News about Canadian comic book creators for Saturday, May 25, 2024

Here’s the latest news about Canadian comic book creators for Saturday, May 25 2024:

MCAF gets advance write up
Victoria Advance published an article about the Montreal Comic Arts Festival currently underway this weekend. The write up provides an overview of what attendees can expect including over 300 artists and 168 exhibits in tents all along Rue Saint-Denis. Read more at https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/the-montreal-comic-arts-festival-s-13th-edition-runs-may-24-26/article_88e6edeb-9ea2-525c-88e3-46950a7d2534.html

Even more MCAF pre-show coverage
The Montrealer printed a preview of what attendees can expect at the 2024 Montreal Comic Arts Festival. Details include an overview of the comic book creators, the activities for attendees featuring creators, and with a brief look at the exhibitions on Rue Saint-Denis. Read more at https://themontrealeronline.com/2024/05/the-montreal-comic-arts-festival-may-24-26-2024/

Winners of the 25th Bédélys Awards announced
On Thursday, the Montreal Comic Arts Festival hosted the announcement of the 25th Bédélys Award and presented by journalist  Marie-Louise Arsenault, who rewarded the best comic books published in 2023.
The winners are:
Bédélys International Award
Des maux à dire, Bea Lema (Sarbacane)

Bédélys Youth Award
L’échappée belle, Faith Erin Hicks (Rue de Sèvres)

Bédélys Independent Francophone Award
Crépuscule, Catherine de Gongre

Bédélys Independent Anglophone Award
Spores, Joshua Barkman

Bédélys Youth Québec Award
J’aime pas ta robe, Danielle Chaperon, Samuel Cantin (Monsieur Ed)

Bédélys Québec Award
Are You Willing to Die for the Cause?, Chris Oliveros (Drawn & Quarterly)

Read more at https://www.fbdm-mcaf.ca/en/univers-bd/babillard/press-releases/winners-of-the-25th-bedelys-awards/

The Jellyfish arrives in US libraries
On an Instagram post, Pow Pow Press wrote that The Jellyfish has been chosen by Booklist for US-based libraries. it features a starred review of the stunning new graphic novel The Jellyfish by Boum. Reviewer Victoria Rahbar notes this book is an “essential addition” to both YA and adult graphic novel collections. Read more at https://www.instagram.com/p/C50o1r3rqYN/

Canadian creations on the ballot for Aurora Awards
The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association has announced the nominees for the 2024 Aurora Awards. . The awards honour Canadian writers in twelve categories including literary works and amateur or ‘what we call ‘fan works’. All Canadians may nominate or vote for the awards. Each year’s awards are for original works or activities done by Canadians in the previous calendar year.
In the category of Best Graphic Novel/Comic the nominees are:
Atana and the Firebird, Vivian Zhou, HarperCollins
A Call to Cthulhu, Norm Konyu, Titan Nova
Carson of Venus, Ronn Sutton (artist), Martin Powell (writer), and Maggie Lopez (colourist), webcomic
Cosmic Detective, Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt, art by David Rubin, Image Comics
It Never Rains, Kari Maaren, webcomic
The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao, with lettering by Kyla Aiko, Clarion Books
Wychwood, Ally Rom Colthoff, webcomic
Read more at https://www.csffa.ca/awards-information/current-ballot/

Danesh Mohiuddin gets nominated by National Cartoonists Society for book illustration
On his LinkedIn feed, Danesh Mohiuddin wrote that he’s been nominated for the Divisional Award by the National Cartoonists Society for Book Illustration. Read more at https://www.linkedin.com/posts/daneshmstudios_ive-been-nominated-for-a-divisional-award-activity-7191855107485925376-kTwL

14 cool Canadian illustrated books to read right now
CBC Books published an article about illustrated books by Canadians to keep you cool on these hot days. Those featured include:
A Guest In the House by Emily Carroll
Denison Avenue by Daniel Innes and Christina Wong
The Jellyfish by Boum
Degrees of Separation by Alison McCreesh
Cheryl by Jillian Fleck
A Witch’s Guide To Burning by Aminder Dhaliwal
Indiginerds by Alina Pete
Godhead 2 by Hoe Che Anderson
Kings of Nowhere vol.2 by Soroush Barazesh
Roaming by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Bad Medicine by Christopher Twin
I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together by Maurice Vellekoop
Portrait of a Body by Julie Delporte
Shout Hill Revel by Jarret Hartnell
Read more at https://www.cbc.ca/books/14-cool-canadian-illustrated-books-to-read-right-now-1.7204925

Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes talk about Hobtown Mystery Stories
Daily Dead interviewed Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes about their forthcoming book from Oni Press. Hobtown Mystery Stories vol. 1: Mystery Men, originally published in black and white by Conundrum Press, will get a second life according to the creators. The interview reviews the story and provides a background on the creation of the book. Read more at https://dailydead.com/qa-kris-bertin-and-alexander-forbes-discuss-working-with-oni-press-and-jason-fischer-kouhi-to-breathe-new-life-into-hobtown-mystery-stories-vol-1-the-case-of-the-missing-men/

Quill & Quire recognizes published creators as Eisner nominees
On its website, Quill & Quire wrote about several of its published creators among the Canadians who have been nominated for the 2024 Will Eisner Award nominees. Ashley Spires, Emily Carroll, Jeff Lemire, Chris Oliveros, Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki, Aminder Dhaliwal, Sam Maggs, Peggy Burns and Tracy Hurren are among the nominees in 32 categories. Read more at https://quillandquire.com/omni/emily-carroll-mariko-tamaki-and-jillian-tamaki-among-2024-canadian-eisner-nominees/

Chip Zdarsky talks about Joker(s)
Popverse interviewed Chip Zdarsky about the new origin of the Joker. Chip provides insight into how this original connects to Batman: Three Jokers limited series from Jason Fabok and Geoff Johns. The article also hints about what’s next for the story of Joker. Read more at https://www.thepopverse.com/comics-joker-year-one-batman-chip-zdarsky-3-three-jokers-april-2024

Chip Zdarsky does C2E2 interview
Chip Zdarsky is in the news yet again courtesy an interview by New Mint Condition. The chat took place at C2E2 where Chip touched upon his work on Spider-Man, Batman, Public Domain, Daredevil, Batman and more. Watch the interview on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/nzA3ZZEoc2Q?si=w1wYhMLKtwObTMcP

Seth and other cartoonists celebrated in new stamp series
CBC News interviewed Guelph cartoonist Seth as a new stamp series has been released by Canada Post. The new series also includes work by Chester Brown, Michael Rabagliati, Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki and Seth. The interview with Seth provides insight about his graphic novel projects and what’s next in his future for cartooning. Read more at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/seth-guelph-cartoonist-canada-post-stamp-1.7206547

And if you missed these interviews, don’t forget to check out:
Mélanie La Roche chats about the Montreal Comic Arts Festival 2024
Bill Slavin reveals ‘Quid Pro Crow’ at TCAF 2024