimates sales of the 25 issues of Captain Canuck produced since 1975 at 2.3 million across North America.
He says some of his most hard-core fans are Americans, and Canadian expats, who ask him to send Captain Canuck badges that they sew on their coat sleeves. He mails them out and 'hopes they don't get beat up at school.'"
On a related note, Halifax fan-historian Phil Latter has just posted an exhaustive critical history of the character --Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Captain Canuck But Were Afraid to Ask.
Halifax fan and comics historian Phil Latter interviews Canadian cartoonist Claude St. Aubin at Silver Bullet Comics. St. Aubin has been contributing to U.S. mainstream superhero and adventure books for years (and is winding up a run on Penny Farthing Press' The Victorian), but long-time fans may remember his contributions, as Jean-Claude St. Aubin, to the 1970s incarnation of Captain Canuck. Back then, St. Aubin inked George Freeman's pencils and pencilled and inked "Beyond", the lushly-illustrated, well-remembered, early sword-and-sorcery back-up strip in Captain Canuck. A career-spanning interview, of sorts.
1. New blog for Butcher: so what if he seems to talk more about Japanese comics than Canadian --the revamped comics212.net promises to continue with sharp retailer insights and detailed reviews from the longtime Beguiling staffer Chris Butcher
2. Joe Matt: he's not Canadian but alot of his comics output has been set in Toronto. That's why this review of Matt's
Spent
at BlogTO is interesting.
3. Deal with IT! The Halifax Chronicle-Herald profiles a series of books for kids that contain work by Canadian cartoonists.
-Newlywed Game: cute kid interviews Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley in Halifax attic
-Stuart Immonen finds a letter from Mort Weisinger in a Jules Feiffer book
-Dave Sim announces the nominees for the 2006 Day Prize, an award given to U.S. minicomics creators by Dave Sim in honour of his friend Gene Day (1951-82), a Canadian cartoonist who worked mostly for U.S. superhero comics companies but was also an underground and fanzine pioneer. No word yet on the role Sim's former partner Gerhard, who used to help pick and present the award, has in this year's nomination process. The winner will be announced at the annual SPACE Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo happening April 21-22 in Columbus, Ohio.
-Darwyn Cooke interviewed about his take on Wil Eisner's The Spirit
-Chris Butcher posts his schedule for the coming year, including hints about TCAF, a Bryan Lee O'Malley reading in T.O. and the second issue of the anthology/free comic book day giveaway, Comics Festival.
-Chip Zdarsky's digitized penis invitation to a New York party
The inaugural publication from Hope Larson's new imprint, Tulip Tree Press, is now available for purchase online. The book is House of Sugar by Halifax cartoonist Rebecca Kraatz. We here at Sequential haven't seen a copy yet, but the book is being solicited in the December Previews and should be in comic book stores by February. Meanwhile, a few reviews are out.
-Colin Upton has some photos and comments about the Word Under the Street event from 2 weekends ago. He talks about his display here, his new career path here, and blogs his week and the Word event here.
-Eric Reynolds blogs his tour of Vancouver and Word On the Street with Joe Sacco at the Fantagraphics blog. Peggy Burns posts some photos of the Halifax Word event on the D&Q blog.
-Jog the Blog reviews the Dave Sim fanzine Following Cerebus #9 --basically a 97-page essay by Sim about his conversation with U.S. cartoonist Neal Adams.
-Jamie Coville (remember to spell his name right!) finally gets around to posting his report from last month's Toronto Fan Expo. It sounds like there was a lot of time spent standing in line, especially if you wanted something signed by a U.S. superhero artist or to listen to William Shatner. Lots of photos and video, especially of cosplayers dancing.(via Tom Spurgeon)
-Not a blog, but Francis Hervieux posts a report of the latest Montreal Comix Jam featuring a surprise visit from Argentine cartoonist Carlos Loiseau. As well, there is a photo report of the Djef signing to promote the Tokyo Ghost album and a photo report of the cartoonist roundtable sponsored by the bookstore Le Fureteur. All at the BDQ forums.
Halifax journalist Deborah Wiles manages to write an entire article about graphic novels without mentioning a specific title or cartoonist, despite the fact that several quite well-known graphic novel creators live in her town and many more were in town a week ago for Word on the Street. File under "Biff Bam Pow! Comics Aren't Just for etc."
Thanks to The Beat, an update on fledgling publisher Hope Larson's struggle to get Diamond Distributors to carry her first book, Rebecca Kraatz's House of Sugar.
Diamond had initially refused to carry the book because of it's "unprofessionalism" --a position the distributor explained in a crappy form letter filled with hilarious typos and non sequitors.
Apparently, after the publicity and maybe some intervention from helpful net types (?), Diamond has reversed it's decision and the book will be carried after all.
And don't forget, you can meet both Larson and Kraatz at the Word on the Street event in Halifax this Sunday.
Another comics event in Vancouver --part of the national Word on the Street literary festival (kind of funny that this event in Vancouver is all "alternative" and underground but has a prominent place on the main program's website).
(Sequential mentioned the Halifax version of this yesterday and Chris Butcher has more details.)
Lots of punk rockers (like Nardwuar), scenesters, and zinesters but also lots of cartoonists. Look for a full cohort of the West Coast's inky-fingered fraternity, including Colin Upton. Joe Sacco (at least his publisher is Canadian) also makes an appearance.
Sunday, Sept 24.
THE WORD UNDER THE STREET Presented by Min[t] Records
all day Comics Contest Create your own three-panel creation here and enter it to win a fabulous library of signed books, courtesy of Drawn & Quarterly and Raincoast Books.
all day The Ink Muffins Keep your eyes peeled for this impromptu cheerleading squad led by WUTS regular Robin Konstabaris. “You can do it, you’ve got guts, you won’t get no paper cuts. ’Zines are clever, ’zines are fun, bet you can’t stop at just one. Go ’zines!”
12:00–4:00 Nardwuar the Human Serviette and punk rock photographer Bev Davies If you don’t know who MuchMusic’s Nardwuar the Human Serviette is by now, his 2007 Punk Rock Calendar (featuring photography by the lengendary Bev Davies) and recent 2-DVD set, Doot Doola Doot Doo... Doot Doot!, will certainly bring you up to speed in no time. This annoying, brilliant, bizarre and astounding character has made a name for himself by interviewing everyone. From former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to Snoop Doggy Dogg, he has tackled them all. And at the Mint Records table, you’ll have the chance to meet him and get signed copies of his latest stuff.
ON STAGE
12:00 Self-Publishing Comics Want to find out how to create and market your own comic? Kevin Leeson and Todd Ireland of Critical Hit Comics, and Owen Plummer and Jo Cook from Perro Verlag Books, discuss the joys and perils of self-publishing comics and how to get your book into the public’s hands. Moderated by Leonard Wong (Vancouver Comicon).
1:00 Art Class with Robin Thompson Interested in comics or cartooning, but not quite sure how to put pencil to paper? Check out this introductory art class to try your hand at drawing, creating characters and coming up with stories. Materials supplied, and all students will receive a free copy of Thompson’s comic book, Captain Space Man. Class limited to a maximum of 20 participants, so sign up early to avoid disappointment. Ages 11-16.
2:00 Webcomics Comics delivered to your house via computer! Local webcomic artists Ed Brisson, Jason Pultz and Jordan Nuefeld talk about their online efforts and give tips on what it takes to create a webcomic that people will want to keep coming back to. Moderated by Leonard Wong (Vancouver Comicon).
Host: Sean Cranbury, Sophia Books
3:00 Joe Sacco (Seattle, WA) But I Like It This collection of rock-and-roll and blues oriented strips includes Sacco’s graphic novelette of life on the road with punk band The Miracle Workers, newly-expanded and supplemented with sketches, notes and a CD. Add some stories done for German magazines and papers and some Sacco-designed rock show posters, and you’ve got an eye-popping compendium of life on one of the most dangerous beats of all: the world of rock’n’roll. Sacco is a widely acclaimed, award-winning comics journalist, whose publications include Palestine, The Fixer and Safe Area Gorazde: The War In Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995. He is currently working on a book about the southern Gaza Strip — both journalistic and historical — called Footnotes in Gaza. (Fantagraphics Books) Adopted by Eve Corbel and Sarah Leavitt.
4:30 Comics and the Classroom Educators and comic creators Ken Boesem, Sarah Haxby, Julian Lawrence and Leonard Wong share ideas on how to use comics as a cross-curricular learning tool and a resource for promoting reading and literacy.
Apparently, Michel Rabagliati's newest French-language graphic novel Paul a la Peche (Paul Goes Fishing) has its proper release today. According to his publisher La Pasteque's website, the book was extensively reviewed by major Montreal media this past weekend. An interview and review from La Presse, an interview with CBC radio, and others are available online. (thanks to Google translation)
In Other News
The awesome new Marc Bell-edited Nog A Dod: Prehistoric Canadian Psychedooolia from Conundrum Press has its official launch in Toronto this Sunday, September 24th at the Gladstone Hotel. Bell and contributors Amy Lockhart and S.P. Ehman will be on hand for the festivities.
As well -Two comics-related perspectives on the Dawson College shooting in Montreal last week. First, editorial cartoonist and Dawson College teacher Stan Roach describes his experience of the event for his paper. Second, Comic Book Bin's Herve St.Louis discusses the political issues that are emerging in the wake of the shooting.
-The Beat reports that the Toronto Fan-Expo had a crowd of 42000 a few weeks ago, a 21% increase in attendance over last year, according to the show promoters.
-Guelph cartoonist Seth launched his new strip in the New York Times this past Sunday. The first installment can be seen here. An excellent Marc Ngui-Seth interview from Carousel magazine has also just been made available online (the same issue has an excellent Ngui strip) and Seth (recently nominated for an Ignatz for Wimbledon Green) will be appearing in Halifax at the Word on the Street Festival this weekend.
-Speaking of the Halifax Word on the Street Festival, this year there is a huge Graphic Novel component to the fest, including a "How to Draw Comics" workshop. Guests include: J. Bone, Scott Chantler, Michael Cho, Darwyn Cooke, Eric Kim, Rebecca Kraatz, Hope Larson, Steve Manale, Steve McNiven, Ryan North, Mark Oakley, Bryan Lee O'Malley and Seth.
-Lastly, Chris Butcher has more on the art of Canadian cartooning Giant George Feyer.
Publishers Weekly has dubbed Haligonians Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley the "it" couple of the MOCCA comics fest in a round-up of that events notable moments:
"The "It Couple" of the show was Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, who shared a table—and by the end of Saturday, O'Malley had blown through his entire stock of 100 Scott Pilgrim books, and early on Sunday, Larson exhausted her supply of both Salamander Dream and Gray Horses."
The article also notes that Larson has begun her own publishing venture, with fellow Halifax resident Rebecca Kraatz's House of Sugar the first book from the nascent Tulip Tree press.
The National Newspaper Awards were handed out in Halifax May 26 and the Globe & Mail's Brian Gable took home the award for Editorial cartooning. It is Gable's fourth win at the NNAs --the most prestigious award for newspaper cartooning in Canada.
2005 Atlantic Journalism Award Winners HALIFAX, May 6 /CNW/ - A celebration of excellence in Atlantic Canada journalism was hosted tonight at the 25th Atlantic Journalism Awards, at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel. Awards were presented in 25 categories...
Editorial Cartooning - The gold award winner was Bruce MacKinnon, The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, NS, for his Show Of Work. - The other finalists in this category were Michael de Adder, The Daily News, Halifax, NS, for his Show Of Work and Greg Perry, Telegraph-Journal, Saint John, NB, for his Show Of Work.
Toronto Paradise Comicon Hype: Shuster Awards Name 4 to Hall of Fame
This is an old story but I haven't seen much mention of it elsewhere.
The gang at the Shuster Awards have come up with a list of 4 new inductees. The Hall of Fame is picked by the awards organizers, whereas the actual awards for "Best Comic Book Penciller" etc are determined by a popular vote by fans.
Anyway, the 4 inductees into "The Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame / Temple de la renomme createur canadien de Bandes Dessinees" (the official title) are:
-Owen McCarron, the recently deceased Halifax cartoonist and promotional/educational comics publisher. McCarron contributed to some Marvel Comics superhero comics in the 70s (Supervillain TeamUP, Spidey Super-Stories) as well as doing work for other U.S. publishers.
-Win Mortimer --mostly known for his work with the Superman family of characters from the 40s to the 80s. Mortimer also created two newspaper adventure strips (David Crane and Larry Brannon) in the late-50s-early-60s that were circulated largely inside Canada.
-Dave Sim --cartoonist best known for his controversial essays and interview statements on the subject of women and religion. Over 30 years, he created a long series of graphic novels called Cerebus. The Shuster bio by John Bell says, "No other creator has made a greater contribution to the development of Canadian comics." Not sure what that means exactly.
-Jon St. Able --cartoonist and art director for the Maple Leaf comic book company during the 1940s. Illustrated humour strips and adventure for that company before moving to the U.S. in 1950.
HALIFAX, March 27 /CNW/ - The Atlantic Journalism Awards is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2005 AJAs. The finalists' names are listed in alphabetical order by last name in 25 separate categories. All finalists will receive an AJAs framed Certificate of Excellence in Journalism. One of the three finalists will be honoured as the overall Gold Award Winner. The awards will be presented during the gala event at the Halifax Marriott Harbour Front Hotel on Saturday, May 6th, 2006. To purchase tickets, go to www.AJAs.ca and click on Tickets, or call (902) 425-2727. *** Editorial Cartooning Michael de Adder - The Daily News, Halifax, NS - Show Of Work Bruce MacKinnon - The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, NS - Show Of Work Greg Perry - Telegraph-Journal, Saint John, NB - Show Of Work
The nominations for the 2005 National Newspaper Awards have been announced, including nominations for the Editorial Cartooning category. No new faces among this year's list of finalists, featuring three veterans of the editorial pages.
It is the ninth time Chapleau has been nominated. He has won five previous awards.
Gable is nominated for the seventh time and has won three times.
MacKinnon has won twice previously.
The finalists were announced on March 17, 2006, from the National Newspaper Awards office in Toronto. The Awards are adminstered by the Canadian Newspaper Association and recognize achievement in 20 journalism-related categories. The prize is the most prestigious for political cartooning in Canada. Winners of the award receive a cash prize of $1500 while the two runners-up get $250.
The winner will be announced at the National Newspaper Wards ceremony on Friday, May 26 in Halifax.
