Yes! For the first time ever, Fantagraphics will be heading to the great white north for this year's Toronto Comic Arts Festival. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, and yes, I'll confess, I'm looking forward to trying one of those Canadian donuts I've heard so much about.
Yours truly will be manning the table, along with Denise and Helen from esteemed establishment The Beguiling. So, let me answer you now, "No, Eric, Gary, and Kim are not here," and "No, we're not accepting submissions, but please visit our website for details on how to submit your work..."
We'll be bringing a bevy of sweet, tasty, chewy... um, books for you to buy (dammit, sorry, still thinking about donuts), including:
And be sure to hit up some of these great panels, too:
SATURDAY
Feature: Daniel Clowes, James Sturm, Seth, Chester Brown, and Jim Woodring 11:30 – 12:30pm, Learning Center 1 (Located at Toronto Reference Library 789 Yonge Street, 1st floor, in the main atrium space)
Five of the world’s most respected cartoonists in one room, on one panel! Moderated by Tom Spurgeon.
Spotlight: Paul Pope and Dash Shaw 12:00-1:00pm, The Pilot (22 Cumberland Street, across the street from Toronto Reference Library)
TCAF Featured Guests Paul Pope and Dash Shaw are two of the most exciting creators in comics, mixing their influences and innovations to create groundbreaking work. Now Inkstuds Radio/Podcast host Robin McConnell will moderate a conversation between these two creators about the role that influences play in creating comics, ranging from traditional comics to film and music and from classical to contemporary works. This also includes a discussion of education, some key points in creating your own vision in comics, and an examination of how to make influences work and finding out where they lead you.
SUNDAY
Spotlight: Jim Woodring’s Weathercraft 12:30 – 1:30pm, Learning Center 1 (Located at Toronto Reference Library 789 Yonge Street, 1st floor, in the main atrium space)
Jim Woodring’s cartoons chart a course through some of the most surreal imagery ever seen in any artistic medium, drawing visions from the realms of the subconscious to create a graphic world of dreams. But while his work may speak in the language of dreams, Woodring’s life has often led him into nightmare territory… Now venture into Woodring’s interior world with Weathercraft, the newest book in Woodring’s Frank world. Joining Jim Woodring will be journalist Sean Rogers, who will interview the author in a moderated Q&A.
The New Graphic Novelists: New Creators Transforming the Medium Sunday, May 9th, 2:15 – 3:15pm, Learning Center 1 (Located at Toronto Reference Library 789 Yonge Street, 1st floor, in the main atrium space)
There is a pantheon of great graphic novelists — folks who started thinking about comics as singular, book-bound creations. But that concept has shifted since its conceptualization, and a collection of young creators are pushing the medium in fantastic new ways. Creators Joshua Cotter, Colleen Frakes, Ryan North, Dash Shaw, and Raina Telgemeier will discuss their experiences producing comics that alternately defy and embrace the term ‘graphic novel”. Moderated by Eva Volin.
Research and History: Inspiration versus Obligation Sunday, May 9th, 3:00 – 4:00pm, The Pilot (22 Cumberland Street, across the street from Toronto Reference Library)
A discussion about different approaches and uses of research from the hardcore to the writers of historical fiction. Inspiration versus obligation … for everybody. A lively discussion led by Kathryn Immonen, and featuring Stuart Immonen, Jim Ottaviani, Kate Beaton, Ho Che Anderson, Willow Dawson, and Matt Kindt.
Russell Patterson and the Patterson Girl Sunday, May 9th, 4:30 – 5:00pm, Learning Center 1 (Located at Toronto Reference Library 789 Yonge Street, 1st floor, in the main atrium space)
Russell Patterson got his start in Montreal as a newspaper cartoonist. He then went to Chicago, where he eventually made a name for himself as an illustrator of flapper era nightlife. His “Patterson Girls,” which appeared in magazines and various comic strips (Flossy Frills; Gloria Gets Her Man; The Patterson Girl), were intended as caricatures, and between 1925 and 1960 they go from being fun and liberated to being sexist and shallow. Jaleen Grove, editor of Top Hats and Flappers (Fantagraphics) traces this progression in the context of the entertainment industry and its exploitation of glamour, looking at how models used illustrators and vice versa to further their careers.
It's not as though you need any additional convincing to pick up our 2010 Free Comic Book Day offering Weathercraft and Other Unusual Tales by Jim Woodring at your participating comic shop tomorrow (right?), but here are a few glimpses of the finished product to whet your appetite. (Click here if the embedded slideshow player below isn't displaying, or to view it larger in a new window.)
Don't forget, Northwesterners and visitors to Seattle can get their copy direct from the hands of Jim himself at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery tomorrow from 12-1 PM! At the store we'll also have copies of Drawn & Quarterly's FCBD 2010 offering YOW!, and likewise for Montrealers Librairie D&Q will have copies of Weathercraft and Other Unusual Tales.
Mark your calendars! Desert Island in Brooklyn welcomes Kim Deitch for a signing and celebration of his new collection of The Search for Smilin' Ed! on Friday, May 14, 2010. Then, on Saturday, June 19, Jim Woodring will be in the house to meet fans and sign his new graphic novel Weathercraft. As usual with Desert Island, exclusive silkscreen show prints will be available at the events — that's a process picture of one of the screens for Kim's print above, and you can see the others on the Desert Island blog. We'll let you know more details as they become available, but in the meantime you can RSVP on Facebook for Kim here and for Jim here.
Ahem. Jim's Weathercraft and Jason's Low Moon are nominated for 2010 Sproing Awards (Best Translated Comic and Best Norwegian Comic, respectively), which are awarded at the festival. Congratulations to both!
Saturday, May 1 marks the 9th installment of Free Comic Book Day. This annual promotion is intended to expose new readers to the medium and acknowledge loyal patrons with a free comic book produced especially for the occasion. Over 30 books in a variety of genres were produced for Free Comic Book Day this year.
Fantagraphics Books’ contribution to Free Comic Book Day is a delightful comic by Jim Woodring sure to appeal to readers of all ages. WEATHERCRAFT and Other Unusual Stories showcases Woodring’s visionary approach to cartooning. Included is an excerpt from Jim’s forthcoming full-length WEATHERCRAFT graphic novel, a Woodring character guide, artworks rendered in his singular style, and other features. Yours for the asking at your local participating comic book retailer.
Jim Woodring himself will appear at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle on Free Comic Book Day from noon to 1:00 PM to pass out complimentary copies. We’ll also have a supply of Drawn & Quarterly’s free comic book YOW! featuring John Stanley stories from Nancy, Melvin Monster and 13 Going on 18. You’ll have one last chance to view the stunning exhibition of original art by Gilbert Hernandez and peruse a bevy of beautiful new books from the world’s greatest cartoonists. See you then.
104-page black & white 7" x 9.75" hardcover • $19.99 ISBN: 978-1-60699-340-8
Ships in: May 2010 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now
For over 20 years now, Jim Woodring has delighted, touched, and puzzled readers around the world with his lush, wordless tales of “Frank.”
Weathercraft is Woodring’s first full-length graphic novel set in this world — indeed, Woodring’s first graphic novel, period! — and it features the same hypnotically gorgeous linework and mystical iconography.
As it happens, Frank has only a brief supporting appearance in Weathercraft, which actually stars Manhog, Woodring’s pathetic, brutish everyman (or everyhog), who had previously made several appearances in “Frank” stories (as well as a stunning solo turn in the short story “Gentlemanhog”).
After enduring 32 pages of almost incomprehensible suffering, Manhog embarks upon a transformative journey and attains enlightenment. He wants to go to celestial realms but instead altruistically returns to the unifactor to undo a wrong he has inadvertently brought about: The transformation of the evil politician Whim into a mind-destroying plant-demon who distorts and enslaves Frank and his friends. The new and metaphysically expanded Manhog sets out for a final battle with Whim...
Weathercraft also co-stars Frank’s cast of beloved supporting characters, including Frank’s Faux Pa and the diminutive, mailbox-like Pupshaw and Pushpaw; it is both a fully independent story that is a great introduction to Woodring’s world, and a sublime addition to, and extension of, the Frank stories.
Download an EXCLUSIVE 12-page PDF excerpt (1.4 MB).
Daily clips & strips — click for improved/additional viewing at the sources:
• Paul Hornschemeier teases his contribution to Marvel's forthcoming Strange Tales 2, and does Denzel for the WSJ; also, he'll be at C2E2 tomorrow signing at the Chicago Comics booth!
• Johnny Ryan posts this and more Prison Pit fan art by Matt Furie for The Boys Are Back in Town art show at GRSF — dear Johnny, how about a series of Cold Heat Special-style Prison Pit Specials?
