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Two Things I Said

“Well maybe this is telling, but I’ve always put my enjoyment of the festival second — or maybe third — to doing the work and promoting a bunch of great comics creators, giving them a place to make a few bucks and expand their audiences. Aspects of TCAF are certainly enjoyable, but the real value to me is more that it’s rewarding. That sounds a little martyr-y, I’m sorry, it’s not intentional.”

http://www.openbooktoronto.com/magazine/summer_2011/smart_producers

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“I just did a quick count and Marvel have about 100 ongoing series and mini-series set in the main Marvel U coming in August, give or take. Looking at the DC list, it seems the vast majority of books getting issue #1s are, in fact, being rebooted rather than exploring entirely new concepts or characters, which means that as retailers we have hard sales data on those books. We know what Action Comics #900 sold, and we know what Grant Morrison’s All Star Superman #1 sold, and we know what really big event books with real-world press coverage tend to do to sales, so we’ve got a usable metric to figure out orders on Morrison and Morales’ Action Comics #1. Again, I think we know the general ballpark of where to place our orders on almost all of these titles, and that they’re #1 issues will largely mean more copies are sold than the previous issue, not less. Compared to Marvel’s 100-title continuity, 52 books in the DCU seems almost quaint, and certainly easier to deal from an ordering perspective.”

http://www.comicbookdaily.com/wp/championing_comics/retailer-q/retailer-q-1-dc-reboot/

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Just in case you missed me writing about the comical books on this here blog, you can go check out what I’m thinking about these days over on those other sites.

– Chris

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Superheroism

I think that in the last 10 years, the narrative that Marvel and DC have tried to sell, that “Women don’t read comics” has shifted to “Women don’t want to read the only kind of comics we want to produce,” which is a much less compelling narrative. More believable though.

Their lack of diversity, and DC’s recent moves especially, are really damning in the big picture, but even on a personal level, a one-to-one sort of a thing, I can’t even get Actual Gay People in comics to stop giving money to gay-hating hotel operator Doug Manchester (The Hyatt) at San Diego every year… I’m not holding my breath waiting for the superhero pubs or fandom to come around on this one. I would hope that, at some point, IDW or Image or whomever would see the obvious gap in the market and make a go, but as-of-yet they’ve shied away as well. It’s too bad.

On that note, here’s a great interview segment that I read with the creator of COMMUNITY, about how he was ‘forced’ to hire a half-female writing staff, and how that ended up being one of the best moves the show could’ve taken: http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/06/communitys_dan_harmon_talks_ab.html. The great pull-quote from that one?

“I think we have to stop thinking of it as a quota thing and think of it as a common-sense thing.”

Here’s to common sense.

– Christopher

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San Diego Comic Con – BEST AND WORST MANGA OF 2011

As a reprise to our totes-fun-times from last years, Deb Aoki, David Brothers, Patachu, Eva Volin, and myself will preside over a panel charmingly entitled:

THE BEST AND WORST MANGA OF 2011

at the San Diego Comic Con (or, more properly, Comic-Con International: San Diego). I will be catching right-the-hell-up on all of my manga reading in order to be as informed as possible, but will clearly be schooled by my fellow panelists. It should be fun! And it would be delightful to see you there. Here are the deets:

Best and Worst of Manga 2011
Friday, July 22nd
Room: 26AB
6:30p.m. – 7:30p.m.

– Christopher

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Ono-sensei

“My schedule at TCAF is over. I met more people and had more conversations than I even thought possible (through an interpreter) these past two days. It was so much fun!” – Natsume Ono, on Twitter, translated from The Japanese

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Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes DVD Winners

Congrats to Brian M. and Danny T. who each have won a set of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes DVDs, including Volume 1: Heroes Assemble, and Volume 2: Captain America Reborn. I’ll be sending out copies of both shortly to the winners.

Thanks to everyone who entered! And even if you didn’t win, the discs are available in stores now.

Maybe some other benevolent multi-national will come forward with things for me to give-away sooner than later…? I GUESS WE’LL SEE.

– Chris

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Japan: Tradition. Innovation. @ Canadian Museum of Civilization, May 20th, 2011

Japan: Tradition. Innovation.
May-October 2011. Opens May 20th, 2011.
Canadian Museum of Civilization
100 Laurier Street
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M8
(Just on the other side of the river from Ottawa)
http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/whats-on/event-detail&EventId=302

So, I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this on the blog, but one of the coolest things I did last year was act as a special consultant on popular culture to The Canadian Museum of Civilization, for their new exhibit on Japan opening this week. Japan: Tradition. Innovation. is a unique look at the Edo-period origins of contemporary Japanese technology and design. Focusing specifically on consumer goods–things that we interact with every day–the show breaks down 400 years of cultural innovation into five themes; travel, automation, social status, consumer culture, and entertainment. Comparing woodblock prints to manga, contemporary Japanese street-fashion with armour and traditional garb, robots to mechanized dolls–it’s all cool stuff.

I specifically helped acquire materials for the manga and anime collections, including first-editions, cels, and some cool ephermera. I’m excited to see how it’s been placed into the context of the larger collection. It was an amazing opportunity to dig through all kinds of cool old manga and anime at Mandarake during my last visit to Japan (Oct/Nov 2010), divorced from my normal concerns of finding cool stuff to bring back to The Beguiling. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have a bunch of first-edition Tezuka manga at the store, but I doubt they’d sell with the expediency that we’d need them too to make any sort of profit. Buying for a museum has a very different set of criteria. Oh, and as a special note, I’d like to thank everyone who helped me identify some of those pieces, it was very cool of you and I really appreciate it. Feel free to ask me for a favour in future.

Oh, and speaking of The Beguiling, the awesome comic and graphic novel store which I manage, we also acted as a sponsor of the exhibit! We’ve donated hundreds of manga to the exhibition’s “reading room”, which is essentially a wall of manga you can hang out and read at. It’s also roughly 50/50 French-language and English-language translations of Japanese material, which means we could include a bunch of stuff not yet available in English. I feel really good about the mix of manga included too, because it covers not only popular and contemporary series, but also classics, “art-oriented” works, and works that seek to explain certain Japanese customs, aspects of the culture, and traditions through manga. Oishinbo is as prominently displayed as Naruto, A Drifiting Life and The Rose of Versailles and Doraemon all getting equal face-time. So exciting!

The exhibit has a special opening this Thursday, May 19th at 6pm, for Museum members and the press only. I’m going to be there to see the public’s reaction to it for the first time, and I’m pretty excited! If anyone from the Ottawa/Montreal area will be there and would like to get-together and talk manga, drop me a line! If you can’t make it this week, don’t worry, the show’s on until October and I’m hoping we can put together some exciting programing at the Museum featuring manga and anime experts and professionals over the course of the summer. I’m also going to try to do a report on the exhibit here on the blog, if I can manage to remember my camera. 🙂

For more on the exhibit, check out http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/whats-on/event-detail&EventId=302.

– Christopher

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Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Vol 1 & 2 – Contest and Review

On Tuesday April 26th, Walt Disney Studios released AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES VOLUME 1 and VOLUME 2, 2 DVD’s compiling the first 13 episodes of the very popular animated series based on the Marvel Comics. When the folks from Disney contacted me, asking if I’d be interested in giving away a few copies of the DVD’s on the site here, I thought “Why not?” Unfortunately TCAF preparations prevented me from getting it up on the 26th, but since the DVDs are in stores now (and to some acclaim), I figure we should still do a little bit of promo and give away some DVDs. I asked my good friend Derek Haliday to review the series and he’s done so below, so check that as well.

If you’d like to enter to win one of two sets of the DVDs, see the rules and details at the bottom of this post.

Review: Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Volume 1 & 2 DVD
Available in stores now.

Reviewed by Derek T. Halliday

Growing up as an 80’s baby meant growing up during what some might consider to be the Golden Age of televised animation.  Saturday morning used to be the day you’d sneak out of bed as early as 6am and stay glued to the TV until noon, watching in wonder as your heroes strode across the screen, having big adventures and fighting bad guys, inspiring your imagination and shaping your moral compass; GI JOE and HE-MAN were as important a part in shaping my world view as any other influence from that early developmental period in my life.  When I was a kid, I was convinced that when I grew up, I could become a hero.

AVENGERS:  EARTH’S MIGHTIEST inspires those same feelings; it’s a Saturday morning throwback to when children’s entertainment featured larger than life characters having big and bold adventures.  The Good Guys are good and the Bad Guys get what they deserve.  It’s colorful, exciting, and engaging, mostly because there’s a sophistication that hasn’t been apparent in a lot of cartoons for quite a long time.

EARTH’S MIGHTIEST introduces MARVEL’s greatest heroes individually in the first five episodes and then brings them together as a team to face the biggest of threats; a massive breakout of four Superhuman Prison facilities, which all inexplicably fail simultaneously, release 73 of the world’s most powerful, most evil, supervillains.  It’s a crisis that no individual hero can cope with, and an uneasy alliance is struck as Iron Man gathers together a motley crew: Thor, a Norse God unfairly exiled to Earth by his all powerful father Odin; The Incredible Hulk, a snarling monster and fugitive on the run from the Government; pacifist scientist Hank Pym and his spunky girlfriend Janet Van Dyne, also known as Ant Man and the Wasp.  Each hero is introduced individually in stand alone episodes that give their background and show their unique place in the larger context of the MARVEL Universe, and all come together to face a greater threat. And what a great threat it is! A powerful, insane, villain named Graviton uses his mastery of gravity to life the entire island of Manhattan from the Earth, and threaten to throw it into space… and that’s one of the great things about AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST, every story is BIG, and makes effective use of the fact that it’s an animated show by showing you something you’d otherwise never be able to see.  Colorful characters, literally larger than life, provide big action in a way that you’ve always wished you could see; there’s weight and force as they trade blows, punching each other across great distances and through buildings, tossing cars around and ripping up streets… it’s all big and exciting and visually engaging.

One of the greatest strengths of EARTH’S MIGHTIEST, though, is character.  Big action is great and fun to look at, but doesn’t mean as much if you don’t care about the guy getting punched.  Each character is unique, and they don’t always get along.  Characters clash and fight and rag on each other, and through it all there’s growth; these are people who are used to fighting alone, and, being superhuman, have never had to rely on anyone else, because there wasn’t a thing they couldn’t do for themselves.  Iron Man and Thor clash over Technology VS Magic, Thor and Hulk clash over who is strongest of all, Giant Man and Wasp clash over the effectiveness of violence, and my favorite character, Hawkeye, he just clashes with everyone!  Most of the show’s humor comes from how awkward each character’s interactions with each other are.

EARTH’S MIGHTIEST is also something of a nerd-bonanza.  In an ambitious move, the series creators seem to be determined to work in just about every MARVEL character you could possible think of in some respect, creating a massive and textured world that will have many a nerd running for his OFFICIAL HANDBOOK TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE, looking up obscure characters glimpsed in the background. Weird fan favorites such as the Wrecking Crew and Whirlwind, and, yes, even CHEMISTRO, who is just about as far down on the D-List of MARVEL supervillains as you can get, make appearances.  On top of this, MARVEL also expands on it’s brand by bringing in characters and villains from each individual hero’s titles, including as Thor’s human love interest Jane Foster, and classic Walt Simonson creation Malekith the Black, not to mention James Rhodes, Bucky Barnes (who seems to be set up to return as The Winter Soldier), Maria Hill, and more.  On top of this are guest stars and future Avengers such as Ms Marvel, Captain Mar-Vell, the Fantastic Four, Mockingbird, and Black Widow, among others.

It’s not just the ancillary characters and guest stars that will excite nerds both young and old, but seeing classic stories adapted and woven together as the writers pull from the deepest annuls of MARVEL history, showcasing the best and most defining stories for not only the Avengers as a whole, but each individual Avengers. Notable stories include the CASKET OF ANCIENT WINTERS from Thor, THE COSMIC CUBE from Captain America, and Avengers stories THE ULTRON IMPERATIVE, THE MASTERS OF EVIL, KRANG THE CONQUEROR, and even hints at a forthcoming KREE/SKRULL WAR.

Visually spectacular, the show is well animated and storyboarded, bright and colorful, with lush, detailed backgrounds, and lots of big action. I will admit that I was not entirely on board with character designs, which are blocky and awkward looking at times, but they animate well, and evoke a sort of classic MARVEL look, showing influences that range from Jack Kirby’s square jawed Captain America to John Busema’s messy haired Hulk.  Occassionally there are some really lovely and ambitious scenes that look like animated splash pages.

In terms of voice acting features a solid cast, and even has a few welcome guest voices; Steven J. Blum (a personal favorite actor of mine, who famously portrayed Spike Speigel in COWBOY BEBOP) does a pitch perfect Red Skull, while Lance Henriksen (best known for ALIENS and TV’s MILLENIUM among other things, as well as previous voice work on IGPX and TRANFORMERS ANIMATED) does a chilling but wry Grim Reaper, and Clancy Brown (a fantastic actor famous for SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, as veteran voice actor from such show as  MEN IN BLACK, SUPERMAN, and many others) portrays a powerful and intimidating Odin.  The regular cast is overall solid and grow into their characters, though I’m not sold on Brian Bloom’s Captain America.

Overall, AVENGERS:  EARTH’S MIGHTIEST is the kind of show I’d have loved back in 1988, sitting in front of the television at six in the morning eating a bowl of cereal. It has big characters, big stories, and big action, all coming together to bring these classic heroes to life, thundering across your television screen.

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CONTEST: WIN ONE OF TWO AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES DVD SETS

Hey there! How’d you like to win a set of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes DVDs, including Volume 1: Heroes Assemble, and Volume 2: Captain America Reborn? It’s dead easy. Here’s how you can do it:

For a chance to win, send an e-mail with your name and “AVENGERS EARTHS MIGHTIEST” in the subject line to beguilingcontests@gmail.com before Monday, May 16th at 12pm (noon) EST. Winner will be drawn and contacted on Monday the 16th. Their first name will be announced on the website here.

RULES & REGULATIONS:
1. Subject line MUST contain entrant?s name, and “AVENGERS EARTHS MIGHTIEST” (no apostrophe), and must be sent to beguilingcontests@gmail.com.
2. Entries must be received before Monday, May 16th, at 12 noon. You will be contacted for your mailing address at that time.
3. No purchase necessary, void where prohibited, etc.

– Chris

 

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So…

What’s everyone else been doing for the last 5 months?

Hah. Seriously though. If you wanna listen to something cool, there’s an MP3 of me interviewing Usamaru Furuya from last weekend at http://www.thecomicbooks.com/audio.html.

I haven’t listened to it yet, and I really want to transcribe it into English if at all possible. Maybe now that I’ve got some free time?

I missed blogging. Hopefully you’ll see more of me soon.

– Chris

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ARTISTS HELP JAPAN: TORONTO RAISES $20,000

Please feel free to republish this announcement. Thanks! – Chris

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ARTISTS HELP JAPAN: TORONTO RAISES $20,000
Toronto comic artists and DJs band together for Japanese Quake & Tsunami Relief

Artists Help Japan: Toronto is proud to announce that their 12 hour live art/DJ event on April 17th was an extraordinary success, raising $20,000 towards Tsunami and Quake relief in Japan.

Spearheaded by a consortium of Toronto illustration studios, the Artists Help Japan: Toronto event was the local iteration of a charity movement begun by Dice Tsutsumi at Pixar. The Toronto edition featured live art and DJ music, a silent auction and dozens of artists selling commissioned drawings, which raised about $18,000 over the 12 hour event. Event organizers UDON Entertainment have stepped in with an additional $2000 donation to help bring the final total to $20,000, with all proceeds being donated to the Canadian Red Cross.

The organizers of the event would like to thank all of the talented artists, illustrators, and DJs who donated their time and expertise, and the hundreds of Torontonians that came out in support of this event. The organizers will continue their various fundraising efforts over the weeks and months to come, including a series of special auctions featuring artworks donated by artists at the fundraiser! Look for details on these auctions in the next week.

Some words of thanks from the organizers:

Erik Ko, founder of UDON Entertainment: “I have a lot of friends and colleagues in Japan who were affected by this unfortunate event. I felt a real need to try and lend a helping hand to the people there and I really appreciate so many people supporting us! Thank you so much!”

Bobby Chiu, head of Imaginism studio: “People were incredibly generous with their money that day. It was truly touching to see a city come together to support the people of Japan.”

Alvin Lee, comic artist on Street Fighter and Birds of Prey: “It was awe inspiring to see the outpour of support and compassion from Toronto’s Art and Music scene. To give back to a country that has influenced so many of today’s artists, including myself – I felt like it was the least I could do.”

Krystle Tabujara, Library Services Coordinator for The Beguiling: “Having recently travelled to the Pacific Rim with my partner, I felt an obligation to be a part of such a great cause. It was an honour to be working alongside some of Toronto’s most talented artists.”

Jim Zubkavich, writer/creator of Skullkickers from Image Comics: “All of us involved with this event feel a deep connection to Japan and we’re ecstatic that so many people came out to show their support. To the artists, musicians and donators – Thank you everyone!”

Christopher Butcher, manager of The Beguiling and Director of the Toronto Comics Art Festival: “Japan has been an inspiring, near-mythical presence in my life since I was very young, and their culture and traditions have had a huge influence on my writing and career. Coming together with so many like-minded people to give something back has been similarly inspiring, and I’m humbled by the generosity of our volunteers, artists, DJs, and the hundreds of attendees who came to the event. Thanks everyone and please, if at all possible, don’t stop giving.”

The organizers would also like to thank the many volunteers and supporters who helped make the event a success, including: all of the wonderful artists and publishers who donated art and other items for our silent auction; Jeff at Imaginism; Michael, Akiko, Magda, Marc, Andrew, and Shane who helped out on the day-of; Peter Birkemoe and The Beguiling; Joe Saturnino and the entire staff of Revival.

ABOUT:

Artists Help Japan is a charity movement initiated by Dice Tsutsumi, an art director at Pixar Animation Studios, who was also behind 2008 Totoro Forest Project to help preserve Sayama Forest in Japan and Sketchtravel Project, to gather the force of communities of artists and creative minds around the world. We believe artists have special roles to contribute to the society. http://artistshelpjapan.blogspot.com/

Artists Help Japan: Toronto was spearheaded by Imaginism Studios President and illustrator Bobby Chiu, who was contacted by Dice Tsutsumi to run the Toronto event. Working with Illustrator Alvin Lee, UDON Entertainment CEO Erik Ko, writer/artist Jim Zubkavich, and Christopher Butcher of Toronto comic book store The Beguiling and the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, the team brought together Toronto’s diverse and exciting artistic community to engage the public in an unprecedented fundraising endeavour.

Participating artists at Artists Help Japan: Toronto included: Agnes Garbowska, Alex Milne, Alvin Lee, Bobby Chiu, Brian McLachlan, Chip Zdarsky, Dale Keown, Eric Kim, Eric Vedder, Francis Manapul, Jason Bradshaw, Jeff Lemire, Jim Zub, Joe Ng, Julie Faulkner, Kagan Mcleod, Kalman Andrasofszky, Kei Acedera, Ken Lashley, Marcio Takara, Marcus To, Michael Cho, Ramon Perez, Ray Fawkes, Scott Hepburn, Stuart Immonen, Svetlana Chmakova, and a number of other local artists who showed up on the day of the event to offer their support and assistance!

Participating DJs at Artists Help Japan: Toronto included: Riviera [Perfecto,Myth, Kinetika NYC], Felix & Gani [Milk. Audio], Lazy Ray [Nighttrackin’], Gerrence [Nighttrakkin’], Alvaro G [Kings Of Late Night], Roland Gonzales [Studio+], Carlovega [Studio+], Jason Ulrich [Lab.Our Union],Shingo [Hot Sauce], Uncle Matty & Dutty Maus [The Beacs], and Illscience.

All proceeds from Artists Help Japan: Toronto will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross, specifically earmarked to aid in Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief. http://www.redcross.ca/

SPONSORS:

Revival Bar has been entertaining guests, visitors and fans as a premium event space since 2002. Revival generously donated the use of their main space for the Artists Help Japan: Toronto event, and donated $1 from the cost of every drink towards fundraising efforts. http://www.revivalbar.com/

The Beguiling Books and Art is Canada’s premiere source for comics, comix, and high-art funnybooks. Visit us online at http://beguiling.com.