This weekend, almost 250 comics creators from Europe, Asia and all over North America will converge upon the Toronto Reference Library at 789 Yonge Street for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, or TCAF for short. This year's TCAF is full of fun for manga fans, with two very special guests from Japan: Natsume Ono (creator of not simple, House of Five Leaves and Ristorante Paradiso) and Usamaru Furuya (Genkaku Picasso, Short Cuts and Lychee Light Club).
TCAF provides fans with an opportunity to meet and greet comics creators, including Becky Cloonan (DEMO), Svetlana Chmakova (Nightschool), Jillian Tamaki (Skim), Adrian Tomine (Optic Nerve), Chris Ware (Acme Novelty Library), Faith Erin Hicks (Brain Camp), Paul Pope (100%), Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), and many, many more. You'll also be able to buy some cool comics, graphic novels and manga, including titles that will be debuting at TCAF such as Garden by Yuichi Yokoyama from Picturebox. On top of that, there's panels, parties, film screenings and even an awards ceremony too. Best of all, attending TCAF is free! (Though FYI, some of the evening events have (very reasonable) cover charges.)
I'll be there this weekend, so I'll have photos and a report to share later, but in the meantime, here's my shortlist of TCAF highlights and must-sees for manga fans:
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2011
TCAF Kick-Off Spectacular
7:00 - 9:00 pm
Toronto Reference Library, 2nd floor
Join Chester Brown (Paying For It, Louis Riel), Seth (Palookaville, George Sprott), Adrian Tomine (Scenes from an Impending Marriage, Optic Nerve) and Chris Ware (Acme Novelty Library, Jimmy Corrigan: Happiest Boy on Earth) in a fantastic discussion of their lives and work. 300 free tickets were made available online (and have since been snapped up), but an additional 150 tickets will be available at the door.
TCAF Kick-Off Party
9:00 pm - ?
The Pilot Tavern, 22 Cumberland St., 2nd floor
Join comics creators and comics fans alike at The Pilot Tavern, just a few steps away from the Toronto Reference Library for drinks, conversation and more.
SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2011
Toronto Comic Arts Festival Day 1
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Toronto Reference Library, 1st and 2nd floor
Admission: Free, and open to all ages
Check out over 250 cartoonists from North America, Asia, Europe, plus publishers including Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, Vertical, and Fanfare-Ponent Mon, plus lots of panels and presentations worth checking out, including a talk and signing with special guest Natsume Ono.
Root Rot Release
10:15 am - 11:15 am
Learning Center, Toronto Reference Library 1st floor
Koyama Press is proud to announce a launch party to celebrate the release of the Root Rot anthology. Contributing artists T. Edward Bak, Michael DeForge, Ines Estrada, Bob Flynn, Jesse Jacobs, Hellen Jo, Joseph Lambert, Diana McNally, Robin Nishio, Angie Wang and Mickey Zacchilli will be in attendance for the book's debut. Come and meet them! Plus live drawing, signings, giveaways and more!
Indie Comix Japan: A Short Overview, Plus Comics Worth Reading
11:45 am - 12:45 pm
The Pilot Tavern, 22 Cumberland St., 2nd floor
Just as North America and Europe have vibrant independent and alternative comics scenes, so does Japan. Forget what you think manga can be. Gritty urban tales, political commentary, gender-bending sci-fi, slacker slice-of-life, stream-of-consciousness dreamscapes, grotesque horror, outrageous erotica, and much, much more can be found in Japan's largely untapped treasure trove of alternative manga. Join Vertical manga editor/expert Ed Chavez and about.com manga editor Deb Aoki as they introduce you to the world of indie manga. Get a short overview of its history, a glimpse at what the indie scene is like for creators in Japan, and discover must-read titles now available in English and undiscovered gems worth seeking out.
Spotlight & Signing: Natsume Ono
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
The Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library, 1st floor
TCAF Featured Guest Natsume Ono has made a huge impression in North America since the publication of not simple, her first title published in English. Now with five different series or one-shots announced and 12 books in print by the end of the year, it's the perfect time for Natsume Ono to make her first appearance in North America! Join About.com Manga Editor Deb Aoki as she interviews Ono on her life and career, and hosts a moderated Q&A with lucky audience members. Note, attendance to this panel will be strictly limited to 80 people, at the request of Ms. Ono and her publishers. Attendees will view the panel, then attend an exclusive signing with Ms. Ono in the same space. Admission will be based on a lottery system. To get a chance to view the panel and attend the signing, visit Eventbrite to get your free ticket, while they last.
Kids @ TCAF: Introduction to Webcomics
1:00 - 1:45 pm
The Appel Salon-Novella Room, Toronto Reference Library, 2nd Floor
The Internet is the new frontier for comics - are you on board? Audra Ann Furuichi (nemu-nemu) and Agnes Garbowska (Waking Up Abbey, Imagination Station, You, Me and Zombie) will introduce you to their comics, discuss why they create online comics, highlight places to host your comics and give you ideas of what you can write about.
Owlkids Artist in Residence: Svetlana Chmakova
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
OwlKids Booth, Toronto Reference Library, 2nd floor
Join the creator of Dramacon, Nightschool, and now illustrator of the graphic novel adaptation of James Patterson's Witch and Wizard, as she demonstrates her comics chops for kids (and comics fans) of all ages.
Creator Roundtable: Paul Pope, Brandon Graham, & Sam Hiti
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
The Pilot Tavern
Paul Pope (100%), Sam Hiti (Death Day) and Brandon Graham (King City) are creating modern comics built on a wealth of influences. Joined by Inkstuds host Robin McConnell, they will be exploring the tableau of work that inspires them and how that affects the creative processes in work such as Tiempos Finales, Multiple Warheads, THB and more.
Spotlight: Chris Ware
3:10 pm - 4:10 pm
The Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library, 1st floor
Chris Ware has had a spectacular career in comics, and continues to amaze, impress, and emotionally connect with his readership with every annual release. Join Chris Ware and moderator Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter as they discuss Ware's career and forthcoming work.
Machine of Death: Draw & Guess
4:15 pm - 5:00 pm
The Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library
Join cartoonists Kate Beaton, Aaron Diaz, Chris Hastings and K.C. Green vs. Matthew Bennardo, Ryan North and David Malki! as they play a non-trademarked version of Pictionary, using clues issued from the Machine of Death! The Machine, of course, cal tell you exactly how you are going to die in just a few cryptic words. Will the contestant have to draw "TRUCK" or "INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND METAPHORS"?
TCAFabulous: Queer Mixer
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Crews/Tango at 508 Church St.
Queer comic book fans unite! Join panelists Jose Villarubia (Colorist extraordinaire, The Book of Copulations, Mirror of Love), Maurice Vellekoop (Pin-Ups... & A Nut at the Opera), Zan Christensen (Publisher, Northwest Press) and Erika Moen (DAR! & Bucko) as they target mainstream comics with their pink optic blasts and expose the hidden (really?) queer in all your favourite comic book characters. After the show, stay for the mixer! Grab a cocktail, get a book signed and meet other queer comics fans and creators.
The Second Annual Official TCAFête!
9:00 pm - late
Pauper's Pub, 2nd Floor, 539 Bloor St. W.
$5 Cover/Free for TCAF Exhibitors & Volunteers (Attendees must be 19+)
Kick it with us on the 2nd floor of Paupers Pub to celebrate the first successful day of TCAF 2011! Everyone is welcome because this year's party is going to be even more off the hook than the last. "How is that even possible?" you ask. That's because we've got DJ NV on the 1s and 2s and there'll be in-your-face Live Drawing Demos by Michael Deforge, Ray Fawkes, James Stokoe and Kagan McLeod.
The Doug Wright Awards
7:00 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm)
Art Gallery of Ontario's Jackman Hall
Admission: $5, includes a souvenir pin designed by 2010 Best Emerging Talent winner, Michael DeForge
Hosted by writer, director, actor and comics fan Don McKellar, the ceremony celebrating the best of Canada's cartooning contingent will also feature a live chat between Seth (Clyde Fans, George Sprott) and David Boswell (Reid Fleming: World's Toughest Milkman) on the occasion of his induction into the Giants of the North Hall of Fame. With nominees in attendance ranging from Jillian Tamaki, Michael DeForge, David Collier, Pascal Girard, James Stokoe, Keith Jones and more. A limited number of advance tickets for this year's ceremony are now available to buy at EventBrite, at www.dougwrightawards.eventbrite.com. There will be a small amount of tickets available at the door.
SUNDAY, MAY 8, 2011
Toronto Comic Arts Festival Day 2
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Toronto Reference Library, 1st and 2nd floor
Admission: Free
Day 2 of TCAF starts a little later (possibly to allow folks to recover from Saturday night's parties). Still, there's lots of fun to be had on this day, including a spotlight talk with special guest Usamaru Furuya.
Haida Manga and Shanghai Daily: A Graphic Travelogue
11:15 am - 12:15 pm
The Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library, 1st floor
Presented by the Gendai Gallery, the Haida Manga Reading Room & Comic Jam Studio is an exhibit of the graphic works of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaaas and Joanne Hui, and a series of workshops launching on May 7th. Both artists use the form of manga to address unique moments in Canadian history that are particular to their culturally specific histories of activism and resistance. The exhibit celebrates Asian Heritage Month in May and runs until June 26th.
Spotlight on Usamaru Furuya
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
The Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library, 1st floor
Usamaru Furuya is a fantastic and unique comics creator, a classically trained fine artist who put his enormous skills into the service of making great manga. Now after a 10 year absence from English-language comics, Furuya's work is again finding audiences in North America with Viz's Genkaku Picasso and Vertical's Lychee Light Club and No Longer Human mixing shonen and seinen tropes with Furuya's own surreal worldview. TCAF Festival Director Christopher Butcher will interview Furuya about his career in Japan and North America, and what's next for the prolific creator.
Married in Comics
1:45 pm - 2:45 pm
The Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library
These cartoonists are married to their work -- literally! Join moderator Robin Brenner, and cartooning couples Kathryn and Stuart Immonen (Moving Pictures), Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier (Astronaut Academy, Smile and X-Men: Misfits), with Joe Ollman (Wag!) in a discussion of marriage in comics, encompassing the topics of being married to another cartoonist and depicting married life on the comics page.
Kids @ TCAF: Turn Your Life Into Comics
2:45 pm - 3:30 pm
The Appel Salon-Novella Room, Toronto Reference Library, 2nd Floor
The inspiration for Raina Telgemeier's book, Smile comes from her own life as an eleven-year old girl who injures her two front teeth. Are you ready to tell your life story in comics? Get tips on how to pick ideas from your own life to create your own autobiographical comics.
Signing with Natsume Ono
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library, 1st floor
An exclusive signing with manga sensation Natsume Ono. To register for this signing, go to EventBrite.
Studio Tour
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The Pilot Tavern, 22 Cumberland St., 2nd floor
What does a comics creator's studio look like? Find out in this guided tour of five very different creators' work spaces, including Becky Cloonan, Jeph Jacques, Keith Jones, Jim Ottaviani and Ramon Perez.
MONDAY, MAY 9, 2011
ZOO J-Film Screening & Discussion with Usamaru Furuya
7:00 pm
Toronto Underground Cinema, 186 Spadina
Admission: $10, RSVP on Facebook
Internationally acclaimed manga creator Usamaru Furuya will be in Toronto as a Guest of Honour of the 2011 Toronto Comic Arts Festival, May 7th and 8th. But in addition to his comics work, Furuya is also a fine artist, writer, and designer, and has contributed to several popular Japanese films. One of these is ZOO, an unique collection of 5 thematically linked short films, all based upon the writing of popular Japanese horror writer Otsuichi. Furuya was tapped to write the screenplay adaptation, provide character designs, and storyboard one of the short films, an anime based on the poem Sunny. Check out the movie trailer for ZOO, as posted on YouTube. (NOTE: The original short story collection ZOO by Otsuichi was also published in English by Haikasoru, VIZ Media's Japanese sci-fi prose imprint.)
To celebrate this facet of Furuya's work, TCAF and the Shinsedai Film Festival will be co-presenting a screening of ZOO on Monday, May 9th at 7PM at The Toronto Underground Cinema. Usamaru Furuya will be on hand to introduce the film and, following the screening, will engage in a moderated Q&A with J-Film Pow-Wow Blog Editor and Shinsedai Film Festival coordinator Chris MaGee. A short book sale and signing will follow.
You can see the full list of TCAF panels, Kids@TCAF events and TCAF pre-, during and post-show parties and special events at TorontoComics.com.
Also, get a taste of what's in store this weekend with this very cool video, Pencil It In, spotlighting some of the artists who'll be appearing at TCAF.
Are you going to TCAF? What are you most looking forward to checking out? Add your thoughts below!
Image credits: © Jillian Tamaki, © Natsume Ono, © Svetlana Chmakova
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