More Reviews

Entertainment Weekly has a brief review of The Annotated Northwest Passage in this week's (June 29/July 6) issue--their big "EW 100" double issue. They give it a solid B, which is about as well as I did in high school, so it works for me.

The Toronto Metro is more enthusiastic, giving the new collection four and a half stars out of five.

Annotated Northwest Passage Reviewed in Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly has given thumbs-up to The Annotated Northwest Passage. The full review reads as follows:

While being hyped as the greatest Canadian western comic book ever may sound like faint praise indeed, in the case of Chantler's thrilling historical adventure, it definitely is not. Categorized as young adult historical fiction, the book is a James Fenimore Cooper–styled thriller set in remote Rupert's Land, circa 1755. Fort Newcastle, an English-run trading post commanded by the stout-hearted hero Charles Lord, is overrun in a vicious sneak attack by French mercenaries looking to get rich off the fur trade. Lord and the survivors of the massacre wander the wilderness, looking for allies and plotting their revenge, while inside the captured fort, the villainous Guerin Montglave plots evil deeds. Chantler's sharp black and white artwork (replete with dramatic closeups and muscular action choreography) has a welcome precision to it, while the writing has a pulp immediacy (" 'T'ought you could 'ide, English dog?' ") which brings history to life. This collected edition of the three-issue original comes with copious and welcome annotations at the back, where Chantler discusses various plot points and historical references as well as the different styles used from one frame to the next (including one he calls his "Frank Miller shot").

Rumour has it there's a review coming up in Entertainment Weekly, so keep your eyes peeled for that, too, NWP fans!

Old Illustrations, Part the Fourth

More illustrations from the vaults:

A giant squid and loup-garou, from a Kayak Magazine article on Canadian monsters.

From Cottage Life's "Puttering section," an item on how to use wooden fence lattic to keep your vehicle from getting stuck in the sand.

A cover I did a couple of years back for The Ryerson Review of Journalism's feature story on crime reporting and the Mounties. Below is the printed cover with text design in place:

It's Here!

The first copies of The Annotated Northwest Passage arrived Tuesday and, as you can see, they are things of beauty. Usually when I first see my books in print the first things I see are the mistakes--my own, the printer's, etc. Not this time. It's exactly how imagined...better, in fact. A top-notch production all the way through.

Thanks again to Keith Wood for an ultra-classy design job, and to Randy and Jill at Oni for their delicate handling of my baby.

The copies I have are early promotional copies for Monday's signing at Book Expo Canada, so unfortunately I won't have any for sale at this weekend's Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon. I'll have a copy on display that people can thumb through, though, before it ships in another couple of weeks. Trust me, you're going to want one of these.

Original Art Sales...Not Just for Conventions Anymore

Sharp-eyed regular visitors to this site may have noticed that I recently added an "Original Art Sales" element to the sidebar, which contains links to places around the Web where my original art can be found for sale. Until now I've mostly sold original pages in person at conventions and other signing appearances, but I seem to be getting more requests all the time so I figured it was time to set up some kind of online system for the folks who don't see me regularly at comics shows.

The first link takes you to a handful of Days Like This pages that are for sale on commission at indie comics mecca The Beguiling. The second takes you to an online store I've set up over at ComicSpace, which currently features unsold pages from the first volume of Northwest Passage, though I hope to keep updating it until it includes work from all of my books, as well as some illustration originals. All you need is a PayPal account, and you're ready to shop.

I've dropped the prices on a lot of pages, because my office is getting too full of stacks of unsold boards...so go have a look and see if you can find a bargain!