Sequential: Canadian Comics News & Culture

This Magazine's Great Canadian Literary Hunt | Now with comics

2010-03-26T23:16:00.000-04:00

Received this a few days ago, sounds interesting. Might take a stab at it myself if i can think of a story.

We're exceptionally excited to announce the launch of this year's annual This Magazine tradition, the Great Canadian Literary Hunt. Now in its 14th year, we're on the trail again of Canada's best undiscovered poetry, short fiction and -- drumroll! -- graphic narrative. That's right, we've added a third category to the contest, a visual category especially for short illustrated stories, like graphic novels but way shorter. So that's kind of a big deal.

Aside from the fact that it's 50 percent bigger and beautiful-er than it was before, it's the same Lit Hunt you know and love. We're asking for Canada's new and emerging literary talents to enter their work into the contest for the chance to be published in the November-December 2010 issue of the magazine, and a shot at a $750 cash prize for first place. This is one of the oldest and most established such literary contests in Canada, and we think the new graphic narrative category is, in fact, one-of-a-kind in Canada (is that true? We think it is, but if you know better, please let us know).

The deadline for entries this year is July 2, 2010. Full details for entering the contest -- including an all-new electronic entry option -- as well as updates, frequently asked questions, and the judges' bios (when we've finalized the judging committee), will all be kept in one place on the contest page. Keep checking there for updates, and happy hunting!

Tonite: Punchbuggy Tour, Montreal

2010-03-26T04:39:00.000-04:00

D+Q store, 7:30 pm

The C-List:: Hurry Up and Click, already!

2010-03-26T00:01:00.002-04:00

Weekend links about comics from across the nation!

Item: The Scott Pilgrim trailer is now online.

Item: A preview of the comics event in Halifax on Saturday, with Kyle Baker, Kate Beaton, Rebecca Kraatz, and Faith Erin Hicks.

Item: A "weird" sneak peak behind the scenes at this weekend's Wizard World Toronto Comic-con, which I mentioned Wednesday.

Item: French cover to a Marc Bell book.

Item: Big plans afoot for Oshawa's World's Collide comic book store on Free Comic Book Day (May 1).

Item: Animated Ojingogo.

Item: The Comics Journal interviews Ho Che Anderson.

Item: The excellent Rick Trembles presents a strip about The Runaways --the band, not the lame comic. I love Joan Jett and I love that song Cherry Bomb. I bought a copy of their first LP at a record show last week and listened to it over and over.

Item: The Toronto Jewish Film Festival will feature the doc "People of the Comic Book," about Jews in comics. They will also have an event with Paul Buhle, Harvey Pekar, and honorary Canadian Ben Katchor.

Item: A follow-up to last week's announcement about the National Newspaper Awards. Nominee Aislin says he hadn't entered a cartoon in 15 years and atlks about "collective images" that influence us all.

Item: A couple Toronto and Montreal retailers are interviewed by The Canadian Press about movies driving comics sales.

Item: Vancouver's Elfsar Comics shop is featured in this article about downloading comics and comics readers.

Item: Victoria comic book company releases punk photo book.

Today: Gary Panter in Toronto

2010-03-25T04:29:00.000-04:00

Greatest Living Cartoonist contestant and Most Expensive Comic Book competitor Gary Panter is giving a multi-media talk at OCAD in Toronto tonight.

6:30 pm
OCAD Auditorium
100 McCaul St.
Toronto, Ontario
416-977-6000 x 462
www.garypanter.com
Free

The Expozine Alternative Press Awards Gala

2010-03-24T23:32:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, March 31, 8 p.m.- 12 a.m., Le Divan Orange, 4234 Saint-Laurent (Mont-Royal metro). Free admission.

Recognizing the best publications sold at 2009's Expozine small press, comic and zine fair in Montreal! The gala is a rare chance for you to meet and mingle with the most talented up-and-comers of the local publishing scene, as well as purchase copies of the 36 short-listed titles (listed at www.expozine.ca).

Alexis O'Hara (www.alexisohara.com) will be the MC for the evening. Also on tap are readings by some of the nominated authors before the awarding of prizes at 9:30. Capping the night off is a performance by the one and only Tony Ezzy (www.tonyezzy.com).

The 2009 edition of Expozine was the largest yet, with approximately 15 000 people visiting 300 different exhibitors over two days. The Expozine organizing team asked each exhibitor to submit a copy of their best new publication for consideration for the Expozine Alternative Press Awards in one of three categories in English and French: best book, best zine and best comic, with the winners chosen by an esteemed panel of judges drawn from the city's small press community.

The 2009 Expozine Alternative Press Awards are sponsored by the Conseil des Arts de Montreal, Le Conseil des Arts du Canada, Drawn and Quarterly (www.drawnandquarterly.com) and Libraire Le Port de Tete, 262 Mont-Royal E., (514) 678-9566.

www.expozine.ca

This Weekend: Wizardworld Toronto Comicon

2010-03-24T16:45:00.006-04:00

The first edition of the Wizardworld Toronto Comicon takes place this weekend at the Direct Energy Centre, March 26-28.

The show is the replacement for the old Paradise Comicon, which was purchased by Wizard last year.

There are over 200 dealers, 50 comics creators, and several "celebrity" guests from the world of (mostly U.S.) television and film entertainment who will be signing autographs, posing for pictures, and answering questions.

LOCATION
Direct Energy Centre
Exhibition Place
100 Princes' Blvd

HOURS
Friday - 12pm - 8pm
Saturday - 10am - 7pm
Sunday - 10am - 5pm

There's no press kit online and it's too late for me to register as media, so I guess I won't be going. I look forward to your reports, though.

Lots to do at the show, including the Kick Ass-Panel, booze, and more. Silver Snail is sponsoring a costume prize, U.S. writer Gail Simone is there, etc.

Dream Life update | Page 14

2010-03-24T14:43:00.000-04:00

New comics Wednesday! Click through for larger image and my comments.

Go Vote: Seth Covers the Walrus

2010-03-24T06:04:00.001-04:00

The Walrus magazine has started an online poll to determine which cover image, drawn by Seth should feature on their Summer Reading issue. They've turned it into a contest, where one voter can "win fabulous prizes, including a framed print of the victorious cover (retail value $99), a Drawn & Quarterly gift pack, and a one-year subscription to The Walrus."

(see the initial sketches here)

2010 Expozine Gala

2010-03-24T00:05:00.004-04:00

The 2009 Expozine Alternative Press Awards Gala

Wednesday, March 31, 8 p.m.-12 a.m., Le Divan Orange, 4234 Saint-Laurent (Mont-Royal metro). Free admission.

Recognizing the best publications sold at 2009's Expozine small press, comic and zine fair in Montreal! The gala is a rare chance for you to meet and mingle with the most talented up-and-comers of the local publishing scene, as well as purchase copies of the 36 short-listed titles (listed at www.expozine.ca).

Alexis O'Hara will be the MC for the evening. Also on tap are readings by some of the nominated authors before the awarding of prizes at 9:30. Capping the night off is a performance by the one and only Tony Ezzy.

The 2009 edition of Expozine was the largest yet, with approximately 15 000 people visiting 300 different exhibitors over two days. The Expozine organizing team asked each exhibitor to submit a copy of their best new publication for consideration for the Expozine Alternative Press Awards in one of three categories in English and French: best book, best zine and best comic, with the winners chosen by an esteemed panel of judges drawn from the city's small press community.

The 2009 Expozine Alternative Press Awards are sponsored by the Conseil des Arts de Montreal, Le Conseil des Arts du Canada, Drawn and Quarterly (www.drawnandquarterly.com) and Libraire Le Port de Tete, 262 Mont-Royal E., (514) 678-9566.

Canadian Bestsellers: March Break Edition

2010-03-23T00:01:00.000-04:00

compiled/edited by B. Munn

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

Sequential's Over-All Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Naruto 47, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
2. (2) Vampire Knight 9, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (7) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
4. (3) Negima 25, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
5. (9) Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Camille Rose Garcia (HC)
6. (11) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
7. (4) Seekers: Toklo's Story, Erin Hunter (Harper Collins)
8. (-) The Dark-Hunters 2, Sherrilyn Kenyon et al (St Martins)
9. (5) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
10. (8) Bleach 30, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
-----
11. (10) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
12. (6) Footnotes in Gaza, Sacco (Henry Holt)
13. (22) Maximum Ride: The Manga 2, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
14. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (13) Garfield Fat Pack, Davis et al (Random)
16. (14) Asterix/Obelix's Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
17. (-) Inuyasha 46, Rumiko Takahashi (VIZ)
18. (18) Black Bird 3, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
19. (15) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
20. (12) Asterix/Olympic, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
-----
21. (-) Skim SC, Tamaki (Groundwood)
22. (-) Zeus, George O'Connor (First Second)
23. (-) Walking Dead 1, Kirkman et al (Image)
24. (-) Black Butter 1, Yana Toboso (Orbit/Yen)
25. (20) One Piece 34, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
26. (-) Manga Mutiny (Tyndale)
27. (-) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
28. (25) All Star Superman 2, Morrison/Quitely (DC)
29. (-) Dark Tower Fall of Gilead, Robin Furth et al (Marvel)
30. (-) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)

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

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

Sequential's All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

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

Joe Ollmann Brings His Midlife Crisis to D+Q

2010-03-22T14:00:00.002-04:00

Award-Winning Cartoonist Talks About Turning 40 and being a Mid-wife to Mid-Life
by Bryan Munn

Joe Ollmann is one of my favourite cartoonists. His scratchy angular angry big steaming slice-of-life comics are beautiful and bittersweet mini-masterpieces. The Montreal-based cartoonist has several book collections of his graphic short stories out, the last one, This Will All End In Tears, won the Doug Wright Award for Best Book in 2008.

Ollmann's latest opus, a mostly-autobiographical graphic memoir entitled Mid-Life, has just been picked up by Drawn and Quarterly and will be published in 2011. Of the book, Ollmann has said with typical self-deprecation, "until now, I've been the un-marketable entity that made short story comics when the slavering masses are drooling for 'GRAPHIC NOVELS.' With this book, in which I appear in my underpants on what seems to be 90% of the pages, I am sure to be catapulted into some kind of hot-property-like-comicy-stardom."

Sequential caught up with Ollmann via email just as he was about to plunge into a pair of new projects and asked him about the process of bringing the book to print.

"I finished the book last summer, but then spent a long time, scanning, editing, redrawing, fixing lettering etc. Sam Haywood at Transatlantic is my agent, she wanted a good, clean version of the book before we shipped it around. I have an agent since the last book won the Doug Wright Award and thought the cred from that could help get the book placed with a bigger publisher. I sent the book to D&Q unofficially as we live in the same city and I see Chris and Tom and Peggy at barbecues and kid parties, so there was that, then Sam sent the manuscript officially as a submission and they sent us an offer and we accepted it. Well, I was a lot more excited than that. I've followed D&Q since the first issue of the comic back in the day and I have massive amounts of respect for Chris and the company, so it's a dream come true to be published by them. The book is scheduled to come out in winter 2011, which seems like a hundred years when the book was done last summer, but that's part of being published by a bigger company, they move slower and make sure everything is done correctly."

Was he at all tempted to self-publish under his own Wag Press imprint?

"I self-published in the 80's and I'd rather be shot in the face than do that again, I've got the business acumen of a turd."

Is he having a mid-life crisis?

"The book is called Mid-Life and it is partially based on real events, of having turned 40, having a kid with my younger second wife after turning 40 and also having two adult kids from my previous marriage. But there are a bunch of other story lines in there that are fictional or semi-fictional. Not sure how much I will get into discussing what's real and what's fake yet. But shit, yeah, I'm still having a mid-life crisis. Getting old is traumatic."

Joe Ollmann talks a bit about the the creative process:

"The creative process is the same old story for any cartoonist, at the end of the day, go down the stairs, sit at the drawing table and work for as long as you can, eventually you'll have something at the end of it. Just, dumb old slogging really. When the script was done, I sent it to all the people who have fictitious counterparts in the story and then got down to drawing it."

What's next for Joe Ollmann?

"I'm writing 2 new books right now, one is three long, short-stories of the depressing kind that appeared in my previous books, the other is a long biography of the 1930's adventure/travel writer William Seabrook. He was an alcoholic bondage enthusiast, and a one-time cannibal. he brought the word zombie into the English language, was one of the highest paid writers of his day, and he's virtually unknown today. So, that one is requiring a lot of research and buying expensive old books and trying not to make it read like bad old classic comics: 'World war Two happened, then he fell in love. He caught TB' all in one panel, you know?"

-----

Joe Ollman bibliography:

Chewing On Tinfoil, Insomniac Press (2002)
The Big Book Of Wag, Conundrum Press (2005)
This Will All End in Tears, Insomniac Press (2006)

Ollmann will be appearing at TCAF, May 8-9.

website

(images from Mid-Life, copyright Joe Ollman)

The C-List: Darkness and Light in Halifax

2010-03-22T10:18:00.001-04:00

Item: Halifax North Memorial Public Library presents "Darkness & Light: Graphic Novel Camp". This day-long camp will introduce local and international graphic novel artists to participants. 10:30 a.m.: Mike Holmes; 1 p.m.: panel with Kate Beaton, Rebecca Kraatz and Faith Erin Hicks; 2:45 p.m.: Kyle Baker. March 27.

Item: George Elliot Clarke reviews HC Anderson's King and a weird new GN translat4d from the Italian, Dino Buzzati's Poem Strip.

Item: Jeet Heer imagines Conrad Black as Tubby from Little Lulu.

Item: New Brunswick man was a nerd, now vindicated by writing a short article about the history of manga for his local paper.

Item: OCAD prof comments on U.S. manga obscenity case.

Item: Toronto Animecon links 1 2 3

Cameron Stewart's cowboy batman

2010-03-22T09:13:00.000-04:00

Along with getting nominated for a Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Artist, Cameron also has been tapped as one of the six pens to do the art chores on DC's much anticipated return of Batman storyline!

Cameron posted this early sketch as a taste of things to come. Also he's back at posting Sin Titulo.

Bedeis Causa Nominees

2010-03-22T08:09:00.002-04:00

FBDFQ ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR 2010 PRIX BEDEIS CAUSA

In advance of the 23rd FESTIVAL DE LA BANDE DESSINEE FRANCOPHONE DE QUEBEC, which will be held in Quebec City, April 7-11, 2010, the organizers have announced the finalists for the Priz Bedeis Causa 2010.

The ceremony for the awards will be held at the Observatoire de la Capitale, April 9 next at 17:00, will be an opportunity to meet several players in the community and reflect the current vitality of the 9th art in Quebec.

The Finalists:

Prix Real Fillion
Quebec author, writer or artist, debut album
-Jean-Sebastien Berube, Radisson t. 1 - Son of Iroquois (Glenat Quebec)
-Pascal Colpron, Mon petit nombril (La Pasteque)
-Sebastien Rivest, Malaise (Mecanique generale/Les 400 coups)

Grand Prix de la Ville de Quebec
Best album released in French in Quebec
-PAUL en QUEBEC, Michel Rabagliati (La Pasteque)
-TUER VELASQUEZ, Philippe Girard (Glenat Quebec)
-JIMMY et le BIGFOOT, Pascal Girard (La Pasteque)

Prix Alberic Bourgeois
Best French-language album published abroad by a Quebec author, illustrator or
scriptwriter
-SAINT-GERMAIN T. 1 - THE COUNT OF LIGHTS, Jean-Francois Bergeron and Thierry Gloris (Glenat)
-LES NOMBRILS T. 4 – DUEL DE BELLES, Delaf et Dubuc (Dupuis)
-MAGASIN GeNeRAL, T. 5 – MONTREAL, Regis Loisel & Jean-Louis Tripp (Casterman)

Prix Maurice Petitdidier
Pick of the jury for Francophone Album published abroad
-DIEU EN PERSONNE, Marc-Antoine Mathieu (Delcourt)
-BLAST, Manu Larcenet (Dargaud)
-PINOCCHIO, Winschluss (Les requins marteaux)

During the ceremony, the organization will also present FBDFQ Prix Albert-Chartier,
Award to honor an individual or organization that has made a mark on the world of francophone comics in Quebec.

The panel responsible for selecting the finalists was composed of journalists and
booksellers: Pierre Blais (journalist on Canal Vox and Radio-Canada), Nicolas Houle (Le Soleil newspaper), Marco Duchesne (Librairie Pantoute), David Kelly (Renaud-Bray), and Patrick Marleau (L'imaginaire). This edition of the awards focuses on albums released between February 2009 and February 2010.

Richard Comely interview | origins and history of Captain Canuck

2010-03-22T07:01:00.000-04:00

Just got this in the mail, hot off of blogger! Jeffery Klaehn has an interview with Comely on his blog POP! One of many interviews posted on his site.

Captain Canuck #1 (cover dated, July 1975) hit newsstands in May 1975. In the years since Captain Canuck has been featured in a range of media, including The Toronto Star, The Los Angeles Times, The National Post and The Record, Time and Maxim magazines, many online periodicals, as well as some very cool online fan/tribute sites. In 1995 Captain Canuck was immortalized on a Canadian postage stamp. More recently, Captain Canuck has inspired scholarly articles, been featured in textbooks, and fueled much online speculation about the possibility of a Captain Canuck major motion picture. IDW recently published two beautiful hardcover volumes reprinting Captain Canuck issues #4-14, along with the Captain Canuck Summer Special, all remastered from their original coloring. In this interview Richard Comely discusses the origins and history of Captain Canuck.

the Montreal Comic Jam

2010-03-22T01:10:00.000-04:00

First one of the spring, been a while since I've gone but they still have fun!
An evening of good-humoured drawing, conversation and, incidentally, a wee bit of drinking.

Bring your artistic weapons of choice, be it wits or brushes. Both, ideally.

Venez dessiner, discuter, prendre un verre et liberer vos energies creatrices en notre compagnie. Aiguisez-bien vos crayons et votre esprit, on vous attend!

L'Escalier, 552, Ste-Catherine E. Montreal.

Congratulations to Robert & Jenn

2010-03-21T14:36:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to Robert Haines, Associate Director of the Joe Shuster Awards, and Jenn Stewart, owner of The Dragon comic shop and coordinator of the Shuster's Comics for Kids Award, who were married Saturday, March 20!

(the google image search I did for relevant images kicked up things like this and this initially --not exactly representations of marital bliss, so I had to get creative)

The C-List: The C-List's Finest Hour

2010-03-20T08:40:00.004-04:00

...is usually around 3 in the morning.

Item: According to Bryan Lee O'Malley and Oni Press, the sixth and final volume of O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series, Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, will be released Tuesday, July 20th. Full press release here. "248 pages of evil-ex butt-kicking in the easily digestible digest format for the low, low price of $11.99." The Scott Pilgrim movie, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, will be released August 13, three weeks later.

Item: Kate Beaton ponies now on sale.

Item: I saw this linked on Comics Reporter. Ray Fenwick talks about his next book and cover design.

Item: Jeff Lemire talks at the Emerald City con.

Item: Inkstuds presents a roundtable discussion of John Stanley. Particpant Jeet Heer's notes on Stanley are here.

Item: Seth has been nominated in the graphic novel category for the Reuben awards. I don't think they give the Rube Goldberg statuette to the divisional winners, but I have heard there is an orgy involved.

Sunday: Vancouver Comicon

2010-03-19T18:24:00.004-04:00

Vancouver Comicon

For comic-book lovers of all ages, featuring vendor tables and special guests. - Heritage Hall, 3102 Main St. - March 21, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. - $4/adult, under 14/free, 604-322-6412.

Special Guests:

Douglas Wheatley (Star Wars: Dark Times)
Steve Rolston (Ghost Projekt, Emiko Superstar, Queen and Country)
Ken Boesem (The Village)
Robin Bougie (Cinema Sewer)
Kelly Everaert (Jungle Tales, Trilogy of Terror)
Miriam Libicki (Jobnik!)
Mike Myhre (Space Jet)
Andrew Salmon (Sherlock Holmes, Secret Agent X)
Robin Thompson (Champions of Hell, Hemp Island)
Wai Khan Au
Chloe Chan
Beth Wagner
New Reliable Press
Sketchrospective
Monster Attack Team Canada

Dealer Tables: $50/centre; $60/wall

Hourly door prizes!

Admission: $4.00
Kids under 14: Free

Saturday: Vancouver Comics Jam

2010-03-19T05:15:00.003-04:00

From Ed Brisson:

What: Vancouver Comic Jam!!!
When: Saturday, March 20th, 2010. 8pm until midnight(ish).
Where: The Wallflower 2420 Main St, Vancouver (Right next door to Rx Comics )
Who: Anyone who is of legal drinking age is invited.
How Much: No admission fee. Bring your own pencils/pens. Paper is provided.

The restaurant provides their regular menu to order from and alcohol galore: beer, wine, highballs and shots.

Don't forget to tip your waiter or waitress well!

If you're drawing with markers that bleed through paper, be sure to either bring a drawing surface or place extra sheets of paper under the paper you're drawing on.

Crosspost as you see fit.

See you there!

Saturday: Cameron Stewart in Halifax

2010-03-19T03:44:00.001-04:00

Cartoonist Cameron Stewart (Seaguy, Batman and Robin, Sin Titulo) will be signing books at Strange Adventures in Halifax, Saturday March 20, 2-5 pm, according to the Living Between Wednesdays blog.

This weekend: Toronto Anime Convention

2010-03-19T00:17:00.000-04:00

Hobbystar Toronto Animecon
March 20-21, 2010
Metro Toronto Convention Centre (North Building)
255 Front Street. West

Animecon Hours
Saturday : 11:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday : 11:00am - 5:00pm

$15 Flat rate all access pass; good for Saturday, Sunday or both days.

Admission only available at the door during the show hours

The C-List: Blogspot Edition

2010-03-18T00:30:00.003-04:00

Item: Jeet Heer on nostalgia, The Beguiling, Joe Matt, and crappy comic book shops.

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

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

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

Item: Guy Delisle draws on youtube.

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

Item: The Transmission X team is touring Europe.

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

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

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2010 JOE SHUSTER AWARDS

2010-03-17T20:26:00.001-04:00

6th Annual JOE SHUSTER AWARDS have released their nominations, there's a lot of them so i'm going to post the list here and let you follow this link for more details on their home blog.

A few details though: In January and February of this year, nominees were selected from master lists of eligible works originally published in English and/or French during the 2009 calendar year. Canadian citizens living at home or abroad, as well as permanent residents were eligible for consideration. Now that the lists of nominees have been finalized, nominated creators will have their work reviewed by juries, who will decide the winners.

Winners will be announced at a public ceremony in Toronto on the evening of Saturday, June 5th, 2010 at the University of Toronto’s Innis Town Hall, with master of Ceremonies Jonathan Llyr.

NOMINEES for Work Published in 2009

Artist/Dessinateur

* Chris Bachalo
* Darwyn Cooke
* Marc Delafontaine
* Djief Bergeron
* Dale Eaglesham
* Stuart Immonen
* Francis Manapul
* Cameron Stewart

Cartoonist/Createur

* Darwyn Cooke
* Jeff Lemire
* Bryan Lee O'Malley
* Philippe Girard
* Michel Rabagliati
* Simon Roy
* Seth
* Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

Colourist/Dessinateur Couleur
[don't have time to add links for all of these right now, will fill in later, but there's this thing called google though....]

* Brad Anderson
* Chris Chuckry
* Maryse Dubuc
* Nathan Fairbairn
* Lovern Kindzierski
* Francois Lapierre
* Dave McCaig
* Ronda Pattison

Writer/Ecrivain

* Kelley Armstrong
* Ian Boothby
* Herve Bouchard
* Maryse Dubuc
* Kathryn Immonen
* Dean Motter
* Ty Templeton
* J. Torres

Cover/Couverture

* Kaare Andrews
* Paul Bordeleau
* Darwyn Cooke
* Darwyn Cooke
* Marc Delafontaine
* Dale Eaglesham
* Dale Keown
* Igor Kordey

Webcomics/Bandes Dessinees Web

* Attila Adorjany - Metaphysical Neuroma
* Kate Beaton - Hark! A Vagrant
* Andy Belanger - Bottle of Awesome and Raising Hell
* Rene Engstrom - Anders Loves Maria
* Karl Kerschl -The Abominable Charles Christopher
* Gisele Lagace and David Lumsdon - Eerie Cuties and Ménage à 3
* Tara Tallan - Galaxion
* Steve Wolfhard - Cat Rackham

National Newspaper Awards Nominations Announced

2010-03-17T00:34:00.004-04:00

2009 National Newspaper Awards Nominations Announced:
Editorial Cartoonists Category
By Bryan Munn

The finalists for the 61st National Newspaper Awards were announced March 15 in Toronto. There are 66 finalists in 22 categories, culled from 1,301 entries of works that appeared in the year 2009. The categories include beat reporting, photography, and investigative articles, as well as include editorial cartooning. The award in this category is considered the most prestigious prize given to editorial cartoonists in Canada. This year, the three nominees in the category of editorial cartooning are Brian Gable (The Globe and Mail), Malcolm Mayes (Edmonton Journal), Terry Mosher aka Aislin (The Gazette, Montreal).

Gable has won the award 4 times, most recently in 2005. Aislin has won twice previously (1977 and 1978).

An Edmonton native, Mayes has been nominated twice for the NNA, most recently in 2002, but has yet to win.

Beginning in 2008, cartoonists were instructed to submit their works online and then judged online. According to the Awards' website, the policart prize is given "for excellence in editorial cartooning for a body of work of five editorial cartoons. Preference will be given to cartoons that demonstrate humour, originality and satire related to news events, with quality embracing line, style and likenesses of personalities where relevant." A panel of three judges will choose the winner.

Founded in 1949 by The Toronto Press Club, this is the 21st year for the NNAs in its current format, administered by a Board of Governors under the aegis of a non-profit.

Winners will be announced and will receive a $1000 cheque at the awards ceremony in Toronto on Friday, May 14 following the Canadian Newspaper Association conference.