• Jeff Lemire has a new 5-page comic online.

• This past Saturday, Happy Harbor Comics in Edmonton hosted their annual 12-Hour Comic Challenge for charity. Jamie Hall of The Edmonton Journal has a report.

• No, it's not Guy Delisle. Sudbury cartoonist Sue Dewar writes about her trip to China.

• Patrick Berube reviews Delisle's Chroniques Birmanes for Comic Book Bin and cofrims it will be translated by D+Q.

• This Georgia Straight article makes coherent sense of the latest press release from Zeros 2 Heroes, including the news that Astral Media has committed $18,000 towards script development for the latest winner of the Comic Book Nation contest.

• Another Vancouver web-based company, Optimum Wound Comics, has announced their first graphic novel release, Croatian artist Danijel Zezelj's Rex. Comic Book Bin has the press release.

• Steve Murray writes about how his parents used comics as positive reinforcement for the National Post.

• Teletoon is airing a few animated episodes of U.S. cartoonist's Aaron McGruder's Boondocks after the offending eps were yanked from the Cartoon Network. I can't tell if this is news or not --this isn't really an animation blog and I don't follow the show in question (it's pretty crappy).

Labels: blogosphere, comics on film, comics on tv, graphic novels, publishing, reviews

• Patrick Berube reviews the bd album Magasin General, Vol 1 for CBB.

• Zak Edwards reviews Essex County 2: Ghost Stories by Jeff Lemire at CBB.

• Reed Elsevier, the U.S. producer of Book Expo Canada, has announced the sale of its publishing division, including Publisher's Weekly and its subsidiaries, inclyding Heidi MacDonald's The Beat weblog.

• Exclaim profiles the new Cumulus Press book, Extraction!

• Emru Townsend of Frames prr Second magazine reviews an academic anthology about manga and anime, Mechademia 2: Networks of Desire.

• Eye weekly profiles Toronto's The World's Biggest Bookstore.

• Dave Sim reveals his other secret project, a history of the Holocaust, Judenhass.

Labels: cartoon reportage, comics retailers, graphic novels, manga, publishing, reviews

Labels: links, reviews, webcomics

• Pictures of the Paul Goes Fishing launch at the D+Q blog.

• I haven't seen a review copy of the book myself, but here are 3 reviews of Kean Soo's Jellaby: 1 2 3.

• The National Post on Maid Cafes in Tokyo.

• Chip Zdarsky aka Steve Murray continues his comix reportage for the National Post, this time exploring the world of crossdressing (with a cartoon cameo by Chris Butcher).

• Just in time for Valentine's Day, The Kingston Whig-Standard profiles anti-romantic Taiwanese otaku.

• Sudbury cartoonist Rob Saccetto will draw a romantic zombie portrait of you.

• The National Post interviews U.S. cartoonist Kazu Kibuishi in Toronto.

• The first report of the Vancouver Art Gallery show to be curated by Art Spiegleman and Seth that I've seen. No real details --coming later this year.

• The University of Waterloo's Peter Trinh writes on cartoonist couples.

• Julie Doucet interviewed in the Montreal Gazette.

• Fleen webcomic reviewer Anne Thalheimer tackles Claudia Davila's Transmission X offering, Luz, Girl of the Knowing.

Labels: cartoonists, graphic novels, interviews, reviews, webcomics

• Christopher Butcher on the issue of publishers selling books at conventions and the Beguiling's attitude to same.

• The aptly-named John Law writes about comics downloading for the Niagara Falls Review, including some interviews with local retailers Netral Zone and Mostly Comics and cartoonist Karl Kerschl.

• Dave Sim takes his Glamourpuss messageboard tour on the road and has some long exchanges with U.S. comic book writer, mother, and former hairstylist Gail Simone at the Sequential Tart boards.

• Tom Spurgeon reviews Therefore Repent! at Comics Reporter.

• Also at Comics Reporter, an interview that Montreal cartoonist Bernie Mireault had with himself.

• If you know your Canadian history, you know that one of Brian Mulroney's first political acts involved a campaign to ban horror and crime comic books in this country. Newly declassified British documents reveal that Winston Churchill discussed the same issue as one of his last political acts.

• The Montreal Gazette gets feedback on changes to its comics page.

Labels: comic strips, comics history, floppies, graphic novels, interviews, interweb, reviews

• As we all anxiously await the opportunity to talk with Dave Sim at the Comics Journal boards on January 30 (today!), this post sums up his recent projects.

• Pascal Blanchet's White Rapids is reviewed at the McGill Daily.

• Tom Spurgeon discusses the year-end numbers posted at Comics Chronicles. According to numbers released by Diamond Distributors, the Direct Market had its best year since 1995. This means that Diamond had sales of $429 million through all merchandise wholesaled to comic book shops in the U.S. and Canada.

• In related news: The Beat publishes Diamond's 2007 Top 100 Graphic Novels list and the Top Publishers by percent of Direct Market share of 2007.

• Just for fun, the Dumbest Space Gods in science fiction. Jack Kirby lands at #3.

• Madeline Ashby reports on the transculturelle academic workshop on manga and anime, held this past weekend in Montreal. She also discusses Montreal and Scott Pilgrim.

• Thanks to the BDQuebec forums for this link: Craig Yoe presents an early cartoon from Canadian cartoonist Raoul Barre.

Labels: bestsellers, comics retailers, floppies, graphic novels, manga, publishing, reviews

If you were forced to describe Julie Morstad's drawings in a few quick words "subdued, languid creepiness" might do the trick. Subdued and languid: no matter how macabre the situation her characters find themselves in they never scream, their almond-shaped eyes vacantly stare out at their bizarre predicaments, and an air of genteel languor, as at an Edwardian tea party, hangs over every scene. Creepiness: insect and snakes crawl everywhere, limbs have a way of mutating into odd shapes (often looking like the furry squirrel tails), heads are frequently detached from bodies.

Labels: drawings, illustration, reviews

• Writing for Xtra, Chris Butcher provides a primer on Yaoi tranlations and OEL Yaoi available to North American readers.

• Leroy Douresseaux reviews Jeff Lemire's Essex County 2 for Comic Book Bin.

• Man who blocked Vancouver bridge dressed as superhero in 2004 loses appeal for appeal.

• The National Post's policart Gary Clement snags a top 10 berth on the Time magazine list of best editorial cartoons of 2007. It's actually a sequential gag, to boot.

• Writing for Boston's Edge magazine, Steve Stiffler provides an exhaustive overview of the problems with Canada Customs vis a vis comics: "A far more insidious quality of life incursion is being perpetrated by our neighbors to the north. Yes, the "friendly giant" of Canada has not been so friendly--or at least gay-friendly--of late.

Labels: blogosphere, censorship, graphic novels, manga, political cartooning, reviews

• Robert Wiersema reviews a few graphic novels that are on the bestseller list for the National Post.

• The University of Waterloo's Peter Trinh recommends some Xmas comics.

• Jeet Heer reviews a new collection of obscure 1960s Marvel monster comics.

• Was the Danish cartoon controversy responsible for the demise of the print version of Alberta's Western Standard magazine? This blog post from the mag's website asserts that the Standard's "act of printing those Danish Cartoons –an international news story – cost them tens of thousands (and perhaps more) of dollars and helped to hasten the demise of the print edition."

• Still confused about what the heck Lynn Johnston is doing with her strip? This site tries to explain.

• via Tom Spurgeon: the delightful Elise Gravel is one of the cartoonists reviewed in a roundup of kids books by the Montreal Gazette's Michelle Lalond:

Labels: comic strips, graphic novels, kid lit, links, Lynn Johnston, reviews

• Marvel announces a new licensing agent for Canada: Segal Licensing, a large Toronto marketing company
  
• a National Post profile of Ann Marie Fleming and her new graphic novel, Long Tack Sam
• translated interview with Guy Delisle about his new book on Burma
• Michel Rabagliati is the cover feature at Voir Weekly
• how did we miss this? James Turner's Rex Libris has been optioned as a film
• Turner is interviewed by Peter Jaffe at Comixology
• Rick Trembles reviews Cinema Sewer: The Book in his distinctive comix style (recommended!)
  

Labels: graphic novels, interviews, links, misc, reviews

his finest work, including a depiction of Bert and Ernie heading to Canada for a gay marriage, and Premier Rodney MacDonald living rent-free and playing video games in his parents' house - after getting a substantial raise.

Northern News Services cartoonist Norm Muffitt, a former RCMP officer, pilot and Transport Canada official, remembers the controversy well. He drew many a cartoon in support of Laserich, which made for an uncomfortable moment when applying for an enforcement job with Transport Canada.

"I had done a cartoon of a Transport Canada guy behind a desk, and on the desk was a nail with a cord attached to it. The other end was fastened to Willy's licence," said Muffitt.

"When I went in for my interview, the first thing that happened was the guy sat down with this cartoon in front of me and said, 'before we start, maybe you'd like to explain this.'"

Labels: events, graphic novels, links, misc, political cartooning, reviews

Labels: bd, blogosphere, events, graphic novels, Montreal, profiles, publishing, reviews, slm

Labels: comics retailers, graphic novels, links, publishing, reviews

Labels: anthologies, can-con, links, Montreal, publishing, reviews, small press, zines

Getting my attention early on is Cameron Stewart's SIN TITULO is an interesting noir thriller than catches my eye as a notable point of evolution in style for the creator. Cameron has always been a virtuoso in his work, displaying almost machine like consistency and skill in his past work. With the weekly SIN TITULO he's engaging in a paring back and simplification that appeals to my personal sensibilities, and complements his work a great deal. It's too soon to make a true comparison but so far the story is reminding me of one of my all time favourite books, City of Glass by Paul Auster & David Mazzucchelli. Very promising beginnings. This is a first for Cameron as a writer as I understand it, and so far he's displaying a good instinct for intrigue and suspense, and some nice touches with atmospheric details like the radio story about disappearing bees during a cab ride and other little notes like that. Great stuff.

Brilliantly drawn and bound to be engaging for many, is Karl Kerschl's The Abominable Charles Christopher. Kerschl has been working professionally for some time, and in the Transmission X web cast he explains that his motivation with this strip is to get away from the intense planning that typically goes into his long form comic book work and just have fun with a stream of consciousness narrative. The weekly strip is well under way and so far entirely enchanting. Backing up and often stealing the show, the mute wall eyed soother sucking Abominable headliner is supported by a cast of snappy talking animals. It's all superbly drawn and the art looks like it will be well worth seeing in print one day, elegant and subtly rendered, it's really something. 14 pages in a sub plot is now beginning to immerge about some kind of immanent peril to the forest, I'll be looking forward to seeing were this one is going.

Last for this post, Papercut is the monthly short story offering from Michael Cho. So far two have been posted, Smoke and Stars. Michael's background is in illustration work more than anything, and in a way it shows. His choice of image, subtle moods he achieves, they feel indicative of the challenges you often face in that medium. As a mode of expression it forces you to think in subtler terms than comics often do. His short stories are very introspective, and sombre so far. Their nostalgic air reminds me of Seth's work, but frankly I think more tightly rendered and lacking the obsession with a specific bygone era. Thanks to that in part, Michael's stories manage to be more contemporary feeing and broader scoped. Lovely work and when he completes a book of these shorts, I'm betting a best seller too.

Labels: can-con, comics on tv, digital comics, manifestos, reviews, webcomics

Labels: graphic novels, reviews

Labels: comics retailers, events, graphic novels, interweb, links, misc, reviews

Labels: mini-comics, reviews

Wolk has a contrarian streak: He likes to tweak the masters and champion the half-forgotten. Strikingly, he has some harsh words for Spiegelman and Ware, while being tenderly protective toward Gene Colan, the journeyman hack who drew the Tomb of Dracula. These curious judgments (which I find thoroughly unconvincing) are perhaps a legacy of Wolk's fannish roots. They also call to mind Wolk's intellectual hero, the late film critic Pauline Kael, who liked to put in a good word for trashy pleasures. Kael loved starting critical fights, a habit Wolk has inherited.

Labels: comics history, international, reviews

Labels: blogosphere, comics history, reviews

Canadian comics creator Steve MacIsaac makes his triumphant return to Toronto this August at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. He'll be debuting Shirtlifters #2, the second issue of his one-man anthology of queer comics. MacIsaac's work is very grounded, offering up portraits of men who are wrestling with modern queer issues -- marriage and immigration, integrating families and queer identity -- all of these are starting points for sometimes sexy, surprising stories that will hit close to home for many men.

Labels: blogosphere, reviews

Labels: graphic novels, reviews

This new collection is a 25-year retrospective of Valium's work, and probably the best overview of his career that we are ever likely to see. The book itself, oversized and weighty, is marvelously produced on glossy paper that does wonders for the subtleties (yes!) of the color work. If you're a Valium fan, this book will nicely replace all your previous versions of his work -- this is the definitive object.

If you're not a Valium fan, there is probably nothing that I can say about him to make you interested. His work, though smart and funny, is highly visceral. Your reaction to him will be felt in your gut -- lust or revulsion. There is little middle ground with an artist working in this style. You take Valium on his own terms, or not at all.

Labels: reviews

Labels: graphic novels, international, reviews

Labels: blogosphere, events, reviews

Reluctantly Bell concludes that the dream of a Canadian national superhero might have to be abandoned and that the future of comics lies in the more mature graphic novels created by contemporary graphic novelists like Chester Brown and Seth (the pen name of cartoonist Gregory Gallant). Brown’s graphic novel about Louis Riel sold more than 20,000 copies in hardcover and is now used in many university courses. Perhaps the best chapter of Bell ’s book is the one arguing for the centrality of Brown’s work in contemporary comics. Seth’s wistful nostalgia-laden mediations (published in such magazines as Toro, The New Yorker, and the New York Times Magazine) also have an enthusiastic (and international) audience. Certainly both artists have produced a body of work that is more successful, aesthetically and commercially, than Captain Canada or Nelvana.

....

The long-delayed adulthood of Canadian comics came in the early 1990s, when a cohort of artists used the form for personal expression. Aside from Seth and Chester Brown, the important figures were Julie Doucet (an artist with a remarkable ability to plop her subconscious right on the printed page with dreams strips about cities drowning in menstrual blood and lewd beer bottles hitting on young women), Ho Che Anderson (whose comic strip biography of Martin Luther King was notable for its unvarnished honesty in dealing with race and sex), and David Collier (an artist who has recreated in comic book form the old Canadian persona of the backwoods yarn spinner).

Labels: comics history, reviews

Robinson also looks at other important comic book characters, such as Mary Marvel, whom she describes as a marketing ploy for teenage girls, the Black Cat, once of the first costumed femme fatale, and several Marvel Comics strong ladies. Of all She-Hulk fares the best, according to Robinson, because she is both sexy, self aware and even post feminist. She represents everything adolescent males want, while being independent.

Labels: comics scholarship, reviews, U.S. superhero franchises

Graphic novels, or graphics, mine a rich heritage, from Francisco Goya's Disasters of War, his series of etchings recounting the atrocities perpetrated by Napoleon's army during its occupation of Madrid, to the political cartoons of Otto Dix and George Grosz, each of whom documented World War I and the rise of the Nazis, to the underground comics movement of the 1960s and 1970s. A startling proportion of the current offerings are non-fiction, rendering history, journalism, and memoir into a frame-by-frame marriage of words and pictures. Art Spiegelman set the stage for all this activity in 1986 with his Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus, a depiction of his parents' experiences during the Holocaust, in which he cast cats as the Nazis and mice as the Jews. The inheritors of Maus's legacy include journalistic works by Sacco from his trips to Palestine and Bosnia, Marjane Satrapi's two-volume memoir of growing up in revolutionary Iran, and Rosalind Penfold's account of abuse.


Why use comics, an idiom perhaps best suited to humour and satire, to depict events as tragic as the Holocaust or the war in Bosnia or spousal abuse Non-fiction graphics may be symptomatic of a greater malaise --a creeping weariness with our hyper-digitized, over-photographed reality. Photojournalism has left us inured to the gory traumas it portrays. Graphics, on the other hand, are visceral and intimate, their scribbled outlines contrasting with the sharp edges and sharper colours of photography.

Labels: graphic novels, reviews

Labels: graphic novels, reviews

Still it's good that Anderson didn't make the King he was "supposed to make." He didn't make the one for which other people (like me) would have wished. In spite of what faults it may have, King is example of what a cartoonist can create within the medium of the so-called "graphic narrative" when he uses all the artistic elements available to him. Anderson took an adventurous leap forward with the comic book, a brave, personal, artistic statement and an adventurous leap forward with the comic book - warts and all. King shows that comics can deal with subject matter weightier than, say, Wolverine's origins or just how screwed up Batman/Bruce Wayne is. Maybe Ho Che Anderson is one of the few cartoonists capable of treating comics as a medium of art and communication the way the great novelists, short story writers, musicians, and filmmakers treat their respective mediums.

Labels: graphic novels, reviews

Spent

Labels: blogosphere, links, misc, reviews

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.

Labels: comics scholarship, profiles, reviews