Comics Lowdown | TCAF is back

Plus: Angoulême comics awards, Adam Ellis accuses filmmakers of plagiarism, and a look at the world of back-issue collectors and dealers

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival, which was canceled last year due to the pandemic, will return in May as a virtual event. The past year has been a difficult one; in June, TCAF co-founder and artistic director Christopher Butcher stepped down for both professional and personal reasons. This year’s festival will be online only, and it’s being run in partnership with the zine festival Canzine and the Toronto Hand Eye Society.

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SPX, TCJ, OMG: A Hot Take

Brigid Alverson responds to a recent opinion piece on TCJ.com and shares her thoughts on comiXology/Amazon’s presence at this weekend’s Small Press Expo.

I know that contentious commentary is part of the The Comics Journal brand, but maybe it’s time to drop it. Especially because the latest article isn’t just mean-spirited, it’s straight-up wrong.

I am referring, of course, to RJ Casey’s recent post, ominously titled “A Plague Comes to SPX,” in which he warns that Amazon is poised to ruin comics.

I’m at SPX, and I went to the exhibitors’ reception last night, where, like everyone else, I got a copy of Hit Reblog, the book he disparages:

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The Comics Journal returns to print

Issue #303 will arrive in January, edited by RJ Casey and Kristy Valenti.

Fantagraphics has announced the return of The Comics Journal, the award-winning magazine founded in 1976 by Gary Groth that saw its last print edition in 2013. The magazine will return next year in a twice-yearly format, with new editors RJ Casey and Kristy Valenti.

“The Comics Journal had been a near-monolithic force in my life and I think its absence has been felt by more people than just me,” Casey said. “I’m beyond excited to bring new voices, new ideas, and a new enthusiasm to the Journal.”

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