Writer, artist, good chum of the blog and seasoned comic con goer Sean Azzopardi returned to Canada recently to be a part of the parcel of comics delights that is TCAF; he even managed to fit in some more days off in Toronto and took in some related comics culture events taking part in the city in the wake of TCAF, and he’s very kindly sent us in a report, the view of this year’s TCAF from a self published comics creator manning his own table; Sean has also uploaded a bunch of photos to his Flickr so you can have a look around the con. Over to Sean:

TCAF 2012 was my second visit to the city of Toronto and to the festival. As I blogged last year, this is an amazing event and this time round topped that experience. There was an excellent programme of events for the duration of the festival that gave people the opportunity to experience far more than just visiting the main exhibitors spaces, situated in the library. As an exhibitor this is one part of any festival that I generally miss out on.

(pics here borrowed from Sean’s TCAF 2012 set on his Flickr, by and (c) Sean Azzopardi)

Thursday was a gentle start, an exhibition of cartoonists and gamers at Magic Pony. I love the way that beer and pizza was in plentiful supply. Good pizza as well. There were a lot of events that I would have loved to have attended, say How to Pitch, or Jeff Smith’s inking demonstration. It was Jeff Smith along with Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon who opened the festival on Friday night, taking part in a relaxed interview. This is a cool way to start a festival. Chris Butcher starts with a brief outline of the events and introduces the interview. As an exhibitor or attendee it feels as though you are about to take part in something that is welcoming. Gabriel and Fabio have video from the Toronto Libraries up on their blog from the event:

Afterwards there was a meet up at The Cockpit one of the bar/ talk venue, but I hung around to set up my own table. I was interested to see the setting up process and saw Chris organizing the volunteers. Ask anyone who attends this event – they are the real stars, decked out in tangerine and super helpful.

There is not a lot I can say about the Saturday other than it was so busy I never left my table. It was so busy that one ‘comfort’ break was all I could manage away from my table. After a quiet start I sold steadily. But for me it’s less about the sales and more about the opportunity to engage with people about my work. It was nice to have people return after last year to chat and look at my new work. Sunday was a quite start again, but was still busy throughout the day. I did manage to get to go around the downstairs section and buy some stuff. There was so much choice; so many excellent comics on offer.

TCAF is an amazingly-curated and well thought out event. There are sections for children’s comics, Zines, local self publishers and much more. Isn’t it thoughtful to have these spotlight areas within the event, rather than a lumped-together row of tables with no theme or reason? Having a free entry policy to the main event and extensive promotion meant a really large attendance. I think it was up on last year, certainly felt that way. The mix was brilliant all ages, a good male/female ratio of exhibitors and audience.

I found myself smiling a lot at this event. A feeling of genuine joy that I was part of something special. This feeling was extended to the Sunday after-party. Chris gave a closing speech assisted by Peter and Miles. I was looking forward to this, to seeing the reaction of the first timers like Ian Williams and Simon Moreton. They were part of a strong group of UK cartoonists who made the trip to Canada, deep breath: Joe Decie, Lizz Lunney, Darryl Cunningham, Martin Steenton from Blank Slate, Doug and Emma from SelfMadeHero, Joe List, Luke Pearson, Philippa Rice, Clark, Joe (Nobrow), Tom Gauld and Matt Sherret.

The closing speech is a really important moment as it cements the feeling that you have all been involved together, a lovely way to close an event. Post-weekend there were a couple of talks that I attended as well, Gabriella Giandelli at the Italian Institute, and Arne Bellstorf at the Goethe Institut. A very nice coda to the main festival. In summary it was one of the best events I’ve attended. Full of fun and inspiration it’s my idea of a near perfect comic event. I would like to thank everyone who took part for making it a wonderful time.

More please.

By Sean Azzopardi and Douglas Noble

Okay, we previewed this a while ago, but here’s what you should know about Dark Matters:

It’s got three stories in from Sean Azzopardi and Douglas Noble, two previously published in comic form, one specially created for this collections.

Both men are very talented writer/artists and when they’ve come together in the past with 2011′s Built Of Blood And Bricks, and the 2010 edition of Sightings Of Wallace Sendek the results have been magfnificent. Sightings made it to the 2010 best of list, Built Of Blood And Bricks was so close to it in 2011.

To be honest, if this were simply a way to get hold of those comics in a lovely format, I’d still say go for it. But this is much better. First we have 10 extra pages in The Sightings Of Wallace Sendek, 10 completely new sightings, all adding to the mystery and intrigue of the original story no doubt, there’s also new spot illos throughout the book. But the main reason for getting Dark Matters is for the third, completely new tale Pirouette. More on that later, but first a little on the previously published works from the previously published reviews….

The Sightings Of Wallace Sendek (2010):

“I can’t really say enough good things about Wallace Sendek. It’s quite brilliant. I’m a huge fan of Noble’s work anyway and I’ve always liked Azzopardi’s artwork. But in Sendek we see Noble on his vaguest, strangest, darkest form and Azzopardi drawing his arm off to keep up with the strange, surreal storyline, matching each new voice on the page with some new, different styling.”

“The whole comic’s just one huge unresolved mystery, where you can take whatever reading of it you desire; has Sendek deliberately vanished? Is he dead? A ghostly presence haunting the world? Are the sightings simply some form of mysterious mass hysteria? Or could there be a far more sinister explanation for it all? I don’t know. Something I always seem to find myself saying when it comes to anything involving Douglas Noble. But like every time before, it doesn’t matter, not one bit, since Noble creates so much suspense and intrigue in his comics that the conclusion isn’t the point, isn’t the best thing about them. Wallace Sendek, just like Complex, just like Live Static, is all about the mystery. The fun’s in experiencing it, not solving it. But should you wish to try and pull the mystery apart, you’ll find a discrepancy in there, all tied into the failings of the reported word, something I suspect Noble deliberately planted in there to keep eagle-eyed readers on their toes.”

(Sightings Of Wallace Sendek by Sean Azzopardi and Douglas Noble)

Built Of Blood And Bricks (2011):

“And then together, Noble and Azzopardi seem to just gel. Built Of Blood And Bricks is a near perfect atmospheric piece of suburban horror, although there’s really not that much horror explicit in it, not when you really think about what you’ve just read. So much of the perceived horror comes from Azzopardi’s art, and specifically that chilling, nightmarish face.

And as you read through, the imagery works it’s way into you, and Noble’s atmospheric dialogue evokes a horror, a darkness, the deeper meanings you read into the narrator’s words, the pieces of the puzzle – everything just fits perfectly. Noble’s words build and build into something truly chilling, as the symbiosis of words and imagery takes root in your mind and you start looking for the meaning, for the horror that’s never explicitly expressed.”

(Built Of Blood And Bricks by Sean Azzopardi and Douglas Noble)

I haven’t seen the finished book yet, but I’m looking forward to having both stories together, so interested to see what the new pages for Wallace Sendek add to the story, what new mysteries they bring forth. But what really excites me is Pirouette, the new story in this new book collection. Noble sent over a preview digital copy and just as with all of Noble’s work, part of me couldn’t wait, and part of me was just that little bit scared by it. There’s always a part of me wonders if I got it or not to be honest (just like with the most recent, and very late review of Complex #6)…. he really does sit on that very fine line between genius and madness so very often.

But here goes….

Pirouette

By Douglas Noble and Sean Azzopardi

“The prodigal son returns home for his father’s funeral, only to find himself confronting old memories hidden in familiar places.”

Well, here they go again, Noble and Azzopardi creating another comic to torture and confuse me. Or perhaps not, could it be that this really is a simple, straightforward mood piece, an evocation of grief, death, lives remembered, memories shifting with a new post death reality?

If it is, then it’s simple and uncommonly straightforward for a Noble/Azzopardi piece, but within that simplicity is a marvellously atmospheric piece, a grief laden story of a man’s return for his father’s funeral, replete with all the emotional baggage that entails.

We get a snapshot of the family, then work backwards through the son’s memories as we meet and greet the guests. Story and art combine to build atmosphere, suitably dark, as memories float around, each guest with their own version of the truth, their own memories of the dead, each one different, alien to the memories the son holds of not so dear old dad. There’s no hidden subtext here, just memories, memories and death, this is all about the manner in which people twist and turn their characters as they touch other people’s lives.

This is confident, attractive comic work. I’m never wholly sure who does what when the pair work together but here I think it’s Noble providing the lion’s share of the art; typically dense, dark, claustrophobic stuff, perfect at portraying the funereal mood. Occasional Azzopardi panels highlight the architectural delights of the church. All in all it’s lovely to look at, mood captured so well, art and story all forming a great little mood piece.

Pirouette sits alongside Sightings Of Wallace Sendek and Built Of Blood And Bricks as a complimentary piece, a minor piece compared with those two works perhaps, but here, as part of a very, very dark collection, Pirouette fits so well.

Dark Matters is available from either gentleman’s webstore: (Azzopardi’s store, Noble’s store).

By Sean Azzopardi, Chris Malapitan, Jessica Penfold, Shamisa Debroey, Thomas Gosselin, Marios Constantinides

Hmmmm.

The reviewers quandry. I like Sean Azzopardi. He’s a lovely guy who makes some great comics. And this new anthology he’s put together is done for the very best of reasons – a feeling that UK anthology works were all getting a bit repetitious and same-y, so why not try further afield, maybe some of the artists Azzopardi met at Malta Comic Con 2011?

But the big problem I have with D’accord is that it veers too far from comics and all the way over into straight illustration. I’d have liked to have seen what some of these obviously talented people could have done if they’d have done comics. As it is we have an international cartoonists anthology, not necessarily a comics anthology.

Hence this rather turns into a “I didn’t like it because of my existing prejudice over this sort of art project, but hey, here’s some art… have a look” sort of post.

Here, have a look…. examples from the two comics pieces in here. I just wish there were more…

Shamisa Debroey – Casual Conversations.

A coffee shop interlude that turns into something far stranger, casual conversations and casual sex coming together, and embarrassed fumblings for bodies and phones. Six pages of really quite nicely done artwork…

Thomas Gosselin – English Zombie.

The last strip in the book, 6-pages of middle class revolt, or the revolting middle class, spreading like a disease, zombie-like through the train carriage. Very nice stuff again…

Joe put the teaser image up last week, but Douglas Noble has been in touch with some preview pages and a few words about the forthcoming Pirouette story and the new book it features in:

“Dark Matters: A collection of the collaborations between Sean Azzopardi and Douglas Noble, this volume contains Built Of Blood And Bricks, an expanded version of Sightings Of Wallace Sendek, and the brand new story Pirouette.”

“Built Of Blood And Bricks: A shut in tells his story – this is what happens when you stack secrets together. A house full of mysteries, a story to unlock, a past to rediscover.”

“Sightings Of Wallace Sendek: On a bright December morning, Wallace Sendek disappeared. This is a record of his sightings. This edition adds ten new pages detailing further sightings of the vanished pop star.”

“Pirouette: The prodigal son returns home for his father’s funeral, only to find himself confronting old memories hidden in familiar places.”

Now this really is a must for your bookshelves. It should be out in May at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival where both Noble and Azzopardi will be in attendance, and hits the UK shortly after.

I’ve already read Built Of Blood And Bricks, and the earlier edition of Sightings Of Wallace Sendek and both are absolute essentials, quite incredible things.. . here’s some of what I had to say about them:

Wallace Sendek (2010): “I can’t really say enough good things about Wallace Sendek. It’s quite brilliant. I’m a huge fan of Noble’s work anyway and I’ve always liked Azzopardi’s artwork. But in Sendek we see Noble on his vaguest, strangest, darkest form and Azzopardi drawing his arm off to keep up with the strange, surreal storyline, matching each new voice on the page with some new, different styling.”

Built Of Blood And Bricks (2011): “…..together, Noble and Azzopardi seem to just gel. Built Of Blood And Bricks is a near perfect atmospheric piece of suburban horror ….. as you read through, the imagery works it’s way into you …. Noble’s words build and build into something truly chilling, as the symbiosis of words and imagery takes root in your mind and you start looking for the meaning, for the horror that’s never explicitly expressed.”

I’m looking forward to seeing what extras they’ve added to the Wallace Sendek storyline, but what really excites me is Pirouette, the new story in this new book collection. There’s a preview digital copy waiting for my attention, and just as with all of Noble’s work, part of me can’t wait, and part of me is rather scared by it. His writing is so damn good that I’m always wondering if I’ve really got it or not. We shall see. And a review will be forthcoming soon. In the meantime though I thought you’d like to see the first few pages.

Pirouette by Sean Azzopardi and Douglas Noble, part of the Dark Matters collection, available soon from both gentlemen.

Azzopardi’s store is here, Noble’s store here. They won’t mind who you order it from, but really, do yourself a favour and order it as soon as you can.

By Sean Azzopardi

I like Sean Azzopardi’s comics, I do. And some of his recent comics have certainly had elements of sketchbook in the, Have a look at the reviews of 100 Days Of Winter, Nine Months Of Beige, and Eight Tablet Dream for examples of what I’m talking about. But these were definitely comics, with narratives, storytelling, and sequential art amongst the sketchbook pieces. Looking back, the last time I looked at one of his sketchbooks proper was here in 2010, and then it was merely a mention at the end of a review for Wallace Sendak.

But this is very much a pure sketchbook. Sure, there’s some text here and there, and occasional comics work, but mostly this exists to catch Azzopardi’s ideas. It’s also part of a wish to push on and change, a move away from A5 black and white mini comics sees this sketchbook grow and burst into vivid colour.

In his comics I’ve often commented on how much I like Azzopardi’s artwork, his range of styles is getting wider and wider, but I have a particular delight in the pages where he’s really loosened up, opening up the page, dropping panels for pages at a time, giving his sketchy, line based work such life.

So seeing this much bigger, full colour work is a real change. But not something I’m going to review. I mean really, what’s the point…. but I will tell you it’s lovely looking through and seeing the range of styles on show, and some gorgeous works….

Here, have a look for yourselves:

Oh, that last glorious image…. that’s probably from Pirouette, the new story by Sean Azzopardi and Douglas Noble. A little more here.

Good chum of the blog Sean Azzopardi announces news and a first glimpse of a new work he has coming up in the near future with regular collaborator Douglas Noble: Piroutte. It’s a short tease with some imagery and the promise of more details to follow soon, but frankly here on the blog we’re always delighted when Sean and Douglas get together on a comics project and so even knowing nothing about it I’m already happy to take it on faith and flag this up as something to watch out for.

This year was a really fun trip.

I had decided beforehand to try and have a more rounded festival experience and combine time behind our author table with attending talks and exhibitions. With that in mind I only travelled to the con with a bunch of mini – comics, which traditionally do sell well. This year the crew consisted of myself, Francesca Cassavetti, Sally Anne Hickman and Oliver Lambden. We have retired the Bastards name and went along as Azfab.

We met Stephen Betts, Ellen Lindner, Gary Northfield And Lauren O’Farell at Eurostar, and then travelled first leg with Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. In Lille we met the Nobrow crew and Martin Steenton who I was sharing a Tumblr blog that was initiated by Dan Berry.

Straight of the train and to the tent we set up the table and met our neighbours Tom and Chris from AdHouse books. Then off to the house for a night of food and wine (well, when in France…). Thursday was creators meet and greet, so a relaxed day. I went to the Spiegelman exhibition that was split over two sites, the Castro building and the museum. It was great. I actually got the random chance to speak to him, congratulated him on his exhibition. I managed to remain conversational and not gush or ask to have a photo taken with him or give him comics. Later there was an evening of parties; the stand out was at La Maison des Auteurs, which always exhibits excellent work.

Friday was a busier day but took the time out to go to the Eddie Campbell talk. On returning to the table it was obvious that my comics were not going to sell in any great number. So I decided to just relax and enjoy the event. I took a bunch of mini comics round for review, had an accidental  ‘folio review with l’association who liked my drawings. That was an amazingly good feeling.

(pics all by Sean and taken from his Flickr)

Saturday was madness – so many people. This was Francesca’s day as she sold loads. There was no Chris Ware, and the Charles Burns talk was full when we got there. I also got to meet Wim (our very own Continental Correspondent – Joe), which was nice. The Raw talk was held in a cupboard-sized room, so that was a blow-out as well.

Sunday was a more sedate day and this was Sally’s day. I took another look round the Spiegelman exhibition and almost got knocked over by the man himself, a huge media scrum and, apparently, President Sarkozy. It was insane. I just love the whole craziness of this type of large-scale event. It’s like living in a cartoon village, with NO spandex heroes – bliss! After I tried to get into the Fred exhibition but there was just no chance, it was rammed.

If I have a complaint at all, it is that the programming with the venues seemed perhaps a bit lopsided. Overall though my Angoulême 2012 experience was really good. I still feel restricted by language when dealing with publishers, so it’s back to French classes for me. I always return from this festival full of inspiration. It’s such an amazing experience and if any cartoonist is serious about the medium then they have to visit.

Simple.

FPI would like to thank Sean for his time and report – you can follow more of Sean’s work on his own site here and as we mentioned yesterday he has already uploaded a pile of photographs from this year’s festival onto Flickr. Stay tuned for more on this year’s festival from Wim shortly.

Good chum of the blog Sean Azzopardi was again at the Angoulême comics festival in France and he’s posted up a whole bunch of photographs so those of us who couldn’t go can at least have a glimpse of some of what it looked like:

By Sean Azzopardi

Sean Azzopardi ends the year with a comic very similar to the much enjoyed Nine Months Of Beige in July; another comic sitting somewhere between his longer, formal works and his sketchbook comics. There are dreamlike full pages of multiple imagery, sans panels, and we flow through the pages as Azzopardi flows through the events he details, starting off with a low energy trip to hospital convinced the medication he’s on for his psoriasis is the cause.

So in short order we see a mix of imagery and mood; hospital clinics, observations, comic making, comic printing, mood darkening, frustrations, self-absorbtion, guilt over self-absorbtion, flatmate tales, wedding trips…. all leading to a simple observational mood, a relaxed bit of comic storytelling despite his initial fear and shock at coming out of hospital with even more tablets….

Like so much of Azzopardi’s recent work I’ve seen, this is a simple, relaxed, open style; in tone, in form, in art, in words. It’s partly a purging of his emotions, partly an excellent trip through his life – and it’s just the sort of autobiographical storytelling I really enjoy.

And perhaps fittingly it all ends with Azzopardi relaxing; satisfied, perhaps only briefly, but satisfied nonetheless with his life – a life where he feels dominated too much by illness, the work of his 8 tablet dream. But this ends not about the down, but about the acceptance, working around the troubles and simply accepting, enjoying what he / we can.

Alongside the storytelling, Azzopardi’s art is full of simple delights. I’ve talked before about the simple stuff he does really well. These works have many subtly different styles, and they all look good. In fact, to end on, how about these two pages – with tight comic work in the first couple of panels opening up to that lovely relaxed moment in art and story on the train. And on that second page we get some of Azzopardi’s landscapes, which I love, and a delightful centre panel of contrasts – the tight foreground and looser background work really effective.

A delight. And based on those two pages, I think I can safely say that if Azzopardi’s next comic was simple a train journey, with Azzopardi thinking as he looks out the train windows, I’d be so very happy with that.