Category Archives: Retailers

The End of An Era: Toronto’s Dragon Lady Comics to close in early 2012

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It’s not the best story to start 2012 off here on the blog, but it’s an important one:

Back in early December I paid a visit to the 609 College Street West location of Dragon Lady Comics in Toronto, where it has been located since the mid-90′s (Prior to that it was based on Queen Street West, having opened there in the spring of 1979). In the window was a very prominent “for lease” sign. My inquiry re: the fate of the store brought an uncertain response from the store employee working that Friday night. He said that rent was going up, while profits were down and the owner felt it was too much to take on, and that the store would remain open in the current location only until the building’s owner could find a new tenant and when that happens a decision would be made whether or not to relocate or close up permanently.

Just before Christmas, I ran into a long time Dragon Lady employee who told me that a decision had been made — that original owner and store founder John Biernat would not be relocating the business but closing up the shop permanently. A tentative closing date of late January was mentioned. This has subsequently been confirmed by store manager Joe Kilmartin on Facebook as February 1st, although pull file customers will be able to get the product they ordered on February 5th.

Dragon Lady Comics & Paper Nostalgia, opened in 1979 - closing in 2012

Follow-up and link round-up

Happy Holidays

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Two more days before Christmas, have you finished all of your Christmas shopping yet? I haven’t! I started wrapping some things this morning, so hopefully I’ll finish up all of the many little pre-Christmas errands tonight after work or early tomorrow morning before I start driving all around the GTA to various family events.

* I’d like to thank everyone that participated in the End of the Year Survey on Canadian Comics, we may still have some more, but there won’t be much more posted to the site until Tuesday next week. I think a lot of great points have been made, and it was great to catch up with some folks before we launch into 2012.

* We’ve got one more week of new books shipping next Wednesday before we close off the entries for eligible comics and graphic novels for the year and officially commence the nomination process for the awards.

* There are two days left in Darwyn Cooke’s Day 8 and 8.5 of his 12 Days of Christmas Auctions, he’s got some great Superman artwork and signed books available in each of the two auctions and the money will help us run the awards for 2012. He’s got many other great items available in the other auctions, and they are all for a great cause – the Hero Initiative.

* Next week the Boxing Day/Week sales commence, so why not check out your local comic book shop and see what they have on sale? Boxing Day and Week sales are big money makers for local comic book shops, and any sales they make may help make their holiday season a successful one. It’s been a tough year for independent retailers of all kinds, so let’s end the year on a positive note!

The Adventures of Tintin and his Taun Taun by Benjamin Rivers. My win from the "Toronto Draws Tintin" event. I'll definitely be checking out the Tintin movie over the break, anyone else?

Reminder: Nomination Process for the Joe Shuster Awards

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As we near the end of 2011, I’m starting to get some requests such as “how do I get my book nominated for a Joe Shuster Award?” and “how can I get the Nominating Committee to consider my work?”

Well, this post will hopefully answer all of your questions.

THE NOMINATION PROCESS

The nominating committee is selected by the Executive Administrative committee and is newly reconstituted for each year of the awards. The nominating committee for the majority of awards consists of a cross-section of comic book journalists and experts from across Canada. Nominating is a three step process.

>>> Note: We’re in the process of putting the 2012 Nominating Committee now so they can begin work on choosing the nominees for 2011 in January through to end of March 2012.

STEP ONE – the Association prepares an eligible publications list with input from creators, publishers, retailers. This list is published on the website to gather feedback and identify missing work.

The list will be of Canadian citizens or permanent residents (3 years minimum current residency) and the books they worked on that were professionally distributed first printing periodicals or books that debuted between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011 in one of the following professional roles:

- Artist (illustrating a writer’s script, excluding cartoonists, can include an artist team if both are Canadian),

- Cartoonist (writing and/or adapting a story that they also illustrated),

- Cover Artist (primary cover artist, can include an artist team if both are Canadian)

- Writer (producing a script that is given to an artist, excluding cartoonists).

Books containing collections of previously published strips or comics and/or translated works into English from another language published in a previous year are not eligible.Original works in ANY language are accepted, but the primary emphasis of our investigations will be those first run books in either French or English.

Limited release books available at special events and mailed or hand-delivered to a small number of booksellers but not widely distributed to all booksellers during the eligibility time period are not eligible until they are professionally distributed by, say, Diamond Comics Dist.

STEP TWO – using the eligible comics list, the Nominating committee members are asked to submit individual “top five” lists for each category, in order of preference. Each vote is weighted based on order of preference. In other words. a first choice selection is given five points on the overall score and a fifth choice was given one point to be added to the cumulative score.

STEP THREE – the results are then logged. Selection is made initially by Majority Vote – if a creator receives a majority (50% or higher) of individual votes in a specific category they proceeded to the final ballot.

If enough nominees in a specific category have not advanced by majority vote, then we turn to the Cumulative Point Score – based on the rankings provided on each list. In the case of a tie, the number of votes received and their position on the lists submitted is taken into consideration.

OTHER AWARDS

Webcomics: please check out our Webcomics list, and your webcomic link along with your name is NOT present then we don’t know about your status. Please email andrew@joeshusterawards.com to get added to the list before March 1st, 2012. We visit every website on that list to see the new content added in 2011, so if your entries are not dated with the date first posted, there is a possibility you may be overlooked.

Gene Day Self-Publishing Award: Please send us a copy of your original, first published in 2011 comic to the address below before March 1st, 2012.

The Joe Shuster Awards
PO Box 67031 – 2300 Yonge St.
Toronto, Ontario
M4P 3C8

Harry Kremer Award for Retailers: please send an email to robert@joeshusterawards.com for more information.

Comics for Kids follows a procedure similar to the artistic award categories in that they look over all potential works which could be considered suitable material for younger readers, but you can notify robert@joeshusterawards.com if you want to ensure your work is considered for the award. You will need to notify us before March 1, 2012.

Finally, PUBLISHERS if you want to ensure that the Canadian creators you work with are on the eligible works list for consideration, please send an email with a list of Canadian creators in your employ and a list of their 2011 published and distributed works to allison@joeshusterawards.com before March 1, 2012.

The 2011 Canadian Comics Wrap Survey

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Dear Canadian creators, retailers, publishers and other members of the Canadian comics community:

As we wind down the clock on 2011 and gear up for the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012, we thought we would ask Canadian comic book and graphic novel creators, publishers and retailers a few questions and get your thoughts about the last year, the scene in general, and what you have in store for 2012.

We’ll be running these on the joeshusterawards.com website as we get them. It is a great way to highlight what you did this year and give us a heads up on what is coming up for you next year.

Participation is completely optional, no worries if you can’t or don’t want to participate. Feel free to forward this to others who you feel may be interested in completing it.

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season on behalf of the Awards Association!

(Feel free to send your answers in French if you prefer!)

Thanks,
Kevin

The Survey:

1. Tell us about yourself – a brief bio/intro.

2. What was your involvement in comics in 2011?

3. What was the highlight of the year for you re:

(a)    comics publishing in general?

(b)   comics by Canadian creators?

4. Was 2011 a good year for you?

(Retailers only – what do you consider to be the most significant new releases by Canadian creators for your store?)

5. Was 2011 a good year for comics?

6. Part of being on the scene is exhibiting at public events. Which Canadian ones (if any) did you support in 2011 and how do you feel they went for you? (This could include conventions, public festivals and additionally — for creators: store signings, gallery shows). Did you exhibit at any American events?

7. What do you have coming up in 2012? (If you can’t say, then maybe hint at when we may find out)

8. Any final comments on 2011?

——

Please send your responses to kevin@joeshusterawards.com

Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund announces Board of Directors

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For Immediate Release

The Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund announces that, 22 years after forming as an ad hoc fundraising organization in defense of a Calgary retailer charged with selling obscene materials, it has at last been formally incorporated. CLLDF Board of Directors member Derek McCulloch says, “It’s a long overdue step, and one we hope communicates our intention to grow the Fund as a bulwark in the defense of free speech in Canada.” McCulloch added that while the Fund has been incorporated with bylaws outlining its mission as a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the free speech rights of Canadian comics professionals and fans, its status as a charity is pending. “The paperwork is in at Revenue Canada,” McCulloch said. “We hope to have charitable status before the end of the year.”

The move toward formal incorporation comes in the wake of the CLLDF’s involvement, in partnership with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, in the defense of an American citizen facing criminal charges in Canada for comics brought into the country on his laptop.

At the same time, the CLLDF announces that it has expanded its Board of Directors from three members to five. Joining founding Directors McCulloch, Leonard Wong, and Paul Stockton are two prominent Canadian retailers: Jay Bardyla of Edmonton, Alberta; and Jennifer Haines of Guelph, Ontario.

Jay Bardyla is the founder of Happy Harbor Comics, the award winning comic shop located in Edmonton, Alberta that works tirelessly to promote the craft of comics to schools and libraries through free presentations and who keeps its doors open to creators of all types to put their books upon their shelves. A 30 year collector, 24 year employee and 12 year owner in the comics industry, Jay believes he has only begun to understand the industry he loves dearly and looks forward to many more decades of learning about the medium, inspiring others to create comics and to protecting the hobby.

Jennifer Haines opened The Dragon in September 1998 in Guelph, Ontario. Since then, it has gone on to become the Echo Reader’s Choice best comic store in the area in 2009 and 2010, as well as an Eisner finalist in 2010 and 2011. Jennifer has an M.A. in Classical Studies, as well as a B.Ed, which has led her to form comicsintheclassroom.ca, a resource for teachers and librarians. Additionally, she works closely with schools and school boards to help them design specific graphic novel curricula. When she’s not in the shop, she works as a teacher, primarily of Latin and Drama.

I’m very pleased to be a part of such an important organization,” Haines said. “It is vital to protect our freedom of speech by working on cases such as this one. Despite no longer needing the Comics Code to publish and sell comics, it seems comics are still the focus of attack by government agencies as a result of a historic misunderstanding of content. Therefore, we must continue to work to clarify the nature of comics in order to preserve our freedom to produce them, without fear of retribution.
– Jennifer Haines, The Dragon, Guelph, ON

McCulloch says, “We welcome Jay and Jennifer to the Board and very much appreciate their willingness to give of their time and their expertise in support of this important mission. We look forward to working with them in defense of free speech in the months and years to come.”

About CLLDF
The Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1987 to raise money for the defense of a Calgary, Alberta comic shop whose owners were charged with selling obscene materials. The CLLDF has since been maintained on an ad hoc basis to provide financial relief for Canadian comics retailers, publishers, professionals, or readers whose right to free speech has been infringed by civil authorities. Largely dormant since the early 1990s, the CLLDF is reforming to provide support for this case, and reorganizing to ensure that help will be readily available for future cases involving Canadian citizens or authorities. To help the CLLDF in this mission, please go to clldf.ca.

2012 Categories update:

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Earlier this month we asked for feedback on our categories as we determine which will make up the list for the 2012 Awards. Based on your feedback and our internal debates this is the list as it stands:

2012 Categories:

* Outstanding Artist/Artist Team (no change)

* Outstanding Cartoonist (no change)

* Outstanding Cover Artist (no change)

* Outstanding Webcomics Creator/Creative Team (no change)

Note: after a lot of discussion and debate, the team has decided that we will leave webcomics as a unique category again. A line of distinction is being drawn between digital comics (online versions of concurrent with print edition comics or online previews of digital comics) which will not be eligible for the category. This remains for comics content created exclusively for the internet (later print editions are irrelevant and are considered reprints in the print categories), and one of the nominating and judging criteria will be usage of the online delivery system itself in the storytelling and presentation of these comics.

* Outstanding Writer (no change)

* Comics for Kids Award – Beginner Reader Level
* Comics for Kids Award – Intermediate Reader Level

Note: if there are enough books of each criteria to justify having two categories, the Comics for Kids Award will be split into two categories — Beginner, for younger readers, and Intermediate, for older children. For example, Binky the Space Cat might be considered a Beginner book, while Three Thieves: Tower of Treasure might be considered an intermediate level entry. The hope is to provide more information and recommendations to parents, teachers, librarians and of, course, young readers!

* Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing (no change)

* Harry Kremer Award for Comic Book Retailing (no change)

* Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame (1-2) (no change)

There is one additional category currently being reviewed by our group and is at the proposal stage.

* TENTATIVE: Outstanding Original Graphic Novel by Canadian Creator / Creative Team

The members feel that it should be specifically for original (i.e. new) graphic novels published in French or English during the previous calendar year. Unfortunately new collections of serialized comics that are later collected that same year are not going to be eligible for this award (if it happens). We are still VERY concerned about this being duplication of efforts as many of these books may be recognized in the Cartoonist, Writer and Artist categories. As it stands, we would like to follow the lead of Comics for Kids and have a similar nomination and judging process for this potential new category.

Unfortunately we’ll be placing two categories “on hiatus” for 2012: Outstanding Publisher and Outstanding Colourist.

Kingston, ON comic shop owner released from prison on drug charges

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As reported in the Kingston Whig earlier today, Jorge M. Carquez, owner of Action Packed Comics in Kingston, ON, “has been released from jail after six months in pretrial custody.”

From the article:

Carquez, who was identified in Kingston’s Ontario Court of Justice as the owner of Action Packed Comics on Princess Street, pleaded guilty to possessing proceeds of crime — the money — when he was initially arrested in February; two counts of possessing marijuana and THC tablets for the purpose of trafficking; additional counts of illegally possessing morphine and psilocybin (magic mushrooms); and two subsequent violations of drug conditions attached to bail he received after his initial arrest.

While the Action Packed Comics Facebook page has been very quiet, looking at Carquez’ personal Facebook page there has some activity over the past 6 months, Jorge noting he has “been really busy”.

The Crown and Defence have recommended Carquez “be sentenced to time served in respect of the 188 days he spent in jail before dealing with the charges. The lawyers agreed, as well, that $608,594 in Canadian currency seized from the Carquez’s bedroom closet would be forfeited to the Crown.”

While the majority of cash and drugs were seized from Carquez’ home following an initial warrant, a second warrant which involved a drug sniffing dog entering Action Packed Comics, where “the canine’s nose detected a concealed shelving unit on the building’s main floor stocked with eight quarter-ounce bags of marijuana, one two-ounce bag, and 33 one-gram packages of the weed.”

After he was arrested Carquez “told police that he sold marijuana “on the side” and estimated that he was moving about a pound of it a month.”

Carquez used to own two comic shops, Action Packed Kingston and Action Packed Belleville. The Belleville store was sold to long time manager Andrew Goodsell less than a year ago, and renamed Goodsell Collectables. When asked about the timing of the sale, Goodsell said, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

And people say comics are like drugs.

2012 Joe Shuster Awards – Saturday, September 15, 2012 in Montreal, QC

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I’m happy to report on behalf of the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Organization that we have agreed in principle with the organizers of the Montreal Comic Con and will be presenting the 8th Annual Joe Shuster Awards in conjunction with that event on the evening of Saturday, September 15, 2012.

In preparation for the ceremony, the CCBCAA will be working with members of the comics community to provide a fully bilingual awards ceremony, and we are all excited at the possibilities of providing better translation services on this site in order to help spread the word on comics and graphic novels by Canadians in both official languages.

The Montreal Comic Con will be held on the weekend of September 14-16, 2012. Due to unexpected demand, the MCC will be expanding to a full three days in 2012.

The MCC will also be changing facilities in 2012. It will no longer be held at Place Bonaventure but will be moving into the newer, larger and more colourful (!) convention facilities at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal, QC (pictured, right).

http://www.montrealcomiccon.com

This marks the second time that the Joe Shuster Awards will be presented outside of Toronto. Earlier this year we presented the 7th Annual Awards at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. Plans are for the JSAs to be presented in conjunction with a different comic book convention in Canada each year.

Deciding the 2012 Categories

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Here at the JSAs we’re fairly open to making changes to the existing award categories if a solid argument can be made for the alteration, or for adding new or retiring old categories. In recent years new awards have included The Comics for Kids Award, The Gene Day Award, as well as the Outstanding Cover Artist and Outstanding Colourist Awards. Retired Awards include Outstanding Achievement, Favourite French and Favourite English creator.

As we are beginning our work in compiling the eligible comics for the 2012 Awards, the discussion has begun on the subject of Award categories. I’ve nothing to announce at present, other than over the next couple of weeks we will be hopefully deciding which of our current categories will continue on into the next Awards season and which ones will be put “On Hiatus”.

2011 Categories included:

Outstanding Artist/Artist Team
Outstanding Cartoonist
Outstanding Colourist
Outstanding Cover Artist
Outstanding Publisher
Outstanding Webcomics Creator/Creative Team
Outstanding Writer
Comics for Kids Award for Material Aimed at Younger Readers
Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing
Harry Kremer Award for Comic Book Retailing
Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame

The Webcomics Award is something that is being discussed – should webcomics (one of the most popular and well regarded awards) be retired and incorporated into the other categories (which have been exclusively for printed, distributed works)? It’s something we are debating internally so we’d love to read your thoughts on the subject.

Generally we are looking to maintain the same number of awards in 2012 — 12.

If you have any suggestions, thoughts or recommendations, please reply to this post or email me at kevin@joeshusterawards.com

Happenings: Fiona Staples and Andrew Foley launch DONE TO DEATH in Saskatoon tonight!

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Are you in Saskatoon? Craving some culture? Then head over to Amazing Stories Comics and join them for the Saskatoon launch party for DONE TO DEATH, a collaboration between Shuster Winner Fiona Staples and Andrew Foley, writer of COWBOYS & ALIENS! Fiona & Andrew will be signing copies! The event runs from 3-8 PM, and there’s an after party at Earls in the Rhino Room. Get you some!

Done To Death:

Fed up with receiving poorly written Twilight knockoffs, editor Shannon Wade did what any reasonable person would: she started killing the worst of the would-be authors sending them to her. Meanwhile, Andy, a stuttering, overweight vampire has targeted those who portray vampires in a light he deems unrealistic. Not exactly novel but terribly graphic, Done To Death follows Andy and Shannon’s paths towards a collision as darkly funny as it is ridiculously violent.

Additional information at http://www.amazingstoriescomics.com/?p=2574

DCnU week two observations

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I’m not going to recap the second week of books in as detailed a manner as I did the first, as we’re not a review site. I did manage to try 10 of the 13 books released on September 14th and found the better ones to be the comics that pretty much carried the same creative teams and storylines over from the previous issue of the titles (Batman and Robin, Green Lantern 1, Batwoman 1).

At the Montreal ComicCon (I’ll have a proper report up of the event up by tomorrow) I had some opportunities to talk with comics retailers from Ontario and Quebec and they all were extremely positive about the effect that the relaunch was having in bringing new customers into their stores, and that their existing customers were hooked on trying many of the titles out. Nearly all of them indicated they hoped the success would carry on into the second month of the relaunch. I also talked to a few dealers about speculation and quick inflation, as quite a few of them had their leftover copies for sale at inflated prices ranging from $5 (for $2.99 comics released that week) to $20 for Justice League #1, with second prints selling in the $10 range. Most of these retailers and dealers wished they had more to sell as demand far outstripped the supply. Between three or four modern sellers I did see every DCnU title released to date available for sale in Montreal, including variant editions of Action Comics 1 and Green Lantern 1.

Personally I’m still a little skeptical that this isn’t being nudged a lot by the speculators as stores did report a lot people trying to buy multiples, and they countered that by limiting the number of copies for purchase to two per customer, so I hope I’m wrong. That these retailers would bring unsold copies to the convention to sell at premium prices is no surprise, but I’m always a little concerned when we try to bump new releases into the secondary market too quickly, but people were hunting for those titles their own stores sold out of and without second or third printings available they were meeting the demand of the market that specific weekend.

The real test of whether or not the DCnU is a success or not will be when retailers are trying to sell the 3rd issues of these new books – will there still be audience? Will curiosity be satisfied or will these new readers be put off by the product available. We’ll know in November I guess, but for now things look pretty rosy.

Comic Book Daily & The Torontoist visit Little Island Comics

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Yesterday, Anthony Falcone from Comic Book Daily – a vocal critic on the state of comic shops in Toronto – visited the new Little Island Comics store (formerly the home of Yesterday’s Heroes) and took some pictures:

Little Island Comics

Matt Demers did the same for the Torontoist and also did a little one on one interview with store manager Andrew Woodrow-Butcher:

Beguiling the Children

Little Island Comics - Photo by Matt Demers, by way of the Torontoist blog

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!

Toronto’s Paradise Comics celebrates 20 years in business on September 7th

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In 1991, North Toronto’s Paradise Comics opened as a little cubbyhole on the east side of Yonge Street north of Lawrence. Under the direction of original owner Chris Friesen the store became a popular location for back issue collectors. As the business grew, the store relocated across the street to it’s current location. In 1994 Friesen sold the store to his room-mate at the time and decided to move into comic book restoration full time and has gone on to become the restoration expert for CGC.

New owner Peter Dixon subsequently continued down the same path established by Friesen, and the store has grown slowly over the subsequent 17 years. Dixon and manager Doug Simpson are both Overstreet price guide advisors. The store and some customers/associates were also involved in producing local comic conventions, eventually offloading them to Wizard in 2009 who continue them under the “Toronto Comic Con” brand name as part of their Wizard World family of conventions. The store continues to be the host for some local signings.

Over the last five or more years Paradise has expanded it’s graphic novel selection and the main floor of the store is lined with bookshelves full of trades and hardcovers. The basement is filled from floor to ceiling with long boxes of back issues, a selection of the size and scope that most retailers are currently abandoning.

Starting next week Paradise is celebrating their anniversary, here’s the blurb:

On Wednesday September 7th 2011 Paradise Comics will be celebrating our 20th anniversary. Over the course of the next year, we’ll be hosting a series of events to thank our friends, customers, and colleagues for all their support. The party will begin on September 7th between 3-8pm. Please join us for cake, door prizes and maybe even the chance to meet a few special guests. Please keep checking out our site www.paradisecomics.com throughout the next 12 months for many more special sales and events and we hope to make our next 20 years as fun as the first 20.

Spidey crossed Canada, saving stores from destruction.

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Taking a note from IDW’s Godzilla press and order numbers, Marvel Comics came up with a similar twist: Spider-Man saves your comic book store!

Retailers had to special order a stack of Spidey comics to get this special print run, and you’ll notice that none of the Godzilla shops are in on the Spidey promo. I’d be interested in hearing about the various ways retailers are using this issue as a promotion. Are you selling them strictly to your walk in traffic? What is the stale date for such a product? Will you be handing them out as marketing for your shop? Will you wait until the Spider Island TPB is available, then give away copies of the comics with a sticker/boomerang coupon for the complete story? Or did you just order it because you wanted to see your store on the cover of a Spider-Man comic?

FANTASY REALM
227 Pitt Street, Cornwall, ON, K6J 3P8
Phone: (613) 933-7997
Website: www.fantasyrealm.ca

CYBER CITY COMIX
1025a Steeles Ave West, Toronto, ON, M2R 2T1
Phone: 416-667-7592
Website: www.cybercitycomix.com

PHOENIX COMICS NW
1010 16 AVE NW, Calgary, AB, T2M 0K6
Phone: 403-220-1399
Website: www.phoenixcomics.ca

AMAZING STORIES COMICS
270 – 2600 8th Street E., Saskatoon, SK, S7H 0V7
Phone: 306.242.8996
Website: www.amazingstoriescomics.com

WORLDS COLLIDE
80 Simcoe St. N. Oshawa, ON, L1G 4S2
Phone: 905.436.8999
Website: www.worldscollide.ca

eXpertComics
1470 Shevchenko Ville LaSalle, Montreal, Quebec, H8N 1P1
Phone: 514-507-7378
Website: www.expertcomics.com

1000000 COMIX
3868 Jean Talon east Montreal, Quebec, H2A 1Y7
Phone: 514-725-1355
Website: wwww.fremto.com

ANOTHER DIMENSION
424 B – 10th Street NW Calgary, AB, T2N 1V9
Phone: 403-283-7078
Website: www.another-dimension.com

ROGUES GALLERY COMICS
327 Chatham St. West Windsor ON, N9A 5M8
Phone: 519.254.9482
Website: www.rgcomics.com

STADIUM COMICS
499 Main Street S Unit #104 Brampton, ON, L6Y 1N7
Phone: 905-451-3751
Website: www.stadiumcomics.com

THE MONSTER COMIC LOUNGE
2089 Gottingen St., Halifax, NS, B3K 3B3
Phone: 902-429-2398
Website: www.monstercomiclounge.com

LA BOITE A B.D.
3161B Dagenais Ouest Laval Quebec, H7P 1T8
Phone: 450-628-9917
Website: www.laboiteabd.com

HEROES COMICS
186 Dundas St. London, Ont. Canada N6A 1G7
Phone: (519) 439-4955
Website: www.heroescomics.ca

GOLDEN AGE COLLECTABLES
852 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1K3
Phone: 604-683-2819
Website: www.gacvan.com

COMICS AMERICA
552 Academy Road Winnipeg Manitoba, R3N 0E3
Phone: (204) 489-0580
Website: www.comicsamerica.com

SILVER SNAIL COMICS LTD
367 Queen St West Toronto, ON, M5V 2A4
Phone: 416-593-0889
Website: www.silversnail.com

SILVER SNAIL COMICS LTD
391 Bank St Ottawa, ON, K2P 1Y3
Phone: 613-232-2609
Website: www.silversnail.com

RXCOMICS
2418 Main St. Vancouver, BC, V5T3E2
Phone: 604-454-5099
Website: www.rxcomics.com

Party!

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Last night we had the Toronto wrap party and celebration for the 7th Annual Joe Shuster Awards and I get the impression that it was a great success! The 587 College space was a great venue, very casual and we had a relaxed 20 or so minute ceremony where we were able to honour local winners Francis Manapul, John Martz, Planete BD (not local but drove in for the party!), Anne Koyama, Scott Chantler and Tin Can Forest.

Tyrone is currently traveling, but it was great to see the rest of the group out for the evening – Andrew, Allison, Jenn and Robert, Deb and I were all really happy with how well things worked out. It was also great to see a variety of Toronto’s creators come out to support their friends and associates! It was really a meeting of worlds and styles and from an organizing standpoint it’s always satisfying to see the various communities come together and learn from each other’s adventures in the world of comics. All of the various Mill Street beers that we provided were consumed as well (all gone when we wrapped) — the after party went on to about 11:30.

So thanks again to everyone that came out, congratulations to all of the winners and special thanks to the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop for allowing us to use their great space!

Also – one last note – I’d like to thank to Planete BD for coming to Toronto for this event – we hope you had a great time – and for being our Montreal ambassadors — they will be presenting Emilie Villeneuve and Julie Rocheleau with their awards at their store in the near future for La Fille Invisible.