So this May I was lucky enough to get a table at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival at the Toronto Reference Library.  I was in the Small Press Schooner Room sponsored by Broken Pencil magazine, and run by the lovely members of Wowee Zonk. It was a great experience and I already can’t wait until next year. Here is a picture of my friend Joren Cull and I at TCAF!

I was also lucky enough to get a ticket to attend Mark Medley’s interview with Daniel Clowes. It was so worth biking in the rain for. Earlier in the week I attended another interview with Jeffrey Brown, which was equally charming. But on to the books I created for TCAF!

NOT FUNNY

This is a collaborative comic series I have started with my good friend Joren Cull. The idea of the series is to draw a picture that is not funny/depressing, and the other would try to redraw and make the image funny. Cool HUH? Anyways, it was a pretty fun thing to do, and I really think we should do another issue soon. I drew the “not funny” pictures, Joren made them funny. Here’s a taste of what’s inside:

NOT FUNNY is available for only $3 at 69 Vintage, 1207 Bloor St. West, Toronto until July.  (16 illustrations in total)

I Hope You Never Disappear

On a lighter note, I decided to collect my one page comics into a small 8 page zine. I called it “I Hope You Never Disappear”.

I Hope You Never Disappear is available for only $4 at 69 Vintage, 1207 Bloor St. West, Toronto until July.

This book was reviewed by a fellow named Milo from Digital Kontent. You can read the small blurb he wrote about my zine and see a horrible drawing I drew for him on the spot here, and scroll down. But for the sake of repetition, here is what he actually wrote about i.h.y.n.d.

“I can easily say that “I Hope You Never Disappear” was unlike any of the other TCAF books I have read so far, this one doesn’t attempt to garner laughs. “I Hope You Never Disappear” is an autobiographical comic that relates emotions through general atmospheric tone. I felt very indifferent towards it because I have a heart made of stone and nothing can penetrate it other than the gaze of a unicorn.”

Like I said before, I had a great time at TCAF this year. I only hope to be more prepared next year with more zines to sell. Luckily it was just the boost I needed to get into gear and begin working on my latest series, There Are No Parades in The Wilderness and Let Go Lightly. A more in-depth look at these new issues are soon to be posted, so Stay Tuned for more!