Never Safe For Work
TCAF 2009 Poster Image by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Design by Chip Zdarsky
Final full-size poster (with less text) available April, 2009
(Just realized I never posted this here, and I was really happy with how it turned out, so… Thanks to Mal & Chip)
– Chris
Hey! TCAF is going to be awesome! I just added 30+ new guests and a bunch of new publishers to the website. Here’s the bulk of the updates:
From Canada: Dave Lapp (Drop-In), Brian McLachlan (Princess Planet), Michael Noonan, Joe Ollman (Chewing on Tinfoil), Steve Rolston (Emiko Superstar) and Jim Zubkavich (UDON).
From England, and attending TCAF for the first time, is Jamie McKelvie, author of Suburban Glamour and artist of Phonogram, amongst other works.
From the U.S.A.: John Campbell (Pictures For Sad Children), Scott Campbell (Hickee), Becky Cloonan (Demo, Pixu), Kevin Colden (Fishtown), Joshua Cotter (Skyscrapers of the Midwest), Justin Hall (True Travel Tales), Dustin Harbin (Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find), Cheese Hasselberger and Dave McKenna and Brian Musikoff from House of 12, Chris Hastings (Dr. McNinja), Jeph Jacques (Questionable Content), Matt Kindt (Three Sisters), Joe Lambert (CCS Grad), Miss Lasko-Gross (Escape From Special), David Malki (Wondermark), Sean McCarthy (Partyka), Erika Moen (Dar), Tom Neely (The Blot), Lark Pien (Long-Tail Kitty), Jonathan Rosenberg (Goats), Jeffrey Rowland (Wigu, Overcompensating), and Jason Shiga (Bookhunter)!
We’ve also confirmed exhibition space by publishers Adhouse Books, Anteism Books, Buenaventura Press, Fantagraphics Books, Le Dernier Cri, plus The Doug Wright Awards, Broken Pencil Magazine, and Taddle Creek Magazine.
—
Cool beans!
We do have a number of potential guests who are still firming up their schedule so there’ll likely be more additions in the weekend to come, though another 30 creator update is unlikely.
– Chris
It’s time once again for The Doug Wright Awards for excellence in (English language) Canadian cartooning! “Founded in 2004 to recognize the best English-language graphic novels and comics, The Doug Wright Awards have grown into one of Canada’s premier cartooning events,” according to the press release.
The 2009 Finalists for Best Book are:
Burma Chronicles, by Guy Delisle (Drawn & Quarterly)
Drop-in, by Dave Lapp (Conundrum Press)
Paul Goes Fishing, by Michel Rabagliati (Drawn & Quarterly)
Skim, by Jillian & Mariko Tamaki (Groundwood Books)
The 2009 finalists for Best Emerging Talent are:
Kate Beaton (History Comics)
Caitlin Black (Maids in the Mist)
Jesse Jacobs (Blue Winter, Shapes in the Snow)
Jason Kieffer (Kieffer #2)
Nick Maandag (Jack & Mandy)
The finalists for non-traditional works (Pigskin Peters’ Award) are:
Hall of Best Knowledge Ray Fenwick (Fantagraphics)
Ojingogo Matthew Forsythe (Drawn & Quarterly)
All We Ever Do is Talk About Wood Tom Horacek (Drawn & Quarterly)
Small Victories Jesse Jacobs (self-published)
Further, this year the DWAs will induct cartoonist Jimmie Frise (d. 1948), creator of the popular strip ‘Birdseye Center’, into The Giants of the North, the Hall of Fame for Canadian cartooning.
The 2009 Doug Wright Awards will be handed out on Saturday, May 9th at 7pm, in a ceremony hosted by Canadian filmmaker Don McKellar and held at the recently renovated (and gorgeous) Art Gallery of Ontario. Just after the first day of TCAF, I might add, so another reason to come.
The DWAs are decided by a rotating jury, and this year the jury includes; Bob Rae (the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and 21st premier of Ontario), Andrew Coyne (national editor for Maclean’s and political panelist on CBC Television’s The National), Martin Levin (books editor for The Globe and Mail and contributor to What I Meant to Say), cartoonist Joe Ollmann (author of the 2007 DWA Best Book This Will All End in Tears) and cartoonist Diana Tamblyn, the Ignatz-nominated author of several mini-comics including The Rosie Stories and There You Were.
…I still think it’s strange that the nominating committee, who wasn’t named (and Christ do I hate that) didn’t opt to put Scott Pilgrim 4 on there, but it’s not like all four of those best books aren’t amazing, amazing work.
– Christopher
A Drifting Life
By Yoshihiro Tatsumi
856 Pages, Softcover, $29.99/$39.99
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
I have no doubt that much will be written about this book when it is officially released this spring. There’s a deceptive density to A Drifting Life, Tatsumi Yoshihiro’s arms’ length autobiography. It’s a story told very directly, switching between the first and third person to describe a young man’s passion and struggle, set against a larger picture of a nation looking to rebuild after World War II. The 800+ pages of the book read quickly, but the ideas expressed are potent and the history chronicled Important (and largely unkown); the effect of completing the book is disorienting. At one point I flipped to the back looking for footnotes to try and match my own understanding of the origins of Japanese comics to the incredible amount of information Tatsumi dolls out in a few key chapters (though the entire birth of the manga industry, and Tatsumi’s own Gekiga can be found in these pages) (about the footnotes: there are none). At its heart A Drifting Life is a memoir, filled with a density of details to give it a setting and place that will be immediately familiar to Japanese readers of the last generation but that will largely evade North American ones. This is not a bad thing, if anything the unfamiliarity of the time and place of this story will add to the experience of the lead drifting through his life, tied only to the comic that I hope you’ll be holding in your hands.
– Christopher
Yoshihiro Tatsumi will be a Guest of Honour at the 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival, of which I am the Festival Director.
Hey there,
I didn’t post the press release for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, because I didn’t want to step on the toes of my comics journalist compatriots, but I did want to point out that we just posted our first guestlist update:
We’re pleased to announce that the following Canadian comics creators will be attending The Toronto Comic Arts Festival, May 9th and 10th 2009: Ho Che Anderson (King), Kate Beaton (History Comics), Andy Belanger (Raising Hell), Joey Comeau & Emily Horne (A Softer World), Tom Fowler (Mysterius), Scott Hepburn (Star Wars), John Martz (Drawn.ca), Kagan McLeod (Infinite Kung-Fu), Ramon Perez (Kukuburi), John C. Ralston, Paul Rivoche, Cameron Stewart (Seaguy), and J. Torres (Batman: Brave and the Bold).
In addition, TCAF is proud to announce that we will be working with Toronto Gallery + Retailer Magic Pony to welcome Tara McPherson to Toronto. Tara McPherson will be participating in a gallery show at Magic Pony and debuting her new artbook and toyline with Kid Robot at TCAF.
These creators rachet the guestlist up to something like 120 artists and authors who will be getting together in Toronto this May to have the most fun allowed by law. I’ve been trying to keep the hype off of my blog here (last year I think it got a little… thick) but I’m super-excited about the show this year, and knee-deep in planning it. As much fun as it is watching the direct market self-destruct (and arguing with folks who think that Nero is fiddling just fine, thanks), my attention will be more-likely-than-not focussed elsewhere for the next few months. Towards doing something cool and positive for the medium. Wish me luck!
Best,
– Christopher
Yikes! I woke up this morning and was informed that the January 2009 Previews Catalogue is due… Which means that retailers have gotta place their orders for this year’s FREE COMIC BOOK DAY books soon! That includes the third installment of COMICS FESTIVAL!, the anthology we put together to promote Canadian comics talent, and TCAF. This year Comics Festival is being aimed directly at the under-12 set, a kid-focused, kid-approved collection of great comics!
Comics Festival 2009 leads a 10-page SARDINE IN OUTER SPACE story by TCAF Guest Of Honour Emmanuel Guibert, in association with SARDINE publisher First Second Books. Emmanuel Guibert also put together that striking new cover that will leap off the table on Free Comic Book Day!
Comics Festival 2009 will also feature Kean Soo, who will be providing a couple of all-new JELLABY short stories in celebration of the second volume of that series, coming this fall!
Wrapping up the book will be a bunch of comic strips and shorts by a plethora of Great Canadian Cartoonists, and there will be more than one surprise in its pages. It really is going to be a fantastic book, full of great stories, and a great retailer tool that will promote more than 15 in-print graphic novels for young readers.
If you’re a comics fan looking for a great read this FCBD, or you have kids who like comics, or you’re a retailer who wants a great kid-safe book to hand out for Free Comic Book Day this year (that doubles as a great sales-tool!) then don’t miss COMICS FESTIVAL 2009!
– Chris
P.S.: Free Comic Book Day is Saturday May 2nd this year, the weekend before TCAF.
Mal and I at the Toronto Reference Library yesterday. Photo courtesy of the indomitable Eric Kim.
TCAF announcement next week, it looks like. 🙂
– Christopher
We’re confirmed: The 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival will be held Saturday May 9th and Sunday May 10th, in Toronto, Canada. Our new digs? The Toronto Reference Library, a huge and beautiful modernist building, able to accommodate all of our growing Festival needs.
Mark your calendars now, book off some time, and get ready for the best TCAF yet.
For more info, e-mail me at 2009@torontocomics.com.
– Christopher
Hey everybody! I just posted The Beguiling’s Free Comic Book Day wrap-up at: http://www.beguiling.com/2008/05/free-comic-book-day-2008-wrap-up.html.
We had a good year this year despite some pretty awful weather, and though I don’t have exact figures I’d say that we had at least 600 people through both events over the course of the day, and a lot (at least 200 of them) were under 14. Mission: Accomplished.
Because my site gets way more traffic than The Beguiling’s site, I did want to take the opportunity to send you to visit the online homes of all of our participating artists at this year’s FCBD events. They were really stars, drawing and sketching all day (many of them without any breaks) and sending you to check out their work is the least I can do.
Michael Cho (Transmission-X, Max Finder): http://www.transmission-x.com/ , http://chodrawings.blogspot.com/
Willow Dawson (Violet Miranda): http://www.willowdawson.com/
J. Korim (Neozoic): http://www.jkorim.ca/main.htm
Jessie Lam (Neozoic): http://axl99.net/
Steve Manale (Superslackers, You Crack Me Up): http://www.superslackers.com/
Nick Mandaag (Artist): no website!
Tyrone McCarthy (Corduroy High): http://www.corduroyhigh.com/
Alana McCarthy (Illustrator): http://www.alanaland.com/
Brian McLachlan (Princess Planet): http://www.theprincessplanet.com/, http://www.transmission-x.com/
Tara Tallan (Galaxion): http://www.girlamatic.com/comics/galaxion.php
Jeremy Tankard (Grumpy Bird, Me Hungry): http://www.jeremytankard.com/
Chip Zdarsky (Monster Cops): http://chipzdarsky.livejournal.com/
Hope you all had a great Free Comic Book Day!
– Christopher
(Photo: Jeremy Tankard talks about his very first home-made comics to a group of rapt youngsters and their parents at Free Comics For Kids Day)
Are you in Toronto? Know people who are? The Beguiling/TCAF have put together two pretty-amazing Free Comic Book Day events. For one we partnered with the Toronto Public Library and a number of other organizations to do book launches for three Toronto authors who have new material for kids, and we’re tying that into kid-oriented FCBD activities. For the other, we’re doing some solid outreach efforts featuring Toronto comics creators.
Hope to see you there!
More at: http://www.beguiling.com/2008/04/reminder-free-comics-for-kids-day-this.html
More at http://www.beguiling.com
– Chris