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Superhero HockeyThis is the old-school magic that I'm talking about: "The gay and roaring crows cheered lustily for their favourite hockey team ... and then Death came riding in on the cold air of the ice arena!"  Robert Pincombe does us all a great service by posting a 1940s comic book story featuring Ted Steele's Canadian superhero Speed Savage over at his ComicCanuck blog. As a post-Olympics bonus, its a rare hockey comic book story as well (and in true hockey style, hockey-loving cartoonist Jeff Lemire provides an "assist"). Go read "Murder Has The Puck"! Labels: blogosphere, comics history, floppies - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 1comments -   - we honor OpenID -
Friday, March 05, 2010 Weekend Reading  I linked to one of these already, bt you should really check out Robert Pincombe's Olympic wind-down blog posts. Through Robert's comedic genius, various members of Alpha Flight talk about the Vancouver Olympics and then go on to discuss classic comic book Olympic moments. No Puck yet, but we can dream... Slam-Poet Superhero Sasquatch Northstar Snowbird Labels: comics history, events, floppies, mascots, U.S. superhero franchises - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Wednesday, March 03, 2010 Interview with Toronto cartoonist Dave Lapp, creator of Drop-In and Children of the Atom  I had an opportunity to interview Dave Lapp last week, the highlights of which (and there are many) are now available at the torontoist books site. We spoke of many things - his process, his connection to original art, his dream journals. I always find Dave Lapp very inspiring to talk to. If you can, check out Drop-In and be sure to pick up his collection of Children of the Atom -- 5 years of weekly strips, 250 pages! Labels: books.torontoist, cartoonists, comic strips, comics, comics history, Conundrum Press, Dave Lapp, mini-comics, Toronto - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Thursday, February 25, 2010 The C-List: Canadian Comix Quick Links  Item: I seriously recommend this wonderful history of George Henderson, aka "Captain George," the father of comic book fandom in Canada. Publisher of Capt. George's Whizzbang and Memory Lane Publications, Henderson was also a pulp writer and bookstore owner who spearheaded the nostalgia boom of the 1960s and 70s. He was also an early publisher of Canadian underground and alternative comics and was part of the first wave of classic comic strip and comic book reprinters. One of the greatest Canadians who ever lived! Item: The latest TCAF press release makes mention of the webcomics salon taking place in the penthouse of the event site Toronto Reference Library, featuring Transmission X, Kate Beaton, Ryan North, Joey Comeau and Emily Horne. Plus foreigners like Jeph Jacques (Questionable Content), Meredith Gran (Octopus Pie), Andrew Hussie (MSPaint Adventures), David Malki (Wondermark), Jonathan Rosenberg (Goats), Rene Engstrom (Anders Loves Maria). Item: Tom Spurgeon will be attending TCAF!!!!! Item: The National Post has words to say about Jason Kieffer's Rabble of Downtown Toronto. Item: Manitoba cartoonist Sandy Debreuil and his brother Robin are at the centre of a burgeoning video game empire. Item: London cartoonist and ex-druggie draws comic book pamphlet about fighting addiction. Item: At the Shuster Award blog Kevin Boyd profiles Colin Upton, Nick Postic, and Terry Pallot, as part of the Visions of an Icon: Wolverine series of drawings. Item: Dean of Canadian comics critics Jeet Heer has some thoughts on Jack Kirby, Nixon, and the nature of evil. As well, some jottings from his notebook. (I'd pay to read an anthology of "Jottings from Jeet!" ) Item: Jeet points us to the work of another critic, the University of Regina's Dr. Sylvain Rheault. Here's a google translated version of Rheault's history of Quebec comics. Labels: C-List, comics history, events, graphic novels - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Friday, February 12, 2010 TCAF: Call for Submissions, "New Narrative" Academic ConferenceOnce again, Andrew Lesk is organizing an academic conference on comics to coincide with the Toronto Comics Art Festival: 3rd annual New Narrative Conference: Narrative arts and visual media An Interdisciplinary Conference University of Toronto -- May 6-7, 2010 Keynote Speaker: Jeff Lemire (Tales of Essex County) In keeping with the spirit of sequels, we are again soliciting papers on a wide range of graphic novels, comic art, and related visual media. Comics, whether in the form of novelistic illustrations, newspaper serials, animated films, film adaptations, graphic novels, or sequential art narratives, have been with us since the rise of literature itself, yet until recently such media have never been considered "serious"-or at least, serious enough to be considered novels that might be on university syllabi. But are illustrated novels and live action films really about the pictures and not the narrative? How can the history of the form be reconciled with consumer culture and the ill-defined categories of "high" and "low" culture? Papers which examine and interpret these narratives in interdisciplinary forms are most welcome. Essays on novelistic illustrations, newspaper serials, animated films, film adaptations, graphic novels, or sequential art narratives may consider the following (incomplete) list: graphic novels and auto/biography -- illustrated and multi-media works -- web design and on-line comix -- film adaptations of comics -- series; engravings and caricatures -- the Comics Code Authority -- the "invention" of manga -- geopolitics/war and the graphic novel -- bande desinee & European comix - early comics & comic history -- illustrations in (literary) novels -- woodcut and "silent" artists. Proposals should be 400-500 words and must clearly indicate significance, the line of argument, principal texts considered, and relation to existing scholarship (or originality). One email copy of the proposal, and a 50 word bio note must be included, as an attachment in MS Word. This conference will take place just before the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, May 8 & 9. (See TorontoComics.com) Jeff Parker, Assistant Professor, and/or Dr. Andrew Lesk Department of English, University of Toronto E-mail: andrew[dot]lesk[at]utoronto[dot]ca See also http://andrewlesk.com/conferences.html DEADLINE for proposals: MARCH 31, 2010 (responses by April 08, 2010) Labels: comics criticism, comics history, comics in school, comics scholarship, events, Toronto - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Thursday, December 17, 2009 The C-List: New and Old Canadian Comics  Some pre-Xmas Cheer. Item: I actually risked the mall the other day and was delighted to find this giant dvd box set of the seminal Canadian cartoon show Rocket Robin Hood. It just came out and is priced between $20 and $30. Chapters, too.  Item: Jason Kieffer writes to let us know about his new book, The Rabble of Downtown Toronto, a guide to the characters of the big city, with helpful notes and a map. The squarebound book is only available at the Beguiling and through Kieffer himself [email]. Price: $10.Item: Writer Rob Pincombe celebrates the life of Adrian Dingle, creator of 1940s Canadian superheroes Nelvana and The Penguin. Item: Dinner with the policart and comics historian Aislin. Item: Neal Gaiman in Winnipeg. Item: Former math professor and owner of London, Ont.'s first comic book store, Eddie Smet, has donated his 10,000 item comic book collection to Western. Item: Cartoonist Guy Delisle is home for the holidays and will be appearing at the D&Q store in Montreal today (December 17). Animated Conversation, Thursday, 7 p.m. Guy will discusses his graphic novels, which are based on experiences in China, North Korea and Myanmar, and his latest trip to Israel. 211 Bernard St. W., free! Item: The comics phenom of 2010 might just be Scott Pilgrim and the movie based on the book series. Item: The Shuster Awards would like you to help out with their 2010 nominating process. Item: The Toronto Observer covers the Gladstone Small Press festival, including graphic novel creator Mike Leone and his "Freelance Blues." Labels: aperances, awards, C-List, comics history, events, Montreal, movies, new books, reading, Toronto - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 1comments - - we honor OpenID -
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 The C-List: Happy Birthday Inkstuds!  Gotta bust out a C-List! "Inkstuds, Expozine, Jesse Jacobs, ohmy!" Item: The Inkstuds podcast celebrates 4 years (!) with a Seth interview. Congratulations to Robin McConnell and friends, and here's to 4 more years, and many more! Item: Blogger and cartoonist Jack Ruttan recorded interviews at Expozine with some of the bright lights of Canadian comics. He's posted them with notes on his blog here and here, and we've created a playlist/player of them in sequence here. Item: Sequential's own Salgood Sam was briefly at Expozine as well. He shot and edited a short doc of the event around 4pm to 5pm of the last day.  Item: A good large flickr photo set cataloging zine prints buttons and art books predominantly in a minimalist & cute style. The rare blue Mermacorn is the invention of probably this years youngest exhibitor, Jasper! Posted by Montreal designer Janice Wong.Item: And rounding out the visual record of Expozine 2009 so far is an excellent set of 111 photos by Montreal Photographer Camille McOuat. The last one of Billy is perfect. Item: Vancouver cartoonist Doug Fraser has designed an Absolut Vodka bottle just in time for the Olympics. Item: Webcomics writer Ryan Sohmer in Montreal. As well, Sohmer and his "Least I Can Do" collaborator Lar DeSouza have announced a webcomics scholarship at the Vermont Center for Cartoon Studies. Item: Another profile of Jesse Jacobs! He's on a run! Item: Stuart Immonen has announced that the free webcomics serialization of his collaborations with his wife Kathryn have been pirated and that future online comics by the couple are in doubt. There is further comment here and many comments by others elsewhere. The latest collab, Moving Pictures, is due out in Mat 2010 from Top Shelf. Item: Canadian comics historian, blogger, humourist, erstwhile Sequential contributor, and scriptwriter on the perils of maintaining 4 blogs while writing animation scripts for a living. Item: The DC/Warner vs Disney/Marvel war is really heating up. Alarmed at the massive build-up of Canadian superheroes by Marvel, and with only one of their own DC plans to fire back by adding a Canadian to the Outsiders, previously a 1980s superhero team based in Batman's Gotham City. (Thanks to reader Maddy B for the tip!) Item: Jeet Heer on Marx/Barks and Tomine/Oliveros. Labels: blogosphere, British Columbia, C-List, capes, comics history, Expozine, Montreal, new books, pod casts, U.S. superhero franchises, Vancouver, video, webcomics - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Tuesday, November 03, 2009 Red Jumps to the top of Bookmanager sales lists   Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas most recent book Red is the #1 best seller this month...With the return of Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 the Haida Manga is in fact the 4th over all best selling Graphic Novel this month, by a Canadian author or otherwise sold in Canada. At the time of this post it ranks 2nd on the Book manager list in fact, sales rank #946 and in 'high demand'. Nice way to kick things off for Michael and i thought i'd pass on some fresh links from him to mark the occasion. "Red becomes a real test of whether there is an interest, I think, in Canada, to explore the mythology of what is the Indian, in a populist form," he says. RED the Special Edition each copy includes the following One original watercolored haida manga painting 8.5" X 7" on 100 cotton 140lb Arches paper. Signed and catalogued. Painted paper bookmark. Color poster of the original mural. A unique number out of a total run of 100 copies only. Slipcased in Haida manga design with stitched in cloth marker. Autographed and can be personalized. Purchase by contacting: Angela Powell Labels: bestsellers, British Columbia, comics history, hidamanga, new books - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Friday, October 09, 2009 Canadian Mermaid Disembowels Diminutive TeammateI just can't get the phrase out of my head. My own effort? 1. Jodhpur 2. Wearing 3. Northerner 4. K.O.s 5. Hitler The answer? Labels: blogosphere, comics history, links - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 Happy Canada Day!  Happy Canada Day from Sequential! The above image is the front cover of Mike Friedrich's Quack #3, a comic book published in 1977 (the year punk broke and the year of the Queen's silver jubilee). The Beavers was a short-lived newspaper strip by Dave Sim (of Cerebus fame). The cover of Quack was drawn by Sim with inks by Steve Leialoha. To learn more about the genesis of The Beavers, check out issues of the new Cerebus Archive (issue #2 is on stands now), which retraces the early career of Sim. Labels: comics history, floppies, holidays, undergrounds - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Monday, June 22, 2009 New Books: The Collected Captain Canuck, Vol 1  Captain Canuck Vol. 1 Written by Richard Comely, art by George Freeman, Jean-Claude St.Aubin 152 Pages $24.99 Full-colour hardcover IDW Publishing June 2009 An archival edition of the seminal 1970s superhero comic book series featuring art by the underrated yet fondly-remembered George Freeman. Erroneously credited as "Canada’s first superhero" by re-publisher IDW, the first volume features issues #4-10 of the original series published by Comely Comics (widely available in bargain bins for decades). Labels: canadian superheroes, comics history, floppies, new books, publishing - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Friday, June 12, 2009 The C-List: Mania Rebound  And we are back with more cross-country and international comics mania! Item: Jeet Heer writes about Hall of Fame cartoonist Jimmy Frise. This piece was originally written for the Sequential print edition but due to a muffed deadline on my part was left out. It's really an excellent article and you should go read it. Item: Speaking of Hall of Famers, the Doug Wright backlash begins: Andrew Wheeler trashes Nipper, and Kevin Boyd of the Shusters blog makes a case for renaming the new Doug Wright book. Item: On the international front, Kent Worcester looks at the growth in comics acceptance in universities. Item: Cartoonist Nick Craine is the latest graphic novelist to be hired to class up an otherwise pictureless Canadian prose novel. Item: Inkstuds' Robin McConnell reviews Dater's Dozen by Melaina. Item: Quillblog reports on the BookCamp that "replaced" Book Expo Canada. Item: The Beguiling, European comics publisher? Item: Seth talks George Sprott to Time Out Chicago ("Boring Can Be Interesting"). Seth also created a book bag for the Strand bookstore in New York (above). Labels: C-List, comic strips, comics history, graphic novels, links - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Friday, May 08, 2009 Sequential Pulp in the pixels
Labels: comic strips, comics criticism, comics history, comics in libraries, interviews, Montreal, new books, Ontario, profiles, Quebec, Sequential Pulp, tcaf, TCAF09, Toronto, Vancouver - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 Publishing: The Collected Doug Wright, Volume I  The Collected Doug Wright: Canada's Master Cartoonist, Volume One by Doug Wright with an introduction by Lynn Johnston Hardcover, 240 pages, 9 x 14 inches, color. ISBN: 9781897299524 $39.95 US / $39.95 CDN Designed by Seth and with a comprehensive biographical essay by Wright scholar Brad Mackay, this book is probably the most significant historic comics project to come out of Canada this century. A beautiful book, revealing the early career and artistic maturity of Canada's most widely-read cartoonist in the post World-War II years. Plus, this thing is about the size of a monument --and there's going to be two of them! Just like the 10 Commandments! The first of a historic two-volume set, Doug Wright: Canada's Master Cartoonist presents the first-ever comprehensive look at the life and career of one of the most-read and best-loved cartoonists of the 1960s. Compiled in cooperation with Wright's family, it draws from thousands of pieces of art, pictures, letters, and the artist's own journals, to provide a fully rounded view of Doug Wright, both as a cartoonist and as an individual. Labels: comic strips, comics history, publishing - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Monday, September 08, 2008 Lost Chartier  Albert Chartier (1912-2004) was one of Canada's greatest strip cartoonists, best-known for his extremely long-running strip Onesime, but most of his work is sadly out of print, with the exception of a few anthologies that have reprinted some strips over the last decade. As we reported earlier, the good news is that Les 400 Coups, a division of Montreal comics publisher Mecanique Generale, is publishing a collection of Chartier's sexy girl strips this fall. The book is called Albert Chartier: Une Piquant Petite Brunette and collects tons of the risque, mostly-silent strips that Chartier syndicated to one or two papers in Canada back in the 1960s. The bad news is that the publisher has some gaps in their collection and is making an appeal to collectors and archivists to help fill the gaps. Read the appeal from Jimmy B over at the bdq boards --translated here. (The best thing about the translation: apparently, thanks to this risque strip collection, we will now "be able to harness the peter.") As well, the family of Chartier is circulating a form letter to the head of Canada Post, requesting a stamp in honour of the cartoonist's 100th birthday in 2012. The full text is also at the link, as are many examples of the strips in question. Labels: bd, comic strips, comics history, help wanted, publishing, Quebec - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Friday, August 22, 2008 Saturday: Kim Deitch Film Fest, VancouverOne of the top five surviving members of the U.S. Underground comics movement of the 1960s, and one of the greatest living producers of graphic novels, period, Kim Deitch will be appearing this weekend in Vancouver at several events. First up: a showing of animated cartoons from Deitch's vast collection:  See the inkstuds write-up here for more info. Vancouver Art Gallery Hornby St. entrance 7 pm $8 --limited seating Labels: British Columbia, comics history, comics on film, events, undergrounds, Vancouver - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Thursday, August 14, 2008 The Doug Wright Awards' so called 'Canadian' language controversyWith a charged OP ed piece by Herve St-Louis, the publisher and editor for comicbookbin.com has kicked off a pretty intense conversation over the question of whether or not The Doug Wright Awards has the "right" to call itself a Canadian award. Tom Spurgeon has started to act as something of a neutral presenter of the issue, posting several responses to the first posting from St-Louis on The Comics Reporter. And there's alot of back and forth in the comments of PW The Beat. So far i've found the debate very interesting. I have a problem with the tone taken at the start by St-Louis myself; I feel he was pretty wildly hyperbolic in his analogies, and presents a basically false premise. And he seems upon a little asking around, to be speculating a lot about the intentions of the DWA organizers without information. There was a small amount of communication with our own Bryan Munn informally as a DWA representative on the subject, but it seems St-Louis cut that short and ran with his story. But from a purely rhetorical point of view, many have made some very good points on the broader subject. Bryan, who is responsible for most of the posting here on Sequential now, is bowing out of commenting on the debate on our site as he's closely involved with the Doug Wright Awards, so I'm going to try to keep on top of this for Sequential, work schedule permitting. I will be thinking on it and perhaps posting my own perspective more in the future but at this time a few things seem clear to me. First I think that it's clear the DWA's present themselves as A Canadian award, not THE Canadian awards. A point made by Brad MacKay but also consistent with my impression of their promotion of the awards. St-Louis's argument seems to be build a lot on the idea that something other than this is true. The About page's first short opening paragraph from the DWA site.
And, the very relevant last one...
And if testimony is required, going back to the first year of the awards, I can confirm from my own discussions with the organizers, that what Brad MacKay says in his official statement as true; That there has all along been very active discussion of how eventually to address the question of, at some point, bringing in a french language category. But that for now they lack the resources to do so. There has been no active discrimination against french creators in anyway, or a flat refusal to address the issue. Only a recognition that they are unequipped to review french language submissions at this time in a manor suited to the standards they set out for the DWA. And far from being presented as THE Canadian comics award, they are more like A Literary Canadian Comics Award in affect. And yes we could be really precise and call them The Doug Wrights, A Literary English Language Canadian Comics Award, but frankly as precise as that would be, it would be a terrible, terrible name! OK yes I'm being a little dramatic, but The Doug Wright English Canadian Comics Awards is truly not too much better. So it's the The Doug Wright Awards, period. As Hervé points out; hyphenation, and over qualification is a pain in the arse. The idea is to make the awards appealing, and interesting. Not boring and didactic. Now It's all very fine and well to say they could make the contacts here in Quebec, associate with a local award or start a parallel operation. But it takes two to tango, and speaking as an Anglo, living in Montreal, I have to say the French community here at least, when not too busy with their own things to be bothered, is seldom very welcoming or enthusiastic of this kind of collaboration over all. Nor do they reach out often themselves in a collaborative manner to make such things happen. It's like herding cats here on both sides of the language divide. Maybe in Alberta where Hervé lives now, he's unaware of this. He started out here so he should know. It was true more so when he lived here! It's true that in their own language sphere many people have done amazing things to promote local French work to an international French audience. But making the effort to promote their work to an audience that overwhelmingly won't be able to read it is never appealing to any publisher. Frankly I for one can't fault them for that. And far from generally being ignored by English Canada, I and many Anglo's have come to Montreal thinking we would be able to connect and build bridges with the french community, only to find a wall of often disinterested backs turned on us because we speak French as poorly as many of the Quebecois speak English. For those who are more engaged and welcoming - and there are many now - it's shrugs and a lack of interest in general. Not to say it's always cold, but I have not experienced a culture in a hurry to be embraced by it's English neighbors. They want more than not to be admired in their own language in their own region or in the EU. For those few desiring more English attention, they look south, like a lot of us here, were there are many many millions more in the audience than here. A practical issues more than not. I would put it to Herve that this often kind of insular approach, and a love of confrontation and conflict expressed to me by many of my Francophone Montreal peers, and as exemplified by the rather inflammatory examples in his post - Is as much if not more a problem than any active bigotry in the English community... "If the Harvey Awards, were to refuse all comic books by blacks or women, until they bleached their skin white or undergo hormone therapy to change their gender, it would be clear to everybody that their policy and the support of those awards was morally wrong" Really? Comparing asking for translations to bleaching skin, AND forced gender reassignment. Was one over the top inaccurate analogy not enough? Hmmmmm. Numerous times have I inquired locally in Montreal, as to why more effort is not made by French creators and publishers to translate the huge amounts of work produced here into English for the larger North American market. Or why there are so few sites promoting the Quebec community outside of the Francophone sphere. Coverage and effort has improved, yes, far more of both things happen now than just 5 years ago. But it's been very, very slow. And my said inquiries are more often than not responded to with shrugs and the refrain that they rather someone else do the work. They are too busy, it's as simple as that. No bigotry, no conspiracy, no surprising undercurrent of hate. I've done my own best when I've had the time to do so to promote local work, regardless of language, as has Bryan who is I'll repeat an active member of the DWA organization. I have tried at some length to recruit contributors for this very site to help cover the Quebec scene, as well as trying to find people on the coasts and in the mid west. I have constantly failed to find interested parties on all counts. Even Herve's own site spends most of it's time reporting on American, English comics. On the site's menu there is not even a way to filter the posts to view QC or Montreal stories. Just Cunuck. And I invite you to look for yourself to see how many are for French Language books.... It seems to me Herve is asking, demanding, others to confer praise for work he seldom promotes himself. No he does not call himself THE Canadian comic news site anymore than the DWA call them selves THE Canadian comic awards, but then this only furthers my point. I can understand that there are a lot of bruised egos, as I'm always reminded when I talk to my peers here in Montreal about this sort of thing. It does not come up nearly as often as Herve's article would suggest but sure, some feel a little left out. But I have a hard time giving too much credit to said egos, when they do so little to change the situation themselves through constructive positive actions. But rather it seems - when bothered to do anything - prefer to rant at supposed arms length about it. In this case at Provincial length, and without foundation or information speculating in an overwhelmingly demonizing way about the intentions of the 'Others' they think someone may perceive themselves slighted or ignored by. So what do I think they should do instead? How about this; I've not talked to anyone about this so I don't know if the will or means can be mustered, but say they do and could be. Say someone in QC, or the french community outside of QC cares about this all that much, and wants to do something. Say maybe the Prix Bedelys have any interest in this, that they take the initiative to put together a jury and reading list for a French language award to spotlight Original French books to the rest of Canada and the English comics reading world and any French readers who may be paying attention, to be presented at The Doug Wright Awards. They can also help raise funds locally for the prize and to pay for the trophy, and The Doug Wright Awards in turn give them the additional press and attention. The DWA orginization have the current problem of a lack of resources and means on their side addressed in this way. Maybe as a way to make this a mutual trade - not to besmirch anyone's best intentions; but the Bédélys trophy is not, well, all that impressive. Perhaps they also might be able to persuade the Doug Wright Awards rather famous trophy builder to help them out as well? Call it a trade for mutual benefit, and fix the problem by doing something about it, rather than making over the top and inaccurate analogies to civil rights abuses and the intentions of others you don't actually talk with before speculating on publicly. But in the mean time, until the French Comics community is willing or wants to be bothered to take on the task of promoting their own work to the rest of the world regardless if it's Francophone or not, I think it's a little disingenuous for someone in the to cry discrimination in this manor. A lack of means does not equate a intentional bigoted refusal. LINKS comicbookbin.com : The Wright Awards Discriminate Against Canadians A Response From The DWAs Regarding The Charge That They Discriminate PW The BEAT comments section where many have made thier thoughts known A Response From The DWAs Regarding The Charge That They Discriminate And having had a quick look, notably nothing yet from any French BD sites about this, they don't seem to care as yet to comment. Labels: Alberta, analysis, awards, bd, blogosphere, can-con, cartoonists, comics history, francophone, furries, Montreal, news, people, Quebec, tcaf - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 4comments - - we honor OpenID -
Monday, August 11, 2008 Summer Reading: Jeet Heer  Our next Summer Reading Survey comes from Jeet Heer. Please send us yours. 1. Name and occupation. Jeet Heer, www.jeetheer.com, http://sanseverything.wordpress.com/ 2. What is your latest project (ie, what are you hyping)? I've written the introduction to the first volume of the Complete Little Orphan Annie (published by IDW). 3. Please provide a list of books you have recently read or are planning to read. They don't have to be comic books. (In fact, we would almost prefer they weren't.) Any number of books is fine. Please feel free to comment (ie, Why are you reading these books? What did you think?). Fredric Jameson's Marxism and Form: Twentieth Century Dialectical Theories of Literature (A very dense and rewarding study of Western Marxist thinkers like Marcuse, Adorno, etc. There is a discussion of nostalgia which is highly relevant for understanding Seth, Chris Ware and Robert Crumb). Various short story collections like John Updike's Trust Me and K.D. Miller's A Litany in a Time of Plague. Various comic strips from the early 20th century (Little Nemo, Clare Brigg�s panels, Little Orphan Annie, Gasoline Alley). 4. Please list any upcoming events/upcoming publications. Your next project? I've co-edited (with Kent Worcester) A Comics Studies Reader (to be published later this year by University Press of Mississippi). Labels: comic strips, comics history, summer reading, summer reading 08 - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Monday, August 04, 2008 Comics history links 
Labels: comics history, links, Quebec - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Tuesday, July 01, 2008 Happy Canada Day!  Labels: comics history, events - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 Today: Ditko Book Launch, TorontoToronto writer and blogger Blake Bell celebrates the release of his long-awaited Steve Ditko biography. Ditko is one of the top-twenty post-war creators of U.S. kids' comics (Spider-Man, Marvel monster and horror comics) who also has had a very interesting career as a creator of highly personal and idiosyncratic politico-philosophical comics. Bell has spent years researching his life and work. The World of Steve Ditko Book Launch, with author Blake Bell (includes a screening of the BBC documentary film about Ditko) In partnership with The Merrill Collection and the Beguiling Wednesday, June 18th 7PM-9PM Lillian H. Smith Library, 239 College St. (at Spadina) FREE  Labels: book launches, comics history, Ontario, publishing, Toronto, trade, U.S. superhero franchises - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Monday, June 16, 2008 Shuster Award Winners  The Shuster Awards were handed out on Saturday in Toronto. Here are the results: OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK WRITER - Cecil Castellucci for The P.L.A.I.N. Janes (DC/Minx) OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK ARTIST - Dale Eaglesham for Justice Society of America #2-4, 6-7, 9-11 (DC Comics) OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CARTOONIST (WRITER/ARTIST) - Jeff Lemire for Essex County Vol. 1: Tales From The Farm, Essex County Vol. 2: Ghost Stories (Top Shelf) OUTSTANDING COVER BY A CANADIAN COMIC BOOK ARTIST - Steve Skroce for Doc Frankenstein #6 (Burleyman) OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK COLOURIST - Dave McCaig for Nextwave, Agents of H.A.T.E. #12, New Avengers #27-35, Fallen Son – The Death of Captain America #1: Wolverine, Marvel Comics Presents #1-4, Wolverine #50, Avengers Classic #7 (Marvel Comics) DC Infinite Halloween Special #1 (DC Comics), The Other Side #4-5 (DC/Vertigo) Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jensen #1 (ONI Press) OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK &/OR GRAPHIC NOVEL PUBLISHER - Drawn & Quarterly OUTSTANDING CANADIAN WEBCOMICS CREATOR / CREATIVE TEAM - Ryan Sohmer and Lar De Souza for Least I Can Do and Looking for Group OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT BY A CANADIAN RELATED TO COMIC BOOKS David Watkins for using comic books as a teaching tool CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CREATOR HALL OF FAME Stan Berneche John Byrne Pierre Fournier Edwin R. "Ted" McCall FAVOURITE CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CREATOR - ENGLISH LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS Faith Erin Hicks - Zombies Calling FAVOURITE CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CREATOR - FRENCH LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS Philippe Girard aka phlppgrrd - Danger Public FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL (NON-CANADIAN) COMIC BOOK CREATOR Ed Brubaker - Captain America, Criminal, Immortal Iron Fist, Uncanny X-Men HARRY KREMER OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK RETAILER Big B Comics - Hamilton, Ontario Labels: awards, comics history, events, floppies, graphic novels, Ontario, Toronto, U.S. superhero franchises - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Saturday, June 14, 2008 Today: Shuster Awards  SEQUENTIAL ART SYMPOSIUM / VISIONS OF AN ICON / JOE SHUSTER AWARDS JUNE 14, 2008 Lillian H. Smith Library Auditorium, 239 College Street, Toronto see here for details Labels: awards, comics history, Ontario, Toronto, U.S. superhero franchises - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Friday, June 13, 2008 Saturday: Shuster Awards and SymposiumThis weekend is the annual Shuster Awards at the Lillian H. Smith Library in Toronto, preceded by a Comics Symposium and art show centered on Superman co-creator Joe Shuster. The event features comics-historian John Bell and a host of comics creators. SEQUENTIAL ART SYMPOSIUM / VISIONS OF AN ICON / JOE SHUSTER AWARDS Labels: awards, comics history, events, Ontario, Toronto - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Thursday, June 05, 2008 2 Shots of Canadian Comics History1. Brad MacKay reveals the secret history of Canada's own Iron Man, created by Vernon Miller: White's Iron Man (which preceded Marvel's by a couple of decades) was the sole survivor of a destroyed civilization who lived and brooded underwater, surfacing occasionally to help out a couple of trouble magnets named Ted and Jean. 2. John Adcock has a new blog devoted to Canadian comics history and delves into the work of Hector Brault, two-fisted Western cartoonist: I have had a small collection of clippings of the comic pages for about ten years now but always figured they were reprints of European bande dessinée and British comic art. Recently I bought the issue pictured, from 19 septembre 1942, and noticing Hector Brault's signature on the comic pages looked him up to discover that he was from Québec and a cartoonist. Needless to say I was visibly chuffed to rediscover such an interesting fellow in Canadian comic history. Labels: blogosphere, comics history, Quebec - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Monday, April 28, 2008 Weekend News and Comment Catch-Up
Labels: Alberta, British Columbia, Calgary, censorship, comics history, copyright, events links, interviews, Ontario, pod casts, Toronto, U.S. superhero franchises, Vancouver - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Midweek Madness 
Labels: comics history, comics retailers, events links, graphic novels, Manitoba, Ottawa, webcomics, Winnipeg - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Monday, April 07, 2008 Monday Morning Blues? Read About Comics!  Links from hither and yon about comics, not necessarily Canadian:
Labels: blogosphere, comics history, copyright, graphic novels, international, links, manga, Nova Scotia, Quebec - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Hoverboy: Hero of a Thousand BucketsMr. Comics goes viral with Hoverboy, there's the classic HOVERBOY DESTROYS CHRISTMAS! and then there is this... Promotional film for full-length documentary on Hoverboy- one time hero of radio, comic books, and TV. Now a forgotten footnote of 20th Century popular culture. Featuring interviews with Rick Green (PRISONERS OF GRAVITY, RED GREEN SHOW) and writer/artist Ty Templeton (BATMAN, AVENGERS) who is preparing to release the first Hoverboy comic in more than 30 years. For more Hoverboy history go to www.hoverboy.com If you like, you can dig it on Digg... Labels: barely comics, can-con, comics history, comics on film, comics on tv, events, misunderstanding comics, new books, news - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Friday, April 04, 2008 Weekend LinksI found this blog post that journalista linked to yesterday, about the impending death of paper comics and the various devices vying to replace them, very interesting. This is a long-ish report on the Toronto Animecon that took place a few weeks ago. The article is a primer on the cosplay phenom and the range of participants. Jeet Heer extends his Wertham article, incorporating the critiques of Bart Beaty, for Slate. The Winnipeg Police get a free propaganda forum in the form of a comic strip in the Saturday Winnipeg Free Press. Eli Green reports on Art Spiegelman's talk in Toronto last night for the Comic Book Bin. Labels: comic strips, comics history, events links, manga, Manitoba, Ontario, Toronto, Winnipeg - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Monday, March 31, 2008 Bart Beaty vs Jeet Heer: 1950s Culture Wars Redux  Professor Bart Beaty of the University of Calgary responds to Jeet Heer's review of David Hadju's Ten Cent Plague, from last week's Globe and Mail. The debate centers on the controversial figure of Fredric Wertham, whose Seduction of the Innocent argued that comics turned children into juvenile delinquents. Beaty's 2005 biography of Wertham, Fredric Wertham And the Critique of Mass Culture partially rehabilitated its subject as a misunderstood crusader against racism and the rights of children. Here is a bit of the back and forth between Heer and Beaty (the argument is followed up at Heer's blog): Beaty: Hajdu asserts that the voice of children was lost in the anti-comics movement of the 1950s, but, in reality, he is talking about teenagers. Indeed, the most popular comics among children in the 1950s were not, as he contends, the crime and horror titles that raised public alarm. They were Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny. There is an inherent slippage between teenager and child in the contemporary category of youth, and it is one that troubles both Hajdu's book and Heer's reading of it. Importantly, teens are not children, and children are not teens. Heer writes that "children need monsters and ghouls." That may be indeed be the case, but the debate in the 1950s centred around whether a child of 7 needed realistically depicted images of rape. Heer: True, Wertham didn't favour censorship and the rating system he advocated was eminently sensible. Still, Wertham used language so inflammatory as to give aid and comfort to censors and book-burners. "I think Hitler was a beginner compared to the comic-book industry," Wertham argued. If Superman and Tales from the Crypt were more dangerous than Mein Kampf or Triumph of the Will, then it might make sense to have comic-book burnings, as happened in the Wertham era. As for the conflation of children and teenagers, that's Wertham's fault. He constantly talked about protecting children, obscuring the fact the most violent and salacious comics were too wordy for pre-teens and were largely read by high-schoolers. If I had a child, would I want him or her to see "realistically depicted images of rape"? No, probably not (although the film The Kite Runner contains a rape scene and is fine for kids as long as they have parental guidance). It's well worth checking out this discussion and reading all the books in question (including Wertham). For my part, the most compelling parts of Seduction of the Innocent are Wertham's case histories of the kids he has talked to, like 14-year-old comic book fanatic and accused murderer Willie --the subject of Wertham's first chapter. Among his many other objections to comic books was the manner in which they were consumed. Worth tracking down are Wertham's descriptions of the "hookey clubs" where children traded comics for (gasp!) less than cover price! Labels: Alberta, Calgary, comics history, comics scholarship - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Monday, March 24, 2008 In Other News: 
In 1949, E. Davie Fulton, an up-and-coming Tory MP from British Columbia, got Parliament to pass a private member's bill banning crime comics from our pristine dominion. Fulton's efforts were loudly praised by a 10-year-old Baie Comeau boy named Brian Mulroney, who delivered an award-winning speech denouncing crime comics.
Labels: British Columbia, comics history, comics on film, comics retailers, manga, Ontario, Quebec, Toronto, U.S. superhero franchises, webcomics - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 1comments - - we honor OpenID -
Friday, March 07, 2008 March Break Madness: Doug Wright's Tickytacky Township?  Comics historian John Adcock has come across a cache of Doug Wright cartoons from 1972. These look something like Wright's political cartoons from the Hamilton Spectator but are more slice-of-life and sitcom-y. More like a typical gag-a-day panel featuring domestic humour. Adcock says the panel was syndicated and called Tickytacky Township. I'm sure there is more of this sort of thing, but we might have to wait a while until the second volume of the Collected Doug Wright is released by D+Q. Labels: comic strips, comics history - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Thursday, March 06, 2008 Cartooning a New Canada  The Sequential Contest: A columnist for the Orangeville Citizen gives a brief history of cartooning in Canada (of the editorial sort) and puts out the call for a new cartoon representation of Canada. The columnist, William Bothwell, does a good job, but he might have mentioned Johnny Canuck, Captain Canuck, Jasper the Bear, or the work of contemporary iconic Canadian cartoonists like Seth (who, in case you haven't noticed, has an artisitc passion for all things Canadian). And what's wrong with the lumberjack, anyway? Sequential is putting out the call: design a new cartoon image for Canada. Submit your own design or a favourite from years gone by. Submit to Sequential. Other quick links:
Labels: comics history, contest, floppies, graphic novels, links, Ontario, political cartooning, Toronto, U.S. superhero franchises - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 Histoire de la bande dessinee quebecoise by Mira Felardeau  Histoire de la bande dessinee quebecoise by Mira Falardeau Editions VLB editeurs, 187 pages This new book covers the history of comics in the province of Quebec from its earliest history to 2007. Felardeau has written a lot on this subject and this sounds like, at the very least, a very thorough overview. A translated review is here. Labels: bd, comics history, publishing, Quebec - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 1comments - - we honor OpenID -
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 The Collected Doug Wright Mock-UpOver at the D+Q blog, a sneak peak at Seth's designs for the first volume of the Collected Doug Wright cartoons:  Labels: blogosphere, cartoonists, comics history, publishing - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Monday, February 25, 2008 Comics 101: Is the Canadian Shield Made of Platinum? 
Labels: Alberta, censorship, comics history, floppies, international, manga, Manitoba, Winnipeg - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Wednesday, February 06, 2008 Midweek Linkage: Sim, Simone, Butcher, etc
Labels: comic strips, comics history, floppies, graphic novels, interviews, interweb, Quebec, reviews - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Alberta Writer Pens Joe Sinnott Bio80-year-old cartoonist and inker Joe Sinnot has a new biographer in the person of Red Deer, Alberta writer Tim Lasuita. Brush Strokes with Greatness profiles U.S. artitis Sinnott's long comic book career. Sinnott is perhaps most famous for the slick line he gave to Jack Kirby's pencils on the 1960s Fantastic Four comics. Sinnott also enjoyed a long run on Treasure Chest comics. Lasuita was introduced to Sinnott while working on another project about Tom Gill, who drew The Lone Ranger for more than 20 years. Sinnott, a student, had assisted Gill on his freelance work for nine months before striking out on his own. His enthusiasm, energy and magnetism during the interviews for Gill’s project left a lasting impression on Lasuita. "Everybody has a favourite uncle — that’s Joe," he says. "He’s talented and humble, all at the same time." Once his book on Gill was off to the publisher, Lasuita approached Sinnott about doing a book on his remarkable career. Sinnott, 80, jumped at Lasuita’s offer to leave something behind for his family. Upon reflecting, he was amazed to discover just how much work he had done. Sinnott’s ledgers suggests he pencilled more than 2,700 pages for various romances for Charlton Comics alone, in addition to his copious output for Marvel. "And that was after supper," he says. Labels: Alberta, comics history, U.S. superhero franchises - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Friday, January 11, 2008 Brad Mackay on Comics Journalism  For This Magazine, Brad Mackay writes on the history of reportage by cartoonists, with a behind-the-scenes look at the origins of Extraction!, the Cumulous Press collection of comics stories about mining. Along the way, he also touches on Joe Sacco, Art Spiegleman, the 19th Century cartoonist JW Bengough and early comics reportage in Canada (like the image of the Riel Rebellion from The Canadian Illustrated News above):
Labels: cartoon reportage, comics history, interviews, political cartooning, Quebec - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
Saturday, October 13, 2007 Stagger Lee's Derek McCulloch on 90s ComicsPassing 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." Labels: comics history, Edmonton, graphic novels - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
George F. Walker ProfileMemorial University's The Muse student newspaper profiles George F. Walker, whose new woodcut novel is part and parcel of a revived interest in the genre, including the work of Canadian cartoonist Laurence Hyde: "We can naturally read symbols," said Walker to the small group cluttered inside the Eastern Edge Gallery on Sunday afternoon. Labels: comics history, graphic novels, publishing, woodcuts - Stumble It! - Leave a comment!| 0comments - - we honor OpenID -
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