Labels: conventions, events, Ottawa

Labels: conventions, events, Ottawa

Labels: C-List, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg

Labels: comic jams, events, events links, Ontario, Ottawa, social ink

Ottawa Comics Con
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Ottawa, Ontario - Canada
Ottawa Civic Centre
1015 Bank St.

Hours:10am-4pm
Admission: FREE

Over 100 Dealers at "Ottawa'a biggest show"
Contact:Mike Quevillon
In Ottawa (613) 823-1837
E-mail: mrq@rogers.com

Labels: conventions, events, Ontario, Ottawa

Sean Craig, Brad Mackay, Globe and Mail Update
March 31, 2009

OTTAWA/TORONTO ---Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty have announced a $50-million aid package for Canada's struggling comic book industry.

They said Canada's bailout, which they called a "short term loan," is proportionate to the operations of Canadian retailers and publishers, which are estimated to be about 20 per cent of North American production.

The two leaders announced the package on Tuesday morning at a joint press conference in Toronto.

Ontario will contribute about $10 million to the package and Ottawa will provide $40 million.

Harper told reporters the aid package "is not a blank cheque" and that he wants to see comic book stores, distributors, publishers, and cartoonists work together to restructure their operations.

"All stakeholders are going have to be part of the solution," Harper said.

The aid package will also:

-give loan access to small retailers, start-up publishers and more established publishers and other businesses that are part of the general comic book industry
-give additional tax breaks to those directly involved in the production of comics in Canada, including cartoonists, writers, artists, and inkers (but not colourists, letterers or editors)
-create a Federal program for archiving and accessing webcomics and make their production subject to funding from the new technologies branch of Telefilm Canada

In the U.S., Marvel, Darkhorse and Fantagraphics had said they need credit and loans as they restructure their companies.

Meanwhile, DC has said it does not need immediate help, but had asked for a line of credit.

Harper said the aid package was part of a "holistic approach" to save an industry that helps provide hundreds of thousands of jobs to Canadians.

He said governments need to act, especially in the wake of the financial sector economic crisis. The publishing, and especially the comics industry, has been particularly hard hit by the credit crunch, which affected their producers' access to loans and their consumers discretionary purchasing power.

A comics industry failure would have ripple affects well beyond Ontario, the centre of Canada's comics producing and consumption sector, Harper said.

"This is a huge problem that faces the Ontario economy and the Canadian economy by extension and it is critical that we work together," he said.

McGuinty said the economic crisis has created the need for bold action.

"These are extraordinary circumstances that require extraordinary measures," he said.

Today's announcement came on the heels of the proposed US $500 million in aid to comics publishers and retailers that U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Friday.

Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton said the loan package should suffice for now, but it would have been more useful had it been handed down earlier.

As credit has tightened, it has become harder for every part of the industry to function, said Hampton.

Displaying an understanding of the specifics of the market, he added that everyone from "the Wednesday crowd" to the publishers and distributors themselves, need access to credit in order to keep the industry running.

"We saw that happening months ago," he said.

If the money had been handed down at that time, "it would have made an even bigger difference," Hampton said.

Comics industry analyst Jeet Heer estimated that the combined loan packages from Canada and the U.S. would help keep the struggling North American comics industry afloat only for the next quarter or so.

"It probably only buys them three months or four months where they can get their ducks in order ... and hopefully come up with a plan to get everything straightened out so that they can survive," he told The Globe and Mail on Tuesday evening.

Diamond Distributors Canadian spokesperson Max Douglas said the Canadian response will provide a "great sigh of relief" across the industry, noting that the loans will help his company complete a transition it began in 2005. He said Diamond is moving towards creating more streamlined distribution systems, using solar-powered robots, and moving away from "that same old adolescent superhero crap we've been pushing for decades."

Douglas added that the bailouts show a "great signal of stability" for the industry.

Drawn and Quarterly publisher Chris Oliveros told The Globe the aid package is good for Ontario, Quebec and the country.

He said he's pleased that the bailout includes commitments by the government to develop young talent at the same time that it makes it possible to translate "even more painfully arty, twee, puzzling and metaphysically troubling graphic novels by cartoonists from Iceland, Slovenia, and, of course, France."

"I think the commitment of maintaining levels of quality and accessibility for emerging producers in Canada at the existing level is a fairly good commitment," said Douglas.

"As long as we maintain our share in the Canadian market, which is part of this loan, I think we'll be part of the future investment and will continue to work with the companies."

Oliveros indicated that D+Q's plans are to continue production at the current level.

"Our plans for the Fall publishing season right at the moment are to see us continue on at that (20 per cent) level, and this type of support, as we work out the details, will give us the ability to continue on roughly at that level," he said. Oliveros added that one side-benefit of the bailout is a contract D+Q has signed with the Prime Minister to publish a graphic novel history of hockey, written by Harper and illustrated by artist Chester Brown. "It's sort of a libertarian-family values-law-and-order take on Canada's favourite past-time."

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff criticized the deal, noting that he has a new book coming out as well that he thinks would benefit from a graphic treatment. "It's sort of a literary justification for torture and the War in Afghanistan," he added. "I think maybe Julie Doucet or Michel Rabagliati would be good choices as illustrators."

Meanwhile, Douglas took issue with critics of his monopoly-like distributor who have said they make too much money -- some quoting the questionable figure of more than $1 billion per year, which has never filtered down to Canadian tax coffers and has been debunked by some industry analysts.

He said "that based on our estimates" Canadian consumers are as comics crazy any other North American or foreign comics market.

"It's a little bit frustrating to concentrate on distributors," he said.

He also reminded critics that only two years ago, Canadians were paying almost twice as much as their U.S. neighbours for the same comics and graphic novels, not to mention action figures and Buffy the Vampire Slayer limited edition dvds and Battlestar Galactica scale models.

He said he wants Ottawa to "concentrate on the root cause of the problem. We still think the root cause of the problem is too much manga and art comics" he said.

Peter Birkemoe, owner of The Beguiling in Toronto, called the Canadian aid package "good news for cartoonists and their families."

But he also said he was concerned that Harper told reporters that "everyone" will have to make concessions.

"Labour costs are not the problem," he told The Globe.

But Birkemoe noted that the current industry leadership will have to decide how to proceed to help make the Canadian comics industry economically viable in the years ahead.

A spokesman for Warner Brothers, which owns DC Comics, said, "There will be job losses ... it's something that is going to happen. We kind of hoped the Watchmen movie would help get us through this, but response has bee tepid: it kinda sucked and everyone was really freaked out by that giant blue penis."

But he added, it's better to have some job losses rather than "not having the industry at all. We are just going to have to reprint more Siegel and Shuster and Jack Kirby comics since we don't have to pay royalties for those."

Heer said it was inevitable that cartoonists would have to make concessions, no matter how painful they might be.

"If they don't make serious concessions, then Marvel, DC, Darkhorse, and even Fantagraphics and D+Q will continue to lose market share to manga, video games, and porn and they'll lose their jobs anyway," he said.

He said it is likely cartoonists will be asked to make concessions on selected perk benefits -- such as food and shelter -- before they are asked to increase page production.

Labels: dollar, graphic novels, Ottawa, publishing, Toronto, trade

Labels: censorship, international, Ontario, Ottawa, political cartooning

Labels: holiday wish list, Ottawa, Quebec

"This incredible event brings together over 250 creators of all kinds of printed matter – from books to zines to posters and comics – in both English and French. In the past seven years, Expozine has become one of North America's largest small press fairs, attracting thousands of visitors as well as exhibitors from as far afield as Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa, and Quebec City!

At Expozine, one can discover a multitude of publications and printed works that are often difficult to find anywhere, much less all in the same room! The result is a rare opportunity to peruse the work of hundreds of young and emerging authors, publishers and artists, and to see what the winners of last year's Expozine Alternative Press Awards are up to. Not to be missed! "

Labels: conventions, ephemera, events, events links, Expozine, Montreal, new books, Ottawa, photos, poetry, small press, Toronto, undergrounds, zine fair, zines

Labels: Alberta, British Columbia, Calgary, events, international, Ottawa, Vancouver

Labels: bd, book launches, can-con, cartoonists, conventions, events, events links, exhibits, festivals, Gatineau, Ottawa, profiles, Quebec

Expozine No.7!

@ 5035 St-Dominique [map] (Eglise Saint-Enfant Jesus, between St-Joseph and Laurier, near Laurier Metro).

Free admission!

Creators of all kinds of printed matter and crafty DIY fun will be in attendance, in numbers! - from books to zines to posters and comics - in both English and French. In the past seven years, Expozine has become one of North America's largest small press fairs, attracting thousands of visitors as well as exhibitors from as far afield as Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa, and Quebec City! That's the PR, but it truly is a smorgasbord of cool stuff!

Drop buy and discover multitudes of things that are often difficult to find anywhere else, much less all in one room! One very big, sometimes steamy room being a November [MTL winter] crowd so bring stuff you can peal off easy, and something to carry it and all the cool books and stuff you're bound to end up buying! Also there's usually some good eats sold on sight, and lots of prime spots for food or drinks in the area.

Most of the Montreal art and DIY crowd show up on one side of the tables or the other, and there's usually some off site part time stuff going on too.

To reserve a table at Expozine, you can fill out the online registration form before November 17, 2008, or mail the printed form to Archive Montreal, box 1232, Place d'Armes, Montreal Que. H2Y 3K2.

They are also looking for sponsors folks, contact them at expozine@archivemontreal.org if your interested.

www.expozine.ca

Check out this Flickr slide show of past Expozines, to get a taste of what to expect.

Labels: book launches, conventions, events, events links, Expozine, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, small press, Toronto, zine fair, zines

If we agree that Canada should have a distinctive policy for its comic book industry, then the next question is what strategy to must use to enact its policy. Should the Canadian Government and provinces be actively supporting the comic book industry through grants, loans, tax credits, or help for representation abroad? Should for example, a special push be made to create comic books for special groups like children and aboriginal Canadians? In the book world, most type of literature is supported, but material such as cookbooks and travel material are not supported to the same extent as fiction. In the film world, the government does not support pornography, reality television, and game shows. In animation, because most of the contents is geared towards children, there are stricter guidelines and requests for clear overt Canadian contents in the works. In video games, there doesn't seem to be any oversight over the contents of the products, probably because the job creation aspect is the ultimate objective of the government as opposed to the promotion of Canadian culture.

There are many genres of comic books touching very different target markets, not sound support strategy can be generated without first understanding what it is one seeks to promote. In hindsight, perhaps Canadian comic book readers should take their local industry more seriously and start asking themselves what kind of comic books they would like their fellow Canadians to create.

Labels: analysis, blogosphere, can-con, news, Ottawa

Labels: Ottawa, summer reading, summer reading 08

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (August 17, 2008) -- Comic books and graphic novels have, over the past twenty years, become a widely embraced medium in book publishing. Initially dismissed as children's entertainment, comics have now developed a maturity and range of vision that rivals other forms of art and literature. Graphic novels are read by people from all walks of life and have reached a level of critical acceptance that was unheard of decades ago. This resurgence has been led by a number of young artists who bring unique voices to the medium. Von Allan, an Ottawa-based artist and graphic novelist, joins this group with his recently published graphic novel "Li'l Kids: road to god knows ... adventures!"

"Graphic novels offer a combination of words and images that speak to us on a very fundamental level," says Allan. "In a way I think it's storytelling at its most primal form. It allows an author to engage with a reader in a way that's similar to literature and yet very, very different. Comics, when you come right down to it, are just ink marks on a piece of paper. That a reader can interpret that into a fully formed story is really quite remarkable. On top of it, so much of what makes sequential art come alive is defined by what's not there. The gutter space between each panel of art is very important. This is where the reader's imagination and personality comes into play. It's a beautiful medium and one I love exploring. Hopefully that sense of exploration comes across in 'Li'l Kids.'"

Another unique aspect of the graphic novel is its availability in multiple channels. "Li'l Kids" is downloadable as a free PDF eBook on the artist's website. In addition, a free torrent version is available via LegalTorrents.com. The graphic novel is distributed under a Creative Commons Canada licence that grants readers the ability to distribute the online versions of the book for free. "I believe in both print publishing and bookstores and I always have," says Allan. "But I also believe that obscurity is one of the hardest things for young artists to avoid. By using a variety of online distribution tools as well as more traditional print publishing, I'm hoping more people will get to know both myself and my work. I believe that this helps build a platform for my continued development as an artist and helps grow my audience at the same time. I'm also very pleased to see that the book is already available through a number of channels, notably online at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble."

"Li'l Kids" is a collection of three interlocked short stories that focus on elements from a young girl's life. We see Marie, the main character in each story, develop and grow; from meeting a new friend to her burgeoning awareness of both her family's poverty and her mom's mental illness. This later theme is more fully explored in the graphic novel "the road to god knows...;" Marie is only eight years old at the time of these three stories. As a result, she is only just beginning to be aware of the world around her and her place in it. Each story stands on its own but, when taken together, they demonstrate that childhood, like most aspects of life, can have its ups and downs. Being a child can be fun, scary, and magical; but sometimes the things that seem very little at the time can have a profound effect on you later on in life. That's certainly true for Marie and her experiences in these stories help to bear that out. Later, in "the road to god knows...," we see just how significant some of those events can be.

In addition to the three stories, this collection includes a large amount of supporting material. Concept and thumbnail art illustrate how each story was put together. Allan also discusses where each story's inspiration came from and how each story's initial idea formed. Lastly, he shows each step from story outline to completed script.

"Li'l Kids: road to god knows... adventures!" is an 88 page graphic novel and has an ISBN of 978-0-9781237-1-0. The suggested retail price is $13.95 US.

About Von Allan: Von Allan was born red-headed and freckled in Arnprior, Ontario, just in time for "Star Wars: A New Hope." He managed Perfect Books, an independent bookstore in Ottawa, for many years while working on story ideas in his spare time; eventually, he decided to make the leap to a creative life, and "the road to god knows..." was the result. Additional information about the graphic novel can be found at www.vonallan.com.

Labels: book launches, graphic novels, Ontario, Ottawa, profiles, publishing

• Another obit for Robert Bierman, the political cartoonist who passed away April 16.

• The Comic Book Bin chronicles the move from print to web by cartoonist Karl Kerschl.

• Ivan Anchukov of Voronezh, Russia, won the 8th Annual International Competition for Editorial Cartoonists from among 700 cartoons submitted from 40 countries, in an award handed out in Ottawa May 2nd in honour of International Press Freedom day (May 3).
  

• The comics critics: "Jog" tackles Dave Sim's Glamourpuss comic while Tom Spurgeon casts a wide net over Michel Rabagliati's graphic novel Paul Goes Fishing.

• Chris Butcher wants your help in i.d.-ing the hottest obscure manga.

• The second volume in the Cosmos Cafe album series by Quebec bedeist Tristan Demers in now out.

• Newsarama interviews graphic novelist Faith Erin Hicks.

Labels: awards, censorship, graphic novels, links, Ottawa, political cartooning, Quebec

• Jeet Heer vs Michael Chabon: Wow, Jeet can't seem to stay out of the scraps this week. On the heels of his dust-up with Bart beaty last week, his review of David Hadju's 10 Cent Plague for Salon has drawn a lengthy rebuttal from novelist and comics fan Michael Chabon (for good measure, Beaty chimes in as well).

• Chris Butcher posts the 20 bestselling comic books/floppies at the Beguiling from last week.

• Johanna Draper Carlson reviews Hope Larson's new graphic novel for young adults, Chiggers.

• Cameron Stewart is interviewed about his Transmission X webcomic, Sin Titulo, at the Digital Strips site: part 1 part 2 Stewart has just finished work on a new graphic novel for Oni, The Apocalipstix.

• The World Press Freedom Day 10th Annual Awards Luncheon, featuring an exhibition of the winning and runner-up cartoons of the international political cartoon competition on the theme of "Re-writing History", will be held May 2nd, in Ottawa.

• An ad for a car dealership has stirred up controversy and the ire of the Winnipeg police. (see above)

Labels: comics history, comics retailers, events links, graphic novels, Manitoba, Ottawa, webcomics, Winnipeg

China's Flame of Shame

Forget boycotts – human rights activists say they welcome the upcoming Beijing Olympics as an opportunity to get under China's skin.

"As an organization, we believe the Olympics are an opportunity for different movements to voice their opposition to the Chinese government; that's been clear since China was awarded the Olympics back in 2001," said Kyla Mendoza, an Ottawa organizer for the New York-based Students for a Free Tibet.

With only four months until the start of the summer games - whose slogan is "One World, One Dream," – groups like SFT have accepted the reality that participating countries are not likely to boycott China for its poor human rights record or support for countries like Sudan and Myanmar.

Instead, they've begun ratcheting up the PR pressure on Beijing, using the various photo ops and symbols that make the Olympics so memorable as leverage in their campaigns. (See photos)

Even before the violent protests and subsequent police crackdown in Tibet took centre stage in the media, Mendoza said, the Canadian branch of SFT was organizing campaigns inside China, unveiling "Free Tibet" banners at high-profile locations like the Great Wall of China and the base camp of Mount Everest.

"Basically, Beijing wants to try and to open themselves up to the world as much as possible but control their image to the world, too," he explained. "We want to show that if you open yourself up for the Olympics, you have to air your dirty laundry."

Arguably the most enduring symbol of the games, the Olympic torch has also become an important instrument for expressing dissent.

Last week, the torch was lit at its traditional starting point of Olympia, Greece and transported to Beijing, marking the start of the relay that will see it travel to all five continents before returning return to China in time for the opening ceremonies on August 8th, according the official relay website.

It's also supposed to travel to Mt. Everest and the Tibetan capital of Lhasa sometime in June, raising fears of further violence and prompting calls to the IOC to have it bypass the area. "If you bring the Olympic torch through these Tibetan villages, you're basically inciting further violence and giving China another excuse to crack down," claims Tsering Lama, National Organizer for SFT.

In order to draw attention to what Tsering calls a "humanitarian crisis" in Tibet, clever SFT artists converted Beijing's torch relay logo into a graphic of a silhouetted police officer beating a protester.

Logos aside, the torch hand-off ceremony at the Acropolis in Athens was an embarrassing symbol for China, as three members of the international group Reporters Without Borders stormed the field with a banner depicting the Olympic rings as handcuffs.

Three members of the group, including Secretary-General Robert Ménard, were arrested by Greek authorities and are currently out on bail.

World leaders decried the interruption of what was supposed to be a sporting ceremony, by supporters insisted the move had greater purpose. "The Olympic flame may be sacred but human rights are even more so," Reporters Without Borders stated in a press release following the arrests.

"We could not let the Chinese government take the Olympic flame, a symbol of peace, without denouncing the dramatic human rights situation in China with less than five months to go to the start of the Olympic games."

The organization, which has national offices in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, says it was protesting the imprisonment of Chinese cyber-dissidents and the continuing ban on reporting inside Tibet.

Even the market-oriented Olympic mascots haven't escaped controversy. At a faux news conference this week, SFT announced that one the five mascots of the Beijing Oympics, an endangered Tibetan antelope named Yingying, had "defected" in response to China's development in the region, which environmentalist claim is degrading the antelope's habitat atop the Tibetan plateau.

"I've defected from the Olympic team because I can no longer stand being used as a puppet to cover up China's destruction of my homeland," the cartoon character said in a press release sent out by SFT.

Instead, the yellow critter has apparently changed her name to Yingsel and now operates a blog, part of her efforts to "use the Olympics to turn the tables on China."

Labels: international, mascots, Ottawa

Project Wonderful uses an auction process for it’s buyers and sellers. If you want to run an ad to attract visitors to your site, you need to compete with other sites doing the same thing. You can do this on a site by site basis (someone can advertise, for example, on one or both boxes on my GirlAMatic site) or you can do it as a campaign. In the latter case, you enter in criteria and have PW bid on your behalf on sites that meet your specs. Personally, I use a combination of both. For instance, I find that I get a really good Q Rating on Wahoo Morris, probably because the two stories are somewhat similar and both Craig Taillefer and I are Ottawa-based creators. 'Course, maybe it's something entirely different. Regardless, I keep on bidding on his site because I like the results that I get.

If we assume, just for a sec, that those 4112 are unique individuals, then my $108.60 ad spend is pretty amazing. Even if it's quarter of that (say 1000 unique individuals), then I'm only spending 11 cents on each person. When I compare that to how much I spent going to various conventions slogging my work (keeping in mind that I went to both the Alternative Press Expo and the Small Press Expo from an advertising point of view and NOT to sell things), it's remarkable. $100.00 doesn't even cover the table costs, let alone manufacturing, travel, lodgings and food. I would never get that type of awareness going to a convention and I've certainly learned my lesson. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

Labels: blogosphere, graphic novels, Ottawa, webcomics

• Brad Mackay visits a new Ottawa installation featuring a massive series of paintings by cartoonist-turned-painter Dave Cooper.

• 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 Parkdale Gallery in Ottawa presents: Comic Book Chaos, an exhibit by local comic book creators including Ronn Sutton and Von Allan. December 8 to January 6.

• Publishing: D+Q has more Tatsumi; Dramacon 3, Following Cerebus #11 now out.

• 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.

• Next year's Luminato festival is already scheduling the comics guests.

Labels: blogosphere, events, exhibits, graphic novels, Halifax, misc, Nova Scotia, Ottawa

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

Labels: cartoonists, obituaries, Ottawa

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

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