Monthly Archives: June 2009

Upcoming Conventions in Canada – June 12-July 9

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POP CULTURE COLLECTIBLES FAIR – Croatian Cultural Centre, 3250 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC.

Sunday, June 13, 2009

VANCOUVER COMICON – Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street, Vancouver, BC.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Please let us know if you have a comics-related show or event coming up so we can promote it on this blog.

In the US, June 19-21 is a big weekend for comics as it is the weekend of both HEROESCON in Charlotte, NC and WIZARD WORLD PHILADELPHIA in Philadelphia, PA.

Surprisingly few Canadians featured at either of these shows. Heroes has Bernard Chang and Leo Leibelman. Wizard World Philadelphia has some Canadian actors (Nicki Clyne, Michael Hogan, and Luciana Carro – all from Battlestar Galactica) plus Alvin Lee and Matthew Mohammed.

From the JSAs, Kevin will be at Wizard World Philadelphia working out of the CGC booth.

Camilla D’Errico on “Sky Pirates of Neo Terra”

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BC artist Camilla D’Errico will be illustrating the five issue mini-series the “Sky Pirates of Neo Terra” for Image Comics. The first issue debuts in late September. Here’s the advance solicitation for #1:

SKY PIRATES OF NEO TERRA #1 (of 5)
story JOSH WAGNER
art & cover CAMILLA D’ERRICO
SEPTEMBER 30
32 PAGES / FC $2.99

In Neo Terra, a world of forgotten technology and natural magic, reckless young glide-wing pilot, Billy Boom Boom, must outwit the Pirate King to stop him from ushering in a new Dark Age. CAMILLA D’ERRICO, (Burn, Nightmares and Fairy Tales) pencils this high adventure mini-series about loyalty, friendship, and what it means to be a true hero. Based on the Nintendo DS game “The Sky Pirates of Neo Terra”.

SkyPirates1-Cover-previews

Joe Shuster Awards will be at Word on the Street on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009

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As part of our mission to raise awareness of Canadian comic book creators and their works, and as part of our 5th Anniversary festivities, we will be holding the awards on the weekend of September 26-27, 2009. While we are still finalizing the plans for the presentation of the awards and the display of the 2009 Visions artwork, we’ve just received confirmation that we will be setting up in an Exhibitor space at THE WORD ON THE STREET Book & Magazine Festival in TORONTO on Sunday September 27th, 2009 from 11am – 6pm.

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On the last Sunday in September, Queen’s Park will transform into a booklover’s paradise with a marketplace of more than 258 book and magazine exhibits, 248 of Canada’s top authors, poets, storytellers and presenters and 198 readings, performances, workshops and other events.

The award-winning Toronto festival delivers a full day of fun for all ages, whether you want to learn how to get published at the Wordshop Marquee, sing along with the crowd at the TVOKids Stage, take in some of Toronto’s best arts entertainment, listen to a favourite author read from their latest book, or just sit under the leafy canopy of Queen’s Park and enjoy a new found treasure. There is always plenty to see and do at Canada’s largest book and magazine festival, and best of all, The Word On The Street and all of its events are FREE!

Canadian Golden Age Comics Online

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“Canadian Whites” are the name given to a type of comic book produced by Canadian publishers during World War II when there was an embargo on all external publications – including the popular American comic books. The covers of the Canadian Whites were mostly full colour, but unlike American comic books the interiors were printed black ink on white paper.  While the time of the Canadian Whites was brief, it was the Canadian comic book industry’s equivalent of the Golden Age of American Comics, and saw the debut of numerous titles – mostly featuring stories about superheroes, fighter pilots, mounties, cowboys and adventurers.

A few of the creators of these Golden Age Canadian comics have already been inducted into the JSA Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame – Ed Furness, Ted McCall, Adrian Dingle, Gerald Lazare, Jon St. Ables and Les Barker.

There is a site online where you can read pdf scans of a dozen of these lost treasures: www.canadiancomics.ca

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Site originator Scott Dutton writes:

CanadianComics.ca focuses on comics published in Canada during the period of the Second World War and the years that immediately followed. During that era, embargoes on American magazines coming into Canada allowed a Canadian comic book industry to flourish. As Canadians, we can be proud of the work, both in the quality of the packages and the diversity of subject matter.

Previously, the books were shown on CanadianComics.ca as slideshows of single-page images. Like my own comics site, TatHS.com, CanadianComics.ca now hosts PDF ebooks which work well on various devices and OSes.

Go to CanadianComics.ca

We welcome additions to this archive. If you’re willing to scan books from your collection, we’ll do the image cleanup and packaging. You’ll receive credit for your work if you’d like it. Before you make scans, please contact us to go over our scanning requirements. We want you to do the work only once to make things as painless as possible for you, and to minimise the wear on what are increasingly rare books.

June 10th, 2009 Releases featuring Canadian Creators

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If I have missed any works by Canadian Comic Book Creators, please leave a comment, or send me an email at jason@joeshusterawards.com

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The Spirit #29 Cover by Paul Rivoche

Amazing Spider-Man #597
Marvel US$2.99
Colours by Chris Chuckry.
Preview at Newsarama

Angel: Blood And Trenches #4
IDW US$3.99
Written, Artwork and Cover by John Byrne.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Captain Britain and MI13 Vol. 2: Hell Comes To Birmingham Trade Paperback
Marvel US$14.99
Artwork by Leonard Kirk. Inks by Craig Yeung.

Fathom: Kiani Vol. 1: Blade Of Fire Trade Paperback
Aspen US$14.99
Artwork and Cover by Marcus To.

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Miss America Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 Cover by Dale Eaglesham and Dave McCaig

GeNEXT: United #2
Marvel US$3.99
Colours by Jim Charalampidis.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Lockjaw And The Pet Avengers #2
Marvel US$2.99
Cover by Karl Kerschl. Variant Cover by Niko Henrichon.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Miss America Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1
Marvel US$3.99
Cover by Dale Eaglesham. Cover Colours by Dave McCaig.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Proof #20
Image US$3.50
Artwork, Colours and Cover by Riley Rossmo. Colours by Dave Casey. Story Written, Artwork and Colours by Kelly Tindall.
Preview at Newsarama

redrobin

Red Robin #1 Cover by Francis Manapul

R.E.B.E.L.S. #5
DC US$2.99
Artwork by Claude St. Aubin.
Preview at DC Comics: The Source

Red Robin #1
DC US$2.99
Cover by Francis Manapul.

The Spirit #29
DC US$2.99
Written by Dean Motter. Artwork, Colours and Cover by Paul Rivoche.
Preview at Newsarama

Street Fighter Legends: Chun Li #3
UDON Entertainment US$3.95
Written by Ken Siu-Chong. Artwork and Cover by Omar Dogan.
Preview at Udon Entertainment

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Super Friends #16 Cover by J. Bone

Super Friends #16
DC/Johnny US$2.50
Cover by J. Bone.

Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #5 (2nd Printing)
Marvel US$2.99
Colours by Dave McCaig.

Uncanny X-Men: First Class Giant-Size Special #1
Marvel US$3.99
Artwork by Joe Infurnari and Cameron Stewart. Colours by Joe Infurnari and Brad Anderson.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

The Unwritten #2
DC/Vertigo US$2.99
Colours by Chris Chuckry.

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X-Men Forever #1 Cover by Tom Grummett

X-Factor #44
Marvel US$2.99
Artwork by Valentine De Landro. Inks by Pat Davidson and Craig Yeung. Cover Colours by Nathan Fairbairn.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

X-Men Forever #1
Marvel US$3.99
Artwork and Cover by Tom Grummett.

Proof #20

Proof #20 Cover by Riley Rossmo

Upcoming: The Incredibles – Family Matters trade paperback

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With only the first two issues released at this time, Boom Studios has announced that they are releasing the digest-sized trade paperback collection of the smash hit mini-series Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles: Family Matters drawn by artist Marcio Takara in July 2009. Here are the details:

THE INCREDIBLES: FAMILY MATTERS TPB
Written by Mark Waid
Drawn by Marcio Takara
SC, 128pgs, FC, SRP: $9.99
ISBN: 1-934506-83-4
ISBN13: 978-1-934506-83-7
Diamond Code: MAY090748

This action-packed trade collects all four issues THE INCREDIBLES: FAMILY MATTERS. Acclaimed scribe Mark Waid has written the perfect INCREDIBLES story! What happens when Mr. Incredible’s super-abilities start to wane…and how long can he keep his powerlessness a secret from his wife and kids?

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Upcoming: Mister X – The Condemned trade paperback

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Dark Horse Comics has announced that the collection of Dean Motter’s Mister X: The Condemned four issue mini-series will arrive in comic shops on November 20, 2009.

Please note: The cover to the first issue of the mini-series has been nominated for the Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Cover Art by a Canadian Comic Book Creator, and will also be used as the cover for the trade paperback collection. 

Details: Full Color, 120 pages, US$14.95, Trade Paperback, size: 6″ x 9″

Visit Radiant City, designed using the principles of psychetecture to soothe its inhabitants. But something went horribly wrong, and the city instead causes anxiety, insomnia, and madness. As ordinary citizens begin giving in to dementia and a serial killer walks the streets, a desperate City Hall commissions a drastic program of urban demolition, resulting in the deaths of an entire sect of architects. Returning from exile with a mission to recover Radiant City’s original blueprints, only one man has a chance of restoring its sanity–the enigmatic Mister X!

* “The crisp and avant-garde ideas alone make this book an arresting proposition.”
–Comics Daily

MrXCondemnedTPB

Toronto visit by Neil Gaiman results in plugs for Toronto comic stores

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On June 8th, popular writer Neil Gaiman will be doing a reading/signing in Toronto. The media seems to have picked up on a thread that Toronto comic shops are directly responsible for Gaiman’s Hogtown successes. Last time there was love for (former Silver Snail manager) Mark Askwith… and this time…

From CTV (The Canadian Press)….

Gaiman’s Toronto appearance will mark the first time he’s promoting “The Graveyard Book” in Canada and his first doing a book signing in the city in three years.

Toronto fans have been particularly good to him so it’s important that he get to reconnect with them again, he said.

“I’ve had this strange and rather lovely relationship with Toronto going back even before I ever came out to Toronto,” he said.

“The first time I was out I think I think was about ’89, ’90, but even before then, Toronto was the place where (comic bookstore) Silver Snail sold more copies of my first graphic novel, `Violent Cases,’ than were sold in the rest of the North American continent.”

Toronto is also where Gaiman was first recognized in the street, he says, and where — in the early ’90s — he first saw one of his book signings go on for hours longer than it should have.

“The signing was going to start at three o’clock in the afternoon and there was a lovely dinner set up at eight — and at eight I was still signing, and at nine I was still signing and at 10 I was still signing,” he said. “Finally at about midnight, long after every restaurant was closed, I was dropped off at my hotel with sore hands.”

“I just remember sitting in the bathtub, drinking fizzy water and eating chocolate chip cookies which was all that was in the mini bar and just thinking to myself, `This is the glamorous life.”‘

Then, there’s the Toronto Star’s Raju Mudhar who reports:

Gaiman also name-checks Toronto as one of the first places where he was recognized on the street, and he credits Markham St. comic book store The Beguiling with helping him start doing author readings in the first place.

“The very first public reading I did was organized by The Beguiling, the Toronto comics store in … I think it was about 1992. They basically said we’d like you to come up and do an event for the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund.

“They had this big old church hall and they sold tickets for it, and I remember I was terrified at the idea that I was going to do this thing. And I did it anyway, because they asked, and I walked out of there going, `Oh my God, I can do this.’ And all of the reading tours I’ve done, they all go back to that one I did in Toronto.”

Toronto Cartoonists Workshop

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Recently launched, the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop is a learning environment where aspiring cartoonists can study with working professionals in the North American comic book, webcomics, animation and illustration fields.

Workshops are eight weekly sessions of three hours each and attendance is limited to a maximum of 15 students to optimize individual learning.

The TCW does not offer a certificate or degree. It is a continuing education experience where students are encouraged to sample various instructors and pick the learning styles and philosophies that work best for them.

Until the TCW is able to secure a permanent physical space classes will be held in suitable downtown community locations. Our Summer and Fall workshops will take place at the Bloor Street United Church in the Annex.

You can visit their website at http://www.cartoonistsworkshop.com

E-mail: info@cartoonistsworkshop.com
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The first two programs are:

Imaginative Drawing for Background Design
Instructor: Paul Rivoche
Start Date: Saturday , July 4th , 2009
Time: 1pm to 4 pm
Location: Bloor Street United Church, 300 Bloor St. West, Room #31 (3rd floor)
Length: 8 consecutive weeks (3 hours, once per week)
Cost: $300. plus G.S.T.

Comic Book Bootcamp Part One
Instructor: Ty Templeton
Start Date: September 2009
Time: TBA
Location: Bloor Street United Church, 300 Bloor St. West
Length: 8 weeks (3 hours, once per week)
Cost: $300. plus G.S.T.

Comic Book Bin reviews Canadian comics and cartoons

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Generally, we try not to link to reviews here at the JSA blog, we try to keep you up-to-date on the news and goings-on in the Canadian comics community as best we can. If we did link to reviews, we’d just be page after page of links to comics reviews, often with multiple reviews of the same material.

However, there is a Canadian news site which does feature regular reviews of new books published – and that’s the www.comicbookbin.com

Here are some recent comics reviews featuring work by Canadians recommended by the Bin’s publisher:
http://www.comicbookbin.com/egide_Energy_Business001.html
Denis Rodier
http://www.comicbookbin.com/Saint-Germainlumiere001.html
Jean-François Bergeron
http://www.comicbookbin.com/Collected_Doug_Wright001.html
Doug Wright

The one thing that is particularly notable about the Bin is their commitment to producing reviews of Quebecois BD, which is often ignored in other parts of Canada.

They even did an extensive overview of the BD work produced in 2008 by Joe Shuster Award nominees.

Talkin’ Fan Expo with Comic Book Resources.

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comic_imageLast Friday, Comic Book Resources posted an interview that I (Kevin) did with CBR report Jeffrey Renaud.

One of the many other jobs that I do (aside from the JSAs, my day job as a cancer researcher and the shows in the US I attend working for CGC) is coordinating the Canadian guests as well as programming content for the Comic Book Expo at the late August Fan Expo Canada and the smaller Toronto ComiCons throughout the year so I was asked by show management to talk with CBR about this year’s Comic Book Expo.

At Fan Expo Canada, I am one of a team of coordinators and managers, and on the Comic Book Expo I work closely with International Guest Coordinator Tiziano De Santis, who deserves the credit for this year’s amazing International Guests.

The interview is very much an FYI about what the Expo is about and some of the things that are being done this year and a few guests that haven’t been officially added to the website yet are announced there, including another big name Canadian guest who hasn’t appeared at a Canadian convention in many years.

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June 3rd, 2009 Releases featuring Canadian Creators

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Skaar: Son of Hulk #11 Cover by Travis Charest

Skaar: Son of Hulk #11 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

Astonishing Tales #5
Marvel US$3.99
Inks by Craig Yeung. Colours by Nathan Fairbairn.

Atomic Robo And The Shadow From Beyond Time #2
Red 5 Comics US$3.50
Colours by Ronda Pattison.

Black Panther #5
Marvel US$2.99
Artwork by Ken Lashley.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Captain Blood: Odyssey #1
SLG Publishing US$3.50
Written by Matthew Shepherd.

Captain Britain And MI 13 Annual #1
Marvel US$3.99
Artwork by Adrian Alphona.
Preview at Comic Book Resources
Preview at Paul Cornell’s LiveJournal

Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles: Family Matters #1 (2nd Printing)
BOOM Studios US$2.99
Artwork by Marcio Takara.

George Sprott Hardcover
Drawn & Quarterly US$24.95
Written, Artwork and Cover by Seth.

Looney Tunes #175
DC/Johnny US$2.50
Story Written by Sam Agro.

Marvel: Your Universe #5
Marvel US$5.99
Cover by David Finch.

Mighty Avengers #25
Marvel US$2.99
Colours by Jean-Francois Beaulieu.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Seaguy: The Slaves Of Mickey Eye #3
DC/Vertigo US$3.99
Artwork and Cover by Cameron Stewart.

Sentry: The Age Of The Sentry Trade Paperback
Marvel US$19.99
Artwork by Michael Cho.

Side B: Music Lovers Comic Anthology
Poseur Ink US$22.99
Stories Written and Artwork by Jamie Campbell, Jason Marcy, Joshua Rosen, and Katie Shanahan.

Skaar: Son Of Hulk #11
Marvel US$2.99
Cover by Travis Charest.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Spawn #192
Image US$2.95
Written and Inks by Todd McFarlane.

Star Trek: Crew #4
IDW US$3.99
Written, Artwork and Cover by John Byrne. Colours by Lovern Kindzierski.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Superman: World Of New Krypton #4
DC US$2.99
Colours by Brad Anderson.

Timestorm 2009-2099: Spider-Man
Marvel US$3.99
Arwork by Wes Craig. Colours by Nathan Fairbairn.
Preview at Comics Continuum

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen Movie Adaptation #3
IDW US$3.99
Artwork by Alex Milne.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen Movie Adaptation Trade Paperback
IDW US$17.99
Artwork by Alex Milne.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen Movie Prequel: Alliance Trade Paperback
IDW US$17.99
Artwork by Alex Milne.

Ultimate Spider-Man #133
Marvel US$3.99
Artwork and Covers by Stuart Immonen.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Ultimatum #1 (2nd Printing)
Marvel US$3.99
Artwork and Cover by David Finch.

Ultimatum #2 (3rd Printing)
Marvel US$3.99
Artwork and Cover by David Finch.

Ultimatum #3 (2nd Printing)
Marvel US$3.99
Artwork and Cover by David Finch.

Ultimatum #4
Marvel US$3.99
Artwork and Cover by David Finch.
Preview at Comic Book Resources

Ultimatum #4 Cover by David Finch

Ultimatum #4 Cover by David Finch