One of my regrets last time I went to Japan was missing out on the Osamu Tezuka installation at Kyoto Station. Despite the fact there was advertising for it everywhere, including those super-keen Astro Boy and Kimba The White Lion statues/pointers, I couldn’t find it when I was there. This time though, I actually asked someone at the tourism office, and they told me exactly where it is. And so I went there, and took awesome pictures for all of you…!

So Kyoto Station in and of itself is a marvel. It’s a beautiful, high-tech reimagining of a temple-style building with a curved roof and open sides to let air flow through, but all done up in glass and steel. If you get a chance to visit, I do recommend it.

The Kyoto Station / Tezuka installation was, I believe, completed for an anniversary of Tezuka, and to commemorate the reopening of the station. It’s also located on the other side of the Kyoto Hotel Granvia, on the outside of the station, which explains why maybe I had a bit of trouble finding it last time. Here we see the entryway sign… which is also promoting a live stage-show of Beauty and the Beast, also happening in the same general area. Needless to say I didn’t stop in.

The main entrance is nice, with lenticular animations of Astro Boy (Atom!), Kimba, Black Jack, and another character I don’t know the name of. I still really love the little “fins” on the first ‘o’ in KYOTO, in the shape of Astro Boy’s hair. That’s just genius. Actually, since I’m a big fan of Big pictures on the blog, here’s a close-up of then Astro Boy lenticular. Unfortunately you won’t quite get exactly the same effect.

I think the thing that most impresses me about this whole thing is that with something like Disney, or Marvel, or DC, or whomever, it’s very much ABOUT THE CHARACTER. The creator (except maybe Walt Disney, and that’s a whole other kettle of fish) is pushed far to the background. This installation is “Tezuka World”, and Tezuka the creator is at the forefront of the work. I think that’s pretty incredible, and something for all of us in the comics industry to aspire to.

So the installation is, honestly, mostly a gift-shop and retail oriented, with a few cool additions.

There are quite a few statues of Tezuka’s characters scattered about, fun to photograph or take a picture with. As you can see, the film adaptation of Tezuka’s nutso graphic novel MW (translated into a lovely English edition by Vertical) is opening this weekend in Japan, and this isn’t the first installation I’ve seen dedicated to the film. Unfortunately to put up the big cardboard standee, they had to cover a kick-ass mural of all of Tezuka’s characters.

There’s also a theatre set up, showing two different Tezuka cartoons exclusive to this installation! The one I saw was from the most recent Astro Boy series a few years back, and it was very kiddy. I mean, it was alright, but let’s just say it was pretty easy to follow despite the fact that the characters never stopped talking—in Japanese.  I’ll be honest though, sitting, in the middle of the day, in a theatre, alone, watching children’s cartoons? I had serious doubts about the direction that my life had taken. I decided to rationalize the whole thing away as “free air conditioning” with it being 90 degrees and humid outside. But.

If you buy a ticket to the theatre (only 200 yen! What a steal!) you get access to this cute little reading area, set up by the Kyoto International Manga Museum. Shown is one copy of every single manga that Tezuka produced in his lifetime. That’s a lot of work there…

Honestly, none of this was a patch on the totally kick-ass Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka, outside of Osaka. I still consider that the high-point of my last trip to Japan. But considering it’s only about 40 minutes from Kyoto station (and free if you have a JR pass…!) why not do both? :)

Here’s a little bit more on the MW movie from the display, including a close-up of some hi-res reproductions of original pages from MW.

Those are illustrations, output onto canvas and framed, featuring Tezuka’s most popular series. Not quite the same thing as seeing original art, but it’s still quite nice. It’s also a reminder how little colour-art we see from Japanese mangaka in general. I think the prevailing opinion is that the colour work is either outdated, or simply inappropriate for the North American market. I get that, particularly when you look at the difference in sell-through between Vertical’s relatively successful Tezuka releases with cutting-edge book design, and Viz and Dark Horse’s more traditional releases, featuring colour painted covers. Seeing original Tezuka colour work up close, you can tell there’s a ton of craft there, but it might just be the wrong “style”. I’ll talk about this more later maybe? Anyway, what you’re really here for is PICTURES OF CHARACTER GOODS! HERE WE GO:

That’s right! ASTRO BOY BLUEPRINTS! Translucent and printed on Vellum! Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Astro Boy / GeGeGe no Kitaro Crossover!

Before I go, I wanted to share this. Mos Burger, one of Japan’s greatest hamburger chains (seriously awesome stuff) and Mister Donut have teamed up to create MODSDO, which is utterly insane and wonderful. Above, clockwise from top, is the MOSDO ‘burger’, the MOSDO “potedo” (do is for donuts), a mango pudding, and a mix donut for people that don’t like to choose.

The two burgers featured mini-donuts sliced in half, a sort of choclate crackle “burger” patty, and then either raspberry sauce (instead of ketchup) and raspberry mousse (instead of mayo) or green tea flavoured… something. It was surprisingly delicious, and honestly not that sweet.

Maybe I just like puns too much, but the “potado” killed me. It’s unsweetened donut batter, extruded to look like French fries and then deep fried. And served with ketchup. Also, surprisingly pretty good! B- for flavour, A for texture.

We have been eating so much great, tasty, and weird stuff on this trip.  But this was… pretty special. :-D

- Chris

Village Vanguard Kyoto: Photos by Christopher Butcher

Click to view the gallery:

- Chris

Okay, a couple of pictures to tide you over:

Starbucks in Japan has a new kind of drink, the “Jelly Frappucino”. Basically, it’s a regular frap with coffee-flavoure Jello in the bottom, which breaks up as you suck it through the straw, for an extra hit of coffee flavour. It’s actually pretty good, but it is definitely weird.

This is yours-truly at Narita, about 20 hours after I started the trip. As you can see from my bloodshot eyes, I can really use that intense coffee beverage.

So far I’ve only bought one manga, and honestly only to blog about it, because it’s weird. What you see here for about five bucks is 400 pages of manga about cats. Cat-themed manga stories. By a variety of artists. Includes a special section at the front of full-colour photos of cats doing adorable things. Also, the manga itself is pretty adorable.

Look how adorable that thing is.

I’ve also started drinking. We saw this advertised on the train, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It’s 8% lemon-flavoured alcohol, to get you hammered more quickly and in a more financially prudent way. In these tough economic times, why not buy the booze that has twice the alcohol content for the same price (148 yen)? Anyway, it tastes a lot like lemons, real lemons and not like lemon-flavoured beverages, but also, when warm, a bit like kerosine. Would Not Buy Again. I love the Kirin cans though…!

It’s sort of a grey, drizzly day. But still: Japan!

Like I said, we just watched some TV with the kids before they went off to kindergarden, so in closing I will share two shots of the show we watched with you.

- Chris

You can find Go Fujimoto online at his blog (Japanese Language Only, sorry!) http://japanimationbears.ti-da.net/, or at his online store Bear Grand, http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~japanimationbears/BG/BGtop_E.html.

- Chris

Today marks the beginning of Gay Pride Week here in Toronto! Sadly because I’m out and about right now, I had to reuse this image, but I’ll try and get some all-new imagery to be proud of all week long…! Yay! This illustration comes courtesy of Maurice Vellekoop, and his book Vellevision.

- Chris

“It’s a little funny that I was asked to share what I’m reading this week, I feel like I’ve read fewer comics in the past few weeks than anytime in the last few years. Y’see, I’m getting ready for a trip to Japan in just a few hours—actually I stopped in the middle of packing to write this—and I feel like all of my time lately has been spent packing, planning, and booking stuff. But, luckily for you reader, I’m not going to bore you with my opinion of the Frommers or Lonely Planet guides to Tokyo. It turns out I have been reading some stuff of interest, and I hope it inspires you to go out and track down some copies for yourself…” – Me, at Robot6

Chris Mautner at the Robot 6 blog asked me to be the guest contributor to this week’s “What Are You Reading?” column, and there I am recommending some very good books. Go check it out…!

- Chris

The fine folks at Japanator have unveiled the screening schedule for the new Evangelion movie, Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, and it looks like unless you live in Canada, you’re more or less out of luck. Luckily, I LIVE IN CANADA. So: yay! I’ll see you September 30th for the screening! The film will also be showing at Comic-Con in July. For the full schedule, visit Japanator.

Evangelion 1.0 is the first of four new movies that reimagines the 26 epsiodes + 6 episodes + 2 films that made up the original Neon Genesis Evangelion storyline. Said to cut out the filler, introduce some lovely new animation, and generally just bilk hardcore fans out of Even More money to feed their awful animation fetish, the films have been very well-received overseas. I imagine the same will happen here.

Hah, I just checked Wikipedia and the second film in the tetrology, Evangelion 2.0: You Will (Not) Advance will be opening in Japan June 27th… While I’m there. It looks like I’ll be able to take even more Evangelion photos while I’m there, and buy even more weird Eva stuff.  Whoo hoo!

- Christopher
Photo: I took a picture of a human-sized Evangelion statue last time I was in Japan. It was pretty awesome.

I’m Christopher Butcher and I’m the Festival Director and co-founder of TCAF, The Toronto Comic Arts Festival. Co-founder Peter Birkemoe, a handful of staff, and dozens of volunteers and I present TCAF every two years in lovely downtown Toronto, Canada. A little over a month ago on May 9-10, 2009, we held our fourth Festival. It was a first at our new home, the Toronto Reference Library, the flagship of the 99-branch Toronto Public Library system (the largest library system in North America). Following tradition, we thought a nice note sent far and wide might be a good way to sum up this year’s Festival, and make a few announcements about the next one.

First and foremost, we think that TCAF 2009 was a great success. Our main goal with TCAF is to create a stage for the comics, art and graphic novels that we love, so they can really shine and find the audience that they deserve. Canada is a country that produces great cartoonists and comics and we’re proud that more than 250 creators, a dozen publishers, and more attendees than ever could participate in this year’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival. Despite economic concerns, TCAF 2009 proved that comics are still a boom medium, bursting with creativity, craft, and passion—and people want to come out and be a part of it!

Attendance at TCAF 2009 events more than doubled over our 2007 figures, with 10,500 TCAF-specific attendees visiting Toronto Reference Library across both days (official numbers, at that: from audited data provided by Toronto Public Library’s turnstile powers-that-be), and with over 14,000 attendees visiting TCAF-branded events in total. Feedback from guests, attendees, and partners has been overwhelmingly positive so far. While we did experience some growing pains this year (heat, crowds, traffic-flow) familiarizing ourselves with and settling in to the new
venue, we’re confident that moving forward we’ll be able to rectify these issues.

On that note, we’d like to thank all of the wonderful cartoonists, publishers, artists and writers who came out to exhibit this year. TCAF 2009 featured our largest and most diverse collection of guests to date, and as always these creators and their work are the reason there is a Festival in the first place. Thanks to our honored guests François Ayroles, Anke Feuchtenberger, Emmanuel Guibert, Derek Kirk Kim, Kid Koala/Eric San, Scott McCloud, Tara McPherson, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Paul Pope, Florent Ruppert, Seth, Adrian Tomine, and Craig Yoe. And a very special thanks especially to Mr. and Mrs. Yoshihiro Tatsumi, who overcame medical troubles to attend this Festival: you gave us a truly special event.

We’ve continued to receive amazing support from both Canada’s national and Toronto’s local print and online media, with many of our guests surprised at the level of coverage that we received both as an event, and around specific guests. Of particular note is the superlative support of the Arts & Life section of Canada’s National Post newspaper, who ran over a hundred biographies and Q&As of comics creators attending TCAF, several feature articles and art pages, blog and print wraps and updates — they even live-Twittered several panels. We appreciate their support of comics and their recognition of TCAF’s prominent role in promoting the medium. These efforts, alongside coverage from TCAF Media Sponsor Eye Magazine, newspapers The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and L’Express, online coverage from BoingBoing, Torontoist, BlogTO, NOW, Publishers Weekly, Quill and Quire, Sequential, Walrus, The Comics Reporter, dozens of blogs, thousands of tweets, and the fine folks at Open Books Toronto and WHAZAMO! declaring May GRAPHIC NOVEL MONTH, created unprecedented awareness not only of TCAF, but of the hundreds of publishers and cartoonists at the event. Thank you!

Peter and I would like to thank all of our sponsors and partner organizations, and especially TCAF Presenting Sponsor, Toronto Public Library (TPL). TPL graciously donated the use of the beautiful, airy Toronto Reference Library building to act as our venue for the main exhibition and programming. Holding TCAF at Toronto Reference Library re-enforces the fact that TCAF is completely FREE for the public to attend. We’ve long maintained that making the show free removes the barriers to entry for anyone who might be interested in the medium of comics and graphic novels, and by partnering with an organization that offers free access to a fantastic, comprehensive collection of the best comics literature all year-round, we’ve found a great partner in our goals. TCAF strives to present a broad, accessible, and varied view of comics and it is with the support of TPL and their staff—particularly tireless Director of Communications Ab Velasco—that we were able to reach more people with our message than ever before. Thank you. Thanks also to our sponsors at Harbourfront Centre, Owlkids, Le Consulate General de France a Toronto, the Goethe-Institut, Eye Weekly, The Japan Foundation, Magic Pony, Teletoon Canada, and of course, The Beguiling Books and Art: You supported us with great guests, with great venues, great programming, and so much more.

As the public face of TCAF, I often get a lot of the credit and praise directed at the event (the complaints too!), but there are a number of people who help put this show together that don’t always get the credit they deserve. Foremost amongst those people is Steven Murray (aka Chip Zdarsky), who went above and beyond this year to help us put together weeks and months worth of projects related to the Festival. He is a wonderful artist, writer, designer and friend, and we are sorry for making him uncomfortable with this praise but: We literally could not have done what we did without you.

Thanks also go out to: our 2009 Festival Poster Artist Bryan Lee O’Malley; Emmanuel Guibert for lending us Sardine for our Comics Festival! comic; Professor Andrew Lesk for organizing a fantastic academic program; Jocelyne Allen for superb Japanese translation skills; our many programming hosts and moderators including: Bill Kartalopoulos, Deb Aoki, Bart Beaty, Mark Askwith, Mark D. Nevins, Mark Siegel, Douglas Wolk, Jose Villarrubia, Jason Azzopardi, Stacy E. King, Jim Zubkavich, and Robin McConnell; The hosts and staff of The 2009 Doug Wright Awards for throwing an excellent event Saturday evening; our 2009 Festival Staff including Logistics Coordinators Rob Broughton and Sean Rogers, Kids Programming Coordinators Scott Robins and Naseem Hrab, Volunteer Coordinator Andrew Woodrow-Butcher; Parrish Kilthei for his A/V assistance; the staff of The Beguiling; Kate Dickson from Teletoon Canada; Peggy Burns from Drawn & Quarterly for all of her help coordinating an incredibly busy schedule; and the shrewd advice of Nathalie Atkinson. We had an army of talented, passionate volunteers again this year who helped to ensure that things went as smoothly as they possibly could, and we greatly appreciate their contribution to making the event a success (and that they happily wore the ketchup ‘n’ mustard-coloured TCAF t-shirts). We hope that all of you will come out and be a part of next year’s event.

That’s right, the next Toronto Comic Arts Festival will be held Saturday May 8^th and Sunday May 9^th, 2010, at Toronto Reference Library. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST. And yes, we know that’s Mother’s Day… All of the cool moms read comics.

What, so soon, you ask? Following up on feedback from our partners, our guests, our staff, and attendees, we’ve decided to build on the incredible momentum of having a new home and incredibly supportive presenting sponsor in Toronto Public Library, and produce our first annual show. This is something of an experiment for us, and I can’t say for sure that we’re “going annual” with the event, but we feel that a 2010 event is the best course of action to ensure that TCAF stays a fun, vital, and prominent festival both within the city of Toronto and in the larger comics community. That’s around the corner so we’ll be running a tight ship, and further details about TCAF 2010 (including exhibitor application & information) will be released later this summer.

Thanks again to everyone who made the 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival such a fantastic success. We greatly appreciate your support, your promotion of the festival through great word of mouth and online, and your attendance. We’ll do our best to keep putting together a great show.

Thanks,

Christopher Butcher, Festival Director
Toronto Comic Arts Festival

On behalf of the executive, staff, and volunteers of TCAF

I’ve known about this for a little while (was really trying to have it happen in conjunction with TCAF–no dice) but it slipped my mind that the date was upon us… Junko Mizuno will be in Toronto this week for the opening of her new show at Magic Pony’s Narwhal Gallery! It features ALL NEW paintings and work, inspired by Canadian folklore! Super awesome!

The opening is this Thursday evening, do NOT miss out! Details below, more info at http://magic-pony.com.

RED TRESSES AND FRECKLES: Junko Mizuno Solo Exhibition
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 18 from 7-10pm
Artist will be in attendance

Narwhal Art Projects (Near Magic Pony Gallery)
680 Queen St. West, Toronto, ON, Canada
647.346.5317

Exhibition Dates: June 18 – July 26, 2009

For more information, including a selected gallery of pieces, please check out http://www.magic-pony.com/gallery/2009_junkomizuno.php.

–

See you there!

- Chris

One of the things I really enjoyed about my last trip to Japan was, in the Tezuka Museum, getting to see original art (manuscript) pages by Osamu Tezuka. I feel like I have a new perspective on his work, seeing the paste-downs, white paint, pencil marks, and changes that each page went through before going to print. I feel like I’ve learned something about his process, and maybe I understand his work a little better. Maybe I’m full of shit too, but it’s still a nice feeling. (Image from Tezuka Museum to left, click for larger.

I also got to see originals at the Kyoto International Manga Museum in Kyoto Japan, although surprisingly very few Japanese original pages as the installations that were up while I was there were primarily from other countries. Still, I do like me some original art, and it was pretty great. Unfortunately the Museum’s photo policy was incredibly strict, and so it wasn’t possible to get any photos for the blog. Them’s the breaks…

Perhaps the biggest “score” in terms of diversity of material was Nakano Broadway Mall, which had lots of “auctions” going on for original artwork, with many manga pages and anime cels on display. I actually didn’t see much “finished” work when it came to the manga–lots of sketches and autographed books–but it’s still a bit of a treasure-trove of process work. (Image from Nakano Broadway up-top).

For my upcoming trip (one week! eeee!) I do plan on, if possible, hitting the Tezuka Museum and the Kyoto Manga Museum again, but I’m wondering if there’s anywhere else I can go in Japan (we’re travelling A LOT this time) that I’d have access to Japanese original art? Whether temporary shows/exhibits, or permanent ones. 

If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations, particularly if there’s a website attached so I can parse it out and find the place, I’d really appreciate it! Thanks!

- Christopher

Oh, delicious assortment of Japanese alcoholic beverages.

So I am going back to Japan, with my darling and talented husband. As you might imagine I am quite excited about this, I’ve been wanting to go back to Japan since two days after my previous (and first-ever) trip ended. There’s something to be said for spending a night sleeping in your own bed, but any longer than that, I’d rather be in Japan. AND SOON I WILL BE!

We’re arriving in Tokyo on June 23rd, and staying for 3 weeks. 3 weeks! Just think about how much nerditry we’re going to get up to! We’ve done the preliminary planning for the trip and now it’s just down to fine-tuning the details. We’re going to do more traditional stuff on this trip, I think, for basically a full week. Nikko, Sapporro, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Shirahama, 7 days non-stop. Whoo! But that leaves two full weeks of hanging out in Tokyo too, which is awesome. I could be happy just wandering around Tokyo neighborhoods for days and days, and I’m looking for excuses to do so. Feel free to make recommendations about what I should see in the comments section!

Of course, the biggest nerd sight-to-see is the life-sized Gundam robot that they’ve built in the middle of Tokyo Bay. If you remember my last trip to the magical island of Odaiba, you’ll remember that it already features a scale-model Statue of Liberty, a Ferris Wheel, and a beach (seriously, don’t go in the water). Well it looks like that in recognition of some anniversary or something, they’re building a 60 foot tall Gundam that’s gonna move and shoot lasers. It opens while we’re there. It should be bitch’n. Here’s a picture ganked from DannyChoo.com:

Photo of life-sized Gundam on Odaiba, taken by Danny Choo.

Fried Rice Vending Machine

So, yeah, I am going to have a seriously awesome time.

And of course I’m going to take pictures! Though honestly sorting and resizing and uploading a thousand photos last time was brutal, so I’m going to look into some sort of Flickr feed based thing that will show up in the sidebar, and I’ll post highlights here at the blog. And commentary.

Or maybe I’ll just slog through it again, who knows? I was checking the dates and I only got 3 updates done while I was in Japan last time, and I’d like to be updating at least every other day this time… I’ll see what I can do.

Actually, I was just going through my Japan photos, and I was reminded that I never actually posted any of the shrine/temple/castle photos from my trip. Like, you got a little bit from Himeji, but we took hundreds of photos that never made it online. Geez, Kiyomizu Dera alone is breathtakingly beautiful. Shit, alright, one more photo:

Building at Kiyomizu Dera Shrine

Huh, maybe I really should get those up on Flickr too…!

Anyway, JAPAN. JAPAN. Ask me if I’m happy?

Just kidding, you know I’m happy.

- Chris

From:

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Key Moments from the History of Comics
By Francois Ayroles
48 pages,  CDN$10.00
Published by The Beguiling Books
Available at Beguiling.com 

Published in conjunction with the 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival, The Beguiling has published it’s first book ever: Key Moments from the History of Comics! This witty chapbook collection of French cartoonist Francois Ayroles’ humour cartoons is a fantastic and funny read for alternative and literary comics fans. The book imagines–to humourous effect–the most poigniant and important moments in the lives of great cartoonists and comics institutions from around the world.

It’s funny stuff–the gag book collection is something that has largely disappeared from the shelves and racks of comic book stores, and this brings back the idea with a vengence. Admittedly it’s a little pricey for a 48 page book, but it’s… unlikely to be collected otherwise, given the nature of the material. I bought a copy and quite enjoyed it, particularly having met M. Ayroles and found him to be just as warm and funny in person.

This has yet to be solicited by Diamond and such a solicitation is at least 4 months away. I’d humbly recommend that if funny comics tickle your fancy, you give them a go. With that in mind, I’d like to share a few of my favourites from the book:

The cartooning is lovely, chunky and filled with deep blacks but with a grace that’s appealing. And it’s sad and funny. My absolute favourite is the Chris Ware one, but I’ve left that out so you have something to discover for yourself.

So yes, if you’d like to support me by supporting an employer that allows me to blog from work, might I humbly suggest that you head over to http://www.beguiling.com/productview2a.asp?P_NUM=6535 and pick yourself up a copy of this fine chapbook? It’s actually only 8 bucks and change in U.S. funds. :)

Thanks very kindly, and sorry for this commercial interuption. We’ll see you soon.

Best,

- Christopher

Update: I’ve been informed that DMP hasn’t terminated it’s exclusivity arrangement exactly, but it still offering its books to retailers. Not sure what this means to be honest. Will let you know when I do.

–

I’d been hearing rumblings that things were about to start changing with regards to Diamond exclusivity contracts, but the just-received e-mail I’m looking at still came as a surprise.

Without replicating the e-mail exactly, I can say that DMP/DMD/June Manga/Akadot Retail (they have about 10 different devisions I think) have seemingly cancelled or allowed to expire their exclusive distribution agreement with Diamond, and are now distributing/selling their work directly to established comics/book stores at discounts much higher than Diamond was offering on the same titles, and they’re doing so from a new retailers-only website, http://www.dmd-sales.com/. According to the website:

Welcome to Digital Manga Direct!!! We are now here to service your needs. We are an independent Manga publisher who has recently obtained the rights to distribute these titles on a ‘direct sales basis.’ This obviously eliminates “Joe Distributor,” thus affording us the luxury to offer you substantial discounts and savings. In addition, you can open an account and place an order right online. There are no minimum orders. 

This allows for fast processing and rapid shipping. Please browse through our great catalog of available titles.

It then directs individual buyers (i.e.: Non-retail accounts) to DMP’s online sales storefront.

I’m going to be honest here, I never understood why DMP went exclusive with Diamond. It’s just ridiculous–DMP has probably the best-developed online sales presence of any publisher in comics, let alone any manga publisher. They ship out thousands of customer orders a month, of all shapes and sizes. Why they would to cut-off retailer sales (which are usually easier orders to pull, bigger orders with more copies/volume means less overhead) when they’re shipping stuff anyway? I get why VIZ went exclusive actually, they were getting out of the shipping/fulfillment business entirely, letting their bookstore distributors Simon & Shuster handle everything. But DMP? I can only imagine the deal that Diamond offered them was really good–and that it’s no longer worthwhile.

Now here’s the big question: Do I think that other pubs will start doing the same? Hell yeah, but only if they’re not distributed to bookstores by Diamond Books… This is because they need the bookstore distro, and breaking a Diamond Comics Exclusive might seriously damage that relationship. I actually can’t think of any pub with a Diamond Book Distributors deal that isn’t also exclusive with Diamond Comics. Hm.

Anyway, fascinating change to the DM today, and just the start of what I feel will be many large changes to “the direct market” in the next 6 months.

- Christopher

The Summit of the Gods vol. 1 (of 5)
by Yumemakura Baku and Jiro Taniguchi
328 pages, $25.00
Coming this fall from Fanfare UK

85 years ago today, on JUNE 8, 1924 at 12.50pm, was the last time that George Herbert Leigh Mallory and his companion Andrew Irvine were seen alive. They were observed by the expedition geologist, Noel Odell, when the clouds parted briefly and allowed him a vision of the summit ridge and final peak of Mount Everest with the two tiny black specks moving towards the summit. Then the scene vanished and became enveloped in clouds once more. They never returned. There has been much speculation as to whether they ever reached the summit and were on their way down when disaster struck.

Almost seventy years later in 1993, with Mallory’s body still undiscovered on the mountain, a Japanese expedition photographer, Makoto Fukamachi, stumbles across a 1920’s Kodak camera in a Kathmandu bazaar which sparks a whole series of questions with few answers.

The Summit of the Gods is an epic story of man and his personal conquests against his own limitations. No mountain is too high, no peak too distant in his pursuit of this passion for achievement.

But Taniguchi’s realistic art and Baku’s tireless script will take you to such heights that mountaineers only dream about!

- Winner “Best Art” Award at Angouleme Festival, France (2005)
- Winner “Excellence Prize Manga Division” at Japanese Ministry of Culture’s Media Arts Festival (2001)
- George Mallory’s body is discovered on Everest’s North Face minus his Kodak (1999)
- Original novel, Kamigami no Itadaki, winner of the prestigious 11th Shibata Renzaburo Award (1998)

–

It’s funny this was in my inbox this morning, as it was just this past weekend that I finished a previous release by Fanfare of Jiro Taniguchi’s work, The Ice Wanderer. A collection of nature-themed stories, including a few adaptations of the work of Jack London (Call of the Wild), The Ice Wanderer didn’t grab me on release the same way that other Taniguchi works have. I’m not much for the sort of man vs. nature, explorers and burly man stories, and so the prospect of reading manga versions of the same–even by one of my favourite mangaka!–was less than thrilling. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by the volume, enjoying the material I thought wasn’t to my taste, and loving the non-nature stories of first love and a lonely mangaka that were also included. It’s a great release, and if you can find it I recommend it.

Before this weekend my excitement over Summit of the Gods was at a low ebb, after having read The Ice Wanderer I’m definitely on board now… Though I have to admit my real enthusiasm is for another Taniguchi work that’s on the way, A Distant Neighborhood. I’ve been waiting for this one in English since we first received the (beautiful) French edition years ago, just after I started working at The Beguiling actually.

What I guess I’m saying is that we have an embarassment of riches for the next 6 months when it comes to great manga, go out and buy it so we get even more.

- Christopher

Coming this Christmas? Hopefully? I will get it just to put Ryan North in his place. His place is under my bootheel.

- Chris

Sooooo…. I know that manga fans can be a little “finnicky” when it comes to the condition and design of their books. They want the sizes to match between editions. I appreciate that… I know a bunch of folks were caught way, way off-guard when Viz did a line-wide switch of the size and design of their books a few years ago, to keep up with Tokyopop. Heh, poor bastards, collecting Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma 1/2 for 10 years, only to have the last 20 volumes show up in a new format… But it doesn’t stop there! So Viz switched from the big-size to the Tokyopop size, then they changed their corporate logo from the old downward-pointing-triangle VIZ logo to the new (current) VIZ MEDIA logo on the spine of all of their books… 6 volumes before the end of their release of Ranma 1/2, making it almost impossible to have a complete set of Ranma 1/2 with the same spine designs. The best though is that, since then, they’ve changed the spine design AGAIN removing the old “action” logo and replacing it with their new stylized ‘V’, but so far as I can tell not every volume is available with the same spine design, because of the differences between printings.

If you’ve got even a little bit of the old OCD, that’s gotta be killing you. If I didn’t think Viz were above such things, I’d ALMOST think they were doing it on purpose, just to make their readers crazy. Actually, the way in which that drives people crazy is one of my secret favourite things in comics…

But that’s a 36 volume series, released over 15 or 16 years. We’ll… we’ll cut them a little bit of slack. But seriously, what’s Bandai’s excuse for changing the design of a current series they’re releasing with almost every volume?

So this is the CODE GEASS series of manga, based on the popular anime series. It features designs by CLAMP!, it’s pretty popular, you know? I bet it was a coup for Bandai to get this series. And what do they do with it? Well, geezus, look at it. Out of 8 books there, only 3 of them have the same trade dress. Code Geass: Suzuku changes entirely between volume 1 and 2. Code Geass: Lelouch actually matches up for 1 and 2, but the entire design changes for volume 3, including the logo for the book itself! The next two books are the novels, and they don’t keep a consistent trade dress with the line, or even with each other. I mean, things can be “off” in the design stage, but look at the way the Bandai logos (almost) match up but the STAGE x graphics don’t… The designer is just totally asleep at the wheel. Then we get the next manga, which is (I believe) the most recent in the series: Code Geass: Nunnally. It has a different logo treatment again, and the volume number is now IN the logo, rather than in it’s own graphic or matching up with anything. And the spine text is a different treatment too.

These books have been released monthly since October 2008. Either the designer is getting fired after every book and destroying all of his files and stealing all of the reference copies each time, or this is the single most unprofessional design and editorial team in manga.

But wait, it gets better. Let’s check out another Bandai release: Eureka 7.

No digital trickery here. This is actually the vooks in order. Volume 1 is clearly labeled volume one. Then volume 2 has a completely different spine design, and NO VOLUME NUMBER. I promise you, that is actually volume 2, we didn’t just grab like a random novel or something and slide it in there. Here, I’ll show you:

At least they thought enough to, you know, put the volume number on the front of the book, even if it’s not on the spine. But that’s pretty powerfully stupid. But the best part?

Scroll back up to the previous picture. At the end of the volume 1-6, there’s a second series, “Eureka Seven: Gravity Boys and Lifting Girl”. It’s got a tiny little subtitle, but it’s there, and a clearly-placed “Vol. 1″ And then right next to it? Why, that’s Eureka Seven: Gravity Boys and Lifting Girl Volume 2, except it’s missing the subtitle, making it look exactly the same as the regular series. 

It’s really the second series volume 2, but because the first series volume 2 is fucked up AND this one is fucked up, this one looks like the first series volume 2… Which creates no end of problems for people looking for it on the shelf, or in the overstock. Again, these books are coming out more-or-less monthly, which means it’s really just a total lack of interest… and quality control… on the part of the folks at Bandai. They’re a major international publishing company working in a variety of media. This is kind of embarassing?

This was brought to my attention by Parrish, today, as he sighed drammatically about how fucked up this is. So I decided to blog his misery! Attention employees: your sadness is fodder for my blog. Thanks!

- Christopher

12:44pm: Page 178 features this month’s WIZARD solicit, which, again, looks like it’s being designed by the Previews staff rather than at Wizard. I really do think they’ve finally fired everyone at that magazine that they could…? Anyway. This page is notable because one of the features of this issue of WIZARD is: HOW TO GET YOUR GIRL TO READ COMICS, which is delightful in a late-90s internet article sort of way. The best, BEST part? The afformentioned “girl” in the little photo accompanying the article is carrying copies of: 6 Superhero books, Sin City, Y The Last Man, and… can’t quite make out the top one. Against a wall of high-priced back issues. So, yeah, this photo is not doing the article any favours. I’ve long-since grown past the need to read Wizard just to be offended or upset at bad content, but I’m really kind of anxious to read this one, just to see if it “lives up” to the photo.

Of course, I’m actually cutting orders on this issue as sales are sliding badly on the magazine…

12:52pm: We are continuing to sell out of Dave Sim’s Glamourpuss, which is kind of surprising… We’re also continuing to do the same with Terry Moore’s ECHO, which is less surprising, but I’m going to be honest, I really thought the first trade paperback would’ve killed the issue sales. Nope! It seems people want to read Terry Moore as soon as they can get him. Good for him.

12:59pm: PROCESS RECESS 3. The 3rd in AdHouse’s release of James Jean art-books. The first two have sold right-the-fuck-out and are going for ludicrous prices online. This third one apparently collects sketchbook work, new paintings and illustrations, all kinds of cool stuff by M. Jean. We’ll be ordering a bunch.

Cover Image to the right, click for (much) larger.

EDIT: Oh yeah, check out James Jean’s blog for more info on this, it’s nifty: http://www.processrecess.com/?uid=FA8BCD 

1:20pm: So, Page 188 shows us that Antarctic is now designing their own section of the Previews catalogue… With, I think, utterly disastrous results. I appreciate that it’s good to be able to control the size and presentation of your books–good for you, seriously. But? This is a jumbled mess. No center-of-interest, doesn’t lead the eye, and the blue hackground makes it basically-impossible for me to write my little numbers for what I want to order next to the solicit. :-/

As you can see, the only thing that really stands-out is the PRESIDENT EVIL title treatment, and even then, it’s a little difficult to make-out as Barack Obama (although really what else could it be…).

Yeah, guys, seriously this is not doing you any favours whatsoever. Look at like… catalogue layout sometime or something. Or figure out some way to layout your info better, because this is terrible.

1:36pm: I’m kind of having guilt pangs about not ordering this terrible fucking Obama/Resident Evil ‘parody’, because I know it will sell off the rack, but it’s just conceptually awful, like the terrible Barbarian comics probably will too. But no one has preordered them so I just don’t want them on the rack, I’d like to stand for something, you know? 

Anyway, I am conflicted. But I am not ordering them. If someone really wants one they can do a special order. 

1:39pm: So APE Entertainment’s The Trouble With Katie Rogers (p190) looks kind of neat. A contemporary romantic comedy in graphic novel format. We have a healthy balance of men and women shopping at the store, I’m curious if something like this will do well for us, or if it really is a bookstore thing. I’ll give it a go. (Nice MySpace page too, actually). 

Oh, also on this page is Zeke Deadwood: Zombie Lawman from SLG. I’m actually not “sick” of the Zombie thing yet, and this looks pretty good, played for laughs. Looks like a sort of Westerns versions of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse. We’ll give this a solid order, hopefully it works out.

1:45pm: So all of my questioning is for naught, it looks very much like the Mouse Guard series has finished, and at Archaia to boot. Now here comes the second graphic novel collection, Mouse Guard Volume 2: Winter 1152.  I imagine it will do well for us.

I think I saw someone, maybe Mike Sterling, wondering aloud on his blog as to why the sales on the single-issues of the MOUSE GUARD series had dropped through the floor at his store. I think one reason why might be that the solicit for this collection promises “a new epilogue”, which, considering the series just ended this past week, is kind of unfortunate. I don’t subscribe to the idea that putting new content is “screwing” people who bought the singles–I did when I was a little younger but now I realize that you get what you pay for. You paid four bucks and issue for 6 issues of a comic, and you didn’t mind doing so at the time, you probably got $4 of enjoyment out of that book, epilogue or no. But seeing stuff like this happen? It does make customers less likely to support serialization, it does erode customers faith and interest in a series, and when you make it a selling feature that the pretty new hardcover contains a bunch of stuff not in the smelly-old issues, it makes me as a retailer reconsider my approach to ordering your single issue comics. Not just from this creator, but from this whole publisher.

So, you know, as a publisher you can do whatever the hell you want, it’s your business. Just know that there are reprecussions.

1:56pm: The ASPEN MLT INC. publisher pages look an awful lot like advertisements, but it turns out those are the solicitations, and the only ones at that. Meanwhile, flipping along, the AVATAR solicits look a lot more like solicits than advertisements (although the Anna Mercury 2 #2 spread was a little confusing at first). Still, one looks like it is imparting information, the other is drowning in graphic elements, headlines, logos, and tiny tiny text. It’s pretty easy to figure out which is more successful.

2:17pm: I know they’re “just” licensed books, but I’m kind of shocked to see that the first wave of trade paperback collections of Boom’s THE MUPPET SHOW, THE INCREDIBLES, and THE WORLD OF CARS got almost no play at all in the catalogue. We’ve done very well with the single issues of all of these books, Very Well, and the treade paperback collections (at a friendly $10 price point) are going to do gangbusters for us, I think? Maybe I’m wrong on this, but we’re definitely investing in them at the store… We’re doing progressively better with kids material and this is really solid looking stuff.

2:41pm: Similarly surprising? No special-attention paid to Cartoon Books’ solicitation of the limited-edition RASL HC (P222).  Limited edition oversized HC of Jeff Smith material… you’d think that Diamond would be all over that. I mean, I know it’s not going to sell BONE HC numbers, but we’ve been doing really well with RASL. Again, I’m all over this collection, particularly for the long-haul collectors that are going to want this (very) limited collection, but might not have the pocket-money on hand to do so now.

2:46pm: Also on page 222 is Jack Moriarty’s THE COMPLETE JACK SURVIVES from Buenaventura Press. Originally published in the venerable RAW magazine, this collects every Jack Survives strip in a lovely 11×14 package, in full colour. I’m only very casually familiar with the material, but it’s spoken-of very reverently amongst my artcomix friends, and anything out of RAW is obviously work at least a look.

3:20pm: I know this is going a little slower than usual today, but man, things are a little intense at work here today. Lots of stuff in the air. Sorry.

DMP BOOKS is changing the size of some of their manga? I think I missed this announcement, but going through their solicitations today (starting on P237) it looks like they’re doing some of their books at B6 (a format more-or-less unknown in North America), which measure 5 1/8″ x 7 3/16″, or thereabouts… which is a little smaller than the current “TOKYOPOP SIZE” favoured by the majority of the comics industry. They’re doing the rest of their books in the A5 size, which measure 5.875″ x 8.25″, or slightly smaller than their current size of manga. Basically their entire line is changing size over the next few months. I… assume this is to cut costs? But I’ve got no idea.

I hope that the effect of this is minimized when it comes to changes in size between volumes of the same series, because comics fans of all ages, genders, and sexual proviclivities, FUCKING HATE IT when the spines don’t match up on their manga.

Just saying.

3:29pm: I had kind of thought that Big Questions #12 by Anders Nilsen (P243) was the last issue of the series, but the solicit makes no mention either way. I am greatly, greatly looking forward to a collection of this series… though these individual issues are just gorgeous too. Hopefully any collection will include all of the colour paintings and things. But of course, it’s D&Q, so that’s probably very likely…

Speaking of D&Q, THE JOHN STANLEY LIBRARY: NANCY VOL 1 is also solicited this week. I have to say I kinda dug the old-school repro on their recent Melvin The Monster collection… The feel of reading old comics is a much nicer one, to me, than the feel of reading badly-computer-recoloured comics with digitally altered linework. I hope I’m not in the minority? I’d much rather see this kind of reprint, when good-quality copies exist to shoot from (or be fixed with minor tweaks).

6:15pm: Okay, let’s try and power through to the end of the Previews, shall we?

Page 245: I’m always pretty excited about new work from Fanfare/Ponent-Mon. Their new graphic novel YEARS OF THE ELEPHANT is something of a departure for them, a European work with no Japanese connection. I got to see a preview of this one at the New York Comicon this past winter, and it’s a really unique work. It’s nicely drawn, in pencils mostly, though a bit sketchy sloppy at times. The solicit calls it “rudimentary” but it has a classical cartooning kind of feel. And the nature of the story, about a many who’s sort of slowly and humourously losing his mind after his son committs suicide, it takes a while but it definitely grows on you as you flip the pages. I have no idea how something like this will be received in North America, quite honestly. As far as I can tell it’s at least partly autobiographical, and personal tragedy memoirs tend to find their audiences more often than not. But it really is a strange book… One that I’m personally looking forward to, particularly considering that Editor Stephen Robson has the foresight to pick up strange-tale-of-personal-tragedy Hideo Azuma’s DISAPPEARANCE DIARY and it was fantastic. I figure this one is at least worth a shot.

Page 246-247: Fantagraphics’ acid-trip orange-and-purple spread is certainly eye-catching, and the info is laid out in a professional, easy-to-read way. It’s just that the overall effect is sort of hideous. But anyway, good books in here. The one I’m most immediately interested in is the TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE hardcover collection, collecting the first four issues of the series, and now in full colour. THRIZZLE has been an easy single-issue sale for us since its debut, I imagine this handsome new hardcover will do similarly well.

For the classic strips guys, there’s another volume of POPEYE. For the art guys, there’s a third JIM FLORA art book. For nerds, there’s THE BEST AMERICAN COMICS CRITICISM OF THE 21ST CENTURY. Pretty solid month for Fanta.

Page 252: It’s not often that authors tend to really get behind the graphic novel adaptations of their work, but Tim Hamilton’s graphic adaptation of FARENHEIT 451 features an introduction by Bradbury himself, quite a coup. The $30 price tag is surprisingly high, but then so are the expectations on this one if the advance press I’ve seen is anything to go by.

Also on this page, Kevin Eastman releases his (competing? complimentary?) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Anniversary collection. the TMNT 25TH ANNIVERSARY BY KEVIN EASTMAN (kind of a fuck-you-title, isn’t that?) features Eastman’s fav Turtles stories, some of them in colour for the first time. That’s kind of interesting? But the big turtles release is a few pages away still.

Page 253: RICHARD STARK’S PARKER: THE HUNTER adapted by Darwyn Cooke. What can I say? This looks pretty darned amazing. IDW let me know that they sent me a preview of this one a few days ago, but it hasn’t shown up yet unfortunately. I was hoping to have read it before I could just unequivocally recommend it, but since I can’t I’ll have to just say that it’s PROBABLY the best new book in the Previews this month and you should pick it up. If you’re not sure, there’s tons of great preview/interview stuff online, and if just reading the first 20 pages doesn’t convince you I dunno what will. 

Hey IDW guys: Maybe I’m blind here, but why isn’t that PARKER preview linked off of your frontpage? I actually couldn’t find it on your site, had to google it.

Page 270: Alright, here you go. It’s the first 540 pages of Eastman and Laird’s TMNT from the 80s, in black and white (11 issues plus the four ‘micro-series’ issues) for $30. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE COLLECTED BOOK VOLUME 1 SC. I am definitely going to take one of these home with me. I’ve read a bunch of these through random reprints and stuff, but I think I’d really dig reading these all at once. Hell, SOMEBODY did… And it’s been one of our most-demanded trade paperback collections for years…!

Page 278: The long-anticipated Jeff Smith TOON BOOKS entry drops in July. LITTLE MOUSE GETS READY seems to be in the format of their youngest-reader stuff, like the Silly Lily books, and it looks great. I kind of felt like the Silly Lily books had a lower vocabulary for the 4-6 year old set, and this one seems like a book that you read-to a child, rather than one they can read on their own? I’m not an expert or anything, but I’d be curious to know who the age group is for this one. Either way, it’s lovely looking.

Page 280: The kids comic series THE STUFF OF LEGEND got a bit of buzz following Free Comic Book Day, so I’ll give the first issue a decent order, see if it will pick up a following in our store. It seems to be in Mouse Guard format, so I guess they know who they’re going-after audience-wise.

Page 282: Long awaited D.N. ANGEL VOLUME 12 from Tokyopop, and no a whole hell of a lot else. BISENGHAST VOLUME 6, possible the last “OEL” title that TP is physically publishing, actually, that’s kind of news too. 

Page 284: For those of you who read my earlier bitching, the LENORE: NOOGIES color edition is here. 128 pages for $24.95.  Also this page is the second collection of Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele’s SURROGATES, FLESH AND BONE, a prequel to the first trade and, conveniently enough, the upcoming movie. Also from Top Shelf on the following page is a new printing of SURROGATES VOLUME ONE, and an omnibus HC collecting one and 2, for people that need to own things in HC.

Page 286: Speaking of Darwyn Cooke, Twomorrows solicits MODERN MASTERS VOLUME 23: DARWYN COOKE to coincide with THE HUNTER. A 120 page collection of sketches, rare art, and illustration. Generally the Modern Masters series of books are snapped-up by the fans of the creators they cover, this one will be no different. Actually, that’s not true; thanks to his huge fanbase and a hometown crowd, we’ll probably just add a zero to the end of whatever number we ordered on volume 22 for this one.

Page 292: So this year Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A DRIFTING LIFE shared the top prize for the Tezuka Cultural Prize for manga. It shared it with Fumi Yoshinaga’s series OOKU: THE INNER CHAMBERS, and the first volume of that series drops this month from Viz. If it’s half as interesting or well-done as A DRIFTING LIFE, it’ll be a must-buy for sure. Yoshinaga is the author of ANTIQUE BAKERY and FLOWER OF LIFE amongst many other fan-fav almost-yaoi titles, and more of her work will certainly be appreciated.

Okay then, I think we’re done for this month. Thanks for reading, hopefully next month will go a little more smoothly.

- Chris

Oh look, we’re liveblogging the Previews again this month! It’s actually not due for 5 whole days, so expect a slightly less-manic, but hopefully no-less enjoyable look at all of the comics and graphic novels being solicited by Diamond Comics Distributors, scheduled to begin arriving in stores in July 2009. I’ll be updating this every few minutes as I get to the next thing I wanna talk about… and I really will try and mention page numbers this month, if you wanna play along at home…!

4:09pm: FWIW, these aren’t awful covers this month, just sort of meh. But we have more unsold copies of Previews this month than in the last 12, both actual copies and percentage ordered. Apparently Spider-Man versus Doctor Octopus and a random skull just aren’t that interesting?

4:18pm: Page FS-1 has an article with the title EXTREME MOMS. Italics in the original title. What? Ah, I see, I have opened this to the wrong side. That is my fault.

4:19pm: FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! IS OVER! I guess this is the final month of Diamond advertising their big event. I guess there’s no way anyone in comic industry could say they didn’t KNOW about it, anyway…

On to page 2…  Wow, those Final Fantasy IX figures are hideous. Like, I know they’re in the sort of “Chibi” style that the game was in, and this is all about accuracy, but I even like the character designs and I would definitely not buy these. Awful… The Chibi versions of the FF VII, X, and XII figures on the opposite page look much cooler.

4:36pm: Whoa, rush of customers. Sorry about the delay there. So this month’s Editor’s Note (p7) from Marty Grosser is all about… Mom. Geez, what a bunch of momma’s boys. I love my mom (but not as much as I love your mom), but it is weird to see the editor of Previews telling my to make sure to call my mom on Mother’s Day.

Anyway, the editor breaks down every mother in the world to one of two types, either “The Terminatrix”, who is “the stereotypical mother” who threw out all of your comics, or “The Source”, who got you started on comic books. VIRGIN OR WHORE! CHOOSE, READERS OF PREVIEWS! VIRGIN OR WHORE!?

Actually, I got one better for you Marty. “There is only one woman in the world. One woman, with many faces.” There’s your reductionist argument, courtesy of The Last Temptation of Christ. They’re both Virgins AND Whores. Or Source Terminatrixes. Terminatricies? Either way, lame editorial Marty.

4:55pm: Shit we’re not even to any of the actual books yet. Anyway, Page 9 is an interview with ROMAN DIRGE, the “Featured Creator” of the month. For all of you industry watchers wondering about the Lenore creator leaving SLG for, of all places, Titan Publishing (in the U.K.), here’s a fun quote from the interview with Mr. Dirge.

“I’m excited to be working with Titan. It tugged on the heart-strings to leave SLG Publishing after having such a long relationship with them. I have nothing but love for them, especially their founder, Dan Vado. He gave me my start in the industry and it was like family. I regret how we parted ways. Without SLG, I’d rpobably be asking you what kind of cheese you want on your sandwich and if you want the combo meal. Titan has a lot of things planned for me.” – Roman Dirge

Huh, so apparently the parting was not pleasant. Kudos to Dan Vado for keeping it under his hat, if that’s the case. I haven’t heard a bad word about Mr. Dirge. I’m in support of creators going for the best deal, and if Titan offered Dirge a good one, then sure, what the hell. But it seems like the first part of Dirge’s statement, and the second part, they’re a little incongruous? Like “These guys at SLG are family and I owe them everything! Can’t wait to start working with my new pub!” Is that a platitude? Is that the dictionary definition of a platitude? Hmm.

It’s not an either/or proposition, I’m aware, and I know these guys are friends and I’ll likely take some heat for this, but: I was a huge Jhonen Vasquez fan a few years ago, and I still appreciate his work a great deal, but I have never… ever… understood the appeal of any of Dirge’s work. It seems fantastically lazy. It seems like you start with Vasquez’s JTHM or SQUEE, which are literally bursting at the seams with creativity and ideas, tons and tons of them, and then you take an issue of that and stretch it out into 13 issues of Lenore. But to be fair, you take a single panel of a children’s book and put it on 10,000 stickers and you end up with the utterly-vacant Emily the Strange, so. It’s sort of like the Matterhorn of talent, with Vasquez perched on top and everything else sliding rapidly into the abyss.

At any rate, this month Titan is offering a full-colour edition of Dirge’s Lenore: Noogies. I’m certainly not complaining about the money we’ve made off of Dirge’s work; it sells. But I wonder if exactly the same stuff will sell, to the same audience, again (his work just isn’t that colourful even with ‘full colour’). And hearing that the ‘breakup’ was full of regret and it’s only been… what, a year? That doesn’t make me say “I CAN’T WAIT TO SUPPORT THIS DUDE’S WORK!”

Perhaps I am in the minority.

5:20pm: Alright! Comics! P.24 has STAR WARS: INVASION, which features a bunch of characters that look exactly like a cross between Aliens and Predators attacking the post-Return of the Jedi Star Wars Universe! Luke Skywalker using crazy Force-Powers to take on hybrid Aliens/Predators (but not really)? I can see some nerds definitely being into that.

Jo Chen cover too. Nice.

5:24pm: The new BPRD series featuring art by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba drops this month. Lovely. Not sure if I’ve entirely forgiven them for their Casanova April Fool’s Day prank. Also “The Witchfinder #1″, a new Hellboy spinoff series.

5:29pm: So I guess I understand why the solicitation for Guy Davis’ The Marquis: Inferno trade paperback doesn’t mention anywhere that it’s a collection of all of the perviously-published material, i.e.: The trade paperbacks ”Danse Macabre” and “Intermezzo,” but it’s still pretty crappy of them not to mention that. It’s a great deal, a 336 page trade of very strong comics material by Davis, who’s really found an audience for his work thanks to BPRD. And it’s got a new sketchbook and Mignola intro. It’s a great, worthwhile book. But hiding the solicit info is amateur hour, seriously. I had to track down an interview with Davis at CBR to figure that out. It should be in the solicit, period.

5:34pm: THE GOON versus DETHKLOK from Metalpocalypse. Alright, 37 pages into the Previews, I’m calling it: This will be the most under-ordered comic book of the month. Oh and they’re relaunching Creepy too, which is weird. I have no idea if there’s an audience for a black and white horror anthology, but hey, new Bernie Wrightson art.

5:45pm: DH has got a brand new black and white crime-fiction anthology called NOIR (p41), dropping… September 30th. Well, at least they’ll have plenty of time to hype it up. I think it’ll need some hype too, It’s not the kind of thing that generally sells gangbusters (I think FLIGHT is probably the exception), but look at the list of creators on this thing… Azzarello, Brubaker, Grist, Lapham, Moon & Ba, Phillips, maybe a dozen or two more. Everyone doing any critically acclaimed crime/noir fiction stuff, except maybe Darwyn Cooke, in one book. It should sell itself, but I feel like it’ll be an uphill battle… I hope they promote the hell out of this.

5:52pm: New Gilbert and Mario Hernandez series! Citizen Rex #1 coming monthly, starting the first week of July. Nice.

5:55pm: Conan drops “The Cimmerian” as the subtitle this issue. Or at least the solicit does, hopefully that’s just for the solicit.

5:56pm: Here on page 47 we’ve got a solicitation for “3 STORY: SECRET HISTORY OF THE GIANT MAN” by Pistolwhip and Super Spy creator Matt Kindt. I totally had not heard that Kindt was doing a graphic novel for DH. I guess it makes sense, it’s a full-colour book and Top Shelf’s full colour stuff is pretty rare in general. Hmm. Anyway, this one will be out September 23rd. If Matt (or anyone really) is reading, send me a preview, I’d love to see what this is all about.

6:00pm: Awwwwwwwwwwwesome. Dark Horse is reprinting the fairly-hard-to-find PICTURES THAT TICK, a collection of Dave McKean’s short comics stories. I suppose this comes alongside their reprinting of pretty-much every other comic he’s done save Mr. Punch, including the resolicit of CAGES a month or two back. V. Cool. I never owned this one–a friend had it and I read it 2 or 3 times–and am looking at adding it to my collection this September. I can only imagine a few dozen of my customers feel the same way. And it’s only $20 too, what a steal. We’re going to order a ton.

6:23pm: DC Comics! Alright. Geez, that took kinda forever, didn’t it? Sorry, it’s a busy comic day. I just spent 25 minutes helping the cutest guy ever. Like Seth Rogan but cuter (and taller). Good day at the comic store. Yessss.

So what do we have? Another 1 in 250 copy variant on Blackest Night #1. I appreciate that DC is getting behind this one in a big way… Free Comic Book Day, two years of build-up, all of that. But again, this is a program that rewards large retailers and encourages small retailers to take potentially very unhealthy positions on books. Man, if I’ve heard the rumours about Diamond being in a cash-crunch because of the number of comic stores closing (and not paying their bills…) then SURELY DC has heard the same thing… and yet they’re encouraging stores to drop an extra 500-600 bucks to nab an “incentive” cover. Or they’re just shutting those customers out entirely. This is the worst thing in the comics industry right now. The Worst.

6:34pm: … and it’s weird because WEDNESDAY COMICS might just be one of the neatest things in the industry right now. Get top talent to do the stories they’ve always wanted with their favourite characters. Pope, Allred, Azzarello & Risso, Gaiman, Dave Bullock, Kyle Baker, Gibbons and Sook. Tons and tons more. That’s just cool, you know? I feel like this one will be a little underordered as well, but I appreciate them taking a risk on format, and on great creators and off-beat stories. We’re going to be supporting this one, at least for the first month or two of issues (it’s a weekly), and hopefully it lives up to all of its promise.

7:02pm: So I’m actually at page 81 and haven’t had anything else to say. Still busy (I swear it’s attractive-man day here at the store…) but also the DC solicits are pretty boring! Actually!

7:05pm: I heard from a customer, I think? I think it was a customer. Anyway, I heard from someone today that McDuffie was finally let go from Justice League. No disrespect intended to McDuffie, he seems like a nice guy, but it was pretty clear he fucking hated that job. I mean, whatever, people don’t like their jobs, but you can only complain about how fucking broken the book is and how your hands are tied, in public, for so long, before Dan DiDio reads his e-mail. You know what I’m saying? That dude seems like a biiiiiiiiiiiit of a control freak, I can’t imagine he’s reading McDuffie complaining about a scene needing to be re-written at the last minute and the scene being clumsy because of it, and DiDio steps back and goes “Yeah, shit, good point man. We really gotta get our act together here at DC!” 

Dan DiDio doesn’t seem like that kind of guy is all I’m saying.

To The Extreme.

7:10pm: So… JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE #1. The James Robinson Justice League series that is now a mini-series. Well… sure, why not, whatever. Maybe it’ll be good? I like James Robinson, and Batwoman, and the blue-skinned Starman dude. Sounds like a winner to me. Has he given the interview where he says that his creativity was brutally compromised on this series so I shouldn’t bother? Or is he gonna give that interview AFTER the series has come out, so we understand why we were unhappy? I guess I know why people wait for the trade.

7:27pm: Happy to see a new printing of Absolute New Frontier.

7:29pm: Alright, here we are, page 105. NORTH 40 #1 by Aaron Williams and Fiona Staples. Really lovely, understated piece of cover art. Sort of a mysterious premise. Tentacle monster on the cover (tasteful!). Looks good. I’ll check this out.

7:37pm: So it looks like DC is doing a hardcover collecting the first two Tom Strong collections (p111). I actually liked those first 12 issues a lot, some often-lovely art from Chris Sprouse in there, great big pulp concepts, very human stories. I never bought the collections for this (I used to have the issues), but I can see adding this to the shelf, the whole series in 3 hardcover volumes. Cool.

7:42pm: Huh, how about that. A gay lead character on the first page of the preview for GREEK STREET #1, from Peter Milligan. I’m sure there’s an obvious joke there but I ain’t gonna make it, I’m just happy to see any gay character in a comic book, they’re so underrepresented (and poorly represented when they do make an appearance!). GREEK STREET #1 is also one of Vertigo’s $1.00 first issues. I really dug THE UNWRITTEN #1, and the $1 promotion made me more inclined to give it a read, so cool beans. I’ll give this one a heavy order too, hopefully get a whole bunch of people hooked on it.

As for what it’s about? Apparently it’s a gritty-crime-update of Greek Mythology. Done and done.

7:49pm: So my friend Paul was so repulsed by the cover of Hellblazer #257 (p119) that he appeared to be flustered with anger. It’s… it’s not good, he’s totally right. I like Bisley, but. Yeah. At any rate, I think I said at the time “Well maybe they’re going for a lurid pulp-novel thing. It’ll work in context, once you get like, the right cover elements up there. Make it look like an old pulp-novel!” But as the date approaches, I grow more unsure. I guess we’ll know on July 22nd, but until then… Yeah. Not the best Hellblazer cover, that’s for sure.

8:02pm: As I skim quickly, so quickly, over the terrible DC Direct section, I just want to give props to all-around lovely guy Mike Sterling at Progressive Ruin, who takes the time to mock the most egregious bits of nerd ephemera solicited in the PREVIEWS catalogue every month. He calls his recaps THE END OF CIVILIZATION, which I think is an incredibly appropriate title, actually. Unfortunately he doesn’t tag or categorize his site, so far as I can tell, so linking to those posts is a little tough. But here’s a few workarounds:

The May ‘09 End Of Civilization (The Previews you’re reading about now!)
The June ‘09 End Of Civilization 

Mike also has a fairly-regularly updated list of his END OF CIVILIZATION posts on his right-sidebar, you can check those out for hours of hilarity. It’s the sort of hilarity where you cry a little. 

Okay, next…

8:16pm: IMAGE! Okay, new Mice Templar series (p139), Savage Dragon hits 150 issues (p141), and… here we go! ARMAGEDDON NOW: THE BEAST #1 (p142) featuring some dude desparately digitally painting over top of Rob Liefeld’s pencils, to try and make them look better. This is great. You know why? Because when you put A REALISTIC SHEEN on top of CRAP, it brings out EVERY FLAW. Liefeld’s stiffly-posed action characters on a sliding background, leaping in the air? It’s bold and graphic and, whatever, it looks like “comic book” art. It’s got a lot of energy and not much else. But when you render the fuck out of that, and colour it all brown and put it on top of a painted background and make it “realistic”? That’s when you notice OMG THE CHARATERS ARE ALL HOVERING 6-12 INCHES OFF THE GROUND. Like he can’t draw a character running, fine, everyone knows that, but when it’s “superheroey” it doesn’t matter, it’s just a cool pose. But when you try and make it REAL, then we get into distressing Uncanny Valley territory. Oh, snap, I got it. Rob Liefeld’s ARMAGEDDON NOW is the uncanny valley of comic books. AWESOME. Someone put that on the book jacket please. Here’s a shitty photo with my phone camera, so you can understand what EXACTLY I am talking about:

Seriously. That panel.. (actually, shit, that’s a FULL PAGE SPLASH of those two dudes, hahaha). “RARGH! LET’S FLOAT SLOWLY TOWARDS THE ENEMY WHILE SHOOTING DUDES IN THE HEAD!” If the actual dialogue was “RARGH! LET’S FLOAT SLOWLY TOWARDS THE ENEMIES WHILE SHOOTING THEM IN THE HEAD!!!” I’d be way more inclined to be charitable.

As it is, I am ordering zeh-ro of this clunker.

Oh, and, just so you don’t think I’m being totally vicious, we did order the similarly-awful Armageddon Now original hard cover, and have yet to sell it. But I’m still being totally vicious.

8:37pm: So I guess I officially don’t understand Dan Brereton. After pulling his NOCTURNALS books from Oni (…and I think Dark Horse too? No?), then self-publishing a nice omnibus collection of some of his older work, he is now at Image with the second collection of his work, meaning that there’s an orphan self-pub’d vol-1 HC floating around out there… and about 75% of all comics retailers are seeing this omnibus collection NOCTURNALS VOLUME 2 (p150) for the first time, cuz now it’s in the Image section. With no accompanying relist of volume 1. Which means 75% of retailers are just gonna skip this, because they “can’t get the first volume”. It’s tough out there for creator-owned work, I know that. I’ve got ENORMOUS sympathy for Mr. Brereton, and I really like NOCTURNALS too. But I look at something like this and just shake my head. I don’t get these decisions at all. 

(I just checked Diamond and the first HC omnibus is “Out Of Stock, No Back Orders”).

8:47pm: New printing of Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders’ FIVE FISTS OF SCIENCE this month. That’s nice. (p152). Oh, also a new volume of INVINCIBLE, which was solicited BEFORE the previous volume had come out. And! AND! All of the issues contained in this trade? Totally already printed. Will actually ship on time! Thanks for living up to your promise Mr. Kirkman, we’re selling a shitload of your books.

9:00pm: I’ll give Kevin Smith this: I can’t see the word BERSERKER (p168) without singing Would You Like Some Making Fuck BERSERKER quietly to myself. So, score one for him?

9:12pm: Hey, Marvel’s got a new HALO series! (p.4) I actually laughed at that. Good for them! Keep running up that hill, Marvel.

(That was for you, Naudi.)

9:15pm: Looks like The Previews Pages in the Marvel Previews are a little out of order this month… At any rate, nice cover on Wonderful Wizard of Oz #8 (p.17).

Actually, I did want to say that I think that Marvel’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is one of their most thoroughly-conceived, well-executed stories in a very long time. Eric Shanower and Skottie Young have done a great job at adapting the story for new audiences, and it’s sold very well here at the store. Good job all-around.

9:21pm: I’m gonna be honest, I’m still pretty out-of-the-loop on the superhero front because of TCAF and Anime North and all that. So Dark X-Men: The Beginning (p.21) has this header that says UTOPIA TIE-IN! and I have no idea what the hell that’s about. Cloak and Dagger are in this and Dagger has an X-Men logo over top her va-jay-jay. 

Okay, flipping the page, it seems UTOPIA is running through Uncanny X-Men and Dark Avengers, both of which are written by Matt Fraction. That makes me feel a little better I guess. So that Dark X-Men: The Beginning is one of those interminable side-stories that don’t affect the plot in any way that Marvel likes to pump out? Okay, good, I know how to order those at least. And I just assume I order the Fraction stuff as normal, maybe with a little bit of a bump because there isn’t, generally, a 100% overlap between Uncanny X-Men and Avengers readers. See! This is how I figure out how to order everything! This column isn’t just pointless snark, you’re learning how retailers think!

9:26pm: You know it’s 9:30pm on a Friday, we should all be out drinking. Just saying. 

9:30pm: So am I reading this right? Spider-Man is getting married in Amazing Spider-Man #600? (p.42) Like I said, I’m out of the loop, but didn’t they undo all that shit like… a year ago? Or is this like how Archie is about to get married, as in, not real?

Also, is it just me or is the anatomy on Spidey’s shoulder in this Quesada cover totally fucked up? It looks like he’s got a shoulder wedged between his bicep and chin, and another on his back where his back and arm meet. Any thoughts on this from any artists reading? Cuz… cuz it looks pretty wonky.

9:45pm: So Incredible Hulk #600 threatens to unleash the secret of who The Red Hulk actually is. That’s pretty cool. We’ve been doing well with that series, and the recent switchover from Thor’s reboot numbering to the new-numbering went alright. Although a big part of that is keeping a strong creative team. Let’s peak ahead and see who’s on Incredible Hulk #601… Van Lente and Pak? Huh, apparently they’re launching this as a new ongoing, not as a replacement for the HULK series (which has issues 13 and 14 next month). That’s… weird. It’s probably difficult to be a Marvel fan and keep your collection in order? I am glad that is not my problem.

9:48pm: Haha… That’s great. Immortal Iron Fist has a spin-off: IMMORTAL WEAPONS (p.53). Sort of like team-Iron Fist. Featuring FAT COBRA in the first issue. Big-ups on Fraction for introducing that character, and for everything he represents.

9:50pm: So this month we see the debut of IRON MAN: IRON ADVENTURES based on the new 3d animated cartoon. I actually caught an episode of that and thought it was alright… Decent animation, engaging-enough story. Good character designs. Unfortunately the writer and artist on this are “To Be Announced”, so I can’t tell if this is comics or just frames from the show blown up and printed. As such, I’ll order low and try to reorder, I guess. The cinemanga-type comics just don’t do well for us. 

9:51pm: I’ve got no comment on Marvel Divas #1. I don’t really know who it’s for, and I don’t think IT knows who it’s for either. Low order.

9:53pm: Okay, wait. So they’ve got the HULK series with the Red Hulk, and they’re launching an Incredible Hulk ongoing featuring Skaar, Son of Hulk, but they’re… also going to keep the Son of Hulk series going? Really? Are there really enough fans for this, for 3 ongoing Hulk series’? Cuz I don’t think they shop at my store.

9:57pm: So it looks like it’s the end for INCOGNITO (p.79) with issue #6… and I couldn’t be happier! I’m always happy when stories have endings, that this is going to be a great book for the bookshelf and a strong seller for us. Hopefully it gooses the sales on CRIMINAL as well, which should start up again soon. I kind of wonder if, on some level (not the only level obv.), INCOGNITO was a six-issue advertisement for CRIMINAL… You know, all these guys reading Marvel comics, hanging out on message boards, they probably hear how great CRIMINAL is but, let’s face it, they only ever read the superhero books. So even though it’s published by Marvel, even though it got relaunched with a new #1 issue, they’re probably going to pass. But you take all the bits that make up a great CRIMINAL story-arc, and you put superhero-masks on all of the characters, and maybe that’s enough for them, to meet them half way so they realize “Hey this is pretty good!” I mean, the Marvel: Noir stuff sort of dilutes the brand, but really, our INCOGNITO sales are great, higher even than CRIMINAL, and I’m hoping… not just hoping but banking actually… that when CRIMINAL comes back in a month or two, we’ll see higher sales across the board. And we’ve got 4 trade paperbacks to sell them too.

Here’s hoping, eh?

10:06pm: And we’re done. For tonight. 

Not that I’m not enjoying myself, but it really IS 10:00 on a Friday night, so at the very least I’m gonna go and grab a drink. We’ll continue the dissection of the May 2009 Previews catalogue with… THE BACK OF THE CATALOGUE… on Monday morning. Thanks for reading, feel free to comment in the comment section!

- Chris

America, these are your rights and freedoms being eroded. Something that makes you feel squeamish but is entirely legal in other first-world countries might send this guy to jail for 15 years, with a $500,000 fine. Something that you reading this could be guilty of* by google image-searching the wrong Japanese manga-ka’s name with the “safesearch” turned off. 

“Mr. Handley now faces the loss of his freedom and his property, all for owning a handful of comic books. It’s chilling. ” – Charles Brownstein, Executive Director, CBLDF

“Personally, I wish the CBLDF had been running the case, and not Mr Handley’s lawyers… it’s a bad outcome all around: bad for him, bad for comics and bad for the First Amendment.” – Neil Gaiman

- Christopher
*Actually, only partially guilty for posession, not the mail-related charges. Point stands.

Here are a few things recently that I read, that I enjoyed.

1. http://www.comixology.com/articles/228/I-Dont-Like-Me-Either-So-Were-Even

2. http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/brubaker_cooke_rough/

3. http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/11/17/a-conversation-with-lynda-barry/

So, yeah. Tucker’s article does one of my favourite things when talking about comics–it takes an entirely intangible idea, makes it solid, and then explains why you should give a shit. That’s the sort of thing I like writing about, that’s the sort of thing I like reading. On and off I’ll disagree with a point or a conclusion he makes, but the meat of the piece, don’t get complacent about the stature of comics, is a great idea, well expressed.

Meanwhile, Tom Spurgeon’s joint interview with Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker, and Scott Dunbier, on Cooke’s upcoming PARKER: THE HUNTER graphic novel from IDW? That’s great reading. A good interview is obviously helped along by good interview subjects, and Cooke and Brubaker can talk and talk even on their worst days they’re entertaining. But I’ve read shitty interviews with both creators, where the interviewers just totally let them down. Spurgeon’s a professional and a talented one, he keeps them engaged, focussed, and the annecdotes and jocular back-and-forth are nicely balanced with nuts-and-bolts answers that cover the 5 W’s, the H, and a few more besides.

Finally, D&Q just linked to this interview with Lynda Barry at The Walrus. It was conducted last year in the midst of Lynda! Barry! Fever! which included tons of interviews and coverage of Barry and her graphic novel/creative writing course, WHAT IT IS! I don’t think I mentioned it at the time, but I quite enjoyed it (it and Spurgeon’s stood out to me, actually), so I figured I’d bring it up now. It’s a solid, wide-ranging interview with Barry about her work and life. Good stuff.

So there’s three things to read. 

- Chris

Anyway, if you want to see what went down in 2008, the list is below. Thanks again to all of the great artists, writers, authors, and organizations we were fortunate enough to work with last year… and this year. 2009 is already off to a pretty solid start, if I do say so!

–

Author Events at The Beguiling, 2008

Cecil Castellucci (Janes In Love), The Beguiling, January 30th
Scott Hepburn (Star Wars: VECTOR), The Beguiling, January 30th

Kean Soo (Jellaby Volume 1), Keep Toronto Reading, February 5th
Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet Volume 1), Keep Toronto Reading, February 5th
In Association with Toronto Public Library 

Kean Soo (Jellaby Volume 1), The Beguiling, February 6th
Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet Volume 1), The Beguiling, February 6th

Michel Rabagilati (Paul Goes Fishing), Lillian H. Smith Library, March 15th

R.G. Taylor (Growing Up With Comics), Industry Night, March 26th
Ron Kasman (Growing Up With Comics), Industry Night, March 26th
Mark Innes (Comic Eye), Industry Night, March 26th

Jillian Tamaki Art Show, The Beguiling, April 14th-May 30th

Free Comic Book Day For Kids! @ Palmerston Library, May 3rd
Featuring: Michael Cho (Max Finder Mysteries), Steven Manale (You Crack Me Up!), Brian McLachlan (Owl Magazine), and Jeremy Tankard (Grumpy Bird).
Presented in association with Toronto Public Library, Scholastic Books, and Owlkids. Image shown below, featuring Jeremy Tankard.

Free Comic Book Day at The Beguiling, May 3rd
Featuring J. Korim (Penciler, Atomic Robo FCBD Edition), Jessie Lam (Colorist, Neozoic), Tyrone McCarthy (Creator, Corduroy High), Alana McCarthy (Illustrator), Tara Talan (Galaxion), Willow Dawson (Violet Miranda), Nick Mandaag (Artist and self-publisher), Chip Zdarsky (Monster Cops).

Stuart Immonen, The Beguiling, May 28th

Luminato Arts Festival, June 8th
Featuring Spain Rodriguez (Che: A Graphic Biography), Dan Goldman (Shooting War), and Bernice Eisenstein (I Was A Child Of Holocaust Survivors). 
Presented in association with Luminato. 

Blake Bell (Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko), Lillian H. Smith Library, June 18th

Jason (Low Moon, Pocket Full of Rain), The Beguiling, June 10th 

Ray Fawkes (Apocalipstix), Revival Bar, August 6th
Cameron Stewart (Apocalipstix), Revival Bar, August 6th

The Doug Wright Awards, August 10th
Official Bookseller

Russel Lissau (The Batman Strikes!), The Beguiling, August 29th

Matthew Forsythe (Ojingogo), The Beguiling, September 27th
Pat Shechuk (Pohadky), The Beguiling, September 27th
Marek Colek (Pohadky), The Beguiling, September 27th

The Word On The Street, Graphic Novel Tent Official Sponsor, September 28th
Featuring: D.J. Steinberg, Steve Manale, Brian McLachlan, Jim Zubkavich, Matt Moylan, Jeremy Tankard, Matt Hammill, Steve Murray, Mariko Tamaki, Ray Fawkes, Cameron Stewart, Jim Munroe, Ramon Perez, Ray Fenwick, Susan Hughes, Willow Dawson, Pat Shewchuck, Marek Colek, Matt Forsythe, Andy Bellanger, Joey Comeau, Emily Horne, Matt Forsythe, Ryan North, Kate Beaton, Ramon Perez.

Street Fighter Tribute Launch, The Beguiling, September 28th
Featuring nearly two-dozen different comics creators including Cameron Stewart, Bobby Chiu, Kei Acedera, Scott Hepburn, Alex Milne, Arthur Dela Cruz, Eric Kim, Alvin Lee, Omar Dogan, Joe Ng, Christine Choi, Eric Vedder, Joe Vriens, Matt Moylan, Jim Zubkavich, Saejin Oh, and many more.

Lynda Barry (What It Is!), IFOA/Writing The Unthinkable, October 23rd-26th
Chip Kidd (Bat-Manga), IFOA, October 25th-26th

Shaun Tan (The Arrival), The Beguiling, October 28th

Chris Onstad (Achewood, The Great Outdoor Fight), The Beguiling, November 4th

Igort (Baobab, Ignatz Line), The Beguiling, November 15th
David B. (Epileptic, Nocturnal Emissions), The Beguiling, November 15th

Maurice Vellekoop (Pin-Ups), Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, November 25th

Dave Lapp (Drop-In), The Beguiling, December 3rd

Kramers Ergot World Tour, The Beguiling, December 11th
Featuring Sammy Harkham, Seth, Shary Boyle, Souther Salazar, Kevin Huizenga, John Pham

Faith Erin Hicks (The War At Ellsmere), The Beguiling, December 17th

–

So, yeah. Come to Toronto. We are doing awesome things here, we’d love for you to be a part of it.

- Chris

So a few months ago when Achewood creator Chris Onstad came to Toronto, I had the pleasure of a sharing a meal with Mr. Onstad and Dinosaur Comics creator Ryan North. They discussed important, world-altering subjects about the future of the internet, and I, for my part, asked “Hey what’s up with Charlie Smuckles? Didn’t he go back in time with Molly’s family after the wedding?”

I’m usually pretty good about not being a nerd around comics people I admire, but Onstad is a bit mythical at the best of times, and he’s the creator of characters that I occasionally forget aren’t real. So yeah, I nerded out, and the reward for my nerditry was a casual brush-off. “He’s fine. I’m sure I’ll get to it,” or something similar, before he returned to his discussion with Mr. North about whether to invest their vast web-fortunes, or instead keep them in their current gold-krugerrand form.

Now, months later, the terrifying story behind a petulant 14 year old caught in the past is being rolled out at Achewood, as we all witness the power of the toilet, nacho chip, and brassiere. Oh, and 1800s freestyle puritan rap.

It’s quite good, I suggest moseying over and reading it. And if you’ve never read Achewood before, you’ve got no real excuse. The whole thing is up online and there’s even a print-version out now, with another on the way soonish.

- Christopher

Bonus: Since Spurgeon likes it when I describe the comics industry using Achewood as a metaphor: In the comic strip above Charlie Smuckles is webcomics and the puritans are every print cartoonist in a Daily Cartoonist comments thread ever, especially Wiley. Only the commenters at the Daily Cartoonist don’t have the excuse of being literally hundreds of years in the past, only metaphorically and only 30-40 years, but that’s why this is a metaphor. And a surprisingly apt one.

So I am a little sleepy still but feel good, TCAF went well. I want to blog though, but starting a post at 1:00am is probably a bad idea, I do actually have to go back to work tomorrow for reelz. Next weekend is Anime North, which, believe it or not, actually takes more out of me than TCAF does… I think it’s because TCAF is ultimately an energizing thing for me, whereas AN is a purely retail experience. Which is fine, but it doesn’t have that community/rally/prostelityzing component that makes me come off of TCAF feeling good.

Speaking of, I think I sort of half mentioned it, but Open Book Toronto (an advocacy group for Canadian/Ontarian/Torontonian Publishing) has declared it “Graphic Novel Month” here in Ontario, and is doing all kinds of coverage of Canadian graphic novelists, publishers, and festivals (heh), through a specially-set-up website called Whazamo! You can find them at http://www.openbooktoronto.com/whazamo.

Today, their TCAF wrap-up video got linked on Boing Boing courtesy of Cory Doctorow (who was at the show this year). So yeah, we got BoingBoing’d, which is lovely and I’m very appreciative to Mr. Doctrow for the coverage and attention. And thanks to Ian Daffern for putting the piece together in the first place–I owe you a beer.

I’m sure I’ll end up doing a more thorough TCAF wrap-up piece, probably this weekend. I also really want to review a bunch of the books I was able to pick up this year. I actually got two pages of art, 3 posters/prints, and like 30-40 books this year, which is amazing considering that in 2007 I walked away with like… nothing. So yeah, tons and tons of great-looking work to talk about too.

Weirdest thing post-TCAF is being back at The Beguiling Wednesday and having a customer ask me for “Blackest Night #0″, which feels like it came out forever ago, now, and it’s a reminder that for two weeks I participated in both a comics medium AND a comics industry that had almost nothing to do with the superhero mainstream. I know that it’ll seem weird to a bunch of my readers, but there are artistically and economically thriving areas of comics that don’t have anything to do with Diamond, Marvel, or DC. It’s weird to be dropped back into that, but it’s good to know, to keep some perspective on the whole thing.

Anyway, barring incident, back up to speed shortly! But until then, everyone go read some good comic books.

- Christopher

Behind the cut:

Saturday May 9^th

10:00am-5:00pm: Academic Programming Stream, Andrew Lesk, University of Toronto

This semi-private stream of programming featuring noted academics working in the fields of comics and art will occur during all open hours of TCAF. A full schedule will be posted, and seating preference will be given to registered attendees of this programming. 5 minutes before each programming session, a survey of available space will be taken and general TCAF attendees will be allowed to fill and unused seating.

Learning Centre 2

10:15am-11:15am: Concept Comics: Abstract Comics Ideas

Comics have been described as a hybrid medium that performs an elaborate show and tell – with concrete images covering the “show” part of this equation, and abstract language the “tell.”  But a number of artists have recalibrated the formal elements of comics to concretely portray intangible concepts, from emotional states and sensory perceptions to mathematical concepts and abstract ideologies. Bill Kartalopoulos will investigate the challenges and opportunities of communicating abstract ideas in the comics form with artists Tom Kaczynski, Scott McCloud, Dash Shaw and Jason Shiga.

Learning Centre 1

10:30am-11:30am: The Secret History of Manga in North America!

It’s been more than 30 years since the first manga was translated into English. How did it all happen? From MixxZine to Raijin, from Astro Boy to OEL, join Jason Thompson (Manga: The Complete Guide) on a visual time machine full of dreamers, self-publishers, antiwar activists, and ninja. Lots of ninja.

TCAF Gallery

11:15am-12:30pm: Spotlight: Anke Feuchteberger

German artist and TCAF Guest of Honour Anke Feuchtenberger is equally at home in the worlds of comics and fine art. This creator has had a long, varied, and fascinating career, from creating very political art on the other side of the iron curtain to her contemporary gallery showings and comics releases. ICAF member Mark D. Nevins will interview Anke in a panel designed to illuminate her life and work, and welcome newcomers to it. A spirited Q&A will cap-off the session.

Learning Centre 1.

11:30pm-12:30pm: Manga Around The World! International Perspectives on Manga

Cartoonist and About.com Manga guide Deb Aoki hosts a panel of international manga creators from across the globe including Antoine Dodé (Armelle et Mon Oncle), Becky Cloonan (Demo), Eric Ko (UDON Entertainment), Bryan Lee O’Malley (Scott Pilgrim), Jason Thompson (Manga: The Complete Guide).

TCAF Gallery

12:30pm-1:30pm: Awesome Comix!

Join Frank Santoro, Robin McConnell, Dash Shaw, Dustin Harbin and Robert Dayton for a look at how mainstream comics of the silver and bronze age have a relevance and impact on modern alternative comics. The panel will explore the legacy of some of the more interesting “mainstream” work from the 70’s through to the 90’s.

Learning Centre 1

12:30pm-2:00pm: Spotlight: Emmanuel Guibert

Join international superstar comics creator Emmanuel Guibert as he discusses his groundbreaking new graphic novel The Photogapher. The Photographer relates the story of Didier Lefevre, a photo-journalist covering a Doctor Without Borders mission in 1980’s Afghanistan. Guibert incorporates Lefevre’s actual photos into the comics narrative to create a compelling, evocative, and deep work on this very serious subject. Guibert will discuss the work with moderator Bart Beaty.

TCAF Gallery

1:30pm-2:30pm: Books For Boys: Graphic Novels for Reluctant Readers

Sure the girls are reading graphic novels now, but what about the boys? Creators Eric Wight (Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom), Frank Cammuso (Knights of the Lunch Table), Chad Solomon (The Adventures of Rabbit and Bearpaws) and J. Torres (Batman: The Brave and the Bold) discuss writing for a boy audience and the tricks they use to turn reluctant readers into lifelong readers. Moderated by Good Comics For Kids/SLJ blogger, Scott Robins.

TCAF Gallery

2:00pm-3:30pm: Scott McCloud: FAQ

Being one of the most public faces for the entire comics industry can be tough! Luckily, Scott McCloud is up to the challenge! The author of Understanding Comics, Making Comics, and ZOT! will be talking and taking questions from the audience! Have you ever had a question for Scott McCloud? What IS comics anyway? Well here’s your chance to ask Scott! A spirited discussion is sure to be held. Moderator TBA.

TCAF Gallery

2:00pm-3:00pm: DIY Comics Seminar, with Willow Dawson

Need a kickstart to your comics project but not sure where to start? Willow Dawson (No Girls Allowed, 100 Mile House) explains the process of making a comic from idea to script to finished art. Then you put what you’ve learned to the test and create your own short comics, mini-comics and ‘zines.

Toronto Star Presentation Area, Lower Level

2:30pm-3:30pm: Spotlight on Francois Ayroles and Florent Ruppert.

Please join us in welcoming TCAF Guests of Honour Francois Ayroles and Florent Ruppert in their first appearance at a North American comics event! Francois Ayroles is the author of the debuting-at-TCAF work Key Moments from the History of Comics, and Florent Ruppert is one half of the cartooning duo Ruppert and Mulot, whose work has appeared in Kramers Ergot 7. Ayroles and Ruppert will be interviewed by Dr. Bart Beaty, eurocomics critic for Comicsreporter.com and author of Unpopular Culture: Transforming the European Comic Book in the 1990s.

TCAF Gallery Space

3:30pm-5:00pm: Storytelling Workshop, with Mark Siegel

Join First Second Books Editor-in-Chief Mark Siegel in a combination lecture/workshop on storytelling in graphic novels. Aspiring creators and established professionals alike are sure to find enjoy Mark’s presentation, as he discusses the difference in storytelling between graphic novels in Asia, Europe, and North America, and what we have to learn from one another. Note: Attendance for this workshop is strictly limited to 60 participants. Participants must register at the main registration desk before 12noon.

Learning Centre 1

3:30pm-4:30pm: Spotlight: Craig Yoe

Craig Yoe is a cartoonist, designer, and comics archivist whose most recent project has ignited a storm of controversy and interest! The book is Secret Identity: The Fetish Drawings of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster, and features truly shocking—and yet undeniably important—drawings by Shuster made at a difficult time in the creator’s life. Done for the magazines that may have single-handedly kicked off the anti-comics crusades that nearly destroyed the comics industry in the 1950s, this book is a revelation for classic comics and superhero fans. Yoe will be interviewed by Douglas Wolk, noted critic and author of Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean.

TCAF Gallery

7:00pm-9:00pm: Event: Comic Books Are Totally Gay!

What’s gay about comic books? Everything! From Batman and Robin right up to 300 Spartans and Dykes To Watch Out For. Meet queer comics creators Liz Baille (My Brain Hurts), J. Bone (Jett Vector), Tim Fish (Cavalcade of Boys), Justin Hall (Hard To Swallow), Steve MacIsaac (Shirtlifter), and Erika Moen (Dar: A Girly Comic) as they read from their newest works. Then Alan Moore collaborator Jose Villarrubia will lead all of the creators in a spirited conversation about what’s queer in comics, both on the page and behind the scenes.

This event takes place off-site at Fire On The East Side Bar & Restaurant, 6 Gloucester Street, 4 blocks south of Toronto Reference Library.

Sunday May 10^th

11:15am-12:00pm: Storybook Theatre, with Hilary Leung, David Bruins and Matt Hammill

Join creators Hilary Leung & David Bruins as they read from their picture book The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear and play the Ninja Cowboy Bear game! Then, Matt Hammill, author-illustrator of the critically acclaimed picture book Sir Reginald’s Logbook, will take kids on an imaginative journey…involving monsters!

Owlkids Day Gallery Space

11:30am-1:00pm: All About Eurocomics!

Join professor Bart Beaty, author of the book Unpopular Culture: Transforming the European Comic Book in the 1990s in this introduction to, and exploration of, the world of Bande Desinee and European Comic Books. Joining him are all of TCAF’s wonderful European cartoonists, including Florent Ruppert (Panier de Singe), Francois Ayroles (Les Amis), Anke Feuchtenberger (W The Whore), Emmanuel Guibert (The Photographer), Antoine Dode (Armele), and Jose Villarrubia (The Mirror of Love).

Learning Centre 1

11:30am-12:30pm: Will Libraries Save Graphic Novels?

In this time of economic uncertainty, graphic novel publishers are looking to librarians for their support. Join panelists Jim Ottaviani (creator, T-Minus: The Race to the Moon), Lisa Heggum (librarian, Toronto Public Library), Douglas Davey (librarian, Halton Hills Public Library), Kent Allin (teacher, Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board), Diana Malizewski (teacher, Toronto District School Board) and Scott Robins (blogger, Good Comics for Kids/SLJ) as they discuss the current and future role of graphic novels in school and public libraries. Moderated by The Beguiling’s Library Services Coordinator, Jason Azzopardi.

Learning Centre 2

12:00pm-1:00pm: Owlkids: Kids Draw!

Feel like drawing? Clayton Hanmer (CTON’s Super A-Maze-ing Year of Crazy Comics!), Scott Chantler (Three Thieves), Patricia Storms (The Pirate and the Penguin) and Wendy Ding (Chirp magazine) demonstrate the basics of cartooning… with your help! Watch them create awesome art right before your very eyes. Moderated by Naseem Hrab of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.

Owlkids Day Gallery Space

12:30pm-1:30pm: Graphic Novels for Young Adults
Creators of young adult comics and graphic novels discuss what it’s like to write, illustrate and create for teen readers. Panelists include Nate Powell (Swallow Me Whole), Cecil Castellucci (The Plain Janes), Derek Kirk Kim (Eternal Sunshine), Jeff Lemire (The Essex County Trilogy) and Mariko Tamaki (Skim). Moderated by Stacy King, middle grade author and Marketing Manager of UDON Kids.

Learning Centre 2

1:00pm-2:30pm: Newspapers, Comic Books, and The Internet.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past few years, you know that newspapers—and especially editorial cartoonists and daily comic strips—are undergoing a radical change thanks to the Internet. Comic books are facing this sea-change as well, and everyone wants to know what’s going to happen. What’s next? Luckily, we’ve got the answer. We’ve assembled a crack team of panelists to discuss the future of newspapers, the future of comics, and their possible future on the internet.

On the panel is R. Stevens, the creator of the webcomic Diesel Sweeties. He entered into a deal with United Features Syndicate to distribute his comic in newspapers, and ultimately left that deal to concentrate on his web efforts. Joining him will be: Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics and the controversial futurist text Reinventing Comics; Stuart Immonen, an accomplished “mainstream” comics artist on Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man, and also a self-publisher who prints his own books and comics, and serializes work online; Brendan Buford, Comics Editor for King Features Syndicate, and a cartoonist, publisher, and someone who works with mainstream book publishers; and John Martz, co-creator of Drawn.ca and Chair of the Canadian Chapter of The National Cartoonist Society. The panel will be moderated by Steven Murray, writer, illustrator, self-publisher, webcomics artist, and cartoonist and journalist for Canada’s National Post newspaper.

Learning Centre 1

1:00pm-1:30pm: Eric Wight Presents: Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom!

Meet Frankie Pickle, the kid with the most amazing imagination! Eric Wight will introduce fans to this brand new character for young readers with a reading from The Closet of Doom and a live drawing presentation.

Owlkids Day Gallery Space

1:30pm-2:30pm: Going to School For Comics

Are there benefits to going to an institute of higher educated in order to learn… comic books? We’ll meet several graduates of art, illustration, and comics-specific programs who do comics, as they talk about their experiences in art school, and how they’ve applied them to their comics career. Panelists include Lucy Knisely, Ross Campbell, Ginette LaPalme, Tom Humberstone. Moderated by Douglas Wolk.

Learning Centre 2

1:30pm-2:00pm: Alexis Frederick-Frost Presents: Adventures in Cartooning!

Can you draw simple things like trees, fish and candy? If your answer is YES, then Alexis Frederick-Frost will show you the basics of how to turn your doodles into comics to share with your friends.

Owlkids Day Gallery Space

1:30pm-2:30pm: Reading: Cecil Castellucci

Cecil Castellucci is the author of the young adult graphic novels The P.L.A.I.N Janes and Janes In Love, and a plethora of great YA Novels! Join Cecil as she reads from her works in this special presentation for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival!

Toronto Star Presentation Area, Lower Level

2:00pm-2:30pm: John Mejias Presents: Paping: A Puppet Show!

John Mejias. Owlkids Day Gallery Space

2:00pm-3:30pm: Signing: Kid Koala and Paul Pope.

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is proud to present musician, turntablist, and cartoonist Kid Koala at this exclusive signing! Joining him for the signing will be TCAF Guest of Honour Paul Pope, author of 100%, Heavy Liquid, and THB.

Beguiling Signing Area, 2^nd Floor

2:30pm-3:00pm: Cartoonists and Cartoons: Comics Artists Who Animate!

What are the ties between comics and animation? Do all comic artists secretly want to be animators? Do all animators want to do comics? Which one is “just the day job?” We’ll meet comics creators and animators including Graham Annable, Faith Erin Hicks, Brian Envinou, and Paul Rivoche as they discuss the ins and outs of both industries. Moderated by Jim Zubkavich.

Learning Centre 1

2:30pm-3:30pm: Editing Comics

The role of a comics editor – particularly in auteur-driven comics – is as varied and difficult to define as it is important and influential. Panelists Alvin Buenventura, Brendan Burford, Tom Devlin and Greg Means will join moderator Bill Kartalopoulos to discuss various forms of editing, from editing individual pieces, anthologies, and daily comic strips to choosing artists and books for publication.

Learning Centre 2

2:30pm-3:30pm: Spotlight: Emmanuel Guibert’s SARDINE!

Join the author of the hilarious SARDINE series, Emmanuel Guibert in an interactive presentation as he speaks all about the goofy adventures of this red-headed space heroine—a feast for the imagination of young readers.

Owlkids Day Gallery Space

3:30pm-5:00pm: TELETOON’s Superfan Fridays Presents: The Many Incarnations of The Batman

The Batman has been a consistently popular character since his introduction in 1939. But who is The Batman? Is he a dark and brooding vigilante? A bright and fun character for kids? A kitsch icon doing the “Bat-Tusi”? Yes! There are an unlimited number of interpretations and incarnations of The Batman, and in this panel we’ll the creators who bring The Batman to life! Join Paul Pope, author of the century-spanning Batman Year 100, J. Torres, writer of the comic book Batman: The Brave and The Bold based on the new cartoon, J. Bone, artist for DC Superfriends and Justice League: The New Frontier, and Paul Rivoche, background artist and designer for various Batman cartoon series including “Batman: The Animated Series,” “Batman Beyond,” and “The New Frontier.”

Learning Centre 1

3:30pm-4:30pm: Critics Roundtable.

A panel of top comics critics will address general issues facing comics criticism today and will discuss several new and recent works – including the new Doug Wright anthology and David Mazzucchelli’s forthcoming Asterios Polyp – in a lively roundtable conversation. Bart Beaty, Jeet Heer, Dan Nadel and Douglas Wolk will share their acute critical insights with moderator Bill Kartalopoulos.

Learning Centre 2

3:30pm-4:30pm: Kids Draw!

Do you wanna learn how to draw? Join a fantastic lineup of kids’ cartoonists as they teach kids the basics of cartooning! Cartoonists include Frank Cammuso (Knights of the Lunch Table), Tom Fowler (MAD Magazine), John Martz (Drawn.ca, Kayak magazine) and Kean Soo (Jellaby). Moderated by Naseem Hrab of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.

Owlkids Day Gallery Space

4:30pm-5:00pm: Reading: Miriam Libicki

Joing Miriam Libicki, author of jobik! an american girl’s adventures in the israeli army as she reads from her politically-charged work.

Learning Center 2

- It is now Ontario Graphic Novel Month, courtesy of Open Book: Toronto’s WHAZAMO!
- We’re getting daily coverage in Toronto’s National Post daily newspaper, with profiles on about half of the total guests of the festival. I don’t know if people know this, but many of these are appearing in the newspaper as well as online.
- I gave a run-down/preview of TCAF last Saturday.
- Oh, it looks like my interview with Comic News Insider’s Jimmy Aquino just went live. Fun-fact: I hadn’t slept for 24 hours before I did this interview! Let’s go and listen and see if I’m coherent.

More TCAFy goodness soon. Tom and Dirk are doing a great job of linking everything, check’em out in case I don’t get back here to after it’s all over.

Oh, and I just got back from a sorta-private reception for Mr. Tatsumi at The Japan Foundation, where he did an illustration in every book that people brought him, which was kind of amazing. By the by, Mr. Tatsumi is warm, funny, and likes to laugh. Neat guy.

So, yeah, that’s about where I’m at right now. Excited, a little nervous, busting my ass every day, good stuff.

- Christopher

I’m totally totally swamped so I can’t really be blogging. But I found this incredibly cool. From Mark Ellersby’s livejournal:

“Hey everyone, I hope you’re all enjoying May bank holiday. I spent yesterday plowing through cheap stapled goodness at the London Zine Symposium and watched The Wedding Singer. Oh, and I booked a last minute flight to Toronto for this week. No, really.

“I’ll be appearing at the TCAF festival, though I won’t have a table and I’ll just be doing the odd hour signing at the Oni booth, details of which to come. Basically, I was listening to the TCAF preview edition of InkStuds and it sounded so bloody amazing that 2 days later I booked a flight and a hotel room for me and Anna. Wooo!”

So, yeah. That’s kind of insanely heartening to hear.

I actually heard that John Pham would be coming up to Toronto as well! Cool beans.

Back to work,

- Christopher

Unfortunately Annie and her crew didn’t quite make it into the book this year, but that just means we can make this strip EXTRA FREE! So check out the first ever adventure of Andy B.’s ANNIE ARCADE below. And if you’re at The Beguiling today, stop by the store to meet Andy and get a special “tip-in” version of the comic strip to insert into your copy of Comics Festival!  

For more of Andy B.’s work, and more adventures of Annie Arcade, check out http://andybelanger.com/?p=203. 

Happy Free Comic Book Day!

- Christopher

10:19pm: I know Wizard has been firing a lot of people lately, but seriously, did they let go of all of their designers? These Previews pages look like the intern threw them together, and the intern only knows how to use MS Word. Meanwhile, ANOTHER Obama cover on this issue. That poor dead horse that these guys keep beating.

10:21pm: I’m just saying, “Obama Cover, by Artist To Be Announced.” Come on…

10:22pm: Another month, another solicited issue of Anime Insider that is never going to come out. Actually, I just realized that these pages look like they’ve been designed by the PREVIEWS team, which is why I don’t like them. They look seriously weak. Oh how the mighty… etc.

10:23pm: Ah, and thanks to Super-Con in San Jose, we get a little Comic Sans. How Avant Garde.

10:25pm: Speaking of which, Cerebus Archive #2 has a Zombie/Obama Variant for $15.00. At least I’m not as cynical as Dave Sim.

10:27pm: I feel kinda bad, I never actually checked out Scott Morse’s first “Ancient Book of” book for Adhouse. Although this one is about Sex, so that will probably entice me more than Myth/War. Oh, and Johnny Hiro gets a lovely collection that I shall be ordering. Good series, that one. Nice price-point too, 200 pages for $15.00. That’s a steal.

10:29pm: SLG Publishing have thrown a lot of marketting muscle behind their new CAPTAIN BLOOD comic book, and it does look quite nice. Beautiful colours on the cover too. We had some success with The Black Coat, a pirate adventure series published intermitently over the past few years. Hopefully this one will do well for us too.

10:32pm: So I actually read the description for Bad Kids Go To Hell #1, from Antarctic. It’s a high-concept comedy/thriller, described as “The Breakfast Club” meets “The Grudge”. And, yeah, alright, it sounds like a sort of cheesy movie, I’d watch it if it came on the TV and it wasn’t censored on TBS or something. But it’s a movie on paper; a book about sexy teens intended for a sexy teen audience. Where in the hell are they going to find that audience at Antarctic Press? Why is this a comic at all, other than just as an intermediate step to getting it optioned soemwhere? It’s described as a movie, and the cover art just looks awkward (the proportions are all off). Why turn a movie pitch into a mediocre comic book? Or a comic at all?

10:36pm: Archaia Studios Returns! At least The Killer will end now, and Alex Sheikman who creates Robotika is a nice guy. But I don’t really feel good about the company, I’ve heard too much from creators unhappy how they were treated during the fallow period… and I’m not crazy about what I heard about their new parent company either. Anyway, whatever. I’ll order what I think will sell, but I’m certainly not going to ‘invest’ in the company until they get back on track and make amends with the people they’ve wronged.

10:41pm: Hey, a second collection of Julia Wertz’ Fart Party. Cool stuff. The first one was pretty great actually, recommended.

10:44pm: I have to bump the numbers on Gravel again. Nice to see a series picking up readers as it goes. Oh and Ignition City did alright too… And contrary to Ellis’ assertions that “we wouldn’t do variant covers if people didn’t buy them”, our order for the single-cover FRANKENSTEIN’S WOMB (there’s a HC too, but we’ll ignore that) just ended up being higher than our orders for all of the covers on Ignition or Gravel combined. We order the variants because they’re available, not because people are buying more than one. At least not in my experience. Or in an apples-to-apples comparisson, We’re ordering exactly as many copies of all Anna Mercury #1 with 4 different covers  as we did of Ignition City #1 with 3 covers, we just divided them differently. Anyway, not that this has anything to do with anything, it’s just been sticking in my craw, so to speak, seeing Ellis send that message out into the world.

10:55pm: Am i really supposed to order the Tek War comic? Really? Someone weigh in in the comments. I just don’t know.

10:57pm: I have to say, an extended, faithful adaptation of Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a surprisingly ambitious project for BOOM to take on… i think that’s kind of amazing actually. I hope they do a good job, and I’m excited to see it.

I have to say, their section on the whole looks kind of put-together and organized this month, which is nice. I feel like the past few months have been a little haphazzard, particularly with the volume of books they solicit in a given month. A set-up in the Previews more like IDW would benefit them for sure.

11:06pm: Alright! I wanted to take a second to mention Box Brown’s Love is A Peculiar Type Of Thing! It’s a Xeric Grant winning book, a collection of webcomics and short strips, and it’s about this dude growing up and being fucked up and trying to get over it. It’s navel-gazing indy autobio comics, the exact sort of terrible filth that superhero fans like to step up and deride! Loudly! In an us versus them argument, this is THEM with a capital EVERY LETTER. It’s got Drug Use in it, for pete’s sake! Drugs! How could he!?

It’s great, I loved it. Totally worth your $10. Order two: one for you, and give the other one to a feckless 20-something that can’t figure a way out of their current situation.

More at:  http://www.topshelfcomix.com/ts2.0/artist/318  and  http://boxbrown.com/book/.

11:13pm: On the other end of the spectrum, Devil’s Due Productions has declared June OBAMA MONTH! Fuuuuuuuuuuuck. Comics you ruin fucking everything. I refuse to engage your awful offerings.

Actually, fuck it. I’m not ordering any of this for the shelf. We’re The Beguiling. We have principles. If you want any of this nonsense, I hope you pre-ordered.

11:26pm: So, First Second’s THE COLOR OF WATER by Dong Hwa Kim. I really liked this actually, it’s probably the only thing like it in English. It’s very strange though. It’s very much a book for women, about the life of a woman from being a girl to being grown. It’s a book club book; a Lifetime movie in the making. But it’s neat. And Kim is an outstanding artist, several of the sequences and illustrations featuring the countryside are just amazing. The first book, COLOR OF EARTH, is available from stores now, check it out. 

Oh, and to my friends at First Second? You mis-spelled COLOUR. I didn’t want to say anything to embarass you, but since the books are already printed and in circulation it’s probably alright now.

11:31pm: Taniguchi! Yay! Fucking Whoo! Hoo! Jiro Taniguchi, for those of you thus far uninitiated, is the wonderful creator behind The Walking Man, which I love. A new work is solicited here, SUMMIT OF THE GODS. Taniguchi is one of those creators on my automatic-buy list, just… he brings such incredible professionalism and skill to everything he attempts. It’s lovely.

11:35pm: The Fantagraphics section features what will be the book of the month for many, a the new collection of Peter Bagge’s reportage comic strips for REASON magazine. They’ve generally been good, thought provoking stuff, and I’m sure fans of his self-involved, self-pitying Buddy Bradley character will find a lot to interest them in a collection of comic strips from a Libertarian magazine.

Zing!

11:41pm: Actually, let’s go back a second. I Twittered a question to digital manga publishing but they don’t seem to be online, so I skipped over mentioning the fact that their SWALLOWING THE EARTH, by Osamu Tezuka, is shipping in June. Well, the first volume anyway. I am totally, totally interested in reading this. I own a bunch of Tezuka in French just to studdy the storytelling. But the cover of the book they’ve got here in PREVIEWS is just terrible, hideous stuff. It’s like they took a look at the great strides that Vertical had made in packaging 30 or 40 year old books and making them appeal to a contemporary audience and decided “That’s not really for us.” I love Tezuka, but some of his stuff is kinda goofy looking. I’m not saying every book needs to be abstract and downplay the comics connection, but the difference between the cover they’ve got for solicitation here and even the Buddha volumes? Miles and miles apart, and not in a good way. Granted, it’s got a great big ART NOT FINAL on it, but this is a little disappointing, because it seems like a wonderful work by Tezuka, and I’d really like the chance to sell it.

I don’t think this cover will help me.

11:50pm: Alright, back to Fantagraphics. The Abstract Comics collection soudns neat. The second massive Locas HC is a must buy. Another collection of comics by Fletcher Hanks, by Paul Karasik. A collection of Danish comics! Good month for Fanta.

11:53pm: Oh shit, how did I miss the Rand Holmes retrospective!? They’re gonna take away my Canadian citizenship. Basically:

Rand Holmes was Canadas most revolutionary artist in his heyday, the star cartoonist at the Georgia Straight newspaper in British Columbia during the 1970s. His hippie hero, Harold Hedd, became the spokesman of the emerging counterculture as he avoided work, explored free love, and flouted drug laws. The Adventures of Harold Hedd spread across the globe in the wave of underground comix and newspapers of the era and Holmes became famous – or at least notorious. While his comic character was bold and blatant, the artist was shy and quiet, well on his way to becoming a complete hermit.

This book is an intimate and expansive account of a very private man who expressed his deepest feelings in the then disreputable medium of comix. He didnt talk much but he sure wrote a lot, avowed his widow Martha. This biography/retrospective includes generous selections from his private journals and correspondence, family photo albums, sketchbooks, and personal anecdotes from his friends and colleagues. His artistic history began haltingly on the lonely windswept plateau of Edmonton, flourished in Vancouver and San Francisco, and concluded peacefully on Lasqueti Island, a remote backwater in the Straits of Georgia where he lived out his dreams of pioneering and homesteading.

Holmes life story is richly illustrated with drawings, comic strips, watercolors, and paintings that span his whole career, from the hot rod cartoons he drew as a teenager, dozens of covers for the Georgia Straight, pornographic cartoons for the sex tabloid Vancouver Star, to complete comic stories from Slow Death Funnies, Dope Comix, All Canadian Beaver, Death Rattle, Grateful Dead Comix, and many more. The full-length Harold Hedd comic novels, Wings Over Tijuana and Hitlers Cocaine are reprinted in their entirety together for the first time. 

Essentially, it’s the only book on a Canadian Underground cartooning legend. And a GIANT OF THE NORTH, actually (Google it). Sorry I forgot to mention it on the first pass.

12:03pm: See, here we are, in the IDW section and they’ve got a book called THE ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE BARACK OBAMA and you know what’s different about this one? It’s not co-opting the man’s image to sell your some other idea. It’s a book about Obama. And sure, that’s as much of a commercial product as the stupid barbarian one the DDP is publishing, but this one is actually about the man, his beliefs, his life. I can get behind that.

12:19pm: So, big-ups to fellow Canadians New Reliable Press, who have got their new books TRUE LOVES 2 and JAN’S ATOMIC HEART in the new Previews. These fine cats are gonna be at TCAF, TCAF’n it up, and TRUE LOVES at least managed to get a lot of press first time around. And hey, retailers and customers? THEY’RE GIVING AWAY BOOKS. For every copy of TRUE LOVES 2 you buy, they’re shipping out a free copy of TRUE LOVES 1. That’s a steal!

12:23pm: Okay, Oni Press has got the first issue of the just-relaunched RESURRECTION comic, now in full colour. Fine, interesting enough, Except they’re shipping out 10s of thousands of copies of the #0 prequel for Free Comic Book Day, AND (AND!) the trade paeprback collecting the first RESURRECTION series? SIX BUCKS. Six dollars for like, 184 pages. And it’s all gonna be out in the next 7 days. So, you know, KUDOS, Oni. You win this month’s award for “working your ass off to support your new ongoing series”. Buuuuuut unfortunately you’re disqualified because the first issue here doesn’t feature a 1 in 250 variant cover. Too bad, so sad. :P

12:28: Page 282 has an indy anthology from “Poseur Ink” called SIDE B: THE MUSIC LOVER’S COMIC ANTHOLOGY. It’s got a bunch of stories from folks including Jeffrey Brown, Brandon Graham, Ryan Kelly, and Jim Mahfood. That’s some pretty cool shit. 

Oh, and on page 284, as a favour to my friend George I wanna give a shout out to ATOMIC ROBO AND THE SHADOW FROM BEYOND TIME #3. The Atomic Robo stuff has been fun, well drawn, and a consistent seller for us here at the store. I’m happy to recommend it to fans who like Hellboy for more than just Mignola’s art. :)

12:39pm: So! The one thing in the Viz section that I didn’t know about before I got to it is STARTING POINT: 1979-1996 By Hayao Miyazaki. It’s “A hefty compilation of essays (both pictorial and prose), notes, concept sketches, and interviews by 9and with) Hayao Miyazaki.” It’s 500 pages of reading for $30. That’s sort of a given, isn’t it? Like, that one is an automatic purchase? Awesome. Thanks Viz!

12:56pm: FLIGHT VOLUME 6 IS COMING SOON. Excellent news! New stories from all of the Flight Creators and friends. Page 301, preorder your copy, etc.

–

Alright, I think that’s it for this month. I gotta go through the last few pages of the catalogue and see what kinda magazines and stuff I’m gonna order. Thanks for reading…!

- Christopher

First up? We totally sold out of PREVIEWS this month, because the cover looked great and had a top-notch creative team featured. I don’t know what it is, but usually the cover of previews is either an incomprehensible mess of digital paint, or just plain hideous. Morrison and Quitely’s BATMAN AND ROBIN for the win.

2:25pm: Huh, the Editor’s Note on page 7 actually mentions that the Previews is thinner, and they’re being “more choosy” with what they offer. I always thought choosey was spelt with an ‘e’, but perhaps in this “tough economic climate” we can’t afford a surfeit of e’s.

Oh, and I’ll try to mention page-numbers for those of you playing along at home.

2:27pm: God’s honest quote: “What would William Shatner Do? Apparently, create some good comics.” Thank you, “indieEdge”, for the most depressing thing I’ve seen in days. And we’re only at Page 9.

2:28pm: Is this the fourth or fifth consecutive month of Free Comic Book Day ads in the front of the catalogue? Yikes. Though it is still nice to see Comics Festival in there.

2:29pm: This is actually what I meant about a mess of digital paint on the covers of Previews. This Predator #1 cover is a nightmare. Comics fans aren’t known for being big “impressionist art” fans at the best of times, and this is just all rendering and no composition. Although the strictly realist interpretation of the Predator on the facing page is… ugly. I mean, perhaps that’s the point, but it’s not attractive at either. At least there’s some thought to the composition with the figure framed by the window/doorway. Still, not auspicious for a debut to the section.

2:33pm: The Art of Tony Millionaire has an introduction by Elvis Fucking Costello. That’s cool, but is that gonna sell the book? It’s so cool.

2:42pm: I think I mentioned these “Neil Gaiman Presents” novels last month…. I just saw that the first one was cancelled by Diamond on my last invoice. Does anyone know if it’s just going to get resolicited or if the line isn’t happening? Because this one, Spave Chanety, with are by Vaughn Bode, that will probably do alright for us.

2:46pm: I’ve been really, really hard on Dark Horse in the past. I know it’s not easy keeping tons and tons of backlist in print, but I’ve never understood their handling of the Usagi Yojimbo series by Stan Sakai. Volumes out of print for huge stretches of time, and a general confusion about how to handle the series seem to pervade it. I’m really glad to see that they’re doing new editions of all of the Usagi stuff, starting with volumes 8-10. Completely remastered and rescanned artwork, new story notes. Sounds good, you know? Sounds good.

2:50pm: So Buffy the Vampire Slayer is doing a new TALES OF THE VAMPIRES one shot featuring Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, and covers by Ba and Moon and Jo Chen. Sounds like a pretty amazing crossover, and given the creative pedigree is likely to be awesome. My only fear is that the hardcore Buffy fans won’t pick it up because it’s not “cannon” or by “Joss” or whatever, even though it’s quite likely to be a really strong genre comic. Blessing and curse of setting the bar high?

2:54pm: Man, 12 volumes of EDEN: IT’S AN ENDLESS WORLD. Nice. If you’re the kind of person who misses Masamune Shirow’s regular output, but kind of wish he stayed on the “interesting philosophical digressions on humanity + kick ass art” track, instead of, you know, a cyber-version of Hot Biker Sluts, you should check this out. Also, if you’re the kind of person who was repulsed by every part of the previous sentence, you can check this out too, it’s actually really solid and enjoyable.

2:58pm: Alright, DC COMICS! … You know, I even LIKED Final Crisis (seriously, it was a lot of fun) but? Is anyone at all gonna care about these Final Crisis spin-off books by the time they come out, months after the end of the series?

BTW, I decided the one written by Joe Casey and drawn by Chris Cross has the strongest crative team, despite having the most ridiculous (within the context of superhero fanboy names), so that’s the one I’m ordering the strongest.

3:00pm: It would be nice if there was not a 1-in-250 variant on Batman and Robin #1.

Actually, let me expand on this. This is fucking stupid. It either rewards the absolute largest retailers, the ones who are already ordering thousands of copies of these sorts of books anyway (chains mostly) while thumbing its nose at the mass of small-to-mid-sized accounts that make up the meat of the orders on many of these books. 

Or? Or it’s encouraging retailers to take untennable positions on books, in a time of economic downturn. Is it a biased, favouritist promotion, or just totally irresponsible?

We are going to qualify for this incentive, we are going to be fine. But “I got mine” is not an acceptable way of doing business in the same month that the editor of Previews says “We all have to tighten our belts.”

3:20pm: Okay, that out of the way, is anyone going to be rushing to pick up these new Batman books that don’t have the real Batman in them? Like, Gotham City Sirens I kinda get, put a bunch of popular sexy characters in the same book, get a cheesecake artist to draw them. But like, Paul Dini’s “Another Batman Ongoing Series” has a solid creative team, but are people on board with reading this? I have no feeling, except negative.

Also, Red Robin #1? Really?

I feel disconnected from this. I am ordering low.

3:24pm: Our Superman sales are really taking a hit right now. That is unfortunate… but unsurprising.

3:25pm: Really? Superman vs. The Flash cover on issue #3? I… I dunno.

The DC section is kinda depressing me here.

3:28pm: Man, new series are Not having a good go of it right now. Dead Romeo #1? Tanked. The Mighty #1-3? Not promising numbers. I guess I could’ve done more to promote both series, but with so much on the racks it’s a little tough. But the lack of sales were not for a lack of copies on the rack…

3:35pm: You know, I like Mike Oeming’s artwork; I own all of Powers. I think that Kevin Nowlan is an incredibly talented artist, just the bees knees. What I am less on board with, is getting Kevin Nowlan to do a cover for The Spirit #30, and then having Mike Oeming draw (and write) the interiors. Because, you know what? Those two artists are very different. Their work does not compliment one another. That is what we in the biz call a bait-and-switch. That is a poor choice.

3:40pm: Time for the monthly “bitching-about-DC’s-collected-editions-department”. Listen folks, I DON’T LIKE DOING THIS ANYMORE THAN YOU LIKE HEARING ABOUT IT. But what do you want me to do, exactly? Huh?

You’re releasing a prestige-format Alex Ross project years after the demand was at it’s peak! AND you’re asking me to order it now, but it’s not arriving until November 25th, 2009. I’m officially ordering Christmas Product here when, and let’s be honest with ourselves here, last Christmas would’ve been a much more realistic window for release of this book.. Hell, Christmas 2007 would’ve been the ideal time to release this book. The “heat” has sort of dissipated from this project… released as it was 3 years ago, when everyone knew there was an absolute edtion coming. Who knew it would take DC this long to put it together.

3:46pm: Who is the audience for the “El Diablo: Haunted Horseman” collection? I thinik Phil Hester and Ande Parks are great, but did this mini-series get rave reviews or huge sales and I missed it? I am willing to accept that I missed it.

3:47pm: The Final Crisis: Revelations Miniseries does not need a hardcover.

3:48pm: Ugggggh. Why are you doing simultaneous Hardcover and Softcover releases of the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League Material? We only have so much shelf space, Jesus. Just stop it. The HC and SC are coming out within a year of each other for a series of books. JUST PICK A FORMAT. PLEASE. Stop with these dual releases on projects, it’s So Fucking Pointless.

3:51pm: Seriously. Like, DC must know that these collections are broken, right? Terror Titans? Is someone really demanding a Terror Titans collection for the ages? I honestly don’t give a shit if Terror Titans is your favourite mini-series of all time, good for you! But… But we don’t need a trade paperback of a series that people are going to be fishing out of quarter bins in under a year. It’s a waste of trees, of shelf-space in my store, of resources on DC’s part.  Not everything is worth collecting, not everything is worth a larger audience.

Prepare for me to cut and paste this when we get to the Marvel section.

3:56pm: That really, really looks like Blue Beetle on the Cartoon Network Action Pack #38 cover.

3:59pm: I had no idea that the kangaroo that Sylvester thinks is a mouse is named “Hippety-Hopper”. At least according to the cover of Looney Tunes #175. Weird.

4:05pm: The first Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash mini-series sold well, and surprised the hell out of by actually sending new customers to my store, asking for a book by name. That’s how licensed books are supposed to work, offering fans of other media something that they can only get from a comic book. Unfortunately most times these books are just aimed at existing comic fans, doing nothing to grow the market… So yeah, we’re putting a solid order in on this new series.

4:13pm: Oh man, I just read the most brutal, brutal review of Azzarello’s Filthy Rich graphic novel. I mean, I dig his work and all, 100 Bullets is aces, but I avoided that Joker HC specifically because it seemed callous and awful and… and tossed-off even. Just random. So to read this dude at The Oregonian just tear this book to pieces. I cringed a little. I don’t think it’ll affect the first few weeks of sales, actually, negative reviews rarely do. But I know that I personally am not that interested in picking it up anymore… Yikes.

4:18pm: …but by all accounts 100 Bullets ended well. My orders on the last trade, WILT, are going to be pretty darned strong.

4:25pm: Second Northlanders TPB. Good good.

4:26pm: Does Nightwing always look constipated, or just in this statue on page 128?

4:28pm: IMAGE: I’m not really a Dawn/Linsner fan, so maybe I don’t know, but I kind of get the feeling that these one-shots? If you slapped a hardcover on them and charged $14.99 instead of $5.99 for the same story? We’d sell just as many. I understand the French-market “album” format doesn’t really work for North America, but I can’t help but feel that this is one of the few properties that could really make a go.

4:31pm: Writer John Layman e-mailed me about his new series here, Chew, from Image. I have to admit that I didn’t actually read the email very closely, I’ve been incredibly busy for the past month. But I’m looking at this here, and the art is a very appealing indie/lo-fi sort of a thing, and the idea of a detective who gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats? Pretty good, pretty good. I’ll give this a shot for the store. And then probably go back and read the e-mail and figure out I shoulda ordered more. But, you know, only so many hours in a month.

Oh, and John Layman’s website is http://themightylayman.blogspot.com/.

There, good deed done for a creator-owned book. I can go back to being a jackass.

4:38pm: Fair enough, I could probably discern that T.RUNT by Derek McCulloch and Jimmie Robinson is going to be in an odd format, a square book, just by looking at the solicit image. But it would be nice if that information was in the actual solicit somewhere.

4:43pm: Douglas Fredericks & The House of They is written by Joe Kelly, whose work I generally enjoy, and illustrated by Benjamin Roman, whose work is kind of hideous, but also in an enjoyable way. OGN for 13 bucks, I’ll give it a whirl.

5:06pm: sorry for the big break, I had a rash of customers come in and sadly had to stop working on the previews… this is exactly why I’ve started working from home btw. Someone at The Beguiling needs to build me an office before I go all Les Nessman and start taping up the floors. YOU KNOW WHAT I’M SAYING PETER? I AM JUST A FEW WEEKS AWAY FROM LES NESSMAN. That reflects poorly on all of us.

5:08pm: There are WALLS here.

5:09pm: Okay, MARVEL. Hah, Halo. It’s funny, last month I made mean jokes about how Halo #4 and Detective #857 were never going to come out, and then they both came out less than 4 weeks later. Perhaps I have a gift? Perhaps my snide disbelief and criticism is what Gets Shit Done TM. Alright, let’s try this: “Yeah, a MIRACLEMAN trade paperback! That’ll be the day! Haw Haw haw!”…

If it’s announced in the next 30 days you’ll have to give me credit, you know that right?

Huh, no shit. Colourist Richard Isanove is now illustrating the Dark Tower series. I would not have seen that coming. I’m not really digging the cover; it’s well-illustrated but lacks the broody menace of the series, and of Jae Lee’s take. Still, this is just the cover.

5:14pm: Really? Spider-Man election day seems… Like a poor choice. I’d really like a book that has the (terrible) Spider-Man/Obama book in it, but the story arc it’s attached to… How accessible is that? Isn’t there material in the archives that would serve as a better introduction to the character, or would be of the same sort of kitsch-value as the Obama material in the first place? Or what about just doing a thin stand-alone collection, like 48 pages for $15 or something? This product just doesn’t make any sense to me as anything other than “the next Spider-Man collection”. 

Which is a missed opportunity, considering.

5:20pm: I have no specific interest in the golden age Marvel reprints, but I do find the 832 page omnibus of Golden Age Marvel Comics incredibly tempting. 

5:23pm: Jesus does Anita Blake ever do anything other than stand around with her hands in her pockets? What an intensely boring looking comic book. Also, I guess those are supposed to be “Ladies of the night” milling about behind her on this cover. but you know what? That’s just what all women in mainstream comics look like, so it totally fails as a visual cue! Even moreso because that cover is horribly underdrawn hackwork.

5:27pm: Fun-fact: This month in the Marvel Previews “illustrated” section there are colour-bars with the names of the classic authors in all caps. It’s very Marvel. Like, we can visually pick up what Wolverine looks like, even “Wolverine Noir”, but who’s that buncha chicks in that image? Is it one of those “The ladies of X-Men go shopping” down-time issues? Oh, no, wait, it’s JANE AUSTEN. Dude with a sword? HOMER. Got it. Sadly no similar one for L. FRANK BAUM. Actually, Baum isn’t mentioned anywhere in the solicit for Shanower and Young’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz adaptation. Kinda disappointing.

5:32pm: Marvel’s got way, waaay too much sub-mediocre product out here. All of these Dark Reign tie-in mini-series and stuff. You’ve got an almost-weekly Spider-Man book now, the story of his mysterious new villain introduced in that series couldn’t be told in that series? We need a mini-series for this? Well, no, we don’t. But we’re getting one. Weaksauce.

5:40pm: Is Reed Richards uncovering a mass grave in the middle of New York? That’s a bit much, isn’t it? Am I just being a prude?

5:47pm: Wow, the new creative team on Runaways seems awesome! Kathryn Immonen, really lovely cover by David Lafuente, and the interior art by Sara Pichelli looks great too. Cool beans, I hope this team sticks around for a while.

5:50pm: The cover to Deadpool: Suicide Kings #3, is stupid.

5:52pm: I’ve been out of the store for a while so I had to check, but it says Kick Ass #5 came out in April. That means the last two issues have gotta come out monthly for this hardcover to release in July… I don’t really see it happening? Did someone give an interview somewhere where the editors and creative team promised monthly shipping on issues 6-8? I’m willing to accept that I missed it. But I find it unlikely.

5:59pm: Ugh, really? The Jeph Loeb FALLEN SON story is getting an oversized hardcover? That’s just brutal.

Edit: Okay, I’m a huge jack-ass. Somehow I completely missed the page (99 in the Marvel Previews) where Joss Whedon’s Runaways was solicited as volume 8 of the Digest series. Missed it completely. So, officially? I am a huge jack-ass. Apologies to Marvel, and thanks, for giving us product that I know we can sell. But because I don’t believe in editing these things to make myself look better, here’s me being douchey to Marvel (although in my defence my heart was in the right place):

6:01pm: Maybe I’m inappropriately holding out hope here, but this will make the third regular-sized hardcover RUNAWAYS collection since we had a digest. We Really Sell A Lot Of Digests. Please Print More Digests. This would be volume 10. And you know, Runaways sells like manga for us, and manga sells _well_. Please let us keep selling these books to more than just anal fanboys who need to own everything in bullshit prestige-format hardcovers. Please.

6:04pm: Ah, I’ve answered my own question. Regular-size tpb of the first Terry Moore Runaways arc. And $16 for 136 pages too, lovely. Marvel: You’re kind of fucking up a good thing here.

6:08pm: …and I’m done. Well, the first half here anyway. After I take a little break to do something about this headache and maybe have some dinner, I’ll come back and do the back-half of Previews. Thanks for reading so far!

- Chris

 Tlönista clears things up for those of you who don’t quite get it.  Click through to see the girl version as well.

But yeah, go ahead and be as critical as you want, or as critical as you need to.  But I’ve got no problems calling people on empty snark… just like no one should have a problem calling me on the same.

- Chris

IDEA: I think the news of Alvin Buenaventura deciding to “pick up the perodicals flag” and do floppy comics this year is kind of amazing and fun, I’m on board with that. I was actually just thinking that they should go ahead and print a regular comic-sized version of Kramers Ergot 7, now that it’s sold through its first (and maybe second?) printing in giant, beautiful, oversized hardcover. I think it would be amazing to print that and “make the material available” for all those people who pissed and moaned about there being a comic they could not afford, as if all comics should be made to their budget. I think a similar 3-pack of comic books that reprint Kramers 7 for $11.95, with no adjustments made for legibility at that size, would be amazing.

Actually, fuck that, they should print the whole thing at the D&Q “Petit Livres” size, a little smaller than a postcard. I think if you could turn spite into a commercial product, that would be its ideal form.

I wonder if that’s profitable?

- Chris

You can find the interview at http://www.inkstuds.com, or http://inkstuds.com/?p=1812, or subscribe at iTunes. Thanks to Robin for the interview!

RELATED: Peggy Burns from Drawn & Quarterly let me know today that Radio Canada International (The CBC) just gave a glowing review to Seth’s new graphic novel George Sprott, and plugged TCAF and The Beguiling at the same time. Super awesome. Unfortunately the main host has a corny “Comics Aren’t Just For Kids!” thing going on, which is lame, but the reviewer and review are lovely… and will likely sell a LOT of books for us! And send people to TCAF!

You can listen to the clip online at http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/en/emissions/archives/archivesDetails_1952_15042009.shtml. Forward to about the 13:00 mark in the first part of the show.

Whoo!

Good day, productive. Need a nap though.

- Chris

The webcomic Unshelved is about life working in a library. It’s a huge hit online and in the library market, though relatively unknown in comic book stores. Well they’ve got this neat little feature called Unshelved Book Club (I believe it runs every Sunday), where they invite cartoonists to contribute guest comic strips in the form of book recommendations. Kind of like a book club!

The newest entry into the series? First Second Editor In Chief Mark Siegel recommends the hell out of Scott Pilgrim. 

I’m friends (or at least friendly) with all of the people involved in this strip, which makes the whole thing just that much more amazing… and from what I remember I think Gina told me that at least the first part of this strip Actually Happened. Hehe.

 Go check it out, it’s pretty darned neat. And browse the archives while you’re there.

- Chris

Yes. Yessssss.

- Chris

“Hm, front page story in the NYT Arts section…hipster manga just got a lot more hip in New York. This is definitely the art manga equivalent of the cover story on art comics from the NYT Magazine that kicked off the whole “comics are an art form” thing a few years ago.” – Heidi MacDonald, The Beat

That’s Heidi talking about Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life coverage. 

Seriously, if any hipster-douche can make it through an 850 page autobiography of a manga pioneer set in post-war Japan, I’ll stop automatically adding the word “douche” after the word “hipster”. 

Really? Hipster manga? I actually can’t think of a more dismissive term than that. Anything outright critical could at least be argued, that’s just… yeah. Whatever.

Props to Peggy and D&Q for the amazing coverage though.

- Chris
P.S.: I am clearly biased because I’m hosting Tatsumi and D&Q in Toronto in 3 weeks, so feel free to ignore, but again, I’d like to stress: what-ever.

This is the sort of thing that the internet is for.

- Chris

I had no idea.there was a Moomin anime. I knew it was popular in Japan, but… neat-o! Thanks to JH for the tip-off.

Edit: More Moomin at Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=????&aq=f

- Chris