Some Monday morning linkblogging to catch up on all the Canadian comics news.
Item: Robert Haines and Kevin Boyd at the Shuster Awards blog reports on the comings and goings in the Toronto comics retailer world. First, the closing of Grey Region, a former chain of stroes reduced to a single Yonge Street location. A few years ago I had a great experience buying old Superboy and Lois Lane comics late at night at the Yonge St. Grey Region (which I used to call Grey Legion because I thought that is what it was called). Second, the re-opening of former Queen Street stalwart 3rd Quadrant Comics in Thornhill (6979 Yonge). Owner Daryl Collision had got the boot from his landlord and his business has been fractured into 3 locations –but is now whole again.
Item: Readers of the print edition of the National Post this weekend received a treat in the form of a giant Kate Beaton drawing of Canadian historical figures, accompanying an article about the merging of the Dominion Institute and the Historica Foundation (the non-profit company that gave us the Heritage Minutes on tv). For the illo and its background, check out Beaton’s blog.
Item: Comics writer and noted scooter girl Mariko Tamaki is interviewed about her upcoming “writing voice” workshop (Nov 14): “The idea is to get writers to think about writing and talk, what providing our characters with a voice means,” says Tamaki.
Item: Comics critic Jeet Heer writes and talks at length about Robert Crumb’s Genesis book, “one of the most exciting books of the year.”