Telefilm Canada has ponied up cash for Douglas Rushkoff’s new digital graphic novel. (That label sounds like an oxymoron to me.) It’s titled X. (Of which the sub-title is possibly Rise Up, based on the web site.)
Vancouver-based game studio Smoking Gun is behind the launch, which explains how the government grant was approved. Two of their game concept artists are illustrating what’s billed as “the first graphic novel of its kind embedded with an interactive experience that builds a community around the story.” You can read 17 pages and access the game here.
I don’t want to spoil too much, but there are samples pages from a comics and one of the panels opens to a game that, once completed, brings you to a web site.I guess the plan is to make you feel like you’re tracking down this X-Files mystery and connecting with other players of this experiential game. If they’re trying to create a “down the rabbit hole”-type experience, they’ve succeeded. I have no idea how far down this thing goes. I stopped after spending about 45 minutes on it because I was supposed to be working and was taking a short break to write this blog entry
The Joe Shuster Awards web site reports some good news/bad news about the Toronto comic retail scene.
The Good News: 3rd Quadrant Comicsrepoened its doors on Nov 5. The Shuster blog chronicles owner Daryl C. Collison’s trials and tribulations in finding a new location. Needless to say all the indie shops are getting squeezed out of Queen W, where 3rd Quadrant used to be located. Unfortunately for downtowners, it’s moved all the way up to Yonge and Steeles. The “new” Queen West is shiny and new, but it’s lost much of its personality.
The Bad News: it appears that Grey Region has closed its doors of its downtown location on Yonge near Wellesely. When it first opened back in the late 80’s, it too was located on Queen St. along with 3rd Quadrant, the Silver Snail (which is still there), and a few others who have since moved location or closed down. I shopped Grey Region because they had great prices on new paperbacks. I’ll also remember it as the store where I picked up the full run of Wintermen when I first got back into comics a few years ago.
Crazy. Trippy. I love it. Now this is Dr. Strange.
This image was originally posted on the Bad Librianship blog. It’s a promotional image for the upcoming Marvel Knights series Dr. Strange: Fever by Brendan McCarthy and Steve Cook that won’t ever see press (the promo image, not the series). But so very cool to gaze at.
Toronto SpeakEasy, a monthly gathering of the city’s creative community, hosts its annual Comic Book Show this coming Thursday, Nov 5, 8pm-midnight at the Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen West, second floor lobby).
The main event is in the evening, but I think you might be able to pop in any time during the day to check it out. It’s pay what you can, but suggested donation is $4. Official blurb from the SpeakEasy web site.
Toronto is home to some of the best-known comics artists in North America. We have an active and vibrant community putting out some of the highest quality comics to be found anywhere. The SpeakEasy Comics Show features an eclectic mix of Toronto’s talented comic book artists – from those who do newspaper strips and political cartoons, to underground comix and mainstream superhero comic books! The event promises to display an exciting cross-section of the comics’ community here in Toronto, as well as a glimpse into how good comics are made. As the old cliché goes, there really will be something for everyone.
The complete list of exhibitors includes:
Hard Drive issue #1, Cyberpunk Comics
Toronto Comic Arts Festival (featuring work by Marc Bell, Darwyn Cooke, Evan Dorkin, James Jean, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Seth and more)
Matthew Daley
Ian Daffern, Freelance Blues
DMF Comics & Elsewhere Media, Chris Hatzopoulos & George Todorovski
Fantagraphics has collected horror and mystery stories preceding the comics code restrictions by comic master Steve Ditko in Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1 . Check out the video preview below.
Before the Amazing Spider-Man, before the mysterious Dr. Strange, before the black-and-white world of the Ayn Rand-inspired Mr. A, the legendary comic book artist Steve Ditko was conjuring all manners of horrors at his drawing table. In his first two years in the industry (1953 and 1954), Ditko drew tales of macabre suspense that were not yet hobbled by the imminent Comics Code Authority (adopted in Oct. 1954). These stories featured graphic bloodshed, dismemberment and blood-curdling acid baths as the ugly end to the lives of the dark and twisted inhabitants of Steve Ditkos imagination.
Just back from my local comic book shop. More superhero books than I normally buy for some reason:
Chew #5 – John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image): The final issue of this fun little read about an FDA agent who gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats (including severed fingers and deceased pets). Doesn’t take itself seriously, which I like in a comic.
Ignition City #5 – Warren Ellis, Gianluca Pagliarnai (Avatar): About time this one comes out. I love this series, but Avatar’s publishing schedule is giving me a headache. I guess these smaller press outfits (Boom! and IDW included) operate like the golden age of comics publishing – you get it when you get it. My series review is posted here.
Fantastic Four #572 – Jonathan Hickman, Dale Eaglesham (Marvel): The first arc by the new creative team. It’s really a Reed Richards solo story. The jury is out for me until the story is complete. I gave the Millar/Hitch a try, but abandoned that one two issues in because it wasn’t really doing much for me. I like my FF cosmic adventures and domestic strife.
Guardians of the Galaxy #19 – Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Wesley Craig (Marvel): Kang the Conqueror’s still around? I grabbed this one totally on a whim. I loved what Keith Giffen did with the team in Annihilation Conquest. There’s no Rocket Raccoon (presumable he’s dead?) but I was sold on Cosmo the dog. I’ll be curious to see if it’s still as much fun as Giffen’s run.
Die Hard Year One #2 – Howard Chaykin and Stephen Thompson (Boom! Studios): I don’t usually go for licensed books, but this one intrigued me based on the write-up on the Living Between Wednesdays blog. Definitely a slow build with the introduction of far too many characters. I’ll be interested to see how issue #2 unfolds. But I definitely prefer Brubaker and Phillips’ Criminal for a good crime/heist story.
Astro City Special: Astra #2 – Kurt Busiek, Brent E. Anderson (Wildstorm): The latest entry in the Astro City family. The book goes monthly starting with the next issue that comes out. I’m debating whether to keep picking this one up. It’s not at the top of my list, but it’s definitely not at the bottom (unlike the latest New Mutants series, sorry).
Madame Xanadu #16, cover
And finally Madame Xanadu #16 – Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley (Vertigo): New arc. The original creative team is back. Sexy magic – the best kind? Includes a preview of Luna Park, which look wicked.
Unfortunately, Northlanders #21 was sold out. I really enjoy Brian Wood’s DMZ, but haven’t tried this series yet. Based on some pencilled pages posted on the Vertigo blog recently, I thought I’d pick up this new arc.
Hallelujah! The Comics Journal is making a super smart move for a periodical publication. They announced this week that they’re moving to a semi-annual publishing schedule for the magazine and unlocking the doors on their web site, upping the volume of content and frequency of updates. Kudos to them. This is exciting news. And if you’re a fan of TCJ or comics in general, you may want to pick up the November issue (#300) that promises to offer the first glimpse at what the new TCJ will look like.
The Comics Journals, issue 300 cover
This makes total sense both for both the business and the reader. The online subscription model doesn’t work terribly well. WSJ is one of the few success stories, but they also have a dedicated specialized audience. Even the NYT decided to open its archives a few years back when they realized they could make more money on open, free content. A TCJ.com with more content updated more frequently will increase their audience size and allow them to monetize the site better.
Print costs are on the rise, so producing the TCJ continues to cost Fantagraphics more. Circulation numbers are down for the vast majority of newspapers and magazines as people’s reading habits move online and to mobile. Aside from the books themselves, comics culture is almost entirely online. Reducing the frequency of TCJ but increasing the volume size (and likely price) ultimately nets them more money if they can hold the line on circulation. I anticipate they will increase their numbers. They could probably now market the Journal in bookstores if the book size is formatted properly and open up to a whole new segment of the consumer market.
I’ve been having difficulty getting my hands on a copy of TCJ. My local comic shop will only bring it in on special request, and I don’t necessarily want to buy every issue. But I am totally on board for picking up a nice, big, lush, beautiful book that comes out twice a year. Heck, I may even subscribe.
The Beat offers some context on the TCJ move in light of the sale of Newsarama and the changing face of comic news distribution. Some good discussion on the blog there as well:
At the same time, the rules are changing so fast and quick. Newsarama’s sale comes at a time when its position as the must-do news source has almost completely eroded. Everyone seems to use their own outlets for breaking news, and there are so many other choices. It’s notable that when Monday’s news of a new Stephen King comic at Vertigo came out, it was announced at Vertigo’s own blog and the first, presumably embargoed, interviews were at the NYT, the Daily Beast and AOL’s comics blog, Comics Alliance. Comics news is now big enough that it doesn’t even get broken on comics news sites any more — with a variety of “mainstream” news outlets covering comics on a regular basis, news can reach a (one hopes) even wider audience.
It’s been a while since I’ve had time to browse The Walrus web site, and it appears one of my favourite features is missing: The Walrus Presents. This one-page strip by Jason Sherman and David Parkins is a satirical look at (mostly) Canadian current events. It’s still running in the print edition, but they’ve stopped uploading the strip to the site after the July edition. Too bad.
At least they’ve posted their review of Canadian artist Marc Bell’s new book, Hot Potatoe (D+Q), from the current issue (Nov 2009). It’s too bad they don’t include any sample images from the book for the online version. That should be necessary for any comic and visual art book review that’s published.
A few years ago, I interviewed Seth and Tony Millionaire at one of Toronto’s first International Festival of Authors to feature comic creators. There is one week left in the 2009 edition and courtesy of The Beguiling, here is the comics and graphic novels lineup for the remainder of the festival:
Lynn Johnston reads Farley Follows His Nose
Tuesday October 27th, 10:30am
The creator of the popular and recently-retired comic strip For Better Or Worse reads her new children’s book that features one of the beloved characters from the book.
Denise Mina reads Still Midnight
Tuesday October 27th, 1pm
Denise Mina penned three story arcs of Hellblazer. She’ll be reading from her new work, and participating in a panel discussion about Scottish writers.
Ian Rankin reads The Complaints
Wednesday October 28th, 8pm
Ian Rankin, author of the new graphic novel Dark Entries: Hellblazer in the Vertigo Crime line will be reading from his new prose work.
Kean Soo reads Jellaby: Monster In The City
Thursday October 29th, 10:30am
The creator of Jellaby and co-editor of the Image anthology Flight reads from his new graphic novel.
R.O. Blechman reads Talking Lines and Seth reads George Sprott (1894-1975)
Saturday October 31st, 12:00pm
New Yorker cartoonist R.O. Blechman reads from his new D&Q-published book Talking Lines, and Seth will read from his new graphic novel George Sprott, which I recently picked up. Such a lovely book to look at. The readings will be followed by a joint interview of both cartoonists by The Walrus’ Sean Rogers. Oliver Ho writes this fantastic essay on Seth at PopMatter.
Superman Batman: Public Enemies - Official Trailer I just saw from the DC Comics website that they will be launching Superman/Batman Public Enemies the Movie. It has been quite a while since I read the comic book however as far as I can remember this is one of the Superman/Batman story arcs that is just so-so. [...]
The Next Generation Part 1 Hawkeye meets up with Nick Fury, recruiting him to lead a team to capture Captain America as he has just gone rogue upon learning the truth about the Red Skull. We are then taken to a flashback the day before where Hawkeye and Captain America are attacking two helicopters. As soon as [...]
The New World According to Peter Parker Six Weeks after the Ultimatum Wave destroyed New York City, Peter Parker is working in a fast food chain. New to the job, he offends an old lady by explaining to her sarcastically what makes French fries. At some store downtown, an attempted robbery was stopped by mysterious man dressed [...]
Revenge of the Red Hood Part 1: Red Right Hand A villain with a violet armor robs someone in Gotham City when suddenly the Red Hood and his new sidekick (the girl with a dollatron face) appears. They kill the guy, first slicing his neck then shooting him until he falls off a building. At a party [...]
Batman Reborn Part 3: Mummy Made of Nails Batman interrogates one of Pyg’s men by dragging him all over the city in his bike until he spills. Robin, who was captured last issue is tied to a chair while Pyg goes on a monologue. Damien somehow found a way to escape from his bindings and attacked [...]
The Grail Conclusion Tim Drake was immediately detained by US troops upon arriving at the airport in Baghdad after being blamed for the burglary in Berlin. Z, however came to his rescue and convinced the guards that they had the wrong guy. That night, Tim and Z got to talk a bit and Tim was told that [...]
