Category Archives: Op/Ed

Hark! A Vagrant takes a … long period of slowness ?

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All of her superstar success has resulted in Kate Beaton being offered a whole whack of new and interesting jobs. Jobs that will interfere with her work schedule on the webcomic Hark! A Vagrant, and she wants to let all her fans know what’s up.

Kate will be moving to Toronto, and working on a variety of long form projects.

“Webcomics are often cited as the future of comics and the internet and I don’t know what else, but the fact that no one has retired from them yet means that I, at least, rest a little uneasy in these shoes sometimes if only for the lack of having a dependable compass by which to steer the ship. I just want to make the best decisions I can, so that I will be around longer, making drawings and comics and writing and other things that I hope people will enjoy. “

Kate has aspirations to do other work, and has a desire to profit from her success, rightly so. The one aspect I find most interesting is the desire to placate the anonymous internet masses, a group that will surely turn their back on you the moment they lose interest and see something else shiny, which makes sense becauseit is these same internet masses that launched her into the cartooning stratosphere.

Despite her consternation, “I’ve been pacing the room about what decisions to make. … Anyway: to be honest with you, I’ve taken on freelance work in the past years and that’s been well and fine, but I’ve never given other long term projects a chance, because I can never detach myself from the website”, Beaton will be wildly successful in these new projects. Have faith, Kate! If you lose some of your internet-only fans, you’ll gain fans through these new paying jobs, and the success will continue.

People love cat jokes!

The Comics Journal reviews Prince Valiant by Hal Foster Vol. 4

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Just came across this great review of the fourth hardcover collection from Fantagraphics’s latest Prince Valiant collection by TCJ’s Matt Seneca.

The conventional wisdom surrounding Prince Valiant these days characterizes it as a fussily drawn, belabored relic of the past.

Of course, critical judgments of a comic stop mattering once you read it. A few pages into the fourth of Fantagraphics’ beautifully reprinted new editions of Hal Foster’s masterpiece and it’s difficult indeed to remember that this isn’t the greatest comic ever. Comparisons of Foster’s work to that of more recent luminaries like Chris Ware and Jaime Hernandez are apples to oranges; readers will more than likely prefer one to the other, but there’s no convincing way to prove one kind of comic is objectively better than the other. And the mastery Foster brings to bear on his every panel may have been equaled both before and since his prime, but it’s never been surpassed. As far as long-form serialized action comics go, the only equal to Foster American comics have produced is Kirby, and Kirby was never shy about proclaiming his debts to the master.

~Matt Seneca, from his review for The Comics Journal

There are some great comments after the review from illustrator William Stout and cartoonist Paul Chadwick.

Hal Foster (1892-1982) was inducted into the Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame in the first year of these awards along with the artist after which these awards are named, Joe Shuster. When it comes to comic art illustration, Nova Scotian Hal Foster is undoubtedly Canada’s greatest and most influential export.

Is Darwyn Cooke working on Watchmen prequels?

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That was the big rumour circulating late last week, as Bleeding Cool published some stories related to DC Comics’ rumoured revival of the Watchmen franchise with some prequel mini-series featuring the Watchmen characters such as Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan. Rich Johnston’s sources tell him Darwyn is tapped in a writing/coordinating capacity and will be doing some artwork. Whether or not this is true remains to be confirmed so we’ll have to wait for some kind of official announcement from DC and/or Darwyn.

If it is, it will certainly be a controversial announcement. Many people feel Moore and Gibbons’ Watchmen should be left alone, without any prequels or sequels. However, Watchmen is a huge commercial property and there’s enough of a backstory in the Watchmen graphic novel (some 50 years of alternate earth history) that could easily accommodate prequel stories featuring those characters, this could actually be a successful move creatively and commercially.

Montreal ComicCon Report

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So this past weekend my girlfriend Deb and I drove to Montreal to experience the MCC firsthand. I had a table at the event for the JSAs and Deb was going to be working with DesertWind Comics for the various signings with Stan Lee taking place over the course of the two day event.

Stan Lee and "The Counselor"

First off, congratulations to the MCC team: Oscar, Alex and Elizabeth for putting on a great show. Secondly, the Montreal Comic Con has officially graduated from being a strong regional comic con to a full on National event. Finally, with the growth comes a lot of challenges that will need to be fixed for 2012.

Continue reading →

A look at DCnU weeks 1 and 2

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So I’ve been sampling the new DC #1s, which I find amusing since I really had no interest in trying to check all of these books out. There’s been a lot of coverage at various websites about the books selling out, and how second and in some case third printings are on their way to retailers. Orders for books shipping later in the month are currently being adjusted upwards and the feedback I’m getting from retailers is very positive – however tempered somewhat by speculator frenzy as people are trying to get additional copies to sell to other fans for a profit on eBay. Some stores have therefore been allocating copies, first to their pull file customers and next to their walk-in traffic. I’m curious to see how these books will be sold in the secondary market at the Montreal Comic-Con next weekend.

Continue reading →

FanExpo Canada wrap

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Well, to start — I’m glad it’s over. As I’ve been catching up on sleep, fighting a cold and rewiring my brain back to being a clinical data coordinator, I can’t help but feel relief that Expo 2011 is done so I can enjoy the occasional weekend free of responsibility and fanboy entitlement like this past Labour Day where I got to spend time with Deb’s family and later my own. Life goes on as they say, and I want to get back to mine. Aside from some paperwork and hopefully some naval-gazing at what worked and what didn’t work, FanExpo 2011 is history.

After the low point in the show’s history in 2010 – where fans were extremely critical and alienated by the line delays, overcrowding and lockout problems with the Fire Marshall. To think the show was successfully able to fix those problems in 2011 is a testament to the planning and number of people involved on the show side and at the convention centre. I am not one of those people. The 2011 event was spacious and never felt too crowded. So no “epic fails”. The expansion to four days was a good call – one I was in favour of, and seems to be permanent.

Did I enjoy the show? I can’t really say I did or didn’t. Unlike the attendees and reporters covering the show for various sites and blogs I don’t get to experience Fan Expo. I see it as a blur of room crossings, costumes and conversations — some positive, some negative – this isn’t right, that pass isn’t there, and so on. There are sections of the floor I did not see at all. Unlike other members of our team, there are no pictures of me posing with celebrities because I simply did not have the time to do so. My prizes: blisters and joint pain.

On Sunday around 5:15 (45 minutes before close) I did manage to snap some pictures of the show floor from the Comics Workshop room:

I have no idea as to how many people attended. One staff person said in passing we had matched the 2010 numbers mid-afternoon on Saturday. 2010 saw approx. 68,000 people visit.

It’s game on for the DC relaunch which is not a reboot

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It's actually more of a reset. David Finch's infamous JL1 variant cover, which was also used as one of the covers for the Program Guide at Fan Expo Canada last weekend..

Tonight at midnight in some select stores and tomorrow morning everywhere else, DC Comics will be getting a lot of attention. Why? It’s the end of one era and the begging of a new direction.

1) Flashpoint #5 “changes everything” as the DCU goes through what can only be compared to a “Star Trek-like” readjustment of it’s entire superhero line of comic books. I liken it to the recent Star Trek movie (the one directed by J.J. Abrams) in that a central DC hero (looking to foil his arch-enemy) has gone back in time and changed events that have caused the present to change dramatically resulting in the warped Flashpoint world where Superman is a lab rat and Batman is Thomas Wayne. Flashpoint is also similar to Back to the Future II in that events in the past have changed the present, sort of like the alternate 1985 on BTTF II. Well, in the process of fixing the timeline, things change again — and the new timeline will be similar but with a lot of subtle differences which of course will be evident in…

2) Justice League #1 by the powerhouse dynamic duo of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, which starts off with a six part story that looks at the formation of the Justice League some nebulous “five years ago”.

Justice League #1 debuts with a variant cover by David Finch, and there will also be a bagged version that includes a code for a digital copy of the comic. Customers will also be able to purchase the comic online as it is the first of the new “day and date” digital publishing plan that DC has adopted.

Needless to say, curiousity levels will be high. Since the story broke DC has been playing up and playing down the changes so much that the existing customer base is as put off by it as they are intrigued, but both groups will want to know the hows, whats and whys of the changes before making a final call on this massive change.

At FanExpo this past weekend I had a chance to talk to some of the folks at DC and they are very excited but equally nervous as this is a bold step for the company, and it’s one they won’t know the results of for sure until the third issues of the “new 52″ are out and retailers report on whether the influx of interest in the new #1′s has encouraged anyone to stick around long enough to sample the second and third issues.

I also spoke with many retailers over the weekend, and they are both excited at the interest their customers are showing in the relaunch, but equally concerned about the longevity of their customer’s interest. On top of that, most seem either negative or indifferent towards the digital releases.

Either way, there’s no debate about the importance of this event to both retailers, the publisher and the one element rarely mentioned — the distributor. If DC successfully alienates their existing readers and fails to attract new ones this will end up being a spectacular failure of “New Universe” proportions and could result in a hasty “quick fix” event to restore things to the way they were and it could potentially. If it is successful retailers will see an influx of new and old faces into their stores looking for comics again. Let’s hope that is the case!

Comic Book Daily: (Canadian) Retailer Roundtable #2 – Free Comic Book Day (and conflicting events)

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Scott at Comic Book Daily asks: Free Comic Book Day is now a huge event and one no retailer can afford to skip, but how well does it work for you?  Does its benefits outweigh the costs, since the event is in no way free for you?

Participants: Chris Butcher (the Beguiling), Marc Sims (Big B Comics), Jay Bardyla (Happy Harbor), Jenn Haines (The Dragon), Bruno Andreacchi (BA’s Comics) and John Tinkess (Another Dimension) participate.

Of particular interest is the discussion that results of the Beguiling’s decision to hold TCAF on Free Comic Book Day this year and plans to do it again in 2012. Click the link above and read it all the way through. There’s some interesting points being made.

My op/ed  after the cut: Continue reading →

More DCnU CanCon news… David Finch & Jason Fabok, Yanick Paquette and Jeff Lemire

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Announced yesterday:

Batman, The Dark Knight 1

BATMAN, THE DARK KNIGHT will relaunch in September with a new first issue. Same creative team as before: David Finch (writer/artist) and Jason Fabok (art). They have a few issues of the old series to crank out between now and the end of August.

Announced today:

Animal Man #1

Jeff Lemire will be writing two DCnU titles, both with a supernatural bent: Animal Man and Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. Travel Foreman is drawing Animal Man and the Alberto Ponticelli (Unknown Soldier) is drawing Frankenstein!

Swamp Thing #1

Yanick Paquette is the artist on the new Swamp Thing #1, written by Scott Snyder.

Incidentally, I cannot make heads or tails out of the DCnU (DC new Universe). I’ve been told a basic premise, but DC keeps on releasing solicits on books that seem to be continuing plot threads and themes from the old DCU that undermines this new premise: that this is a revised timeline, and we are five years into the new heroic age that started with the arrival of Superman and Batman (instead of about 10-15 years into it like the old DCU). I wrote in an earlier post about alienating older fans in order to appeal to new ones, but DC seems to be doing an unsatisfying and deeply confusing job of explaining what this is all about.

What’s obvious is that there’s time travel involved at the end of Flashpoint, and when things are supposed to return to the way they should be – something doesn’t go quite right and there’s a reset on some things but not others, making for a hodge-podge confusing new continuity that  hits the reboot button (not relaunch) on some characters such as Green Arrow, Firestorm, Batgirl, Flash, Hawkman, the Justice League — but not others, who just get a relaunch of a new #1 like the majority of the already popular Batman and Green Lantern lines.

As a person that buys only collected editions, I see some things I might pick up in 2012 when they are eventually collected. I don’t see anything here that will make me consider picking up any floppies or downloading any digital comics.

I still see this as being good and bad. Good in the sense that the numbers will go way up on some books – regretfully this seems to follow the Marvel lead of short term gains followed by free fall declines until the next event relaunch.  Retailers are in a terrible pickle next month when they need to decide what to order and in what quantities and it will only get worse when they must order the second and third issues without having seen any of the actual books. Return-ability is great, but you still need to outlay the cash and hope for sales or you are stuck waiting to get the credit back for the unsold merchandise.

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

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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.

2011 Joe Shuster Awards Event Image

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We don’t have a poster per se this year (thanks to those that offered!) because we really don’t have anywhere we need one for at this time. Instead, art director Tyrone Biljan took some design elements on hand and put together this simple and effective image that we are using now for this website and for the Facebook and other social media outlets and will encourage others to us to promote the ceremony and any post-ceremony reports. The background image in the sky is something Darwyn Cooke sent us for another upcoming project. The Awards logo itself is based on a design Dave Sim did for us that Tyrone adapted for the original logo, which is in itself a homage to Joe Shuster’s own stylistic form of lettering.

My TCAF Thoughts 2011: Day 2

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Unlike Day 1, I was able to spend much more time at TCAF on Sunday. I came down for open at 11 and stayed until about 3:30. Sunday was a much more reasonable day for the crowds, probably because it was also Mother’s Day. It was definitely busy but the lines were quite manageable and one could move around and see a lot of people.

I had some primary goals  for the day (1) to check in with Joe Shuster Award nominees and see who was coming to Calgary that hadn’t been announced, (2) invite a few people to Fan Expo and (3) look around and find some books that I’m interested in that were debuting at TCAF.

All three goals were met easily.

Day Two Purchases: Cat Rackham Loses It by Steve Wolfhard ($5), Centifolia II by Stuart Immonen ($20), Just the Usual Superpowers by Faith Erin Hicks ($12), Aurora Borealice by Joan Thornborrow Steacy ($15), Even the Giants by Jesse Jacobs plus a limited edition print $40, and finally That Night In June – mini-comics by Emily Carroll ($15). If I wasn’t broke from some art purchases the week before and May rent I would have bought more.

I felt that Sunday was a much more enjoyable day to attend this event because the crowds were a bit lighter and the space was more manageable. I still feel that the library is a tight fit and that if TCAF 2012 returns to this space that the library needs to retreat a lit further back. I don’t think there are enough washrooms in the facility in easily accessible locations, and the presence of the homeless who usually inhabit the library made for a few uncomfortable moments, especially in the washrooms.I did not attend any programming on Sunday.

Overall I felt that TCAF 2011 was a massive success and kudos should go to the organizers of the event and to the volunteer staff. Every creator and attendee I talked to was in a happy, exuberant mood – even when the show was at it’s most chaotic. The comics community, at least the creative (for the most part non-superhero comics) crowd, was having one giant group hug and I never felt there was any ill will towards anybody or anything at TCAF. There was just a lot of comics love.

As you know, I also work on Fan Expo in late August and I think the two events are a huge compliment to the city of Toronto for having such a large population of comics people. Plus they bookend the summer. Some observers think that these events are in some kind of popularity race, when I don’t think that is the case at all. They have different goals, different ambitions but cater to overlapping interests. You can love both for different reasons, or just go with the one that you feel is the right fit. Fan Expo isn’t free, sadly. It also isn’t subsidized by the government so your admission fees do go towards paying for the space and the guests we bring in.

I walked into TCAF tired and a little worn out from a week of announcing guests for Fan Expo and walked out energized and excited about the upcoming Calgary Expo in June and Fan Expo Canada in August. Now that TCAF and the Wright Awards are done with for 2011, I need to get down and finish my work for 2011 and I’m refreshed and ready to go!

My recommendations: Get the library to retreat further back and clear more space, or move to a different venue (which is not easy to do or find), please don’t book on Free Comic Book Day again (you are still part of a larger community and that community does rely on FCBD exposure), think about doing a weekend other than Mother’s Day (perhaps the second weekend in May instead of the first?), and find better locations for some of your more popular webcomics creators so that the lines don’t mingle or block other tables.

My TCAF Thoughts 2011: Day 1

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SATURDAY: I had a few things to do before Deb and I headed down to TCAF. Because I was only going to be there for a few hours my report is truncated significantly.

2:30-2:45. Arrived. What’s with the construction blocking the one entrance? Interesting that there’s a girl handing out flyers telling people to go The Labyrinth for Free Comic Book Day right outside the main door. Good Lord — there are too many people here on the main floor. I can’t move down any of these aisles to look at anything. The Chester Brown line is HUGE. Noise level is insane. Librarians must be in hiding.

2:45-3:15 Nice to see Scott Chantler and the guys from Transmission-X and Kill Shakespeare. Couldn’t move around to see anything/anyone else. Scott made a print out of the D-Day double-splash from Two Generals that I bought from him last fall.

3:15-4:30 Decided to go to the Canadians in the Mainstream panel at 3:30 at the Pilot Tavern. Why is there a celtic band playing while the panel is going on? Anyways — beer, Darwyn and the Immonens plus McConnell, Fawkes, Jillian Tamaki. Special guest Ken Steacy. Special non-guest: me. I gather the consensus was that being Canadian in comics doesn’t mean much except that one feels slightly different when in a room with Americans because we are more aware about what’s going on in the rest of the world, there’s a slight detachment but creatively everyone strives to be an individual and do their best and that’s universally true. Some felt that there’s a definite “can do” spirit here because of the smaller population and lack of resources. All agreed there is no comics industry per se in Canada, that working with international publishers is their economic choice, but that because of the rising Canadian dollar against a falling US dollar that they’ve all had to take a significant pay reduction. Americans don’t seem to grasp the concept of currency exchange and geographical perspective. Toronto, for example, is not near Vancouver.

(Darwyn asked me if I had any questions, and I didn’t at the time, but listening to their replies I started to wonder if a better question would have been directed to the audience: “Does the fact that these creators are Canadian matter to you, audience members, as Canadians?” It would have been curious to see what their responses would have been like. Obviously I believe that it does matter to them, as that’s why we have awards for Canadians like the Joe Shusters and the Doug Wrights to raise awareness of Canadians working in the industry in order to help promote and support them.)

My view at the Pilot - from L to R on stage: Robin McConnell, Ray Fawkes, Darwyn Cooke, Jillian Tamaki, Stuart Immonen, Kathryn Immonen. Ken Steacy's head is just on the lower right, second from the bottom.

4:30-4:45. Panel ends. Nice chat with Darwyn about the awards and we head back over to the library.

4:45-5:15. Show ends at 5. Really? 5? Barely enough time to go back in and look at anything. Ran into Rob and Jenn, Tyrone and Alana McCarthy and J. Torres. Had a nice chat about venue problems in Toronto. Talked briefly with Andy from Conundrum.

5:15-10:30. After the show closes: off to dinner with Robert and Jenn, Ross Campbell and Scott Chantler. We went to the slowest restaurant on the planet: The Ethiopian House. My innards are still complaining. I think the waitress is still getting us more water. No Wright Awards for us this year.

10:30-1:30. TCAFete at Pauper’s Pub after dinner. Great fun. Best $5 spent all weekend. Saw and talked with a lot of comics folks.

End of Day Thoughts: TCAF has outgrown the library. If they want to keep the venue viable the library has to close down during the 2 days that TCAF is on, extend the hours they re open, and move more things out of the way. It was too crowded and virtually impossible to browse the tables on the main floor on Saturday. Everyone is in great spirits though.

Purchases during show hours: 1 Mill Street Tankhouse Ale at the Pilot. $8.50 with tip. 1 copy of Sequential Pulp III: free. Hope to see something to buy on Sunday.

To be continued…

Election Hangover

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So last night the Canadian Federal Election took place and the result I was least expecting happened: A Conservative majority government, the rise of the NDP as official opposition party, the Liberal Party being humbled down to a mere 34 seats and the utter decimation of the Bloc Quebecois.

For a while now we’ve been locked in a West (Conservative) vs. East (Liberal) vs. Quebec (BQ) vs. over-enlightened hipster urbanite (the NDP) battle for Parliamentary supremacy where one would get the barest minimum of a leg up over the other.

After last night, for the first time in a long time, Canadian regional bias in politics at the federal level aligned to either the left (the NDP) or the right (the Conservatives). Even the traditional urban vs. rural lines were blurred as the NDP now find themselves representing large rural areas, where the issues are completely different than their more traditional areas of support in places like urban Toronto and Vancouver.

I live in the riding of St. Paul’s in Toronto, and we somehow managed to keep one of those Liberal MPs that were being discarded (for the) left or right last night. As a traditionally Liberal, middle of the road kind of guy I’m a little dismayed over this new status quo — the government and it’s opposition are philosophically quite far away from my personal beliefs on economic and social issues.

So what does this mean for comics? Probably not a lot… yet.  A Conservative majority government certainly doesn’t strike me as being supportive of the Arts, so who knows what this will mean for federal Arts grants over the next few years.  I’m glad our Association doesn’t rely on grant money, but many Canadian cartoonists, publishers and related businesses do so we’ll be watching what happens next very closely.

Comics, comics, comics…

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April is sure shaping up to be a busy month! I moved recently, and in-between loads of books and other things I had to take over to my new place, there have been a lot of things going on in the comics world, event-wise. Last weekend saw the coming and going of another Toronto ComiCON Fan Appreciation Event, as well as the brand new Kapow! Con in London, England. Last night it was the Beguiling‘s triple book launch at Clinton’s of Klondike/Reunion/Mid-Life here in Toronto, and Girard and Ollmann continue on to Vancouver today for a book launch at Lucky’s Comics.

Going on right now in Quebec is the FBDFQ – Le Festival de la bande dessinée francophone de Québec and tonight will see the announcement of the winners of the prix Bédéis Causa 2011. Here’s a reminder of who is nominated:

Prix Réal-Fillion
For the Quebec creator who’s first album debuted in 2011:
• SYLVAIN LEMAY, avec Pour en finir avec novembre (Les 400 coups)
• ÉMILIE VILLENEUVE ET JULIE ROCHELEAU, avec La fille invisible (Glénat Québec)
• SAMUEL LEBLANC, avec Parfum de lilas (Les 400 coups)

Grand prix de la ville de Québec
Best original album from Quebec creators published by a Quebec-based publisher
• CHRONIQUES SAUVAGES, de François Lapierre (Glénat Québec)
• LA FILLE INVISIBLE, d’Émilie Villeneuve et Julie Rocheleau (Glénat Québec)
• APNÉE, de Zviane (Pow Pow)

Prix Albéric-Bourgeois
Best album by a Quebecois creator published by a publisher outside Quebec
• LUCK, de Michel Falardeau (Dargaud)
• COMÉDIE SENTIMENTALE PORNOGRAPHIQUE, de Jimmy Beaulieu (Delcourt)
• ASPIC, T. 1 – LA NAINE AUX ECTOPLASMES, de Jacques Lamontagne et Thierry Gloris (Soleil)

Prix Maurice-Petitdidier
Jury’s choice for an album created and published outside Quebec (in French)
• LA MORT DE STALINE, de Fabien Nury et Thierry Robin (Dargaud)
• ASTERIOS POLYP, de David Mazzucchelli (Casterman)
• PARKER T. 1 – LE CHASSEUR, de Richard Stark et Darwyn Cooke (Dargaud)

There is also the Prix Albert-Chartier, which goes to a person or organization that has made a mark on the world of Quebecois comics.

Good luck! We’ll have the winners for you later this weekend.

You know, if things had not been so hectic on the home front with the move, and Robert wasn’t busy with our next item I would so be there. It is my plan to be at the FBDFQ in 2012.

Tomorrow sees Guelph, ON’s Kazoo Comics and Zine Expo, and Robert Haines, Jenn Haines (whose store the Dragon is a sponsor), Tyrone Biljan will be there helping out, as will my gal Friday, Deb. Don’t forget the Kazoo CaZE also has Festival Awards! Meanwhile I’m hitting the wandering roads down to the home of the zombie – Munroeville, PA – for the annual Pittsburgh Comicon where I’ll end up meeting fellow JSA-er Chris Owen. Not much that’s Canadian about the Pitt Con, I’m just going to see some comics legends — George Perez, Jim Starlin and the inimitable Joe Sinnott and get some books signed. I should be back in time Sunday to pop by the Artists Help Japan fundraiser taking place from noon on at the Revival Bar on College Street West in Toronto. There are dozens of creators taking part for this worthwhile cause.

Finally, on Monday we should have the last remaining books in to send to our two JSA juries for 2011. Once they receive the books they’ll have until late May to read everything and make their informed selections for the lively debate that is sure to follow as we select our winners for 2011 (to be announced in Calgary on June 18, 2011).

Thankfully next weekend is Easter and, as far as I know, there are no comics events planned! Then it’s back on the road again for me down to the Boston Comic Con with the boys from Comic Book Daily. There’s also a mini-Montreal Comic-Con on May 1, and the following weekend – May 7 – it’s Free Comic Book Day  (we’ll be announcing a full slate of cross-country events before the 7th for you to plan accordingly), as well as the Beguiling‘s giant FCBD special event: TCAF 2011. I think by that time I’ll be ready to take a vacation!

Fans = Appreciated

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I’m exhausted and sore, but getting up to begin another day of work at my regular job… the 2011 Toronto ComiCON Fan Appreciation Event wrapped up yesterday and the guests have all headed home.

What I liked about the show, and what I’m also hearing from the dealers, guests and fans that were there also liked about it, was that this was a comic book show in the traditional model. It had an easygoing, friendly vibe to it — maybe this was because free admission made everything much more relaxed. The lines moved fast and everyone had easy access to the people they wanted to see and meet. Attendance — approx. 3200 on Saturday, with a little less than that on Sunday. There was a constant flow of people into the event all weekend and I saw a lot of new faces as well as the diehards that come to every show.

I’m not sure that the addition of the scifi actors and anime voice actors was really necessary but I liked it nonetheless. I usually don’t care about meeting actors at the shows as it’s not my area of interest, but as a big fan of Spin City, meeting Alan Ruck surpassed my expectations – he’s one heck of a classy, friendly and funny guy in person. I’ve met Richard Hatch before, but he is a warm and friendly guy, a true professional and he was great with everyone who went over to meet him. Dominic Keating was charming and funny (despite feeling sick on Sunday) and all three guys kicked ass at their talks. Jamie and Trina were great with everyone and ran a great q&a session as well.

There was some cosplaying, but not as much as you might normally find at these types of events. I think this show succeeded in bringing in the crowd I used to see at the old shows I used to do at the Ex — the hardcore comics buying crowd. They were digging through long boxes, looking for hardcovers and trades, or lining up to get sketches or get their books signed by the guests. There were some amazing books in the room – so if you were looking for quality Gold and Silver Age books you were in luck. No admission meant more money to spend on that missing back issue or on a sketch.

So I rest easier knowing that the Toronto ComiCON Fan Appreciation Event succeeded in living up to it’s name by keeping the focus on comics.

Thanks to everyone that came out – fans, guests, exhibitors and staff!

I got a couple of things for myself — Michael Cho’s original art for the January 2011 issue of Quill & Quire, Patrick Gleason’s cover art for Green Lantern Corps #26, an import art book (in Italian) looking at the career of Jodi Bernet, Fables Vol.15, Torpedo Vol.3, a Black Cat commission from Marc Wolfe… and some strawberry Pocky. Signed: the DVD inserts from Spin City Seasons 1-3 (Alan Ruck), Uncanny X-Men Masterworks Vol.7 (Bob McLeod), Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne (Chris Sprouse).

A Look at the Canadians nominated for Eisner Awards in 2011

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The Eisner nominations were announced yesterday and I thought I’d take a nationalistic look at how Canadians were represented beyond just highlighting their names in red.

The big individual Canadian creator nominee of this year is IAN BOOTHBY, who is nominated three times this year:
- Best Humor Publication for The Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book (with US creators John Delaney and Dan Davis)
- Best Graphic Album – Reprint for The Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis with fellow Canuck artist James Lloyd and American Steve Steeres Jr.
- Best Writer for Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book, Futurama, the Simpsons and Simpsons Super Spectacular.

Comment: Boothby, a perennial JSA Writer nominee, was not nominated for a Shuster in 2011, which clearly must have inspired the Eisner judges to imbalance this injustice by nominating him for three awards this year.

The big Canadian publisher of the year is, without any surprise, DRAWN & QUARTERLY, their books featuring the work of American cartoonists Dan Clowes, James Sturm, Lynda Barry and Chris Ware have garnered a whopping 11 nominations this year:
- Lynda Barry’s Picture This: The Near-sighted Boy is nominated for Best Reality-Based Work, Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
- Dan Clowes’ Wilson is nominated for Best Graphic Album – New, Best Writer/Artist and Best Letterering
- James Sturm’s Market Day is nominated for Best Graphic Album – New, Best Writer/Artist
- John Stanley’s Thirteen (Going on Eighteen) is nominated for Best Archival Collection/Project – Comic Books
- Brecht Evans’ The Wrong Place is nominated for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
- Chris Ware’s The Acme Novelty Library 20: Lint is nominated for Best Lettering and Best Coloring

Comment: Montreal’s D+Q consistently proves year after year that they are producing some of the best looking books on the market, and they have been extremely successful in attracting some of the most innovative and best-known American cartoonists to work with them. Kudos to publisher Chris Oliveros, publicity and marketing director Peggy Burns and the rest of the team. Sadly, no D+Q books by Canadian creators were nominated for Eisner Awards this year. D+Q has been a perennial nominee for the Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Publisher and won it in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Two Generals by SCOTT CHANTLER, published by McClelland and Stewart garnered two nominations:
- Best Reality-Based Work
- Best Publication Design by JENNIFER LUM

Comment: Chantler’s Two Generals helped earn him two Joe Shuster Nominations this year, and Jennifer Lum’s innovative design stands out on the rack, recreating the look and feel of a journal.

DARWYN COOKE received two nominations this year for Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit:
- Best Writer/Artist
- Best Lettering

Comment: Canada’s comics ambassador to the world, Darwyn Cooke, rightly deserves the nomination for Best Writer/Artist for his second adaptation of a Parker novel. He’s also nominated for a Joe Shuster Award this year for Outstanding Cartoonist.

Other Canadian nominees:

- BLAKE BELL‘s Fire and Water: Bill Everett and the Birth of Marvel Comics, published by Fantagraphics, is nominated for Best Comics-Related Book
- Tumor, illustrated by Canadian NOEL TUAZON, published by Archaia, is nominated for Best Graphic Album – Reprint
- Superboy, written by JEFF LEMIRE, published by DC, is nominated for Best New Series
- “Little Red Riding Hood” from Image Comics’ Fractured Fairy Tales, illustrated by CAMILLA D’ERRICO is nominated for Best Short Story
- The Anthology Project from Canadian publisher LUCIDITY PRESS is appropriately nominated for Best Anthology
- ASHLEY SPIRES‘ Binky to the Rescue, published by Canadian publisher KIDS CAN PRESS is nominated for Best Publication for Kids

Comments: Bell’s book is fantastic and fascinating, Lemire is also nominated for three Joe Shuster Awards this year – one of which is Outstanding Writer for his work on Superboy and the Atom, Camilla D’Errico is nominated this year for Outstanding Artist for a list of works that includes the Fractured Fairy Tale story, and Binky to the Rescue is also nominated for the Joe Shuster Comics for Kids Award, and the book’s publisher is also nominated for Outstanding Publisher..

Finally, KARL KERSHL has been nominated for his webcomic The Abominable Charles Christopher, as has CANAAN GRAAL for his webcomic Max Overacts.

Comments: Karl won last year’s Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Webcomics Creator and is nominated again this year. Last year’s Eisner winner was Sin Titulo by Cameron Stewart, which won the JSA for Outstanding Webcomics Creator in 2009. We might see a trend continuing. Our webcomics coordinator, Andrew Walsh told us to keep an eye out for Max Overacts, and sure enough, it’s been nominated for an Eisner!

Congratulations to all of the Canadians nominated for Eisners! Ceremony takes place in July during the San Diego Comic Con International. I’ll see you there!

Retailer Roundup – March 2011 & The great comic shop tour of 2011

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Before I left on my trip of the Maritimes the esteemed Kevin Boyd presumed that I would be hitting comic shops all across the region. I strongly refuted that assertion but that didn`t last, obviously.

Over the last two weeks I visited, and secret shopped, 22 comics stores:

Fantasy Realm – Cornwall, ON
Librairie Première Issue – Quebec City, QC
Librairie Pantoute – Quebec City, QC
L’imaginaire – Sainte-Foy, QC
The Comic Hunter – Moncton, NB
Strange Adventures – Halifax, NS
Game Zilla – Truro, NS
Batter’s Box – Truro, NS
Enigma Comics and Games – Sackville, NB
Read’s United Book Exchange – Saint John, NB
Game Zilla – Saint John, NB
Loyalist City Coins & Books – Saint John, NB
Game Zilla – Moncton, NB
Read’s Comic Shop (aka Halley’s Comics) – Moncton, NB
Game Zilla – Bathurst, NB
Studio 9 Comic Shop – Montréal, QC
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly – Montréal, QC
Débédé – Montréal, QC
Librairie Planète BD – Montréal, QC
Librairie Millénium – Montréal, QC
Librairie Renaud-Bray – Montréal, QC
Librairie The 4th Wall – Pointe-Claire, QC

This is the sort of thing we do to keep on top of our Harry Kremer Award nominations, and it was an interesting look at the industry from a retail point of view as the stores were all across the spectrum. I was pleasantly surprised by many of the shops, and this trip really reinforced what we already knew: the Quebec market has a strong affinity for comics, and the support for bande dessinée is astounding.

For everyone that lambasts this industry for having dank, basement comic shops, I think you are stuck in the 80′s/90′s. The quality of comic shop has increased the past 10 years. As the business becomes more difficult and retailers have to step up their game to compete, the shops that remain better represent modern retailing. While not every shop achieves higher standards, the average score is higher. And it could be something as simple as leaving back issues in the 90′s. With the rise of the TPB/GN, and decimation of the collectible back issue, stores have adopted a bookstore appearance.

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British Columbia

Gotham Collectibles is gathering gently used clothing which will be donated to charity at the end of the month. Bring in your donation of clean gently used jeans or hoody to receive a free comic of your choosing with any purchase of $5 or more. Limit 1 comic per customer per day.

Tazmanian Comics will be moving in April, 11 blocks away to a new location at 3618 East Hastings Street, Vancouver.

It's not that far. What's 11 blocks? Though they are crossing 'Boundary Road'. That's got to mean something.

Alberta

Red Skull hosted writer Kurtis J Wiebe for a signing of Intrepids #1.

Quantum Comics & Collectibles celebrated 1 year in business.

Happy Harbor announced an Artist in Residency program. Work in the shop two days a week (Friday & Saturday) and earn yourself $100.

Happy Harbor will drive you to the Calgary Comic Expo, where you will see the Joe Shuster Awards given out, or the San Diego Comic Con.

Happy Harbor also hosted a 12 Hour Comic Challenge: draw a 12 page comic in 12 hours. They raised $2500 and HH is topping that up by 10%.

Saskatchewan

Looks like there is a Comic Jam in Saskatoon now, as Unreal City posts the photos.

Amazing Stories will host local creators Kurtis Wiebe and Riley Rossmo for the launch of Green Wake #1 in April. Wiebe mentions the book has sold out at the distributor level, another Image #1 that is underordered during initial orders and sees an FOC bump. It’s a continual pattern but I won’t blame retailers as Image is pumping out a ton of new product lately and not every book is going to be a hit.

The Amazing Stories guys hip us to local creator Arwen Savage’s first book, A Life Inside Mine, and her webcomic, Bob & Charlie

Ontario

Stadium Comics continues on with their Unboxing Wednesday. They open the delivery, pull stuff out and show it to you.

The Dragon put out two podcasts: 1) a review of Matt Kindt‘s Super Spy(Top Shelf) and Revolver (Vertigo) & 2) a discussion of the Joe Shuster Awards Cartoonist and Artist categories.

During March Break The Dragon hosted Story Time, a reading of children’s comics for kids.

Big B Comics radio podcast Comic Culture put out 5 new episodes in March. They have a new intro! Listen every week to find out if they mention Conan or Grant Morrison (they usually do, for some reason). Catch up on all the movie and other-media tie in’s that are out there.

Comic Connection in Hamilton are celebrating 25 years in business.

Heroes Comics participated and helped sponsor Comics Literacy Day in London. They received some great media attention. (Shame about the Pow! Bam! headline.)

It’s great to see Heroes World launching a new website with updated content.

Here is a cute article: Silver Snail vs Paradise Comics. Who would win? Action Figures vs Back Issues!

Quebec

La Boîte à B D in Laval celebrated 17 years in business.

Le Port de tête hosted two events in March. On the 2nd, Jimmy Beaulieu (Comédie sentimentale pornographique), and Pascal Girard (Conventum) appeared to sign their recent releases. On March 7th,
La Pastèque launched their new erotic comic ‘Carton’ featuring work by John Martz, Benjamin Adam, Nicolas Mahler, Pascal Blanchet, Pascal Girard, Edouard H.Bond et Mélanie Baillargé.

Paul at Librairie Astro fancies himself a geezer or curmudgeon, but his recent ‘Motormouth‘ posting made me laugh: “We carried CSN about 15 years ago, and frankly, the … obnoxious griping by people who insisted that it be included in their reserves, and were then dissatisfied because the free newspaper they got “wasn’t mint” just left us disenheartened and we stopped getting it. … Now we’re trying it again … every other Wednesday … and if you want an in-between issue, well gee, we’re sorry, but that’s just tough luck.”

Drawn + Quarterly store had a couple of events in March

  • Billy Mavreas (The Overlords of Glee and Inside Outside Overlap) hosted a round-table discussion with Elisabeth Belliveau and Joe Ollmann on March 24th
  • Joint book launch for two local Montrealer D+Q artists: Joe Ollmann (Mid-Life) & Pascal Girard (Reunion) on March 23rd

Librairie Planète BD hosted Tristan Roulot and Patrick Hénaff for the launch of the new book Le Testament du Capitaine Crown. This is a fine looking comic which received great reviews, and I picked up a copy during my great comic shop tour.

New Brunswick

The Comic Hunter has started up a new Comic Jam.

The Strange Adventures Ladies Night has spread to Fredericton.

Nick Bradshaw appeared at Gamezilla Moncton for a signing of his newest book X-Men Annual #3.

Nova Scotia

Strange Adventures Halifax hosted another Ladies Night.

Newfoundland

Comic Jams are all the rage! Breakdown Comic Jam started up in St. John’s. Downtown Comics and the Breakdown Comic Jam hosted Andrew Bonia, writer of TMNT, in March.

Sword n Steele launched a new website.

Too much of a good thing or too little? Trying to get a handle on Toronto Con reports

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When comics and pop culture meet you don't always get on the rainbow bridge to Asgard. Chris Hemsworth as Thor from the upcoming movie of the same name.

Last weekend we had three regional comics events in Canada, as well as one large  convention in the US. There are hardly any reports from the smaller one day comic shows, such as the ones that were held in Edmonton and Vancouver, but there have been a few reports from the 3-day Wizard Toronto Comic Con.

I didn’t go – I was at C2E2 in Chicago, so my impressions are drawn from what passes for the reports posted online (thanks to Sequential and Comic Book Daily for the most coverage) or from the people who I’ve spoken to about it that went. Loud annoying music and temperature issues aside, some patterns are emerging.

As with last year the pattern was Friday – slow, Saturday – busy, Sunday – moderately busy. It’s the same trend everywhere, really. At C2E2 it was busy Friday, crazy busy Saturday and slightly less busy than Saturday on Sunday. General consensus among most reports from people that went is that Wizard should just ditch the Friday and go to being a  2-day show, as that’s the way the attendance seems to be defining it.

This is a comics-themed site, not a pop culture one, and I personally have no interest in those areas of these events. So when reading these blog reports it’s been tough to discern what type of comic book show this was.

Generally the reports divide along three lines:

— those that got in for free under media, fan table or dealer passes or as a volunteer for Paradise Comics. These people had a good time, with some caveats, but lack the perspective of a paying customer or paying exhibitor. Friday’s slowness aside, they got their sketches, they saw some celebrities and/or easily obtained the interviews they wanted to do, and those few who cared about comics wished there were more comic guests and noticed the absence of comic dealers*. They report a busy show in a smaller space on Saturday – the room capacity of Hall D at the DEC is 2300 people, so it’s no wonder the show looked busy.

— those that paid for the event. These people divide along two lines as well: 1)  those there for comics – they felt ripped off and disappointed, and 2) those there for celebrity autographs – who were generally happy. In perspective – at $38 standard adult daily admission the show is more expensive than every other event of this type in the region, and I think that scares people away who just want to buy comics or get some items signed by the comic guests. The absence of new-to-Toronto comic pros for that price also hurt the event’s appeal to comic fans, as did the absence of almost all local and US comic dealers**. If you went to meet Star Wars and Buffy people you seem to be generally happy with what you paid, and if you dressed up you were not alone and people took pictures of you or oggled you, but if you went for comics creators or to buy back issues you were likely disappointed and maybe a little upset because there wasn’t much for you that you don’t get elsewhere (like TCAF or the other comic shows) for a lot less.

*There’s a legitimate reason why there are few comics dealers — at over $800 a booth (not incl. taxes) it’s the highest priced show in the region to exhibit at. So what if you can get 2 more boxes on a table, the bottom line is that the bottom line is too high and people are passing and watching to see what happens next. When you have to give away a thousand dollars worth of product to break even and your profit margins are tight as is, you tend to take these things into account, something your average blogger or opinionated fan doesn’t think about.

**The US dealers – an asset in the first year – chose to do Chicago’s C2E2, something I would probably have moved this show’s dates to avoid a conflict with and keep them, even though this show’s dates were announced first.

— finally, the many regular to the GTA creators recruited – some of whom reported deathly slow sales such as Tom Fowler, to some who had better than average sales such as Leonard Kirk. Kalman Andrasofszky, who I ran into on my way home on Monday, said it was better than he was expecting it to be. Sounds like it was a mixed bag.

If this show wants to improve: go to 2 days, lower the daily admission price, lower the table rates considerably, make sure it doesn’t conflict with other comics industry event dates (such as other March/April events in Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco and Orlando) , get your US dealers back, better advertise to comic fans, get better new-to-Toronto comics pro guests as draws, try not to book so many guests who’ve been to Toronto in the last 3 years and try to get the support of the GTA retailers.