Let’s see who made the ol’ C-List this time out.
Item! At the New York Comic Con last weekend, Kate Beaton announced her next project will be a kids book published by Scholastic and featuring the Fat Pony character from her comics and sketches. She discussed the book and the pony with Laura Hudson for Wired: “It’s such a versatile character! I’ve had kids come up to me at comics shows, and they really love that pony. The book is about a little warrior princess who is given a silly looking pony on her birthday, and it’s not exactly what she wanted … So [the story] is about finding value in something unexpected, but it’s also really fun and really silly. She’s a very energetic little girl and she wants to be a warrior. Then on her birthday she gets the pony as as gift and she’s like, what can I do with this? It’s embarrassing. It’s too old. It’s too fat. It’s too short. It’s not right for someone as rough and tough as me.“
Item! At the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, a movie called Blue Is the Warmest Colour was all the rage, winning the coveted Palme d’Or prize. The film was based on a French comic by Julie Maroh and now a translated version is available in English from Vancouver’s Arsenal Pulp Press. Just out this week, the book is described by its publisher as “a graphic novel about growing up, falling in love, and coming out. Clementine is a junior in high school who seems average enough: she has friends, family, and the romantic attention of the boys in her school. When her openly gay best friend takes her out on the town, she wanders into a lesbian bar where she encounters Emma: a punkish, confident girl with blue hair. Their attraction is instant and electric, and Clementine find herself in a relationship that will test her friends, parents, and her own ideas about herself and her identity.” Preview here.
Item! Just in time for Halloween, Toronto cartoonist Ray Fawkes has a new collection of ghost stories coming out from McClelland and Stewart (publisher of Scott Chantler’s Two Generals and not too much else in the graphic novel format). A “stunning and brilliantly conceived new graphic novel, The Spectral Engine is the unearthly entity that brings together thirteen historically documented ghost stories – from across the country and throughout the centuries – to tell a timeless narrative of life, death, and redemption.” The book gets raves from Fawkes’ fellow DC Comics writers Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt on the M&S website. Like recent DC books, it also has a gimmick cover and glows in the dark. Preview.
Item! Oh here’s another comics-related item from McClelland and Stewart: A new book profusely illustrated by Seth! It’s a new edition of Stephen Leacock’s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, one of the foundational humour books in the Canadian literature pantheon. I think this may be part of a new series? “As funny, relevant, and insightful today as when it was first published, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town presents a vibrant and unforgettable portrait of the delightful citizens of the fictional small town of Mariposa, Ontario. Now in this sumptuously designed gift edition, internationally acclaimed cartoonist Seth brings his unique vision and artistry to bear on the inhabitants of this little town to spectacular effect. With more than 40 full- and double-page colour illustrations throughout, this special edition is an extraordinarily beautiful and loving tribute to Mariposa and its residents, one that is sure to enchant long-time fans of Leacock’s book as well as captivate a new generation of readers.”