Blog
Tag: Graphic Novels
Anders Nilsen Big Questions
by Dan
Graphica / August 16, 2011
Big Questions is cartoonist Anders Nilsen's newest book. But it is also his oldest, collecting together the mini-comic he first started in 1999 into a single volume.
The mini-comics took 10 years to complete, but as Ander's recently told Comic Book Resources, that was just the beginning a long process to bring them together for the book:
I finished the last issue somewhere around September-October and then after that, there was a good six months that was just editing. I think out of all of those pages, probably ninety percent or more have some changes, even if it was just moving a word balloon over or adding a word there. It turned into this giant editing process. I didn't redraw much. I added a few pages. I added one scene in the body of the book and then extended the material from the last two issues. I think I added ten or so pages to the end of the book. There were some deadlines which I did not quite make. I think the book was originally supposed to come out in May for TCAF, which did not happen. That process was just crazy labor intensive and it wasn't the fun part of coming up with the story and doing the drawings. When I was finally done with that, I was definitely exhausted and just slept for a couple days.
After all that, Big Questions, finally done, is over 600 pages long and a stunningly beautiful book. It is also now available from bookstores and Anders is touring to promote it. You can read a PDF preview at Drawn & Quarterly's website, but here are a couple of the pages from book to whet your appetite:
Interview with Brian Ralph at Robot 6
by Dan
Graphica / July 25, 2011
Comics blog Robot 6 caught up with cartoonist Brian Ralph right before the San Diego Comic-Con this weekend and chatted to him about his zombie comic Daybreak.
As Robot 6 notes, Daybreak maybe a zombie book, but it's "a zombie book with a unique twist." The story is viewed entirely from the perspective of an unnamed survivor (that means you, the reader!) exploring a post-apocalyptic landscape who finds a potential ally in a one-armed man:
I had not seen a “first-person shooter” style of comic before. It turned out to be very exciting approach to storytelling. I was constantly trying to figure out new ways for the reader to feel like they were interacting with the characters and become characters in the story as well. I made some decisions along the way; to never show the reader’s “character” such as in a mirror. I didn’t want the reader to talk with a word balloon. I felt those things would break the illusion. It was tricky to work with those constraints, but such a fun challenge.
But interestingly, despite the “first-person shooter” style of Daybreak, you don't see a lot of zombies in the book:
I made a couple attempts at sketching the zombies thinking, of course, that I should include them, but I kept finding ways to avoid them. I wasn’t sure why, but it never felt right. Ultimately I decided that it just wasn’t necessary for the story I was trying to tell. The story is about traveling around with a stranger and becoming friends. Are any zombie stories really about the zombies? I don’t think so. The stories and movies are about the survivors having to form relationships. The blood and guts cheapen that. Plus, what a fun constraint, to draw a zombie book without ever showing a zombie? That’s crazy.
Read the full interview here.
Daybreak is published by Drawn & Quarterly in September. The book is available for pre-order from your local indie bookstore, or online at Chapters-Indigo, and Amazon.
The Next Day Book Launch, May 3rd, Toronto
by Dan
Events + Graphica / April 19, 2011
The new book from Pop Sandbox, the award-winning company behind the controversial KENK: A Graphic Portrait, is a groundbreaking comic called The Next Day.
Constructed from intimate interviews with four survivors of near-fatal suicide attempts, it is both poetic and profound meditation on life, the decision to end it, and what comes after...
The book is launching on May 3rd, 2011 with a free discussion with the entire creative team behind the book — including indie-comics star John Porcellino —hosted by This Is Not A Reading Series.
The hour-long discussion will be followed by a reception, and will also mark the opening of an exhibition of original artwork from The Next Day, as well as animations, soundscapes, projections and more from the upcoming interactive experience at the NFB Mediatheque in Toronto through late May.
BOOK LAUNCH & EXHIBITION OPENING
Co-Presented by: The National Film Board, TVO, TINARS, Hot Docs, TCAF, The Canadian Mental Health Association, Raincoast Books and The Toronto Animated Image Society:
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The National Film Board of Canada Mediatheque
150 John St. (at Richmond St. W), Toronto
Doors open at 7:00; Event starts at 7:30
Admission is FREE
The Next Day will be available in Canadian bookstores and comic shops in early May. You can also catch the creative team at the Toronto Comics Art Festival May 7th and 8th at the Drawn & Quarterly store in Montreal May 10th.
The Next Day was developed simultaneously as a separate interactive animated documentary online, in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada and in association with TVO as part of the NFB-TVO Calling Card Program.
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comics graphic novels john porcellino mental health nfb pop sandbox tinars toronto tvo
Finalists for 7th Annual Doug Wright Awards Announced
by Dan
Graphica / March 16, 2011
The Doug Wright Awards, Canada’s premier comics awards, have just announced their 2011 finalists.
The nominees for Best Book are:
- Bigfoot by Pascal Girard (Drawn and Quarterly)
- Chimo by David Collier (Conundrum Press)
- Lose #2 by Michael DeForge (Koyama Press)
- Moving Pictures by Kathryn Immonen, Stuart Immonen (Top Shelf)
- Streakers by Nick Maandag
The nominees for Best Emerging Talent are:
- Aaron Costain, Entropy #5
- Alex Fellows, Spain and Morocco
- Keith Jones, Catland Empire (Drawn and Quarterly)
- James Stokoe, Orc Stain Volume One (Image)
- Tin Can Forest (aka Marek Colek and Pat Shewchuk), Baba Yaga and the Wolf (Koyama Press)
The nominees for the "Pigskin Peters Award" (recognizing non-traditional and avant-garde comics) are:
- Indoor Voice by Jillian Tamaki (Drawn and Quarterly)
- Stooge Pile by Seth Scriver (Drawn and Quarterly)
- So I’ve Been Told by Maryanna Hardy (Conundrum Press)
- Spotting Deer by Michael DeForge (Koyama Press)
- Wowee Zonk #3 edited by Patrick Kyle, Ginette Lapalme and Chris Kuzma (Koyama Press)
In addition, this year’s inductee into "The Giants of the North", the Canadian Cartoonists Hall of Fame, will be legendary Vancouver cartoonist David Boswell, the creator of the influential alternative comic Reid Fleming: World’s Toughest Milkman.
The 2011 nominees were chosen by a committee from a long list of works and submissions published during the 2010 calendar year, which for the first year officially included web comics. This year’s committee included Chester Brown, Seth, Jerry Ciccoritti, Bryan Munn and Sean Rogers.
The 2011 winners will be decided by a five-member jury and will be announced at a gala ceremony as part of the Toronto Comics Arts Festival (TCAF). The jury will include Sara Quin (musician; one-half of Tegan and Sara), Michael Redhill (poet; author of Consolation and Martin Sloane; publisher of the literary journal Brick), Anita Kunz (artist, award-winning illustrator), Marc Bell (artist, cartoonist of Hot Potatoe; winner of the 2010 Pigskin Peters Award) and Mark Medley (National Post Books Editor).
Scenes From an Impending Marriage
by Dan
Graphica / February 17, 2011
Adrian Tomine's latest book, Scenes from an Impending Marriage, started life as a small personal gift for guests at his wedding. But what began as an illustrated card soon grew into a collection of short comics strips about the absurd process of getting married.
Now a fully-fledged comic book, Scenes from an Impending Marriage sweet-naturedly skewers (in a funny, all too relatable way) the modern marriage process, including hiring a DJ, location scouting, trips to the salon, suit fittings, dance lessons, registering for gifts and managing familial demands.
Adrian AND his wife Sarah Brennan talked about the book, and the process of getting married, with NPR's All Things Considered earlier this week:
Tomine says that he also has an easy time drawing himself.
"It helps that I have some fairly typical comic book shorthand qualities like big glasses and a beard and a funny posture," he says. "Even if the technical likeness isn't there, if you throw in some of those things, it's enough to communicate who it's supposed to be."
"You're also frequently crabby like a lot of cartoonists," Brennan says.
Adrian was also recently interviewed by The Economist's More Intelligent Life this week:
If the hypothetical reader's life has progressed similarly to mine, they'll probably enjoy the book. If it hasn't, then they might want to sit this one out. What can I say? I took a gamble! The one thing I'd say is that the only thing this book really whole-heartedly endorses is a good relationship. I should mention that another impetus for publishing this work was the simple fact that it was time for me to do something different. I think the worst thing I could've done to follow up “Shortcomings” would be to do another book with a similar tone and drawing style. So it was kind of exciting for me when I realised that kind of departure that I was aiming for was already completed and ready to go.
You can read a 6-page PDF preview of Scenes from an Impending Marriage is available here.
The Art of Compression: Comic Conversations
by Dan
Graphica / September 03, 2010
The new issue of Canadian Art magazine includes a feature article by Kenton Smith about Canadian comics and Montreal-based publisher Drawn & Quarterly:
[C]omics have perhaps never been as diverse, vibrant and exciting as now—for they are no longer possible to pigeonhole. Comics publisher Chris Oliveros, founder of the Montreal-based publisher Drawn & Quarterly, says “the work today is so diverse—everyone has a unique vision.” Insofar as comics can be considered a literary medium, there seems to be no category they’ve neglected, whether memoir (A Drifting Life), journalism (Joe Sacco’s Palestine) or fictional biography (Seth’s George Sprott). Chester Brown wanted to do Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography because, well, who else was doing history as comics? And besides, he explains, “comics’ visual dimension makes a story more engaging, and keeps history from being dull.”
Read the whole article here.
KENK on QTV
by Dan
Graphica / July 16, 2010
Author Richard Poplak and Pop Sandbox publisher Alex Jansen talk to Jian Ghomeshi on QTV about KENK:
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bicycles cbc q comics graphic novels graphica igor kenk jian ghomeshi kenk toronto video
Creases and Razor Blades
by Dan
Graphica / June 23, 2010
Illustrator Nick Marinkovich talks about his process and working on KENK: A Graphic Portrait in this great behind-the-scenes interview:
Seth Covers The Walrus Summer Reading Edition!
by Dan
Graphica / June 18, 2010
The new July/August issue of The Walrus magazine features a beautiful cover by Seth:
The fabulously Canadian illustration was chosen by readers of the magazine.
A Complicated Man Who Happens to Steal Bicycles…
by Dan
Graphica / June 01, 2010
Richard Poplak, author of KENK, talks about cycling, graphic novels, Igor Kenk and perseverance:
(Warning: Richard uses some strong language in this video)
KENK writer Richard Poplak from Pop Sandbox on Vimeo.