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Courtney Crumrin in Colour

According to a press release that’s just landed in my inbox, Oni Press plans to go back and re-release, in full colour, Ted Naifeh’s excellent young adult graphic novel series Courtney Crumrin. Released 10 years ago into a market that, frankly, didn’t really understand the Young Adult book category, Crumrin was thought to be too scary for kids and too ‘kiddy’ for grownups–neither of which was true then and I’m hoping that will be even more demonstrably false now.

It’s an interesting thing to see Courtney re-released, mostly because if successful, there are a host of graphic novels from just before the ‘boom’ that would likely find a much more favourable audience now. Here’s hoping.

I don’t usually do this, but I quite like this series and creator Ted Naifeh is a lovely gentleman, and so I invite you to thrill to the 5 page preview of the first volume and press release, immediately below. Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things, the first volume, will be out in April; I highly recommend picking it up for yourself or for the kid who appreciates ‘spooky’ things in your life.

– Chris

Continue reading “Courtney Crumrin in Colour”

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Merry Christmas from Sonny Liew

I received this adorable little Christmas Card from Sonny Liew, creator of Malinky Robot, this morning. What better time to remind you to all rush out and pick up a copy of this book for someone on your Christmas list?

For the uninitiated, It’s a bit like TekkonKinkreet without the ultra-violence, or the FLIGHT anthologies before there were FLIGHT anthologies. Gorgeous sprawling cityscapes and small stories about big things, the detritus of childhood writ large, it’s fun stuff.

Malinky Robot: Collected Stories & Other Bits
Created by Sonny Liew
Full Colour, 128 Pages, $16.95
Published by Image Comics

I’ll try and run all of the comics-related Christmas Cards I get this year up here on the blog… it’s the least I can do during this very low ebb of content.

– Chris

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Comics & Medicine Conference Comes To Toronto

If you’re a follower of the Comics Internet, you might remember a really intriguing conference that’s occurred over the past few years, about comics and medicine and how they go together. I first became aware of it thanks to the work and words of Darryl Cunningham and his graphic novel Psychiatric Tails, and I’m delighted to learn that following stints in London and Chicago, the conference will make its way to Toronto July 22nd to 24th. Special guests include Joyce Brabner (Our Cancer Year) and Joyce Farmer (Special Exits).

More info at the website, http://graphicmedicine.org

You can click the “continue reading” link at the bottom to see the whole PR.

PR:

Comics & Medicine: Navigating the Margins
22-24 July 2012
Toronto, Canada
Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Biomedical Communications Program, University of Toronto
Office of the Vice-Principal, Research, University of Toronto Mississauga

The third international interdisciplinary conference* on comics and medicine will continue to explore the intersection of sequential visual arts and medicine. This year we will highlight perspectives that are often under-represented in graphic narratives, such as depictions of the Outsider or Other in the context of issues such as barriers to healthcare, the stigma of mental illness and disability, and the silent burden of caretaking.

The conference will feature keynote presentations by comics creators Joyce Brabner and Joyce Farmer. Brabner, a comics artist and social activist, collaborated with her late husband Harvey Pekar on the graphic novel Our Cancer Year (1994), which won a Harvey Award for best graphic novel. Farmer is a veteran of the underground comics scene who nursed her elderly parents through dementia and decline as shown in her graphic memoir Special Exits (2010), which won the National Cartoonists Society award for graphic novels.

We invite proposals for scholarly papers (20 minutes) or panel discussions (60 minutes) focusing on medicine and comics in any form (e.g., graphic novels, comic strips, graphic pathographies, manga, and/or web comics). In particular, we seek presentations on the following—and related—topics:

Continue reading “Comics & Medicine Conference Comes To Toronto”

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PR: VIZ MEDIA TO RELEASE ART FOR HOPE DIGITAL ART ANTHOLOGY IN DECEMBER

VIZ MEDIA TO RELEASE ART FOR HOPE DIGITAL ART ANTHOLOGY IN DECEMBER

Innovative Art Book Created In Partnership With Autodesk To Benefit Japanese Disaster Recovery; Exhibit Of Artwork Also Takes Place In Las Vegas At Autodesk University

VIZ Media has announced the upcoming debut of ART FOR HOPE, a limited edition digital art book anthology created in partnership with Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) to benefit Architecture for Humanity. The anthology will be available for a limited time, from December 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012, for $4.99 through VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App for iPad®, iPhone® and iPod® touch. 100% of VIZ Media’s net proceeds will support Architecture for Humanity’s ongoing disaster reconstruction efforts in Japan. To learn more about these rebuilding projects, please visit: www.ArchitectureForHumanity.org.

Each of the 40 artists participating in the ART FOR HOPE anthology used Autodesk® SketchBook® digital paint and drawing software applications in some way to create original pieces for the anthology. The artists, both professional and amateur, hail from around the world and from diverse fields, and range in style from the realistic to the fantastic, each illustrating the theme of “Hope.” Notable contributors include Eisner Award and Harvey Award winner Rob Guillory, Harvey Award winner Lark Pien, muralist Sirron Norris, and MAMESHIBA artists Jorge Monlongo and Gemma Corell.

Selections from ART FOR HOPE will also be exhibited at the Autodesk annual user conference, Autodesk University, taking place at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, NV from November 29th to December 1st. Access to the exhibit is free to the public within the Creative Studio a unique hands-on space to celebrate the creative spirit and showcasing a variety of Autodesk software and products. More information on the exhibit and conference is available at: http://www.sketchbooknews.com/news/creative-studio-art-exhibit.html.

VIZ Media and Autodesk are very proud of and grateful to the following artists for their contributions to the ART FOR HOPE digital art anthology:

Janet Alvarado, Don’t Lose Hope
Asuka 111 (Patipat Asavasena), Hope
Azure, Untitled
Greg Baldwin of CreatureBox, Sheltered
Alan Bay, A Little Piece of Hope
Drew Blom, Calvin Hedge and the Iron Golem
Steve Boura, Bright Future
Carsten Bradley, A Wish for You
Matthew Britton, Regrowth
Veronica Casson, The Guest Room
Geikou Chen, Rainbow Bridge to Tomorrow
Gemma Correll, Pierre, le Chat Français
Kalii Delarosa, The Rainbow in the Rain
Conrado Hernan, Villa Gil Untitled
Dave Guertin, First Flight
Rob Guillory, Hope
Rodolpho Langhi, A New Sunrise
C. Lijewski, Light Side of Dark
Chris Lui, Birds of a Feather
Holly Mongi, Good Morning, Friend
Jorge Monlongo, The Sprout and the Bean
Brian Muelhaupt, Ojizo-sama
Shaun Mullen, Kodama (Tree Spirits)
Susan Murtaugh, Enduring Beauty
Ray N., Deliverance
Joe Ng, Rise Above the Storm
Sirron Norris, Kibou
Jacques Pena, Love
Luis Peso, Gathering Hope
Lark Pien, Wishes, Dreams
Kyle Runciman, Ready to Roll
Francesco Salvati, DEAR HOPE
Janet Shaw, The Hope of Japan
Brad Silverman, Dancing Dragon
Joseph Strachan, Flight of the Phoenix
James Turner, Never Give Up
Colie Wertz, Sea Turtle
Pinar Yalcin, Beam of Light
John Yandall, One Little Sign
Jim Zub, Seed Starter

For more information on the ART FOR HOPE project, please visit www.VIZ.com/artforhope.

Art Credits:

Love © 2011 Jacques Pena
First Flight © 2011 Dave Guertin

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What I think about non-superhero comics

Ref: http://www.comicbookdaily.com/championing_comics/retailer-q/retailer-q-5-non-superhero-market/

So my answer there was a sort of a glib place-holder, intended to be expanded upon after a few people had had their say on the topic because, frankly, The Beguiling has probably the best reputation in the industry for stocking and supporting “non-superhero” comics. And then I got caught up in heading to Japan and I didn’t have time to respond and everyone ended up looking more eloquent and nuanced than me. My fault for trying to be funny.

So, briefly: The “non-superhero market” is alive and well from my perspective, yes. At any given time there are 10-15 ongoing monthly or nearly-monthly series that I could recommend to readers that don’t fit the ‘superhero’ mold, but are clearly genre-based or genre-inspired works. I think Image is going through something of a renascence right now in terms of the creator-owned work they’re publishing, and Icon, IDW, SLG, Dynamite, Boom, and Oni have all usually got at least one monthly comic worth following, and sometimes two or three. We even got a new issue of Optic Nerve this year!

And that’s before you get into the graphic novels. On a given week, we’re getting 40+ new graphic novels in, and only 25-33% of that is superhero related. Classic comic strips, art-comix collections, mainstream-bookstore stuff. It’s good. One side-effect of Marvel and DC’s “Throw it at the wall to see what sticks, and make sure everything gets collected in trade” business model is that their sales are so diffused among so many products that it’s next to impossible for them to have a ‘hit’ on any title. No one comes in asking for a specific “Green Lantern” or “Avengers” trade, because there are dozens and dozens of books featuring those characters, and it’s impossible to market them or promote them individually… but if someone comes in asking for Buffy, The Walking Dead, Scott Pilgrim, Skullkickers, Criminal, Chew, Locke & Key, etc.? We start them at v1, they read til there’s no more to read in that line, and we start making recommendations from there.  That definitely affects how we order.

And hell, manga. MANGA.

Realistically, the superhero material we stock at The Beguiling (and make no mistake, we stock all of the superhero material, every comic and ever trade) makes up a minority of our comics sales. We like some of it, we’re glad people like it, and we like its dependability, bringing customers into the shop every week that will buy a variety of stuff. While the last couple months have been very strong for superhero material, thanks to the DC relaunch and some high-profile Marvel books, realistically “non-superhero” works are still our bread and butter and I don’t really see that changing any time soon.

I have thought and continue to think, though, that defining the comics industry between superhero and non-superhero works is false and bizarre. Even asking that question and having me respond with a phrase like “actually, non-superhero works as a grouping do better for us,” is exactly the sort of statement that gets die-hard cape fans’ dander up, and I don’t think it’s either necessary or helpful for anyone. So, just to reassure the superhero fans reading this: I don’t and we don’t hate superheroes, it’s okay, and we’re happy to serve you regardless of the types of comics you like to read. 🙂

– Christopher

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Marvel Lays Off Staff, Points To Larger Problems Within Company

The initial reports from all the sites linked-to above have settled in on cost-cutting measures rather than performance issues with those let go. This may put Marvel in the position of having to explain to some super-involved fans and the professional community… why cost-cutting had to come for what by most rational measures is a very successful publishing enterprise that serves as a powerful R&D arm for movies and licensing. Marvel saw three movies with its characters out this summer, two from Marvel proper, and has at least two major movies (one from Marvel itself) coming out in Summer 2012. All of those films anchor significant licensing campaigns, and the company in general has moved far past the more confused days of the 1980s and early 1990s with that era’s hat-in-hand licensing deals and is partnered up seemingly across the board with major players in dozens of fields. Ironically, another piece of Marvel news Thursday was that they sold a Punisher TV show, which underlines the continuing potency of Marvel’s characters in terms of securing such deals and selling related material. – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter

The current problem seems to stem from a publishing forecast that didn’t get hit when the actual numbers came in. It doesn’t matter that Marvel is still a very profitable company. This is not a matter of losing money. It just wasn’t as profitable as it thought it might be. The shortfall in the margins wasn’t huge — it was less than 5% in an economy where that’s practically considered stable. But whatever the shortfall was, instead of looking at ways to build the business or bolster areas with huge potential — books, anyone? — Ike’s only reaction is to slash, slash, slash. – Heidi MacDonald, The Comics Beat

My best wishes go out to the folks who lost their jobs yesterday. I hope you manage to land on your feet.

– Christopher