Category: The Beguiling

+ Michael Cho just got out of the hospital after a fairly serious bout of illness. Cho is known around town for some great comics, but is probably more familiar to my international readers for his inks on this week’s New Frontier Special. Speedy recovery sir! There are comics to draw.

+ Doug Wright has been in the comics news as of late. First up, Drawn + Quarterly have been publishing previews (one, two) of their forthcoming biography of this Canadian cartoonist little known outside of Canada. Then, just this week a fellow named John Adcock found a number of his comics on microfilm, and decided to post them to his blog.

+ Sequential is a Canadian comics news and linkblog that, for whatever reason, I hadn’t yet added to my blogroll. I’ve rectified that now, go visit today.

Toronto Comics Events Coming Up:

March 15th: Michel Rabagliati in Toronto, http://www.beguiling.com/2008/03/reminder-michel-rabagliati-in-toronto.html

March 26th: Skim Book Launch, with Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki, http://pagesbooks.ca/events.php?type=event&id=165

April 3rd: Art Spiegelman in Toronto, http://www.uofttix.ca/view.php?id=326

Finally, here’s a little bit ‘a Stompin’ Tom Connors, courtesy of Kate Beaton’s Awesome Canadian History Comics.

– Christopher

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

– Christopher

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A young fan came just for the Jellaby.

Kean draws the Jellaby!

Kazu sketches for a fan. Daisy Kutter!

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

Thanks again to Kazu and Kean for a fantastic time!

– Christopher

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

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

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

– Chris

(Please include in your listings.)

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

Presented in association with THE BEGUILING and Scholastic Canada

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

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

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

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

– Christopher