Item: One of the suspects in a plot to bomb the Danish publisher of the Muhammad cartoons is Canadian.
Item: Speaking of international news stories, Tom Spurgeon reports that The Comics Journal, perhaps the most important English-language magazine devoted to comics, is converting to a twice-yearly print schedule following its upcoming issue 300. The online content of the magazine is to increase, and new blogger/columnists will be added to the site. (see the TCJ messageboard thread)
Item: Speaking of Comics Journal subjects, The National Post profiles U.S. cartoonist R.O. Blechman, now published by D+Q.
Item: Speaking of D+Q, Seth, the subject of this short profile, will be appearing alongside Blechman at the Toronto International Writers’ Fest this weekend, interviewed by The Walrus’ comics critic Sean Rogers.
Item: Speaking of Sean Rogers and the Walrus, the latest issue features Rogers’ review of Mark Bell’s Hot Potatoe collection, as well as an insightful piece of journalism on the impending death of the Canadian publishing industry by Noah Richler.
Item: Speaking of endangered publishing formats, cartoonist Sandra Bell-Lundy’s “Between Friends” comic strip is the subject of a gallery show in Brampton, Ont’s Artway Gallery, October 31-November 27. Bell-Lundy will be on hand for a talk on Saturday, November 14
Item: Speaking of gallery art, As the Shuster Awards blog notes, Shary Boyle (Witness My Shame, Kramer’s Ergot 7) and Marcel Dzama (The Course of Human History Personified, The Berlin Years) were among the nominees for the Sobey Art Award, the big Canadian art Prize.