Item! Highly recommended: Faith Erin Hicks (The War at Ellsmere, Friends With Boys, Superhero Girl) talks frankly about the economic situation of young Canadian cartoonists. I think the availability of grants for artists, not to mention healthcare, is one of the major differences between the U.S. and Canadian version of this discussion.
Item! Speaking of how hard it is to make a living as an artist, the latest issue of Canadian Notes and Queries (CNQ), featuring design and cover by Seth, is a “What Happened to Canadian Literature” special issue, with essays on the coming Digital Apocalypse and the death of CanLit as a cultural imperative. Fun reading, with lots of details about things like how much a z-list author makes per year and how much Chapters charges publishers to have their books facing out on the shelves. As well, Seth contributes a cover and essay about Canadian vernacular book design, including his inspiration for the Collected Doug Wright, to the printers’ journal The Devil’s Artisan.
Item! U.S. cartoonist Frank Santoro (Storeyville) will be bringing his Comic Book Layout Workshop to Lucky’s in Vancouver, Feb 28th.
Item! Michel Rabagliati at the Angouleme Comics Festival in France. Also, a booth shot Rabagliati’s publisher, La Pasteque, at the Festival. Comics critic Bart Beaty covers the first day of the show. Other Quebec BD stalwarts at the show.
Item! A sneak peak at Bryan Lee O’Malley’s next graphic novel, “Seconds.”
Item! Speaking of whom (which?), here is that Scott Pigrimage photo set. Panels from the books juxtaposed with real Toronto sources.
Item! Kagan McLeod (Infinite Kung Fu) is interviewed at The Toronto Standard: “Kung Fu, Hip-Hop and Zombies.”