Sequential: Canadian Comics News & Culture

Billy Mavreas is Launching his Graphic Novel INSIDE OUTSIDE OVERLAP

2008-05-10T01:23:00.003-04:00

Found on Facebook

I'll be signing copies of my new comic book, INSIDE OUTSIDE OVERLAP published by Timeless Books, Toronto. Come by, say hi, have a drink, buy a book, stay and drink even more.

Time and Place
Date:	Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Time:	7:00pm - 11:00pm
Location:	Casa Del Popolo
Street:	4873 St-Laurent
City/Town:	Montreal, QC
	View Map

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Vancouver Launch - June 7, 7:00 pm
Lucky's 3972 Main Street. ph: 604-875-9858.

Toronto Launch - June 25th, 7:30 pm
Part of the The Beguiling monthly series

http://drawrings.blogspot.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mavreas

This Weekend: Graphic Novel Conference, Toronto

2008-05-09T06:00:00.003-04:00

The New Narrative?

An academic conference devoted comics and the graphic novel, presented at the University of Toronto, May 10-11. Hilights include a talk by Seth on being a cartoonist in Canada, relative to the other visual arts, and a paper by the controversial Jeet Heer on Orphan Annie and Dickens.

Saturday 10 May

9:00 - 9:30 Registration (ongoing through to noon)
Contact: Andrew Lesk andrew.lesk@utoronto.ca 416-841-8985

Panel 1A Auto/biography UC 140 9:30 - 10:45
Chair: Tanis MacDonald (Wilfrid Laurier)

Ian MacRae (Toronto): The Progress of Love: Queering the Canon and the Odyssey of Identity in Alison Bechdel's Fun Home

Edward Hornick (Journalist - New Orleans): Evan Dorkin's Nervous Breakdown and the Hidden Comic Indies

Panel 1B Superheroes & Super ... Annie? UC 179 9:30 - 10:45

Chair: Jean-Paul Gabilliet (Universite de Bordeaux)

Felan Parker (Carleton): Batman Begins, Superman Returns: Reintroducing the Franchise Superhero

Jeet Heer (Toronto): Little Orphan Oliver Twist: The Dickensian Inheritance in Mid-20th Century Comics

Megan Kelley (Calgary): Earnest Heroes and Outrageous Villains: The Dynamics of Camp in Superman films

Panel 2A Ideologies and Ethics UC 140 11 - 12:15

Chair: Doug Stetar (Malaspina)

Doug Stetar (Malaspina): Of Rags and Riches: The Complex Ideologies of Wealth, Class and Consumption in Classic Richie Rich Comics

Doug Mann (Western): To Compromise or Not to Compromise, that is the Question: Watchmen as Ethical and Political Dialogue

J. Andrew Deman (Waterloo): Jimmy Corrigan vs. Superman: Deconstruction, Disillusion, and Social Collapse

Panel 2B Cities UC 179 11 - 12:15

Chair: Amir Hussain (Loyola Marymount, L.A.)

kevin mcpherson eckhoff (Calgary): Dat Ain't as Funny as it Looks, See? Reconsidering the Realism of Richard F. Outcault's Hogan's Alley

Michel Hardy-Vallee (McGill): Escape from the City of Words: Finding a Better Literary Haven for Comix

Paul Atkinson (Monash - Aus.): The Graphic Novel as Metafiction

Lunch break

Panel 3A Un/real UC 140 1:30 - 2:45

Chair: David Huxley (Manchester Metropolitan)

Steven Shaviro (Wayne State): You Will Never Own a Jetpack: Warren Ellis' Science Fiction Comics

Michael Freethy (Carleton):Rotoshop, Scramble Suits and Substance D: A Scanner Darkly and the Crisis of Hyperreality

Lamia Kosovic (European G.S.): Cyberpunk K-inema: Re-imag(in)ing of the Posthuman

Panel 3B O Canada UC 179 1:30 - 2:45

Chair: Joan Ormrod (Manchester Metropolitan)

Jean-Paul Gabilliet (Universite de Bordeaux): Comics in the Cambridge History of Canadian Literature: Is Sequential Art the Future of the Canadian Literary Canon?

Kevin Ziegler (Waterloo): The Making of Riel Comic Literature: The Re-circulation of Brown's Louis Riel

Tanis MacDonald (Wilfrid Laurier): The way I've drawn the scene: History and Historiography in Chester Brown's Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography

Panel 4A Social Panic UC 140 3 - 4:15

Chair: Paul Atkinson (Monash - Aus.)

Nicholas Holm (McMaster): Beneath Consideration: Reassessing Wertham and the Role of Taste in the Decline of the Comic Book

Clint Burnham (Simon Fraser): Ho Che Anderson's King trilogy: Comics, Social History, and the Zizekian Ethical Act

David Huxley (Manchester Metropolitan): Moral panics, censorship and the cultural status of comics in Britain

Panel 4B Modernism UC 179 3 - 4:15

Chair: Jeet Heer (Toronto)

Joan Ormrod (Manchester Metropolitan): A Heap of Broken Images: Countersong and Readership in T S Eliot and Martin Rowson's The Waste Land

David N. Wright (Douglas): "'kontinue kuriousity to its illogical klimax': Krazy Kat, E. E. Cummings and the Grammar of Modernism"

Glenn Willmott (Queen's): Catwoman's Pedigree

Seth speaks! (keynote address) UC 140 5 - 6

Reception Croft House @ UC 6 - 8:30

Sunday 11 May

Panel 1A Across the Ocean(s) UC 140 10 - 11:15

Chair: Nicholas Holm (McMaster)

Gokul Gopalakrishnan (Hyderabad): G Aravindan's Small Men and the Big World: Re-Defining the "Comic" in the Strip

Josh Chong (Waterloo): Impregnation of the Cyborg: Problematic Reproduction in Japanese Manga

Pierre Chermartin (Montreal): From the multiple-room set to the split scene: quarrels, disputes and altercations in turn-of-the century European comics.

Panel 1B Victorians UC179 10 - 11:15

Chair: Andrea Schwenke Wyile (Acadia)

Andrea Day (New Brunswick): Playing With the Pen and Pencil Sketches of Thackeray's singular performance: Illustrations of Dolls, Performativity, and Narrative Technique in Vanity Fair

Christine Yao (Dalhousie): Queen Victoria, Captive Despot: The Dissemination of Image and Power in Alan Moore's From Hell

Jason Frank (Youngstown): Even More Blood in the Gutters: Taking Apart Rick Geary's Narration of Jack the Ripper

Lunch break

Panel 2A Methods and Stylings UC 140 12:30 - 1: 45

Chair: Gokul Gopalakrishnan (Hyderabad)

Edward Bader (Lethbridge/Grand Prairie): Comics Carnet: Graphic Novelist as Global Nomad

Peter Coppin (Toronto) and Stephen Hockema (Toronto): Research Methods to Understand Comics and the Human Mind

Andrea Schwenke Wyile (Acadia): Which Umbrella: Comix or Picturebooks?

Panel 2B Bodies, Pathologies, Illness UC 179 12:30 - 1:45

Chair: Tim Bavlnka (Independent journalist)

Allison Crawford (Toronto): Framing the Body-Embodying the Frame: Graphic Novels and the Representation of Illness

Marni Stanley (Malaspina): The Art of Embodiment in Graphic Autopathography

Panel 3A Endings 1 UC 140 2 - 3:15

Chair: Stephen Hockema (Toronto)

Kalervo Sinervo (Simon Fraser): Grains of Sand: Renaissance Intertextuality in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman

Aaron Kashtan (Florida): Jeepers Jacobs in the Network of Lines That Intersect: The Deconstruction of the Clear Line in Kevin Huizenga

Tim Bavlnka (Independent journalist): The Superhero Significance: The Role of the Contemporary Superhero in Literature

Panel 3B Endings 2 UC 179 2 - 3:15

Chair: Andrew Lesk (Toronto)

Anthony Enns (Dalhousie): Media, Memory, and the Metropolis in Jason Lutes’ Berlin: City of Stones

Amir Hussain (Loyola Marymount, L.A.): Representing Muslim lives: pedagogy and the comics journalism of Joe Sacco

Roundtable So, what's new?
UC 140 3:30 - 4:30

Jeff Parker, Luca Somigli, Tim Bavlnka

Closing words: Andrew Lesk 4:30

This Weekend: Free Comic Book Day, Fredericton, NB

2008-05-09T01:54:00.003-04:00

The flooding in New Brunswick has delayed this comic book event by one week.

Details here.

Short Links

2008-05-07T16:35:00.000-04:00

Toronto webcomicers Ryan North and Joey Comeau are profiled by Eye Weekly on the occasion of their participation of a "Famous on the Internet"-style conference at MIT.

The Comic Book Bin has the announcement for Ray Fenwick's Hall of Best Knowledge booklaunch.

Today's comic book, art book, and graphic novel releases, courtesy the blog of Toronto bookstore The Labyrinth.

In Quebec City tonite, Michel Giguere hosts a talk on bd album cover art at the Gabriel-Roy Library, 350, rue Saint-Joseph Est. 7pm. Free admission.

Free Comic Book Day Reports

2008-05-06T16:42:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday, May 3, was Free Comic Book Day across the U.S. and Canada, an event intended to promote comics through local comic book shops. I largely agree with Kevin Boyd that the event should be an opportunity to reach out to the larger community of people who might not venture into comic shops normally or even read comics. This is a great time for local shops to get some free press coverage and lots of potential new customers. With few exceptions, I don't really see this happening. For the most part, the people who show up for this event usually have found out about it in one of their weekly visits to the shop. No press releases are sent out and no outreach or cross-promotion with other organizations is ventured. When I wandered into my own local comic shop around 5 pm to ask how things went, the teenage clerk painting a role-playing model at the large table that takes up the front window of the empty store informed me that most of the free comics vanished in the first hour of the promotion, around 9am, gesturing to a pile of brochures and 3 copies of the VIZ/Shonen Jump giveaway to indicate all that remained. As far as I could tell, the sole message to the outside world that something unique was happening today was a lone poster in the window, competing with the other posters.

The events that I heard of before hand include the signings at the Silver Snail and the Beguiling event at the Toronto Public Library (which began at noon).

Here are some reports and pictures:

Stuart Immonen
Jason Truong reports
Chris Butcher reports on the Beguiling event
Strange Adventures in Halifax got some press
A picture of Elfsar in Vancouver

Jamie Coville: Hobbystar Toronto Comicon Report

2008-05-05T00:01:00.001-04:00

No evil shall escape his sight: a nice report from last month's Toronto Comicon by Jamie Coville. Coville's photos from the con are here. A highlight for some might be the mp3 of a Blake Bell-moderated Iron Man panel featuring Mike Grell, Bob Layton and David Michelinie. A good summary of the con:

I talked with a variety of retailers and pros at the end of the convention to see how they did. Most of the responses ranged from slow to okay. One unhappy dealer said he only made his table costs. Nobody seemed particularly enthusiastic about the show. One dealer said the entire market is slow right now. He says people have money and they're seeing stuff they're interested in, but they need some enticing to spend it. He was giving discounts in order to do that. That dealer was selling TPBs only. Another dealer who was only selling back issues said pretty much the same thing. He said he dropped his prices by half, something he very rarely does, but it did move a lot of stuff. Overall there was a bit of disparity between retailers and dealers. Retailers that participated in the 10 dollar voucher to promote the con got their tables for free, while dealers had to pay for them.

Almost every retailer/dealer I talked to gave me a different answer for what moved well for them. One said the expensive wall comics, another Captain America books, another Bronze/Modern bins, another Hardcovers, another Golden Age books, another Manga and 1-2 dollar bins, a few said Trades. Some of those with a mix said everything sold equally well. I noticed a lot of sellers seemed to be specializing. Some come with only back issue bins, some come with only trades. Even with the back issue bins it broke down to dollar bins with bronze to moderns, some silver-bronze, some gold.

I talked to a handful of pro's and they were split about Saturday or Sunday being better for them. My general impression was that Saturday drew out the die hard readers willing to spend some money. The "Free" Sunday attracted a different crowd, likely a more budget conscious group. Some of them appeared to be more casual readers or still quite new to comics.

Interested parties might also want to check out the report by con organizer Kevin Boyd, available here.

News and Views

2008-05-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

Some comics-related links from the past few days:

Another obit for Robert Bierman, the political cartoonist who passed away April 16.

The Comic Book Bin chronicles the move from print to web by cartoonist Karl Kerschl.

Ivan Anchukov of Voronezh, Russia, won the 8th Annual International Competition for Editorial Cartoonists from among 700 cartoons submitted from 40 countries, in an award handed out in Ottawa May 2nd in honour of International Press Freedom day (May 3).

The comics critics: "Jog" tackles Dave Sim's Glamourpuss comic while Tom Spurgeon casts a wide net over Michel Rabagliati's graphic novel Paul Goes Fishing.

Chris Butcher wants your help in i.d.-ing the hottest obscure manga.

The second volume in the Cosmos Cafe album series by Quebec bedeist Tristan Demers in now out.

Newsarama interviews graphic novelist Faith Erin Hicks.

Bob Bierman, 1921-2008

2008-05-01T06:00:00.001-04:00

Cartoonist Sued by Vander Zalm

Victoria Times and Monday magazine editorial cartoonist Bob Bierman died as a result of a stroke April 16, according to a report by the Globe and Mail.

Born in Amsterdam, Bierman worked for a variety of Dutch publications before emigrating to Canada in 1950. He first worked as a bar doorman in Toronto before moving to British Columbia in 1954, eventually publishing his first cartoons with the Victoria Times. After the merger of the Times and the Victoria Colonist in 1976, Bierman published in the weekly alternative paper, Monday Magazine. Besides regular contributions to the annual Portfoolio collections of Canadian caricature, Bierman published one book, 1984: A Collection of Political Cartoons (New Star Books,1982).

Bierman is best known for a court case involving Bill Vander Zalm. The cartoonist drew a cartoon of then-Human Resources Minister Vander Zalm pulling the wings off flies and was sued for libel by the future B.C. premiere and amusement park owner (who was also a Dutch immigrant). A $3500 decision against Bierman and his publisher was later overturned by the B.C. Court of Appeal.

A collection of Bierman's cartoons can be seen here.

Thursday Links

2008-05-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Zeros 2 Heroes' latest endeavour involves recruiting a writer for an internship at big video game company BioWare. According to the Z2H press release, the contest is being co-sponsored by the National Screen Institute, a tradeschool with 60% of its funding coming from government sources: "As part of increasing their capacity, BioWare has joined the NSI playWRITE competition --a Telefilm-funded collaboration between the National Screen Institute and Zeros 2 Heroes --as a partner who will provide an internship to a winner announced in August 2008. To find out how to pitch, go here.

Vancouver cartoonist Jonathan Dalton was the hit of the Portland, Oregon comics convention, Stumptown, according to Tom Spurgeon.

Related: Tom Spurgeon has some nice things to say about Canadian resident Hope Larson's Chiggers graphic novel.

Want updates? Cartoonist Jason Copland (Mortal Coils, Digital Webbing Presents) has just created a monthly newsletter with the promise of free art.

Law student and D+Q cartoonist talks to the National Post about his collection, All We Ever Do Is Talk About Wood.

The son of political cartoonist Yardley Jones, Spyder Yardley-Jones, is an artist in his own right.

The Montreal Gazette profiles Jesse Heffring's attempt to produce a sci-fi graphic novel.

Diana Tamblyn's Super-Gun Project

2008-04-30T23:42:00.002-04:00

Great news from cartoonist Diana Tamblyn: she is hard at work on her first graphic novel, a biography of Canadian scientist Gerald Bull. As Tamblyn explains on her blog, she has recently moved to London and secured a Canada Council grant to work on the project. In the same vein as her critically acclaimed minicomic bio of Frederick Banting, the Bull bio will focus on the weird life of the Canadian-born inventor of the Super-Gun and international man of mystery. Tamblyn has recently secured an agent and will be shopping the book around after initial research is completed this summer.

Anke Feuchtenberger a Montreal

2008-04-29T00:07:00.001-04:00

ANKE FEUCHTENBERGER

Exhibition of original drawings / Exposition de dessins originaux

April 30 - July 4 , 2008 30 avril - 4 juillet 2008

Exhibition launch

Wednesday April 30, 8 pm

Hand-drawn animated shorts
Discussion led by Rupert Bottenberg

Vernissage de l'exposition

Mercredi 30 avril, 20h

Films d'animation
Soiree animee par Rupert Bottenberg

Free admission / Entree libre

GOETHE-INSTITUT MONTREAL 418, rue Sherbrooke Est
514 499 0159

www.goethe.de/montreal

Weekend News and Comment Catch-Up

2008-04-28T00:46:00.004-04:00

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

Derek McCormack writes about superhero costumes for the National Post.

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

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

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

On the subject of showing the Mohammed cartoons on CBC.

Jeet Heer interviewed about superheroes on the CBC.

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

Newsarama at Calgary Comic Expo.

Chris Butcher is celebrating 6 years of blogging. Congratulations!

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

This Weekend: Calgary Comic Expo

2008-04-25T13:59:00.002-04:00

Featuring that woman from Battlestar Galactica and maybe some comic book people.

Details Here.

Saturday April 26: 10am - 7pm Sunday April 27: 10am - 6pm

See here for a schedule of upcoming conventions. Please contact us about your event.

Things I've Been Meaning to Link To

2008-04-24T10:38:00.003-04:00

How the comics page and London Free Press cartoonist Merle Tingley turned one paperboy into a journalist.

The Eisner nominees: Darwyn Cooke, Pia Guerra, Jeff Lemire, Karl Kerschl, Scott Chantler, and several international volumes published by D+Q were among the nominees. It is worth noting also (if only for the purposes of vanity and self-promotion) that the category of "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism" includes at least two nominees featuring the work of Canadians: Comic Art #9 has articles by Jeet Heer and myself; The Comics Reporter regularly features Bart Beaty's Eurocomics column. Sequential congratulates all the nominees! The winner will be announced July 25.

Tom Spurgeon previewed Montreal cartoonist Billy Mavreas' upcoming (May) graphic novel, Inside Outside Overlap (Timeless Books) a few weeks ago.

Today, Troy Little, Moncton

2008-04-22T01:46:00.001-04:00

Troy Little, author and illustrator of the critically acclaimed graphic novel Chiaroscuro will be speaking about the evolutionary process in creating his book. From it's simple beginnings in his sketch book, through numerous creative mutations and finally into the world of both small and big press publishing, Troy will talk about what it takes to be an independent graphic novel creator. Troy will give his talk at 7pm at Timothy's on Main Street.

details here

Bedeis Causa Winners

2008-04-22T01:35:00.004-04:00

Note: this is a corrected version of this post. The original featured last year's winners (thanks to Michel Viau for the heads up).

The winners of the Prix Bedeis Causa were announced at last week's Festival de la Bande Dessinee de Quebec. The prize is one of the two top prizes devoted to French-language Quebec comics.

Prix Real-Filion :
Best first album

Pierre Bouchard, for L'Ile-aux-Ours (Mecanique generale)

Prix Ville de Quebec :
Best French-language album from Quebec

Kaspar by Obom (Diane Obomsawin), publisheds by L'Oie de Cravan

Prix Alberic-Bourgeois
Best foreign album by a Quebec creator

Chroniques Birmanes by Guy Delisle (Shampoing/Delcourt)

Prix Maurice-Petitdidier
Jury prize for best foreign album

Chaque chose by Julien Neel (Gallimard)

Prix Albert-Chartier
Important contribution to Quebec bd.

Mecaniques Generale

News Roundup, Earth Day 2008

2008-04-22T00:49:00.004-04:00

Most of these links are entirely unrelated to Earth Day:

Okay, maybe just one. Go read the latest Luz: Girl of the Knowing strip by Claudia Davila. The strip has been picked up by Briarpatch magazine!

Although I can't seem to find the article online, a report in this Saturday's Globe suggested that the graphic novel Skim was the subject of international publishing rights bidding at the recent London Book Fair.

Jeet Heer writes about one of George Herriman's final Krazy Kat strips, on the subject of race and passing.

The latest review of Jeff Lemire's Ghost Stories graphic novel.

An amazing collection of comic-strip-inspired antique toys owned by a Toronto collector.

A report from a sci-fi convention in St. John, Nfld.

Prostateman comic wins award.

From last week: The Toronto Star has more details about the man found dead in the former Etobicoke comic store.

This Weekend: Vancouver Comics Jam

2008-04-18T06:00:00.001-04:00

from organizer Ed Brisson:

When: Saturday, April 19th, 2008. 8pm until midnight.
Where: Clubhouse Japanese Restaurant
255 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver
Who: Anyone who is of legal drinking age is invited.
How Much: Free. Bring your own pencils/pens. Paper is provided.

I've reserved the upstairs room at the Clubhouse Japanese Restaurant for the Jam. The maximum capacity of the upstairs room is roughly 25 people, however this has never been an issue. If we go over, we can move to a couple of tables downstairs.

Remember to tip your waitress well!

Quebec City, Day 2

2008-04-17T14:55:00.002-04:00

Weekly Bestsellers in Canada: April 17

2008-04-17T02:20:00.003-04:00

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. See here for last week's list. I've added last week's ranking in parentheses, with a (-) indicating an absence from the top 50 last week --although books that were not in the top 50 last week were most likely in the top 100, with the possible exception of a few newly published hits.

Top 50 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Naruto 28, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
2. (2) Fruits Basket 19, Natsuki Takay (Tokyopop)
3. (3) Vampire Knight 4, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
4. (4) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (13) Death Note 2, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
6. (5) Naruto 27, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (8) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
8. (7) Dark Wraith of Shannara, Terry Brooks et al (Random House)
9. (14) Death Note 4, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
10. (9) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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11. (10) Death Note 1, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
12. (12) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
13. (6) Fullmetal Alchemist 16, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
14. (47) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
15. (28) Death Note 3, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
16. (11) Negima! 17: Magister Negi Magi, Toshifumi/Hiroe (Random House)
17. (26) Naruto 3, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
18. (17) Naruto 4, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
19. (-) Death Note 5, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
20. (27) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
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21. (-) Simpsons Comics Dollars to Donuts, Groening et al (Harpercollins)
22. (16) Naruto 9, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
23. (35) Naruto 6, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. (-) Death Note 12, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
25. (19) Bleach 2, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
26. (23) Complete Persepolis, Satrapi (Knopf)
27. (42) Death Note 7, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
28. (22) Naruto 10, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
29. (20) Garfield Goes Bananas, Jim Davis (Random House)
30. (15) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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31. (-) Hobbit Graphic Novel, Tolkien et al (Harpercollins)
32. (41) Fairy Tail 1, Hiro Mashima (Random House)
33. (40) Death Note 13, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
34. (31) Bleach 1, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
35. (-) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
36. (21) Persepolis 1, Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon)
37. (25) Vampire Knight 2, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
38. (18) Jellaby, Kean Soo (Hyperion)
39. (-) Fullmetal Alchemist 1, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
40. (-) Fullmetal Alchemist 2, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
-----
41. (37) High School Debut 2, Kazune Kawahara (VIZ)
42. (-) Vampire Knight 3, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
43. (-) People's History Of American Empire, Zinn/Konopacki/Buhle (Henry Holt)
44. (-) Naruto 15, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
45. (43) Naruto 20, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
46. (29) One Piece 17, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
47. (24) Bleach 22, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
48. (30) Naruto 26, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
49. (46) Best of Pokemon Adventures: Red:Red, Hidenori Kusaka Mato (VIZ)
50. (-) Macbeth (No Fear Shakespeare), Ken Hoshine (Spark)

36 of the 50 are translated Japanese manga. Of the remaining 14, 5 are Canadian, 1 is French-Iranian, 1 is British, and 5 are by U.S./UK authors best known outside comics.

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 Hajdu to Charles Schulz to Dan DeCarlo to Oor Willie to Avril Lavigne 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 25 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. (4) Senior's Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (5) Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography, Chester Brown (D+Q)
5. (3) Jellaby, Kean Soo (Hyperion)
6. (8) Essex County 1: Tales From the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
7. (-) Plain Janes, Rugg/Castellucci (DC/Minx)
8. (24) Dramacon 3, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
9. (6) Zombies Calling!, Faith Erins Hicks (Slave Labor)
10. (12) Teaching is a Learning Experience!, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
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11. (7) The Spirit (Hardcover), Darwyn Cooke Jeph Loeb J Bone (DC)
12. (10) Paul Goes Fishing, Michel Rabagliati (D+Q)
13. (14) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
14. (15) She's Turning into One of Them!, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
15. (27) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni)
16. (9) The New Frontier 2 (Paperback), Darwyn Cooke (DC)
17. (-) Essex County 2: Ghost Stories, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
18. (-) Dramacon 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
19. (-) Dramacon 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
20. (11) Extraction!: a comix reportage, Tessier/Dubois (Cumulous)
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21. (-) The New Frontier 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
22. (16) Keep the Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
23. (19) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. (20) Middle Aged Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. (17) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
26. (21) Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe, John Bell (Dundurn)
27. (23) White Rapids, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
28. (25) Graphic Witness, George F Walker (Firefly)
29. (26) Therefore Repent! Jim Munroe Salgood Sam (NMK/IDW)
30. (28) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)

Cecil Castellucci's Plain Janes makes a return to the list this week. I'm honestly not sure if it dropped from the list last week because I thought Castellucci was American (she is not) or if sales were just lower (honestly!). This week's curious fact: For the record, Omega Flight: Alpha to Omega by Michael Avon Oeming and Scott Kolins would rank at #16 if it was actually created by Canadians and not just about fictional Canadian characters owned by Marvel Comics.

Today in Quebec City: FBDFQ

2008-04-16T11:49:00.004-04:00

Festival de la Bande Dessinee Francophone de Quebec

Today marks the beginning of the week-long FBDFQ in Quebec City, one of the largest comics-related events in Canada.

You'll find a round-up of links here and also at the event's official site.

This is the 21st anniversary of the Festival. The event features panel discussions, art exhibits, concerts, films, interviews, and the obligatory awards ceremony (Bedeis Causa).

See here for a short list of the Festival's guests and here for a list of events.

FBDFQ
April 16-20
Quebec City

Comic Shoppe Talk: Neo Tokyo, London, Ontario

2008-04-16T06:30:00.002-04:00

This edition of Comic Shoppe Talk features Robert Chamberlain, owner-san of Neo Tokyo, The Anime Store, located in downtown London, Ontario.

As regular readers of the Sequential Bestseller List know, manga dominates comics sales in Canada. We welcome this opportunity to get a snapshot insider's view of the retail side of this phenomenon. My thanks to Neo Tokyo for taking the time to answer the standard battery of Comic Shoppe Talk questions.

Neo Tokyo is a little over 700 square feet with the space about evenly divided between manga, anime (DVD rentals & sales), and merchandise. It is located close to London's core, having opened its doors in June of 2003 expanding ever since. It left its original location (just not big enough) in Oct of 2007 and moved up the street a few blocks to double its floor space. According to Robert Chamberlain, "We continue to refine the art of packing more into a small space than we have any right to expect."

You are next door to a more traditional comic book shop, The Comic Book Collector. What is your relationship? Are you in competition?

Not at all, Neo Tokyo began as an out-growth from The Comic Book Collector with the owner, Tim Morris, and I moving into the next door store front as partners. I've since bought out Tim (very amicably) and the two stores continue to work in partnership each attracting their own circle of customers but with a great deal of cross interest. I believe this helps both shops by bringing out customers that may not make the trip to either store on their own but if they're already at one they'll explore the other.

What is the general age/gender breakdown of your customers? What is the general culture of your store?

I'd say that the age range is from 10-30 with the majority in the 16-26 range. The gender breakdown would be in the 60/40 (female/male) area. The culture I try for in the store is one of a sort of club house. I try to make sure that everyone coming through the door feels like an old friend.

What do you sell more of by volume, graphic novels (including trades and manga) or monthly comic books (floppies)?

We don't actually sell any floppies. Having grown out of a more traditional comic store we never had the need to sell any. We focus entirely on manga / manhwa Japanese / Korean books with very few exceptions.

Bestsellers?

Bestselling I would say easily are Bleach and Naruto with Fullmetal Alchemist a strong contender.

What are your bestselling non-manga graphic novels?

If I were to be a purist and not consider the Korean books manga, I would say that it would have to be Banya The Explosive Delivery Man. Though the korean books still only represent a small fraction of the graphic novels I sell in a month.

The manga question.

Manga represents the future of comics in my opinion. Find a teen-ager reading a comic and odds are it is either manga or so heavily influenced by it as to be as good as. TV spreads the word of manga fairly well to younger readers but only a minority of my customers watch their anime on TV. Magazines / anthologies also seem to function primarily as an introduction but most new books are seen first via the internet.

What do you see as the major trends in retailing over the next year? The next 5 years?

I believe that manga will continue to explode and that North American retailers will have to adapt to that.

What books do you find yourself recommending the most?

Depending on the age of the person asking I find myself making personal recommendations for Eden Endless World, Claymore, Bleach, Dragon Head, Uzumaki, King of Thorn, Planetes, and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. Usually the first question is what have you read that you liked?

What comic/manga would you recommend for an 8-year-old girl?

I have recommended Aria and First Adventure King for younger readers but even then I recommend someone read with them to help with more complicated visual concepts.

What comic/manga would you recommend for a 40-year-old urban professional?

Depending on taste I'd recommend Eden Endless World, Translucent, Satsuma Gishiden, Tanpenshu.

Why are you a comics retailer?

I've always been a fan of a good story in whatever format you find it. I became a comic retailer because I was in the right place at the right time to make it my job to deal in interesting stories.

What bothers you the most about the current comics industry?

I have less involvement with the 'comics industry' than most comic book stores. I don't have to deal with back issues or grading at all but any problems as far as missed deadlines and delayed books are made much worse by the fact that they start out in Japan and have to work their way through the entire machinery to make it to my shelves.

How important is the web to your business?

As far as the day to day business it isn't all that important, it is an important means of communication with my suppliers and customers (most of whom are extremely web-savvy). I hope to make it more important by breaking into online shopping cart sales to allow me to tap into and service the surrounding satellite communities in our area.

What is the comics scene like in London?

Much as I would like to see more of it and I would like to support local artists and events London hasn't, as yet, had much activity of that sort. I would very much like to see a local con happen but it needs someone who knows how to put on such an event rather than a fan, no matter how enthusiastic, without the know-how.

Neo Tokyo
787 Dundas St
London, ON
N5W 2Z6
phone: (519) 642-7862

Team Epic

2008-04-16T06:00:00.001-04:00

Team Epic is a Canadian superhero team that fights evil in downtown Toronto (look out, Bay Street!).

The adventures of the team are being broadcast on the web in a series of 6-minute webisodes. Apparently, the show mixes comedy with adventure, or something like that. Additionally, Toronto schoolkids are designing new characters for the show (the drawings are really cute!) that viewers can vote on every Friday.

New Quebec Anthology: Front Froid

2008-04-15T16:01:00.000-04:00

An organization that has been on the scene for the past three years is launching an imprint devoted to Quebec bande dessinee. Front Froid (Cold Front) will publish its first title, an anthology called Le Front, later this month.

Front Froid was established by Gautier Langevin and Olivier Carpentier as a non-profit to promote comics in Quebec.

According to a press release, Le Front is an annual anthology edited by Gautier Langevin. The premier issue features six artists: Michel Falardeau, Martin Roy, Olivier Carpentier, Jeik Dion, Fred Jourdain, and Felix Laflamme. Also according to the release, editor Langevin has some harsh words for the state of comics in Quebec, asserting that, "despite the phenomenal amount of talent emerging in bd in Quebec, the resources that would enable them to practise their art decently are largely insufficient." He indicates that part of the development of the artform involves proper renumeration for the young cartoonists involved, although there is no official mention of page rates (said to be $100 per page in this interview), royalties, or contracts in the release.

The book launches Thursday, April 17 at Galerie Ninkasi, Quebec City, as part of the annual Festival de la BD Francophone de Quebec.

Toronto Hobbystar Comicon

2008-04-15T01:57:00.001-04:00

Reports and images from this past weekend's Toronto Comicon/Fan Appreciation Day.

Cameron Stewart apologizes.

Photos of the building.

Harvey Chan was there.

Mark Englert drew sketches.

A massive report by the con's only volunteer, Ty Buttars. (The above photo of Michael Cho, a young comics fan, and a drawing of Wolverine one of the many photos from Buttars blog.)

Chris of The Blurst of Times, with a short report about buying comics.

The Last Ronin meets Alex Maleev.

Jason Truong spends alot of time standing in lines at cons.

As does Danny Truong!