He’s been called the Howard Hughes of rock ‘n’ roll by Fortune Magazine and when you’ve been the promoter for U2, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” tour, SARSFEST and, of course, the Rolling Stones, it’s not surprising he’s earned that sort of reputation. With an unlikely start as a strip club owner in Ottawa Michael Cohl has gone on to become the most powerful concert promoter in the world but along the way he’s also been a major backer of some of the stage’s most popular productions like The Lion King, The Producers, Spamalot and, regrettably, one of the most vilified — the musical version of The Lord of the Rings.
Recent reports confirm that Cohl is once again facing the stage lights of Broadway as he comes to the rescue of the troubled supermusical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which had been struggling to open on Broadway this season. At the request of his friend, Bono (who and along with U2 partner, the Edge, is one of the composers for the play) Cohl has agreed to become senior producer of the show though it is still unsure whether it will be ready to preview on February 25th, as originally planned, or make the Tony Awards deadline of April 29th. The original producer, David Garfinkle, couldn’t raise the necessary money for the show, and was forced to announce its imminent cancellation as the sets being constructed were ripped out of the Hilton Theatre. While, on the other hand, Cohl has been characterized by the NY Times as “as a man with deep pockets, a Rolodex packed with investors and a knack for presenting entertainment spectacles” one hopes this production will end up flying higher than the one from Middle-Earth. After all, this stage version of Spider-Man has a budget that has swelled considerably since it began and it’s expected to become the most expensive Broadway musical ever costing an estimated $50 million.
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors will feature three connecting covers by Canadian superstar artist ALVIN LEE.
After the hugely positive response to the Darkstalkers Tribute art book, fan outcry for more Darkstalkers stories became clear. Now, the ghoulish monsters and sexy seductresses of Darkstalkers are coming back to comics! This January, UDON bring fans more tales featuring creatures of the night with an all-new 3 issue miniseries titled Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors.
The new series will pick up the continuing stories of slinky succubus Morrigan, demon hunter Donovan, vampire lord Demitri, and ancient evil Pyron as they all battle for control of the Earth and beyond. Fans can also expect appearances from new creepy crawlers like insect queen Q-Bee, slumbering mummy Anakaris, noble bigfoot Sasquatch, the robotic harbinger of doom Huitzil, and more!
Returning to UDON as a cover artist is fan favorite Alvin Lee, who provides 3 connecting covers to the series featuring the entire Darkstalkers cast! Every issue will also feature a variant cover by Emily Warren, each showcasing one of the beautiful women of Darkstalkers. The series itself will be written by Ken Siu-Chong, and feature the artwork of UDON’s Joe Vriens and Eric Vedder.
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors #1 arrives this January at comic shops everywhere.
Other Darkstalkers books available now:
Darkstalkers Vol.1: Rise of the Dark Ones
Darkstalkers Tribute
Darkstalkers Graphic File
Jesse Jacobs, winner of the inaugural Gene Day Award for Canadian Self-Publishing at this year’s Joe Shuster Awards, is profiled on the Fabler blog.
Newsarama has posted a free 25 page preview of Vancouver artist Marian Churchland’s original graphic novel BEAST, published by Image Comics. The 152 page graphic novel will be available for purchase at your local comics shop starting tomorrow. Loosely based on story of the beauty and the beast, it follows Colette, a young marble sculptress with a deadbeat dad and recently re-interested ex-boyfriend. Colette is commissioned for the marble portrait of a mysterious patron.
Star Wars: Purge - Seconds to Die Cover by Travis Charest
If I have missed any works by Canadian Comic Book Creators, please leave a comment, or send me an email at jason@joeshusterawards.com
Batgirl #4
DC US$2.99
Artwork by Tim Levins.
Preview at MTV
Beast
Image US$15.99
Written, Artwork, Colours and Cover by Marian Churchland.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Preview at Newsarama
Dark X-Men #1
Marvel US$3.99
Artwork by Leonard Kirk.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Beast Cover by Marian Churchland
Digger And Friends #3
IDW US$3.99
Written by Jack Brigio.
Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles #2
BOOM Studios US$2.99
Artwork and Covers by Marcio Takara.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E #0
BOOM Studios US$2.99
Written by J. Torres.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Street Fighter IV #4 Cover B by Joe Ng
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep Vol. 1 Hardcover
BOOM Studios US$24.99
Colours by Blond.
The Escapists Trade Paperback
Dark Horse US$14.95
Artwork by Steve Rolston.
Preview at Dark Horse Comics
Haunt #1 (2nd Printing)
Image US$2.99
Inks by Todd McFarlane.
Vincent Price Presents Special: The Tingler #2 Cover by Buzz McAdam
Hot Potatoe Hardcover
Drawn &+ Quarterly US$39.95
Written, Artwork and Cover by Marc Bell.
Marvel Adventures: Super Heroes #17
Marvel US$2.99
Cover by Niko Henrichon.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #17 Cover by Niko Henrichon
Pope Hats #1
Adhouse Books US$4.00
Written, Artwork and Cover by Ethan Rilly.
Realm Of Kings: Imperial Guard #1
Marvel US$3.99
Colours by Nathan Fairbairn.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
R.E.B.E.L.S. #10
DC US$3.99
Cover by Kalman Andrasofszky.
The Shield #3 Cover by Francis Manapul
Red Robin #6
DC US$2.99
Artwork and Cover by Marcus To.
Preview at DC Universe: The Source
The Shield #3
DC US$3.99
Cover by Francis Manapul.
Spider-Man: Died In Your Arms Tonight Hardcover
Marvel US$24.99
Colours by Chris Chuckry.
X-Men Forever #11 Cover by Tom Grummett
Star Trek: Romulans – Schism #3
IDW US$3.99
Written, Artwork and Cover by John Byrne. Colours by Lovern Kindzierski.
Star Wars: Purge – Seconds To Die (One-Shot)
Dark Horse US$3.50
Cover by Travis Charest.
Preview at Dark Horse Comics
Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1 Hardcover
Fantagraphics US$3.99
Written by Blake Bell.
Red Robin #6 Cover by Marcus To
Street Fighter IV #4
UDON Entertainment US$3.95
Written by Ken Siu-Chong. Artwork and Cover by Joe Ng. Inks by Crystal Reid.
Preview at UDON Entertainment
S.W.O.R.D. #1
Marvel US$3.99
Inks by Craig Yeung.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
The Unwritten #7
DC/Vertigo US$2.99
Colours by Chris Chuckry.
Preview at Vertigo: Graphic Content
R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 Cover by Kalman Andrasofszky
Vincent Price Presents Special: The Tingler #2
Bluewater Productions US$3.99
Cover by Buzz McAdam.
We Kill Monsters #5
Red 5 Comics US$3.50
Colours by Ronda Pattison.
X-Factor Vol. 7: Time and a Half Trade Paperback
Marvel US$24.99
Artwork by Valentine De Landro. Inks by Craig Yeung and Pat Davidson. Cover Colours by Nathan Fairbairn.
Star Trek: Romulans - Schism #3 Cover by John Byrne
X-Men Forever #11
Marvel US$3.99
Artwork and Cover by Tom Grummett.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
X-Men: Manifest Destiny Trade Paperback
Marvel US$24.99
Artwork by Takeshi Miyazawa. Colours by Nathan Fairbairn.
Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles #2 Cover A by Marcio Takara
Comics creator and former CCBCAA executive member Diana Tamblyn attended the ArtOriginals Darwyn Cooke workshop back in October and has poster her excellent summary of the talk – it’s a must-read for people interested in creating their own comics.
Darwyn Cooke (lower left) talks shop with Diana Tamblyn (centre, standing) at the ArtOriginals workshop at the Gladstone Hotel
It’s been an interesting ride over the past few years for Toronto’s 3rd Quadrant Comics store owner Daryl C. Collison. Two years ago he was forced to close his popular and long-running McCaul Street (near Queen St.) store because the owner had other plans for the building.
Pictured: 3rd Quadrant's old location at McCaul & Queen. The building sits empty and unused since the store closed over 2 years ago.
Collison chose to divide his business between three locations (1) a main store located on Queen Street west of Bathurst, (2) a new issues and graphic novels kiosk in the Black Market Clothing store near Queen and John (underneath the popular and now closed Pages bookstore), and (3) sharing a warehouse storage space with Toronto’s Hairy Tarantula in a lower level storefront located in Thornhill on Yonge St. near Steeles Ave.
Unfortunately the relocation didn’t work as well as hoped and Collison eventually had to concentrate on the single Black Market kiosk location and put even more stock into storage. With all of the changes, construction and planned renovation on Queen Street West, the Black Market kiosk was no longer an option and was closed last week. Collison had to make another move — this time up to the warehouse location in Thornhill.
(It’s actually quite sad to see so many Queen Street West’s art community landmarks disappearing only to be replaced by condos and brand name clothing, shoe stores and Pottery Barns. As Robert noted earlier today, the sole surviving comics shop on Queen St. West is the Silver Snail – having seen the coming and going of Bakka Books, Dragon Lady Comics, Grey Region Comics, Pages Bookstore and 3rd Quadrant Comics. Although technically there is one other – the manga-focused Magic Pony which is much further along on Queen St., a few blocks west of Bathurst.)
The Thornhill storefront was the site for a warehouse style sale (Basement Comic-con) earlier in the year (which also included fellow stores Hairy T, Paradise Comics and the Watcher), but this past weekend Collison officially moved into that space and has completed changes to the location for opening day — TODAY, November 5, 2009.
The new 3rd Quadrant Comics is located at 6979 Yonge Street (near Yonge and Steeles). Hairy Tarantula will also be selling product at this location.
We have a nifty listing of the comic book shops across Canada in our ‘Links to’ section, listed over there ——>
The goal is to profile brick and mortar stores, provide accurate locations and contact info, as well as some interior photos. So far we have been in contact via personal visit or telephone with about 175 stores, and the goal is to hit everyone by the end of 2009. You can help us keep up to date with the comings and goings of comic shops across Canada by sending us an email: retailers@joeshusterawards.com and letting us know if you’ve been to the store, if the location is open, heck, give us a review.
Arcana Launches Comics & Pop Culture Magazine
VANCOUVER (November 5, 2009) – Arcana Studios, an award winning comic book publisher and transmedia producer, is proud to announce the launch of Arcana Magazine. Debuting on January 27th 2010, and solicited in the current November Previews (Diamond Code: NOV09 0599) is the new quarterly magazine simply entitled Arcana, the re-designed print version of the on-line comics based magazine Extra Sequential.
Extra Sequential was the brainchild of Kris Bather and Dave Lapsley in Perth, Western Austrailia – two men who were looking for creative opportunities outside of their day jobs at a large architectural design firm. From January to June of this year 3 issues of Extra Sequential were published, containing interviews with an array of creative professionals, such as Joe Jusko, Zeb Wells, Tom DeFalco, and Brian Cronin. Topics covered included Street Fighter, Flash Gordon, the new Hulk and so much more, with an eye on both mainstream and rising indie stars.
After reaching over 16,000 subscribers on Scribd.com and becoming a Featured Magazine on Issuu.com, Extra Sequential was picked up by Arcana Comics for the transition to print, with Bather and Lapsley continuing their unique comics focus in the new print format.
Bather is the former Comics Department Head of now defunct website Infuze and current contributor to popular website Broken Frontier. Lapsley is new to the world of comics but brings a keen sense of design and shares Bather’s desire to let the world know how cool comics truly are.
“The thing that has always seemed odd to me is that comics continually reveal diverse art from some of the world’s greatest artists, but few people outside of the local comic book shop will ever know that,” says Bather. “Sure, a multitude of people are more familiar with Spider-Man and Batman thanks to Hollywood, but that seems to rarely translate to an increase in regular readership of comics. We hope Arcana can be somewhat of a bridge for those readers as well as show something new to longtime lovers of sequential art.”
Inspired more by the surf and skate magazines than the usual pop culture assortment on the shelves, Arcana aims to let the art speak for itself while also making sure every page is an artistic display. With bold layouts incorporating unique design and photography Arcana aims to be more than a throwaway item, but an attractive glimpse into the cutting edge of comic books and the people behind them.
Bather states, “We chose the landscape format straight out of the gate because we want people to know that we’re different upon first glance. We realise it’s perhaps a risky choice, but that’s exactly what comics are too. We want to conjure curiousity in comics newbies, but there’s enough content in Arcana for the veteran reader too.”
The first issue of Arcana features interviews with Star Wars: Invasion writer Tom Taylor, artist Josh Medors, Singaporean writer Edmund Shern, Surrogates creator Robert Venditti, and ground breaking artist David Mack. Also included are previews from upcoming comics and features such as a look back at The Death of Superman event, a talk with pro cyclist/comics fan Dave Zabriskie, a brief chat with the legendary Marv Wolfman, and an article on the current love affair between musicians and comics, including an interview with Coheed & Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez. There’s also a look at just how to market comics today, a breakdown of popular comic book terms and more.
Arcana #1, a 96 page full color magazine goes on sale January 27th, 2010.
About Arcana Studios:
Arcana Comics has published over 150 original comics and books and is a division of Arcana, an award winning transmedia company founded by CEO Sean O’Reilly. Arcana establishes new brands and intellectual properties with engaging storytelling and compelling visuals through comic books, graphic novels, animation, short-form live-action, video games, toys and now, feature length films. Arcana has created original brands they control such as The Clockwork Girl and Kade, and have further developed existing brands for Disney, Sony, Capcom, HBO and more. In addition, several of Arcana’ s other properties are in development or pre-production such as GEARHEAD with Valhalla Motion Pictures and a mixed martial arts movie through Grindstone Entertainment.
For interview requests about Arcana Magazine, please e-mail Kris Bather at kris@arcanaquarterly.com
The website is down, the phone has been disconnected and the doors closed on one of Toronto’s better known comic book stores, Grey Region. It’s a shame that I didn’t notice until a month later.
Grey Region was in business just over 20 years, opening on Queen Street West back in 1987. During comics boom period they were part of ‘comics alley’ along with Dragon Lady and the Silver Snail, and a later addition, 3rd Quadrant. Now only the Snail stands, with Dragon Lady long since moved to College Street and 3rd Quadrant moving around the city, with it’s newest location in the North end, let’s call it Thornhill/Vaughn, opening this week.
At one time Grey Region had 4 locations, but only the Yonge Street had lasted. Located on Yonge, just south of Wellesley, Grey Region was down the street from 1,000,000 Comix, giving collectors another reason to walk the Yonge corridor. They seemed to struggle with an identity, moving heavily into used toys and later LAN video gaming. It’s sad to see a staple of the Toronto comics scene slip away quietly.
We have a nifty listing of the comic book shops across Canada in our ‘Links to’ section, listed over there ——>
The goal is to profile brick and mortar stores, provide accurate locations and contact info, as well as some interior photos. So far we have been in contact via personal visit or telephone with about 175 stores, and the goal is to hit everyone by the end of 2009. You can help us keep up to date with the comings and goings of comic shops across Canada by sending us an email: retailers@joeshusterawards.com and letting us know if you’ve been to the store, if the location is open, heck, give us a review.
Dave Sim's contribution to the Visions of an Icon: Wolverine art show will be on display with over 40 additional pieces donated by comic book creators
This will be a display of the complete VISIONS OF AN ICON: WOLVERINE art exhibit featuring different creative interpretations of the popular Canadian X-Men character Wolverine.
This is the only full public display of all of the pieces donated for this exhibit by Canadian (and some American) creators. After this show, the artwork will be scanned and posted in our Comic Art Fans Gallery and then made available for sale by public auction on eBay.
All funds raised from the sale of the artwork will go towards the 2010 Joe Shuster Awards – since the JSAs are run by the not-for-profit Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association, this is one of our primary fundraising initiatives and the more money raised the more we can give back to the community by holding the awards as well as purchasing books and providing bursaries like the one given with the Gene Day Award, as well as running our newsblog at www.joeshusterawards.com
We’ll also have some graphic novels and comics by Canadian creators available for sale in the exhibit display room.
We had a great time at this event last year when we displayed the Superman artwork and we know you’ll enjoy checking out all the full Speakeasy Comic Book Show – details and participants listed below:
SpeakEasy’s Annual Comic Book Show
Toronto is home to some of the best known comics artists in North America. We have an active and vibrant community putting out some of the highest quality comics to be found anywhere. The SpeakEasy Comics Show features an eclectic mix of Toronto’s talented comic book artists – from those who do newspaper strips and political cartoons, to underground comix and mainstream superhero comic books! The event promises to display an exciting cross-section of the comics community here in Toronto, as well as a glimpse into how good comics are made. As the old cliché goes, there really will be something for everyone.
Time & Space: Thursday November 5th, 8pm-Midnight The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen West Second Floor Lobby
Cover: Pay What You Can ($4.00 Donation Suggested)
2009 Participating Artists (in the Speakeasy show – please note that this is not the list of artists who donated Wolverine artwork):
Matthew Daley
Ian Daffern, Freelance Blues
DMF Comics & Elsewhere Media, Chris Hatzopoulos & George Todorovski
George Michael Faust
Craig Sisson – ‘Gibson Quarter illustration’
Lamin Martin
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival
Awesome Marcus Ninja, Joel Buxton & Shane Heron
rutz (a.k.a. Ruth Tait), Talking Pictures
Gavin McCarthy, Blots
David James
Ben Rivers
Dale Camus
Greg Dunford, Cyberpunkcomics.com
Shane Kirshenblatt, Freefall Entertainment
The Joe Shuster Awards – Visions of an Icon: Wolverine art show
For more information contact:David Brown email: david@blttogo.com telephone: 416.533.1374 \
Also, Christopher Butcher from Toronto’s The Beguiling has sent out the following:
Hey folks! Myself and a few TCAF staffers will be exhibiting at The SpeakEasy Comics Show, a monthly themed exhibition of arts industry professionals, this Thursday November 6th at 7pm, at The Gladstone Hotel. We’re going to be exhibiting the various TCAF posters, as well as the art for them… plus some rarely seen promo art too.
If you’re in the Toronto area, come on out and say hi! Full info below.
- Chris
TCAF @ SpeakEasy’s Annual Comic Book Show
Thursday November 5th, 8pm-Midnight
The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen West
Second Floor Lobby
PWYC/$4 SuggestedThe Toronto Comic Arts Festival will be among the exhibitors at SpeakEasy’s Comics Show this week, in advance of the next Festival May 8th and 9th 2010. The SpeakEasy show is an eclectic mix of Toronto comics artists and organizations displaying original comics work. TCAF will be exhibiting (and selling) it’s posters from 2003-2009, and will have a gallery of original poster and promotional art from esteemed artists including Marc Bell, Darwyn Cooke, Evan Dorkin, James Jean, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Seth and more…!
COMIC BOOK LAUNCH PARTY for ISSUE #2 of BLACK MASS by Patrick Kyle.
Thursday November 12th, 2009
@ Good Blood Bad Blood, 13 Kensington Ave, Toronto.
8 pm – 12 am.
Issue #1 and # 2 will be available for $3 each.
Black Mass is a comic book by Patrick Kyle that follows the Story of TURDSWALLO BLACKTEEFT, The world’s most pathetic person! Continuing the tale yarned in Issue 1, Turdswallo is traveling to Memphis, Tennessee, to visit Graceland, but winds up getting himself into great danger when he encounters dark wizards, grim fortune tellers and the follies of time travel!
Black Mass #2 continues the humourous tale and delves deeper into the world of black magic and the occult.
—-
Patrick Kyle is an Artist and illustrator from Toronto. He is the co-founder and editor of the toronto comic book anthology Wowee Zonk. Patrick has been self publishing comics since 2005.
http://www.patrickkyle.com/
http://www.woweezonk.com/
Not to be outdone by Publisher’s Weekly – Amazon.com has released their best books of 2009 list for Comics and Graphic Novels and it also includes some Canadian content:
#2 GEORGE SPROTT (1894-1975) by Seth, published by Drawn & Quarterly
#10 MASTERPIECE COMICS published by Drawn & Quarterly
To see the full list – visit the PW website.
2 of the top 11 comics selections are by Canadian creators (and sure to be contenders in next year’s JSA Outstanding Cartoonist category):
Parker: The Hunter
Darwyn Cooke and Richard Stark (IDW)
A magnificent comics recreation of Stark/Donald Westlake’s noir classic of crime and vengeance and a stylish evocation of his stony, relentless protagonist.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe
Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni Press)
The further rollicking adventures of world-famous Canadian slacker Scott Pilgrim; his awesome girlfriend, Ramona Flowers; and Scott’s ongoing battle with her seven evil ex-boyfriends.
Psylocke #1 Cover by David Finch
If I have missed any works by Canadian Comic Book Creators, please leave a comment, or send me an email at jason@joeshusterawards.com
Doctor Voodoo: Avenger Of The Supernatural #2
Marvel US$2.99
Colours by Jean-Francois Beaulieu.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Haunt #2
Image US$2.99
Inks and Cover by Todd McFarlane.
Iron Man & The Armor Wars #4
Marvel US$2.99
Cover by Takeshi Miyazawa.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Iron Man & The Armor Wars #4 Cover by Takeshi Miyazawa
Jack The Lantern: Halloween Edition Trade Paperback
Castle Rain Entertainment US$17.95
Written by Michael Angelos. Artwork by Stephen Sadowski.
The Marvelous Land Of Oz #1
Marvel US$3.99
Colours by Jean-Francois Beaulieu.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Marvel Zombies 3 Trade Paperback
Marvel US$15.99
Colours by Jean-Francois Beaulieu.
North 40 #5 Cover by Fiona Staples
North 40 #5
DC/Wildstorm US$2.99
Artwork, Colours and Cover by Fiona Staples.
Project Superpowers: Chapter Two #4
Dynamite Entertainment US$2.99
Variant Cover by Stephen Sadowski
Psylocke #1
Marvel US$3.99
Cover by David Finch.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Sky Pirates Of Neo Terra #2
Image US$2.99
Artwork and Cover by Camilla d’Errico.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Sky Pirates of Neo Terra #2 Cover by Camilla d'Errico
Spider-Man: The Short Halloween Hardcover
Marvel US$19.99
Artwork by Tim Levins.
Strange Tales #3
Marvel US$4.99
Written, Artwork and Colours by Jay Stephens.
Street Fighter II Turbo #9
UDON Entertainment US$3.95
Written by Ken Siu-Chong. Cover by Joe Vriens.
Preview at UDON Entertainment
Street Fighter II Turbo #9 Cover by Joe Vriens
Superman: World of New Krypton #9
DC US$2.99
Variant Cover Colours by Brad Anderson.
Preview at DC Universe: The Source
Sweet Tooth #3
DC/Vertigo US$2.99
Written, Artwork and Cover by Jeff Lemire.
Preview at Vertigo: Graphic Content
Timestorm 2009-2099 Hardcover
Marvel US$24.99
Artwork by Wes Craig. Colours by Nathan Fairbairn.
Haunt #2 Cover by Todd McFarlane
Wonder Woman: Rise Of The Olympian Hardcover
DC US$24.99
Artwork by Bernard Chang. Colours by Brad Anderson.
X-Men vs. Agents Of Atlas #2
Marvel US$3.99
Inks by Terry Pallot.
Sweet Tooth #3 Cover by Jeff Lemire
EVENT: Toronto Comic Launch Party @ CAMERON HOUSE
for C.C.C.C.P. by RoosterTree ComicLit
DATE: Tuesday, November 3 – 8pm to midnight (approx.)
LOCATION: Cameron House, 408 Queen St W, Toronto, ON
We’re having a Launch Party! The anthology C.C.C.C.P.: Creative
Community Collected Comics Pages has been available for a few weeks, &
now it’s time to celebrate.
THIS TUESDAY Nov 3rd at Cameron House (front room) RoosterTree
ComicLit is hosting an evening of comics, music, artwork, good
times… and CAKE!
There will be door prizes!
Acoustic musicians!
A modest comic jam in one corner!
Original artwork on display!
And free goddamn cake – how can you resist?
If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, be sure to drop by the Gladstone Hotel for Canzine 2009. I (Robert Haines) will be there touching base with a whole bunch of creators and checking out their new comics/comix/zines. Most of these creators will be eligible for the 2010 Gene Day award so if your interest was piqued by the awesome comics produced by the 2009 finalists, I recommend you bring some money and see what Canzine 2009 has to offer!
Hal Niedzviecki and Lindsay Gibb of Broken Pencil, the organizer of the event, have been very supportive of the Gene Day award and the recognition it brings to the self-publishing community, so be on the lookout for a 6 page spread in the upcoming issue of Broken Pencil featuring our 2009 Gene Day nominees: Chris Peterson aka C. Eric Peters, Miriam Libicki, Jesse Jacobs (the winner of the 1st Gene Day Award), Jordyn Bochon and Dakota McFadzean.
Also, for all you self-publishers out there looking to submit your books for the 2010 Gene Day Award, please mail a copy of your book to:
Gene Day Award c/o The Joe Shuster Awards
PO Box 67031 – 2300 Yonge St.
Toronto, Ontario
M4P 3C8
Inside the cover, please include the following:
your email address
your phone number
and you must confirm the work as newly produced in 2009 by writing “This work was created and published in 2009″ with a signature.
For immediate release:
Broken Pencil Magazine presents…
Canzine
Canada’s Largest Zine Fair and Festival of Alternative Culture
Sunday, November 1, 2009
1pm-7pm
The Gladstone Hotel – Downtown Toronto, 1214 Queen St. West (Queen just East of Dufferin)
$5 admission comes with a free copy of the Fall issue of
Broken Pencil Magazine – issue 45 “Olympics”
Poster Art by Ethan Rilly
Giant Zine Fair!Over 150 zines from across Canada on display and for sale! The heart of the event, indie publishers both in print and online come from across the country and the continent to show their wares! Be amazed at the creativity, ingenuity, and sheer weirdness!
The One-Two Punch Book Pitch Live on our mainstage in front of a crowing crowd, you get two minutes to pitch your book to our panel of judges. They get one minute each to tell you why you’ll never get published in a million billion years (or why they want to see your manuscript in their in-box asap!). Guest judges are Literary Agent Sam Hiyate and Coach House Books editor Alana Wilcox, along with writer Hal Niedzviecki. This is event is full. Come out and watch the pitches!
Readings From Can’tLit
That’s right, it’s finally here: the long awaited anthology featuring the best fiction from the last 12 years of Broken Pencil Magazine: Can’tLit: Fearless Fiction from Broken Pencil (ECW Press). This event will feature writers with stories in the anthology. Introductions by the editor of the anthology, BP associate fiction editor Richard Rosenbaum. Readings by Greg Kearney, Zoe Whittall, Joey Comeau and Jessica Faulds.
Hotel Room Installations
Canada’s brightest and weirdest will be creating one day unique environments to explore in 5 of the Gladstone Hotel’s rooms. Featuring: ArtCade 2009: The Best of Indie Video Gaming as Selected by Jim Munroe, The Toronto Comic Jam Room (all day long sequential art), the City of Craft General Store (cool indie crafts), The Lost Window: Toronto Mannequin Window Displays 1930-1950 (a provocative found-photo exhibit), and Spelunkin’ fer Culkin: Three dimensional zine installation by Wowee Zonk.
Workshop: Screen Printing With Style Learn how to screen print your own t-shirts, posters, zine and book covers and more! A hands-on workshop led by Michael Morton, mastermind behind the screen-printing business Crime League.
Hotel Canzine is made possible by grants from the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Hotel Canzine also is supported by the following most excellent sponsors: Open Book, Mint Records, Insomniac Books, Magazines Canada, Movieola, Book Ninja, CIUT 88.1, NOW Magazine and the Gladstone Hotel.
Canzine is an annual event organized by Broken Pencil, the Magazine of Zine Culture and the Independent Arts.
Broken Pencil, PO Box 203, Station P, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S7
email: editor@brokenpencil.com, phone 416 204 1700
Comic Book Daily has posted an interview with Darwyn Cooke:
We caught up with Darwyn at Art Originals’ exhibit showcasing his art from the last 20 years. The exhibit, titled Noir and Beyond: The Darwyn Cooke Exhibition was held at the very swanky Gladstone Hotel in Downtown Toronto.When we asked Sean Menard (one of the minds behind the exhibit) about why they chose Mr Cooke as their inaugeral guest he had this to say: “When considering who we wanted to bring to Toronto for the first Art Original Series, we were looking for a creator that had appeal outside of the traditional comics scene. We were clearly hoping to expand the existing demographic for this type of show. Darwyn fit the bill 110%.”
Sean reinforced the notion of Darwyn’s importance in the Canadian Comic Book scene pointing out that “[he] has demonstrated to both fans and creators time and time again that the playing field is equal for those north of the U.S. border if they’ve got the talent and work ethic. He completely immerses himself within every project he takes on and certainly doesn’t have to work in comics. Quite simply, it is his chosen profession. He LOVES the medium and its potential. Darwyn’s career accomplishments are a cause for celebration for today’s Canadian fans and an important benchmark for the Canadian creators of tomorrow.”
Darwyn held court signing everyone’s books all while telling stories, answering questions and cracking jokes. He took time out to have a little chat with us about Parker, Crime and Comics.
Darwyn Cooke and Mark Askwith
Troy Little writes:
Hey gang, the ANGORA NAPKIN pilot cartoon is now online for ONE WEEK ONLY!!!! With your help and heaps of good feedback on the Teletoon site we hope to bring this show to full series!
We hope you enjoy the show! Pimp this show to your friends and get them in on the fun!
Thanks!!!
Troy & Nick
(Media PR below in case you have no idea what I’m talking about)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2009
Angora Napkin Pilot to Broadcast on Teletoon Online
Charlottetown – Angora Napkin, the critically acclaimed graphic novel by Troy Little (published by IDW Publishing) has been adapted into an animated pilot, which will be streaming online the week of October 30th to November 5th at www.thedetour.ca
As part of Teletoon’s Detour Pilot Project, Angora Napkin was one of ten pilots selected from over 200 submission from across Canada in an effort to encourage new comedic voices in the Canadian animation community and possibly find new programming for Teletoon’s evening and night time line-up aimed at adults aged 18-34.
A unique musical bubble-gum pop trio, Angora Napkin is a band unlike any other composed of three sexy girls Beatrice, Molly, Mallory. Attracting trouble along with the macabre, the girls always seem to come out on top with the help of their impromptu peppy songs and inability to see the dark side of any situation, no matter how menacing.
Angora Napkin is the creation of graphic novelist Troy Little and animation filmmaker Nick Cross. Originally conceived of as a cartoon series in 1997, the project lay dormant until 2008 when IDW Publishing took an interest and published Angora Napkin as a hard cover graphic novel. Soon after the project was brought full circle when it was chosen to be part of the Detour’s Pilot Project. The animated pilot was produced by Mugisha Enterprises in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
“Unlike many cartoons, Angora Napkin was a creator driven project with both Nick and myself doing much of the work.” says Little, “We were given an unprecedented amount of creative freedom bringing this show to life and I think fans of the graphic novel will find nothing has been watered down; all the sex, violence and innuendo are firmly in place. It’s a quirky show like nothing else out there and I hope it resonates with both comic and animation fans. We’re counting on lots of positive feedback online to bring Angora Napkin to full series potential!”
More information on Angora Napkin can be found at www.angoranapkin.com and the pilot can be viewed online at www.thedetour.ca for one week beginning October 30th.
The animated teaser for the pilot can be found on Youtube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPCPGBVTccc
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Troy Little
Meanwhile Studios
http://meanwhilestudios.com/
Launching in April 2010, The relaunch of the Flash ongoing series is already looking to be one of the biggest releases on DC Comics schedule for next year. Written by Geoff Johns, the book will spotlight the two current Flashes in the DCU — Barry Allen in the lead feature with art by Francis Manapul, and Wally West in the backup illustrated by veteran Flash artist Scott Kolins.
Until then, Francis will be wrapping up his work on Adventure Comics’ Superboy feature and doing the covers for the upcoming Blackest Night: Flash mini-series.
Yesterday, Comic Book Resources posted an short interview with Francis about his approach to drawing the Flash and coming up with unique ways to portray speed, as well as give Barry Allen’s Flash a unique visual identity.
