Item! Gilbert Bouchard was the visual arts critic for the Edmonton Journal for many years. When he committed suicide after suffering from depression for most of his life, his family donated his comic book collection to the University of Alberta. An exhibit featuring the new collection runs until February.
Item! Some buff-looking teens dressed as Batman and The Flash in Chilliwack BC lured men interested in sex with teen girls into recorded-on-video and youtubed confrontations. Now the kids are under RCMP threat.
Item! Brantford Kingston, Ont comic store [4 colour, 8 bit, comics & games] owner says lots of comics are made by Canadians.
Item! Kevin Boyd writes the first obit I’ve seen of Alvin Schwartz. Schwartz was a writer of Superman comics in the 1940s, largely responsible for Bizarro and tons of other charming ideas, and later moved to Canada and made films with the NFB. He died October 28. There are a couple of older profiles here and here.
Item! In international news, Family Circus cartoonist Bil Keane died last week. After Peanuts, Keane’s was my favourite comic strip when I was a kid. Like Doug Wright, Keane’s daily panel and Sunday strip found their inspiration in the experience of suburbia and the humour of little kid things. In many ways he was a great cartoonist with an iconic style, and his work still has a certain appeal, especially the first few decades. I’m not sure if it resonates because I remember the strips or have memories of my own childlike behaviour similar to the kids in the strip or, more interestingly, if my own memories have become conflated with the gags Keane illustrated.
Item! Chris Mautner interviews Anne Koyama about her life and upcoming projects. This is the most in-depth personal history interview with the publisher I remember reading.
Item! It looks like the Futurama Bender cosplay was the big story from the Hal-Con convention in Halifax this past weekend, according to blogger Susie Ridler. Other recommended posts about the con here and here. Plus photos on facebook. (Photo from here.)
Item! Didn’t see too many blog reports out of last weekend’s Canzine in Vancouver like this one from Lisa Cinar?

2 Comments

  1. Even though the article appeared in the Brantford Expositor the author’s store is in Kingston.

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