Speakeasy Comic Book Show

The folks at the SpeakEasy arts/illustration group are running their Comic Book Show this November. A number of great local comic creators will be on hand with originals, prints, books, and other items for sale. Check it:

SpeakEasy’s Comic Book Show
Thursday November 6th, 8pm-midnight
The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen West
Second Floor Lobby
$4.00/PWYC

Toronto is home to some of the best known comics artists in North America. We have an active and vibrant community putting out some of the highest quality comics to be found anywhere. The SpeakEasy Comics Show features an eclectic mix of Toronto’s talented comic book artists – from those who do newspaper strips and political cartoons, to underground comix and mainstream superhero comic books! The event promises to display an exciting cross-section of the comics community here in Toronto, as well as a glimpse into how good comics are made. As the old cliché goes, there really will be something for everyone.

This Month’s Featured Artists:
John Lang
Graeme Maitland
Spent Pencil Studios
Milé Murtanovski
Chris Hatzopoulos & George Todorovski with DMF Comics
Benita Hsueh
Willow Dawson
Stef Lenk
Ian Daffern
Charlene Chua
Sarah Ennals
Craig Marshall
Bruce Outridge Productions
David James
Chris Henderson
Tyrone McCarthy

For more information contact:
David Brown
email: david@blttogo.com telephone: 416.533.1374

– Chris @ The Beguiling

Shipping October 22, 2008

The following items are scheduled to ship to The Beguiling in Toronto, Canada, on Wednesday October 22nd, 2008.

Click here to view the complete list of books: 081016-shipping.txt

Here’s our recommendations for the week:

AUG084333 French Milk Gn 15.00
French Milk is the first professionally published book by Lucy Kinsley, a fantastic cartoonist and friend/contemporary of Hope Larson. We were lucky enough to stock a few of the self-published editions of French Milk a long time back, and this new edition of Lucy’s comics diary of her trip to France should be beautiful, to match the quality of her work.

SEP083989 Or Else #5 4.95
MAY083829 Drawn & Quarterly Showcase Tp Vol 05 19.95
This pair of Drawn & Quarterly releases are already available in store, but I did want to draw attention to them. D&Q Showcase #5 is a fascinating anthology work, and I really enjoyed it… They don’t tend to do themed anthologies, but all 3 stories really seemed to be about Time; the time we have left, the time we spent with each other, how long we end up waiting for things. Really sort of gentle and lovely.

Meanwhile, Or Else #5 totally did my head in. I’m still trying to figure out if there’s a larger meaning there, but the nitty-gritty will have you thinking about the nature of comics and storytelling for a good long while.

MAY080261 Heavy Liquid Hc 39.99
Vertigo realizes that maybe they ought to treat Paul Pope a little better, and decides to put one of his graphic novels back into print. Now in a heavy-duty hard cover edition, with corrected-colours.

JUL083986 Comics Journal #293 11.99
This issue of TCJ features interviews with S. Clay Wilson, Golden-Age cartoonist Craig Flessel, an important tribute to and interview with Will Elder. Also: Dave Stevens, Steve Gerber, the Centre for Cartoon Studies, and more. Looks like a little something for everyone this time out…

JUL080221 Northlanders Tp Vol 01 Sven The Returned 9.99
The first 8 issues of Vertigo’s EMO VIKINGS series (heh) collected, for just $10. It’s a pretty-good deal, and a solid new series for those looking to fill the gap left behind by Y: The Last Man now that it’s done. Oh, speaking of which, the first Y hard cover ships this week too.

Other Items of Note:

JUN084135 Dungeon Monstres Tp Vol 02 12.95
New Dungeon! Whoo-hoo!

AUG084240 I Live Here Hc 29.95
Mia Kirshner’s fascinating hybrid graphic novel, from Pantheon. This is, again, one you should take the time to look at this week.

MAY083635 Warren Ellis Aetheric Mechanics Gn 6.99 SEP083772 Warren Ellis Aetheric Mechanics Gn Con Ed 6.99
Original Warren Ellis graphic novel, making this three weeks in a row now where we’ve had a GN from Ellis, and all from Avatar. How about that?

JUL084332 Real Gn Vol 02 12.99
The second volume of Takehiko Inoue’s gripping Wheelchair Basketball manga. The first issue was really, surprisingly good. Looking forward to this one.

AUG082351 Hulk #7 2.99 JUN088058 Hulk #7 Turner Var (Pp #831) 2.99 The Hulk #7 Mike Turner variant will be available for cover price of $2.99 on this issue. Just as a reminder, we still have regular and Turner Variant editions of Hulk #6 available for cover price as well.

AUG080148 Superman New Krypton Special #1 3.99 AUG080149 Superman New Krypton Special #1 Var Ed PI
Just a reminder, the big SUPERMAN: NEW KRYPTON crossover between Action Comics, Superman, Supergirl, and a hand-full of specials (including last week’s SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN) starts here. James Robinson and Geoff Johns are co-writing it and they’re selling tons of comics for DC right now–that means someone likes it! Find out here if that someone is you.

AUG080219 Unknown Soldier #1 2.99 AUG080220 Unknown Soldier #1 Var Ed PI
Vertigo’s newest ongoing series, a relaunch of the Unknown Soldier.

– Chris @ The Beguiling

CONTEST: Bleach The Movie: Memories of Nobody on the big-screen.

Hey folks! Viz Media and Cineplex Odeon have gotten together to do a one-night-only, big screen presentation of BLEACH: THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY on Monday, October 20th @ 7:00PM. They’re selling tickets for this event, but they’ve also given us 3 double passes to give away to our customers!

These passes are good at any one of the 6 theatres across Southern Ontario that are showing the film, ONE NIGHT ONLY. If you can’t make it to the screening, or you can’t make it to the store to pick up the tickets in time, please don’t enter. We really wanna make sure fans get to see this film.

But if you can attend? We want you to win! Here’s how:

E-mail chris@beguiling.com with “MEMORIES OF NOBODY” in the subject header, and a valid phone-number and your name in the message body.

Entries MUST be made from an e-mail address subscribed to The Beguiling’s mailing list. You can subscribe up top there, on the right. Entries must be received and time-stamped by 11:59pm on Friday, October 17th. Winners will be chosen by a random drawing on and we will e-mail the winners and announce them on the website on Saturday the 18th. Tickets can be picked up on the second floor of The Beguiling any time after then.

Rules & Regulations: Subject line MUST contain “MEMORIES OF NOBODY”. Message body MUST contain valid phone number and name. Entries must be made from an e-mail address subscribed to The Beguiling’s mailing list. Entries that don’t meet these conditions will be discarded. Employees and family members of The Beguiling are not eligible to win. One entry per household/phone number. No purchase necessary, void where prohibited, etc.

– Chris @ The Beguiling

Kramers Ergot 7 World Tour Stops at The Beguiling December 11th

KRAMERS ERGOT 7 TOURS TORONTO
Presented by The Beguiling Books & Art

Featuring Shary Boyle, Sammy Harkham, Kevin Huizenga, John Pham, Ron Rege Jr., Souther Salazer, and Seth!

Thursday December 11th, 2008, 7PM-10PM
918 Bathurst Street (Former Buddhist Temple)
1 Block North of Bathurst TTC [Google Map]

http://facebook.com/event.php?eid=30811628299
FREE

Kramers Ergot is the name of the groundbreaking comix anthology that has taken up the tradition of Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly’s RAW MAGAZINE in bringing the most innovative, challenging, and beautiful comics work to the masses… and volume 7 is the greatest yet! This massive new tome includes brand new comics from some of the world’s greatest living graphic novelists, and this December several of the contributors will be in Toronto to officially launch the new book!

Kramers Ergot Volume 7 is sure to top many critics’ Best Comics Of 2008 Lists, thanks to its all-star line-up of contributors including Seth, Chris Ware, Shary Boyle, Andrian Tomine, Dan Clowes, Ivan Brunetti, and Gabrielle Bell to name just a few. But equally as stunning is the book’s presentation: Kramers Ergot Volume 7 is a massive 16 inches by 21 inches in hardcover, with each contributor offering up an original double-page spread of brand new work for the book. Kramers Ergot Volume 7 will make its official debut at this launch event, and will not be available in stores before then. It is sure to be in short supply this holiday season.

“People are focusing on the enormous size of this book, and with good reason,” says Peter Birkemoe of The Beguiling. “But the sheer talent assembled into this volume, from established names and friends of The Beguiling like Seth and Shary Boyle, to relative newcomers including John Pham, that’s what will have people lining up for this one.”

The Kramers Ergot Volume 7 Tour will feature appearances by series Editor and contributor Sammy Harkham, as well as Shary Boyle (Otherworld Uprising), Kevin Huizenga (Ganges, Curses), John Pham (Sublife), Ron Regé Jr. (Skibber Bee Bye), Souther Salazar (Destined for Dizziness), and Seth (Palookaville, Clyde Fans) and publisher Alvin Buenaventura. At 7:30PM the contributors will be interviewed on stage by The Beguiling’s Peter Birkemoe, and a signing will follow. Doors open at 7PM.

The event will be held at the beautiful new event space ‘918’ located at 918 Bathurst. A former Buddhist Temple, the space is a classic A-frame building located just a block north of Bathurst Subway station and 3 blocks from The Beguiling.

– Chris @ The Beguiling

ANNOUNCE: Maurice Vellekoop’s PIN-UPS Book Launch November 25

Maurice Vellekoop’s PIN-UPS Book Launch
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 @ 6:30PM
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
FREE, 18+

The Beguiling is teaming up with the fierce folks at Green Candy Press to present Maurice Vellekoop’s PIN-UPS! It’s a cross between his most recent collection, “A Nut At The Opera,” and his most infamous collection, “ABC: A Homoerotic Primer,” featuring tributes to hundreds of years of gay imagery from film to fashion to fantasy, all rendered in Maurice’s trademark style.

The event will feature a gallery show, presentation from the book, and some fantastic music too. If you’ve ever thought about coming out to one of our events, this one guarantees a fabulous time.

All of Maurice Vellekoop’s backlist is currently in stock at the store. The Beguiling also represents original art sales for Maurice online at: http://www.beguiling.com/artproductlist.asp?ID=18.

SETH: DOMINION CITY EXHIBITION

Seth: Dominion City
(and its Sister City Beaver)
September 20th through December 6th, 2008
At Render Gallery
An exhibition of original art and sculpture by Seth (Palookaville, Wimbledon Green)

The North Star Talking Picture House
at Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery
September 20th through January 4th, 2008
http://kwag.on.ca
A collection of films from the archives of the National Film Board, chosen by Seth.

These are pretty fantastic exhibits that are even bigger and more elaborate than Seth’s retrospective at the Art Gallery of Ontario a few years ago. It’s worth the drive to Kitchener!

– Chris

Shipping October 15th, 2008

The following books are scheduled to ship to The Beguiling in on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008. That’s right folks, no delay because of the Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday.

Click here to see the shipping list: 081015-shipping.txt.

We’ve decided to put the shipping list into its own file now, so as not to jam up the page with huge reams of text. But we’ll still make a recommendation on the page here from time-to-time. Enjoy.

And speaking of which:

Breakdowns Portrait Of Artist As Young HC 27.50
Holy shit, it’s a new Art Spiegelman graphic novel. Actually, it’s a reworked version of his original “Breakdowns” book, but with a whole bunch of new stuff to boot. Absolutely essential.

Moresukine GN 15.95
I actually just reviewed this on my personal blog: http://comics212.net/2008/10/07/tuesday-review-moresukine/. I totally loved it, and you will too.

Amazing Spider-Man #573 Colbert Var (Pp #833) 3.99
This week’s issue of Amazing Spider-Man will feature a special Stephen Colbert Variant cover, and an all new backup story featuring the (conclusion?) of Colbert’s run for the white house within the Marvel U. Expect this one to get a lot of media attention. We’ll be selling this one at cover price ($3.99), limit one per person for the first 24 hours.

Rasl #3 3.50
The third issue of Jeff Smith’s brand new ongoing series. Very different than Bone, eh? First printings of the first two issues are still in stock at cover price.

Street Fighter II Turbo #1 Cvr A&B 3.95
Thanks to our friends at UDON, anyone purchasing the first issue of this new Street Fighter series will receive a free copy of the REMIX one-shot which leads into this. Thanks, Udon!

Supermans Pal Jimmy Olsen Special #1 4.99
This is Part 0 of the Superman Crossover Event: “NEW KRYPTON”, by James Robinson and Geoff Johns. Seeing as everyone has been digging on Robinson’s and Johns’ Superman stories lately, I imagine this will be quite popular on Wednesday.

Dramacon Ultimate Ed HC 19.99
This hardcover edition contains all three volumes of Friend Of The Beguiling Svetlana Chmakova’s series for Tokyopop. If you somehow missed it over the past three years, it’s now 10 bucks cheaper!

– Chris @ The Beguiling

Announce: Lynda Barry’s WRITING THE UNTHINKABLE Class October 23rd & 24th

Lynda Barry: WRITING THE UNTHINKABLE Class
Thursday October 23rd and Friday October 24th
10am-4pm both days, Location To Be Revealed(!)
$300.00 Tuition
Only available through eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=160290008768

In advance of Lynda Barry’s upcoming presentations at The International Festival of Authors, she will be giving one of her fantastic classes on writing and creativity. It runs two days, Thursday and Friday the 23rd and 24th of October, for 6 hours per day, and will cost $300.

For those of you who know about this class, you’ve already gone to click that eBay link; this is certainly a rare opportunity.

For those of you that need to know what this is all about, check out this special message from Lynda’s friend Betty Bong!

About Writing the Unthinkable:

OK! This is the writing class Lynda Barry teaches! It is open to ALL PEOPLE! It is called– WRITING THE UNTHINKABLE! But first! Please note! IMPORTANT! This class is for students 18 years old and UP! No one under 18 allowed! Do you wish you could write? Do you wish you had a better memory? Do you want to make stories but are too confused about how to even start? DO YOU WANT A SEAT IN THE TWO-DAY WRITING CLASS TAUGHT BY LYNDA BARRY? THIS IS AN INTENSIVE WRITING CLASS! It’s not a social situation at all! Actually, you can be completely anonymous in this class! You don’t have to be cool! Your clothes can be square! You don’t have to be talk to anyone if you don’t want to! You don’t even have to make eye contact! And you don’t have to be a writer to be part of it! In fact, this is a class that works especially well for ‘non-writers’ like bartenders, janitors, office workers, hairdressers and anyone who has given up on ‘being a writer’ but still wonders what it might be like to write. Lynda teaches a specific way of working that she learned from her teacher, Marilyn Frasca, in the late 1970’s and has used ever since. She says it will work for anyone who has any kind of curiosity about writing or remembering, especially people who have always wanted to write but have no idea how to even begin. BE ADVISED! IT’S GOING TO BE TWO DAYS OF INTENSE CONCENTRATION AND HARD WORK! It is not jive! It is for real! (It is also, actually, pretty fun too, but not in a social way!) Can you dig that? If so, we can dig YOU! All you’ll need is about 100 sheets of notebook paper, a three-ring binder (no other kind of paper set-up will work for this class) and a couple of your favorite pens. All students must figure out their own transportation and lodging. We’ll tell you where the classroom is and other details when we confirm your reservation! Come to Lynda’s writing class! Our class secretary, Betty Bong, describes the class as a way to “blow your mind with….. your own mind!” GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! Yes you can! YOU CAN! Do! Please come!

Now that’s a mouth-full.

– Chris