Tag Archives: canada

Alberta looks to Censor Books Looking to “Find the Line” for “Age-Appropriateness”

Posted on by

Looks like the US is exporting something after all to Canada, book bans! Calgary‘s Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides made a surprise announcement for plans to “find the line” for age-appropriate books for schools. The announcement was a surprise to both the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) who are left scrambling after the decision. The books have been pulled from libraries in response to “review their content.”

Four graphic novels were referenced during the announcement. Nicolaides claims they contain mature contant such as depictions of sexual activity and nudity. The four graphic novels are Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe; Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel; Blankets, by Craig Thompson; and Flamer, by Mike Curato. All of the graphic novels are regularly on “banned” lists in the United States.

On Amazon, Gender Queer is listed as 18 years and up on its “reading age” listing, Fun Home is 15 years and up, Blankets doesn’t have an age range listed, and Flamer is listed for ages 14 to 18 years old. Books are often listed with age ranges they’re meant for, this isn’t a new phenomenon.

Calgary is “consulting with parents” to create standards for what is and what isn’t appropriate for school libraries. So, make your voice heard to prevent the slippery slope these witch hunts turn in to.

While Nicolaides said:

I want to be clear right from the onset, this is not a question of banning specific books or specific titles, but rather, establishing clear policies and guidelines for all school divisions to follow.

We know that’s never the case and when given an inch, these sort of “think about the children” movements quickly slide into book bannings with fascist overtones.

Alberta doesn’t have a single provincewide standard to guide school boards leading to different approaches in what is chosen for school libraries.

Nicolaides’ press secretary said the books were found in 57 public schools across Calgary and Edmonton but didn’t disclose which ones with Nicolaides himself stating that ” many of these books exist in elementary schools.” As noted above, none of the books are listed as age appropriate for elementary schools.

The school boards, libraries, and Teacher’s Association said they were blindsided by the announcement and undermines the partnership they expect.

Feedback is being gathered through an online survey until June 6 and Albertans can provide input about what they believe is acceptable for school library collections. Really, the survey is open, so anyone can provide input… hint, hint.

The province doesn’t have the authority to “ban” books from school libraries and hopes to have new policies in effect by this September in time for the 2025-26 school year.

In the United States during 2023 and 2024, more than 10,000 book bans affecting more than 4,000 titles were put in place in the United States according to PEN America. In 2024, Canada saw 97 books challenged.

Canada taking legal action against the U.S. over Trump’s Tariffs. Comics and Games not on Initial List of Canadian Tariffs

Posted on by
Canadian flag

Captain Canuck to save the comic industry? Canada has announced that it is taking legal action challenging the 25% tariff imposed by President Trump and the United States impacting most Canadian goods. The tariffs are being called “illegal and unjustified.”

On Saturday, President Trump announced a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariff on goods from China. In response Canada announced a two phased tariff of 25% on American goods imported in response.

Canada’s initial wave of what’s being tariffed includes 1,256 items expected to cause an impact on the American economy and companies. It includes food and drink, automotive parts, clothing, cosmetics, luggage, furniture, tobacco, lumber, paper, and more.

It does not look like comic books or tabletop games are part of Canada’s initial items to be tariffed this week but a longer, second list will be released in a few days.

Canada announces a 25% tariff on American goods

Posted on by
Canadian flag

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Canada will be implementing a 25% tariff on American imports. This is in response to President Trump slapping Canada, Mexico, and China with tariffs earlier today.

The tariff is on a host of American goods. The first part is a 25% tariff on $30 billion worth of American goods coming into Canada beginning Tuesday February 4. It would then be applied to $125 billion worth of American imports in three week’s time, in hopes Canadian companies would be able to find alternatives before then. We’re working to get details on exactly what this impacts and if there are exemptions.

The impact on the comic and game industry becomes murkier. It is estimated that over 80% of comics are printed in China with 80-90% of board games estimated to be manufactured there. Both industries would easily be able to continue their printing operations outside of the US and likely get around the tariffs. However, if production were to shift to the US, they would likely be impacted by the tariffs on top of increased production costs in the US due to tariffs on paper imported from Canada, in effect taxed twice.

Mexico has also announced a response to Trump’s tariffs, “Plan B,” though details have not been released.

Female Owned Guelph Comic & Game Shop Turns 25

Posted on by
Guelph Comics Jam

The anticipation is palpable as Guelph prepares to host the momentous 25th anniversary celebration of The Dragon, the iconic female-owned comic book and gaming store. The anniversary celebration, known as Guelph Comics Jam, will take place on September 16th from 10am to 6pm at Old Quebec Street in the heart of Downtown Guelph. The event is open to the public and free of charge and will include signings by such Canadian comic luminaries as Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth), Emily Carroll (A Guest in the House), Ryan North (Fantastic Four), and more.

The Dragon’s Remarkable Journey

Founded a quarter-century ago by visionary entrepreneur Jenn Haines, The Dragon has grown from humble beginnings to become internationally acclaimed as a family friendly community hub. For 25 years, The Dragon has set the standard for promoting comic books, graphic novels, manga and games for all ages. The store has enriched the lives of families and inspired similar stores worldwide to serve as nexuses for community and culture within their respective locales. The Dragon’s dedication to excellence has earned it prestigious accolades, including the esteemed Eisner and Shuster Awards for retail.

From its inception, The Dragon has fostered a multi-generational customer base, uniting comic and game enthusiasts of all ages through the power of storytelling and creativity; The Dragon not only offers a highly curated selection of books and games that engage children as well as adults, but has also offered a continuous calendar of author signings and gaming events that have been an integral part of Guelph’s cultural scene. As a proudly female-owned establishment, The Dragon has created a warm and welcoming space for all, consistently championing diversity and inclusion.

Jenn Haines: A Trailblazing Visionary

The driving force behind The Dragon’s success, Jenn Haines, has passionately dedicated her life to creating a sanctuary for comic and game enthusiasts. A single mother of two children, Haines has shattered glass ceilings while raising her family and evolving her business. She also holds the esteemed position of President of the Board of ComicsPRO, the international organization of comic book shops, further solidifying her status as a true industry leader.

Guelph Comics Jam: A Creative Extravaganza

The Guelph Comics Jam, now in its fifth year, coincides with The Dragon’s 25th anniversary celebration. This vibrant event is the pinnacle of Guelph’s comic art scene, bringing together a constellation of renowned artists, writers, and illustrators who have made indelible contributions to the world of comics.

“It’s such a privilege to be invited to Guelph Comics Jam,” said rising star comic book writer Tate Brombal. “As a Guelph native, I shopped at The Dragon as a kid and the store was such an integral part of my journey to becoming a comic book writer, I love coming back and being part of The Dragon community.”

Stellar Guests Include:

  • Emily Carroll: Writer and artist celebrated for works like “Through the Woods” and “When I Arrived at the Castle.”
  • Jeff Lemire: Renowned writer and artist behind graphic novels such as “Sweet Tooth” (now a show on Netflix) and “Essex County” (now a miniseries on CBC).
  • Ryan North: Bestselling writer known for “How To Invent Everything” and “Fantastic Four.”
  • Scott Chantler: Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist of “Bix” and “Two Generals.”
  • Matthew Rosenberg: Award-winning writer of “What’s The Furthest Place From Here?” and “4 Kids Walk Into a Bank.”
  • Tate Brombal: Award nominated writer of “Behemoth” and “The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos.”
  • Tyler Boss: Eisner-nominated artist and cartoonist with titles like “What’s The Furthest Place From Here?” and “Dead Dog’s Bite.”
  • And many more!

Join the Celebration

The Guelph Comics Jam on September 16th is not just a celebration of The Dragon’s remarkable 25 years, but a celebration of the entire comic book and gaming community’s unwavering passion and creativity. During the event, proprietor Haines will unveil a 25th anniversary logo by Guelph’s own Jay Stephens, an Emmy Award winning cartoonist.  All are invited to join this 25th anniversary milestone event at Old Quebec Street from 10am to 6pm to commemorate The Dragon’s legacy and the enduring magic of comics and games.

Full Guelph Comics Jam Guest List:

  • Emily Carroll — Writer/artist of award-winning comics such as A Guest in the House, Through the Woods, When I Arrived at the Castle, and the graphic novel adaptation of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.
  • Jeff Lemire — Writer/artist on critically acclaimed graphic novels such as Sweet Tooth, Essex County, and Gideon Falls.
  • Ryan North — Bestselling writer of How To Invent Everything, Fantastic Four, and the graphic novel adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.
  • Scott Chantler — Bestselling and Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist behind such books as Bix, Two Generals, and Squire & Knight.
  • Matthew Rosenberg — Award-winning writer of comics such as What’s The Furthest Place From Here?, 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, and We Can Never Go Home.
  • Tyler Boss — Eisner-nominated, award winning cartoonist and designer. His titles include What’s The Furthest Place From Here?, 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, and Dead Dog’s Bite.
  • Tate Brombal — Award-nominated and best-selling writer of comics such as Behold, Behemoth, House of Slaughter, and The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos.
  • Richard Pace — Critically acclaimed artist behind such comics as Second Coming, Barbaric: Axe to Grind, and Pitt.
  • Adriana Blake — Storyboard artist on such iconic shows as Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, Care Bears: Unlock the Magic and Cyberchase, as well as the self-published comic series Fall-On-Me.
  • Andrew Wheeler — Shuster and Eisner-winning writer and editor. His credits include Cat Fight, Sins of the Black Flamingo, and the all-ages LGBTQ anthology Shout Out.
  • Jay Stephens – Veteran of the alt-comics scene and influential creator of such acclaimed titles as Dwellings, Jetcat, and Oddville.
  • Black Eye Books — Boutique publisher of alternative comics such as Dejects, Bore, and Dwellings.
  • Chris Sanagan — Shuster award-nominated writer of Group of 7 Comics. Non-comic book writing credits include articles for Ontario History, The American Archivist, and the Guelph Mercury Tribune.
  • Matt Bors — Eisner-winning comics editor, writer, artist, and political/editorial cartoonist. Best known for The Nib, as well as War is Boring, We Should Improve Society Somewhat, and the Ahoy Comics series Justice Warriors.
  • David J. Knight — Among other things, the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Fenylalanine Publishing, publisher of Tales of a Guelphire and The Head. His latest works include Aerosomnia: The Awakening Ear and Head & Tales.
  • Jason Loo — Eisner award-winning cartoonist behind such acclaimed and iconic comics such as The Pitiful Human-Lizard, Afterlift, and The All-Nighter.
  • Kyle J. Smith — A visual artist and comic creator. In addition to working in the Canadian Entertainment Industry, his comic book credits include Scare Tales, Weathered Spirit, and various RAID studio anthologies.
  • Ramón Pérez — Multiple Eisner and Harvey Award winning cartoonist known for such renowned comics as Stillwater, Jim Henson’s Tale Of Sand, and Amazing Spider-Man: Learning to Crawl.
  • Kalman Andrasofszky — Illustrator, comic artist, concept artist, and cover artist best known for his work on Captain Canuck, X-23, and Dungeons & Dragons.
  • Marcus To — Comic artist and illustrator with decades of work in comics including some lauded titles as Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings, Joyride, and The Flash.
  • Casey Parsons –  illustrator, fine artist and comic book artist,  He specializes in mixed media traditional techniques and is best known for his work for Marvel Comics, Upper Deck, & Image Comics.
  • Michael Walsh – Award-winning cartoonist best known for Silver Coin from Image Comics and the art on key Magic The Gathering cards.
  • Sam Noir –  Writer, cartoonist, and toymaker known for his covers for Chapterhouse Comics Summer Special, Captain Canuck, and co-creating Sunny & Owl Girl, Victorian Four,  and Major North.

Canadian Artists Come Together to Help Fundraise and Bring PPE to Ontario’s Northern, Remote, and Indigenous Communities

Posted on by
VIO Voluneteers

VIO Volunteers, the same non-profit organization that located 22.9 million masks for Ontario hospitals, will host an online art auction featuring works from more than 25 prominent Canadian cartoonists, illustrators, and comic book artists. Funds raised will go towards purchasing life-saving PPE for the province’s northern, remote and Indigenous communities.

The pieces up for auction contain characters from the world of Marvel, DC, LEGO, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, the beloved Canadian comic strip For Better or For Worse, and many more. Among the contributing artists are:

Lynn Johnston
The creator and cartoonist behind For Better or For Worse. Lynn was the first woman and first Canadian to win a Reuben Award in 1985 for Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society. Her comic strip has appeared in over 2,000 newspapers in 23 countries. She’s been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, has received the Order of Canada and has her own star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Joe Ollmann
Joe began his career contributing cartoons to The Hamilton Spectator and penning a strip for Exclaim! He began self-publishing short comic stories in a series called Wag! For his third collection of short stories, This Will All End in Tears, Joe was awarded the Doug Wright Award for Best Book in 2007. His first graphic novel, Mid-Life (published by Drawn and Quarterly in 2011), was nominated for the same award.

Dean Motter
Dean is a designer, illustrator, writer, and art director and the creator of the 1980s comic book sensation Mister X, which was recognized by Rolling Stone as one of “The 50 Best Non-Superhero Graphic Novels” in 2015. He wrote the award-winning noir Elseworlds graphic novel Batman: Nine Lives for DC Comics and later went to work as creative services art director for Time Warner/DC Comics.

David Ross
An accomplished comic book artist, writer, and illustrator, David has worked with Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Dark Horse Comics on characters and character development for some of the best-known superhero franchises including Captain America, Spider-man, Batgirl, Daredevil, and more.

The bidding will take place on the VIO Volunteers website. All works will be posted on Monday, June 8 with the auction beginning at 9 a.m. EST and running through Sunday, June 14 at 11:59 p.m. Visitors to the site will be able to browse and place offers on items.

Around the Tubes

Posted on by
Aquaman: Deep Dives #3

The comic industry is ramping up and getting ready for its launch in a little over a week! We’re getting lots of behind the scenes stuff and we’re excited to take part! While you wait, we’ve got lots to come. That starts in a bit and while you wait, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web.

WVLT – Knoxville comic book business seeing nationwide sales during pandemic – How the comic industry is shifting during the pandemic.

Twin Cities Geek – Twin Cities Comic Stores Adapt to Withstand the Pandemic – And another version of the previous story.

Newsarama – $16,000 Raised for Canadian Comic Stores by CLLDF – With An Additional $10k From CLLDF Itself – Great to see the help.

The Beat – Heroes always come home in David Rubín’s free COVID-19 SUPERMAN story (version en español incluída) – Very cool and well worth checking out.

Review

Newsarama – Aquaman: Deep Dives #3

Canadian Retailers and Creators Come Together for “Be Our Heroes, Canada!”

Posted on by
Be Our Hereos Canada

As brick and mortar retailers around the world find creative ways to preserve their businesses during unprecedented circumstances, forward-thinking comic book retailers across Canada will come together with notable comic book artists and writers to benefit their business and preserve the audience they have worked so hard together to serve.

“Be Our Heroes, Canada” is a collaboration between Canadian comic shops and creators to leverage each store’s individual audiences to both build and strengthen the national comic book community and generate income for all. 

The Dragon owner Jennifer Haines said in the announcement:

What started as a conversation between four retailers on how we could cross-promote our shops turned into this idea of a national fundraiser to help preserve Canada’s unique comics landscape. Now more than ever, we need to come together to support one another, and provide our respective communities with a way to stay connected, all while protecting retailers that might otherwise fall through the cracks of government funding.

The event has been organized by Guelph, Ontario’s The Dragon family of stores, along with Ontario retailers Gotham Central, Heroes World, and Cyber City Comix, and will take place over two days through Facebook Live, with scheduled slots for creators and stores.

Funds raised through this two-day national celebration of the comic arts will be collected and distributed by the Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund, a Canadian-based non-profit organization protecting free speech in the industry, supporting retailers, schools, and libraries, creators and publishers alike.

“Be Our Heroes, Canada” is currently accepting offers of participation among the Canadian creative community, and will announce the full list of participating stores and creators in the coming days. Current participants include: Adam Gorham,  Andy Belanger, Brendan Fletcher, Casey Parsons, Chip Zdarsky, Dylan Burnett, Ed Brisson, J. Torres, Jason Fabok, Jason Loo, Jay Stephens, Karl Kerschl, Ken Lashley, Michael Cho, Ray Fawkes, Richard Pace, Scott Chantler, Seth, Shawn Daly, Svetlana Chmakova, and Yanick Paquette. 

Around the Tubes

Posted on by
Book Industry Charitable Foundation

It’s been an interesting week or so for comics and things are only going to get crazier over the next month. We’re still rolling and will have all of the latest news and reviews for you. Check out some of what you’ve missed.

ICv2 – Binc Has Distributed Over $350K in Covid-19 Relief Since Mid-March – Great to hear this much has been raised and paid out. Sad that this needs to happen.

Newsarama – Emergency Relief Initiative Launched for Canadian Comic Shops – If you can help, please do.

The Mary Sue – Suicide Squad Director Responds Fairly Thoughtfully to Harley Quinn Costume Criticism – Yes he did.

Review

Comic Book – Anti/Hero

Around the Tubes

Posted on by
Inferior Five #1

It was new comic book day yesterday! What’d everyone get? What’d you enjoy? What’d you dislike? Sound off in the comments below! While you think about that, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web.

CTV News – Up, up and away: Edmonton comic book store named best in Canada – Congrats!

/Flim – Jupiter’s Legacy Showrunner Steven S. DeKnight Exits – That’s not a good sign.

The Guardian – Russian comics get sales boost after culture minister calls them ‘pathetic’ – Awesome!

Forbes – Why New Raina Telgemeier Graphic Memoir ‘Guts’ Has A One Million Copy Print Run – The sales aren’t in capes and tights.

The Beat – A Year of Free Comics: Midnight Furies is a slam dunk queer sports drama – Free comics!

The Comics Journal – Biographer and Comics Fandom Chronicler Bill Schelly Dies Unexpectedly at 67 – Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

Reviews

CBR – Inferior Five #1
But Why Podcast – The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs
Talking Comics – Powers of X #4
The Beat – Relics of Youth #1
The Telegraph – Rusty Brown
Comis Bulletin – Swing Vol. 2

Around the Tubes

Posted on by
Harbinger

It was new comic book day yesterday! What’d everyone get? What’d you like? What’d you dislike? Sound off in the comments below!

The Beat – A Year of Free Comics: Adventuring and making friends in A Nice Long Walk – Free comics!

Calgary Herald – High suicide rates for Indigenous youths sparks action from Alberta government – A good use of comics to try to do some good in the world.

The Hollywood Reporter – Paramount Picks Up Comic Book Movie ‘Harbinger’ From Sony – Interesting move.

Reviews

IGN – Batman #78
Blog Critics – King of King Court
Newsarama – Powers of X #4
The Beat – The Red Zone: An Earthquake Story
Comics Bulletin – Sabrina the Teenage Witch #5

« Older Entries