Whazamo: Ontario Graphic Novel Month

whazamo

WHAZAMO! Ontario Graphic Novel Month is an online comics celebration brought to you by Open Book: Toronto. Whazamo! showcases the talented graphic novelists and illustrators published by Ontario publishers and draws attention to the new stars of the Canadian graphic novel and comic book scene.

In its second year, Whazamo! features profiles of creators, graphic novel news and videos produced by Vepo Studios, an independent production company that develops and produces short films, videos for the arts, culture and publishing industries. You can see more of their work at www.vepostudios.com

Our Graphic-Novelist-in-Residence is Marta Chudolinska (Back + Forth, The Porcupine's Quill). You can find her page here.

Whazamo! is presented in collaboration with the Organization of Book Publishers of Ontario and the Toronto Comic Arts Festival and it welcomes you.

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON


(Original comic: here)

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Last Night

Whazamo! Profile: Jo Rioux

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Name:
Jo Rioux

Hometown:
Ottawa

Website:
www.jorioux.com

Role:
Author/Illustrator

Latest work:
I illustrated Mummy Mayhem from author Mary Labatt's A Sam and Friends Mystery series, due to come out in Fall 2010.

What's it about in a nutshell:

George A. Walker's Graphic Novel Series

For a series of graphic novels edited for the Porcupine’s Quill by wood engraver George A. Walker, students at the Ontario College of Art & Design were encouraged to embrace 19th-century linocut printmaking techniques to create extended visual narratives. These pieces were then scanned, digitized and subsequently printed in a format that uses modern printing technology to replicate the look and "feel" of a 19th century letterpress product.

Whazamo! No Girls Allowed

No Girls Allowed! Willow Dawson and Susan Hughes spin historical yarns in their graphic novel about women that dressed as men for fortune, fame and love. Follow the lives of women vikings, doctors, generals and soldiers from the age of Pharaohs to the Civil War.

June is Toronto Bike Month!

Find out more about amazing, FREE! Bike Month events on the City of Toronto's Cycling Events Calendar.

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Not a Going Away Party

On Writing, with Ashley Spires

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In author/illustrator Ashley Spires' new book, Blinky the Space Cat (Kids Can Press), readers meet an adventurous, heroic house cat determined to explore "outer space." Ashley talks with Open Book about heroes, happiness and her devotion to Joss Whedon.

Open Book Toronto:

Tell us about your book, Binky the Space Cat.

Gene Day Award Nominees and Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

The Joe Shuster Awards have announced the nominees for the Gene Day Award and six inductees to the Canadian Comic Hall of Fame.

Ciocia Ania's Island

Ciocia= Polish for aunt

Whazamo! State of the Art: Web Comics

The Toronto Comics Arts Festival is the most jam-packed fiesta of cartooning talent you can find all cramed under one roof. This year, rather than just show you the festival, we wanted to take a close look at the methods and means contemporary cartoonists use to express themselves today in a two-part series called State of the Art.

WHAZAMO! Profile: Megan Speers

Megan Speers

Name:
Megan Speers

Hometown:
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Role:
Printmaker/illustrator

Latest work:
A wordless graphic novel called Wanderlust.

What's it about in a nutshell:
It's about being young and punk rock in small-town Northern Ontario, and the adventures and challenges that follow.

What first inspired you to create comics or graphic novels?
Seeing Frans Masereel`s work The City stuck with me — I really enjoyed the idea of using traditional print techniques to make a narrative.

Cottage Land (part 3 of 3)

Whazamo! Dark Adaptation & Lorenz Peter

Artist and writer Lorenz Peter takes to the tracks to explain what the phenomenon of Dark Adaptation means, and why he named his seminal full-length graphic novel after it. Between bizarro animation and a strange encounter on the railways, Peter walks us through his creative process, a hardscrabble upbringing in a Northern Alberta oil town, and the oft painful affair of transmuting personal experience into art.

The Rental Years (Part 2 of 3)

In the Wild (Part 1 of 3)

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Whazamo! State of the Art: Self Publishing

The Toronto Comics Arts Festival is the most jam-packed fiesta of cartooning talent you can find all cramed under one roof. This year, rather than just show you the festival, we wanted to take a close look at the methods and means contemporary cartoonists use to express themselves today in a two-part series called State of the Art.

Whazamo! Profile: Mary Labatt

Mary Labatt

Name:
Mary Labatt

Hometown:
Port Rowan, Ontario

Website:
I am ashamed to say that don’t have one yet. I need to get on this! Usually just Googling my name will bring up my books.

Role:
I am a writer, a dog breeder of Welsh Springer Spaniels and a mother of three very nice kids.

Latest work:
My last graphic novel was Dracula Madness with Kids Can Press.

What’s it about in a nutshell:
Dracula Madness is about Sam and her two friends. Sam learns of a spooky house down the road and after a lot of spying she jumps to some very funny conclusions!

For the Quiet Moments...

Active Living

A comic about alternative methods for keeping fit.

(Click on comic for larger image.)

The 2010 Doug Wright Awards ceremony

This video features highlights from the 2010 Doug Wright Awards which was held at the Toronto Reference Library's Bluma Appel Salon on May 8, 2010 as part of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

The ceremony, which honour the best in Canadian comics and graphic novels, was hosted by actor Peter Outerbridge and featured appearances by Seth, Chester Brown, Jeet Heer, Matt Forsythe, Kate Beaton, Carl Wilson, Geoff Pevere, Marc Bell and Michael DeForge.

Video produced by Vepo Studios.

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Friday Morning Bike Adventure

After too many days of grey and never-ending rain, finally some sunshine streams through the morning curtains of Toronto. Not daring to loll in bed and miss this opportunity, you vault out of bed, clothe yourself with haste and hop on your bicycle.

Doug Wright Comic Winners Named

The Doug Wright Awards were presented as part of the 2010 Toronto Comic Arts Festival this past weekend. The awards, named after the late creator of Doug Wright's Family comic strip, are meant to honour the most outstanding artists in the profession.

WHAZAMO! Interview with Hope Larson (plus book giveaway!)

Hope Larson

Hope Larson talks about illustration, the process of creating a graphic novel and her latest book, Mercury (Simon & Schuster), which is set in Nova Scotia.

To have your name entered in a draw for Mercury, send an email to clelia [at] openbooktoronto [dot] com with the name of the town Hope Larson was living in when she wrote Mercury. The contest closes on May 31st.

Click HERE for an excerpt from Mercury.

Q:

Mercury is set in a small town in Nova Scotia, what made you want to write about it?

Mercury by Hope Larson

An excerpt from Mercury (Simon & Schuster) by Hope Larson.

Read an an interview with Hope Larson.

Whazamo! Profile: Lesley Fairfield

Fairfield_Lesley NEW.jpg

Name:
Lesley Fairfield

Hometown:
Toronto

Website:
www.tla1.com

Role:
Artist/Writer

Latest work:
The graphic novel Tyranny.

What’s it about in a nutshell?
Tyranny is about a girl called Anna, and her struggle with anorexia and bulimia, and of the friends she meets along the way.

What first inspired you to create comics or graphic novels?
I was trying to write Tyranny and add illustrations, but began to notice graphic novels, and realized that that was the only way to create the book - in imagery, because anorexia is all about image.

Building Relationships at TCAF 2010

TCAF 2010

By Hilary Fair

“As long as you’re drawing... that’s the main thing.” So muses local artist and illustrator Chris Kuzma as the Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2010 draws to its close.

Kuzma is a member of Wowee Zonk — the Toronto comic collective he founded with fellow artist-illustrators Patrick Kyle and Ginette Lapalme — and he is speaking in reference to the ever-expanding body of graphic work on display at this now-annual comic arts festival.

Dialogue Free Comics Day

Noel Curry, creator of the webcomic DJ Bogtrotter, has decided, more or less on a whim, to proclaim May 14th as "Dialogue Free Comics Day". Not only do I love the audacity of creating new, online holidays, I applaud the idea of makers of webcomics the world over challenging themselves to explore the narrative potential of images. Curry will be collecting all participating comics on this blog, so make sure to visit on May 14th to satisfy all your wordless reading appetites.

P.S. I hereby declare July 11th (my birthday) to be International Drink Grain Alcohols and Shoot Roman Candles at Each Other Day. Celebrate!

To the studio!

April 2010: Having just finished my Masters degree in library studies, as my recent luck would have it, a dear friend of mine, art and craft journalist (though she would argue they are one and the same), Sara Titanic, decided to do a residency at Gibraltar Point on Toronto Island, and kindly invited me to share her studio. So it I happened that I hopped out of academia and landed square in that mystical physical and mental space: the STUDIO.

(STUDIO: A space designated for a maker to make within. SEE ALSO magic, quantum physics, shamanism.)

WHAZAMO! Profile: Stefan Berg

Stefan Berg

Name:
Stefan Berg

Hometown:
Toronto

Website:
LowerDawesStudio.blogspot.com

Role:
Artist/creator

Latest work:
Let That Bad Air Out Buddy Bolden's Last Parade.

What’s it about in a nutshell:
The roots of New Orleans Parade music; the tragic end of Buddy Bolden's musical career.

What first inspired you to create comics or graphic novels?
Frans Masereel, the creator of the Wordless Graphic Novel who used wood engravings to tell a story.

What for you makes a comic or graphic novel AWESOME!?

Whazamo! Making A Softer World

Emily Horne and Joey Comeau, creators of A Softer World, demonstrate how their highly popular web comic is made and discuss how it came to be. Dinosaur Comics creator Ryan North guest stars.

Joey Comeau's latest novel, One Bloody Thing After Another, was published this spring by ECW Press.

WHAZAMO! Profile: J Torres

J Torres

J. Torres will be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival on May 8th and 9th. See the TCAF schedule for details.

Win a copy of Alison Dare and the Heart of the Maiden or Alison Dare: Little Miss Adventures in a contest from Open Book and Tundra Books. Click HERE to find out how.

Name: J. Torres

TCAF Top Picks

Each lucky, sunny day of May seems to be flying by at an alarming pace. The upswing of this temporal situation is that any day now we will be in the thick of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. The festival has been bursting the brains of Torontonians since 2003 on a bi-annual basis (until this year which has thrown an annual wrench in the pattern, meaning the last festival occurred in 2009). Claiming not to be a comic convention, TCAF features readings, panel discussions, gallery shows, affiliated book launches as well as exhibitors.

Pop Sandbox: An Interview with Alex Jansen

Team photo for KENK: Jason Gilmore (Filmmaker & Designer), Alex Jansen (Producer & Publisher), Richard Poplak (Writer), Nick Ma

Open Book talks to Alex Jansen, owner and operator of multimedia production and publishing company Pop Sandbox about film, graphic novels and KENK: A Graphic Portrait. The launch for KENK is tonight, May 6, at 7 p.m. See Open Book's Events Page for details.

Open Book: Toronto:

Tell us about your production and publishing company, Pop Sandbox.

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Marta C: A Personal History in Comics

Free Comic Book Day Spoils 1.JPG

1. The first comics I ever read were in my native tongue. These provocative collections of colourful images and Polish text arrived from an unknown source and into my life to change everything. One particularly inspiring book featured two protagonists, one long and thin, one short and fat, transported into a surreal and magical world on a quest for... tonic water. Yep. There were also several issues of a comic featuring a rather inappropriate monkey called Tytus who often fell into fantastical adventures. My older brother came into possession of a near full run of Thorgal, a Belgian comic illustrated by a Polish artist. The series is a fictional story based on Viking lore in which Thorgal, the protagonist of most issues, is simultaneously a mythic hero and an outsider.

Toronto Comic Arts Festival

It's Ontario Graphic Novel Month! Check out our Whazamo! page, an online comics celebration that showcases talented graphic novelists and illustrators.

Let this video from last year's festival inspire you to head to the Toronto Reference Library on May 8th and 9th, 2010, for The Toronto Comics Art Festival. The festival features over 200 cartoonists who "convene to exhibit their art and book projects, to discuss and promote their work via panels and readings, and to interact with the public."

This video of last year's TCAF was produced by Vepo Studios.

The Proust Questionnaire, with Alison Dare

Alison Dare

Win a copy of Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventures or Alison Dare, The Heart of the Maiden. Open Book and Tundra Books are giving away ten copies of the graphic novels created by J. Torres and illustrated by J. Bone. To enter the contest, send an email to clelia [at] openbooktoronto [dot] com with the subject line "DARE" and the answer to the following question: In Alison Dare's responses to the Proust Questionnaire, what does she say she wants to be? (The contest closes on May 31st.)

Free Comic Book Day Cometh!

Free Comic Book Frenzy

Hello Open Book Toronto and the internet at large!

I am happy to kick off my bout/gout as Open Book's latest writer in residence by informing you about one of the world's most important events: May 1st... Free Comic Book Day. Perhaps, until now, you've associated May 1st with international labour rights or pagan celebrations. Not this year. It's all in the name: free comic books.

The 2010 Joe Shuster Awards Nominees

The Joe Shuster Awards honour Canadian comic book creators, publishers and retailers. Established in 2004, the "awards are named after pioneering Toronto-born artist Joe Shuster who, along with writer Jerry Siegel, created the iconic super-powered hero, Superman." In March, the nominees in the categories of Outstanding Artist, Cartoonist, Colourist, Cover Art, Webcomic Creator/Creative Team and Writer were named. This month, the Joe Shuster Awards announced the nominees for the Outstanding Canadian Publisher Award, the Harry Kremer Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Retailer Award and the Comics for Kids Award.

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Chimp Up!™, © 2010 Trio Magnus.

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

For more info on kei cars in Toronto check out Right Drive Inc., where I bought mine. -cton

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

For more info on kei trucks in Toronto check out Right Drive Inc., where I bought mine. -cton

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Pivot Readings: Brian Francis, Yannick Marshall and Matthew Tierney

When
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 - 7:00pm
Where

The Press Club
850 Dundas Street West

Toronto, ON
Map to The Press Club

Details

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

FULL THROTTLE FICTION WEEK-END

When
Saturday, October 3, 2009 - 9:00am
photo_MarnieBio.jpg
Where

Toronto Writers' Center
627 Bloor St west

Toronto, ON
Map to Toronto Writers' Center

Details

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Whazamo! Bonus Track: Jeff Lemire

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When Whazamo was getting ready to launch, one of the first artists to get back to us was Jeff Lemire, an amazing Toronto cartoonist best known for Essex County, a haunting graphic novel series about life on a small town Ontario farm. Now he’s back with a whole slew of new projects, including The Nobody , an update on the Invisible Man, the trailer for which you can find here. Though we missed it during May, we knew we had to share it with you now—think of it as the Whazamo bonus track!

Name: Jeff Lemire

Hometown: Woodslee, Ontario

Website: http://jefflemire.blogspot.com...

Role: Cartoonist

Rodeo Magic, by CTON

Welcome to Rodeo Magic, my new webcomic for Open Book Toronto. It will be running once a week, usually posted on fridays, and will follow the adventures & observations of a comic-loving hick who has relocated to the Big Smoke to pursue his dream of working as a professional creative person. Enjoy!

Interview with Tom Humberstone

My Fellow Americans by Tom Humberstone

Two years ago at TCAF, I met a comic artist from the UK named Tom Humberstone. Somehow he was invited to Pen Club (more on this later) where he quickly became a welcomed guest during his short visit. Over the past couple years, he kept in touch with some of the other Pen Club members including Anne Koyama of Koyama Press, and also produced an entire library of comics (a few obtaining critical success in the UK...winning an Eagle Award in '08 for best B&W UK comic). During this time, he also produced a blog inspired comic book about a road trip he took across the States during their Democratic Primaries, called My Fellow Americans. You may wonder, what does a Brit comic dude have anything to do with Canadian comics? Well two things: a very small Canadian publisher, Koyama Press helped Tom out on some of these projects, AND he is thinking about moving to Toronto soon (which would make him a 'Landed Canadian Comic Artist'). Anyways, besides all of this, Tom is a total dude and deserves some press over here in Canada (a place he might be calling home soon).

Whazamo! Profiles: George Walker

georgewalker

Name: George A. Walker

Hometown: Brantford Ont. Although I’ve lived in Toronto since 1979. Toronto.

Web site: www.george-walker.com

Role: Illustrator, graphic novelist (Book of Hours); writer (Woodcut Artists Handbook , Graphic Witness ,pub. Firefly Books)(Inverted Line and Images from the Neocerebellum, pub. Porcupine’s Quill); Acquisitions editor of the Graphic Novel Series at The Porcupine’s Quill

Latest Work: Name of Book, Press, Graphic Witness ,Firefly Books, Images from the Neocerebellum, Porcupine’s Quill and an upcoming trade edition of Book of Hours 2011 Porcupine’s Quill

What’s It About in a Nutshell: Visual narratives : the image as text.

Comic Creation with CTON

Comic Creation with CTON

Here's a little ditty showing my ritual for creating a comic for Owl Magazine, a great Canadian children's magazine. I do a regular column called 'CTON's Corner' whith this little orange dude and a green blob, named 'Blob'. Its a ton of fun, and allows me a lot of freedom to create. (This comic first appeared in Craig Battle's blog - he is the editor of Owl Magazine).

One of the biggest questions I get asked by people is 'how do you think of a comic'? Well thats a good question.

Whazamo! Profiles: Brian McLachlan

Brian Mclachlan

Name: Brian McLachlan

Hometown: Toronto

Website: www.theprincessplanet.com

Role: Cartoonist

Latest Work:
Ticket To Space , Scholastic Canada

What’s It About in a Nutshell:
After a clerical error, a 13 year old girl gains a chance to go aboard the space shuttle. The space agency tries to make the pre-flight training ridiculously hard that she'll give up and they won't have to put a child into a dangerous situation. Ha! Good luck, space agency!

What first inspired you to create comics or graphic novels?

Interview with Wowee Zonk

wowee00.jpg

Way back at the beginning of May I visited a great local Toronto comic book launch of some young, new Canadian creators here in the city. I was so impressed with their work, along with the massive amount of their work, that I thought it would be interesting to hear a bit about them, what drives them, and how they got into Canadian comics.

Generally I'm under the opinion that one shouldn't be interviewed until they're well into their career with much experience under their belt. It is theoretically only at that more senior point in one's creative life that their words & ideas might hold the most value to readers, younger creatives, and humanity in general. In the case of the Wowee Zonk crew, they are all very young and very new, but I felt it was an excellent opportunity to find out what makes new artists like themselves tick, as well as showcase an extremely talented group of (relative) newbies to comics. Hopefully their words, and already massive piles of work, will inspire other Canadian comic makers to get off their collective asses and do some work! I know they've lit a bit of a fire under my butt.

Whazamo! Profiles: John Bell

John Bell

Name: John Bell

Hometown: Montreal-born Haligonian living in Ottawa

Website: http://www.collectionscanada.g...

Role: Comics Historian

Latest Work: Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe (Dundurn, 2006)

What’s It About in a Nutshell:The history of comics and graphic narrative in English Canada, with emphasis on comic books.

What first inspired you to write about comics? I grew up in the 1950s, when comics were a mass medium – and a kid’s salvation.

How I got into Comics

Life of CTON (from Dose Magazine, 2006)

I'm an unlikely comic-book nerd. I've played rugby. I've driven tractors. I've renovated houses. I've worked on cars. I love beer and eating steak. Plus, I've stopped a run-away team of horses. You might wonder, why am I writing a comic blog for Open Book Toronto then? What the hell does this hick know about comics? Well good question.

Whazamo! Profiles: Kate Beaton

Kate Beaton

Name: Kate Beaton

Hometown: Mabou, Nova Scotia

Website: www.harkavagrant.com

Role: comic artist

Latest Work: Never Learn Anything From History, self published

What’s It About in a Nutshell:A collection of comics, mostly poking fun at historical events and people.

What first inspired you to create comics or graphic novels? It's just been something I've done for myself for a long time, and now for an audience.

What for you makes a comic or graphic novel AWESOME!? Ah that is a hard question, I think it is different for every example.

Whazamo! Profiles: Marta Chudolinska

Name: Marta Chudolinska

Hometown: Toronto, ON (as well as St. John's, NL; Vancouver, BC; Mississauga, ON; Warsaw, Poland)

Website: www.backandforthbook.wordpress...

Role: artist

Latest Work:Back + Forth, The Porcupine's Quill
available at http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com...

What’s It About in a Nutshell:

CTON does TCAF

The Princess Planet with CTON & Jay Stephens (courtesy of Brian McLachlan)

This past weekend was the comic event of the year in Toronto in terms of the type of comics I prefer. The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (also known as TCAF to comic nerds) happens every two years and is put on by the Beguiling (mentioned before). For 2009, the venue was at the Toronto Reference Library which is huge and sprawling with all sorts of nooks'n' crannies to get lost and hide comics in & around. I had the opportunity to share a table with my artist collective, Trio Magnus, and my first publisher, Koyama Press. We had all sorts of goodies for sale, including a whole wack of great books.

Whazamo Writer in Residence

May 1st to May 31st

Marta Chudolinska »

Marta Chudolinska, WIR Photo

Marta Chudolinska is a printmaker, bookbinder, zinester, painter and writer. Her first (wordless) graphic novel, Back + Forth: A novel in 90 linocuts, was published in September 2009 by the Porcupine’s Quill Press.

LATEST SUBMISSION »

Not a Going Away Party

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Last Month
(View All Blogs)

Coming Next Month

Shane Peacock

Toronto Comic Arts Festival May 8-9 2010 | www.torontocomics.com

About Whazamo

WHAZAMO! Ontario Graphic Novel Month is an online comics celebration brought to you by Open Book: Toronto. Whazamo! is created to celebrate the talented graphic novelists and illustrators published by Ontario publishers, as well as draw attention to the new stars of the Canadian graphic novel and comic book scene.