Category Archives: Media

Talking Comics with Ty Templeton

Posted on by
1

Comic Book Resources’ Robot 6 blog contributor Tim O’Shea sat down with Ty Templeton to discuss his contributions to Marvel Comics’ Ultimate Spider-Man, Avenging Spider-Man, his courses at the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop, Holmes Inc., On the Couch, being on the short list for a Joe Shuster Webcomics Award for Bun Toons and much more!

O’Shea: When you get nominated as a potential finalist for The Joe Shuster Awards (Webcomics), does recognition like that help expand your audience for Bun Toons?

Templeton: It’s only been a couple of weeks since the finalist/potential nomination thing was announced, so I can’t tell yet. I tend to have wildly different attention for each Bun Toon, depending on the subject matter. When I pick on Frank Miller or Alan Moore our readership quadruples from the strips when I say sentimental things about my family. Since the short list/nomination announcement, I’ve been getting a fairly average readership, but I haven’t been going after Frank Miller as much lately.

Hobbystar is suing Wizard over Toronto Comic Con / Comicon

Posted on by
1

According to Comic Book Resources, this is now happening, and I have little to say on it except that in business, lawsuits happen all of the time when lines of perception are crossed. In the end, this will hopefully settle some long unresolved questions.

Update: Yes, since the same individual that has been stalking Hobbystar for almost a decade pointed out on twitter, I do work for Hobbystar on their conventions, organizing comic book guests. And I also used to be the co-owner of the Paradise Comicon that was sold to Wizard.

As individuals, we often wonder about the philosophical impact that legal decisions have on the marketplace. Can someone go after someone else legally for a slang name Comicon/Comic Con, etc.? Personally, I think not. When I was doing the old con I was told it couldn’t be protected except in certain rare contexts. Nevertheless, we changed the name to the Paradise Toronto Comicon to eliminate confusion from the pre-existing HSM event.

As fans, we often jump to conclusions as to what things are about. Certainly there’s a long history here in Toronto involving different participants that gets revived by fans and the comics press whenever something happens. Automatically “con war” gets thrown around by certain folks and certain comics media people. Wizard has been here for three years now, and the events have, up until now, had few issues. Although from time to time, one would hear innuendo about what one side had said or done.

What is relevant here in this lawsuit is that Hobbystar has a brand of show that has been active and visible at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre since 2001. That brand is “Toronto ComiCON”.

Wizard wanted to bring their “Toronto Comic Con” show (a brand they created in 2010 from the ashes of the Paradise Toronto Comicon – both of which were held a different and distinct facility in another part of town) to the MTCC, so they booked space at the facility during the time of year that Hobbystar has traditionally held a Toronto ComiCON at the MTCC. The shows have been co-existing for two years in different parts of town, but now, as the Toronto Star so succinctly implied Toronto ComiCON / Toronto Comic Con. Same basic name. Identical facility. Similar events. Different promoters.

So there’s a lawsuit. Let the courts figure it out.

Toronto’s Public Libraries Closed – Workers on Strike. But for how long? What about TCAF?

Posted on by

As of today, Toronto’s 98 branch public library system is closed.

This includes places like the Lillian Smith Branch (home of the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy which has a large graphic novel contingent) where we held the 2008 Joe Shuster Awards ceremony, and the Metro Toronto Reference Library, the home of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, which is scheduled for May 5-6, 2012 — approximately 6+ weeks away

According to news sources, CUPE (the union that represents 2300+ Toronto Public Library workers) walked away from the bargaining table yesterday, as they felt that the talks with the city and the Toronto Public Library Board weren’t going anywhere. Job security seems to be the primary sticking point.

Bottom line is that for now, Toronto’s public libraries are no longer accessible to Toronto’s citizens, many of whom were able to access some very well-stocked graphic novel collections — particularly at the downtown branches. Borrowers have been told to hold on to the items they checked out of the libraries before Sunday, and that late fees will not be charged for the duration of the strike. Certainly the city’s homeless will be despondent over the lack of access to the Toronto Reference Library’s restrooms.

What does this mean, ultimately, for TCAF? For now, one would hope that the union and the city manage to get together and hammer out a new deal before the Festival, which attracts creators from all around the world and across the country, and is also the weekend for the annual presentation of the Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning.

Friday the 13th Update

Posted on by

Sorry about the lack of updates this week, so much has been going on with… well, everything this week.

Between the announcement of the guest list for the March Toronto ComiCon, plans and coordination for Fan Expo Vancouver in April, the Dragon Lady closing and all of the related press coverage that has been getting, rumours of what is going to happen next with the Silver Snail, coordinating some shipments I have coming in and going out, and so on (not to mention my research work during the day)  I haven’t had time to do much posting. Robert has been working on more regional retailer round-ups.

Next week:

- we’ll be posting the Eligible Creators List for 2011 that we’ll be looking for feedback on. 2012 Nominating committee will be finalized and we can get on with selecting the list for 2012. Andrew completed the updates to the Webcomics list last weekend so if you haven’t had time to check it out, please take a look and discover some great comics.

- on Wednesday night in Toronto it’s the Jim Henson’s A Tale of Sand Industry Night release party at the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop with Ramon Perez. It looks like we have copies of the book available for the event so come on down and check it out of you can.

- Finally, I’ve been working on something top secret that I hope to be able to share the news about with you as early as next Monday.

D+Q goes Digital on the Kobo Vox and Beyond

Posted on by

D+Q Announces The Company’s “Digital Strategy”

As announced in today’s PW Daily by Calvin Reid, this holiday season, the Drawn & Quarterly classic graphic novels LOUIS RIEL A COMIC-STRIP BIOGRAPHY and PAYING FOR IT A COMIC-STRIP BIOGRAPHY ABOUT BEING A JOHN by the award-winning and iconoclastic cartoonist Chester Brown, will each be available as ebooks via KOBO’s Vox Reader, it was announced today by Peggy Burns, Associate Publisher of Marketing & Sales. Known for its astute editorial standards and high print production values, this venture marks the Montreal-based company’s first foray into the digital sphere.

“Many people assumed we would never do ebooks, whereas the opposite was true. We were open to the idea, but wanted to approach it cautiously,” said Burns. “This past Fall, we had a fortuitous series of events that brought the project to the foreground. Chester voiced his desire for ebooks, CBC Canada Reads shortlisted LOUIS RIEL in its top-ten for its annual contest, and most importantly, the fellow Canadian company Kobo inquired if we would consider ebooks. Kobo’s pitch was very friendly and nonexclusive and they promote CBC Canada Reads. They understood who we are, our hesitancy and what is important to us. It all happened very organically which is how we prefer to do business.”

D+Q production manager Tracy Hurren oversaw the project and worked with Kobo to ensure that the same care and attention D+Q gives towards its print editions was in place for the ebooks. The arrangement is nonexclusive and D+Q expects to add more titles by different authors and devices throughout 2012.

Lastly, D+Q is proud to announce that the company will be splitting the net proceeds of its ebook sales equally with its authors, and is in agreement with the Writer’s Union of Canada.

“D+Q has always been an author-centric company, it is this ethos that has shaped us into who we are today,” said Chris Oliveros, D&Q’s Publisher and Editor-In-Chief. “It only seemed natural to offer the fairest proposition to our authors.”

Camilla d’Errico & Day 21 Studios Launch Sky Pirates of Neo Terra Webcomic

Posted on by

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Vancouver B.C., Dec. 16th, 2011 — Following the announcement at this year’s New York Comic Con, graphic novelist and fine artist Camilla d’Errico and writer Kurtis J. Wiebe (Green Wake, The Intrepids) are proud to launch the Sky Pirates of Neo Terra webcomic from Day 21 Studios on the brand’s website.
Based on the Image Comics title of the same name, the new Sky Pirates of Neo Terra webcomic series tells the side-stories of characters not seen in the original graphic novel, and gives more depth to upcoming video game that will be released for Apple devices and the Facebook platform in the near future.
To see the first installment of the series, titled “Vanwitt’s Discovery,” please visit the Sky Pirates of Neo Terra website:

And as part of the celebration of the new webcomics series, Day 21 Studios is giving away original Camilla d’Errico art on their Facebook page:


To speak with Camilla d’Errico about her various projects, or to receive images, screenshots, video, and other feature assets, please use the contact information listed at the bottom of this public release.
—————————————————
About Camilla d’Errico:
Camilla d’Errico is an urban contemporary painter, illustrator, character creator and comic artist residing in Vancouver, BC. With roots in comics and manga stylings, Camilla’s beautiful work is seen on toys, clothes, accessories and more.  She has been published by Random House and Tokyopop (Avril Lavigne’s Make 5 Wishes), Simon & Schuster (Camilla d’Errico’s BURN), Image Comics (Sky Pirates of Neo Terra, Fractured Fables), IDW (Swallow 5, Sparrow 13) and Dark Horse (Myspace Dark Horse Presents, Vampy Cat, Femina & Fauna). More details of her recently announced project with Joshua Dysart (The Unknown Solider, B.P.R.D.) titled Helmetgirls: Origins.

The Montreal Gazette suggests you look at some D+Q books

Posted on by

Ian McGillis has submitted a special report in today’s Montreal Gazette entitled Comics and graphics Novels: The State of the Art.

It’s basically a run down of books recently published by Montreal’s Drawn & Quarterly – including the latest from Kate Beaton, Seth, Marc Bell and more. McGillis addresses the fact that 10 of his 13 selections are D+Q publications in his introduction:

Graphic literature went from strength to strength in 2011, edging ever closer to the day when it will be spoken of as literature, period. Any form that can embrace subjects and styles ranging from academic studies to visual novels to social history to uproarious parody has a vitality that speaks for itself, and the books below represent the state of the art. The preponderance of titles from Drawn & Quarterly, it should be emphasized, is not hometown boosterism; the Montreal publisher is a world leader in the field, and this year might have been its best.

I’m not convinced it isn’t boosterism, but Drawn & Quarterly DID publish some great books this fall, no doubt about that!

Canada Reads Top 40 Announced – 3 Graphic Novels on the list

Posted on by

It’s that time of year again, things are gearing up for this winter’s annual Canada Reads competition. Last year, as you’ll recall, Jeff Lemire’s Essex County Trilogy made the Top 5. This year, Scott Chantler writes to inform us that three Canadian graphic novels have made the Top 40 of the Canada Reads: True Stories list and now is the time to select the Top 10 for that category:

Hi again all,

Thanks to the votes and word-of-mouth of family, friends, and fans, I’m happy to report that TWO GENERALS has made the CBC Canada Reads list of the Top 40 Canadian non-fiction books of all time: http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/2012/canada-reads-true-stories-vote-for-the-top-10.html. Thanks to all of you who filled out nomination forms, or voted in the previous poll. It’s really an incredible honour to be included among some of the classics on that list (like Pierre Berton’s THE LAST SPIKE) and I’m pleased that my book is one of three graphic novels to make the list (the other two being Sarah Leavitt’s TANGLES and Chester Brown’s classic LOUIS RIEL).

From here, online voting cuts the list down to ten, then down to the five that will appear in the televised debates. I don’t have a lot of confidence that the book can go all the way against the likes of Berton and Romeo Dallaire, but it sure would be cool to make the top ten. We’re already seeing a slight sales jump just from making the longlist, so the longer the book can stay in the running the better.

So once again I’m asking you to go vote (at the link above) for TWO GENERALS (and up to four other books of your choice) and to spread the word as far and wide as you’re able. And thanks once again to everybody for their support. For this book in particular, it really means a lot.

Scott Chantler

Surge Licensing Signs SKULLKICKERS For Exclusive Licensing and Entertainment Representation

Posted on by

For Immediate Release
June 28, 2011

Contact: Elan Freedman
Surge Licensing, Inc.
elan@surging.com
516-939-2226

Surge Licensing Signs Breakout Comics Series – SkullkickersTM
For Exclusive Licensing and Entertainment Representation

The Hangover Meets World of Warcraft in Zub’s Serialized Adventure Series

Jericho, N.Y. — Surge Licensing, Inc., the agency known for developing off-the-wall comic book properties such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and, more recently, Axe Cop have signed an exclusive licensing and entertainment agreement with Swords and Sassery, Inc. to develop TV/film, video games, toys, apparel and other tie-ins for Skullkickers – an on-going series published by Image Comics that debuted in September 2010 and continues to sell-out print runs into its second story arc.
Created by Jim Zubkavich and Chris Stevens, Skullkickers is the story of two monster killing mercenaries – a giant bald-headed warrior and a short red-headed dwarf. They’re an odd pairing, a medieval fantasy-esque “Jay and Silent Bob”, in search of fame and fortune. The two adventurers, affectionately known as “Baldy” and “Shorty”, make their living slaying werewolves, necromancers, plant monsters, the undead, and almost anything else readers can imagine from classic fantasy literature and games. Nothing will stop these two from getting paid and enjoying a fine pint of ale.
USA Today describes it best – “Imagine Clint Eastwood’s The Man With No Name, Bad Boys and your local Renaissance festival thrown into a stein of the finest grog in town, and you have a sense of the full-on Skullkickers experience.”

As soon as Skullkickers comics began to hit shelves, issues immediately sold out. The first 3 issues vanished from stores within days of release. The first trade paperback collection quickly followed suit and Image has rushed a new print run to keep up with unexpected demand over the summer. A second trade, collecting the new story arc currently underway, will arrive in time for Christmas.

Skullkickers has been highly praised by pop culture news outlets including MTV, Bleeding Cool, G4 and Ain’t It Cool News, as well as virtually every fanboy site on the web.

“We couldn’t be more excited to work with ‘Zub’ and his team on Skullkickers, a comic with so much whimsy, charm and wit” exclaims Surge’s VP, Elan Freedman, “It’s a story that not only gives the masses a peek inside the fun world of fantasy adventure but rather it entirely busts down the door and brings readers in with a welcome parade of hilarious action and banter.”

Skullkickers’ irreverent approach to classic fantasy, a proverbial buddy cop movie slammed into Conan the Barbarian, plays with cartoonish violence and banter in a way that appeals to young teen boys, older fantasy fans and gamers of all ages.

Kill Shakespeare goes (on the) National

Posted on by

Conor McCreery, Anthony Del Col and Andy Belanger were on CBC’s the National last Friday! (click the link to check it out for yourself)

It was great to see the guys this weekend in Calgary at the Comic & Entertainment Expo, and even though Anthony and Conor were not selected for the Writer Award this year (the award went to Emilie Villeneuve for the graphic novel La fille invisible), it does not make the success and influence of Kill Shakespeare any less “outstanding”! Congratulations guys!

DC: Will they save the direct market or destroy it?

Posted on by

Justice League #1 (due 8/31) by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee will probably be a massive hit for DC, but it's the first of 52 title reboots.

There’s a lot of talk today about the news of the restructuring DC Comics is making to their line of DC Universe titles in September. There’s a lot we don’t know about the DC reboot, but there’s a few specific details which are a mix of good and bad for the foundation of local comic book shops that keeps the Direct Market going – and seeing as how 2011 has not been the greatest year for many of those retailers to date, what I’m reading is making me concerned.

The Good: A new Justice League #1 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. That’s a POWERHOUSE creative team that will automatically put the Justice League at the top of the sales charts. It’s the kind of head turner that, combined with the right publicity, will bring people back to comic shops to buy Justice League.

The Bad: All of DC Comics line will be getting new #1 books. 52 new first issues to be exact. Now knowing the superhero market, people will be curious and in September, they will want to know the new status quo and many (or at least those with a couple of hundred dollars to spend) will purchase all of the new first issues. Speculators will want full sets, or at least that’s what DC and many retailers will assume they will want. As retailers attest regularly, it’s a risky business ordering books sight-unseen, and sadly, if the rumours are correct about some of the creative teams these books may be dead in the water before they start. I see retailers ordering even more conservatively on the second issues of the new books by concepts that have never been sales successes as a result – and hopefully they won’t take a bath on the first issues if they order too heavily, but we’ll see a big drop on orders in October as speculating on new books is dangerous in this economy. No company has ever had a hugely successful partial line reboot. Even those successful DC revamps of the 1980′s post-Crisis were staggered and creator focused (Byrne on Superman, Perez on Wonder Woman) – it was confusing then and never a total line reboot (some may see that as the problem with what happened then and in subsequent years, and they may be right) – but this seems to be confusion x 52 – a full on ‘Heroes Reborn’ (the Marvel reboot of the Avengers titles into an alternate universe while the other Marvel titles soldiered on). If it fails, then what? Back to Old Coke?

The Good: A great jumping on point for new readers. You want an entry level point for the DCU, here it is.

The Bad: A new continuity means a complete disconnect for older readers, who will use this as an excuse to walk away.I’m not convinced that the current market wants to start fresh when they’ve been reading Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Justice League, Wonder Woman and Superman stories that have been percolating for years under the same group of writers and editors who are overseeing these changes. If certain characters get to keep their histories intact, it will be even more confusing to see them interact with new incarnations of characters that are receiving major revisions, such as Superman (by what’s been discussed over at Bleeding Cool, Newsarama and Comic Book Resources).

The controversial: Day-and-date digital publishing. This is the game changer, really. There’s tremendous opportunities here for retailers who are in the position to use Comixology to profit from this, but there’s more concern that the many retailers who don’t will eventually lose out… if you can read it on your iPad on new release Wednesday, what’s the incentive to travel to your local retailer and buy a copy? It’s definitely forward thinking but also a nail in the coffin for some retailers if the print readership rejects the reboot. Day and date digital definitely changes the way we work here at the JSAs. What if some titles are digital successes and print failures (or vice-versa)?

I’m curious to see which Canadian creators are part of the revamp. With 52 series, all with different creative teams, no doubt some Canucks will be on some of these books. Francis Manapul, for example, can’t discuss what he’s working on… at least not until the solicits come out in a couple of weeks for the September titles. There is definitely an “accident on the highway” feel to all of this, so it will nonetheless be interesting to see how this works out.

We would also be interested in hearing what people think about it, especially retailers.

Homegrown superheroes take flight: Eaglesham on Alpha Flight

Posted on by

The Ottawa Citizen sat down with Dale Eaglesham to discuss the upcoming relaunch of Marvel’s Alpha Flight.

After 25 years as a comic-book artist, Eaglesham is one of the biz’s renowned superstars. He has drawn everyone from Conan the Barbarian to the Incredible Hulk, but the new Marvel Comics project, Alpha Flight, is unusual because of the Canadian content.

Whazamo! Ontario Graphic Novel Month at Open Book Toronto

Posted on by

We’re only 19 days into May and there’s already a TON of stuff up for you to check out over at Whazamo! Below are links to everything posted so far:

WHAZAMO! Ontario Graphic Novel Month is an online comics celebration brought to you by Open Book: Toronto. Whazamo! showcases the talented graphic novelists and illustrators published by Ontario publishers and draws attention to the new stars of the Canadian graphic novel and comic book scene.

In its third year, Whazamo! features profiles of comic creators and graphic novel news, as well as a series of original literary comics by some of Canada’s finest cartoonists. The series is curated by Vepo Studios, who have also produced a short documentary for Open Book that follows the creative process of the cartoonists.

The Graphic-Novelist-in-Residence is Ian Daffern. You can find his page here.

Whazamo! is presented in collaboration with the Organization of Book Publishers of Ontario and it welcomes you.

PROFILES
TIN CAN FOREST
PHILIPPE GIRARD
FIONA SMYTH
AARON LEIGHTON
GEORGE A. WALKER
JO RIOUX
MARTA CHUDOLINSKA
STEFAN BERG
CRAIG BATTLE and LIAM O’DONNELL
VICKI NERINO
ANNIE KOYAMA
IAN DAFFERN

COMICS in which the artists profiled below select a literary work and pay homage to it in comics form:
MARIAN CHURCHLAND
KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY
AGNES GARBOWSKA
CHARLENE CHUA
MICHAEL CHO

VIDEOS
COMICS: THE ART OF STORY

MAKING THE WEBCOMICS “A SOFTER WORLD”

DARK ADAPTATION & LORENZ PETER

VON ALLEN ON THE LIFE OF A GRAPHIC NOVELIST

BORIS AND THE OPEN HOUSE BY KATHARINE MILLER

BOOKENDS 5: LITERARY COMICS

THE NEXT DAY interview series
The Next Day is an innovative comics novella from POP SANDBOX, the folks that brought us 2010′s acclaimed KENK: A GRAPHIC PORTRAIT:
Part One: Alex Jansen
Part Two: Paul Peterson
Part Three: Jason Gilmore
On the release party and display at the NFB Mediatheque

13 Canadian comics creators join international effort for primates

Posted on by

13 Canadian creators have contributed to Panels for Primates, an online charity anthology that ends its run on June 1st.

SO, WHAT THE HECK IS PANELS FOR PRIMATES?

Panels for Primates is an ongoing, online charity anthology of primate comics that has been updating every Wednesday with new material at ACT-I-VATE (http://act-i-vate.com) since October of last year, all to benefit the Primate Rescue Center in Nicholasville, KY.  Like the other content on the ACT-I-VATE webcomics site, the ever-growing Panels for Primates archive can be viewed absolutely free.  The big difference is that Panels for Primates readers are encouraged to swing over to http://www.primaterescue.org/ and make a donation.  Panels for Primates will finish its online run on June 1st, but a story by the final Canadian creator got posted this week.

HOW INTERNATIONAL IS IT?

The project features work by creators from Canada, the U.S., Israel, Britain, Mexico, Germany, and Indonesia.

THE CANADIAN CREATORS AND LINKS TO THEIR STORIES

Kari-Lynn Winters (St. Catharines) and Scot Ritchie (Lower Mainland)

http://act-i-vate.com/114-6.comic

Gareth Gaudin (Victoria)

http://act-i-vate.com/114-9.comic

Troy Wilson (Victoria)

http://act-i-vate.com/114-11.comic

Colin Upton (Lower Mainland)

http://act-i-vate.com/114-15.comic

Jonathon Dalton (Lower Mainland)

http://act-i-vate.com/114-17.comic

Clayton Hanmer (Toronto)

http://act-i-vate.com/114-23.comic

Faith Erin Hicks (Halifax)

http://act-i-vate.com/114-26.comic

Simon Roy (Victoria)

http://act-i-vate.com/114-28.comic

Mark Shainblum (Montreal), Toren Atkinson (Lower Mainland), and Jeff LeBlanc (Montreal)

http://act-i-vate.com/114-31.comic

Caleb Hystad (Victoria)

http://act-i-vate.com/114-32-1.comic