It was new comic book day yesterday! What’d you all like? Dislike? Sound off in the comments below. While you think about that, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web to kick off the day.
The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival (VanCAF) board has resigned after a controversy over the banning of a creator from the convention. The festival released as statement last week that it had banned an Israeli-American comic creator due to her past service in the Israel Defense Forces.
Though not named, the artist was Miriam Libicki and the decision to ban her caused an uproar and charges of antisemitism against the show. As far as we know, no other members of the military have been banned due to their service. We reached out to the convention and have heard no response as of this article’s publication.
The original accountability statement released by VanCAF stated there was a “public safety” concern due to her prior role and that Libicki wouldn’t be allowed to return to the festival. It went on to apologize for “harm” it caused by allowing Libicki to exhibit. She has exhibited at every VanCAF up until 2023 when a exhibitor application deadline was missed. The 2 individuals who made the complaint in 2022 were also banned as stated by those with more insider information as to events.
Libicki was at the 2024 show to promote her graphic novel But I Live, which is a collection of work based on the experiences of survivors of the Holocaust. Libicki had agreed with VanCAF to just focus on that and not her graphic novel jobnik! which chronicled her military service during the second intifada and other previous graphic novels. The convention admits that after agreeing to it, it then did a 180 after the 2024 convention stating it “failed to take the correct precautions to ensure (its) community’s safety” leading to the first statement and Libicki’s ban.
The original “Accountability Statement,” which you can read above, was taken down after pushback and the convention went silent over the weekend.
VanCAF has released a new statement, not only apologizing for the original but their decision to ban Libicki and statements made. The current board of directors has resigned and only a few remain to hand over the convention to new leadership and staff. You can read the new apology below.
Europe Comics, the all digital all European graphic novel venture, will be bringing four European creators to Canada for a series of events on May 10-20.
French creators Lewis Trondheim (Dungeon, NBM; Poppies of Iraq, D&Q; Maggy Garrisson, Europe Comics) and Brigitte Findakly (Poppies of Iraq, D&Q), Spaniard Nico Naranjo (Toucan Patrol, Europe Comics) and Belgian Wauter Mannaert (Weegee – Serial Photographer, Conundrum Press; El Mesias, Europe Comics) will be featured guests at TCAF. After TCAF, Lewis Trondheim and Brigitte Findakly will travel to Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver for a series of public events and school workshops, ending their tour at VanCAF.
The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival (VanCAF) has announced that going forward it will now officially take place in partnership with The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF). The partnership will take effect immediately, beginning with the planning of VanCAF 2017, a two-day comics exhibition taking place on May 27 and 28 in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, returning to The Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre.
TCAF’s staff will directly oversee all future iterations of VanCAF, under the stewardship of the new VanCAF Festival Director, Andrea Demonakos. Demonakos, previously of Emerald City Comicon and ReedPOP, takes over from departing Festival Director and VanCAF founder, Shannon Campbell. Campbell will now join the VanCAF Board of Directors in an advisory capacity, alongside new board members Miles Baker and Andrew Woodrow-Butcher from TCAF, Vancouver-based comic creator Nathan Fairbairn and musician/visual artist Jarrett Samson.
The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival