Here’s part one of a panel event with comic book heroes that took place at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario.
The informal panel event, comprised of Sheridan alumni, was hosted by Kagan McLeod and featured Chip Zdarsky, Ramón Pérez and Jeff Lemire.
Kagan McLeod began as a staff artist at the National Post newspaper. He has received awards for his work from such groups as the Society of Newspaper Design, the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, American Illustration and the Society of Publication Designers. His graphic novel Infinite Kung Fu was released from Top Shelf in 2011. And he’s the co-creator with Chip Zdarsky on Kaptara.
Chip Zdarsky is a comic book creator residing in Toronto. For almost 14 years he worked at the National Post newspaper as a columnist and illustrator. Chip has gone onto to bigger things writing for Marvel, Image and Archie comics. His recent work includes Sex Criminals, Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man, and Marvel Two-in-One. Chip was featured in an interview last October when he appeared at the Mississauga Arts Festival.
Ramón Pérez is the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award winning cartoonist best known for his graphic novel adaptation of Jim Henson’s Tale Of Sand for publisher Archaia Entertainment. His other work includes The Amazing Spider-Man: Learning To Crawl, John Carter: The Gods Of Mars, Wolverine & the X-Men, along with his own creations Butternutsquash and Kukuburi. Ramón was featured in an interview last month where he chatted about his trip to Japan with the team from the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.
Jeff Lemire is the author of titles including the Essex County Trilogy, Sweet Tooth, The Nobody, and Animal Man. His work includes All-New Hawkeye, Extraordinary X-Men, Moon Knight and Old Man Logan for Marvel, Descender and Plutona for Image Comics, and Bloodshot Reborn for Valiant. He also collaborated with the late Gord Downie on Secret Path. His new series for Image Comics entitled Gideon Falls starts this March.
During the discussion the panelists talk about how they got their start in the comic book industry including their first jobs. They also chatted about their tools and creating styles, the ups and downs of working with the major comic book publishers, the challenges of working with ‘legacy’ characters, the ‘fame and fortune’ of being in the comic book industry. And yes, they talk about the education they received at Sheridan College in the illustration courses.
Here’s where you can get more information about the panelists:
– Kagan McLeod on Twitter at @KaganMcLeod and online at kaganmcleod.com/
– Chip Zdarsky on Twitter at @zdarsky and online at zdars.co/
– Ramón Pérez on Twitter at @theramonperez and online at http://www.ramonperez.com/
– Jeff Lemire on Twitter at @JeffLemire and online at jefflemire.blogspot.ca/
Follow us on Twitter at TrueNorthComics, on Facebook at Facebook.com/TrueNorthCountryComics, and Instagram at Instagram.com/TrueNorthCountryComics.
Please send your feedback to TrueNorthCountryComics@gmail.com
