We watch closely our food… but what about our average media intake?
At any event, signing tables are at a premium… It’s the only time we can meet face to face and, may be, win over new readers. Ugly fights might erupt, especially with schedule errors getting more common! Fortunately, the friendly stand manager is present!
PS: and, yes, I changed the title in English for this series.
The Busy Fans – Texts and art by Michèle Laframboise – There are many ways of telling others that you’re busy…
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This comic is very close to my heart because it concerns my favorite literary flavor ice cream, SF.
To write science-fiction, you have to be not only passionate, but you must also know how to explain the genre to your beloved audience! Most readers associate these words with all other things like (badly written) big movie blockbusters.
There has been intellectual snobbery of genre literature by the “white” litterature, an attitude which fortunately is beginning to fade.
At the end of this article, I put a sketch drawn in 2012 to capture the sense of wonder that came over me during my early discovery of science fiction. I would read late in my father’s library.
If you speak French, I recommend that you visit the blog of Jeanne-A. Debats, a writer who does not shy away from daring ideas! She propvided a few lines from the Paris Book fair which has just ended. When I was on site in 2008, I heard some, among those: “Oh, I do not read fiction because it is unreal! »
The “talking squids” allusion is a recent catchphrase in Canadian SF literature, born of a joke by Margaret Atwood, who wrote good SF anticipation and post-apocalyptic, but did not want at one time be associated with the genre. She finally came around and admit the writing, as she explores many genres.
A website had been put up by Vonda McIntyre, featuring a short-story by Stephen Baxter, Sheena 5, about, of course, squids in space.
Posted in Comics, humor, Science-fiction, Society
Tagged art, Book fairs, Comics, Jeanne-A Debats, Science-fiction, Webcomics
The “OK” fan is the one who seems to agree to everything you say about your book… but is s-he really listening, or simply polite?
Posted in Art, Comics, Event, Science-fiction
Tagged Book fairs, Comics, humor, SF, Webcomics
This scene unfolds at the Salon du livre de Québec, so the last panel shows the Québec Parliement in the background. There was no freezing spell there, but it really happened at a similar event!
This comic page was done with my Intuos tablet and modified on Manga Studio. It is no 27 in the Splendors and Miseries of the Signing Table series, the French version here. And yes, it was snowing when I drew this comic…
Many thanks to Jack Ruttan who translated this page from French!
As the Montréal book fair (and Expozine for my fanzine friends) looms close, here comes one of the fans from hell… You do not want that fan at your signing table!
Hoping to get a celebrity’s autograph, he hedges his bets with some artists whom he doesn’t know beforehand. He hopes to get a famed author in the field. Often, he cannot trust that someone from his own country can possibly be good.
(And, yes, it is a real rejection letter that is on the character’s mind…)
I remember a Comic Festival long ago where the organisators rolled the red carpet for the American guests of honor, while all the local artists were relegated at a 3rd story corridor. (A dark corridor, at that).
This endless quest for celebrities pervades every aspect of society. Journals or magazines, broadcasts, all need a scattering of big-names to pique the interest of a readership. The same goes for television variety programs striving to reach a larger audience. Most of my writer friends lament that their opus don’t even get a coverage from the medias, and it always seems that only three or four stars get all the reviews.
And for each of us. I have my own celeb’s quest. But I discovered and appreciated most of my favorites authors long before finding out about their fame.
There are insecurities dwelling inside each of us, and getting acknowledged by others kind of validates our work. For a “groupie”, getting the attention of a celebrity, even for a few moments, is the next best thing to fame and fortune.
So, if you meet a fan looking for stars, be understanding while reaching your inner groupie but point out all those in the sky.
For this Halloween special, a comic originally published in a Zombie Commandos from Hell, a comic series by Stéphane Dumais. Zombies are really popular, there are various zombie races, and there’s even a training application for runners!
It is a rather amoral comic, because the poor zombie guy actually bought a comic book, so he was nicer than most straight fans!
Happy Halloween everyone!
Tagged art, Bookfairs, Comics, Halloween, Signing table, Stéphane Dumais, Webcomics, zombies
Echoes of a Sunday artist 