Item! Dave Lapp is interviewed by Peter Birkemoe for Taddle Creek about his new book, Children of the Atom: “I began reading [Chester Brown’s] Ed the Happy Clown and other alternative comics like Raw, and my best solution to doing something different was to write and draw the rough work with my left hand, and the finished work I would do with my right.”
Item! Writing for the McGill Daily, Amina Batyrva reviews David Collier’s Chimo, with a few comments from Jeet Heer and Collier himself. From the review: “It’s not an easy read, full as it is of tangential personal anecdotes and stories about the history of Canada and the Canadian military. The line between past and present is blurred, events sliced from the chronological timeline and pasted in what seems to be a slapdash manner. The book is very much coloured by Collier’s personal experience, and as an autobiography it is intensely insular and self-reflective.”
Item! On Inkstuds this week, Robin interviews ex-publisher (Mécanique Générale) and autobio cartoonist Jimmy Beaulieu: “Jimmy has a great eye for life and relationships. His comics are strong compelling.”
Item! More on the Bitstrips comic strip creation technology that I think I’ve mentioned on the C-List before. Teletoon has a contest to create comic strips featuring its late-night host: “The Bitstrips Avatar Builder offers moveable and sizeable physical attributes for endless variety, custom facial features and an expandable wardrobe and accessories. Avatars can then be saved online to use in each of teletoonatnight.com’s Weekly Comic Challenges where comic enthusiasts can expect to take a walk on the beach, flip burgers in a greasy-spoon diner or even fight ninjas. ”
Item! Willow Dawson talks about her new book, Lila and Ecco’s DIY Comics Club: “Keep it simple. Take your work to Kinko’s and photocopy it,” says Dawson. Then you just staple it together.
Item! Cartoonist Diana Tamblyn is among the people profiled in this article about getting history comics into the classroom in London, Ontario: “With students growing up in a media-rich world, graphic novels are a great way to get kids excited about reading.”
Item! Von Allan’s Road to God Knows…. is a Library Journal recommended book for Women’s History Month: “Allan offers an empathetic glimpse at a realistic teen who doesn’t rattle cages to seek help even though we might wish she would. Instead, she just keeps going and draws on the resources she has.”
Item! Joe Ollman and Pascal Girard are going on the road together to promote their new graphic novels.
Item! Finally, Adhouse Books has a preview of Jesse Jacobs’ new book, Even the Giants, which is due out in May for TCAF. (via Tom Spurgeon)
2011-03-11