TEDxWaterloo 2012

I'm happy today to be able to report some news I'd been sitting on for a while: I'll be a guest speaker at the 2012 incarnation of TEDxWaterloo, one of the largest independently-licensed TED events in North America. Devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading", TEDxWaterloo is an annual conference of thinkers in wide-ranging fields, loosely defined as technology, entertainment, and design (thus the acronym TED). 

I'm honoured to have been invited to participate in this year's event, especially considering that I often listen to TED talks online for inspiration while working and that the other two speakers announced today are particle physicist Bilge Demirköz and Jean Béliveau, who walked around the world for peace. Intimidating company for a cartoonist.

I'm still working out the exact nature of my presentation, but it will involve not only a talk but a live-drawing performance throughout the event. So join me on March 21st at Centre in the Square in Kitchener, Ontario and see how it turns out!

Ernest Seller

My books have kept me too busy for much commercial illustration work in the last couple of years (and the market has been pretty dry anyway, unfortunately for people who depend on illustration for a living) but I still like to take the odd assignment if it's fun and interesting.

Like this one.

Spirited Leaders, a local company that specializes in business education for entrepreneurs, hired me to create a design looks for the cast of characters ("Ernest Seller" and his co-workers) that populates their communication materials, everything from print brochures to Twitter accounts. I did a few different poses for each, two dozen in all.

Here are some of the ones I like best:

"Two Generals" Promo Video

A just-released video that the fine folks at McClelland & Stewart assembled from a recent interview session with me:

"Two Generals," White Pine, and Canada Reads

It has been an exceptionally good week for Two Generals.

On Monday, it was nominated for the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading White Pine Award for Non-Fiction. The White Pine award is for high school-aged readers, which fits nicely with the fact that Two Generals is now being used in some Ontario high schools as part of the curriculum. Readers of the appropriate age are encouraged to read the books and vote, with the winners announced next spring at festivals in Ottawa, Toronto, and Thunder Bay. It's a big deal, gets young people reading lots, and who doesn't love libraries? So thanks to the OLA for the nomination. Happy to be a part of it.

On Tuesday, which was not about to let Monday get all the glory, Two Generals was announced as being in the Top 40 for the 2012 edition of Canada Reads, the CBC's annual "battle of the books" that unfolds on radio and TV, which for the first time (conveniently for Two Generals) is focusing on non-fiction. I was flattered when it began turning up among early recommendations and polls, and am thrilled to have even made the long list.

The inclusion in last year's competition of my pal Jeff Lemire's excellent graphic novel Essex County among the Top 5 for best Canadian novel of the decade proved to be somewhat controversial, so I was also happy to see that Canada Reads wasn't steering away from comics-based works this year. In fact, there are no less than THREE graphic novels in the Top 40: mine, Sarah Leavitt's Tangles, and Chester Brown's Louis Riel. Even if none of us go further (though my money's on Riel making the Top 5), this is a very good thing for comics. That said, I'd be over the moon if the book made the Top 10...so please go to the voting page before October 30th and cast a vote for me and Two Generals, won't you?

Often in the past when trying to explain the sophistication of comics storytelling to people who clung to old stereotypes, myself and others would point out the number of comics works that had been nominated for and/or won mainstream literary prizes (Maus and the Pulitzer, Jimmy Corrigan and the Guardian Prize, Sandman and the World Fantasy Award, etc.) In none of even my most ambitious dreams, however, did I think I'd ever be among those lucky few. I'm not sure the word "honoured" even begins to describe it. HUGE thanks to everyone who made both nominations possible.

"The Sign of the Black Rock" in Stores Now

Hot off its predecessor Tower of Treasure's Shuster Award win for Best Comic for Kids, the second Three Thieves book, The Sign of the Black Rock, hit store shelves this week.

Stranded at a roadside inn during a fierce thunderstorm, Dessa and her companions must spend the night avoiding detection and capture at the hands of a greedy innkeeper, his mysteriously silent wife, notorious smugglers, and the Queen's Dragons themselves. It's a shade darker than the first volume, but contains all of the same adventure, escapes, twists, and fun.

Personally, I'm more content with this second book than the first. It's a more complete story (the first book, by necessity, had to be more about setting up the entire seven-book series) and we solved some problems with how the colour was printed in Tower of Treasure so that the art in The Sign of the Black Rock looks closer to what was intended. But most importantly, I got to use the old "let's disguise ourselves as a taller person by standing on each other's shoulders and wearing big clothes" gag, a la The Little Rascals:

Yes, it's a fun job.

Pick up a copy of The Sign of the Black Rock at your favourite bookstore, comics shop, or online.

Summer Reviews/Interviews

Haven't updated in a while, so I thought I'd post a round-up of some of the various sightings of yours truly around the Web:

First up, Kirkus Reviews posts a glowing review of the soon-to-be-released (on September 1st) The Sign of the Black Rock, calling it a "never-a-dull-moment sequel to Tower of Treasure," though you'll need to be logged in to read the full review until the book's release date.

Speaking of good reviews, Two Generals also gets some better-late-than-never love from Brigid Alverson at Graphic Novel Reporter, who calls it "a moving story, beautifully drawn and artfully told" (thanks, Brigid!). And my old editor (on Days Like This and Scandalous), writer Jamie S. Rich posts a very flattering take on the book on his blog, saying, "Very few comics have made me cry. This is one of them."

In other news, Eva Volin from Good Comics for Kids/School Library Journal posted a video of a short interview she did with me at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in May:



And last but not least, I recently answered the Proust-style cultural questionairre for the folks over at One Two Microphone Check, alongside some very impressive creative people.

Stay tuned for more art, reviews, and other publicity as we get closer to the release of The Sign of the Black Rock and the softcover edition of Two Generals!

San Diego 2011

I'm headed back to San Diego Comic-Con next week, for my first visit since 2008.

You probably won't see me on the show floor all that much; I'm mostly going for the Eisner Awards, and to check out the much-anticipated TR!CKSTER Symposia, the "counter-con" aimed at bringing the focus back to comics in general, and to creator-owned comics in particular. If you're looking for me in San Diego next week, I'll probably be there, hanging with (and marvelling at) some of the most talented cartoonists in the world.

I will be doing two signings at the convention centre, though, both at the Oni Press booth:

• Friday, July 22nd 6pm-6:45pm
• Saturday, July 23rd 2pm-2:45pm

I'll have a limited amount of original art for sale from a variety of my books, as well doing sketches and generally being charming. So elbow your way through the throngs of movie producers and Stormtroopers and say hello!

"The Sign of the Black Rock" in Print

With its predecessor having won a Shuster Award last week, it seems as good a time as any to remind people that the second Three Thieves book, The Sign of the Black Rock, is coming soon (September 1st, to be exact). In fact, I was recently sent advance copies, pictured here. It's always strange to see your book in print for the first time, but I'm pretty happy with it...it's definitely an improvement on Tower of Treasure, thanks to some technical concerns we addressed about the way the colour files are imported for print.

The story follows our three title characters as they stop at a roadside inn, forced off the road during a storm. When their pursuers, the Queen's Dragons, arrive at the very same inn, near captures and narrow escapes ensue. It's a shade darker than the first book, but still full of hijinks and fun.

A 14-page preview is available at the Kids Can Press website. In the meantime, it's back to work for me on the third book, The Captive Prince!

Superboy Commission

The Golden Age Superman commission I posted last month resulted, as I probably should have expected, in more "Super" commissions, including this one of the new/old (thanks to the recent DC Comics reboot) Superboy, about whom I know nothing other than the fact that he tucks in his t-shirts, much like a senior citizen.

This also marks the first time in my entire life that I've ever drawn Krypto the super-dog. It was fun!

"Tower of Treasure" Wins Shuster Award

The 7th Annual Joe Shuster Awards, which recognize Canadian comic book creators, were held this past Saturday in Calgary. And I'm happy to report that Tower of Treasure was the recipient of the award for Best Comic for Kids.

As you may recall, I was competing against myself (among others), with Two Generals being nominated in the same category (which raised some eyebrows, given its content). Between the two, I'm glad the winner was the one that's an actual kids' book. Tower of Treasure has also had to live in the shadow of the well-publicized Two Generals since the latter was released, so the award was a nice accolade for a book that I'm as proud of as any of my others, but that doesn't always get as much attention.

Thank you again to the organizers and jury of the Joe Shuster Awards for this honour, and congratulations to the other winners. I can finally take the word "nominee" out of my bio and add the word "winner"!