This Saturday and Sunday, Fantagraphics is proud to table at Toronto Comic Arts Festival. TCAF is held at the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street) on Saturday May 10th – 9am-5pm, Sunday May 11th – 11am-5pm. Presented by the Toronto Public Library and The Beguiling comic store, this show is FREE to attend saving you those loonies and toonies to pay for great comics. We'll be at tables 119-120 down the main aisle of the library (or if you prefer, the first people to greet you as you prom-walk slowly down the steps from the atrium level).
Signing Schedule
Saturday May, 10th
10-12 Lane Milburn + Conor Stechschulte
12-1 Jesse Reklaw + Leslie Stein
1-2 Jesse Reklaw
2-3 Ed Piskor
3-5 Lane Milburn + Conor Stechschulte
Sunday May 11th
12-2 Conor Stechschulte
2-3 Jesse Reklaw + Leslie Stein
3-4 Jesse Reklaw
*Trina Robbins is seated RIGHT next to Fantagraphics at 121 so she'll be there aaaaallll day!
Friday May 9th:
4:15pm-5:30pm Trina Robbins: The Great Women Cartoonists
High Park Ballroom at the Marriott Bloor Yorkville – Trina Robbins is presenting the closing presentation at the Candian Society for the Study of Comics. All participants are welcome to attend and you can register for this special Robbins presentations here. Marriott Bloor Yorkville, located at 80 Bloor Street East (Bloor/Yonge Subway).
Saturday May 10
2:45pm-3:45pm: Spotlight: Trina Robbins
Writing, drawing, publishing, inspiring, Trina Robbins has done it all! Comics' foremost historian on women working in the comics industry, Robbins hasn't just written the book on women and comics-she's written several! Join Trina Robbins as she presents from her newest book, Pretty In Ink, followed by a moderated Q&A with noted journalist Joanna Draper-Carlson. Located at The Marriott Bloor Yorkville*
Sunday May 11
1:30pm-2:30pm: Non-traditional Design Inspiration!
Where does inspiration come from? Meet four comics auteurs, each with a design sensibility which draws from across the history of the medium, and far beyond. Darwyn Cooke (Parker), Ed Piskor (Hip Hop Family Tree), Mimi Pond (Over Easy), and Katie Skelly (Operation Margarine) have all produced fantastic new books with unique visual styles and appeal, and they will be joined in a spirited discussion about inspiration and influence with Tom. Located at The Pilot 2nd Floor
The Pilot is located half a block from Toronto Reference Library, at 22 Cumberland Street.
2:45pm-3:45pm: Comics Criticism
What is the state of comics criticism today, in both the public realm and academia? Join some of the industry's top journalists, critics, and historians as they attempt to discern the current role, and state, of comics criticism. Featuring Trina Robbins (Pretty In Ink), Heidi MacDonald (comicsbeat.com), Tom Spurgeon (comicsreporter.com), Jeet Heer (The Comics Journal), Keith Friedlander (University of Ottawa), and moderator Blake Bell (The Secret History of Marvel Comics). Located at The Marriott Bloor Yorkville*
*The Marriott Bloor Yorkville is located a 10 minute walk from Toronto Reference Library. There are three programming spaces in this venue, all located on "Floor 1", which is accessed by the elevators in the lobby.
Debuts:
• Twelve Gems by Lane Milburn Somewhere in the outer cosmos, beyond reckoning or observation, the mysterious Dr. Z has enlisted three space heroes, to search the galaxy for the fabled Twelve Gems of Power: the hulking alien-brawn Furz; the deadly sabre-wielding Venus; and the soft-spoken canine technician, Dogstar. With wall-to-wall humor and action in Lane Milburn's debute graphic novel from Fantagraphics; this is one of the most action-packed and funny books of the year!
• Buddy Buys a Dump The Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from "Hate" Comics Vol. 3 (2000-2013) by Peter Bagge He's back! Now in his 30s and married with child, onetime slacker hero Buddy Bradley gets a "real" job, shaves his head, dons an eyepatch, quits his "real" job and buys the local dump – because what better place to raise a toddler? Peter Bagge's iconic character is to alternative comics what Homer Simpson has been to television animation over the past quarter-century: a generation-defining slacker and the greatest comedic character of its form and era.
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So we'll see you there bright and early on Saturday morning. Team Fanta will be represented by Jacq Cohen and me, so come early and come often!