• 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.

Labels: awards, copyright, events, exhibits, graphic novels, legal news, manga

• This article about changes at Little Sister's bookstore in Vancouver and the freedom fighters who run it includes a quote from employee and cartoonist Ken Boesem.

• Derek McCormack writes about superhero costumes for the National Post.

• The newspaper in Milton, Ontario, reminds us that Free Comic Book Day is coming up this Saturday, May 2, and that Milton's comic book shop is called Geekdom.

• Quill and Quire covers the Canadian Eisner nominees (subscription required).

• Canadian icon, columnist, playwright, and champion of liberty Rick Salutin, reflects on the Siegel legal decision in the U.S. and ponders the chicken/egg nature of creation and myth.

• On the subject of showing the Mohammed cartoons on CBC.

• Jeet Heer interviewed about superheroes on the CBC.

• Gary Groth and a Toronto comic buyer with a scanner interviewed by the CBC about online comics piracy.

• Newsarama at Calgary Comic Expo.

• Chris Butcher is celebrating 6 years of blogging. Congratulations!

• "BIFF! BANG! POW! Music isn't just for kids anymore!"

Labels: censorship, comics history, copyright, events links, interviews, pod casts, U.S. superhero franchises

• For The Guardian, Regina's Jeet Heer writes on the recent Siegel/Superman decision, with a history of the case and some thoughts ton capitalism and morality. Sample quote: "The battle between the cartoonists and their publisher was a cultural clash as much as an economic one. Bookish boys from the lower-middle class, Siegel and Shuster simply weren't prepared to deal with wise guys like Donenfeld."

• On a related note, new court dates have been scheduled for the case, as noted by newsarama's new legal expert, Jeff Trexler.

• Speaking of newsarama, one of my favourite features at the newsarama blog is the weekly "Quote/Unquote", with a round-up of the choicest utterances from the comics blogosphere.

• Writing for The Montreal Gazette, John Kalbfleisch provides a look back at JW Bengough, the 19th Century cartoonist and member of the Giants of the North. Like many of his inky-fingered breed (Little Nemo's Windsor McKay, for one), Bengough had a side career as a sort of vaudeville humourist, giving "chalk talks" involving quick caricatures and jokey picture stories delivered on the lecture circuit.

• The best cartoonists in Montreal? The Montreal Mirror thinks so.

• Tintin becomes a target in an exhibit of hockey-themed art at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

• Chris Butcher looks back at his 2006 comics industry predictions for 2007 and sees how his oracular powers worked out.

• Photos from the Michel Rabagliati exhibit Paul vu par le Fanzine Bidon at the Galerie Morgan Bridge in Quebec City (see sample photo above; link via bdq)

• Canada's Udon Entertainment is the new distributor of Apple, an anthology of Korean art & comics: APPLE stands for "A Place for People who Love Entertainment", and features original stories and illustrations from the best creative talent Korea has to offer. Over 40 artists from the video game world are represented in APPLE Volume 1, including the artists behind the mega-hit Lineage MMORPG series, superstar Hyung-Tae Kim (Magna Carta, War of Genesis), and dozens of other pro illustrators, animators and graphic artists.

Labels: blogosphere, comics history, copyright, graphic novels, international, links, manga

Labels: copyright, international, U.S. superhero franchises

Labels: copyright, political cartooning, webcomics

• Jeet Heer provides a nice chrestomathy (yeah, I had to look it up) of John Updike's utterances on comics.

• The Shuster Awards are calling for submissions from Canadian creators in order to "compile the list of eligible creators and their works published in 2007 for the 2008 Joe Shuster Awards, which will be presented in mid-2008 at a time and location to be announced." Details at Kevin Boyd's blog.
  

• Madeline Ashby provides a Canadian academic's take on anime fansubs and the lag time between the publication of popular manga like Bleach and Death Note and their eventual translation for tv.

• I really liked this review of a classic Archie comic story

• Tv chef James Barber was also a cartoonist

• Herve St-Louis has been doing a bang-up job of covering the upcoming introduction of U.S.-style copyright law to Canada. Most recently, he tried to get some answers from Industry Minister Jim Prentice about why the Harper government seems to be bowing to pressure from the U.S. government, Hollywood, Microsoft, and the U.S. music industry. Check out the links at the bottom of St-Louis' article for more background, or read this column at rabble.ca for an overview and steps Canadian citizens can take to avoid getting sued by Warner Bros now that the fair use laws (in Canada, we call it "fair dealing") are in danger.

• Robin Bougie hooks you up with the best banned porn comics, courtesy of the Canadian government.

• This Canadian Press article explains how a propaganda comic about the Afghan legal system, created in part by Canadians, is being distributed in Kandahar province.

Labels: awards, blogosphere, censorship, copyright, floppies, links, manga

Labels: copyright, creator's rights, legal news