1. What happens when Jeet Heer goes more in-depth into the David Michaelis bio of Charles Schulz than the Globe and Mail will allow? He posts the result on his blog.
2. The Onion's A.V. Club profiles Bryan Lee O'Malley and the latest volume of Scott Pilgrim: "O'Malley has raised the bar, art-wise: His deceptively basic style is suddenly deeper, richer, and more mature, while his eye for dynamics and graphic economy has gotten even keener." How much better can he get?
3. The winner of the second annual Concours quebecois de bande dessinee, a contest sponsored by Montreal's Monet bookstore to discover and publish new comics talent in album format, has just been published. Memoires d'un Metys, by Jessica Samson-Tshimbalanga, is a 72-page graphic novel about vampires in New France, and is published by Monet. Samson-Tshimbalanga will be appearing this weekend at the giant Salon du livre de Montreal. In addition, Monet has announced the next contest: beginning today and ending January 31, 2008, Monet will be accepting entries for the 3rd annual Concours. You must be a 1st-time creator (no previous books published) and over 16 years. You must submit a complete synopsis and 10 % of completed pages by the end date. The winner gets a published book and $1000 Canadian. (link via BDQ)
5. Which brings us to the big event, the Salon du livre de Montreal. This massive book festival has a large comics and bd contingent, including representatives of Quebec and European comics publishers (not to mention Archie comics) and features many signings, panels, and book launches. This is the 30th year of the Salon and its location in the biggest city in Quebec guarantees lots of media coverage. Michel Viau at BDQ has the agenda for today, as well as a large list of artist appearances and events. Michel Rabagliati and Pascal Blanchet are two of the many names that stand out. Among other publishing news, cartoonist Leif Tande is releasing two new albums through La Pasteque this weekend: Le Canard et le loup and Danger public. I'm sure there will be several reports from these events over the days to come...
The official book launch of the 'Chiaroscuro' graphic novel by Troy Little, published by IDW Publishing (Transformers, 30 Days of NIght, Star Trek)!
Come by and meet the author/illustrator at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery on November 9th at 7 pm. Get your book signed with a sketch! Books will be available for sale at the show compliments of The Comic Hunter.
Over 40 pages of original art are on display from the graphic novel as well as works by Seth, Charmaine Wheatly, Marc Gallant & Robet Harris as part of the on going "...And Other Stories" exhibit.
Chiaroscuro is the story of Steven Patch, an unemployed artist with a single blank canvas. Steven's busy living the introspective, angst-ridden life of your average twenty-something; drinking too much and complaining about his situation while doing little to improve it. A case of mistaken identity pushes Steven into a flow of events that bring him places he'd never imagined and forces him to make a choice between art and mere existence.
The Guelph Mercury profiles Richard Comely, one of the creators of Captain Canuck. Comely is teaching a comics course in Brantford and hyping the latest incarnation of his patriotic superhero, a new comic book series begun last Fall, and has some funny things to say:
"Comely admits the superhero's changing persona irritated some readers. 'But I felt that since I'm the writer, I'll do what I want,' he says bluntly.
Comely estimates sales of the 25 issues of Captain Canuck produced since 1975 at 2.3 million across North America.
He says some of his most hard-core fans are Americans, and Canadian expats, who ask him to send Captain Canuck badges that they sew on their coat sleeves. He mails them out and 'hopes they don't get beat up at school.'"
On a related note, Halifax fan-historian Phil Latter has just posted an exhaustive critical history of the character --Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Captain Canuck But Were Afraid to Ask.
1. Writing for the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, Alex Good tackles John Bell's Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe. He notes,
For the most part, Bell's text is long on information -- names, dates and titles -- and short on close analysis.
But it's much more than just a reference book or coffee-table tribute.
There are wonderful pictures, many of them of rare material and almost all reproduced in full colour. And then there are the two "Spotlight" chapters that step outside the chronological survey for an in-depth look at the development of native Canadian superheroes and the work of Chester Brown.
2. Writing in the Whitehorse Daily Star, Andrew Hoshkiw profiles dj and graphic novelist Kid Koala, who is appearing in that Northern city. The turntablist doesn't talk about his comics which makes me wonder why I'm linking to the article...
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