Tag: Drawn and Quarterly

Can’t Wait for Comics: Everything must change

Marvel makes its return (digitally) as DC makes Tuesday comics a permanent thing.

Welcome to our newly renamed Can’t Wait for Wednesday Comics, our weekly look at what’s arriving in shops, on digital and wherever else you can find comics.

So why the name change? Well, with comics and graphic novels arriving in different places and channels on different days — and even some publishers shifting weekly comics away from the traditional Wednesday — it seemed antiquated to assume that people are only buying new comics on one day during the week. When DC started releasing their comics again in April, they shifted from the traditional comic-shop Wednesday to Tuesday — which is consistent with when trades and graphic novels arrive in book stores. They plan for this to be a permanent change moving forward.

So yeah, it’s a crazy time in the comics world right now, just like it is in the larger world. But here are some comics and graphic novels you can find this week — in comic shops or bookstores if they’re open, through online shops or via digital channels.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics: Everything must change”

Smash Pages Q&A: Kevin Huizenga

The creator of ‘The River at Night’ discusses insomnia, his process, endings and more.

In Kevin Huizenga’s book The River at Night, his main character Glenn Ganges has insomnia. One of Huizenga’s great gifts as a cartoonist is the way in which this is the entire plot of the book, but it’s not the point of the book, as Huizenga uses this scenario as a way to explore memory, our experience of time, death, deep time, the writing of John McPhee, how we experience change and those moments where people are able to step outside of themselves for a moment.

Huizenga has always been a formalist. He’s been compared to Chris Ware, but the two have very different interests in how they work. Huizenga is interested in consciousness and the subconscious, with perception and understanding, with finding ways to explain and understanding how the world works and how the mind perceives it. Glenn has been the protagonist of much of Huizenga’s work, but he uses the character as a way to explore ideas and experiences and we spoke recently about some of these ideas and trying to explore and depict these ideas visually.

Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Kevin Huizenga”

‘The Hard Tomorrow’ wins the L.A. Times Book Prize

Davis’ graphic novel about an activist couple takes home the prize in the “Graphic Novel/Comics” category.

The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis has won the L.A. Times Book Prize in the “Graphic Novel/Comics” category this year. The graphic novel was published by Drawn and Quarterly.

The Hard Tomorrow tells the harsh-yet-optimistic story of Hannah and Johnny, an activist couple trying to have a baby as they live in their truck while Johnny works on building them a house.

Continue reading “‘The Hard Tomorrow’ wins the L.A. Times Book Prize”

Smash Pages Q&A: Disa Wallander

The creator of ‘The Nature of Nature,’ ‘Remember This?,’ and ‘Help Yourself’ discusses ‘Becoming Horses,’ her latest graphic novel from Drawn and Quarterly.

In recent years, Disa Wallander has been crafting a small but deliberate and brilliant body of work in comics like The Nature of Nature, Remember This?, Help Yourself, and in her webcomic, Slowly Dying. Her new book, Becoming Horses, which was just released by Drawn & Quarterly, is her longest work to date, and perhaps her best.

In the book she uses collage, mostly watercolors and photography, overlaid with a precise but delicate linework that’s been compared to Jules Feiffer. Like Feiffer, Wallander is interested in shape, gesture and an interest in dialogue, but the similarity ends there. In this book Wallander is crafting a series of conversations about art and life, which doesn’t sound exciting or visually interesting when phrased that way, but in Wallander’s hands, these conversations are at the center of this stunning and moving dream-like journey.

There are scenes and images form the book that have stayed with me through multiple readings, and I was so thrilled that Wallander agreed to answer a few questions over email about existentialism, how she works and Tove Jansson’s influence.

Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Disa Wallander”

Mail Call | Mark Waid named publisher of Humanoids

Plus: ‘Snake Eyes: Deadgame,’ ‘Dead Body Road,’ ‘Adventureman!’ and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we received from publishers in our mailboxes recently. Hit the links for more information.

Congratulations to Mark Waid, who has been promoted to publisher of Humanoids. Waid has served as Director of Creative Development for the publisher since 2018, and in his new role, will be responsible for “overseeing editorial, sales and marketing; expanding Humanoids’ relationships within the creative community; and deepening its ties to retailers and librarians.”

Continue reading “Mail Call | Mark Waid named publisher of Humanoids”

L.A. Times announces 2020 Book Prize nominees

Works by Eleanor Davis, Michael DeForge, Jaime Hernandez, Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell received nominations.

The Los Angeles Times has announced the nominees for their annual Book Prize awards, which includes a graphic novel category. Three Drawn and Quarterly releases received nominations, along with one each from Fantagraphics and First Second.

The L.A. Times has given an award in the graphic novel category since 2009, when Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli won the award. Other previous winners include The Love Bunglers by Jaime Hernandez, Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines and Beverly by Nick Drnaso. Tillie Walden’s On a Sunbeamwon the award last year.

The nominees in the “Graphic Novel/Comics” category are:

Continue reading “L.A. Times announces 2020 Book Prize nominees”

Drawn + Quarterly announces new 2020 releases

At Comic-Con International, the Canadian publisher announced new books from Adrian Tomine, Lisa Hanawalt and more.

At Comic-Con International yesterday, Drawn & Quarterly announced several new graphic novels for 2020, including new work from Adrian Tomine, R. Sikoryak, Leslie Stein and Walter Scott, among others.

Check them out below.

Continue reading “Drawn + Quarterly announces new 2020 releases”

Comics Lowdown: Chuck Wendig says Marvel fired him because of negative tweets

After posting a controversial interview, Bleeding Cool gets a new editor in chief! Plus Steve Ellis, Alex Ross, MAD Magazine and more!

Comics writer and novelist Chuck Wendig says he has been fired from Marvel “because of the negativity and vulgarity that my tweets bring. Seriously, that’s what Mark [Paniccia], the editor said. It was too much politics, too much vulgarity, too much negativity on my part.” Wendig had just been announced as the writer of Shadow of Vader, with artist Greg Smallwood, and said he had another as-yet-unannounced Star Wars comic in the works.

In addition to various Star Wars comics, Wendig also wrote Star Wars: Aftermath, a novel that included LGBT characters and was one of the first books published after Lucasfilm ended the “expanded universe” Star Wars books. After it was published, Wendig said he received “TONS” of harassment online — “harassment that has gone on for years, harassment that has required me to contact local police and warn them of SWATting attempts, harassment across all corners of the Internet, here, FB, Reddit, YouTube. Some of it was bot stuff, obviously, or sock puppets, but some of it was pretty creepy, and very personal.”

This story has been reported on widely, with stories from Deadline, io9, the Verge, Vulture and more. Update: Wendig has a post answering many of the questions he’s received since he went public with this news.

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown: Chuck Wendig says Marvel fired him because of negative tweets”

D + Q to publish Rumi Hara’s ‘Nori’

The Ignatz Award-nominated story about a girl and her grandmother gets the graphic novel treatment in 2020.

Drawn and Quarterly has announced plans to publish Nori, the the debut graphic novel from Rumi Hara, in the spring of 2020.

“Nori is quietly enchanting, drawing you into the adventures of this little girl,” Drawn & Quarterly Publisher and acquiring editor Peggy Burns said. “At times it’s surreal and haunting yet simultaneously a light-hearted depiction of childhood and friendship. Rumi’s draftsmanship is gorgeous and she draws in many folkloric elements in the standalone stories.”

Nori’s story began in a series of minicomics. “It started as a minicomic first printed in 2016 about a little girl and her grandma’s encounter with an army of bats,” Hara said on her website. “I couldn’t stop thinking about this little sassy girl, and now there are 3 minicomics completed in the series.”

Continue reading “D + Q to publish Rumi Hara’s ‘Nori’”

Drawn + Quarterly announces 2019 titles

At Comic-Con International, Drawn and Quarterly announced new titles by Lynda Barry, Vanessa Davis, Eleanor Davis, Yoshiharu Tsuge and more.

Canadian publisher Drawn and Quarterly announced many of their upcoming 2019 graphic novels in San Diego earlier this month, revealing new titles from Lynda Barry, Yoshiharu Tsuge, Kevin Huizenga, Vanessa Davis and more.

Take a look at what they have planned below, and note that none of the cover art is final …

Continue reading “Drawn + Quarterly announces 2019 titles”

For the first time, a graphic novel makes the longlist for the Man Booker Prize

Nick Drnaso’s ‘Sabrina,’ published by Drawn and Quarterly and Granta Books, up for the prestigious prize this year.

Nick Drnaso’s Sabrina, published by Drawn and Quarterly and Granta Books, has been nominated for the Man Booker Prize — the first such nomination for a graphic novel.

A baker’s dozen of books made the prize’s longlist, with the shortlist due out in September. The final winner will be announced in October.

The Man Booker Prize is awarded every year for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the UK. Established in 1969, the award includes £50,000 in prize money as well as the £2,500 awarded to each of the shortlisted authors.

Continue reading “For the first time, a graphic novel makes the longlist for the Man Booker Prize”

Leslie Stein’s ‘Present’ wins the L.A. Times Book Prize

Stein’s collection of short comics from Vice.com wins in the “Graphic Novel/Comics” category.

Leslie Stein’s Present,published by Drawn and Quarterly, has won this year’s Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the “Graphic Novel/Comics” category.

Called “her best work to date” by our own Alex Dueben, Present collects short comics that originally appeared on Vice.com.

Continue reading “Leslie Stein’s ‘Present’ wins the L.A. Times Book Prize”