The ever expanding Toronto Comic and Art Fest (TCAF) is Canada’s premier comic art show known for its special guests and debut books, and Fantagraphics will not disappoint!
Special Guests
Simon Hanselmann
New York Times Best-Selling cartoonist Simon Hanselmann (Megahex) was born in Tasmania and currently resides in Seattle, WA. He spends his days meticulously watercoloring each page of comics he hand draws. Simon has found international success with his stoner witch comics, which have been translated into over a dozen languages. When not makes comics, Simon can be found smoking cigarettes and walking a one-eyed dog. He will be attending TCAF in support of his debuting graphic novel Meg & Mogg in Amsterdam and Other Stories from Fantagraphics.
Manuele Fior
Born in Cesena in 1975. After getting a degree in architecture (Venice, 2000), he moved to Berlin, where he worked until 2005 as a cartoonist, illustrator and architect. In 1994 he won the first prize at “Bienal do Juvenes Criadores do Mediteraneo,” Lisbon – comics. His collaboration with the German Avant-Verlag publisher Began in 2001 with the Plaque magazine, Which brings together a wide range of Italian authors, among them Mattotti, Igort, and Giandelli. Since then he Began an intense work on comic short stories written by His Brother Daniel, Which Appeared in Black, Bile Noire, Stripburger, Forresten, and Osmosa. He collaborates with His illustrations for The New Yorker, Le Monde, Vanity Fair, Feltrinelli, Einaudi, La Repubblica, Il Sole 24 Ore, Edizioni EL, Fabbri, International, Il Manifesto, Rolling Stone Magazine, Les Inrocks, Nathan, Bayard, Far East Festival.
Matt Furie
Matt Furie was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1979 and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware in 2001. A Leo, he enjoys long walks in the park, bubble baths, and an occasional glass of wine. He currently lives in San Francisco. Matt Furie’s drawings come from a mix of child-like enchantment and momentary adult situations. His self proclaimed “children’s book illustrations for adults” combines traditional and modern mark-making for his ripe, cartoon-inspired characters. He was awarded best Visual Artist by the San Francisco Bay Guardian in the 20th annual Goldie awards.
His comics and books include Boy’s Club, Dungeon Family, and the children’s book The Night Riders (McSweeney’s). He is also the creator of Pepe the Frog, the character that sparked a 1000 memes.
Noah Van Sciver
Noah Van Sciver first came to comic readers’ attention with his critically acclaimed comic book series Blammo, which has earned him 3 Ignatz award nominations. His work has appeared in Mad magazine, Best American Comics 2011, and The Stranger, as well as countless graphic anthologies. He currently is the writer/artist on a comic strip titled “Rufus Baxter” for the alternative weekly newspaper Westword. Van Sciver has four graphic novels: The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln, Youth Is Wasted, Saint Cole and Fante Bukowski: Struggling Writer.
Signing Schedule
All signings listed will take place at the Fantagraphics Booth, tables 129-130 on the first floor of the Toronto Reference Library. See you there!
Saturday
Noah Van Sciver: 11:00 – Noon
Manuele Fior: Noon – 1:00 PM
Simon Hanselmann: 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Matt Furie: 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Sunday
Manuele Fior: 11:00 – Noon
Noah Van Sciver: Noon – 1:00 PM
Matt Furie: 1:00 – 2:00 PM
Josh Cotter: 2:00 – 3:00 PM
Simon Hanselmann: 3:00 – 4:00 PM
Debut Books
5,000 km Per Second by Manuele Fior
Winner of the prestigious Grand Prize of the 2010 Angoulême Comics Festival, 5,000 km Per Second tells or almost tells the love story between Piero and Lucia, which begins with a casual glance exchanged by teenagers across the street through a window and ends with a last, desperate hook-up between two older, sadder one-time lovers.
Executed in stunning watercolors and broken down into five chapters (set in Italy, Norway, Egypt, and Italy again), 5,000 km Per Second manages to refer to Piero and Lucia’s actual love story only obliquely, focusing instead on its first stirrings and then episodes in their life during which they are separated a narrative twist that makes it even more poignant and heart-wrenching.
Boy’s Club by Matt Furie
Cartoonist Matt Furie’s deadpan comics showcase slacker roommates Andy, Brett, Landwolf, and Pepe in a series of comical vignettes combining laconic psychedelia, childlike enchantment, drug-fueled hedonism, and impish mischief. The perpetually insouciant glaze of his characters belie the sharp verbal and visual wit of Furie, who delivers a stoner classic for the Tumblr generation. In fact, Furie’s wildly popular teenage weirdoes became an overnight internet sensation when Pepe the Frog was widely adopted by users of 4chan and remixed ad infinitum from there (including uses by pop stars like Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry), giving Boy’s Club built-in recognition with many. A spiritual cousin to Simon Hanselmann’s Megahex and Joán Cornella’s Mox Nox, Boy’s Club’s sense of humor will especially resonate with fans of stoner comedies and black humor.
Disquiet by Noah Van Sciver
Featuring over a dozen literary comic shorts by acclaimed cartoonist Noah Van Sciver. Whether in his fiction (Fante Bukowski) or nonfiction (The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln), Van Sciver has carved a niche as a keen observer of the human condition, exploring the decisions people make that make, break, and define them. Disquiet showcases the best of his short work, including: “The Death Of Elijah Lovejoy,” the story of the midwestern abolitionist in the 1830s who published a radical newspaper that denounced slavery and provoked local mobs to destroy his printing presses; “The Lizard Who Laughed,” a painfully dysfunctional reunion between an absent father and his adult son; and “Punks V. Lizards,” an anarchic and darkly comic piece of absurdity that blends Quadrophenia with Jurassic Park.
Kramers Ergot 9 ed. by Sammy Harkham
Powerful and uninhibited cartooning of the highest caliber still exists in the short form — you just have to look. For all these lonely lovers, Kramers Ergot fights the good fight and gathers many of the best and brightest together in one giant oversized collection, so that for a few moments you can fool yourself into believing in a reality where “Comics” is vital and powerful, and can still make you shit your pants with laughter. Kramers Ergot 9 will feature the work of Michael Deforge, Noel Freibert, Steve Weissman, Anya Davidson, Stefan Marx, Abraham Diaz, Leon Sadler, Julia Gfrörer, Adam Buttrick, Kim Deitch, Ben Jones, Andy Burkholder, Antony Huchette, Trevor Alixopulos, Antoine Cossé, Archer Prewitt, Kevin Huizenga, Renee French, and many other greats to be announced.
Megg & Mogg in Amsterdam by Simon Hanselmann
Megg the witch, Mogg the cat, their friend Owl, and Werewolf Jones struggle unsuccessfully with their depression, drug use, sexuality, poverty, lack of ambition, and their complex feelings about each other. It’s a laff riot! Fresh off their star turn in the New York Times best seller Megahex, Megg and Mogg decide to take a trip to Amsterdam for some quality couple time, although the trip gets off to a rocky start when they forget their antidepressants. They need Owl to come and help them save their relationship. But why does he have a suitcase full of glass dildos? And what will they do when they realize that the housesitting Werewolf Jones has turned their apartment into a “f#@k zone”? Megg & Mogg in Amsterdamcollects all of Simon Hanselmann’s contributions to Vice.com, the Ignatz Award-nominated short story “St. Owl’s Bay,” and other surprises that will add additional color and background for fans of Megahex.
Panels
Pre-programming as a part of their Word Balloon Academy, and two full days of programming at different locations all within walking distance of The Toronto Reference Library are a highlight of the TCAF weekend! Catch the full schedule on their website.
Friday
3:30-5:00 PM DIY Self-Promotion with Jacq Cohen. Get free tickets here
Bloor Yorkville Marriott
Saturday
1:30-2:30 PM Comics & Humor What’s funny? These are the folks who know. Moderator David Berry (National Post) gets to the bottom of how to be funny and why in comics, with cartoonists KC Green (Back,Gunshow), Nick Gurewitch (Perry Bible Fellowship), Jane Mai (See You Next Tuesday), Angela Melick (Wasted Talents), and Matt Furie (Boys Club). Moderated by David Berry of the National Post..
The Pilot – 22 Cumberland St., across from the Library
2:45-3:45 PM Lost Loves:TCAF 2016 will see the debut of two beautifully painted new graphic novels by European cartoonists: 5000km per second by Italy’s Manuele Fior, and Irmina by Germany’s Barbara Yelin. These incredible works detail stories of difficult, lost loves set across tumultuous time periods, different in setting and time, but still resonating with each other. In this spotlight interview, moderator Hélène Deval will interview Fior and Yelin about their work and careers, and the creation of these beautiful graphic albums.
Marriott High Park Ballroom 1
4:00-5:00 PM Spotlight on Noah Van Sciver The incredibly prolific Noah Van Sciver has been creating graphic novels at an unbelievable pace since his professionally published graphic novel, The Hypo, in 2012. At a rate of more than one graphic novel per year, plus issues of his comic series Blammo and short pieces across several anthologies, Van Sciver has been racking up critical acclaim and attention. Now on the release of his newest work, Disquiet, Brigid Alverson interviews the young creator about what drives him, and what we can expect to see next.
Marriott High Park Ballroom 1
Sunday
1:30-2:30 PM Spotlight: Simon Hanselmann and HTML Flowers Journalist Sean Rogers (The Globe and Mail) interviews TCAF Featured Guest Simon Hanselmann, and frequent collaborator HTML Flowers, on their comics and graphic novel work. Hanselmann’s newest collection, Megg & Mogg in Amsterdam and Other Stories, debuts at TCAF 2016, and its collection of “neurosis, aggression, and nonchalance,” will provide plenty of fodder for discussion…!
The Pilot – 22 Cumberland St., across from the library
2:45-3:45 PM Diversity Is is the unmistakable that the evolution of any medium is contingent on the inclusion of a healthy variety of different voices. Karla Pacheo (Inspector Pancakes), Anne Ishii (Massive Goods), Ant Sang (The Dharma Punks), Cathy G. Johnson (Gorgeous), Gene Yang (Boxers & Saints), and Bill Campbell (Rosarium) are some of the forces changing the canon of what is considered comics. Learn strattegies on how you can also take part, on all aces of identitiy, in this panel moderated by Image Comics’ David Brothers.
Marriott: Forest Hill Ballroom