We're Going To Make It After All 3 Down, 1 to go...
Just a brief update before I collapse into bed. Things are going well. An Evening With Warren Ellis was both well-attended and well-enjoyed. Warren seemed to be quite happy at the time, and his short blog entries seem to be light. A load off. I like Warren but he's a bit unpredictable, I certainly didn't want the weekend to turn out to be another Australia...
The convention is the best-attended of Paradise's shows, and everyone I talk to is having a decent time and making enough money to justify being there, which is good. There's no question Toronto's other organisers staging a free show the week before hurt them, consensus (overheard in the washroom) seems to be that it was a pretty shitty/stupid thing to do. But everyone's doing alright, and I heard the Shuster Awards were really pretty excellent, so that's good. I just got back from the party, held at the kind of club where they make you wait outside because they can (although having a badge from the comic convention got you right in, odd?) and realised that, no matter what else, I made the right decision with my life. Mike, I have no idea how you used to fucking put up with Adelaide Street. Fuck all that nonsense.
Tommorow is the last day of the show, and because all of our stuff is already there I get to sleep in until 9am! We just planned a TCAF meeting for 8:30 Monday morning though. No rest for the wicked.
Speaking of which, the reception to TCAF/Free Comic Book Day/Ellis' event/all of it was very good. Is very good. Makes me happy. I think it's going to be a very fun couple of weeks, as long as I get 8 hours sleep tonight. Otherwise, it's fucked.
Oh, and, without a word of a lie, here were my two fortunes(!) in the fortune cookie at the 20+ person dinner this evening:
"You never hesitate to tackle the most difficult problems."
"You should be able to undertake and complete anything."
From The National Post's "Best Of T.O." column today:
Superheroes nestle side by side in this alternative comic store You know you're special when you're on the e-mail list of The Beguiling. Only those in the know are privy to the store's "secret sales" when portions of The Beguiling's stock are 10%, 20%, sometimes even 50% off. Featuring the best and most thorough selection of alternative and underground comics in the city, The Beguiling's first floor is a cornucopia of art books, quarterlies, lavish anthologies by a far-reaching array of artists, and a big, thick rack of independent and underground comics from up-and-coming artists. Upstairs, superheroes nestle side by side with manga and indie comics from a diverse number of publishers. Heavily involved in the city's comic arts community, The Beguiling, at 601 Markham St., in the Annex, plays host to a number of comic arts related events, and regularly features signings with such artists as Chip Kidd, Daniel Clowes, and Seth.
I gotta say, as things get progressively more fucking crazy in the lead-up to TCAF, it's nice to know that people are recognizing that we're busting our asses to promote comics and their creators in Toronto. I mean, it's from a newspaper that's behind Canada's creepy-right-wing Conservative Party, owned by the creepy-right-wing Canwest corporation, but it's still nice to hear nice things.
Speaking of which, here's the comics-related events happening in the city. I suggest you all move to Toronto.
Went to see Canada's Own The Arcade Fire last night. Great show. The opener, Owen (ex of the Hidden Cameras) was wonderful. I didn't really like the middle band, Wolf Parade, but The Arcade Fire were definitely in top form, a fantastic show. I couldn't have enjoyed it more, unless I had worn more comfortable shoes.
For those of you going tonight and tommorow, the show was in a giant converted movie theatre, with all of the seating still in place. It was also general-admission. So get there early, sit as close to the front as possible. Everyone was standing for the Wolf Parade and Arcade Fire, which is hard on the feet (and you WILL be blocked by people standing if you sit on either side). We got there around 7:15 when the doors were at 8, and were already a hundred people back. Either rush for the balcony to sit down, or rush for the front. Either way, bring comfortable shoes and get there early. Eat/drink first, as its an all-ages show and all they have is popcorn...
"And, showing why they're the public face of the comics industry once again, Wizard's contribution proved to be the one of the most adult orientated titles to be released. It could have been good. But no, they had to go and put a bunch of dick and ass jokes accompanied by graphic illustrations in there. Because of that, I can't give it to kids, and probably not to parents either. Hell, even Chip Zdarsky managed to put out a general audiences Prison Funnies story for Comics Festival, but Wizard couldn't find any articles without frat boy gross-out humor to reprint?" - Dorian, PostModernBarney
I share your pain but remain unsurprised and amused by it.
Working on the Previews catalogue here, and I'm reading along figuring out what to order, and I get to a picture of a fairly flat-chested young woman, standing in front of something moon-like, very nice looking image, so I start to read.
"Zo Nixxon is a cute, bored, lonely file clerk. She wants a new life and fate gives her a chance when she finds her true calling..."
Neat. Okay, I can get into that, sort of a slice-of-life thing with some crisp painterly art, cool.
"...Hunting for bounties in the lawless dimension known as the O.D.!"
I'm working on the next TCAF update, but sharp-eyed reader Jeremy T. noted that Derek Kirk Kim has announced he's now attending at his website. I've got about 25 people being announced in the next update, and more to come. TCAF is going to be soooooooo awesome. :)
Holy Shit... I thought I would've remembered so I could do something special...
As of today I've been blogging for 3 years.
With the exception of Mal having moved away, my life is actually better in every single way today than it was when I started. That's pretty cool, I think.
Let's see. I don't have any long-ranging stats due to a site-restructuring last year, but just in the past year I've had more than 70,000 unique visitors, with an average of about 200 people a day or so.
...and my sincere thanks to all 70,000+ of you for reading. I wish I had remembered this was coming up so I could've done a little drawing or something. Feel free to send fan art? :) Heh.
So apparently Naoki Urasawa's 20TH CENTURY BOYS manga, scheduled to be published by Viz, has been cancelled with a "will resolicit" note. Apparently, it's now coming out in 2006... I couldn't find any reason for this (and didn't feel like bugging the folks at Viz about it), but my guess is either production delay, or the book being placed in the ACTION line and looking like a children's book didn't exactly... jive... with the overall content of the series. Reworked for later release? Here's hoping it doesn't end up censored.
You apparently would like me when I'm angry... For the people complaining that I'm not complaining enough this week
I find the reaction to Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers fascinating. Apparently, a good Grant Morrison comic is simply not good enough for many folks. If you actively don't like it, more power to you, but complaining that it was only a good read (when there's an awful lot of books that can't even manage mediocre) tickles my funny-bone. For the record, I do think that Seven Soldiers #0 was the strongest of the releases, but everything I've read so far has been enjoyable, and something I'm looking forward to re-reading soon. Guardian, in particular, I thought was fantastic. Big talking head shouting at the lead hero, very funny.
With the release of the last issue of SUPERMAN, I've had my suspiscions confirmed that the Lee/Azzarello run just isn't very good. The narration was just pretentious throughout, building up to nothing. Still, I think Lee's done some nice art stuff in there, over a surprisingly passionless script. LEX LUTHOR: MAN OF STEEL has been much better so far though.
I'll break my 'fuck Marvel' rule to say that LIVEWIRES and ULTIMATES continue to be the most interesting things that the company is putting out. ULTIMATES to see Millar falling apart on the scripts when the plot is genuinely interesting (and Hitch's lovely art), and LIVEWIRES because Adam Warren is doing such a good job that there's no chance the book won't be cancelled. Still, as has been shown by ALPHA FLIGHT, they will litterally collect anything over there (not that they'll keep it in print...) so at least I'll get another trade paperback or two out of it. Here's hoping someone at DC has a brainfart and okays the third collection of his GEN13 material and makes me a happy guy.
Sharknife is very good. I don't know how it's going to play out on the larger scale though. Comics are, generally, judged on a specific sort of 'clarity'. How well they convey the ideas of the author, and on the merits of those ideas. In the superhero mainstream, this usually ends up with readers prefering art and stories termed "realistic", though they're just as abstract as any art-comic or manga in their way. Sharknife seeks to convey not just action but emotion, the same way that Scott McCloud gave us the basics with wavy lines indicating "fear" and sharp edges indicating "anxiety", Sharknife is all about energy and enthusiasm, and I don't think it has the kind of 'clarity' that most existing comics readers seak from their work. It has the emotional clarity though, and even when the fight scenes evolve into abstraction, it's a perfect abstraction, maybe a platonic abstraction? Anyway, it's fascinating stuff. But my back-of-the-book quote is "It rocked my socks off. Corey Lewis is the leader in his field, a field of one."
Someone asked me what manga I was looking forward to the other day, and I blanked and couldn't think of anything. Which depressed the hell out of me. Of course, since then I've been reminded that Toriyama's DOCTOR SLUMP is due on Wednesday, and 20TH CENTURY BOYS will be out soon. BECK in June, and the recently released BLUE by Kiriko Nananan was really great. I think another Nananan book is due soon too from CPM. It's not quite that dire, but it looks like they've abandoned the grown-ups and 'cool kids' for a little while. Maybe I'll catch up on Hot Gimmick...
Oh, right. Drawn & Quarterly is doing Yoshihiro Tatsumi's THE PUSH MAN AND OTHER STORIESin September, that'll be excellent too. And more Jiro Taniguchi soon too...
To relax from a long day of comics, my favourite thing to do is read the comics section at The V. Between The Nerdwatch Thread, The Madness of John Byrne, and The Weekly Comics, I feel immediately better about whatever's bugging me about comics because it could clearly be much, much worse.
There, that's as angry as I am right now. It'll have to do, Jason.
COMICS ARE AWESOME You know what's great? Comic Books. FUCKING A.
God, I love comic books.
It's just absolutely amazing, coming into the store on a Wednesday and seeing so many great books. And people happy to pick up those books. Like, even when I don't particularly care for their tastes, and I'm not gonna name books here or anything, I don't want to alienate anyone, but when they come in and they're like "YES! _____ CAME OUT!" that, to me, is the very definition of why I'm in the biz. I want people to read good comics, for sure, but I think more importantly for me I want them to be happy with what they're buying. It's not that I'm sick of 'negativity' (although I think that's just a catch-all word for retards to defend against any criticism, legitimate or otherwise), I'm just sick of unhappiness, the dark cloud of dissatisfaction that surrounds so many people purchasing SO MANY books. If it doesn't make you happy, don't buy it. Buy things that make you happy, you know?
Which goes back to my first point, AMAZING COMICS. People that are coming into the store, picking up long-awaited books, enjoying what they see on the racks, that are happy to get the newest installment of their favorite soap opera, or are just happy to see something GOOD come out.
This is a week that had SHARKNIFE, PROCESS RECESS, BITE CLUB (a great guilty pleasure), ROBOT by Range Murata, ORDINARY VICTORIES, new John Porcelino, new ZAP!, big STEVE DITKO book from Marvel... shit. Oh Brave New World, that has such wonders in it!
Seriously, get your ass to a comic shop and buy the James Jean artbook, and Manu Larcenet's ORDINARY VICTORIES, and SHARKNIFE! if nothing else. I'll probably impore you to pick up a bunch of other stuff soon too, but until then, those three books. Make a trip to the shop if you gotta, it'll be worth your time. Buy something with passion and skill and that you'll enjoy. You'll feel much happier for it!
- Christopher PS: Many of the Free Comic Book Day Books also look awesome this year, though (impartial as I am) I think COMICS FESTIVAL! is the best...
ANNOUNCING: AN EVENING WITH WARREN ELLIS A Brief Talk About Stories, Drinking, and The World
Presented by The Toronto Comic Arts Festival, in association with Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon.
THURSDAY APRIL 28th
The Hacienda (Formerly the Tequila Lounge) 794 Bathurst (Corner of Bloor & Bathurst) Doors Open at 8pm. 19+. Tickets are $5, avail. at The Beguiling and at the door.
TORONTO, Ontario - The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is proud to present a special evening event featuring internationally renown author and graphic novelist Warren Ellis. Hailing from Southend, England, Ellis will be giving a talk about his experience telling stories for a living. His body of work spans genres and fields, including Graphic Novels, Video Games, Animation, Television, and (in the words of the author) "anything else he can steal money for."
Ellis's graphic novel work has pushed the boundaries of contemporary comics and he is largely credited with bringing futurist, hard sci-fi back to comics through his multiple award-winning TRANSMETROPOLITAN series of graphic novels. He has written the complete game script for HOSTILE WATERS/ANTAELUS RISING, and his episode of cartoon series JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED recently aired on Canada's YTV television network.
Ellis is also noted for having created the first openly gay superhero couple in DC Comics' THE AUTHORITY and winning the International Horror Guild award for graphic narrative. His appearances on ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY's "100 Most Creative People" list and in ROLLING STONE's "Hot Issue" have further cemented him as one of the brightest and most sought-after writers in contemporary mainstream comics.
"We're quite lucky to have Warren Ellis here in Toronto," said Christopher Butcher, the co-director of The Toronto Comic Arts Festival. "Ellis has given talks on everything from digital photography to future cell phones to horror to graphic novels, all over the world. We're happy to be working with the folks at Paradise in promoting comics and graphic novels here in the city through the appearance of an international-acclaimed and multi-talented author."
In addition to his evening discussion sponsored by TCAF, Warren Ellis will be a guest of honour at the Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon, April 29th through May 1st, at Exhibition Place's National Trade Centre (http://www.torontocomicon.com/).
ABOUT The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is an event that promotes comics and graphic novels and their creators within the city of Toronto. The festival occurs every two years, and the next is scheduled for May 27 through 29, 2005, in Toronto's historic Mirvish Village. For more information, please visit www.torontocomics.com/tcaf.
PRESS Please submit all interview requests, press inquiries, and press accreditation requests to: press@torontocomics.com.
Just got back from Steven Chow's new movie Kung Fu Hustle with a bunch of my friends, and it was really great. Totally a big-screen movie, a helluva lotta fun, and it has some great special effects. You'd have to try pretty hard not to enjoy yourself at it, I think.
The nice thing was, and this is even in comparisson to other Chow films like God Of Cookery or Shaolin Soccer, it didn't let up. It was consistantly funny, consistantly energetic, and just over-the-top throughout. It only pulled back far enough to deliver the next... punch... twice as hard. No padding, no filler, no "shit, that could've been 10 minutes without that stupid 45 minute love-story in the middle". It just kicked a whole lot of ass. And it was really well-done too, surprisingly so. The CG, the acting, even the parts that I should've been annoyed at (stereotyping) were all pulled off so well, such a high degree of craft being used to tell a rivetting story. It's a real rarity.
Hey there, I updated the sidebar with a few new sites, removed a few links, and fixed the link to Hope Larson's awesome site. I'm thinking about comics right now, I'll be back eventually.
I Don't Have Anything To Say In Public Right Now About Comics.
The thing about bitching about awards, or say writing off a set of awards entirely for being a farce, is that maybe you have 3 or 4 friends, people whose work you respect and people you like, getting nominated and you don't want to shit on their parade (new visual: shit parade), but at the same time? Farce.
For My Friends No Comics Content, Sorry to get you excited....
I've got a ton of free passes to see Stephen (SHAOLIN SOCCER) Chow's new movie, KUNG FU HUSTLE. As I'm going to be very busy for the next few months, I thought it might be a nice chance to get together with my friends.
Kung Fu Hustle Monday April 18th @ 7pm The Paramount
Probably get together in the lobby at around 6pm or so, in order to get the good seats.
If you're reading this and a friend of mine, I'd love to see you there. We'll go for a beer or something after, it'll be fun. Drop me a line at chris(at)beguiling(dot)com or post in the comments and I'll reserve you a spot.
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is very pleased to be the venue that has been chosen to present the innaugural year of The Doug Wright Awards, recognising outstanding work in Canadian cartooning.
From The Press Release: The inaugural edition of �The Wrights� will feature two categories: Best Book and Best Emerging Talent - as well as inductees to a Hall of Fame dubbed "Giants of the North."
The Wrights will be decided on by a jury that will include Chester Brown (Louis Riel, Ed The Happy Clown), journalist/writer Robert Fulford, actor/director Don McKellar (Childstar, Last Night), Globe and Mail books reporter Rebecca Caldwell and director Jerry Ciccoritti (Trudeau, Lives of The Saints).
The Nominations
BEST BOOK Marc Bell WORN TUFF ELBOW #1 Genevieve Castree PAMPLEMOUSSI David Collier THE FRANK RITZA PAPERS Darwyn Cooke THE NEW FRONTIER VOL 1 Seth CLYDE FANS BOOK ONE
BEST EMERGING TALENT Rebecca Dart RABBITHEAD Max Douglas (Salgood Sam) REVOLVER #1 Alex Fellows CANVAS Bryan Lee O'Malley SCOTT PILGRIM VOL 1
TCAF would like to congratulate all of the nominees, and we wish the judges the best of luck in selecting from a number of incredibly strong offerings.
The winners will be announced during the evening events of the 2005 Toronto Comic Arts Festival on May 28th, 2005. Information about location and time is forthcoming, and please visit the Toronto Comic Arts Festival website at http://www.torontocomics.com/tcaf for information over the coming weeks.
Just want to give a shout-out to Kevin Melrose, who since October 26th 2003 has been enriching my morning reading with some great links, and better commentary at Thought Balloons. Kevin's hanging up the metaphorical spurs today, off to try his hand at longer essay-style writing about his other passions, and to just enjoy comics again. Thanks Kev, you're a great guy and a wonderful writer, I look forward to what's next.
I am at my brother's house, sitting next to the Hot Tub and just out of the sunshine (it's hard to see the laptop in the sunshine). It's... quite nice, I have to say. I just had a discussion with my brother and dad about comics--they're both in the toy racket--and I think they may have understood/respected the ammount of effort that's currently going in, and how that's (for the most part) head and shoulders above what NEEDS to go in. It was a fun conversation, actually, because I realised that I really do love what I'm doing, and I have a great enthusiasm for it (when I'm not on the internet). This whole weekend really, has been about being happy after a long winter's dreariness.
On Friday when we got the books in, Chip came over and was just powerfully relieved. Chip Zdarsky is the man who put up with The Printer, and Me, in assembling the final job. I think I pissed him off several times, it's difficult to tell. At any rate, we were both so absolutely happy with the book I took off at 3 on Friday and went for a beer (and a Coke). First nice day of the year, most of the patios are open, and you can go out and celebrate a Comics Success. Life's very good. As a follow-up to this week's post about posting whatever the hell you want: Sometimes you can be happy too, you're allowed.
I did a little 'surfing' this morning, and the response on Sho(u)jo Beat, and on censorship seems very measured and along the lines of what I would type, given the time. I guess I've got some enforced freetime today, I could probably tackle both topics but given the warm weather and sunshine... Who wants to be terribly serious today eh? I will say that it's pretty clear that the censorship at Viz is externally motivated, though I think it would probably be phrased as "We're working with our bookstore partners!" Keep the "Sokora Refugees" situation in mind, there's a very close relationship between the bookstores and the publishers... As for Shojo Beat, I'd say that with newstand distro and as heavy an editorial (and really, in these cases it's the people above the editors who are making the big decisions (as well as the small ones)) hand as over at SHONEN JUMP that it's a given that the series' included aren't going to escape entirely unscathed...
Actually, speaking of Shojo Beat, the people over at Love Manga question the need for things like "10 Manga Beauty Tips" (which, if there were EVER a call for a satirical article written...) and other additional content in the magazine. I think in a lot of ways, that's what makes a successful anthology over an unsuccessful one (that and sheer fanboy/girl lust for specific series). The waiting for the trade argument is a powerful one, and I think Shonen Jump's combination of a cover price even less than the trade paperback prices, combined with solid original content makes it a winner. JUMP/BEAT are comics that are competing, dollar for dollar and pound for pound, with other youth entertainment like Video Games and Teen Magazines and things, and a bevy of value-added content is a contributing factor, in my eyes, to its success. It's certainly why I enjoyed reading PULP back in the day. There's nothing like a good magazine to just kick back in the sunshine with, and enjoy.
I came into work this morning to discover that the nice UPS man had delivered us 5 preview copies of COMICS FESTIVAL!, The Toronto Comic Arts Festival's entry for this year's Free Comic Book Day (being held at better comic book stores everywhere Saturday, May 7th 2005).
If I might? Yay.
The book printed exactly as it should have, better (I think) than I might have imagined. The colours on the covers are vibrant and crisp, and when the covers are two magnificent pieces of art from Darwyn Cooke and James Jean, that's saying something. And the interiors are all crisp, the tones and greys printed wonderfully, and even Jim Rugg's insanely detailed Street Angel pages look fantastic (not to mention the rest of the outstanding contributors to the book...). Hell, let's not leave them unmentioned:
Attila Adjorany and Chris Weaver J. Bone (Alison Dare, Mutant Texas) Paige Braddock (Jane's World) Chester Brown (Louis Riel) & Dave Sim (Cerebus) Darwyn Cooke (DC New Frontier) with Michael Cho and Brian McLachlan (No Dead Time) Max Douglas/Salgood Sam (Revolver) Ray Fawkes (Mnemovore) and Cameron Stewart (Seaguy) Eric Kim (Love as a Foreign Language) and J. Torres (Teen Titans Go!) Hope Larson (Flight) & Jason Azzopardi Steve Manale (Chickadee) Kagan McLeod (Infinite Kung-Fu) Bryan O'Malley (Scott Pilgrim) Ramon Perez and Rob Coughler (Butternut Squash) Jason Pultz (Scarybear (Comic Strip)) Dave Roman (Quicken Forbidden) Jim Rugg (Street Angel, Project Superior) Seth (Palookaville, Clyde Fans) Ben Shannon (Rumble Royale) Keen Soo (Flight) Leslie Stein (Yeah It Is) Chip Zdarsky (Prison Funnies)
Anyway, the whole package is just awesome and we're very, very pleased. Head to your local comic book store on Saturday May 7th and DEMAND a copy of this book. :)
The New Positivity Spring has sprung, the grass is riz...
Who knew that a truly dreadful comic would be the catalyst for several of my favourite snarky, wonderfully mean bloggers to decide that enough was truly enough, and embark on a metaphysical quest for happiness? Certainly, not I.
The problem with being relentlessly positive about comics, particularly if you're not a relentlessly positive person, is that I believe you may one day explode. I certainly did. Comics, and brace yourself for this revelation, many of them are not very good. A great many of them. With Marvel and DC controlling something like 75% of the Direct Market, and the majority of their output being editorially mandated to be not very good, that tends to mean that roughly 75% of the discourse ABOUT comics (at least how the majority of us interact with the medium, through the Direct Market) is about comics that aren't very good. (To say nothing of TAROT, WITCH OF THE STABBED-IN-THE-BABYMAKER)
Math!
Why do people gravitate towards the negative? Please no holier-than-thou stuff either. Most popular column in comics was Rich Johnston's for a good long time, and the most popular blog (after Heidi's THE BEAT from what I can tell...) is Fanboy Rampage, our window onto the world of the worst of fandom (window, mirror, whatever, you know what I mean).
If, as some suggest, people really want to read Kevin (or Abhay or whomever) talking about books they really enjoyed versus bitching about a comic they hated, they probably would never have gone looking for Kevin's or Abhay's writings in the first place. They certainly wouldn't be regular readers of FBR (let alone commenters). You can split all the hairs you'd like about how your favourite writer/columnist/tv show that's basically a negatively-oriented outlet (I'm looking at anyone who's ever watched CELEBRITY JUSTICE here...) is exempt, somehow, because it fills some greater need, but that's pretty clearly bullshit. We (humans) like getting the dirt, and (if the comments sections are any clue) even dirty some times. That's the way it goes.
It's springtime though.
It calls for spring cleaning, by its nature. Once upon a time I really wanted an industry that wasn't focussed on reporting that MARVEL BOOK C got a new inker, and instead spent some time talking about any book that wasn't MARVEL, DC, or WRITTEN BY A CURRENT/FORMER COLUMNIST OF THAT WEBSITE. I realized that wasn't going to happen. So I've spent the better part of the last two years aggressively selling the books I like. It's extremely gratifying to get an e-mail back from someone (Hi Karl!) who took a suggestion from here or Previews Review and loved it. The idea that there are people out there picking up SCOTT PILGRIM or BLACK & WHITE or STREET ANGEL because of something I've said online is gratifying. Better still, the potential readership, of anyone with a computer, is a heady thing. But yeah, as nice as the internet is, I'd wager I've actually SOLD, to PEOPLE, more copies of those books than I've inspired people to pick them up on their own by anything I've written. I mean, how many of you that read and enjoy my writings haven't got yourself a copy of SP1 yet?
(That's rhetorical.)
I guarantee that if you came into the store I work at (even once) you would leave with a copy.
There's something to be said for direct action.
This is all leading up to this one point: Fuck what anyone else says about you or what you do. (Didn't see that one coming, did you?). I mean it though. If you're living a happy, decent life and the internet is your outlet to bitch? Keep Bitching. If you're on your blog having a bad day and something sets you off, go with it. Be angry (and maybe be anonymous, if you're really angry...) but go back out into the real world afterwards and try and do something good. Still write your intelligent criticism (I plan to), still try and be positive, but for fuck sakes if you want to sit and rip on a truly shitty comic book, by all means, this is the internet and that's what it's for.
People who want to read that will find your blog. People who don't want to read that will go back to their blogs and complain about you. That's the way it works. But if you're going to clean-up anything in this lovely weather, let it be that office of yours with the junk in it (ahem) and be as dirty on the internet as it takes to keep you happy out where it counts.
Best,
- Christopher PS: And speaking of the real world: Mike, Lara, I love you guys. See you both soon!
You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Yes.
The last book you bought is:
Graphic Novel: 100%, by Paul Pope. Prose: Children Playing In The Shadow Of A Statue Of Hercules, an anthology edited by David Sedaris (bought for me).
The last book you read:
Lucky Wander Boy, by D.B. Weiss
What are you currently reading?
I have a ton of books half-finished. I went and read the introduction and the first lines from all of the short-stories in Children Playing In The Shadow Of A Statue Of Hercules, and I think I'll like that. I'm a few chapters into the last Harry Potter novel. Half way through an anthology edited by the author of Perks Of Being A Wallflower. Half way through an anthology of (then-)contemporary Japanese fiction called Monkey Brain Sushi. I'm fairly certain there are more.
Five books you would take to a deserted island.
The Compleat Bible because it'd take me for fucking ever to get through, and I'd probably need that. The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde The Invisibles (complete). I like to read that once or twice a year. I'll steal Kevin's The Annotated Brothers Grimm, edited by Maria Tatar, because that sounds fun. I can't think of a fifth book. I asked Andrew. Andrew has chosen The Collected Shakespeare.
Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
I think everyone else has done this already, so no one.
I've just finished my first book in too long. It's very easy (what with the internet and all) to not read novels. I had even scaled my literary pursuits back to short-story collections a year or two ago, in service to the general lack of time available to me. I think the last book I actually finished was the Harry Potter-before-last, and that was over a year ago now. I'd started, sorry, I have started, a few others in the intervening time and finished none of them. D.B. Weiss' Lucky Wander Boy was one of those. A few chapters in, past the initial exhileration of the PAC-MAN entry and the bright-yellow-newness of the whole enterprise, I let myself get distracted by other things and it went on the shelf. It was an article by writer Jim Munroe on the novel that got me back on the horse, finishing it a chapter or two at a time, over the course of the last week or so.
Lucky Wander Boy (Plume, 2003) is a novel that starts with the protagonist rediscovering the videogames of his youth through the MAME arcade emulator. But the game that he most wants to play, an obscure Japanese game for which the book is named, lies beyond his reach -- it can't be emulated, since its innovations required a specially built arcade cabinet. This epic quest might drive the story, but its strengths are the loopy humour and the opportunities it offers the author, D. B. Weiss, to play with concepts of childhood and obsession.
I read the book a while back and emailed the author to thank him. Finally, someone had brought up the existential question: for the brief time between Pac-Man disappearing from one side of the screen and appearing on the other, where does he go? Weiss suggests a few possibilities in the novel (that the pixelated mouth goes to Pac-Man Valhalla, where there's a infinite amount of dots to gobble, was my favourite)... - Jim Munroe, in his introduction to a short interview with the author, at The Cultural Gutter
In finishing the book, I'm not entirely sure what to take from the ending. Or the book, for that matter. The author is certainly 'play'ing with concepts surrounding childhood and obsession, idleness and idolatry factor large into the narrative as well. I'm not going to give the ending away, but in the variety of possible outcomes that the author presents as conclusions, there seems to have been none of them that was really, legitimately, any better than the others. I think I like the Narnia ending the least, despite the fact that it's theoretically the ideal (and for the small subset of my readers who've read the last Narnia book andLucky Wander Boy, I hope you get the reference).
It's a provacative book, for the geeks among us. Why we are compelled to spend 4 or 5 hours a month writing up a review of a catalogue that a few thousand people will read, and a few hundred will enjoy, and maybe 10 will actually act upon. Everyone I've encountered has had a very positive reaction to Lucky Wander Boy, and while I don't think my reaction is exactly glowing, I do think it's a very well-done novel. I'd recommend reading it to see what you get out of it.
Ultimately, and I think this might be why I'm not effusive about it (as I expected to be), I think that the tone and viewpoint of the book is ultimately pessimistic, that no one ever reaches Canaan and trying or not trying are both pointless pursuits, designed to end in profound unhappiness. It was the same problem I had with The Filth, at one point. Perhaps I'll go back and re-read that.
Anyhow, hopefully someone will stumble across this and write something meaninguful in the comments section. A Haloscan koan to provide me some enlightenment.
Toronto Comic Event April 7th: SPEAKEASY Illustrators, craftspeople, comic artists, oh my! www.speakeasyto.com
Billed as "A night out for creative types", Toronto's SPEAKEASY events are informal get-togethers, social events that double as networking opportunities for Toronto's working-from-your-home-office illustration and design types. They hold gatherings (with art demos and more) once per month, and the theme for their April 7th event is COMIC BOOKS!
Speakeasy Comic Show Thursday April 7th, 8pm-Midnight The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen West
Featuring art from Cameron Stewart (Catwoman, Seaguy, Guardian), Paul Rivoche (Project Superior), Chip Zdarsky (Prison Funnies, Monster Cops), Steve Manale, Attila Adorjany, Eric Kim, Ramon Perez, Tom Fowler, Willow Dawson, Tyrone McCarthy, Sean Ward, and Jeremy Tankard (whom sharp-eyed readers will recommend from my comments section. Jeremy's also the curator of the event!).
It should be a very fun evening all around, actually, and TCAF will be set up handing out flyers and posters and things. Fingers crossed, anyhow. Hope to see you there, folks.
DC Countdown is very bad. It's not even 'well crafted' or whatever the current euphamism for 'wow, it's not very good but I kind of liked it anyway' happens to be. It's not good at all. Most the people couldn't draw very well, the colouring was lousy, and the writing was... It's very easy to move all of your pieces around the chessboard if you stop paying attention to how they're supposed to move.
As a collary to Judd Winnick's suggestion (and by example, the suggestions of Geoff Johns and Greg Rucka through demonstration within the book) that "A lot of readers fall into the category of wanting a story, but hating conflict. They love the characters, but hate when things happen to them," I'd instead submit that you're not much of a writer if you can't think of anything to do with your characters, you can't make them even look heroic, unless you silhouette them against THE WORST ATROCITIES THEY HAVE EVER FACED. If your only trick is to make, say, Wally West's life progressively shittier, month after month after month, then that trick gets played out.
That said, if you liked this piece of trash, I'd recommend embracing it on those merits. There's nothing at all wrong with trash culture, when recognized as such. It's fun stuff. Having it bronzed is something else entirely...
My friend Scott Robins uses his powers of observation to point out some potential flaws in Marvel's triumphant return to the newsstand. Unfortunately he did not use the term "spectacularly ill-conceived". I might have. :)
Christopher
Butcher: Is 29 years old and lives in Toronto Canada. In addition to the manager of
world-famous comic book store The Beguiling, he is a freelance writer
and comics production artist and the co-founder of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. He can be contacted at chris at beguiling dot
com , though chances are it will get caught in the spam filter. You're better
off posting in the comments field.
Comics Blogs
I Read & Like: Bags & Boards: Tom McLean's media-focused comics blog. The Beat: Heidi MacDonald, dishing and digging up dirt (now at PW). Beaucoup Kevin: Kevin talks about all of the comic books. Big Sexy Arune: Comic journalist Arune Singh's blog. Brill Building: Ian Brill's blog. The Comics Reporter: Tom Spurgeon's all-in-one website featuring newsblogging, interviews, reviews, and more. A great site. Comics Worth Reading: Johanna Draper-Carlson reviews and recaps with a unique eye for comics. Completely Futile: Excellent commentary on manga. The Cultural Gutter: Toronto blog about video games, comics, and all manner of low-culture. Drawn.ca: Lots of Canadian Illustrators and artists linkblogging the best art of the internet. Neat. Egon: Grand-daddy of art-comix coverage. Forbidden Planet Blog: Brit Comic Retailer Forbidden Planet. Galleycat: About publishing, including comics. Gumpop:
Sophie Yanow runs a very cool blog about comics, that I enjoy reading. Jog The Blog: Like the similarly singley-named Cher, Jog contributes something precious and unique to the world. Johnny Bacardi: Comics coverage, and the promise of alcohol. Journalista!: Dirk Deppey sacrifices martyrs his social life for comics. Bless. Kelly Sue's Pro Blog: Kelly ends up re-writing manga I love. Also, she has a personal blog. Kochalkaholic: Alan David Doane's living tribute to cartoonist James Kochalka. Love Manga: Exceptionally thorough manga blog. The Low Road: My buddies Ed and John talk about comics and stuff. Manga Blog: Accurately named! Considered manga commentary. MangaCast: More manga than you can shake a stick at. Mystifying Oracle: Jeff Parker's very cool blog. NeilAlien Has been blogging longer than I have. Blog @ Newsarama Graeme and Kevin Melrose live here now. Panels and Pixels: Dude, it's comics and video games all in one. I find this excellent. Peiratikos: Rose and Steven's unique, contrary views on comics. Polite Dissent: Unique comics criticism and examination, through the eyes of an MD. Precocious Curmedgeon: Manga, North American Comics, and the industry. A fabulous read. Postmodern Barney: Dorian blogs about comics, homosexuals. Progressive Ruin: Mike Sterling's chronicle of funny superhero nonsense and working in a comic store. Read About Comics: Greg McElhatton's new reviews website. Riot! Blog: Blog for a new indy-friendly comic book store. Rocketship Comics: Blog for an indy-friendly Brooklyn-based comic book store. Royal Academy of Illustration and Design Blog: A fabulously talented studio of comics and illustration peeps. Savage Critics: From sunny California... Splash Panel: Comics reviews and discussion from a talented artist. Sporadic Sequential: Huzzah! It's John Jakala blogging again! When Will the Hurting
Stop: Tim O'Neil, man of action. When Fangirls Attack: A big 'ole round-up of women's issues as they relate to comics. Yet Another Comics Blog: Even with its strange preoccupation with superhero books, I still find myself enjoying this one.
Comics Artists and Friends: Radiomaru: Bryan Lee O'Malley, creator of Scott Pilgrim and etc. HopeLarson.com: Hope Larson, creator of Salamander Dream and Gray Horses. KeanerDotNet: Kean Soo, creator of Jellaby. The Rey: Corey Lewis, creator of Sharknife and etc. Gobukan: J. Bone's G-Rated Illustration Blog. Bone's Men: J. Bone's much naughtier Illustration Blog. Vera's Sketchblog: My friend Vera's awesome sketch blog. Salgood Sam: Sketch blog and work diary. Ink Skratch: Eric Kim, artist of Love as a Foreign Language. lowbright.com: Derek Kirk Kim's site, with lots of great comics. Bolt City: Kazu Kibuishi, creator of Copper and Amulet. NeilComics.com:
Neil B.'s site, with lots of great comics. Matt Forsythe, words and pictures. Mike Weiringo's Sketch Blog: Self-explaintory. FSC Wasteland: Singapore cartoonist FSC, artist on all kinds of things I like. Local: Frequently-updated blog for Oni Press' LOCAL. StreetAngelComics: Jim Rugg's web presence, dedicated to his first great comic. Atomic Toy: The online home of Andy Helms, soon the be known for his awesome graphic novel FEARLESS GRIGGS.
Online Comics: Young
Bottoms in Love: Great gay webcomix archive. Achewood: My favourite webcomic. Penny Arcade: Thrice-weekly comic strip about video game culture. Diesel Sweeties: Pixel-based hipster soap opera, with death robots. Dinosaur Comics! OMGWTF! In a just world, Ryan North would rule us all. Comic Strip: Chip Zdarsky's print/online comic for the National Post. Secret Friend Society: Online comics including Jellaby, Salamander Dream, and more! A Softer World Comics made of photos. Also, check out OverQualified by the same author, which are humourously deranged cover letters for resumes. House of Sugar: Rebecca Kraatz' daily online comic strip. Makeshift Miracle Complete online graphic novel, available via Bitpass. Moresukine Updated weekly from Tokyo, experience Japan through the wonder of comics. Perry Bible Fellowship Very funny short comic strips, very well drawn too. Click on the man with the hat to get to the archives. Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles Awesome/creepy weekly comic strip. Superslackers Toronto's Steve Manale presents humourous superheroes for children of all ages. The tonic to 'Infinite Crisis'. ButternutSquash Ramon and Rob do an autobiographical comic that people think is farace. It is not. They're just like that. Jay's Days You will not be able to tear yourself away. Serializer.net: Awesome online alternative pay-comics site, worth your support with money. ModernTales.com:
The original, filled to the brim with great comics. PVP: I generally enjoy PVP, but Scott Kurtz is a pretty horrible person.
For more, click
the Resources tab up top.
Non-Comics Blogs: Andrew's Blog: Andrew talks about entertaining things. Andrew's Other Blog: Andrew talks about serious things. David&Kiko.com: My friends in Japan, with a blog. Dahlberg Central: Gus Dahlberg and his adorable family. Booklust: Toronto Illustrator commenting on books and illustration. Interesting stuff. The Torontoist: The Torontoist is a Toronto-culture blog, covering some of the more interesting goings on in the city (and doing it well). Sort of like a freebie-weekly paper, but it pays less and comes out more. Blog T.O.: Another great Toronto-centric blog.
Retired: All Ages: Scott Robins's blog about comics for young readers. A Bear In The City: Gay-comics linkblog, semi-retired. GutterNinja:
Steve Pheley's awesomely-named blog, full of snark.
For corrections or additions to this page, please contact me at cro2 at
212 dot net. All sites linked on this page are the copyright of their
respective owners, and no malice was intended in linking from this page.
Weblog courtesy of Blogger. Hosting
courtesy of 212.net. Comments courtesy
of Haloscan. Christopher Butcher appears courtesy of his parents, and
The Beguiling.
Surfing...
I came into work this morning to discover that the nice UPS man had delivered us 5 preview copies of COMICS FESTIVAL!, The Toronto Comic Arts Festival's entry for this year's Free Comic Book Day (being held at better comic book stores everywhere Saturday, May 7th 2005).
I Am Waiting For You, Lucky Wander Boy!
