Thursday, March 18, 2010  
The C-List: Blogspot Edition

:: Posted by Bryan @ 3/18/2010 12:30:00 AM
Item: Jeet Heer on nostalgia, The Beguiling, Joe Matt, and crappy comic book shops.

Item: In international earthshaking news, the family of Jack Kirby (the artist and co-creator of X-Men, Hulk, and Captain America, among thousands of others) has announced their intent to sue Marvel/Disney for copyright of the Kirby-created characters. According to the LA Times, "Under copyright law, creators can seek to regain copyrights they previously assigned to a company 56 years after first publication and can give notice of their intentions up to 10 years before that.[...] Kirby's children would be eligible to claim their father's portion of the copyright of the Fantastic Four in 2017; the Hulk would come up in 2018 and X-Men in 2019. The copyrights would then run for 39 more years."

Item: The first review I've seen of the new Ho Che Anderson book, Sand and Fury.

Item: A review of Red: A Haida Manga at Publishers Weekly.

Item: Guy Delisle draws on youtube.

Item: Regis Loisel and Jean-Louis Tripp, cartoonists from France, are the subject of a new film about the creation of their graphic novel series Le Magasin General, in this report from Chris Hanna of the Concordia student newspaper.

Item: The Transmission X team is touring Europe.

Item: A sneak peak at the process behind Two Generals, Scott Chantler's upcoming graphic memoir project, to be released through McClelland and Stewart.

Item: Via Robert Pincombe, Alpha Flight's Box presents "differently-abled superheroes".

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   Tuesday, March 16, 2010  
New Books: Yuna

:: Posted by Bryan @ 3/16/2010 05:48:00 AM



Yuna, T. 2: L'Ile aux Tombeaux
by Jacques Lamontagne and Yi Ma
$21.95
Soleil
ISBN : 9782302009622

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   Thursday, March 11, 2010  
carte blanche is looking for comics

:: Posted by max @ 3/11/2010 02:16:00 AM

Bi-annual Carte Blanche - The Literary review of the Quebec Writers' Federation - recently added sequential art to their roster, as graphic fiction. I'm going to be doing a turn as guest editor for the next issue, so part of the job is getting the word out. :)

So we are currently urgently seeking submissions for the Spring edition, the due date this coming 15th, monday! And take note american cousin, overseas readers and all canucks, Carte Blanche is open to submissions from anywhere! That's right, an open opportunity to get you're work in a recognized Literary review.

Submission page is here with details.

Currently from the fall edition, they are featuring
a really well done short by Dustin Harbin [dharbin],
part of a series of strips i've seen from him
called Fun with Autobiography.

Obviously on such short notice the call is open to existing content.

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   Wednesday, March 10, 2010  
Canadian Bestsellers: March 10 Edition

:: Posted by Bryan @ 3/10/2010 12:01:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

The first list for March.

Intro: The bestselling graphic novels and comics collections in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores, including several comic book stores and the D+Q store. Sales through most comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. See here for our previous list.

Sequential's Over-All Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Naruto 47, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
2. (2) Vampire Knight 9, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (-) Negima 25, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
4. (7) Seekers: Toklo's Story, Erin Hunter (Harper Collins)
5. (4) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
6. (25) Footnotes in Gaza, Sacco (Henry Holt)
7. (3) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
8. (-) Bleach 30, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
9. (15) Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Camille Rose Garcia (HC)
10. (29) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
-----
11. (17) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
12. (-) Asterix/Olympic, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
13. (6) Garfield Fat Pack, Davis et al (Random)
14. (-) Asterix/Obelix's Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
15. (13) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
16. (-) Black Bird 1, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
17. (20) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
18. (5) Black Bird 3, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
19. (-) One Piece 30, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
20. (-) One Piece 34, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
-----
21. (-) Maus II, Spiegleman (Knopf)
22. (16) Maximum Ride: The Manga 2, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
23. (-) Manga Messiah, (Tyndale)
24. (-) Bleach 1, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
25. (-) All Star Superman 2, Morrison/Quitely (DC)
26. (-) D.n.angel Volume 13, Sugisaki Yukiru (Tokyopop)
27. (-) Asterix/Cleopatra, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
28. (-) Bleach 2, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
29. (-) One Piece 29, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
30. (-) B is for Beer, Tom Robbins (HC)

Analysis: Only 2 Canadian Books in the top 30 overall.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanese manga, U.S. superhero fantasies, and collected editions of Sherman's Lagoon to come up with a list of 30 bestselling books created by Canadians. In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections, the vast majority of which are not by Canadians. On this list, a single sale in a single tiny bookstore can make all the difference. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.


Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
2. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (-) Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
4. (3) Skim Hardcover, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
5. (-) Skim Paperback, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
6. (29) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
7. (17) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
8. (-) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
9. (9) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
10. (8) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
-----
11. (26) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
12. (16) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
13. (23) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (FSG)
14. (-) Runaways: Homeschooling, K.Immonen/Pachilli (marvel)
15. (7) Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
16. (4) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
17. (11) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
18. (-) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (-) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (AM)
20. (10) Nightschool 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
-----
21. (-) In Me Own Words, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
22. (5) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
23. (6) Nightschool 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
24. (12) Parker The Hunter, Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
25. (13) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
26. (14) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
27. (15) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
28. (19) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
29. (22) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws, Chad Solomon (Lone Pine)
30. (24) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)

Analysis: The top 30 Canadian books are all found in the top 960 comics.

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   Monday, March 08, 2010  
Upcoming: Sand and Fury

:: Posted by Bryan @ 3/08/2010 01:23:00 PM

Ho Che Anderson's latest. Not sure how much of this first appeared in the self-published Scream Queen. Either way, nice to see something new after he told Howard Chaykin he was giving up comics in the Comics Journal 300 interview.



Sand & Fury: A Scream Queen Adventure
By Ho Che Anderson

Sand & Fury is a story of blood, of sex, of death — of sound and retribution. It opens as a girl by the side of a desert road accepts a ride from a stranger. How could she know that behind that wheel sits the angel of death?

Of course, even the angel of death once had a life. During that life, death was a successful business woman, with a great career and an even greater future. It’s true she could be a little cavalier with her innate gifts; she had, after all, broken the heart of everyone who had ever loved her.

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Upcoming: Moving Pictures

:: Posted by Bryan @ 3/08/2010 06:16:00 AM
Moving Pictures, by Kathryn & Stuart Immonen and published by Top Shelf, is now available for pre-order from the March Diamond Previews catalogue (order code MAR10 1136) or directly from the Top Shelf website:

Top Shelf is proud to welcome Kathryn & Stuart Immonen (Ultimate Spider-Man, Nextwave, Patsy Walker: Hellcat, Never as Bad as You Think) to the Top Shelf family with this thrilling, intimate tale of love, war, and art.

Moving Pictures is the story of the awkward and dangerous relationship between curator Ila Gardner and officer Rolf Hauptmann, as they are forced by circumstances to play out their private lives in a public power struggle. The narrative unfolds along two timelines which collide with the revelation of a terrible secret, an enigmatic decision that not many would make, and the realization that sometimes the only choice left is the refusal to choose.

In a recent interview at comicbookresources.com, Kathryn explained that "The history is just a backdrop to tell a messed-up love story that's about how we assign value to things and people, how we behave when not everyone is playing by the same rules" and "in the end, maybe it's all about the fundamentally perverse nature of desire, about not being to help wanting what you want even if you don't know why. And how, from the outside, we really don't know anything about someone else's intimacies." -- A 144-Page Graphic Novel with French Flaps, 5.75" X 8.25"

SHIPPING IN MAY!

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   Monday, March 01, 2010  
The C-List: Enraptured Grumpy Old Comics Fan

:: Posted by Bryan @ 3/01/2010 01:06:00 AM

Alrite. I ate a very large bean tortilla, half a bottle of wine, one row from a bag of Double Chocolate Chewy Chips Ahoy cookies, and a chai tea, but this epic accomplishment did nothing to assuage my essential grumpy old man nature. Let's face it, Canadian comics news ranges from boring, to ludicrous, to depressing, to transcendentally beautiful and enlightening. With the emphasis on the first three.

Item: An Olympic message from Northstar. The former Olympian and Alpha Flight member slaloms around some classic comic book covers.

Item: In ridiculous international news, a copy of Detective Comics #27, featuring the first appearance of Batman, sold last week for $1,075,500.00 U.S., narrowly edging out the even $1 million paid for Action Comics #1 earlier in the week. The price (4x Overstreet!) includes a buyer's premium to auctioneer Heritage Auctions. Holey Ripoff, Batman! It's sad that the actual physical artifacts of comics fallen/been raised to this level. At the same time, the same ridiculous collector's market has elevated the actual work of the creators to the point where some of the older original art pages are now worth corresponding money. Too bad most of the artists from the Golden Age are dead. CBC report.

Item: Retailers from Toronto, Kitchener, and London participate in a roundtable discussion. Peter Birkemoe: "Most comic shops in North America are not shops that sell comics but shops that sell comics and merchandise relating to superheroes or other similar genres. More people than ever are reading comics in all age groups but they aren't necessarily going to comic book stores to get them."

Item: Alex Jansen, the publisher of new Canadian imprint Pop Sandbox, has won a $45,000 grant to produce an online "interactive graphic novel" about suicide survivors. The Next Day won the National Film Board & TVO's first ever Digital Calling Card and the money will go to production. (National Post)

Item: The new film, No Heart Feelings, co-directed by cartoonist Sarah Lazarovic and featuring a performance by Steve Murray, will be featured at the Kingston Film Festival.

Item: Ottawa cartoonist/designer/painter Andrew King has painting exhibit.

Item: Shane Koyczan, the slam poet who became an online sensation after his performance at the Olympics opening ceremonies, is working on a graphic novel.

Item: Chris Butcher takes on manga/anime fans who sell copyright-infringing work, including Nick Simmons. Um, shouldn't conventions organizers clamp down on that crap? I mean, some of it is nice, and their are fans who manage to mash things up to a new level of art, but it's pretty obviously illegal, isn't it? Sure, some of it is tribute, some parody, but taking money for it? Speaking of parody, I just read Lose #1 by Michael Deforge, which chronicles in part the adventures of Green Lantern in artschool, and it is highly recommended.


Item: A profile of and Wolverine sketch by Dale Eaglesham.

Item: A profile and Wolverine sketch by Rebecca Kraatz. This is my favourite so far, and not just because I loved her last comic.

Item: And more Wolverines by Jay Stephens, Rich Dannys, Shane Heron, Philippe Girard, and Sam Agro.

Item: Von Allan launches "the road to god knows..." in Ottawa March 14.

Item: The latest edition of the inkstuds podcast is a special "mangastuds" panel hosted by Deb Aoki.

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   Thursday, February 25, 2010  
The C-List: Canadian Comix Quick Links

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/25/2010 05:38:00 AM


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.

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   Wednesday, February 24, 2010  
Bryan Lee O'Malley Nominated for Los Angeles Times Book Prize

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/24/2010 05:58:00 AM

Halifax cartoonist Bryan Lee O'Malley is among the group of American cartoonists nominated in the graphic novel category for the prestigious LA Times book awards.

Nominees in the new Graphic Novel category, by Gilbert Hernandez, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Taiyo Matsumoto, David Mazzucchelli and Joe Sacco, are a diverse selection of works that include the Gen-Y favorite Scott Pilgrim, a new take on the classic Love & Rockets series, and an illustrated journalistic account of the Gaza strip.

[...]

Graphic Novel
"Luba" by Gilbert Hernandez
"GoGo Monster" by Taiyo Matsumoto
"Asterios Polyp" by David Mazzuchelli
"Scott Pilgrim Vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe" by Bryan Lee O'Malley
"Footnotes in Gaza" by Joe Sacco

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   Tuesday, February 23, 2010  
Canadian Bestsellers: Vancouver Olympics Edition

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/23/2010 02:52:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Intro: The bestselling graphic novels and comics collections in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores, including several comic book stores and the D+Q store. Sales through most comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. See here for our previous list.

Sequential's Over-All Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Naruto 47, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
2. (2) Vampire Knight 9, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (3) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
4. (4) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
5. (5) Black Bird 3, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
6. (9) Garfield Fat Pack, Davis et al (Random)
7. (7) Seekers: Toklo's Story, Erin Hunter Bettina Kurkoski (Harper Collins)
8. (-) Soul Eater, Vol. 2, Atsushi Ohkubo (Orbit/Yen)
9. (6) Maximum Ride: The Manga 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
10. (20) Tsubasa 25, Clamp (Random House)
-----
11. (25) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
12. (23) Alice In The Country Of Hearts 1, Quinrose Soumei Hoshino (Tokyopop)
13. (12) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
14. (8) Shugo Chara! 8, Peach-Pit (Random House)
15. (-) Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Camille Rose Garcia (HC)
16. (-) Maximum Ride: The Manga 2, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
17. (-) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
18. (15) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
19. (-) Asterix and the Golden Sickle, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
20. (26) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
-----
21. (16) Dance in the Vampire Bund 6, Nozomu Tamaki (Seven Seas)
22. (11) Cirque Du Freak: The Manga, Vol. 1, Darren Shan/Takahiro Arai (Orbit)
23. (10) Otomen 5, Aya Kanno (VIZ)
24. (18) Fullmetal Alchemist 22, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
25. (-) Footnotes in Gaza, Sacco (Henry Holt)
26. (-) Skim, Tamaki/Tamaki (Groundwood)
27. (22) Black Butler 1, Yana Toboso (Orbit)
28. (24) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
29. (14) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
30. (13) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)


Analysis: This week sees the restoration of the current "Holy Trinity" of Canadian books (Red, Riel, and Skim) to the overall top 30. Also, Alice in Wonderland is coming out.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanese manga, U.S. superhero fantasies, and collected editions of Sherman's Lagoon to come up with a list of 30 bestselling books created by Canadians. In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections, the vast majority of which are not by Canadians. On this list, a single sale in a single tiny bookstore can make all the difference. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.


Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
2. (1) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (3) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
4. (5) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
5. (4) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
6. (-) Nightschool 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
7. (11) Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
8. (17) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
9. (18) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
10. (6) Nightschool 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
-----
11. (22) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
12. (-) The Hunter, Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
13. (7) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
14. (16) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
15. (10) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
16. (8) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
17. (12) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
18. (-) Strange Suspense/Ditko, Blake Bell (Fanta)
19. (13) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
20. (15) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
-----
21. (-) I Never Liked Youm Chester Brown (D+Q)
22. (14) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws, Chad Solomon (Lone Pine)
23. (19) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (FSG)
24. (20) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
25. (21) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
26. (23) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (24) Kaspar, Diane Obomsawin (D+Q)
28. (25) It'S The Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
29. (26) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
30. (27) Captain Canuck 1, Richard Comely/George Freeman (IDW)


Analysis: The top 30 Canadian books are all found in the top 840 comics. Captain Canuck is #837, just below Y: The Last Man Volume 6. Scott Pilgrim 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life is #831, wedged between the exclamation mark-heavy Negima!? Neo 3 and Peah-Pit's Shuga! Chara Volume 1.





(note: previous rank in parentheses)
-----

Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

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   Thursday, February 18, 2010  
The C-List: Hateship, Loveship, Comicship, Inkship, Draftmanship

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/18/2010 12:01:00 AM

I hate Canadian Comics. I love Canadian Comics...

Dispatches from the world of Great White North Pictoral Narratives.

Item: Olympic mascots vs Pedobear.

Item: Sandra Bell-Lundy interview.

Item: In a review of Guido Crepax' Story of O from NBM, Tom Spurgeon hits on the essence of Edward Gorey's greatness: "the late cartoonist draw these aristocrats at a sexy, sullen remove so icy it burns -- in some ways, the cartoonist is like a non-funny father figure to Edward Gorey, just sex in the foreground rather than sublimated through horror and death and childhood"

Item: Cerebus valentines.

Item: Noel Tuazon profile.

Item: Skim has been a Canadian comics bestseller for two years and now is available in paperback.

Item: If you are at all interested in academic and critical discussions of comics, and read French (or have a Google translation), you might be interested in the new blog by French comics scholar Thierry Groensteen (who I always imagined looks like Wonder Girl's Mary Sue boyfriend from Teen Titans). Groensteen wrote "The System of Comics" which was translated by Bart Beaty. Bonus: Will D+Q translate Jens Hardens' Alpha...directions? (link: Dirk Deppey)

Item: Also in French, blogging for Montreal comics shop Monet, Eric Bouchard writes about the history of Korean Manwha. (Google trans) In addition, worth checking out is Bouchard's summary of critic Gilles Ratier's annual essay about the comics market in France, where 4863 comics were published in 2009. (Google trans)

Item: The excellent Comics Comics blog and magazine has a new website.

Item: TCAF's Chris Butcher talks with Mark Asquith about sci-fi manga on a podcast for the SPACE channel.

Item: Kevin Boyd with a brief response to the Dave Howard interview with Brad Mackay from yesterday.

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   Wednesday, February 17, 2010  
Interview with Brad Mackay, Doug Wright Awards Co-founder

:: Posted by Dave Howard @ 2/17/2010 10:42:00 AM
Here's an interview with Doug Wright Awards co-founder Brad Mackay, about the inspiration behind the award, how it came about, and some general ideas on the current state of comics.

http://tinyurl.com/y8fxnuo

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Canadian Bestsellers: Valentine's Edition

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/17/2010 01:12:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

And we're back. Welcome to the first Sequential Bestseller list of 2010. A new year and a new decade. I try to do these weekly, but real life often gets in the way.

Intro: The bestselling graphic novels and comics collections in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores, including several comic book stores and the D+Q store. Sales through most comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. See here for our previous list.

Sequential's Over-All Top 30 from BookManager

1. (-) Naruto 47, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
2. (-) Vampire Knight 9, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (16) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
4. (1) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
5. (-) Black Bird 3, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
6. (-) Maximum Ride: The Manga 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit)
7. (-) Seekers: Toklo's Story, Erin Hunter Bettina Kurkoski (Harper Collins)
8. (-) Shugo Chara! 8, Peach-Pit (Random House)
9. (11) Garfield Fat Pack, Davis et al (Random)
10. (-) Otomen 5, Aya Kanno (VIZ)
-----
11. (-) Cirque Du Freak: The Manga, Vol. 1, Darren Shan/Takahiro Arai (Orbit)
12. (6) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
13. (-) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
14. (2) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
15. (3) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
16. (-) Dance in the Vampire Bund 6, Nozomu Tamaki (Seven Seas)
17. (-) One Piece 33, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
18. (-) Fullmetal Alchemist 22, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
19. (7) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (-) Tsubasa 25, Clamp (Random House)
-----
21. (5) Asterix and Obelix Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
22. (-) Black Butler 1, Yana Toboso (Orbit)
23. (-) Alice In The Country Of Hearts 1, Quinrose Soumei Hoshino (Tokyopop)
24. (-) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
25. (10) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
26. (23) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
27. (-) Fables 13, Bill Willingham (DC)
28. (26) Complete Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (Knopf)
29. (-) Black Bird 1, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
30. (-) Zeus: King of the Gods, George O'Connor (First Second)

Analysis: It's a brand-new day. Tons of new manga and juvenile/genre series have debuted since our last list, with a volume of the Olympians edging out Joe Sacco's Footnotes in Gaza at the #30 spot.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanese manga, U.S. superhero fantasies, and collected editions of Sherman's Lagoon to come up with a list of 30 bestselling books created by Canadians. In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections, the vast majority of which are not by Canadians. On this list, a single sale in a single tiny bookstore can make all the difference. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.



Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (1) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
3. (4) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
4. (15) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
5. (24) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
6. (25) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
7. (11) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
8. (6) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (12) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
10. (26) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
-----
11. (19) Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. (9) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
13. (17) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
14. (-) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws, Chad Solomon (Lone Pine)
15. (21) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
16. (10) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
17. (5) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
18. (20) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
19. (22) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (FSG)
20. (28) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
-----
21. (13) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
22. (18) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
23. (3) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. (-) Kaspar, Diane Obomsawin (D+Q)
25. (-) It'S The Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
26. (7) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
27. (-) Captain Canuck 1, Richard Comely/George Freema (IDW)
28. (-) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
29. (-) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
30. (-) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws 2, Chad Solomon

Analysis: With the possible exception of Last Staw and Just One More Hug, two For Better or For Worse compilations from the 1980s, none of the books on this week's Canadian list are new to the list. All have appeared on the list at least once sometime over the previous 12 months. Conclusion? No new major Canadian comics are being published. We are in the doldrums. At this point you would think at least one English-language graphic novel by a Canadian would be published per week, but 52 graphic novels a year is a little too much to ask, I guess. I know this list isn't the most accurate guide to popularity, sales or even, in general, what's out there. But still, I wish there was more variety, more quantity, more quality. And that the buying and reading public would appreciate same.

Also, outside of Watchmen, the only superhero book on either the international or Canadian list is Capt. Canuck.



(note: previous rank in parentheses)
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   Friday, February 12, 2010  
This Saturday: Jeff Lemire in London, ON

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/12/2010 09:41:00 AM

Jeff Lemire will be signing and sketching at L.A. Mood Comics in London this weekend.

Saturday, 11-3

350 Richmond Street, London, Ontario
mailbox@lamoodcomics.com
519-432-3987 or 1-888-621-7018
www.lamoodcomics.com

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   Tuesday, February 09, 2010  
Angouleme Prize Follow-up: Paul a Quebec

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/09/2010 11:19:00 AM
As we reported last week, Michel Rabagliati's Paul a Quebec graphic novel, published by La Pasteque, won the popular vote for favourite book at the Angouleme festival in France. There has been some grumbling and controversy about the prize since then. Although the book has sold 15,000 copies in Quebec since its publication in early 2009, it has not been widely available in France, begging the question of how it garnered so many internet votes for a French prize and leading to speculations about ballot stuffing.

Readers will remember that the internet voting determined 5 finalists, from which the winner was selected by a jury. The other four books were Blast T.1 (de Manu Larcenet, Dargaud), Siegfried T.2 (d'Alex Alice, Dargaud), Il etait une fois en France T.3 (de Fabien Nury et Sylvain Vallee, Glenat) and Billy Brouillard T.1 (de Guillaume Bianco, Soleil). As juror Mael Rannou explains on the du9 blog (google trans), many of the jury hadn't read all of the books until the weekend the prize was given and they decided on Paul not just because it was a great book but because they were happy to showcase an deserving international work from a smaller publisher. The book is scheduled for a wider French release next month.

(via Rich Johnston and Dirk Deppey)

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   Friday, February 05, 2010  
Tonite: Seth in New York

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/05/2010 05:57:00 AM


Tonite in NYC is the opening reception for a new show and sale of art by the cartoonist Seth. Inked pages from the comics work are rarely offered for sale by Seth, who will be on hand for the opening.


GEORGE SPROTT
AN EXHIBITION OF DRAWINGS
FROM THE PICTURE NOVELLA
Adam Baumgold Gallery
60 East 66th St
New York City
February 5 - March 13, 2010

Reception: Friday, Feb 5, 7-8 pm

Also: Six Cardboard Buildings from the Imaginary City of Dominion
and paintings from Aimee Mann's "Lost in Space"

Press Release:

"Adam Baumgold Gallery presents an exhibition of drawings, paintings on paper and sculpture by Seth from February 5 through March 13, 2010. This will be Seth's first U.S. solo exhibition and will include 50 artworks, the majority of which comprise the bulk of his celebrated Graphic Novel GEORGE SPROTT 1894-1975 (originally serialized in The New York Times Sunday Magazine from 2006 to 2007). In addition, the exhibition will feature 6 of Seth's Dominion city cardboard architectural models, each of which has been specifically constructed for this event. Each of these buildings represents a specific location associated with the character of George Sprott himself. Also included in the exhibition are Seth's original gouache and ink paintings from Aimee Mann's sublime 2002 album LOST IN SPACE.


........ GEORGE SPROTT is the story of an 81 year old fictional TV personality in the last hours of life before his fatal heart attack in 1975. Told as a patchwork tale, we come to know George, piece by piece, in a series of "interviews", flashbacks and personal reminiscences. It is a story about time, identity, loss, and the persistence of memory. In the end it is left to the reader to decide whether George's existence was a life well lived or a tragedy of wasted potential. The GEORGE SPROTT drawings presented in this exhibition are self contained, single page stories, each encapsulating a piece of the larger George Sprott puzzle. GEORGE SPROTT has recently been selected among the best books of 2009 at both Amazon and Google and also in The New York Times. "

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   Monday, February 01, 2010  
Paul a Quebec wins Prix du Public Fnac-SNCF at Angouleme

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/01/2010 12:06:00 AM


Michel Rabagliati's latest graphic novel, Paul a Quebec, the sixth in his Paul series, has won an audience favourite prize at the giant Angouleme comics festival in France. This is the first time a Canadian book has won one of the many Angouleme prizes, handed out over the course of the week-long festival.

The book won the complicated-sounding "Prix du Public FNAC-SNCF" (sponsored by a book site and the French national railway). Following a public vote that took place over the past two months online, a large selection of French and international titles was winnowed down and a jury selected a winner from among five finalists early Sunday morning. The winning book is scheduled for a big promotion via the FNAC stores. Basically a fan-favourite or popularity award, the Prix du Public for Paul a Quebec puts an interesting spin on our perceptions of the place of the Quebec graphic novel in France. As I wrote in the print edition of Sequential almost a year ago, in France "Quebec comics often struggle to gain acceptance on their own terms and Quebec publishers have had a hard time finding a foothold in the larger European market." This sort of looks like a foothold to me.

The book is published by La Pasteque, who note on their blog that the Angouleme prize is a "consecration" that goes along way towards establishing the Paul books as classics.

(The Angouleme site offers a guide to the book here.)

Official announcement of prizes.

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   Wednesday, January 27, 2010  
New Books: Dirty Dishes by Amy Lockhart

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/27/2010 06:02:00 AM

DIRTY DISHES
by Amy Lockhart
Drawn and Quarterly
$11.21 US / $12.71 CDN
ISBN 9781770460041
Diamond Code DEC090839

preview pdf

about

blog

Lockhart is an artist and animator who has collaborated with Marc Bell. This is part of the Petits Livres series that D+Q has been putting out the last few years. Some of these are comics, some are art books. I think this is both. As Peggy Burns said in a 2009 interview, the "series is a good example of trying to come up with an alternative format to the pamphlet. There are so many new artists we adore and want to publish, and the pamphlet clearly was not working. The cover price itself makes each book viable for Diamond, but you would be surprised by the unit numbers and the very fact the Petits Livres are books (or perhaps booklets) makes them able to be sold in the book market."

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   Thursday, January 21, 2010  
New Books: Histoire Absolument Impubliable by David Turgeon

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/21/2010 02:38:00 AM

Histoire Absolument Impubliable
by David Turgeon
Colosse
56 colour pages
ISBN # 2923664156
$14.00

Critic and cartoonist Turgeon also has a book out called Salon Du Livre, also from Colosse. Turgeon and the gang will be at the Angouleme festival in France this month.


buy it

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   Tuesday, January 19, 2010  
New Books: Lola by J. Torres

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/19/2010 06:35:00 AM

LOLA: A GHOST STORY
Written by J. Torres; Art by Elbert Or

"Jesse sees dead people, monsters, demons, and lots of other things that go bump in the night that no one else can see. No one except his ailing grandmother — a woman who used her visions to help those living in her small town. The same rural community in all the scary stories Jesse's heard as a child. Man-eating ogres in trees. Farmhouses haunted by wraiths. Even pigs possessed by the devil. Upon his grandmother's passing, Jesse has no choice but to face his demons and whatever else might be awaiting him at grandma's house."

Oni Press
112 pages
Hardcover
$14.95
ISBN: 978-1-932664-24-9
Diamond Code: JUL09 1012


Video: See the creators' latest public appearance at Comic Odyssey.

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   Wednesday, December 23, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: December 23

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/23/2009 01:50:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Intro: The bestselling graphic novels and comics collections in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores, including several comic book stores and the D+Q store. Sales through most comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. See here for our previous list.

Sequential's Over-All Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
2. (10) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
3. (8) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
4. (-) Garfield 47, Davis et al (Random House)
5. (11) Asterix and Obelix Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
6. (6) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
7. (5) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (3) Bleach 29, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
9. (4) Manga Mutiny, Hidenori Kumai/Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
10. (29) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
-----
11. (17) Garfield 3 Pack, Davis et al (Random)
12. (18) Hobbit GN, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
13. (-) Asterix Olympics, Goscinny & Uderzo (Orion)
14. (-) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
15. (-) Fahrenheit 451, Tim Hamilton et al (FSG)
16. (9) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
17. (26) Stitches, David Small (M&S)
18. (12) Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years, Charles Schulz (Andrews McMeel)
19. (30) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (1) Vampire Knight 8, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
-----
21. (-) Naruto 4, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
22. (21) B is for Beer, Tom Robbins (Garper Collins)
23. (7) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
24. (-) Evil Cats, Elia Anie (Headline)
25. (-) Tales from the Crypt 8, Kinney et al (Papercutz)
26. (-) Complete Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (Knopf)
27. (-) Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader, Gaiman et al (DC)
28. (-) Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli (Knopf)
29. (-) Sandman: Preludes Nocturns, Gaiman et al (DC)
30. (14) Black Cross, Greg Iles (New American Library)

Analysis: Well, you take a week off, and big changes happen. Plus, some Christmas perennials peep up and a mini-Gaiman tour.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanese manga, U.S. superhero fantasies, and collected editions of Sherman's Lagoon to come up with a list of 30 bestselling books created by Canadians. In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections, the vast majority of which are not by Canadians. On this list, a single sale in a single tiny bookstore can make all the difference. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.



Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (3) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
2. (1) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (15) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (5) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
5. (10) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
6. (2) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
7. (7) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
8. (13) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
9. (4) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
10. (6) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
-----
11. (12) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
12. (9) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
13. (21) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
14. (8) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
15. (14) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
16. (-) I Never Liked You, C. Brown (D+Q)
17. (29) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
18. (16) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
19. (-) Nurma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
20. (17) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
-----
21. (27) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
22. (-) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (FSG)
23. (24) Wimbledon Green, Seth (D+Q)
24. (11) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
25. (30) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
26. (19) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
27. (23) Rabbit and Bear Paws 1, Solomon (Lone Pine)
28. (20) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
29. (22) Back and Forth, Marta Chudolinska (Porcupine's Quill)
30. (26) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)


(note: previous rank in parentheses)
-----

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   Tuesday, December 08, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: December 8

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/08/2009 12:01:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Intro: The bestselling graphic novels and comics collections in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores, including several comic book stores and the D+Q store. Sales through most comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. See here for our previous list.

Sequential's Over-All Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Vampire Knight 8, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
2. (1) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
3. (6) Bleach 29, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
4. (5) Manga Mutiny, Hidenori Kumai/Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
5. (3) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (4) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
7. (18) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
8. (9) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
9. (11) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
10. (8) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
-----
11. (12) Asterix and Obelix Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
12. (16) Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years, Charles Schulz (Andrews McMeel)
13. (7) Rosario + Vampire 10, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
14. (-) Black Cross, Greg Iles (New American Library)
15. (13) Fullmetal Alchemist 20, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
16. (21) Maximum Ride 2, James Patterson et al (Orbit)
17. (25) Garfield 3 Pack, Davis et al (Random)
18. (-) Hobbit GN, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
19. (14) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (17) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
-----
21. (-) B is for Beer, Robbins (Harper Collins)
22. (-) Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness, Reinhard Kleist (Abrams ComicArts)
23. (23) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
24. (-) Garfield 46, Davis et al (Random House)
25. (-) Masterpiece Comics, Sikoryak (D+Q)
26. (-) Stitches, David Small (McClelland and Stewart)
27. (-) Che, Spain Rodriguez (Verso)
28. (10) Negima! 24, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
29. (-) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
30. (15) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)

That Peanuts 60-year book is expensive, like between 60 and 100 bucks, depending on where you get it.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanese manga, U.S. superhero fantasies, and collected editions of Sherman's Lagoon to come up with a list of 30 bestselling books created by Canadians. In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections, the vast majority of which are not by Canadians. On this list, a single sale in a single tiny bookstore can make all the difference. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

This week, it's a war bewteen Lynn Johnston, Seth, and Bryan Lee O'Malley.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (?) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)*
3. (3) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
4. (20) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
5. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
6. (10) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
7. (26) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
8. (27) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
9. (9) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
10. (12) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
-----
11. (4) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
12. (7) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
13. (21) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
14. (6) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
15. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
16. (8) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
17. (11) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
18. (13) In Me Own Words, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
19. (16) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
20. (29) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
-----
21. (19) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
22. (-) Back and Forth, Marta Chudolinska (Porcupine's Quill)
23. (-) Rabbit and Bear Paws 1, Solomon (Lone Pine)
24. (15) Wimbledon Green, Seth (D+Q)
25. (14) The Nobody, Jeff Lemire (DC/Vertigo)
26. (25) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
27. (17) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
28. (22) Clyde Fans Bk 1, Seth (D+Q)
29. (23) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
30. (24) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)

(note: previous rank in parentheses)
-----

*Lynn Johnston's "Home Sweat Home" collection of For Better or For Worse strips was left off last week's list. I'm pretty sure it would have ranked in the top 10. I missed it, I think.


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   Tuesday, December 01, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: December 1

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/01/2009 02:00:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Back after a one-week break!

Intro: The bestselling graphic novels and comics collections in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores, including several comic book stores and the D+Q store. Sales through most comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. See here for our previous list.

Sequential's Over-All Top 30 from BookManager


1. (1) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
2. (3) Vampire Knight 8, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (2) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (-) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
5. (19) Manga Mutiny, Hidenori Kumai/Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
6. (-) Bleach 29, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
7. (5) Rosario + Vampire 10, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
8. (7) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
9. (6) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
10. (4) Negima! 24, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
-----
11. (9) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
12. (-) Asterix and Obelix Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
13. (16) Fullmetal Alchemist 20, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
14. (-) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
16. (-) Celebrating Peanuts 60 Years, Schulz (Andrews)
17. (8) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
18. (-) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
19. (24) Garfield 47, Davis et al (Random House)
20. (-) Tales from the Crypt 8, Maia Kinney-Petrucha et al (Papercutz)
-----
21. (-) Maximum Ride 2, James Patterson et al (Orbit)
22. (-) Naruto 45, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
23. (-) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
24. (28) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
25. (-) Garfield 3 Pack, Davis et al (Random)
26. (-) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
27. (29) Death Note 2, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
28. (26) Death Note 1, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
29. (-) Asterix the Gaul, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
30. (-) Asterix Olympics, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)

Well, you take a week off, alot can happen, y'know?

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanese manga, U.S. superhero fantasies, and collected editions of Sherman's Lagoon to come up with a list of 30 bestselling books created by Canadians. In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections, the vast majority of which are not by Canadians. On this list, a single sale in a single tiny bookstore can make all the difference. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

This week: The "Seth Signing Tour Effect" lingers and Lynn Johnston begins her annual "Holiday gift-book buying" charge up the charts.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (1) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
4. (4) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
5. (17) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (7) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
7. (24) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
8. (-) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
9. (11) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
10. (6) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
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11. (9) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. (8) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
13. (23) In Me Own Words, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
14. (29) The Nobody, Jeff Lemire (DC/Vertigo)
15. (12) Wimbledon Green, Seth (D+Q)
16. (14) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
17. (25) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
18. (30) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (Farrar, Strauss + Giroux)
19. (21) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
20. (10) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
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21. (26) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
22. (-) Clyde Fans Bk 1, Seth (D+Q)
23. (28) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
24. (13) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
25. (16) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
26. (18) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
27. (27) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
28. (-) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
29. (-) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
30. (15) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)

(note: previous rank in parentheses)
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   Sunday, November 29, 2009  
The Globe 100 Books: Jesus Fucking Christ

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/29/2009 12:35:00 AM

The Globe 100

Described by "The Editors" of the Globe and Mail books section, as "[o]ur 12th annual pick of the 100 best and most influential books of the year includes prize-winners and surprises, writers already famous and those about to be, prose and poetry, science and social studies, memoir and manifesto," the Globe 100 is a "best of" list of books reviewed by The Globe over 2009. The list, sub-divided into several categories, including "Canadian Fiction," "Foreign Fiction," "Poetry," "Non-Fiction," and the execrable "Graphica," basically counts down the highlights of the most-hyped and best-reviewed English-language books that received notice in the pages of the revised Globe book review section over the past year.

Generally speaking, the Globe 100 is a helpful guide to these books, including as it does capsule excerpts of the original positive reviews that secure the chosen century of books a place on the list. The list's major role, as an entertaining, argumentative (in the Canadian milquetoast version of argumentative) shopping guide published at the beginning of the Christmas retail season, is obvious, and almost beneath comment, as is its focus on many middling, middlebrow texts, the products of major publishing houses, Globe advertisers, and major award nominees. These aspects of the list are largely self-evident and characteristic of both the Globe Books section, and Canadian book reviewing/criticism in general. (Part of this is forgivable, in the sense that widely-reviewed and popular/bestselling books qualify as general news and must be covered in some form in order for the Globe to retain its journalistic credentials among the literati and for its own self-esteem as a serious bourgeois journal-of-record and truthiness).

For the most part, the usual suspects are represented. Both Margaret Atwood and Alice Munroe place in the Canadian fiction category. As does the Giller-Award-winning The Bishop's Man by CBC-tv-documentary-journalist-turned-novelist Linden MacIntyre. The Governor-General's-Award-winner, Kate Pullinger's The Mistress of Nothing, however, is a no-show. Of course, Erica Ritter's review was generally negative, taking its cues from a review in Britain's The Guardian newspaper, essentially knocking Pullinger's book out of contention for the Globe list. But this turn of events merely confirms our impressions of the hegemonic narrative of Canadian literary awards: the (more lucrative) Giller prize is ascendant, while the (less-lucrative, state-sanctioned) GG prize is on the downswing.

The real problem with The Globe 100 is the list's attempt to deal with comics. Despite a fairly enervating slate of wonderful, critically-lauded graphic novels published in Canada, the U.S., and elsewhere in 2009, the Globe list pays attention to only three books: Asterios Polyp, Logicomix, and The Book of Genesis Illustrated. No Canadian comics make either the Fiction or Graphica list. And of those comics that qualified for the Graphica list, only two are worth reading and only one, Robert Crumb's Genesis adaptation, is truly a book for the ages.

David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp, ably reviewed by Sequential-friend Brad Mackay, is a wonderful book: beautiful, intelligent, finely-crafted, but a trifle sterile, self-conscious, and formalist in its approach. This book, by one-half of the creative team behind 1987's Batman: Year One was one of the most-widely anticipated (after Crumb's book, natch) and enthusiastically-reviewed of the past year's crop of graphic novels published in the U.S. (that the book had the budget and press of a major publisher like Pantheon didn't hurt, either). And the less said about the steaming piece of comics known as Logicomix, a sort of 'Bertrand Russell for Beginners' produced by the creative quartet of Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos, and Annie Di Donna, the better. This history of mathematics, told in a narratively virtuosic-yet-chatty/post-modern style, marred by stiff, clumsy cartooning, was the subject of a rave review by journalist/memoirist Douglas Bell, for whom the graphic novel seems essentially, if not solely, an "expositional form".

As to the lack of Canadian comics content in The Globe 100 list, I can only say, what the fuck, Martin Levin et al?

At the very least, a list such as The Globe 100 should have something to say --even in token form-- about comics from the major publisher of English-language comics in Canada.

What about Seth? Jesus Fucking Christ, what about Doug Wright?

Holy Hockey Puck, what about the entire annual output of Drawn and Quarterly?

Let's start with the obvious. Seth's George Sprott: 1894-1975 is a god-damned masterwork. It's a wonderful, giant, heaping helping of humanity in comics form, and it's probably one of the top ten English-language graphic novels in the world published in 2009. Granted, Nathalie Atkinson's objective, by-the-numbers, August 27 Globe review was something less than a stellar endorsement, but surely a classic, supremely artful and bittersweet chunk of Canadiana that will be read for generations --a sort of Old Man and the Sea or Death of a Salesman of Canadian Comics-- deserves a berth on the Globe ark more than the ephemeral Logicomix?

And speaking of playful, historical-literary post-modern mash-ups that are better than Logicomix, the D+Q-published Masterpiece Comics by R. Sikoryak surely qualifies. Globe Books editor Martin Levin himself reviewed the collection of strips by RAW-alumnus Sikoryak, which take familiar comics icons and uses them to re-tell classic works of literature, calling the collection "wonderful," "funny," and "oddly deep," and asserting that "[t]here isn't anything here that is less than excellent." For Levin, Drawn and Quarterly is an "indispensable" publisher. So, where's the love for D+Q in The Globe 100?

Item: Outside of his own self-published work, the delightful, internationally-worshipped Marc Bell's Hot Potatoe is the first major published work from the artist since 2004's Worn Tuff Elbow (Fantagraphics) and 2006's Nog a Dod (Conundrum). Where is it on the Globe's comics list? Nowhere.

Likewise, Yoshihro Tatsumi's A Drifting Life, the epic biography by the manga master praised by Brad Mackay in the Globe, is also slighted. Sure, it's translated from the Japanese and not an Anglo product, but it's still a major piece of art and its publication, not to mention Tatsumi's triumphant appearance at TCAF last summer, was a seismic event in comics internationally.

In the English-language category, Rutu Modan's follow-up to her widely-praised Exit Wounds, Jamilti and Other Stories is superior in many ways to her 2008 book. A heart-wrenching, hilarious, and gorgeous glimpse into the world of oddly ordinary Israelis, Jamilti is a "best book" in any year.

Last but not least, Drawn and Quarterly's huge The Collected Doug Wright: Canada'a Master Cartoonist is nowhere on The Globe's "Graphica" list, really calling into question the whole enterprise. If a giant collection of strips by the artist who basically defines the graphic look and nostalgic memory of several generations of Canadians doesn't rate a place on a list of best books of 2009 published by Canada's national paper, then the list is garbage. As is the category. What is "Graphica" anyway and why does it deserve pride of place (albeit at the end of the list) on the Globe 100, instead of other categories of books like photography, art monographs, kidlit, etc? I'm on record for my objections to the whole "Graphica" nomenclature as well. Maybe the Globe still feels embarrassed reviewing comics at this late date, or perhaps they have experienced the same ambivalence for the term "graphic novel" that comics fans and critics have wrestled with since the 1960s, and "Graphica" is the solution for a category of book that includes fiction, reportage, memoir, and avant-garde painterly pseudo-narratives, all in comics form. But if it is a marketing- and audience-friendly catch-all term for what we used to call comics, the Graphica category should include comic strips, and it should include Doug Wright.

The Globe 100, like most of the Globe books section, is a deeply-flawed, sinking-ship of a cultural taste-maker. Too bad it has to drag comics down in its boring vortex.

george sprott sequential serial serialized stories to be continued read reading comics seth

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   Friday, November 27, 2009  
New Books: Poof! by Line Gamache

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/27/2009 11:25:00 AM

Poof!
by Line Gamache
Conundrum Press
$15

A new book from Conundrum's BDAng imprint, this is Gamache's follow-up to "Hello Me Pretty!" from a few years back. It's a beautiful graphic novel epic about creativity and walking the dog.

(picture stolen from the Beguiling blog, since I couldn't find a cover shot elsewhere)

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   Tuesday, November 24, 2009  
Harvey Graphic Novel Wins GG

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/24/2009 01:38:00 AM

Harvey, a graphic novel by writer Herve Bouchard and artist Janice Nadeau, has won two awards in the children's literature category of the Governor General's Awards. Published by Quebec publisher La Pasteque, the book won in both the writer and illustrator categories for French-language children's literature.

As noted during the announcement of the awards on November 17, this is the first time one book has won in both categories of children's literature (text and illustration). The double win is also notable in light of last year's controversy over the lack of nomination for cartoonist Jillian Tamaki for her work on the English-language graphic novel Skim, for which writer Mariko Tamaki was nominated.

Each award is valued at $25,000 and each winner receives a specially-bound copy of the winning book created by Montreal bookbinder Lise Dubois. The publisher receives $3,000 per winning book as well. This is the third career GG win for artist Nadeau.

Harvey is described at the Awards website as a book that "makes us feel the confusion and helplessness of a little boy faced with the death of his father. [Herve Bouchard's] surprising and extremely sensitive writing is deeply moving. Through a series of poetically powerful metaphors, he allows us the freedom to explore the multiple layers of his story."

Janice Nadeau's drawings depict "the sadness of spring and the melancholy of loss. The subtle drawings dance with the text and give rhythm to the reading. Herve Bouchard's Quebec comes alive under the brush strokes of the illustrator."

GG Press release

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   Tuesday, November 17, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: November 17

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/17/2009 12:52:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Intro: The bestselling graphic novels and comics collections in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores, including several comic book stores and the D+Q store. Sales through most comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. See here for our previous list.

Sequential's Over-All Top 30 from BookManager


1. (1) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
2. (3) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (5) Vampire Knight 8, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
4. (2) Negima! 24, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
5. (14) Rosario + Vampire 10, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
6. (4) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
7. (6) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
8. (10) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
9. (9) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
10. (15) Tsubasa 23, Clamp (Random House)
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11. (13) Tsubasa 24, Clamp (Random House)
12. (21) Ouran High School 13, Bisco Hatori (VIZ)
13. (-) Otomen 4 , Aya Kanno (VIZ)
14. (11) Black Bird 1, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
15. (7) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
16. (8) Fullmetal Alchemist 20, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
17. (20) Vampire Knight 7, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
18. (22) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
19. (-) Manga Mutiny, Hidenori Kumai/Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
20. (17) Pokemon 1, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
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21. (-) Death Note 3, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
22. (-) Bloody Kiss Volume 2, Furumiya Kazuko (Tokyopop)
23. (-) High School Debut 12, Kazune Kawahara (VIZ)
24. (18) Garfield 47, Davis et al (Random House)
25. (-) xxxHOLiC 14, Clamp (Random House)
26. (-) Death Note 1, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
27. (12) Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Tim Hamilton (Farrar, Strauus & Giroux)
28. (-) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
29. (-) Death Note 2, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
30. (-) Fables 12, Alred, et al (DC/Vertigo)


Comment: Only one Canadian book in the top 30?

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanese manga, U.S. superhero fantasies, and collected editions of Sherman's Lagoon to come up with a list of 30 bestselling books created by Canadians. In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections, the vast majority of which are not by Canadians. On this list, a single sale in a single tiny bookstore can make all the difference. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

This week: The "Seth Signing Tour Effect" lingers and Lynn Johnston begins her annual "Holiday gift-book buying" charge up the charts.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
2. (3) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (11) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
5. (21) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (4) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
7. (6) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
8. (-) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
9. (10) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
10. (19) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
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11. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
12. (-) Wimbledon Green, Seth (D+Q)
13. (20) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
14. (24) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
15. (14) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
16. (16) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
17. (9) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
18. (18) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (29) Middle-Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews MacMeel)
20. (-) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews MacMeel)
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21. (12) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
22. (8) Rabbit and Bear Paws 2: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Lone Pine)
23. (13) In Me Own Words, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
24. (7) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
25. (15) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
26. (17) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
27. (22) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
28. (23) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
29. (26) The Nobody, Jeff Lemire (DC/Vertigo)
30. (28) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (Farrar, Strauss + Giroux)


(note: previous rank in parentheses)
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   Friday, November 13, 2009  
New Books: The Road to God Knows... by Von Allan

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/13/2009 08:28:00 AM


available here

from the press release:

Mental illness remains one of Western society's greatest taboos. Those who suffer from various mental health disorders often suffer in silence, with very little support from society. Family members and other loved ones of those afflicted also suffer and are often forced to understand and cope alone. The loneliness, fear and frustration that this can cause is difficult for most people to understand. And this isolation can be far worse when you're a child of a bipolar, schizophrenic or otherwise mentally ill parent. Von Allan, an Ottawa-based graphic novelist, has attempted to shed some light on this subject with the publication of his first full-length graphic novel, titled "the road to god knows..."

"My mom was diagnosed schizophrenic when I was quite young, maybe 11 or so," said Allan. "She suffered a number of nervous breakdowns as I was growing up, as she battled, often very much alone, a disease that was slowly taking bits of her away. What I remember most vividly about this time was how confused and powerless I was. No one talked with me about what was happening to her and my mom was incapable of explaining it to me herself. I didn't understand and that, combined with what I was experiencing, was really, really scary. There's also odd feelings of guilt that go with this. "Did I do something wrong? Did I somehow cause this?" I wrote and drew this book to shed some light on a very hush-hush topic and hopefully help others, especially kids but really people of all ages, realize that they aren't alone and that they haven't done anything wrong. And neither has the person who is suffering from mental illness."

A unique aspect of the graphic novel is its availability in multiple channels. First, the book can be downloaded as a free PDF eBook on the artist's website. In addition, a torrent version has been made available via LegalTorrents.com and the PDF is also available on Scribd.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. "The toughest thing for new artists is just getting noticed. Obscurity, as Tim O'Reilly said, is the enemy and not piracy. By using a variety of online distribution tools as well as more traditional print publishing, I'm hoping people will give the book a try. And maybe it'll get into the hands of someone who could really use it. The book is also available through online retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and can also be purchased in comic shops like Jim Hanley's Universe in New York, Atlantis Fantasyworld in Santa Cruz, Cosmic Monkey Comics in Portland, and bookstores like Perfect Books in Ottawa."

"The road to god knows..." is the story of Marie, a teenage girl coming to grips with her Mom's schizophrenia. As a result, she's struggling to grow up fast; wrestling with poverty, loneliness, and her Mom's illness every step of the way. At the start of the story, we see a scared young girl, uncertain and overwhelmed, but as her mom collapses into a full nervous breakdown, Marie is forced to examine herself and her life and come to a decision: does she continue to be a child, reacting to what's happening around her? Or does she take control of her life, come what may?

"the road to god knos..." has an ISBN of 978-0-9781237-0-3, a suggested retail price of $12.95 US/$13.99 CDN and is 148 pages in length.

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