Camilla d'Errico's Sky Pirates.
Comics news digest Oct 15 2011 – Vancouver
– by Ryan Ingram
It’s been a while since The Snipe checked in on the world of funnybooks, so here’s a comics round-up, local-style.
– If you’ve ever wondered if Garfield could be more terrifying than the CGI’d Bill Murray-voiced monstrosity from a couple years back, you should definitely check out local comics artist Rebecca Dart’s most recent Battle Kittens piece titled “I Hate Mondays”. (Also, pick up a copy of Dart’s Battle Kittens comic book while you’re at it.)
– To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Art Spiegelman’s Maus, the Pulitzer-winning graphic novel has been re-released along with an interactive DVD that features a behind-the-scenes look at just about everything that went into the books’ creation. The DVD was designed and created by Vancouver’s Ryan Nadel after a lengthy and interesting process.
Art Spiegelman art from MetaMaus.
– Emily Carroll’s at it again. It was last Halloween when she simultaneously spooked and amazed everyone with her story “His Face All Red”, and this year she’s doing a five-part comic called “Margot’s Room”. It’s three chapters in and it’s ambitious and effective storytelling. Each strip definitely gets its hooks in your brain and lingers, as you wait for all the clues in Margot’s tragic-looking room to tie together.
– Comics interviewer Robin McConnell (the CiTR program “Inkstuds“) is doing video interviews with creators from around the Pacific Northwest. His first interviewee is King City creator Brandon Graham who talks about what it’s like to have a sketchbook full of pants-less ladies, among other things.
King City art by Brandon Graham.
– Andrew Schick was recently featured on comics super-site Comics Alliance, where they said his work “resembles Jeff Lemire’s gawky style with a touch of googly-eyed absurdity that looks like it could have been ripped out of Gary Panter or Brian Chippendale’s sketchbook.” If you haven’t checked out Schick’s work before, and that doesn’t sell you on it, you might suck.
Andrew Schick art.
– I could probably do weekly updates on the going-ons of creator Camilla d’Errico, who recently announced a video game adaptation of her comic Sky Pirates of Neo Terra, as well as the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to release a hardcover collection of her limited edition series Tanpopo. There’s also an expected announcement regarding Helmetgirls expected at this weekend’s New York Comic-Con.
– Hot on the heels of releasing her hilarious-and-New-York-Times-best-selling book, Hark! A Vagrant, Canadian cartoonist and ex-Maritime Museum of B.C. employee Kate Beaton, will make an appearance here for the Vancouver International Writers Festival next Friday.
Kate Beaton art from Hark! A Vagrant.
– Congrats to Kim La Fave and Gary Kent (who The Snipe talked to earlier this year) on their nomination for a Governor General’s Award for Fishing With Gubby. The book has been nominated in the Children’s Literature (Illustration) category.
– Lastly, there’s a Comics Jam tonight at the Wallflower Modern Diner. Bring your pencil crayons, smelly felts, and at least $5 to spend on booze and/or food.
