Friday, July 03, 2009  
Shuster Awards Kids Nominations

:: Posted by Bryan @ 7/03/2009 12:01:00 AM

The nominees in the "Comics for Kids" category of the Joe Shuster Awards have been announced. The nominees were selected by a jury of teachers. The winner will be announced in September.

Clayton Hanmer, CTON's Super A-Maze-ing Year of Crazy Comics! (OwlKids)

Susan Hughes and Willow Dawson, No Girls Allowed (Kids Can Press)

Karl Kerschl and Serge Lapointe (with Amy Wolfram, USA), Teen Titans: Year One (DC Comics)

Liam O'Donnell and Michael Deas, Ramp Rats – A Graphic Guide Adventure (Orca Publishing)

Paul Roux, Ariane et Nicolas Tome 5: Les tours de Babel (Editions Les 400 Coups)

Chad Solomon (with Christopher Meyer, USA), The Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws Vol. 2: The Voyageurs (Little Spirit Bear Productions)

Kean Soo, Jellaby Book 1 (Hyperion)

Mariko Tamaki and Steve Rolston, Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx)
Emiko cover comp

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   Thursday, July 02, 2009  
New Books: The Nobody by Jeff Lemire

:: Posted by Bryan @ 7/02/2009 02:51:00 AM

The Nobody
by Jeff Lemire.
DC/Vertigo
b+w, hardcover, 144 pages
US$19.99
ISBN 9781401220808

As Jeff Lemire notes on his blog, "Due to a mix up The Nobody will ship a week late and will now be in bookstores July 7 and Comic Book Stores July 8. I will however be signing at Comics And More at Danforth and Greenwood (steps from the Greenwood subway stop) in Toronto THURDSAY JULY 2, between 4-6 and I will have advance copies of THE NOBODY for sale a week early! I will also have a limited edition Nobody print, free for anyone who wants one and some other freebies, original artwork etc."

From the publisher:

The tiny, isolated fishing village of Large Mouth never saw much excitement — until the arrival of the stranger, that is. Wrapped from head to toe in bandages and wearing weird goggles, he quietly took up residence in the sleepy town's motel. Driven by curiosity, the townfolk quickly learn the tragic story of his past, and of the terrible accident that left him horribly disfigured. Eventually, the town embraces the stranger as one of their own — but do his bandages hide more than just scars?

Inspired by H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man, THE NOBODY explores themes of identity, fear and paranoia in a small community from up-and-coming alternative comics creator and Xeric Award-winner Jeff Lemire (The Essex County Trilogy) in a special two-color story that'll have you guessing until the very end.

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   Tuesday, June 30, 2009  
New Interviews with Canadian Comics People

:: Posted by Bryan @ 6/30/2009 01:36:00 AM

Check out the new series of interviews with comics creators and businesspeople over at The Fabler Blog, part of Calgary's Zensoft Studios interesting new project thefabler.com, a social networking comunity for Comics Creators.

So far blogger Kevin de Vlaming
has nabbed interviews with -

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   Thursday, June 25, 2009  
Live Chat with Seth on CBC Today

:: Posted by Bryan @ 6/25/2009 04:09:00 AM
Graphic Novel month continues at the Canada Reads CBC Book Club. Host Hannah Sung (you remember her from the New Music) has been interviewing folks like crazy for their top 10 graphic novel recommendations. The other day it was Sean Jordan at Toronto's Silver Snail. Today is Peter from the Beguiling. Peter's #1 rec, George Sprott by Seth, leads to a live online chat today with Seth at 2pm ET. Full details here. Many people may be unaware that Seth actually can use a computer --here's your chance to quiz him about megahertz and facebook and stuff like that.

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   Wednesday, June 24, 2009  
New Books: Rex Libris 2

:: Posted by Bryan @ 6/24/2009 01:15:00 AM
Rex Libris Vol. 2: Book Of Monsters
by James Turner
SLG Publishing
US$17.95

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   Thursday, June 18, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: Summer Solstice Edition

:: Posted by Bryan @ 6/18/2009 09:00:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Our second truncated list for the Summer Time. Normally, I compile a list of Top 30 overall and Top 30 by Canadian creators bestselling comic books. I just don't have the time lately, so I've decided to offer an infrequent, shorter version of the weekly list. If you are still jonesin' for a mainstream bestseller list, the Globe and Mail offered a list of graphic novels this past week that included all the usual suspects (Buffy, Wolverine, Naruto).

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. (The other day, George Sprott was #10 on amazon.ca). See here for our previous list.

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. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 20 from BookManager

1. (1) Doug Wright: Canada's Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
2. (5) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (10) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
5. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (4) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
7. (7) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
8. (13) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (-) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
10. (3) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
-----
11. (-) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
12. (11) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
13. (9) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
14. (12) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
15. (8) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
16. (14) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
17. (-) Pohadky, Marek Colek Pat Shewchuck (D+Q)
18. (-) Papercut Heart, Ian Sullivan Cant (Conundrum)
19. (-) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (-) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)

(last week's rank in parentheses)
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Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

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   Friday, June 12, 2009  
The C-List: Mania Rebound

:: Posted by Bryan @ 6/12/2009 11:31:00 AM


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).

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   Tuesday, June 09, 2009  
New Books: The Undertaking by Michael J. Hind

:: Posted by Bryan @ 6/09/2009 02:00:00 AM

The Undertaking
Michael J. Hind
Conundrum Press
ISBN 978-1-894994-39-2
88 pages
$15 CDN / US

From the publisher: "The Undertaking, is the saga of the Ward family and its oldest son Donald (D), who finds himself holding together the family undertaking business during the Second World War in Britain. They must deal with death on a professional level, yet are as human and flawed as anybody else when dealing with the loss of one of their own. The book opens on a funeral and is told dramatically through flashbacks, where we learn of the losses and regrets that have brought them to this place, and of those family secrets they bear together that may save them. A sort of D.H. Lawrence meets Six Feet Under."

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   Friday, June 05, 2009  
Sequential Bestsellers: Shorter Version

:: Posted by Bryan @ 6/05/2009 07:00:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

A truncated list for the Summer Time. Normally, I compile a list of Top 30 overall and Top 30 by Canadian creators bestselling comic books. I just don't have the time lately, so I've decided to offer an infrequent, shorter version of the weekly list.

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.

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. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 20 from BookManager

1. (3) Doug Wright: Canada's Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
2. (1) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (6) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
4. (-) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
5. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
6. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
7. (7) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
8. (30) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
9. (4) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
10. (8) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
-----
11. (9) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. (14) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
13. (8) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (11) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
15. (12) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
16. (24) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (-) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
18. (11) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (22) It's a Good Life..., Seth (D+Q)
20. (15) Kaspar, Diane Obomsawin (D+Q)


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   Thursday, May 28, 2009  
New Books from New Reliable: True Loves 2

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/28/2009 03:36:00 PM
True Loves Vol. 2: Trouble In Paradise

Check it out, a sweet 26 page PDF Preview! This is a nice looking book, wish i had sold more, i broke and chose to grab Jan's [preview] at TCAF [max] but I would have liked to get this then too, sorry Jason!

Written by the talented Jason Turner and Manien Bothma. They appeared on Inkstuds April the 22nd to talk about the book, you can catch the podcast here.

See the booklaunch post on the NR blog for details about True Loves 2/Jan's Atomic Heart joint launch at Lucky's. Take note of the custom beer bottle labels people! I don't even drink beer but that's a great idea.

(Trade Paperback)
New Reliable Press US$8.95

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   Tuesday, May 19, 2009  
Sequential Bestsellers: May 20 (Spring Books Edition)

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/19/2009 03:53:00 PM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

We took a bit of a break for TCAF and the debut of the Sequential print edition, so we missed a week of the bestseller list. And who knows, now that the first long weekend of the season has come and gone, the list might go on Summer hiatus.

Anyway, here we go. The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sequential readers will be pleased to not that George Sprott, Scott Pilgrim, and Darwyn Cooke (not to mention Gustave Dore, the Secret Wars II Omnibus Edition, and NBM's "Gorgeous and ...Hung?" by Kinky Jimmy) are all included in Amazon.ca's Top 100 comics and graphic novels as I write this.

The Sequential list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list. Last week's rankings are in parentheses.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (3) B is for Beer, Tom Robbins (Harper Collins)
3. (-) Fullmetal Alchemist 18, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
4. (4) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (2) Naruto 42, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (5) Naruto 44, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (6) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
8. (8) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
9. (10) Garfield Just Desserts, Jim Davis (Random)
10. (11) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
-----
11. (-) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
12. (9) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (-) Shugo Chara! 6, Peach-Pit (Random House)
14. (12) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (16) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
16. (13) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (21) Hobbit, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
18. (-) Marvel Encyclopedia (Marvel)
19. (25) Wolverine 1: Prodigal Son, Tortosa/Johnston (Random House)
20. (15) Manga Metamorphosis, Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
----
21. (17) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
22. (14) Chibi Vampire 13, Yuna Kagesaki (Tokyopop)
23. (20) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. (28) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
25. (-) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
26. Black Cat 20, Kentaro Yabuki (VIZ)
27. Maus II, Spiegelman (Knopf)
28. (-) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
29. 19. (-) Maximum Ride, Vol. 1, James Patterson (Yen)
30. (-) B.O.D.Y., Volume 5, Ao Mimori (VIZ)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Some new manga volumes.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (13) Doug Wright: Canada's Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
4. (3) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
5. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (10) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
7. (6) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
8. (19) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (5) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
10. (11) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
-----
11. (7) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
12. (12) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
13. (-) Lillian the Legend, Kerry Byrne (Conundrum)
14. (15) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
15. (-) Kaspar, Diane Obomsawin (D+Q)
16. (22) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (-) Papercut Heart, Ian Sullivan Cant (Conundrum)
18. (26) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
19. (9) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
20. (30) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
-----
21. (17) Middle Aged Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. (20) It's a Good Life..., Seth (D+Q)
23. (25) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
24. (27) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
25. (14) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
26. (18) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
27. (16) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
28. (21) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws 1, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
29. (24) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
30. (-) In Me Own Words/Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)


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   Sunday, May 17, 2009  
The C-List: TCAF Link Round-Up, Part 4

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/17/2009 06:00:00 AM
Wow, that's a lot of links! I think this should be it for the link round-ups, unless something amazing emerges. Click the "TCAF" tag at the bottom of this post or see the "Previous Posts" sidebar to get the rest of the links.


NOW magazine covers the Tatsumi/Tomine/Seth event

Sean Rogers reviews 2 TCAF books: Kate Beaton's Never Learn Anything from History and Anya Davidson's Consciousness 3.

J.Bone vs Kensington Market: which is more interesting?

Fixed: Jason Truong

TCAF gets a mention in the National Post podcast

U.S. cartoonist Jeffrey Rowland documents TCAF using his webcomic Overcompensating

Pigskin Peters award winner Matthew Forsythe on the festival and the Wright Awards

D+Q publicist Peggy Burns has a flickr set of 128 photos

Brian Evinou blogs his experience

Deb Aoki interviews Tatsumi

Seth puts Ryan Sand to sleep but he wakes up for Tatsumi

Festival organizer and tower of strength Chris Butcher has a short recap

Corrected: Jan Op De Beeck does not make the trek from New York with ex-pat Rina Piccolo

Cartoonist Dustin Harbin has two great full reports. One Two
--including the inside scoop on the controversial "Post-Kirby" panel


Jeff Lemire has a sneak peak at his next project: Sweet Tooth

Jillian Tamaki blogs twice One Two

Matt Kindt (Superspy)

Milo says: "every nerd that went to TCAF has a blog"

Tom Kaczynski has a succinct summary

The amazing Michael Cho's Spider-Man!

Mariko Tamaki has candid photos and a link to the UK edition of Skim

Picturebox publisher Dan Nadel has photos proving that Jeet Heer and Bill Kartalopoulos were separated at birth, and dubs Francois Ayroles' Key Moments from the History of Comics (published by The Beguiling) his "favorite work of general comics history in years"

The Tara McPherson show at Magic Pony

TCAF panorama

Tom K's photos

Wright Awards official photos

The TCAF Vepo Studio video doc that everyone has already seen thanks to boing boing

the wonderful and very funny Best Book nominee video from the Wright Awards ceremony (I can be objective about this link since I had nothing to do with the video besides helping to nominate the books)

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   Tuesday, May 12, 2009  
The C-List: TCAF Link Round-Up, Part 3

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/12/2009 05:59:00 AM


More incredible links about the incredible Toronto Comic Art Festival:

More photos from Dr. Squid, Day 2

JM Douville reports

Ryan's Disneyland Autograph sketchbook

Transmission X's Eric Vedder


Ty Buttars says TCAF 2009 should be called "the Tatsumi show"


TCAF guest and manga blogger Deb Aoki has a full report and photo gallery

TCAF pics


Patrick Kyle of the Wowee Zonk collective on their booklaunch and TCAF show

Webcomicer and TCAF volunteer misidentifies Bryan Lee O'Malley

Kate Beaton was driven towards motherhood at TCAF, apparently

Kevin Boyd of the Shuster Awards blogs his impressions (that's the Dave Sim print the Shuster folks were selling at the show up top)

Photos from the Tugboat Press gang

The Doodlers photostream, including the james Turner Rex Libris action figure

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   Monday, May 11, 2009  
The C-List: TCAF Link Round-Up, Part 2

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/11/2009 06:28:00 PM
tcaf poster photo

More links from this past weekend's big event, The Toronto Comic Art Festival:

Doug Wright juror and Globe and Mail books editor Martin Levin blogs about the awards

Ron Nurwisah blogs TCAF for the National Post

Torontoist has photos

BlogTO

Re-Love report

Chris Pitzer from AdHouse books has a long post (that's his photo up top)

Scott McCloud's post-TCAF notes: what the master learned and who he met

A very strange report that reads like it has been translated twice by a computer

Vince Chui sums up his experiences

Owl Magazine's Wendy Ding drew pictures for kids

TCAF volunteer Dave Merrill blogs the fest

Brian Evinou photos

Tyler2009's flickr stream

Cartoonist Jonathan Mahood looks back over the weekend

Tatsumi video1

Tatsumi video2

Tatsumi video3

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   Sunday, May 10, 2009  
The C-List: TCAF Blogosphere Wrap-Up 1

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/10/2009 10:14:00 PM

A summary of links about the recently-completed Toronto Comic Art Festival:

Sequential magazine contributor Jamie Coville has 106 great photos of TCAF!

Matthew Rooney on TCAF Day 1

Peggy Burns blogs TCAF

Jeet Heer reviews Guy Delisle's Burma Chronicles for the Literary Review of Canada

CBC Arts reporter Jessica Wong on the Wright Awards

Behind the scenes with a TCAF volunteer

Cartoonist Evan Munday on the books he got

Screenwriter Oliver Brackenbury blogs about Paul Pope (that's his photo up top)

Jimmy Aquino's day via Twitter feed

Kate Beaton blogs about Day 1 and her Wright Award win

Got Poetry covers the Tatsumi/Tomine/Seth event Friday

"Dr. Squid" has some nice photos --it looks like almost everyone who was at the festival ended up photographed here (albeit with no identification or description) --check out the flickr stream

Here's an excellent flickr stream with excellent notes by Gil Roth!

The 2009 Wright Awards jury, minus Bob Rae (he was a no show at the ceremony too, but the video he sent instead was awkwardly hilarious)

Day 1 report and photos

TCAF from a webcomics fan's perspective: "the internet live"

Paul Pope was there

Shannon Gerard in Now Weekly

A great collection of sketches!

Peter Kenter writes about Doug Wright's love of cars for the National Post

youtube video 1 --crowd walking

youtube video 2 --birdseye view of TCAF

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   Friday, May 08, 2009  
This Weekend: TCAF

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/08/2009 06:00:00 AM


The 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival

Saturday and Sunday at the Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge St., Toronto
Free Admission

Come visit with hundreds of cartoonists, writers, and comic book artists as they show their comics, sell comics, and talk about comics!

The show also features the debut of our new magazine, Sequential print edition. Come get a free copy!

As well, the 2009 Doug Wright Awards will be handed out Saturday night across town at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) at 7pm. Admission is free. Come see who will win the trophies for best graphic novel and best young artist. As well, come see who wins the weirdest trophy in comics, a derby hat named for Canadian comic strip character Pigskin Peters and awarded to the best experimental or avant-garde comic. The event also features the launch of the new book, The Collected Doug Wright.

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Tonite: Graphic Novels Exhibit Opening, Toronto

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/08/2009 02:55:00 AM

Graphic Novels: The Creation of Art and Narrative.
Gallery Showing at Harbourfront Centre
Friday May 8th - Sunday June 21st.
Opening Reception Friday May 8th, 6pm-10pm
York Quay Centre, 235 Queens Quay West
FREE

Featuring: Canada: Jeff Lemire, Kagan McLeod, Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki, Doug Wright (by Seth). Anke Feuchtenberger (Germany), Emmanuel Guibert (France), Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Japan), Adrian Tomine (USA).

Graphic Novels: The Creation of Art and Narrative. Harbourfront Centre will play host to a unique series of installations by top cartoonists from Canada and around the world as they attend the fourth Toronto Comic Arts Festival, May 9-10 --includes original artworks and process materials, as well as tools, sculpture, and photography.

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Friday Night: Seth, Tomine, Tatsumi

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/08/2009 12:01:00 AM

Authors at Harbourfront Centre: Seth, Adrian Tomine, and Yoshihiro Tatsumi
In association with The Toronto Comic Arts Festival
Friday, May 8 at 7:30 pm
Brigantine Room, York Quay Centre, 235 Queens Quay West
Tickets $8.00, available at harbourfrontcentre.com

Authors at Harbourfront Centre helps jump start the 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival with an evening of world-renowned graphic artists/novelists: Seth, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, and Adrian Tomine. Seth (George Sprott: (1894-1975)) and Tomine (Shortcomings) debut their latest graphic novels, followed by a discussion between Tomine and Tatsumi about Tatsumi's latest work, A Drifting Life. All three authors appear courtesy of Drawn & Quarterly (Montreal).

This event, presented in partnership with The Beguiling, will also feature a corresponding visual art exhibition Graphic Novels: The Creation of Art and Narrative, located in Harbourfront Centre's York Quay Centre.

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   Thursday, May 07, 2009  
Publishing: Papercut Hearts by Ian Sullivan Cant

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/07/2009 06:41:00 PM

Papercut Heart
by Ian Sullivan Cant
Conundrum Press
ISBN 978-1-894994-38-5
$15

Ian Sullivan Cant's zines / illustrated poems are collected here into his first book, Papercut Heart. In deceptively simple pages, he tackles love, death and dreams with a wistful existentialism. Chia pets frolic with narwhals under banners that flutter with secret hope, Frankenstein's creation speculates on the nature of self, and a story written entirely in Morse Code weaves through silent statuary. Cant's writing confronts the tragic disparity between fantasy and ideal, and the disappointment of reality, but always seeks to touch the reader with melancholy. His obsession with B-horror movies allows him to find the beauty in trash culture, either in the form of a hidden and subversive genius, or the tenderness and vulnerability of unskilled creative passion. Cant's instruction in zen poetry is evident in his clean, delicate linework which belies the depth of his sentiments. Ruminations on the temporal nature of all things are thrown into stark relief by the accompanying drawing, be it a cupcake, a matchbook, or the image of a lost love, and many, many, talking ravens.

Cant will be at TCAF at the Conundrum booth:


Conundrum Press TCAF Signing schedule:


SAT MAY 9
noon-1 Howard Chackowicz
1-2 Jillian Tamaki
2-3 Shary Boyle
3-4 Emily Holton, Kerry Byrne
4-5 Michael Hind, Ian Sullivan Cant

SUN May 10
noon-1 Dave Lapp (DWA Nominee for Drop-In)
1-2 Michael Hind, Kerry Byrne
2-3 Ian Sullivan Cant
3-4 Howard Chackowicz

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Publishing: The Paris Guns by Diana Tamblyn

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/07/2009 02:56:00 AM

The Paris Guns
Diana Tamblyn
self-published mini

"The Paris Guns" is the first chapter of Tamblyn's Gerald Bull graphic novel (but works as a story in and of itself). Tamblyn and her book will be appearing this weekend at TCAF.

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   Wednesday, May 06, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: May 6 (TCAF Edition)

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/06/2009 01:35:00 AM
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compiled/edited by B. Munn

Just in time for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival and the debut of the first print issue of Sequential, it's the weekly edition of the Sequential Bestseller List!

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list. Last week's rankings are in parentheses.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (3) Naruto 42, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) B is for Beer, Tom Robbins (Harper Collins)
4. (5) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (4) Naruto 44, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (7) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
7. (6) Fruits Basket 22, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
8. (10) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
9. (9) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (8) Garfield Just Desserts, Jim Davis (Random)
-----
11. (14) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (11) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (19) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ
14. (12) Chibi Vampire 13, Yuna Kagesaki (Tokyopop)
15. (13) Manga Metamorphosis, Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
16. (16) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (22) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
18. (15) Negima! 21, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
19. (-) Maximum Ride, Vol. 1, James Patterson (Yen)
20. (17) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
-----
21. (-) Hobbit, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
22. (-) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
23. (24) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
24. (21) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
25. (-) Wolverine 1: Prodigal Son, Tortosa/Johnston (Random House)
26. (-) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
27. (-) The Wallflower 19, Tomoko Hayakawa (Random House)
28. (25) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
29. (20) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
30. (-) Otomen, Volume 2, Aya Kanno (VIZ)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: That new Wolverine manga has a strong-ish debut. Is it the only movie tie-in?

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
2. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (5) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
4. (3) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
5. (4) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
6. (6) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
7. (-) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
8. (8) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (7) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
10. (16) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
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11. (11) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
12. (9) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
13. (13) Doug Wright: Canada's Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
14. (19) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
15. (15) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)19503
16. (10) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
17. (12) Middle Aged Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
18. (29) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
19. (14) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (17) It's a Good Life..., Seth (D+Q)
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21. (18) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
22. (20) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
23. (21) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
24. (22) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
25. (23) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
26. (24) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
27. (26) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
28. (27) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
29. (28) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
30. (30) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)

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   Tuesday, May 05, 2009  
Publishing: George Sprott by Seth

:: Posted by Bryan @ 5/05/2009 10:10:00 AM

George Sprott
By Seth
Drawn and Quarterly
96 pages, full color.
$24.95
ISBN: 978-1897299-51-7

The first major new graphic novel by Seth in 3 years.

Celebrated cartoonist and New Yorker cover artist Seth gives us the fictional life of George Sprott. On the surface George seems a charming, foolish, old man --but who is he? And who was he? Told as a patchwork tale, we come to know George, piece by piece, in a series of "interviews," flashbacks, and personal reminiscences. George Sprott is a story about time, identity, loss, and the persistence of memory. Though, ultimately, this is the story of a man's death, Seth leavens it with humor and restraint. Originally serialized in The New York Times Magazine, this greatly expanded and "re-mastered”\" version is George Sprott's first publication as a complete work.

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   Thursday, April 30, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: April 29

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/30/2009 05:59:00 AM
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compiled/edited by B. Munn

We missed last week, but the list is back in full force this week...

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list. Last week's rankings are in parentheses.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (-) B is for Beer, Tom Robbins (Harper Collins)
3. (3) Naruto 42, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (2) Naruto 44, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5 (4) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (5) Fruits Basket 22, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
7. (6) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
8. (-) Garfield Just Desserts, Jim Davis (Random)
9. (7) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (12) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
-----
11. (13) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (-) Chibi Vampire 13, Yuna Kagesaki (Tokyopop)
13. (10) Manga Metamorphosis, Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
14. (9) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (8) Negima! 21, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
16. (11) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (18) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
18. (22) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
19. (14) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (16) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
-----
21. (-) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
22. (19) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
23. (17) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. (15) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
25. (27) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
26. (-) Manga Messiah, Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
27. (21) Rosario+Vampire 6, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
28. (-) Daniel X: Alien Hunter, James Patterson et al (Little, Brown)
29. (20) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
30. (-) Naruto 3, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
2. (1) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
4. (11) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
5. (-) Night School, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
6. (5) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
7. (27) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
8. (3) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (8) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
10. (4) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
-----
11. (25) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
12. (-) Middle Aged Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
13. (9) Doug Wright: Canada's Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
14. (13) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
15. (19) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
16. (7) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
17. (26) It's a Good Life..., Seth (D+Q)
18. (14) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
19. (18) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
20. (21) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
-----
21. (10) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
22. (28) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
23. (-) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
24. (16) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
25. (20) Witness My Shame, Shary Boyle (Conundrum)
26. (23) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
27. (24) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
28. (29) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
29. (30) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
30. the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)


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   Friday, April 17, 2009  
Canadian Comics Bestsellers: April 16

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/17/2009 02:10:00 AM
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compiled/edited by B. Munn

Running a little late (again) this week...

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list. Last week's rankings are in parentheses.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (4) Naruto 44, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (8) Naruto 42, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (7) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (2) Fruits Basket 22, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
6. (3) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
7. (6) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (5) Negima! 21, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
9. (9) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (-) Manga Metamorphosis, Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
-----
11. (13) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (12) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (10) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
14. (11) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (26) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
16. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (14) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
18. (15) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
19. (-) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (-) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
-----
21. (16) Rosario+Vampire 6, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
22. (24) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
23. (17) Killing Joke, Moore/Bolland (DC)
24. (23) Kitchen Princess 9, Natsumi Ando Miyuki Kobayashi (Random House)
25. (18) Bleach 26, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
26. (19) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
27. (20) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
28. (-) NORA 4, Kazunari Kakei (VIZ)
29. (21) Naruto 7, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
30. (-) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: The big puzzler is number 10, the Christian comic Manga Metamorphis. Published last August, it has never been on the list before and makes me doubt the veracity of Bookmanager's system. Did someone just buy 20 copies of this? (The prequel, Manga Messiah, is at #67 or thereabouts, so maybe this is the case.)

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (3) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (30) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
5. (5) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
6. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
7. (6) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
8. (8) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
9. (-) Doug Wright: Canada's Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
10. (-) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
-----
11. (7) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. (10) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
13. (12) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (20) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
15. (-) Kaspar, Diane Obomsawin (D+Q)
16. (17) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (19) In Me Own Words (Bigfoot), Graham Roumieu (Plume)
18. (21) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (23) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
20. (-) Witness My Shame, Shary Boyle (Conundrum)
-----
21. (9) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
22. (11) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
23. (13) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
24. (15) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
25. (14) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
26. (16) It's a Good Life..., Seth (D+Q)
27. (18) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
28. (-) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
29. (22) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
30. (24) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)

Analysis: Pascal Blanchett was interviewed on the same episode of CBC's Q radio program as the now-infamous Billy Bob Thronton rant, which may account for the book suddenly shooting up the charts. A strong debut for the translation of Kaspar and for the Doug Wright collection, my vote of 'book of the year'.

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   Wednesday, April 15, 2009  
Publishing: Nightschool by Svetlana Chmakova

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/15/2009 11:00:00 AM

NIGHTSCHOOL Volume 1
by Svetlana Chmakova
Yen Press
ISBN: 978-0-7595-2859-8
$10.99 ($11.99)
192 pages

The first volume of bestselling Canadian manga creator Svetlana Chmakova's new series, Nightschool, is now available from Hachette's Yen Press. Originally serialized monthly in Yen+ magazine, Nightschool is Chmakova's follow-up to Dramacon, which was published by Tokyopop and is a regular on Sequential's Top 30 list.

Subtitled "The Weirn Books", Nightschool tells the story of a young witch who leaves the security of her home-schooled life for a school full of werewolves, vampires, and other witches. The book is intended for teen readers.

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   Sunday, April 12, 2009  
Canadian Comics Bestsellers: April 9

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/12/2009 07:23:00 PM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Running a little late (again) this week...

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list. Last week's rankings are in parentheses.

Interested readers might want to check out what Chris Butcher has to say about the problems with the New York Times comics list, which is too responsive to blips caused by books delivered by Diamond, and which I think may have bearing on this list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Fruits Basket 22, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
3. (3) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
4. (-) Naruto 44, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (5) Negima! 21, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
6. (4) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (-) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (-) Naruto 42, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
9. (6) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (12) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
-----
11. (8) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (9) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (7) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
14. (10) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (11) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
16. (14) Rosario+Vampire 6, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
17. (-) Killing Joke, Moore/Bolland (DC)
18. (13) Bleach 26, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
19. (17) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
20. (15) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
-----
21. (22) Naruto 7, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
22. (16) Dark Tower, Stepen King et al (Marvel)
23. (-) Kitchen Princess 9, Natsumi Ando Miyuki Kobayashi (Random House)
24. (18) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
25. (19) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Yen)
26. (21) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC
27. (-) Daniel X: Alien Hunter, James Patterson (Little, Brown)
28. (28) Skim, Tamaki/Tamaki (Groundwood)
29. (-) Death Note 2, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
30. (-) Naruto 6, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Not much change, with the exception of more Naruto (three new volumes out for Easter).

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (10) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (3) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
5. (4) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
6. (5) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
7. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
8. (7) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
9. (12) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
10. (14) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
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11. (19) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
12. (17) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
13. (20) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
14. (8) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
15. (23) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
16. (9) It's a Good Life..., Seth (D+Q)
17. (26) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
18. (11) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (13) In Me Own Words (Bigfoot), Graham Roumieu (Plume)
20. (-) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
-----
21. (15) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
22. (18) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
23. (16) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
24. (21) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
25. (22) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
26. (24) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (28) Pohadky, Colek/Marek (D+Q)
28. (-) Lillian the Legend, Kerry Byrne (Conundrum)
29. (29) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
30. (19) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)

Analysis: It's interesting to note that between #28 Lilian the Legend and #29 Shenzhen, there are hundreds of non-Canadian comics on the full list. Lillian's sales rank is 56499 while Eric Stanton: The Dominant Wives and Other Stories (Taschen) is 59890.
The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume 2 is 59927 and Canadian publisher Udon's Darkstalkers Graphic File is 61175. Craig Thompson's Blankets is 61378 and Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes Volume 1 is 64626. Nobuyuki Anzai's Flame of Recca, Maggie the Mechanic, The Goon 5, Garth Ennis' The Punisher 2, Superman : Birthright, Hellboy 3, One Piece Vol. 16, Jack of Fables VOL 03, Avatar Volume 7, He Is My Master Vol 3 , and Ai Yori Aoshi all rank higher than the all-Canadian Guy Delisle who comes in at a sales rank of 67123. There are also several hundred more comics between Shenzhen and Pascal Blanchet's Baloney, which has a sales rank of 68000.


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Publishing: Michael Cho News

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/12/2009 05:11:00 PM
Quill and Quire reports that Toronto cartoonist Michael Cho has sold two new book projects to publishers. D+Q has picked up Cho's collection of Toronto back alley landscapes --a preview of which you can see at Cho's blog. As well, Cho has sold his first solo graphic novel to French and Spanish publishers. Titled Five Pieces, the book has been sold to Delcourt and Spain's Reservoir Books Mondadori. Cho is perhaps best known as an illustrator. His previous comics work includes illustrations for the Max Finder mystery series and work on Marvel's Age of the Sentry superhero series.

Currently, Cho is continues to serialize his Papercut webcomic on Transmission X and blogging about his cartooning influences like Wally Wood, inbetween time off for taking care of a newborn baby.

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   Friday, April 10, 2009  
Publishing: Jobnik 7

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/10/2009 02:25:00 AM

jobnik! issue 7
by Miriam Libicki
24 pages
$3.50
Continuing the adventures of an American-Canadian girl in the Israeli army --the new issue picks up where the graphic novel left off (maybe we'll see another Gian Ghomeshi cameo?).

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   Thursday, April 09, 2009  
Publishing: Secret Identities by Nicolas Mahler

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/09/2009 02:59:00 AM

Secret Identities
by Nicolas Mahler
La Pasteque
ISBN 978-2-922585-77-3 ISBN 978-2-922585-77-3
96 pages
$ 24.95

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   Sunday, April 05, 2009  
Canadian Comics Bestsellers: April 2

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/05/2009 07:07:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Running a little late this week...

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Fruits Basket 22, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
3. (3) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
4. (9) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (-) Negima! 21, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
6. (11) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (7) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (5) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
9. (13) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (4) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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11. (6) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (8) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (10) Bleach 26, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
14. (20) Rosario+Vampire 6, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
15. (22) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
16. (-) Dark Tower, Stepen King et al (Marvel)
17. (12) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
18. (19) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
19. (14) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Yen)
20. (26) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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21. (15) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
22. (16) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
23. (-) The Joker, Azzarello et al (DC)
24. (17) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
25. (30) Maus I, Spiegelman (Knopf)
26. (-) The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 2, Tanigawa/Tsugano (Yen)
27. (18) Watchmen Hardcover, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
28. (-) Skim, Tamaki/Tamaki (Groundwood)
29. (-) Batman: Year One, Miller/Mazzuchelli (DC)
30. (-) Shugo Chara! 5, Peach-Pit (Random House)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Two Canadian books, three books from Canadian publishers. Oddest (to me) new entry: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-chan is based on the popular anime, in turn based on a series of light novels.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
4. (3) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
5. (5) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
6. (4) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (11) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
8. (8) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
9. (14) It's a Good Life..., Seth (D+Q)
10. (7) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
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11. (15) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
12. (16) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
13. (17) In Me Own Words (Bigfoot), Graham Roumieu (Plume)
14. (9) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
15. (12) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
16. (10) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
17. (13) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
18. (25) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
19. (27) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
20. (18) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
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21. (21) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
22. (23) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
23. (22) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
24. (24) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. (26) Witness My Shame, Shary Boyle (Conundrum)
26. (28) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
27. (20) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
28. (-) Pohadky, Colek/Marek (D+Q)
29. (30) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
30. (19) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)

Analysis: It's official, Bryan Lee O'Malley is the new Lynn Johnston of Canada, idol of millions and champion bestseller comic booker. O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series has 5 volumes in the top 30 this week, to Johnston's 3. A year ago, the situation would have been reversed, with Johnston hogging between 5 and 10 spaces, sometimes with volumes of comics dating back to the 1980s. Guy Delisle travelogue trilogy and Jeff Lemire's Essex County books rank just below Johnston, with 3 relatively lower-ranked books in the top 30. The number 30 book, a translated edition of Pascal Blanchet's newest, is less popular than Essential Spider-woman 2 by Michael Fleisher, Chris Claremont, Steve Leialoha, and the great Carmine Infantino, according to BookManager.

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   Thursday, April 02, 2009  
The C-List: Floppies vs Hard-ies

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/02/2009 02:01:00 PM
Bulletins from the frontlines of the comic book apocalypse of awesomeness:

Publishing: the long-awaited reunion of Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart (7 Soldiers, Seaguy) begins its floppy serialization this week with the publication of Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye #1 (DC). I liked Seaguy as a one-shot concept when I read the first collection a few years back. Stewart's more-or-less "straight" action/superhero style was the perfect counterpoint to Morrison's surreal goof on stale adventure comics heroics. I'm not sure if I'm up for a second helping, though, since I prefer Stewart's more stylized work on Sin Titulo (I have to, or else my Art Comics Critic union card gets taken away).

Publishing: Dave Sim's Glamourpuss #6 is out, featuring more of Sim's tracing old adventure strips and writing about comics history, all wrapped up in a bizarre parody of women's fashion magazines. It's kind of fascinating, really, in an odd way.

Publishing: Since Tom Spurgeon mentioned it at Comics Reporter, I guess the cat's out of the bag: Seth's Palookaville comic book series, one of the longest-running art comics still extant, is switching to a hardcover format with the next issue. Besides including the ongoing serialization of the Clyde Fans graphic novel, the book will also have space for the cartoonist to examine other topics of interest, in various formats.

Upcoming: On the international scene, the big news is the impending publication of Robert Crumb's Genesis project, going Moses or Harold Bloom's "J author" one better.

Upcoming: Check out Chris Butcher's read through the Diamond Preview catalog for some gems from Canadian creators. Pt 1. Pt 2.

Upcoming: New Reliable Press has some new stuff in the pipe --Jan's Atomic Heart by Simon Roy and the second volume of the True Loves anthology.

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2008 Shuster Nominees Announced

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/02/2009 02:18:00 AM
justice society of america #14 variant cover by dale eaglesham 2008The nominees for the 2009 Shuster Award nominees were announced in a press release and on the Shuster website earlier today.

This year's nominees are an interesting mix of French- and English-language comics from a variety of publishers from Canada, the U.S.A., and France.

Among the publishers, DC (and its various imprints) and Marvel seem to lead the pack in nominations. La Pasteque, Mecanique General/400 Coups and Aardvark-Vanaheim are the most-nominated Canadian publishers. Glenat Quebec is also recognized for a story in its sole Canadian publication. New Reliable Press and Groundwood Books both get a nod (although the Shusters seem to be following the lead of the Governor General awards and have chosen to ignore Jillian Tamaki's work in Skim). And although none of their books were really nominated, Arcana Studio, Conundrum Press, Drawn & Quarterly, Red 5, and Udon were all nominated in the best publisher category.

The winners of the awards will be announced at a June 27 ceremony. Nominees for a new children's comics prize will be announced in May, as will the nominees for the self-publishing prize (for which submissions are still being accepted).

The nominees, for works published in 2008, are:

Best Artist
(comic book artist(s) or illustrator/illustrator team)
*Marc Delafontaine (aka Delaf) - Les Nombrils 3 (Dupuis)
*Dale Eaglesham - JSA #12, 14-15, 18-22 (DC)
*David Finch - Ultimatum #1-2 (Marvel)
*Karl Kerschl & Serge LaPointe - Teen Titans: Year One #1-6 (DC)
*Jacques Lamontagne - Les Druides 4 (Soleil)
*Steve McNiven - Amazing Spider-Man #546-548, Wolverine #66-70 (Marvel)
*Steve Rolston - Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx), "Familiar" - House of Mystery #4 (DC/Vertigo), You Ain't No Dancer #3 (New Reliable Press)
*Stephen Sadowski - Avengers/Invaders #1-7 (Marvel/Dynamite), Superpowers #0 (Dynamite), Jack the Lantern: Ghosts #2 (Castle Rain)

Best Cartoonist
("Bedeist?" "Auteur?")

*Gregoire Bouchard - Vers les Mondes Lointains (Paquet)
*Darwyn Cooke - "Chapter X: The Greater Good" New Frontier Special #1, The Spirit #12 (DC)
*Francis Descharnais - Burquette (Les 400 coups)
*Jean-Paul Eid - Des tondeuses et des hommes (La Pasteque)
*Michael Gagne - "The Saga of Rex" Chapter 4 - Flight Vol. 5 (Ballantyne)
*Faith Erin Hicks - The War at Ellsmere (Slave Labor)
*Jeff Lemire - Essex County Vol. 3: The Country Nurse (Top Shelf)
*Seth - "Thoreau MacDonald" in Kramer's Ergot 7 (Buenaventura Press)
*Dave Sim - Glamourpuss #1-4, Judenhaas (Aardvark-Vanaheim)

Best Colourist/Dessinateur Couleur
*Jean-Francois Beaulieu
*Blond
*Chris Chuckry
*Maryse Dubuc
*Nathan Fairbairn
*Lovern Kindzierski
*Francois Lapierre
*Dave McCaig

Best Writer
("Scenariste"?)

*Ian Boothby - many Simpsons comics (Bongo)
*Cecil Castellucci - Janes in Love (DC/Minx)
*Darwyn Cooke - stories in New Frontier Special #1, Superman Confidential 11 (DC Comics)
*Maryse Dubuc - Les Nombrils 3 (Dupuis)
*Ray Fawkes - The Apocalipstix (Oni)
*Francois Lapierre - "Gedeon et la bete du lac" Contes et legendes du Quebec (Glenat Quebec)
*Mariko Tamaki - Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx), Skim (Groundwood Books)
*J. Torres - The Family Dynamic #1-3, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #11, 13, 17-19, Teen Titans Go! #51-55 (DC/Johnny DC), Wonder Girl #5-6 (DC Comics)

Best Cover
("Couverture")

*Adrian Alphona - Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane Season Two #1 Variant (Marvel Comics)
*Darwyn Cooke - The Spirit #12 (DC)
*Marc Delafontaine - Les Nombrils 3 (Dupuis)
*Dale Eaglesham - JSA #14 Variant (DC Comics)
*David Finch -Amazing Spider-Man #572 Variant (Marvel)
*Philippe Girard - Les Ravins (Mecanique Generale)
*Niko Henrichon - Hostile Tome 1 (Dupuis)
*Steve McNiven - Kick-Ass #1 Variant (Marvel)
*Dean Motter - Mister X: The Condemned #1 (Dark Horse)
*David Sim - Glamourpuss #4 Zombie Variant (Aardvark-Vanaheim)

Best Webcomic

*Kate Beaton - Hark! A Vagrant
*Michael Cho – Papercut
*Lar De Souza & Ryan Sohmer - Least I Could Do and Looking for Group
*Kathryn & Stuart Immonen - Moving Pictures
*Karl Kerschl - The Abominable Charles Christopher
*Gisele Lagace - Menage A 3
*Ramon K. Perez– Kukuburi and Butternut Squash (w/Robert Coughler)
*Cameron Stewart - Sin Titulo

Best Publisher

*Aardvark-Vanaheim
*Arcana Studio
*Conundrum Press
*Drawn & Quarterly
*La Pasteque
*Les 400 Coups/Mecanique Generale
*Red 5 Comics
*Udon Entertainment


See all the details about issue numbers, story titles, nominators, and sundry other credits at the Shusters website.
(top image: best cover nominee Dale Eaglesham's variant cover for JSA #14)

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   Wednesday, April 01, 2009  
Harper, McGuinty announce $50M comics industry bailout package

:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/01/2009 12:01:00 AM
From today's Globe and Mail:


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The aid package will also:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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   Wednesday, March 25, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: March 25

:: Posted by Bryan @ 3/25/2009 01:06:00 PM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn


The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (-) Fruits Basket 22, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
3. (2) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
4. (3) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (7) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (5) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (9) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (10) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
9. (16) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (4) Bleach 26, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
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11. (6) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (8) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
13. (12) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
14. (11) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
15. (14) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
16. (-) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (13) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
18. (15) Watchmen Hardcover, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
19. (20) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
20. (18) Rosario+Vampire 6, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
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21. (-) Batman: Killing Joke, Moore/Bolland (DC)
22. (-) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
23. (-) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. (-) Sandman: Preludes/Nocturnes, Gaiman et al (DC)
25. (19) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
26. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
27. (17) Rosario+Vampire 2, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
28. (23) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
29. (29) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
30. (-) Maus I, Spiegelman (Knopf)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Future historians will wonder at the sheer mass of Naruto-related pulp that seems to have smothered the population of Canada.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (4) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)4169
4. (3) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)6016
5. (6) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
6. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume) 8608
7. (7) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
8. (12) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)11847
9. (17) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni) 13310
10. (8) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
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11. (20) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. (-) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)15237
13. (9) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)15267
14. (-) It's a Good Life..., Seth (D+Q) 15553
15. (10) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)16019
16. (16) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (-) In Me Own Words (Bigfoot), Graham Roumieu (Plume)
18. (11) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
19. (19) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
20. (22) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
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21. (13) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
22. (14) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
23. (15) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
24. (18) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. (23) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
26. (21) Witness My Shame, Shary Boyle (Conundrum)
27. (24) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
28. (26) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
29. (27) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
30. (28) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)


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   Thursday, March 19, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: March 18 (Watchmen Edition, Part II)

:: Posted by Bryan @ 3/19/2009 12:40:00 AM
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compiled/edited by B. Munn

Last week we linked to a few other lists that use the numbers from Booknet. Most of these lists ranked the Watchmen graphic novel differently (or not at all). This week, Quill and Quire weighs in with their own BookNet-sourced list, with Watchmen at #4. At the time of this writing, Watchmen is #8 on Amazon.ca At Chapters/Indigo, it is #7 overall. On the BookManager list, Watchmen is #10 overall. And now:

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (-) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (2) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (-) Bleach 26, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
5. (4) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (23) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (7) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (15) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
9. (6) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (11) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
-----
11. (-) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
12. (20) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (-) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
14. (8) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
15. (17) Watchmen Hardcover, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
16. (12) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (-) Rosario+Vampire 2, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
18. (9) Rosario+Vampire 6, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
19. (14) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (24) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
-----
21. (-) Rosario+Vampire 1, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
22. (10) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
23. (30) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
24. (-) Garfield Spills the Beans, Davis (Random House)
25. (-) Simpsons Treehouse of Horror, Groening et al (Harper Collins)
26. (-) Naruto 4, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
27. (-) Naruto 3, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
28. (16) Hobbit GN, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
29. (13) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
30. (19) Maus II, Spiegelman (Knopf)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Going into March Break, Narutomania continues.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes manga, U.S. superhero titles, 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
2. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (2) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
4. (5) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
5. (8) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (11) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
7. (4) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
8. (6) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
9. (7) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
10. (10) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
-----
11. (-) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
12. (9) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
13. (12) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
14. (20) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
15. (21) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
16. (22) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (27) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
18. (28) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
19. (13) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
20. (15) Pyonyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
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21. (16) Witness My Shame, Shary Boyle (Conundrum)
22. (17) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
23. (18) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
24. (23) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
25. (24) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
26. (25) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
27. (26) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
28. (-) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
29. (14) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
30. (-) Nil, James Turner (Slave Labor)

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   Friday, March 13, 2009  
Publishing: Stripmalling

:: Posted by Bryan @ 3/13/2009 02:41:00 AM


Stripmalling
by Jon Paul Fiorentino
illos and comics by Evan Munday
ECW Press
ISBN-10: 1-55022-859-5
ISBN-13: 978-1-55022-859-5
180pp
$24.95 CAD

Toronto booklaunch photos
Globe review
Q+Q review

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   Wednesday, March 11, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: March 11 (Watchmen Edition)

:: Posted by Bryan @ 3/11/2009 01:47:00 AM
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compiled/edited by B. Munn

We skipped a week with the Sequential Bestseller List but are back with a vengeance to chronicle Watchmen mania. For the record, although Sequential uses Bookmanager figures, most Canadian news sources use numbers provided by the more-comprehensive BookNet. Both the Globe and Mail and National Post use these numbers. The most recent Post list has the Watchmen at #9, while the Globe doesn't list it at all. On the Chapters-Indigo list, Watchmen is currently at #15. On Amazon.ca, Watchmen ranks at #2, after Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes. On the BookManager list, Watchmen is #13 overall and #3 in paperback fiction. And now:

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (-) Vampire Knight 2, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (2) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (3) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (-) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
6. (4) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (5) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (25) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
9. (-) Rosario+Vampire 6, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
10. (10) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
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11. (-) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (-) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (21) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
14. (9) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (-) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
16. (-) Hobbit GN, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
17. (-) Watchmen Hardcover, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
18. (19) Daniel X Alien Hunter, Patterson (Little Brown)
19. (20) Maus II, Spiegelman (Knopf)
20. (-) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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21. (11) Rosario+Vampire 5, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
22. (-) Black Cat 19, Kentaro Yabuki (VIZ)
23. (-) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. (6) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
25. (-) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
26. (7) Tsubasa 20: Reservoir Chronicle, Clamp (Random House)
27. (-) The Joker (Hardcover), Brian Azzarello et al (DC)
28. (-) Sardine in Outer Space, Joann Sfar (Holt)
29. (28) Vampire Knight 2, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
30. (-) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Canada remains one nation, under Naruto, but Alan Moore has a few books on the list, and the Canadian-published, Queen of U.S. comics Lynda Barry returns to the list.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes manga, U.S. superhero titles, 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
2. (5) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
3. (4) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (3) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (2) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
6. (7) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
7. (10) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
8. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
9. (-) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
10. (8) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
-----
11. (11) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
12. (12) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
13. (13) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
14. (18) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
15. (-) Pyonyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
16. (-) Witness My Shame, Shary Boyle (Conundrum)
17. (15) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
18. (25) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
19. (-) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fanta)
20. (9) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
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21. (20) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
22. (23) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
23. (24) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
24. (-) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. (-) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
26. (22) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (17) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
28. (19) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (21) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
30. (30) Paul Has a Summer Job, Rabagliati (D+Q)


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   Thursday, February 26, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: February 26

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/26/2009 02:19:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (5) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (4) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (16) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
7. (8) Tsubasa 20: Reservoir Chronicle, Clamp (Random House)
8. (-) Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes - Book I, Gaiman (DC)
9. (7) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (6) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
-----
11. (11) Rosario+Vampire 5, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
12. (14) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
13. (12) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Yen)
14. (-) Death Note 5, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
15. (10) Batman Killing Joke, Moore/Bolland (DC)
16. (13) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (9) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
18. (-) Sandman II: The Doll's House, Gaiman (DC)
19. (-) Daniel X Alien Hunter, Patterson (Little Brown)
20. (23) Maus II, Spiegelman (Knopf)
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21. (24) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
22. (-) Death Note 3, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
23. (-) Batman RIP, Tony Daniel et al (DC)
24. (15) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
25. (17) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
26. (-) Walking Dead 9, Kirkman et al (Image)
27. (21) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
28. (-) Vampire Knight 2, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
29. (-) Naruto 4, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
30. (28) Dark Tower, King et al (Marvel)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: 9 Narutos and 2 Gaiman (an effect of the Coraline film and Gaiman's new novel?).

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes manga, U.S. superhero titles, 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
2. (-) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
3. (3) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
5. (4) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
6. (7) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
7. (5) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
8. (9) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
9. (10) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
10. (6) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
-----
11. (8) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
12. (11) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
13. (14) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
14. (18) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
15. (20) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
16. (22) In Me Own Words: Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
17. (23) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
18. (26) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
19. (12) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (13) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
-----
21. (17) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
22. (19) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
23. (16) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
24. (21) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
25. (-) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
26. (25) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (27) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
28. (-) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
29. (30) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
30. (-) Paul Has a Summer Job, Rabagliati (D+Q)

4 out of the 5 Scott Pilgrim volumes are in the top 30, including the newest volume which sits at #2 in its first week. Still, Lynn Johnston has five in the top 30...
-----
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   Wednesday, February 18, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: Feb 19

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/18/2009 01:47:00 AM
bookmanager logo

compiled/edited by B. Munn

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (9) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (11) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (10) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
7. (4) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (5) Tsubasa 20: Reservoir Chronicle, Clamp (Random House)
9. (6) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
10. (-) Batman Killing Joke, Moore/Bolland (DC)
-----
11. (16) Rosario+Vampire 5, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
12. (8) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Yen)
13. (7) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
14. (22) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
15. (24) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
16. (29) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
17. (-) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
18. (13) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
19. (14) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
20. (15) Otomen 1, Aya Kanno (VIZ)
-----
21. (20) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
22. (12) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
23. (-) Maus II, Spiegelman (Knopf)
24. (-) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
25. (-) Death Note 12, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
26. (21) Bleach 1, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
27. (-) Tsubasa 19: Reservoir Chronicle, Clamp (Random House)
28. (-) Dark Tower, King et al (Marvel)
29. (17) Vampire Knight 3, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
30. (-) B.O.D.Y. 4, Ao Mimori (VIZ)



Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Manga, manga, manga! Lots of movement due to new volumes of translated Japanese comics. And for the first time since we've been collating these lists, Lynn Johnston is bumped from the top 30 (her Home Sweat Home collection falls from 30 to 86)!

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes manga, U.S. superhero titles, 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
2. (4) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (2) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (4) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
5. (7) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
6. (6) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
7. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
8. (24) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
9. (22) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
10. (9) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
-----
11. (11) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
12. (12) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
13. (15) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
14. (16) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
15. (20) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
16. (8) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (25) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
18. (-) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (27) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (10) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
-----
21. (13) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
22. (17) In Me Own Words: Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
23. (18) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
24. (19) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. (23) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
26. (28) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
27. (30) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
28. (-) Strange and Stranger, Nlake Bell (Fanta)
29. (-) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
30. (-) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)

No new faces this week but considerable shuffling.

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   Thursday, February 12, 2009  
Canadian Bestsellers: Feb 12

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/12/2009 03:10:00 AM
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edited by B. Munn

**We have some new competition in the Bestseller List game. This past weekend, I noticed for the first time that the Globe and Mail is posting the occasional top 10 Manga and Graphic Novel List, based on Booknet numbers. The list is similar to the Bookmanager list, but with presumably more numbers backing it up.**

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (4) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (5) Tsubasa 20: Reservoir Chronicle, Clamp (Random House)
6. (6) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
7. (19) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (9) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Yen)
9. (-) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (10) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
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11. (-) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (8) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
13. (7) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
14. (11) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
15. (-) Otomen 1, Aya Kanno (VIZ)
16. (16) Rosario+Vampire 5, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
17. (-) Vampire Knight 3, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
18. (-) Papillon 2, Miwa Ueda (Random House)
19. (18) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
20. (23) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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21. (-) Bleach 1, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
22. (12) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
23. (26) The Walking Dead 9, Robert Kirkman et al (Image)
24. (14) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
25. (15) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
26. (27) Death Note 3, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
27. (20) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
28. (22) Death Note 2, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
29. (17) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
30. (13) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: The Naruto surge continues, with several other newly published manga debuting high on the list.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes manga, U.S. superhero titles, 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.

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
2. (2) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
3. (4) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
4. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
5. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
7. (19) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
8. (7) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
9. (8) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
10. (11) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
-----
11. (12) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
12. (-) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
13. (17) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
14. (10) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
15. (21) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
16. (-) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
17. (13) In Me Own Words: Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
18. (14) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (15) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (16) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
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21. (18) Hall Of Best Knowledge, Ray Fenwick (Fanta)
22. (20) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
23. (22) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. (9) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
25. (23) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
26. (24) Lillian the Legend, Kerry Byrne (Conundrum)
27. (25) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
28. (26) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
29. (27) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
30. (28) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)


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   Wednesday, February 11, 2009  
Kafka in America

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/11/2009 03:19:00 AM

Very wonderful. An adaptation of Kafka's Amerika by Real Godbout. Compares favourably with Robert Crumb's version. (Thanks to Eric Theriault at BDQ)

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   Thursday, February 05, 2009  
Weekly Bestsellers: February 4

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/05/2009 12:01:00 AM
bookmanager logo

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (-) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (-) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (2) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (-) Tsubasa 20: Reservoir Chronicle, Clamp (Random House)
6. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
7. (4) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
8. (7) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
9. (6) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Yen)
10. (8) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
-----
11. (13) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
12. (15) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
13. (5) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (12) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (9) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
16. (-) Rosario+Vampire 5, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
17. (-) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
18. (17) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
19. (10) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (14) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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21. (11) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
22. (30) Death Note 2, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
23. (21) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. (16) Che, Spain (Verso)
25. (-) Vampire Knight 4, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
26. (-) The Walking Dead 9, Robert Kirkman et al (Image)
27. (-) Death Note 3, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
28. (-) Death Note 5, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
29. (-) Maus II, Spiegelman (Knopf)
30. (19) Black Cat 18, Yabuki Kentaro (VIZ)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: A ton of new manga titles, including the 500-pound gorilla Naruto.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everything from Jack Kirby's The Demon to Jim Woodring's Complete Frank battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is the battleground where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
2. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
3. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
5. (4) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
7. (17) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
8. (8) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
9. (7) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
10. (-) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
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11. (10) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
12. (13) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
13. (23) In Me Own Words: Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
14. (-) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
15. (-) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
16. (-) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (30) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
18. (-) Hall Of Best Knowledge, Ray Fenwick (Fanta)
19. (9) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
20. (11) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
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21. (12) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
22. (14) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
23. (15) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
24. (-) Lillian the Legend, Kerry Byrne (Conundrum)
25. (20) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
26. (19) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
27. (21) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
28. (22) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
29. (24) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
30. (-) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)

After a long time, Skim by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki knocks Lynn Johnston off the #1 spot. A strong debut for Lillian the Legend --the story of a woman who walks across Canada-- at #24.

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   Wednesday, February 04, 2009  
Publishing: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe

:: Posted by Bryan @ 2/04/2009 03:00:00 AM

The fifth volume of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series drops today. O'Malley is in New York getting ready for the NY Comicon this weekend. THe book had a special midnight release at Jim Hanley's Universe shop earlier today and there is a signing and art show at Brooklyn's Rocketship store at 7PM.

If there is an English-language comics phenomenon in North America today, it is the Scott Pilgrim series.

Scott Pilgrim 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Oni Press
$11.95
ISBN: 978-1-934964-10-1
Diamond Code: DEC08 4184

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   Friday, January 23, 2009  
TCAF Announcement

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/23/2009 12:01:00 AM

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival officially announced its 2009 program and dates Thursday. The event will take place over the weekend of Saturday May 9 and Sunday May 10 and features the first Canadian appearance of Japan's Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Tatsumi is regarded by many as the godfather of serious adult manga and his work has been the subject of retrospective short story collections from Drawn and Quarterly (Good Bye, Abandon the Old in Tokyo, and The Push Man and Other Stories). Tatsumi is debuting the English translation of his massive comics autobiography, A Drifting Life, published by D+Q, at TCAF.

Other international headliners include Adrian Tomine (USA), Ivan Brunetti (USA), Paul Pope (USA), Emmanuel Guibert (France), and Anke Feuchtenberger (Germany).

The free Festival is organized by the Beguiling bookstore and takes place at the Toronto Reference Library, at 789 Yonge St.

Events include talks by the various authors, book launches and artists tables. An off-site gallery show by U.S. cartoonist Jordan Crane will take place at the Magic Pony gallery and the annual Doug Wright Awards are also scheduled for the same weekend.

See the TCAF site for full details and a complete list of Canadian and International guests.

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   Thursday, January 22, 2009  
Weekly Bestsellers: January 21

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/22/2009 02:45:00 AM
bookmanager logo

The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (4) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
5. (-) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Yen)
6. (5) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
7. (6) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
8. (12) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
9. (8) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
10. (7) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
-----
11. (10) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (16) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
13. (13) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
14. (11) Che, Spain (Verso)
15. (18) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
16. (9) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
17. (19) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
18. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
19. (-) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fitzgerald/DeFillippis (Quirk)
20. (-) Chibi Vampire 12, Kagesaki Yuna (Tokyopop)
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21. (22) Black Cat 18, Yabuki Kentaro (VIZ)
22. (-) Chibi Vampire 11, Kagesaki Yuna (Tokyopop)
23. (-) American Born Chinese, Gene Yang (First Second)
24. (-) Asterix and the Roman Agent, Uderzo (Orion)
25. (-) Vampire Knight 3, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
26. (14) DC Comics Encyclopedia, Rbt Greenburger (DK)
27. (20) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
28. (-) Death Note 13, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
27. (15) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
28. (17) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
29. (27) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
30. (21) Simpsons/Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Based on the popular fantasy prose novels, Maximum Ride the OEL manga features a tribe of genetically-engineered angel teenagers trying to save the world debuts at #5.
In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everything from Jack Kirby's The Demon to Jim Woodring's Complete Frank battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is the battleground where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
5. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (15) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
8. (11) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
9. (7) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
10. (12) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
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11. (21) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
12. (-) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
13. (27) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
14. (28) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
15. (12) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
16. (-) Striking a Cord, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
17. (17) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
18. (22) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (-) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
20. (13) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
-----
21. (14) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. (16) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
23. (18) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
24. (20) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fantagraphics)
25. (19) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
26. (24) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (26) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
28. (29) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (30) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
30. (-) Hall of Best Knowledge, Ray Fenwick (Fantagraphics)


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   Wednesday, January 21, 2009  
Publishing: Never As Bad As You Think

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/21/2009 02:30:00 AM

One of the more graphically interesting webcomics of recent years, Never As Bad As You Think, by husband-and-wife team Stuart and Kathryn Immonen, is now available as a print graphic novel, from Boom! Studios. Publisher's blurb:

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN artist Stuart Immonen teams up with HELLCAT writer Kathryn Immonen for a fascinating original graphic novel! NABAYT tracks the alarming failures of paranoid urbanites, murderous waitstaff, heart-broken ambulance drivers, mariachi bands, talking cats and dogs, people who like cake and many who wield knives for a variety of purposes. This full-color printing contains all 52 strips from the Immonens' year-long web project along with two new strips and fresh, revealing bios in a perfect-bound deluxe edition hardcover designed by the House of Immonen. A gorgeous collection in a handsome limited edition!


Never As Bad As You Think
Kathryn Immonen, Stuart Immonen
Boom! Studios
$15.99
January, 2009
ISBN13: 9781934506738
Diamond Code: OCT083926

preview

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   Friday, January 16, 2009  
Weekly Bestsellers: January 14

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/16/2009 12:01:00 AM
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The Top 30 Graphic Novels 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. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (4) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
5. (5) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (6) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
7. (7) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
8. (8) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
9. (24) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
10. (9) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
-----
11. (10) Che, Spain (Verso)
12. (17) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
13. (11) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
14. (12) DC Comics Encyclopedia, Rbt Greenburger (DK)
15. (13) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
16. (14) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
17. (15) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
18. (16) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
19. (20) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
20. (18) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
-----
21. (19) Simpsons/Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
22. (-) Black Cat 18, Yabuki Kentaro (VIZ)
23. (21) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
24. (23) Marvel Encyclopedia, Tom Defalco (DK)
25. (22) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
26. (25) Daniel X Alien Hunter, Patterson et al (Little, Brown)
27. (26) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
28. (-) Vampire Knight 2, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
29. (27) Asterix the Gaul, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
30. (-) Shugo Chara! 5, Peach-Pit (Random House)



Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: 2 new volums of popular manga series are released: Shuga Chara! continues the adventures of the kids' comic about a alienated little girl with magical guardians; Black Cat continues the adventures of the titular bounty hunter with a heart of gold.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everything from Jack Kirby's The Demon to Jason's The Living and the Dead battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is the battleground where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
5. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (7) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
8. (8) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
9. (12) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
10. (15) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
-----
11. (10) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
12. (9) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
13. (16) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (22) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
15. (11) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
16. (25) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
17. (14) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
18. (17) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
19. (18) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
20. (19) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fantagraphics)
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21. (20) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
22. (21) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
23. (-) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
24. (23) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. (24) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
26. (26) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (27) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
28. (28) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (30) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
30. (-) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)

Until I read the interview with Brian K. Vaughan in the most recent Comics Journal, I was disinclined to include Y: The Last Man in our All-Canadian List. While the book was conceived and written by Vaughan, the much-lauded art for the book is by Canadian Pia Guerra, who Vaughan credits with several plot points and story ideas, not to mention the obvious character designs and actual cartooning of the book. Traditionally, for the purposes of this list, my definition of "Canadian" means "created by a Canadian." I simply ask myself, "Would this book exist in some form without the involvement of a creator from the Frozen North?" The answer, especially for collaborative works, and especially for works published by U.S. publishers like Marvel and Warners/DC/Vertigo, is usually yes. Thus, Pride of Baghdad, Y, and Nextwave: Agents of HATE don't make the cut, whereas books by Darwyn Cooke, who is more often than not writer/artist these days, do. That being said, if Y: The Last Man were actually considered for this list, volume 2 would currently sit at #7. Other volumes would occupy several more spaces.

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   Thursday, January 08, 2009  
Udon to Launch Kids Manga Line

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/08/2009 12:57:00 AM

Sort of old news now, but we try to give you the most complete coverage possible here at Sequential:

Coming hard on the heels of its announcement of a Korean manwha line, UDON, Canada's largest manga publisher, has announced the launch of a children's manga line. The line, dubbed "UDON Kids," will feature translated Japanese comics targeted at the pre-teen market. According to UDON CEO Eric Ko, the titles "are meant to be enjoyed for their captivating stories, and are not trying to sell kids on the latest animated series or card game like too many manga series are these days."

The series will launch in May, with The Big Adventures of Majoko Volume 1 by Tomomi Mizuna, and Ninja Baseball Kyuma Volume 1 by Shunshin Maeda.

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   Wednesday, January 07, 2009  
Publishing: Baloney by Pascal Blanchet

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/07/2009 02:00:00 PM


I just bought this on Tuesday from the local comic shop and it is a very pretty book, although I wish a cd had been included.

Baloney
by Pascal Blanchet
80 pages
Drawn and Quarterly
$16.95
ISBN: 9781897299661

publisher's copy:

Following White Rapids --named "Best Comic of 2007" by The Onion—Pascal Blanchet brings us Baloney. Winds swirl and darkness reigns over a hamlet perched atop a craggy peak. Russian fatalism sets the tone as Blanchet orchestrates the tale of a village butcher, his disabled daughter, and her tutor, in their doomed uprising against the swaggering Duke Shostakov, local governor and owner of the only heating company in town.

Curvy, retro lines and atmospheric, full-page panels evoke plaintive melodies, staccato passages and soaring solos. In a graphic novel about love and despair that is also a homage to the music of the 1930s and 40s, double bassists and trombonists lean into the frame, striking up a score that blends vaudeville with Kurt Weill and Russia's great modern composers. Rendered in two-color, red and black chiaroscuro, light struggles to emerge from darkness and endurance makes way for heroism, all to no avail. Read Baloney as a reverie composed to the melodies of Prokofiev and Shostakovich: a beautiful conjuring of moods, or a call to arms against the exorbitant rates charged by utilities.
December 2008/January 2009


chapters/indigo

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Weekly Bestsellers: January 7

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/07/2009 06:00:00 AM
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Our weekly snapshot of the comics retail scene, covering New Year's week.

The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (4) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
5. (5) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (6) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
7. (7) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
8. (8) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
9. (8) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (14) Che, Spain (Verso)
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11. (12) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
12. (10) DC Comics Encyclopedia, Rbt Greenburger (DK)
13. (11) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (17) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
15. (13) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
16. (16) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (15) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
18. (-) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
19. (23) Simpsons/Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
20. (28) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
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21. (18) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
22. (20) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
23. (19) Marvel Encyclopedia, Tom Defalco (DK)
24. (21) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
25. (25) Daniel X Alien Hunter, Patterson et al (Little, Brown)
26. (22) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
27. (24) Asterix the Gaul, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
28. (26) Big Brilliant Book Of Bart, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
29. (27) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
30. (29) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Nothing new this week, just a shuffling of the deck.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Frank Miller to JRR Tolkien battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (8) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
8. (7) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
9. (11) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
10. (15) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
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11. (9) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
12. (12) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
13. (10) In Me Own Words/Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
14. (12) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
15. (14) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
16. (17) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
17. (18) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
18. (-) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
19. (23) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fantagraphics)
20. (24) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
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21. (-) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
22. (29) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
23. (-) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. (16) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
25. (20) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
26. (19) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (21) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
28. (25) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (27) Zombies Calling, Faith Erin Hicks (Slave Labor)
30. (-) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)

Not much new here. Lynn Johnston is still the Queen of Canada. The Spirit may have got a bump from the Frank Miller movie. And I'm beginning to suspect that the D+Q bookstore may be a Bookmanager client.

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   Thursday, January 01, 2009  
Weekly Bestsellers: December 31

:: Posted by Bryan @ 1/01/2009 05:00:00 AM
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One more kick at the can for 2008. I'm pretty sure these lists represent sales through Dec. 27, so next week's list will be the "last" list of 2008 even though it will be dated 2009.

The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (5) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
5. (4) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (6) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
7. (7) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
8. (12) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
9. (8) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (11) DC Comics Encyclopedia, Rbt Greenburger (DK)
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11. (24) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
12. (9) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
13. (18) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
14. (-) Che, Spain (Verso)
15. (15) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
16. (10) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (13) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
18. (-) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
19. (29) Marvel Encyclopedia, Tom Defalco (DK)
20. (14) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
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21. (19) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
22. (21) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
23. (17) Simpsons Comics Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
24. (-) Asterix the Gaul, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
25. (-) Daniel X Alien Hunter, Patterson et al (Little, Brown)
26. (-) Big Brilliant Book Of Bart, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
27. (-) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
28. (16) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
29. (-) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
30. (-) The Potpourrific Great Big Grab Bag of Get Fuzzy, Darby Conley (Andrews McMeel)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: The just-released graphic novel adaption of thriller writer James Patterson's popular Daniel X kids series makes a strong showing. As well, there are five books by Canadian creators but only 2 books from a Canadian publisher.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Frank Miller to JRR Tolkien battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (-) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
8. (8) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
9. (7) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
10. (-) In Me Own Words/Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
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11. (22) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
12. (9) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
13. (12) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
14. (11) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
15. (15) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
16. (17) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (10) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
18. (19) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
19. (13) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (24) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
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21. (16) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
22. (14) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
23. (-) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fantagraphics)
24. (-) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
25. (-) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
26. (20) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (21) Zombies Calling, Faith Erin Hicks (Slave Labor)
28. (23) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (25) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
30. (26) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)

High-ranking books that don't qualify as sufficiently Canadian (but would otherwise be in the Top 30 Canadian): Y The Last Man, the KRAZY! catalog, JSA Volume 1, and many others. Something else that I find utterly fascinating: POWR MSTRS #2 outsold the bottom 13 (ie, #s 18-30) Canadian books this week. It also outsold Garfield Dishes it Out, Y: The Last Man Vol 3, The Hardy Boys Sea You Sea Me, Aya, Chobits, Gary Larson's Last Chapter and Worse, Bleach Vol 9, Jimmy Corrigan, Bleach Vol 17, Inuyasha, The Evil Dead, Love and Rockets: New Stories Vol 1 and thousands of other comics. Congrats to C.F. and publisher Dan Nadel.

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   Saturday, December 27, 2008  
Weekly Bestsellers: December 24

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/27/2008 05:00:00 AM
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Perhaps the last of these lists for the year, featuring the bestselling comics-related books from the week before Christmas.

The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (-) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (5) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (6) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (8) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
6. (3) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
7. (10) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
8. (4) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
9. (7) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
10. (14) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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11. (-) DC Comics Encyclopedia, Rbt Greenburger (DK)
12. (-) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
13. (18) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
14. (11) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
15. (12) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
16. (-) Negima! 20, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
17. (28) Simpsons Comics Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
18. (21) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
19. (9) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
20. (-) Naruto 30, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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21. (20) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
22. (-) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure 2, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
23. (16) Dilbert: This Is the Part Where You Pretend to Add Value, Adams (Andrews McMeel)
24. (-) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. (-) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
26. (-) The Joker (Hardcover), Azzarello/Bermejo (DC)
27. (-) The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home, King et al (Marvel)
28. (25) Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 19, Clamp (Random House)
29. (-) Marvel Encyclopedia, Tom Defalco (DK)
30. (-) Heroes, Various (DC)

Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: The return of some of the stronger sellers of the past year, just in time for the holiday gift-giving season. The only "new" book on the list is the 20th volume in the Negima translated manga series.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Chris Onstad to Mort Todd to Edward Gorey battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (15) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
8. (7) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
9. (8) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
10. (10) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
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11. (30) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. (14) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
13. (16) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (9) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
15. (-) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
16. (-) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
17. (12) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
18. (17) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
19. (21) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
20. (-) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
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21. (-) Zombies Calling, Faith Erin Hicks (Slave Labor)
22. (19) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
23. (11) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. (-) Batman: Ego and other tales, Darwyn Cooke/Paul Grist (DC)
25. (13) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
26. (18) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
27. (20) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
28. (22) Graduation, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (-) Dramacon 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
30. (24) Hall of Best Knowledge, Ray Fenwick (Fantagraphics)

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   Thursday, December 18, 2008  
Weekly Bestsellers: December 17

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/18/2008 01:00:00 PM
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The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (-) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (2) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
4. (4) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (3) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
6. (8) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
7. (5) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
8. (6) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
9. (-) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
10. (21) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
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11. (18) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
12. (15) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
13. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
14. (7) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (16) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
16. (29) Dilbert: This Is the Part Where You Pretend to Add Value, Adams (Andrews McMeel)
17. (12) Che, Rodriguez/Buhle (Verso)
18. (13) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
19. (-) Vampire Knight 4, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
20. (9) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
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21. (24) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
22. (23) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
23. (-) Rosario+Vampire, Volume 4, Akihisa Ikeda, (VIZ)
24. (-) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
25. (10) Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 19, Clamp (Random House)
26. (-) Asterix/Olmpic Games, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
27. (-) Death Note 11, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
28. (11) Simpsons Comics Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
29. (-) Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, Gaiman et al (DC)
30. (28) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)

Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: Lots of activity the further down the list we go, barring a new Naruto volume or two. More (holiday gift) perennial faves like Asterix start taking up more space, and new annual collections of popular strip and cartoon show comics (Dilbert) start showing up on more people's radar.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Chris Onstad to Mort Todd to Edward Gorey battle for supremacy, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200 (and into the top 30). This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
5. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (7) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
8. (-) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
9. (16) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
10. (20) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
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11. (-) It's the Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
12. (24) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
13. (9) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (12) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
15. (13) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
16. (17) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
17. (18) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
18. (19) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
19. (9) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
20. (21) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
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21. (-) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
22. (-) Graduation, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
23. (22) Rex Libris: I, Librarian, James Turner (Slave Labor Graphics)
24. (10) Hall of Best Knowledge, Ray Fenwick (Fantagraphics)
25. (11) The New Frontier 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
26. (14) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fanta)
27. (15) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
28. (-) Portfoolio 22, Guy Badeuax, ed (McArthur)
29. (-) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
30. (26) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)

The top 7 remain solid but lots of movement for this intense shopping season, despite the recession.

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   Thursday, December 11, 2008  
Weekly Bestsellers: December 10

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/11/2008 03:00:00 PM
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The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
3. (4) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (3) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (-) Bleach 24, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
6. (10) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
7. (6) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (7) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (23) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
10. (9) Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 19, Clamp (Random House)
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11. (8) Simpsons Comics Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
12. (11) Che, Rodriguez/Buhle (Verso)
13. (27) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
14. (-) Bionicle 1, Elliott/Farshtey (St. Martin's)
15. (15) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
16. (12) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
17. (13) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure 2, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
18. (19) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
19. (25) Bionicle 2: Challenge of the Rahkshi! Elliott/Farshtey (St. Martin's)
20. (-) Marvel Encyclopedia (DK)
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21. (14) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
22. (-) Daniel X Alien Hunter, Patterson/Gout/Lyngeled (Little, Brown)
23. (30) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
24. (16) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
25. (-) Asterix the Gaul, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
26. (-) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
27. (20) The Joker (Hardcover), Azzarello/Bermejo (DC)
28. (-) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
29. (-) Dilbert: This Is the Part Where You Pretend to Add Value, Adams (Andrews McMeel)
30. (-) Red: The Heroic Rescue, Ted Dekker (Thomas Nelson)


Standard explanation: The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week: More perennial faves like Asterix start taking up more space, and new annual collections of popular strip and cartoon show comics (Dilbert) start showing up on more people's radar.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Lynda Barry to Wolverine duke it out, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200. This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
5. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (-) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
8. (33) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
9. (8) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
9. (7) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
10. (14) Hall of Best Knowledge, Ray Fenwick (Fantagraphics)
-----
11. (15) The New Frontier 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
12. (18) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
13. (19) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
14. (22) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fanta)
15. (21) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
16. (9) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
17. (30) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
18. (-) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
19. (10) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
20. (13) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
-----
21. (12) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel
22. (25) Rex Libris: I, Librarian, James Turner (Slave Labor Graphics)
23. (26) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. (28) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
25. (29) Graphic Witness: Four Wordless Graphic Novels, George A Walker ed (Firefly)
26. (17) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
27. (-) Pohadky, Colek (D+Q)
28. (-) 363 Days, Julie Doucet (D+Q)
29. (-) There Goes My Baby, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
30. (-) Witness My Shame, Shary Boyle (Conundrum)

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   Tuesday, December 09, 2008  
The C-List: Comics Links

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/09/2008 02:30:00 PM
-The Vancouver Province Province reveals the results of its reader poll for new strips.

-The Collected Doug Wright now available for pre-order: Sure to be the publishing event of 2009!

-New book of strips: Nature Calls by Berry Wijdeven (Epic Press, ISBN 978-1-55452-332-0 : $16.95).

-The Comic Book Bin has the press release for Canadian manga publisher Udon signing with online webcomics folks Crunchyroll.

-Missed it: Eric Braun launched a new b.d., Mondo Loco, along with a collective exhibit at USINE 106U : 160 Roy Est, Montreal last week.

-The man who took Ezra Leveant to the Alberta Human Rights Commission over the publication of the Danish Mohammed cartoons has ironically started a free speech organization.

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   Friday, December 05, 2008  
Sunday: Mariko Tamaki in Guelph

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/05/2008 02:38:00 AM
Comics to Watch Out For
Featuring Mariko Tamaki, Douglas Davey, Jen Stewart and Amy Chop
Sunday December 7th, 2008 2pm-4pm
Ebar, 41 Quebec St., Guelph Ontario
$5-$10 suggested donation

The Dragon comic book store in Guelph and Out On The Shelf Queer Library and Resource Centre are proud to present "Comics to Watch Out For". This day-long fundraiser for Out On The Shelf will feature:

Author Mariko Tamaki, reading from her graphic novels SKIM and EMIKO SUPERSTAR.
Librarian Douglas Davey, presenting on The History of Queer Comics and Graphic Novels Comics Retailers Jen Stewart and Amy Chop, presenting on Women And Comic Books

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   Thursday, December 04, 2008  
Tonite: Jobnik! in Seattle

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/04/2008 03:22:00 PM

Jobnik! cartoonist Miriam Libicki presents a comic reading/slideshow in Seattle, WA
Thursday, December 04
Hillel UW
4745 17th Ave, Seattle
7-8PM
details

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Weekly Bestsellers: December 4

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/04/2008 01:00:00 PM
bookmanager logo

The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
3. (3) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (6) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
5. (-) Bleach 24, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
6. (5) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (6) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
8. (24) Simpsons Comics Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
9. (12) Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 19, Clamp (Random House)
10. (7) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
-----
11. (11) Che, Rodriguez/Buhle (Verso)
12. (19) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
13. (13) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure 2, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
14. (9) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
15. (8) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
16. (-) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (-) Asterix/Falling Sky, Uderzo (Orion)
18. (10) Chibi Vampire 11, Yuna Kagesaki (Tokyopop)
19. (27) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
20. (23) The Joker (Hardcover), Azzarello/Bermejo (DC)
-----
21. (17) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
22. (14) Fullmetal Alchemist 17, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
23. (-) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
24. (-) The Potpourrific Great Big Grab Bag of Get Fuzzy, Darby Conley (Andrews McMeel)
25. (-) Bionicle 2: Challenge of the Rahkshi! Elliott/Farshtey (St. Martin's)
26. (-) Death Note 4, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
27. (15) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
28. (-) Asterix in Britain, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
29. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
30. (18) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)

The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week, the latest Bleach installment debuts at #5, perennial faves like Asterix start taking up more space, and new annual collections of popular strip and cartoon show comics (The Simpsons) start showing up on more people's radar.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Maus (#46) to Lynda Barry (#50) to Moomin (#150) duke it out, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200. This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
5. (5) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (4) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (9) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
8. (7) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
9. (8) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
10. (10) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
-----

11. (11) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
12. (-) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
13. (-) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (-) Hall of Best Knowledge, Ray Fenwick (Fantagraphics)
15. (26) The New Frontier 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
16. (27) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
17. (12) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
18. (13) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
19. (14) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
20. (16) Emiko Superstar, Mariko Tamaki/Steve Rolston (DC/Minx)
-----
21. (15) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
22. (-) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fanta)
24. (17) Dramacon 3, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
25. (18) Rex Libris: I, Librarian, James Turner (Slave Labor Graphics)
26. (19) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (20) Dramacon 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
28. (21) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
29. (22) Graphic Witness: Four Wordless Graphic Novels, George A Walker ed (Firefly)
30. (23) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)

Not seen: Drop-In by Dave Lapp (Conundrum) debuts at #33 on the Canadian list. As well, I haven't been including KRAZY! on this list. It's the book of the exhibit from the Vancouver Art Gallery (edited by Bruce Grenville, published by Douglas & McIntyre) and would rank somewhere around #7 on the all-Canadian list (#205 overall) if it wasn't essentially an art book (or, at best, an international anthology with some essays). The book's overall sales rank puts it just above How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.

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   Wednesday, December 03, 2008  
Sequential Reports: Chris Ware

:: Posted by Bryan @ 12/03/2008 01:00:00 AM

Some blurry images from Chris Ware's appearance at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture in Cambridge, Ontario this past Saturday. Ware presented his short film, done in collaboration with Ira Glass, about Tim Samuelson's efforts to save the buildings of Louis Sullivan in Chicago. Ware also presented a slideshow of his working methods and talked a bit about what he was attempting to do with his art and his use of buildings and architecture. Later, Ware was joined onstage by Seth and the two were interviewed by Jeet Heer while the event was filmed by the intrusive and distracting cameras of the NFB. Heer gamely tried to keep on the topic of architecture while the discussion ranged widely and the two cartoonists talked about their efforts to control story pacing and emotional response to their comics. Hi-lights include Ware's assertion that Charlie Brown was the first American comic strip character to evoke empathy (to cries of 'Walt and Skeezix' and 'Wimpy' from the other participants --and a muttered "What about Little Orphan Annie?" from your humble scribe). In a discussion of religion and the god-like role of cartoonists, Ware humourously compared the creation of "superhero comics for adults" to "writing pornography for children." The 150-seat lecture hall was about 1/2 full with a lively crowd (including at least one Mies van der Rohe defender) who braved the snow and cold to turn out for this afternoon event in a beautiful, if under-construction, downtown. Rumour has it that the day concluded with the two cartoonists, accompanied by Chester Brown, making a pilgrimage to Sullivan's Guaranty Building (now known as The Prudential Building) in Buffalo, NY.


Bonus: Jeet Heer's blog features some actual clear photos from the event.

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   Saturday, November 29, 2008  
Chester Brown interviews Dave Lapp for Lapp's launch for "Drop-In"

:: Posted by dave h @ 11/29/2008 03:47:00 PM
Dave Lapp's DROP-IN Book Launch
Featuring Dave Lapp in conversation with Chester Brown
Wednesday, December 3rd 2008 @ 7PM
The Central, 603 Markham Street (Next to The Beguiling)
FREE

The Beguiling is proud to present the official launch for cartoonist Dave Lapp's new graphic novel, DROP-IN. A surprising, insightful look at some of Toronto's most economically disadvantaged communities, DROP-IN chronicles Lapp's experiences as a teacher at a drop-in art centre, and the children he meets there.

The book launch event will see Dave Lapp perform a multimedia reading from DROP-IN, and following that Lapp will be interviewed on stage by long time friend and colleague Chester Brown (Louis Riel) about his career in comics, and the specific challenges of creating DROP-IN. A signing will follow.

DROP-IN is currently available for sale at The Beguiling, and will be available for sale at the event.

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   Thursday, November 27, 2008  
Weekly Bestsellers: November 26

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/27/2008 12:42:00 AM


The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list.

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (2) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
3. (3) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (6) Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
5. (5) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (4) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
7. (30) Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)
8. (11) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
9. (7) Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
10. (-) Chibi Vampire 11, Yuna Kagesaki (Tokyopop)
-----
11. (14) Che, Rodriguez/Buhle (Verso)
12. (-) Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 19, Clamp (Random House)
13. (16) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure 2, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
14. (8) Fullmetal Alchemist 17, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
15. (13) Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
16. (9) It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Charles M Schulz (Perseus)
17. (27) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
18. (23) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
19. (-) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
20. (10) Bleach 24, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
-----
21. (29) Naruto 30, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
22. (12) Black Cat 17, Kentaro Yabuki (VIZ)
23. (19) The Joker (Hardcover), Azzarello/Bermejo (DC)
24. (-) Simpsons Comics Dollars To Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
25. (-) Scientific Progress Goes Boink, Watterson (Andrews McMeel)
26. (-) Death Note 13, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
27. (17) 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
28. (-) Marvel Encyclopedia, wallace/Brevoort (DK)
29. (18) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
30. (-) Asterix the Gaul, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)

The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week, Louis Riel is bumped down to #40 overall by Asterix, Lynda Barry, Stephen King, and some manga.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Popeye (#164) to Bat Manga! (#200) duke it out, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200. This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (4) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
5. (6) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
7. (10) It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
8. (7) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
9. (27) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
10. (8) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
-----
11. (9) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
12. (11) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
13. (12) Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
14. (14) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
15. (-) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
16. (17) Emiko Superstar, Mariko Tamaki/Steve Rolston (DC/Minx)
17. (13) Dramacon 3, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
18. (15) Rex Libris: I, Librarian, James Turner (Slave Labor Graphics)
19. (16) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (18) Dramacon 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
-----
21. (19) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
22. (20) Graphic Witness: Four Wordless Graphic Novels, George A Walker ed (Firefly)
23. (21) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. (22) the great hopeful someday, Elisabeth Belliveau (Conundrum Press)
25. (23) The New Frontier 2, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
26. (24) The New Frontier 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
27. (25) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
28. (26) She's Turning into One of Them, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (-) Ojingogo, Matt Forthythe (D+Q)
30. (-) Pohadky, Colek (D+Q)

You read it here first: For Better or For Worse is the Naruto of Canada.

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   Wednesday, November 26, 2008  
Sequential Reports: Seth Opening

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/26/2008 01:04:00 AM
seth opening the north star talkin picture house
The North Star Talking Picture House

The opening for Seth's latest gallery show, The North Star Talking Picture House, took place Sept. 19 at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, in conjunction with Render Gallery. The installation features a life-size, three-dimensional rendering of the movie theatre from Seth's tiny cardboard city Dominion (60 houses from the city are currently on display at the Render Gallery). Thanks to this exhibit, which runs until January 4, you can actually walk around and into one of Seth's drawings. Inside the cinema are seats and a screen. Viewers can watch a cycle of National Film Board of Canada documentaries selected by the artist.

See the full series of photos from the opening here!

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Publishing: Colosse x 4

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/26/2008 01:00:00 AM

Just in time for this weekend's Expozine in Montreal, a collection of four new books from Mecanique Generale:

1. (sans-titre)
pascal girard

colosse 006
ISBN 978-2-923664-05-7
6" x 3"
56 pages couleurs
reliure allemande
novembre 2008

(see above image)

encore ca by julie delporte colosse 2008
2. Encore ca
Julie Delporte

colosse 007

ISBN 978-2-923664-06-4
6" x 4"
46 pages n+b
reliure allemande
novembre 2008

la suite de minerve by david turgeon colosse 2008

3. La Suite de Minerve
David Turgeon

colosse 008
ISBN 978-2-923664-07-1
6" x 9"
120 pages n+b
reliure allemande
novembre 2008

demi sommeil by jimmy Beaulieu 2008 graphic novel bd

4. Demi-sommeil
Jimmy Beaulieu

colosse 009
ISBN 978-2-923664-08-8
5,25" x 7,25"
98 pages couleur
reliure allemande
novembre 2008

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   Friday, November 21, 2008  
Saturday: Seth and Chris Ware in Cambridge, ON

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/21/2008 01:21:00 AM


SETH & CHRIS WARE: RENDER @ WATERLOO ARCHITECTURE
Saturday, November 22, 2008 1pm - 4pm

with Jeet Heer

RENDER is pleased to be able to present Seth in conversation with the American cartoonist and graphic novelist Chris Ware at the UW School of Architecture in Cambridge. Best known for his works Jimmy Corrigan and Building Stories, Ware is an irregular contributor to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. Seth and Ware's conversation will be preceded by an audiovisual presentation prepared by Ware and This American Life radio host Ira Glass entitled "Lost Buildings" concerning the demolition of Chicago architect Louis Sullivan's buildings and one person's efforts to save them. This presentation is free and open to the public.


UW School of Architecture
7 Melville Street South, Cambridge
Saturday, November 22nd, 1:00-4:00pm
Free Admission (limited seating)

map

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Saturday: Matt Forsythe in Vancouver

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/21/2008 01:14:00 AM

OJINGOGO'S MATTHEW FORSYTHE IN VANCOUVER

Join D+Q and Lucky's Comics in launching Matt Forsythe's Ojingogo this Saturday!

5 pm, Saturday, November 22nd 2008
Lucky's Comics
3972 Main St, Vancouver
(604) 875-9858
www.luckys.ca

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International Comics Melt-down Round-up

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/21/2008 12:59:00 AM
1. Thanks to Tom Spurgeon's continuing coverage of the economy and comics, two links: Sean Kleefield explains why Americans can buy 8 U.S. comics books for every 6 a Canadian buys; and Stuart Immonen charts the cost increase in comics over the last 30 years.

2. Is a Norwegian man being held in a Winnipeg jail for having a porno comic on his laptop? His family says so.

3. Two views of the Comics Craze show in Cambridge, from the K-W Record and Echo Weekly.

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   Thursday, November 20, 2008  
Weekly Bestsellers

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/20/2008 01:38:00 AM


The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week's list (well, 2 weeks ago...).

Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
3. Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
7. Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
8. Fullmetal Alchemist 17, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
9. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Charles M Schulz (Perseus)
10. Bleach 24, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
-----
11. Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
12. Black Cat 17, Kentaro Yabuki (VIZ)
13. Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
14. Che, Rodriguez/Buhle (Verso)
15. Asterix and the Falling Sky, Albert Uderzo (Orion)
16. Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure 2, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
17. 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna, Jim Davis (Random House)
18. Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
19. The Joker (Hardcover), Azzarello/Bermejo (DC)
20. The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle, Butcher/Syaf (Random House)
-----
21. The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home, King et al (Marvel)
22. Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
23. Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
24. Bionicle 3: City of Legends, Elliott/Farshtey (St. Martin's Press)
25. Chibi Vampire 1, Yuna Kagesaki (Tokyopop)
26. Rosario+Vampire 1, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
27. Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
28. Cartoons From The New Yorker: 2009 Day-to-Day Calendar (Andrews McMeel)
29. Naruto 30, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
30. Marvel Chronicle, Tom DeFalco (DK)

The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. This week, Skim benefits from the Governor General's bump --moving from somewhere below 30 to #11.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Tite Kubo to Lynda Barry duke it out, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200. This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
5. Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
7. Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
8. Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
9. Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
10. It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
-----
11. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
13. Dramacon 3, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
14. The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
15. Rex Libris: I, Librarian, James Turner (Slave Labor Graphics)
16. Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
17. Emiko Superstar, Mariko Tamako Steve Rolston (DC/Minx)
18. Dramacon 3, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
19. Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
20. Graphic Witness: Four Wordless Graphic Novels, George A Walker ed (Firefly)
-----
21. Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. the great hopeful someday, Elisabeth Belliveau (Conundrum Press)
23. The New Frontier 2, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
24. The New Frontier 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
25. Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
26. She's Turning into One of Them, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
28. White Rapids, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
29. I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
30. Hall of Best Knowledge, Ray Fenwick (Fantagraphics)

The first appearance of Ray Fenwick on the list, who has recently been featured in the Weekend Post.

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   Wednesday, November 19, 2008  
For the Record

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/19/2008 12:45:00 AM
Missed It By This Much


Skim did not win the Governor-General's Literary Award for Children's Literature yesterday. The book, a graphic novel by cousins Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki, was beat out by John Ibbitson's The Landing, a prose novel about life in 1930s Muskoka. In related categories, Sylvie Desrosiers' Les trois lieues won in the French-language category. The winning illustrators were Stephane Jorisch (an adaptation of Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat) and Janice Nadeau (Ma meilleure amie, text by Gilles Tibo). See the full list of winners here.

See Neil Gaiman (bottom item), The Vancouver Sun and Heidi MacDonald for more reactions to the controversy surrounding Skim's nomination.

(above Jillian Tamaki illo: a James Bond article on cbc arts)

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   Sunday, November 16, 2008  
More on GGs and Skim

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/16/2008 04:24:00 AM

Following up on his initial response, Brad Mackay has the latest on his blog about the Canada Council's response to the Skim controversy, including interviews with several jurors.

Other links:

Quill and Quire

The GGs Need to Read Understanding Comics

Controversy "Shows the Weakness of "The Canadian Comic Book Industry"

Skim on New York Times, Quill and Quire 'Best of 2008' Lists

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   Saturday, November 15, 2008  
'Maybe Next Time': GGs to Skim

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/15/2008 05:00:00 AM
mariko tamaki and jillian tamaki portrait by jillian
The Globe and Mail's James Adams has done the journalistic legwork and has dug up a response to the open letter from Seth and Chester Brown to the administrators of the Governor General's Literary Awards in regards to the slight of Jillian Tamaki's contribution to the graphic novel Skim, for which her cousin Mariko Tamaki has been nominated in the Children's Literature --Text category. The open letter argued that the contribution of the artist must be considered equal to the contribution of the writer in a graphic novel --especially one as sophisticated as Skim.

The response, from a spokesperson for the Canada Council, the body that funds and administers the awards, was basically 'Maybe next time':

"We're a little bit late in the game" to either discuss the issue or make the addition, Melanie Rutledge, head of writing and publishing for the Canada Council, said Wednesday evening. But "we'll take it under consideration going forward. ... We're always wanting feedback like this."

It seems like this is a mistake on the part of the GGs since the matter basically comes down to credit where credit is due. There are simply two authors of Skim and one of them was left off of the nominations list. This is not a case of an illustrator making a substantial contribution to a text. As both of the creators have repeatedly asserted, the book was a joint effort and it is impossible to consider it as a work of art solely from the point of view as 'text' or 'illustration'. The Governor General's Awards do not have to create a new category. They simply have to acknowledge the contribution of both creators.

The winners of the awards are to be announced this coming Tuesday.

---
Follow-up: Tom Spurgeon interviews some of the principles at Comics Reporter.

(above: Mariko and Jillian Tamaki by Jillian Tamaki)

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   Wednesday, November 12, 2008  
An Open Letter to the Governor General's Literary Awards

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/12/2008 05:18:00 PM
The following letter, written by cartoonists Chester Brown and Seth, and endorsed by some of the most respected graphic novel creators in North America, is addressed to the Governor General's Awards, which recently nominated Mariko Tamaki for the graphic novel Skim, co-created with her cousin Jillian Tamaki. (BM)

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARDS

November 12, 2008

As individuals involved in the art form of comics and graphic novels, we are glad to see that a graphic novel has made the short-list for this year's Governor General's Literary Awards. SKIM (by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki) is a wonderful book and deserves the attention. But we're troubled by the fact that only one of its co-creators is receiving credit for the creation of the book's text. We understand that an award-category exists for illustration, but to have nominated Jillian in that category would not have rectified the problem. Indeed, that would have highlighted how our medium is misunderstood.

We're guessing that the jury who read SKIM saw it as an illustrated novel. It's not; it's a graphic novel. In illustrated novels, the words carry the burden of telling the story, and the illustrations serve as a form of visual reinforcement. But in graphic novels, the words and pictures BOTH tell the story, and there are often sequences (sometimes whole graphic novels) where the images alone convey the narrative. The text of a graphic novel cannot be separated from its illustrations because the words and the pictures together ARE the text. Try to imagine evaluating SKIM if you couldn't see the drawings. Jillian's contribution to the book goes beyond mere illustration: she was as responsible for telling the story as Mariko was.

In an October 21st article for the CBC website, one of your jurors, Teresa Toten, was interviewed: "Toten praised SKIM for using the graphic novel format to tell a sophisticated story about what life is like for teenaged girls. The work is remarkable in part because of how the words and pictures both contribute to the literary quality, she said." And that is the point of this letter. "[T]he words and pictures both contribute to [SKIM's] literary quality".

A new category does not need to be created to properly address the graphic novel. In fact, it is best to see graphic novels appear in literary awards only when they deserve to compete equally against prose on their literary merit alone.

In writing this letter, we don't mean to slight Mariko. One of the reasons this collaboration works so well is because she understood how to write for this medium. But we feel that as things now stand, Jillian is being slighted. We want both of the enormously talented creators of this book to be honoured together for their achievement.

Yours,

Chester Brown (Author of Louis Riel)
Seth (Author of It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken)


NAMES IN SUPPORT OF THIS LETTER
Lynda Barry (Author of What It Is)
Peter Birkemoe (Owner of The Beguiling)
Dan Clowes (Author of Ghost World)
David Collier (Author of The Frank Ritza Papers)
Julie Doucet (Author of 365 Days)
Chris Oliveros (Publisher of Drawn and Quarterly)
Joe Ollmann (Author of This Will All End in Tears)
Bryan Lee O'Malley (Author of Scott Pilgrim)
Michel Rabagliati (Author of Paul Moves Out)
Art Spiegelman (Pulitzer Prize winning author of Maus)
Adrian Tomine (Author of Shortcomings)
Chris Ware (Author of Jimmy Corrigan, Smartest Kid on Earth)

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   Tuesday, November 11, 2008  
Publishing: Good-bye Marianne

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/11/2008 02:15:00 AM


For Remembrance Day:

Good-bye Marianne: A Story Of Growing Up In Nazi Germany
story: Irene N. Watts
pictures: Kathryn E. Shoemaker
Tundra Books
978-0-88776-830-9 (0-88776-830-X)
14.99

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Watchmen in Toronto

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/11/2008 01:41:00 AM

Sure to be one of the big international comics stories of this year and next, the attendant fanfare for the Watchmen movie, including the tie-in book Watching the Watchmen by Dave Gibbons has been hard to ignore. Gibbons was in Toronto last week for a signing. Quillblog has some photos here (that's one above, with Mark Asquith as Dr. Manhattan). The guy in the Rorschach costume has a blog here.

As well, Gibbons and Beguiling owner Peter Birkemoe were interviwed on CBC's Q and you can hear the podcast here. Best quote: Birkemoe's closing opinion of the movie. You can also watch the whole interview on Q-Tube.

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   Thursday, November 06, 2008  
Weekly Bestsellers in Canada: November 6

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/06/2008 02:13:00 AM


**Note: This post marks the return of the Sequential Bestseller lists after an absence of 6 months. No promises, but I hope this can become a weekly event again, although when you compare the list below with the list for April 17, you may notice that not much has really changed --a handful of manga series continue to dominate the charts. You may also note that there haven't been that many new Canadian titles published in the intervening months.**

The Top 50 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through 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. This list has two parts, the top 50 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators.

Top 40 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown , Schulz (Perseus)
4. Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. Simpsons Treehouse Horror, Groening et al (HarperCollins)
6. Fullmetal Alchemist 17, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
7. Garfield Spills the Beans, Jim Davis (Random House)
8. Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
9. Bleach 24, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
10. The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle, Butcher/Syaf (Random House)
-----
11. Naruto 30, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home, King et al (Marvel)
13. Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
14. Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
15. Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
16. Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure 2, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
17. What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
18. Death Note 1, Ohba/Obata (VIZ)
19. Che, Rodriguez/Buhle (Verso)
20. Vampire Knight 4, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
-----
21. Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
22. Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahkshi, Elliott/Farshtey (St. Martin's)
23. Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
25. DC Comics Encyclopedia Updated, Greenburger et al (DK)
26. Ouran High School Host Club 11, Bisco Hatori (VIZ)
27. Vampire Knight 3, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
28. Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. One Piece 19, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
30. Vampire Knight 2, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
-----
31. Marvel Chronicle, DeFaco et al (DK)
32. Rosario+Vampire 1, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
33. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Miller et al (DC)
34. Kitchen Princess 8, Ando/Kobayashi (Random House)
35. Batman: Year One, Miller/Mazzucchelli (DC)
36. Get Fuzzy: Take Our Cat, Please, Darby Conley (Andrews McMeel)
37. Naruto 4, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
38. Cartoons From The New Yorker: 2009 Calendar (Andrews McMeel)
39. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Ito/Tsugano/Tanigawa (Yen)
40. Negima! 19, Akamatsu/Yoshida/Hiroe (Random House)


The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies.

In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections. It is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from David Heatley to Oor Willie duke it out, and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200. This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where our Canadian Top 30 comes from:

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30
from BookManager

1. Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. Big Foot 2, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
3. Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
5. The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
6. Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
7. Emiko Superstar, Mariko Tamako Steve Rolston (DC/Minx)
8. Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
9. Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
10. FBOFW 2009 Calendar, Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
-----
11. the great hopeful someday, Elisabeth Belliveau (Conundrum Press)
12. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
13. Essex County 1: Tales from the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
14. The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al, (DC/Minx)
15. Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
16. The New Frontier 2, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
17. The New Frontier 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
18. Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
19. Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
-----
21. Graduation: A Time For Change, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
23. The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. She's Turning into One of Them, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. Dramacon 3, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
26. It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
27. In Me Own Words: The Autobiography of Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Manic)
28. Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
29. I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
30. White Rapids, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)

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   Wednesday, November 05, 2008  
Publishing: Paul a Quebec

:: Posted by Bryan @ 11/05/2008 12:46:00 AM

The sixth album by Michel Rabagliati, Paul a Quebec, is set to be released by Pasteque in 2009.

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   Tuesday, October 21, 2008  
Skim Nominated for Governor General's Award

:: Posted by Bryan @ 10/21/2008 08:16:00 PM
skim jillian mariko tamaki graphic novel coverGGs Find Place for Graphic Novel in KidLit Category, Snub Artist

Toronto --For the first time, a graphic novel has been nominated for a Governor General's Award. The Canada Council for the Arts announced its 2008 shortlist for the Governor General's Literary Awards earlier today, and writer Mariko Tamaki was nominated for Skim, a graphic novel she produced with her artist cousin Jillian Tamaki, in the category Children's Literature --Text.

After the Giller Prize, the GGs are the most lucrative literary award in Canada.

Tamaki's nomination marks the first time a graphic novel has been nominated in any category. Tamaki stands to win $25,000 if her book is chosen as the winner on November 18 in Montreal.

According to the GG news release, "Each winner will receive $25,000 and a specially-bound copy of the winning book. The publisher of each winning book will receive $3,000 to support promotional activities. Non-winning finalists will each receive $1,000 in recognition of their selection as finalists, bringing the total value of the Awards to approximately $450,000."

Skim was initially published as a short comic by Kiss Machine in 2005 and won a special award from the Doug Wright Awards. An extended version was published this year by Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press (distributed by HarperCollins Canada). The book has been enthusiastically and widely reviewed and has been a brisk seller on the graphic novel bestseller charts.

The juror's notes for the GG nomination describe Skim as "an audacious and original graphic novel set in a girls' private school. Skim, a slightly lumpy Kimberly Cameron, stumbles around the edges of cliques, depression, sexuality, suicide, crushes and an achingly ambiguous love. The story is heart-breakingly fresh and, in the end, a small celebration of life."

Tamaki's nomination is an indication of the increasing mainstream profile of graphic novels. It is also one of those happy occasions when an actual work of very high literary quality is chosen to represent the artform in the national spotlight.

The nomination of the book in the "text" category, with no mention of the art by Jillian Tamaki, is an odd but understandable choice, given the lack of a graphic novel category, since the book succeeds more on the strength of its words and picture combination than on the contribution of any one creator. The nomination in the children's category also does not do much for the status of literary graphic novels as adult material, especially given Skim's darkly humourous subject matter and sophisticated comics storytelling. On her blog, Jillian Tamaki notes, "I can't help but feel a bit of disappointment in this. I simply don't believe you can separate the pictures and words in a GRAPHIC NOVEL. They do the same for Children's Books with the GGs, which I kind of think is strange, but hey, at least the authors get an acknowledgment in the Illustrator's section. (...) I think this is another illustration (snort) of the chasm the graphic novels sit in, between "Comics" and "Books". The book industry is set up for very defined genres and graphic novels can pose a strange conundrum."

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   Friday, October 17, 2008  
This Weekend: Jobnik Book Launch, Vancouver

:: Posted by Bryan @ 10/17/2008 06:00:00 AM
The launch for Miriam Libicki's graphic novel about time spent as an Israeli soldier takes place this Sunday, October 19, at RX Comics, 2418 main street, (off Broadway) in Vancouver --6 PM.

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   Monday, October 06, 2008  
Skim Wins Ignatz

:: Posted by Bryan @ 10/06/2008 02:46:00 AM

The graphic novel Skim, by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, has won the 008 Ignatz Prize for Outstanding Graphic Novel. The prize was awarded this past weekend at the Small Press Expo in Bethseda, Maryland.

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   Thursday, October 02, 2008  
Thursday: Graphic Poetry or Poetry Comics? Toronto

:: Posted by Bryan @ 10/02/2008 12:14:00 AM

Pages' This Is Not A Reading Series and Tightrope Books presents the highly anticipated launch of

PAOLA POLETTO & JAKE KENNEDY, eds. — BOREDOM FIGHTERS!

and

SEAN STANLEY & KRISTI-LY GREEN — ETCETERA AND OTHERWISE

What is "graphic poetry"? Does it combine words and images in a manner unlike its more familiar cousin, the graphic novel? Sandra Kasturi and David Clink will co-host "Graphic Language", a joint launch designed to shed light on such perennial aesthetic riddles. Paola Poletto and Jake Kennedy assembled a collection of graphic poetry, Boredom Fighters. Sean Stanley and Kristi-Ly Green collaborated on a graphic novel, Etcetera and Otherwise . After moderating a group discussion with these four creators, Kasturi and Clink will turn their microphones over to a "graphic poetry slam". The night will end with a "graphic" dance party.

Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto
Thurs, Oct 2; 7:30pm (doors 7:00pm) free

Etcetera and Otherwise
words by Sean Stanley
pictures by Kristi-Ly Green

A charmingly illustrated surrealist fable.
A love story.
An erotic journey.

Bookstore owner Otherwise meets the beautiful Etcetera one afternoon when she comes into his store. The two begin on a fantastical erotic road trip that will last 28 days. As Otherwise falls more deeply in love, the mystery of Etcetera grows, culminating in the answer to the most important question of all — "do you love me too?"

Fiction/ ISBN 13: 978-0-9783351-6-8 /$18.95

Boredom Fighters!
Edited by Paola Poletto
and Jake Kennedy

This fantastic collection of eighteen graphic poems brings together the talents of artists and writers such as Christian Bök, Lisa Foad, Stacey May Fowles, Marlena Zuber, Tim Glaze, Gustave Morin, Daniel Scott Tysdal, Sherwin Tija, and Sally McKay.

Poetry/ ISBN 13: 978-0-9783351-5-1 /$21.95

For more information about this event or to request review copies, contact Halli Villegas at Tightrope Books, halli@tightropebooks.com.
Check out our brand new revamped website at www.tightropebooks.com
Check out our new blog! Author news, pictures, reviews, and more at www.tightropebooks.blogspot.com

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   Wednesday, October 01, 2008  
HArvey Awards: Cooke, Lee O'Malley

:: Posted by Bryan @ 10/01/2008 01:26:00 AM
Darwyn Cooke and Bryan Lee O'Malley are among the winners of this year's Harvey Awards, handed out in Maryland this past weekend. The awards, named after MAD founder and Little Annie Fannie creator Harvey Kurtzman, recognize the most popular in U.S. comics production, as voted on by comics pros. Cooke won Best Cartoonist for his run on The Spirit for DC. O'Malley won Best Graphic Album --Original for the latest in his Scott ilgrim series, Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together, published by Oni Press. Sequential congratulates all the winners.

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   Friday, September 26, 2008  
Friday: You Ain't No Dancer Launch, Vancouver

:: Posted by Bryan @ 9/26/2008 05:00:00 AM


Featuring the best use of a Beatles lyric in a comix or graphic novel title, the latest issue of this annual comics anthology features a high quality roster of Canadian and international cartooning.

Date: Friday, September 26, 2008
Time: 8:00pm - 11:00pm
Location: Lucky's Comics, 3972 Main St, Vancouver, BC


Come celebrate the release of New Reliable Press's latest anthology,
You Ain't No Dancer Vol. 3! We're launching the book in style, with
and art show of original artwork by several of YAND3's contributors
that will be on display in Lucky's gallery.

Artists on display:

•Catia Chien
•Colleen MacIsaac
•Dalton Webb
•Dorothy Gambrell
•Graham Kahler
•Grant Reynolds
•Jason Turner
•Jordyn Bochon
•KC Green
•Kim Hoang
•Lars Brown
•Phil McAndrew
•Steve Rolston


About The Book:

Featuring a wrap-around cover by Kazimir Strzepek, You Ain't No Dancer
Vol. 3 clocks in at 176 pages and contains 30 new stories from
indy-comic favourites and up-and-comers.

Vol. 3 Contributors:

Kazimir Strzepek, Becky Dreistadt & Frank Gibson, Blaise Larmee, Catia
Chien, Coleman Engle, Colleen MacIsaac, Dalton Sharp, Dalton Webb,
Dorothy Gambrell, Graham Kahler, Grant Reynolds, Ira Marcks, Jason
Turner, Jeff Bent, Jeremy Sorese, Jon Sukarangsan, Jordyn Bochon, KC
Green, Kate Beaton, Ken Dahl, Kim Hoang, Lars Brown, Lucy Knisley,
Mike Laughead, Mitch Clem & Jason Oberbichler, Patrick Murphy, Phil
Barrett, Phil McAndrew and Steve Rolston & Sabina.

More information on the book and New Reliable Press can be found at:
www.newreliable.com

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   Saturday, September 20, 2008  
Saturday: Zine Fest & Graphic Novel Launch, Guelph

:: Posted by Bryan @ 9/20/2008 01:51:00 AM
Kazoo! Zine Fair and Graphic Novel Launch

Time: September 20, 2008 from 10am to 3pm
Location: St. George's Square
Street: intersection of Wyndham and Quebec streets, Guelph, ON.
Contact Info: 519-400-1180
see also: Kazine (myspace)

The Kazoo! zine fair is taking over downtown Guelph on September 20. Hal Niedzviecki is delivering a keynote talk on indie culture in Canada; tables will include Broken Pencil, Carousel, and a diverse range of local and regional initiatives.

The zine fair is part of a larger festival, the Kazoo! festival, which will also showcase some of Canada's best independent musicians, as well as festivities for Car Free day, the launch of the Guelph Speaks! community anthology, and the inaugural performance of a unique multimedia project entitled Le Cyc, a projected narrative art sequence with musical accompaniment --billed as "An unusual project combining a bicycle-themed graphic novel presented in slide show form with a live band.." (@ Guelph Youth Music Center, 3:30 - 5:30, All Ages, $10).


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Saturday: Matt Forsythe at Strange Adventures, Halifax

:: Posted by Bryan @ 9/20/2008 01:49:00 AM

from the D+Q press release:

OJINGOGO'S MATT FORSYTHE
AT STRANGE ADVENTURES THIS SATURDAY 9/20/9!
SLIDE SHOW & SIGNING

Saturday, September 20th 2009, 7:00 PM

Strange Adventures
5262 Sackville Street
Halifax, NS (902)425-2140

As featured on the cover of the Montreal Mirror!

ABOUT OJINGOGO:
Nominated for 2 Eisner Awards for best web comic, winner of an Expozine award, and hailed by the Montreal Mirror, Matthew Forsythe's Ojingogo is already highly anticipated. Exuding simplicity in design and narrative, Ojingogo is an illustrated, dreamscape of abstracts and events. The otherworldly pantomime about a girl, her squid, and the creatures and calamities they experience together, is an intrinsically expressive and deeply rewarding journey. Drawing from Forsythe's Korean influences, Ojingogo is accessible for all ages, tossing aside traditional narrative conventions in favour of creating its own world, language and rules that anyone can find a home of their own in.

ABOUT MATT FORSYTHE:
Matt Forsythe was born in Toronto in 1976. He studied politics and religion at McMaster University and has worked variously as a database programmer in Dublin, a motorcycle courier in London, and a kindergarten teacher in Seoul, South Korea.

Ojingogo was originally serialized as a Web comic in 2004. It was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2005 (Best Digital Comic) and featured in the "Year's
Best Graphic Novels, Comics, and Manga." Ojingogo was nominated again for an Eisner Award (Best Digital Comic) and won an Expozine Award (Best English Comic) in 2006.

He works at the National Film Board of Canada in Montreal and teaches journalism at Concordia University. His illustrations have also appeared in a variety of magazines and periodicals including the Wall Street Journal, Chickadee Magazine, and Kayak: Canada's History Magazine for Kids.

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   Thursday, September 18, 2008  
Seth Gallery Shows, Kitchener

:: Posted by Bryan @ 9/18/2008 03:12:00 AM


Graphic novelist Seth (It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken) has two gallery shows running concurrently in Kitchener, Ontario starting this Friday. Both shows revolve around his work-in-progress Clyde Fans graphic novel and are 3-dimensional renderings of the story's setting, the fictional Ontario city of Dominion.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery hosts a life-size reproduction of Dominion's movie palace, described by Seth as "the NORTH STAR TALKING PICTURE HOUSE and it is a working movie theatre (showing films inside)."

At the same time, the Render Gallery in Kitchener is displaying the entire miniature cardboard city of Dominion --"along with Alfred Holden's cardboard city of BEAVER", Seth notes. Seth's city has been considerably expanded since its last outing at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Map

Opening:
Render Gallery, 5PM, Friday Sept 19
KWAG, 7PM Friday Sept 19


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   Monday, September 15, 2008  
Publishing: Les Ravins by Phillipe Girard

:: Posted by Bryan @ 9/15/2008 01:32:00 AM


Les Ravins
by Phillipe Girard
Mecanique General

reviews here and here

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   Wednesday, August 27, 2008  
Tonite: Ojingogo Launch, Montreal

:: Posted by Bryan @ 8/27/2008 05:53:00 AM
Matt Forsythe launches his Ojingogo graphic novel through D+Q.

Librairie Drawn & Quarterly
Wednesday, August 27
7:30 p.m.

http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/211bernard/uploaded_images/poster-772434.jpg

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Sequential Reports: Fan Expo Photos

:: Posted by Bryan @ 8/27/2008 01:45:00 AM

(Mostly) Canadian Content
As an event partially dedicated to Canadian comics and comics creators, FanExpo 2008 could have been alot worse. FanExpo, billed as "a multi-genre convention" by its organizers, covered over 270,000 square feet at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this past weekend, August 22-24. Roughly one-fifth of that massive space, accessible through a labyrinthine series of hallways and escalators, was dedicated to comics and cartooning, with space devoted to over 200 artists and writers (the so-called "Artists' Alley"), as well as to publishers, comics retailers, and assorted producers of ephemera.

-As Kevin Boyd notes in his wrap-up, the organizers of the comics show ("Comic Book Expo") made the wise decision this year to integrate all of the creators, regardless of genre ("indy meets pro", as the convention program has it), into one area, which made for a bustling space, with many fans discovering young artists who may have been overlooked in the past. In addition to several big-name U.S. creators like painter Alex Ross and DC editor-in-chief Dan Didio, the convention also featured a large number of Canadian artists who have made a name for themselves in the world of U.S. superhero comics. Alongside these were a huge group of more-or-less independent comics creators, self-publishers, and arts comics auteurs, representing the alternative comics world of graphic novels, minicomics, and fanzines. Jeff Lemire is perhaps the most well-known of this batch, having just won several awards for his Essex County graphic novel trilogy, published by Top Shelf. Lemire was busy sketching and selling artwork throughout the con and I personally witnessed him selling-out of copies of the newly-published final volume, The Country Nurse, around 4pm on Saturday.

-Another sell-out was Benjamin Rivers' very pretty Snow mini. Rivers is a Toronto illustrator and the book he debuted at FanExpo is the first chapter of a longer graphic novel done in his deceptively simple, cartoon-y style.

-It was also delightful to meet longtime Playboy cartoonist Doug Sneyd, perhaps the most successful and enduring of the comics artists present, and a local boy to boot! Doug was selling prints of some of his classic work as well as a book of cartoons called Unpublished Sneyd, dedicated to Sneyd's original Playboy editor, and fellow Canadian, Michelle Urry. Doug also has a blog where his adventures at the con are chronicled in great detail.

-Something of a cross-section of Canadian comics culture was examined at the "Made in Canada" panel Saturday evening, featuring Montreal artist Yanick Paquette, the Toronto comic book creating duo of Stuart and Kathryn Immonen, and the afore-mentioned Jeff Lemire. The panelists talked about their influences and how aspects of their "Canadian-ness" may or may not filter into their work.

Photos:


Michael Cho and Claudia Davila


Stuart Immonen and Kathryn Immonen --see their webcomic here


Cameron Stewart


Valentine Delandro


Ramon Perez and Rob Cloughler


Agnes Garbowska and Francis Manapul


Kalman Androsopsky and Marcus To


Jeff Lemire


Lemire signs the last copy of The Country Nurse


Cliff Chiang


Blake Bell discusses Steve Ditko with Rob Walton


Steven Silver and Ken Wheaton


Doug Sneyd and his significant other/Girl-Friday Heidi Hutson


The Bear Stories' George Todorovski and Chris Hatzopoulos


Ian Daffern and John Lang are behind the Zuda competitor Shock Effect


Hoverboy, a project of Mr. Comics' Ty Templeton and Canadian tv personality Rick Green. I happen to know from experience that the device on his belt is an antique vibrator.


The Bootcamp gang, another Ty Templeton project. The team was hyping its new mini-collection: Sex & Violence, Suffering and Wickedness.

Zen Rankin
Zen Rankin, promoting his minicomic epic, Action Satisfaction Supreme


Zen Rankin was also selling the best comics-related novelty at the con, cute little stuffed toys of his V.D. Duck character: it has pubic hair and makes a noise when squeezed!


The Durham Comics gang and their new anthology, Blitz


Michael Cherkas (saving a seat for Larry Hancock)


Jay Saobento and Bang Bang Kill Kill, which is also online.


J. Torres and Scott Chantler


Sequential has a brief chat with Ray Fawkes, writer of The Apocalipstix

(thanks to ace photog Stephen Lewis for the Fawkes and Immonen photos)

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   Tuesday, August 19, 2008  
Publishing: Von Allan's "Li'l Kids: road to god knows... adventures!"

:: Posted by Bryan @ 8/19/2008 05:00:00 AM

Prolific blogger Von Allan, who has posted ceaselessly on his efforts to create and market his first graphic novel, "The Road to God Knows", has some exciting news: a companion volume to the book is finished and available in print. See the press release below:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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   Friday, August 08, 2008  
Wright Awards Winners

:: Posted by Bryan @ 8/08/2008 09:10:00 PM
CO: Brad Mackay via facebook.

The envelopes are opened, the drinks are drank, and the 2008 Doug Wright Awards are over for another year. For those of you who couldn't make in person (I'm talking to you CoCo!) here are the winners:

The 2008 DWA winner for Best Book is:
The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by Ann Marie Fleming
(Riverhead Books)

The 2008 DWA winner for Best Emerging Talent is:
Essex County Vol. 1 Tales From The Farm & Vol. 2 Ghost Stories by Jeff Lemire
(Top Shelf)

The winner of the inaugural Pigskin Peters Award* is:
Milk Teeth by Julie Morstad
(Drawn and Quarterly)

The trophies were handed out at the Toronto Reference Library, the historic main branch of the Toronto Public Library, in a 90-minute ceremony that featured Lynn Johnston.

Johnston, the ceremony's guest of honour, was on hand to discuss her 32-year career and to be inducted in The Giants of the North, the Canadian Cartoonists' Hall of Fame. The medal was presented to her by Seth.

(* The Pigskin Peters Annual Award for Nominally Narrative Cartooning – or PPAANNC - is intended to recognize progressive works by Canadian cartoonists that are more experimental in nature and/or lack a traditional narrative structure. It is named after a character in the classic Canadian comic strip Birdseye Center, by Jimmy Frise.)

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Tonite: The Doug Wright Awards

:: Posted by Bryan @ 8/08/2008 05:00:00 AM

The 4th Annual Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning will honour the career of Canadian cartoonist Lynn Johnston, of For Better or For Worse fame.

Friday, August 8, 7-9 p.m.
Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge St.
Free admission

Presented with Toronto Public Library, the event will feature:

* A retrospective of Johnston's more than 30-year career
* A moderated Q&A
* A book signing

The 2008 Wrights will also see announcement of the winners of:

* The Best Book trophy
* Best Emerging Talent trophy
* The brand-new "Pigskin Peters" award


The awards are decided by a jury made up of members of the country's arts and culture community, including: author Katrina Onstad, cartoonist Ho Che Anderson, book seller Marc Glassman, writer Mariko Tamaki and Power Plant curator Helena Rickett.

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   Wednesday, August 06, 2008  
Tonite: Apocalipstix Launch, Toronto

:: Posted by Bryan @ 8/06/2008 05:00:00 AM
From the Beguiling:


APOCALIPSTIX Graphic Novel Launch
Featuring Ray Fawkes and Cameron Stewart
Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 8PM
Revival Bar, 783 College (at Shaw)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=25642968337
FREE

The Beguiling is proud to present the official Canadian launch party for the new graphic novel THE APOCALIPSTIX by Toronto’s own Ray Fawkes and Cameron Stewart! This rollicking adventure story is set after the end of the world, featuring the last band on earth! Join us to celebrate this book’s release with the book’s authors as well as great music, live bands, door prizes, and much more! The event is All Ages (with wristbands for older folks that might like to imbibe) and totally FREE!

see here for more

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   Tuesday, August 05, 2008  
Publishing: Scott Pilgrim Full-Colour Odds & Ends 2008

:: Posted by Bryan @ 8/05/2008 06:00:00 AM

Scott Pilgrim Full-Colour Odds & Ends 2008
Bryan Lee O'Malley, writer/artist
Oni, July 2008
32 pages

read about it here

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   Monday, August 04, 2008  
Summer Reading: Diana Tamblyn

:: Posted by Bryan @ 8/04/2008 06:00:00 AM
portrait of gerald bull by diana tamblyn
First up in our Summer Reading Survey is cartoonist Diana Tamblyn:

1) Diana Tamblyn, cartoonist, web consultant, website - www.speedlines.com

2) My latest comic project is "From Earth to Babylon: The Story of Gerald Bull and the Supergun". This is a historical based work on the life of Canadian Gerald Bull - considered to be one of the most brilliant scientists of the 20th century. His work on artillery led him across the globe, from Canada to the Pentagon, Barbados, South Africa and Iraq - where he ultimately developed the "Supergun" for Saddam Hussein. He was unable to finish it off as he was assassinated in Brussels in 1990.

3) This will be a big reading list because I'm a voracious reader and I'm in the research phase of my project so have been reading a lot of related material: Unholy Babylon: The Secret History of Saddam's War; Golgo 13 - The Supergun - Tako Satto, Guns, Lies and Spies - Chris Cowley; Arms and the Man - William Lowther; Bull's Eye - James Adams; Fist of God - Frederick Forsythe; Three in the Back, Two in the Head - Jason Sherman.

I went into this project knowing next to nothing about the middle east and as a lot of my story takes place there I'm really trying to educate myself about it. Reading all of these books has made me fairly discouraged about the state of the world as even though they all take place about 20 years ago now, all the themes are still very much in evidence today in terms of how the US deals with other countries, what subjects take priority on political agendas and all the back room dealing that goes on.

Comics-wise, I've recently read the following (many of which I picked up at Mocca '08 in NYC): Freddie & Me - Mike Dawson, Street Angel - Jim Rugg and Brian Maruco, Emiko Superstar - Mariko Tamaki and Steve Rolston, Janes in Love - Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg, New York Four - Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly, Pride of Baghdad - Brian Vaughn and Niko Hendrichon. Also have re-read The Long Halloween - Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb, and The Killing Joke - Alan Moore and Brian Bolland.

Of all of these I was really impressed with Pride of Baghdad. Street Angel I loved because it was just sheer joy and fun on the page. It reminded me of why I like comics so much.

To still read this month are a mixture of more books for research and some for fun - The Places in Between - Rory Stewart, Paris Kanonen and Project Harp - Gerald Bull and Charles Murphy, In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story - John Stockwell, The Apocalipstix - Cameron Stewart and Ray Fawkes, Strange and Stranger - Blake Bell, When you are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris, From the Earth to the Moon - Jules Verne.

4) Upcoming I will have a booth at Word on the Street on September 28th in Toronto. Then on October 23, I will be speaking at MIT to a graduate comparative media studies class along with Jeet Heer and Ho Che Anderson about comics. I am really excited about this and plan to have some artwork from my Bull project to show.

That's it!
D.

(top image: portrait of Gerald Bull by Tamblyn)

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   Monday, July 28, 2008  
Coming Soon: Strip Stories / Wright Awards Gallery Show

:: Posted by Bryan @ 7/28/2008 12:01:00 AM
panel from louis riel by chester brown canadian graphic novel
Just in time for next week's Doug Wright Awards comes news of this great gallery show of work by a wonderful selection of some of the best comics creators in the country, including panels from Chester Brown's Louis Riel graphic novel (parts of which have been on display previously). Co-curated by Sean Craig, who has been working with the organizers of the Wright Awards over the past year, the show has its opening reception just two days before the actual awards are handed out (August 7 and 9, respectively) at the Katherine Mulherin gallery. See the Facebook page of the event here.

The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning and BOARD OF DIRECTORS, a curatorial project at Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Arts Projects, are pleased to present an exhibition of original work by some of Canada's most recognized and promising cartoonists.

Strip Stories features works by artists who focus on sequential arts and graphic novels, many of whom have either won a Doug Wright Award in the past or have received nominations.

The show also marks the first time Toronto audiences will get a chance to view originals from Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography, Chester Brown's critically-acclaimed graphic novel. Originally published in comic book form, Louis Riel was released as a book in 2003 . Publisher's Weekly hailed it as "a strong contender for the best graphic novel ever."

Alongside Brown will be King cartoonist (and 2008 Doug Wright Award juror) Ho Che Anderson, Lorenz Peter, the 2006 Wright Award Best Emerging Talent winner for Dark Adaptation, and Montreal's Joe Ollmann who won the 2007 Best Book Award for his collection of short stories This Will All End in Tears.

Also included in the show will be Halifax-based artist/cartoonist Ray Fenwick, the mind behind the world's only typographic graphic novel, Hall of Best Knowledge, and 2008 Best Emerging Talent nominees:

Jason Keiffer, for Keiffer#1

Jeff Lemire, for Essex County

Nick Maandag, for The Experiment

Ethan Rilly, for Pope Hats

As well, 2008 nominees for the inaugural Pigskin Peters Award for Non-Narrative Cartooning, Emily Holton (Little Lessons in Safety) and John Martz (Excelsior 1968), will exhibit their experimental and progressive redefinitions of cartoon art.

Strip Stories will consist entirely of works with sequential, narrative or relative qualities. The exhibit presents viewers with a rare opportunity to witness the comics medium outside of conventional mass distribution.

Runs August 7-23.

Opening reception: August 7, 7pm.

Featuring works by

Ho Che Anderson

Chester Brown

Ray Fenwick

Emily Holton

Jason Kieffer

Jeff Lemire

Nick Maandag

John Martz

Joe Ollman

Lorenz Peter

Ethan Rilly

and Doug Wright!

The show is curated by Katharine Mulherin, Erin Stump, and Sean D.B. Craig.

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   Wednesday, July 23, 2008  
Publishing: The Apocalipstix

:: Posted by Bryan @ 7/23/2008 06:01:00 AM

Out today, The Apocalipstix by writer Ray Fawkes and artist Cameron Stewart. The first volume in a new series published by U.S. graphic novel publisher Oni Press, the book follows the adventures of an all-female rock band.

THE APOCALIPSTIX, Vol. 1
$11.95
Pages: 144
ISBN: 978-1-932664-45-4
Diamond Code: MAY08 4059

website

A 50-page preview is available here.


See the book profile in the Toronto Star.

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