TORONTO, (Feb. 12, 2008) - Luminato, Toronto’s Festival of Arts & Creativity, today unveiled its dynamic literary program for the 2008 Festival. Luminato’s Curator of Literary Programming, Devyani Saltzman, announced the program this afternoon at the Gladstone Hotel in downtown Toronto.

Chris Lorway, Luminato’s Director of Programming, is enthusiastic about the festival’s literary component. “For Luminato 2008, we decided to make stronger connections between our literary program and the overall festival. I am so pleased that we were able to find someone like Devyani Saltzman to curate this program for us. She’s a great addition to our team.”

Devyani Saltzman is pleased to see her curatorial vision becoming a reality. “It’s a pleasure to bring both Canadian and international authors together around literary and political themes in addition to showcasing new works. I find the richest discussions occur because of unexpected collaborations.”

The 2008 line-up includes perspectives on South Asia, a focus on war and politics through illustration, a celebration of a renowned literary master, the launch of the third instalment of a city-centric anthology, as well as a festival of short stories.

The Political Graphic Novel
Sunday, June 8, 7:00 p.m.
The Al Green Theatre (at the Miles Nadal JCC)
750 Spadina Avenue (Spadina at Bloor)

From the war in Iraq to the life of revolutionary icon Ché Guevera, the medium of graphic novels becomes political in this stimulating evening of literature, illustration and discussion.

With award-winning Canadian author and illustrator Bernice Eisenstein (I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors), Spain Rodriguez (Che: A Graphic Biography) and the Canadian premiere of Anthony Lappé and Dan Goldman’s Shooting War, which explores the war in Iraq and the influence of alternative news media. The Village Voice describes Shooting War as a “light-handed but searing political satire Shooting War…taking the Sunday comic strip places it could never have gone before.”

The evening will be moderated by Peter Birkemoe, owner of Toronto’s top graphic novel and comics bookstore, The Beguiling.

For more information on the various Luminato Events, please visit http://www.luminato.com/index.php.

Note: Unfortunately Miriam Katin will not be attending this event. My apologies for any confusion, it looks like I was using an earlier version of the press release.

- Christopher

Hey! It’s Kazu Kibuishi and Kean Soo! Last week’s events as part of Keep Toronto Reading and at The Beguiling went quite well, with a solid turnout for the library event and some hardcore fans braving a blizzard to drop by the store the next day. I’d like to thank Kazu and Kean for participating, and Scholastic and The Toronto Public Library for all of their help.

The fellas were in town to celebrate the launches of their new all ages graphic novel. Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet Volume 1, published by Scholastic, and Kean Soo’s Jellaby Volume 1, published by Hyperion Books, sold exceptionally well at the event and made lots of kids (and adults) very happy.

On Tuesday March 6th, Kazu and Kean participated in Graphically Speaking, the graphic novel program that’s part of Toronto’s month-long literacy initiative. Both creators gave short presentations of their work (despite some technical errors that had our digital projections looking considerably pinker than normal… However both pros rose to the challenge. Following the presentation I did a bit of a moderated Q&A with the guys on stage as they talked about their work.

Kazu lays it all out for the audience. Everything from working methods to schedules to inspiration! It’s hard to judge how well something is going when you’re on stage, but I was told by several audience members that it was a great, in-depth discussion. Hurrah!

Following the interview, Kazu and Kean signed and sketched for the assembled masses.

Look! They’re shy! Thanks to Naseem Hrab for all of the great photos from this event. :D

The next day the city got about 12 inches of constantly falling and blowing snow, so while attendance was a little lighter than I would have personally liked, it was great seeing the youngsters of all ages drop by the store to get books signed. In this picture, we can see The Beguiling’s Peter Birkemoe, Naseem Hrab, Kean Soo, and Kazu Kibuishi.

A young fan came just for the Jellaby.

Kean draws the Jellaby!

Kazu sketches for a fan. Daisy Kutter!

We actually still had FLIGHT 2 posters in stock from Kazu’s last trip to Toronto in 2005, so why not break them out too? :D

Thanks again to Kazu and Kean for a fantastic time!

- Christopher

In Conversation with Michel Rabagliati
Saturday, March 15th at 5pm
Lillian H. Smith Library, 239 College St., Toronto
(College just east of Spadina)
FREE

The Beguiling is happy to announce that Michel Rabagliati, author of the Paul series of graphic novels including the newly-released Paul Goes Fishing will be participating in a moderated Q&A and book signing session on Saturday, March 5th at 5pm, at The Lillian H. Smith Library in Toronto.

Rabagliati will be interviewed on stage by The Beguiling’s Peter Birkemoe, on his life and art as well as his new graphic novel. Admission to the event is completely free. Sponsored by The Beguiling, Canada’s premier retailer of comics and graphic novels, and Drawn & Quarterly Books.

- Chris

In a confluence of fortuitous circumstances, Mal is doing the cover to the March issue of Shojo Beat, which is dropping in (I think) a few weeks. Lovely little cover. Head over to Bryan Lee O’Malley’s livejournal to find out just what other surprises await you in The Art Issue.

In other my-friends-are-cool news, our event with Kean and Kazu got picked up at BlogTO and even made it onto the front cover of The Toronto Star, in an article on young readers graphic novels!

Good day.

- Chris

Kazu Kibuishi & Kean Soo Signing
Wednesday, February 6th, 5pm-7pm
The Beguiling, 601 Markham Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
416-533-9168 - http://www.beguiling.com
FREE

Just in case you can’t make it out to the wilds of North York and would like a chance to get your graphic novels signed by these fantastic creators, The Beguiling will be holding a signing with Kazu & Kean the day after the TPL event, from 5pm to 7pm at the store. Now, we sincerely suggest that if you want to see some great a/v presentationing and see the creators interviewed, then you really ought to go to the event at the North York Public Library. But we are happy to welcome both creators to the store as well, and hope it will be as warm (and well-attended) a welcome as our last in-store signing.

For more on the event at North York Library as part of Keep Toronto Reading, check out:

The Beguiling post on the event:
http://www.beguiling.com/2008/01/reminder-kazu-kibuishi-kean-soo-in.html
Join the Keep Toronto Reading group on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19746872808
RSVP to the event on the Kazu & Kean Facebook Page!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8322672055

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Regular posting soon! Promise!

- Chris

I’ve linked to my friend Jim Munroe’s blog before, he has a wealth of information up there about self-publishing and self-distributing in the greater publishing world, with specific regards to his four novels. But Jim just recently wrote and co-published his first graphic novel, Therefore, Repent, (with art by Salgood Sam) and with the U.S. edition out from IDW just this past week, he thought he might write up a little something about getting published and then working with publishers. It’s an essay called How To Get A Book Deal Without An Agent, and it’s very good reading for both those who are looking to ‘break in’ to comics, and those who’ve already signed the contracts.

The landscape of comics publishing is changing, and as a creative person you’ve got options, and you’ve got the right to exercise them! Good luck.

- Christopher

I’d apparently fallen quite behind on reporting the Drawn + Quarterly books solicitations, so let’s play catch-up and post a whole whack of great books all at once. These are the ‘new’ titles shipping in February, March, and April 2008, though I should point out that D+Q will re-offer many excellent books from their backlist every month as well, and that the actual ship dates don’t always mesh up with Diamond’s monthly solicitations, owing to vagaries of solicitation deadlines.

As to why I bother pointing out specifically Drawn + Quarterly’s release schedule when there are other wonderfully deserving publishers that could use as the attention as much? Quite simply, there are precious few Canadian comics publishers, and none that I can think of whose primary goal is to publish the absolute best work in the medium, in the exact format that the creator would like. Canadians gotta stick together, yo.
Shipping in February 2008

Paul Goes Fishing
By Michel Rabagliati
$19.95, 204 Pages, 7×10, Softcover
Long lazy days stretch out while Paul’s thoughts wander from the colorful characters at the fish and game camp to the lurking depths of childhood, a Holden Caulfield-esque adolescence. But the golden glow soon lifts off his vacation. It’s not just the realization that outfitters have decimated the lake’s indigenous species in favor of brook trout and are baiting wildlife for an easy fall hunt. According to Clément, Paul’s brother-in-law, good fishing is all about knowledge and intuition, not sophisticated gear. So is storytelling, in Rabagliati’s wistful and engaging account of everyday hopes and hardship. Beauty and meaning are even in the mundane in this compassionate story of expectation, disappointment and wonder.

[Chris’ Comments: Every book by Rabagliati has been more accomplished than the last, and the Paul series are all wonderful stories that appeal to readers of all ages. This book had the additional honour of winning a Wright Award, I believe, upon its initial publication in French a few years back.]
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Crickets #2
By Sammy Harkham
$4.95, Comic Book

Crickets #2 features the highly anticipated second installment in Sammy Harkham’s new ongoing serial Black Death as well as a number of shorter strips that showcase the acclaimed young artist’s sharp wit and quirky sense of humour. Begun in the first issue, Black Death follows the adventures of a curiously indestructable man shot full of arrows and a mute Golem as they wander in the woods together, blundering through their encounters with its strange and isolated inhabitants. In the unrelated shorter strips, Harkham, publisher of the influential comics anthology Kramer’s Ergot, takes advantage of the opportunity to exercise his considerable imagination on a wide range of topics, from his autobiographical adventures on a signing tour to the frustrated comic aspirations of the emperor Napoleon.

[Chris’ comments: In all the discussion surrounding the move to graphic novels and book-format comics, I hope we don’t lose sight of the fact that there really are wonderful comic books being released to the market in the alt-comix/indy vein. More than just the lovely Ignatz books, anyway. Although it’s been a bit of a wait between issues, the first Crickets was quite good, and I’m looking forward to this second issue.]
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Haunted HC
By Philippe Dupuy
$24.95, 208 Pages, 7×10 Hardcover

Ten years after finishing the original French edition of Maybe Later—the book in which the French superstar cartooning duo Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian worked separately for the first time—Dupuy set out on his own again with Haunted. Gone are the tightly constructed narratives and urbane, elegant graphics of his projects with Berberian. In their place, roughed-in drawings give an urgent, spontaneous feeling to a series of hallucinatory stories and dreamlike sequences that register the raw distress of solitude and self-doubt—the dark core of the material held in balance by Dupuy’s acid humor and lyrical sensibility. A jogging Dupuy runs around and sometimes through the stories of the misfit characters that haunt him: a self-amputating dog, a Left Bank artist in search of emptiness, an art-collecting duck, Lucha Libre wrestlers, and a group of single guys at the watering hole imagined as the anthropomorphic “Forest Friends.” Heart pumping, gaze turned inward, the ground occasionally giving way beneath his feet, this alter ego concludes that sometimes you need to cross the line to figure out where it is. The original French edition of Haunted was nominated for the 2006 award for Best Comic Book at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, the most prestigious award in European comics.

An excellent companion to Maybe Later and Get A Life, both offered again this month.

[Chris’ comments: Dupuy & Berberian’s Get A Life and Maybe Later were, I feel, the overlooked gems of 2006. Beautiful cartooning, memoirs and fictional characters intertwine, it was all wonderful. This book looks to take the autobiographical work of Philippe Dupuy further-still, and the PDF preview available at the Drawn & Quarterly website is quite provocative. Hopefully this title catches on with readers.]

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Shipping In March 2008
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Berlin #15
By Jason Lutes
$3.95, 24 pages, Comic Book

The penultimate chapter to Berlin: City of Smoke, the second volume in Jason Lutes’ trilogy about the decline of the Weimar Republic, finds its broad cast of characters searching for solid footing in a chaotic cityscape. The relationship between Pavel the scavenger and the orphaned Silvia Braun comes to a painful end, while tensions rise between the Cocoa Kids and their German manager. Meanwhile, Kurt and Marthe struggle to come to peace with their failed romance and the different ways they view changing world.

[Chris’ comments: As glad as I am to see this being released again, I feel like everyone is really just waiting for the trade. It’s too bad, because the last few issues of this have been phenomenal… though it looks very much like Berlin Volume 2 is on track for a release at the end of this year, if the frequency of these serialised issues is anything to go by.]
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Against Pain
By Ron Regé, Jr.
$24.95

Against Pain is the first collection of multipage anthology pieces by Ron Regé, Jr. The storytelling side of his expressive work is featured in these comic strips gathered from McSweeney’s, The New York Times, Kramers Ergot, NON, Rosetta, Arthur, The Comics Journal, and Drawn & Quarterly’s anthology. Suicide bombers, art appreciation, a Lynda Barry “cover” and even a Tylenol-sponsored comic about pain are brought together under the theme of suffering and how people cope with it. Against Pain also includes the alt-comics zine classic Boys: a 22-page collaborative comic–considered by many to be Regé’s finest work–illustrating the “lust life” of a friend in explicitly honest and hilarious detail.

“Ron Regé is one of a handful of cartoonists not only to reinvent comics to suit his own idiosyncratic impulses and inspirations, but also to imbue them with his own peculiar, ever-changing emotional energy. To me, he is unquestionably one of ‘the greats.’” –Chris Ware

[Chris (Butcher’s) comments: Ron Rege Jr. is a really nice guy, and I’ve enjoyed his comics and illustration, but I don’t quite feel I’ve connected with them yet. I can quite-easily see what makes them great, I’m just not-quite there yet.]
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Shipping in April 2008

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Good-Bye HC
By Yoshihiro Tatsumi, designed by Adrian Tomine
$19.95, 208 Pages, Hardcover

Designed and edited by one of today’s most popular cartoonists, Adrian Tomine, Good-Bye is the third volume in a groundbreaking new series that collects Tatsumi’s short stories about Japanese urban life. Drawn in 1971 and 1972, these stories expand the prolific artist’s vocabulary for characters contextualized by themes of depravity and disorientation in twentieth-century Japan. Some of the tales focus on the devastation the country felt directly as a result of World War II: a prostitute loses all hope when American GIs go home to their wives; a man devotes twenty years of his life to preserving the memory of those killed at Hiroshima, only to discover a horrible misconception at the heart of his tribute. Yet, while American influence does play a role in the disturbing and bizarre stories contained within this volume, it is hardly the overriding theme. A philanthropic foot fetishist, a rash-ridden retiree, and a lonely public onanist are but a few of the characters etching out darkly nuanced lives in the midst of isolated despair and fleeting pleasure.

An excellent companion to Tatsumi’s first 2 books, The Push Man and Other Stories and Abandon The Old In Tokyo, both offered again this month.

[Chris’ comments: I never would have imagined that underground and outside manga would ever make it to store shelves here in North America, but I’m incredibly heartened to see this third collection of Tatsumi’s short stories, and hope that this won’t be the end. This is in the top 5 for ‘best manga available in the English language.]
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Red Colored Elegy
By Seiichi Hayashi
24.95, 240 Pages, Hardcover

A true cornerstone of the Japanese underground scene of the 1960s.

Seiichi Hayashi produced Red Colored Elegy in the aftermath of a politically turbulent and culturally vibrant decade that promised but failed to deliver new possibilities. With a combination of sparse line work and visual codes borrowed from animation and film, the quiet melancholy lives of a young couple struggling to make ends meet are beautifully captured in this poetic masterpiece. Uninvolved with the political movements of the time, Ichiro and Sachiko hope for something better, but they’re no revolutionaries; their spare time is spent drinking, smoking, daydreaming, and sleeping—together and at times with others. While Ichiro attempts to make a living from his comics, Sachiko’s parents are eager to arrange a marriage for her, but Ichiro doesn’t seem interested. Both in their relationship and at work, Ichiro and Sachiko are unable to say the things they need to say, and like any couple, at times say things to each other that they do not mean, ultimately communicating as much with their body language and what remains unsaid as with words.

Red Colored Elegy is informed as much by underground Japanese comics of the time as it is by the French Nouvelle Vague, and its cultural referents range from James Dean to Ken Takakura. Its influence in Japan was so large that Morio Agata, a prominent Japanese folk musician and singer songwriter, debuted with a love song written and named after it. An excellent companion to the three Tatsumi books offered here.
[Chris’ comments: I’d been hearing about how good this book by underground Manga-ka Seiichi Hayashi is for years, and like the Tatsumi releases, I almost don’t believe that this is real. To say that I am anticipating reading this is a huge understatement. This is the early contender for ‘most important manga release of 2008′ and really, its only competition is Vertical’s new editions of Tezuka’s Black Jack.]
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For more information on all of these books, visit the Drawn + Quarterly website at http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/.
- Christopher

Copyright (c) 2006-2008 Kyoto International Manga Museum. All Rights Reserved.

One of the most interesting stops on my trip was on the relatively recently opened Kyoto International Manga Museum, located in Kyoto. I almost missed visiting the museum on my trip, but I’m very glad I attended; it’s an essential stop for any manga afficionado or comics commentator visiting Japan. It is at once, a thriving commercial attraction, valuable historical record, and prime exhibition space. Consisting of thousands of manga (free to read with a paid admission), numerous permanent and rotating gallery exhibits, and all housed in a gorgeous converted elementary school in downtown Kyoto, the museum is an absolute wonder and tremendously inspirational.

In preparing this particular entry, I realised that I hadn’t taken as many interior pictures of the museum due to copyright law and out of respect for the proprietors of the museum, and so I’ve had to fill in some of the gaps with pictures from the Museum website at http://www.kyotomm.com/international/english/. Copyright information for all photos that aren’t mine is listed underneath each photo.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Please include in your listings.)

GRAPHICALLY SPEAKING 2008, with Kazu Kibuishi & Kean Soo
Tuesday February 5th @ 6:30pm
North York Central Library, Concourse Level
@ North York Subway Station
FREE

Presented in association with THE BEGUILING and Scholastic Canada

The two co-editors of the fantastic FLIGHT Anthologies, Kazu Kibuishi and Kean Soo will be in town to debut their brand new graphic novels AMULET and JELLABY. This event is part of the Toronto Public Library’s massive Keep Toronto Reading campaign, which is a big deal in the city of Toronto (February is usually declared “Keep Toronto Reading” Month by the mayor). Both Kean and Kazu will be interviewed on stage by … me? “The Beguiling’s Christopher Butcher,” in the vein of last year’s event with Bryan Lee O’Malley. One assumes that signing and sketching will follow the event…

AMULET VOLUME 1: In the tradition of action adventure series like BONE and The Chronicles of Narnia comes AMULET, by Kazu Kibuishi and published by Scholastic Books. I’ve read this one and really enjoyed it, I particularly think it’s target audience is going to love it. It feels like another application of “Video game storytelling” which is either a pejorative, compliment, or accurate descriptor depending on who’s using the term. I also wonder if older readers are going to ‘get it’, because despite its traditional fantasy quest narrative roots, it’s doing a number of very different things with the form. At any rate, I’ve got a whole whack of questions for Kazu already…

JELLABY VOLUME 1: When Portia hears strange noises in the woods behind her house, the last thing she expects to find is a giant purple dragon named Jellaby! Published by Hyperion books, Jellaby is by my buddy Kean and Tuesday the 5th is the OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE FOR THE BOOK! You know what that means: Party! At any rate, I’ve read the advance of this first volume and enjoyed it, and it’s received some pretty outstanding reviews so far. I think the kids are really gonna dig it.

This is going to be a very fun event which will actually be of interest to all-ages, from younger readers captivated by these new graphic novels right through to adults who loved the FLIGHT anthologies. We’re also really proud to be teaming up with The Toronto Public Library again this year, bringing graphic novels to the masses and the masses into our public library system. If you’re in Toronto, we hope you won’t miss this event. We may even be able to secure punch and pie for you.

- Christopher

This link came in just a little too late to make the last post, but I didn’t want it to go… unobserved. Toronto’s Ramon Perez and Rob Coughler have taken a little hiatus from their popular webcomic, ButternutSquash (http://butternutsquash.net/) and asked their friends and associates to help them out by submitting fill-in strips while they’re away. So far we’ve seen lovely guest strips from fellow webcomickers and studio-mates, and there’s even been a little bit of ‘gentle ribbing’ from the friends of the dynamic cartooning duo.

Enter: Chip Zdarsky. If there’s one thing that Internet Provocateur Chip Zdarsky loves, it’s an opening. A moist, warm opening. He got his opening today, in a ‘guest strip’. If you’ve read Chipper’s stuff before you might have the barest inkling of what you’re in for, but even still, prepare to be… amazed!

- Christopher