TO – Scott Pilgrim Signing

Edgar Wright, Bryan Lee O’Malley, and Ellen Wong, Knives Chau herself, descend on HMV’s Yonge Street location for a special in-store signing in honor of the Blu Ray/DVD release of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. While the DVD won’t be available until November 9th, fans will get a chance to pre-order their copy, meet the creative forces behind the film, and have something special signed. The festivities begin at 12:30pm, so be sure to get there early to secure your place in line.

For information on the signing and a chance to get a guaranteed seat at the screening visit http://www.hmv.ca/ for details as they become available.

Then, that night the famous Bloor Cinema will present a FREE fan screening of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World to be followed with a Q&A with Wright, O’Malley, Wong, and special guest moderator Don McKellar. Also, as a special treat for the hardcore Pilgrim fans we’ll be screening the ‘making of’ documentary featured on the Blu-ray/DVD.

The screening starts at 7:00 pm. Seating will be on a first come first served basis at the Bloor Cinema the night of the screening.

For information on the screening and line-up details visit http://bloorcinema.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/ScottPilgrim for the most up-to-the-minute information.

Additionally, stay tuned to http://www.beguiling.com for even more chances to get a guaranteed seat!

Level up at 7pm on November the 5th at The Bloor!

Screening Details

When: 7PM on Friday November 5th, 2010
Where: Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario

Puffy AmiYumi NYAF Signing Tickets On Sale Now

Japanese guests Puffy AmiYumi are performing as part of Superglorious’s Far East to East Showcase on Sunday, October 10. They’ll be appearing at NYAF, too, on Saturday, October 9. For the ultimate fan, Sony is proud to present this limited Puffy AmiYumi Autograph Experience ticket. It includes tickets to the New York Anime Festival, the Far East to East Showcase, and a meet and greet with Puffy at NYAF. Puffy will not be holding a public autographing signing at NYAF, so this is your sole chance to get up close and get their autograph. Please note: This is not a VIP ticket offered by NYCC/NYAF and does not include any additional VIP perks.

• Priced at $150
• Limited to 50 tickets
• Meet and Greet with Puffy takes place in a private room at 3:45 PM on Saturday, October 9
• Meet and Greet includes a pre-signed photograph of Puffy
• Puffy will not be signing autographs live
• Puffy’s management have asked that photographs not be taken during their Meet and Greet
• You’ll be contacted within two business days of your order with confirmation and more information
• Order by 11:59 PM EST on October 3

Click here to purchase tickets

TO – Ten Years of Udon

UDON Studios celebrates their 10th Anniversary Party and book launch for their new VENT Anthology/Instruction Book on Thursday September 17th, 8pm-10pm (Doors at 7pm) at Revival, 783 College St. (Just east of Ossington).
FREE

Come one come all, and celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Toronto Publisher and Studio UDON COMICS! Food, drinks, and of course video games, in honour of their decade-long career creating work on numerous video game and comics properties!

This event will also serve as the launch for VENT, the new coffee-table book project which includes a gallery of new comics and illustrations from all of Udon’s top creators, as well as a look behind the scenes of the company and extensive art tutorials. More than a dozen Udon creators will be in attendance, and all of Toronto’s creative community and fans are invited to come out and celebrate!

This will be a big party, with music and fun in a very cool club setting, we’re expecting a massive turnout for this one…!

Presented by The Beguiling and UDON.

NC – Madame Xanadu Signing

Chrissy Zullo posts on her blog:

Just a reminder that Issue 26 of Madame Xanadu comes out next Wednesday. This is the issue that I’ve done all of the interior sequential artwork for (will have a preview of the finished pages in next blog post!). I will be signing copies and drawing free sketches at Rebel Base Comics and Toys in Charlotte, NC the day of release. Please go pick it up and support this great story!

 Rebel Base Comics and Toys
701- C S. Sharon Amity, Charlotte NC 28211

TO – Megaman Signing

Hitoshi Ariga signs on Thursday, August 26th at 7PM
The Japan Foundation, 131 Bloor Street West, 2nd Floor
Free to attend, RSVP Required!
RSVP at (416) 966-1600 ext. 103
or online, http://www.jftor.org/whatson/rsvp.php
Presented by UDON Entertainment, The Beguiling, A&C Games, and The Japan Foundation

TORONTO—The Beguiling, Canada’s Premier Comic Book Retailer is proud to team with UDON Entertainment and The Japan Foundation to welcome Hitoshi Ariga, the hugely popular and respected manga creator of MEGA M AN MEGAMIX (the official manga of the phenomenally popular Mega Man video games) to Canada for the very first time! Mr. Ariga will make a very rare North American appearance at Mega Man! Megamix! Megavent!, a special event held in Mr. Ariga’s honour to celebrate the launch of his manga for English-language audiences at The Japan Foundation on Thursday, August 26th at 7pm. Please note, while this event is open to the public an RSVP is required.

With over 30 million Mega Man videogames sold worldwide, the character is easily one of the most popular and recognizable game characters in the world! MEGA MAN MEGAMIX, the new manga series written and drawn by Hitoshi Ariga and published by UDON Entertainment, is the official manga chronicling the stories of these games—and the stories behind the stories as well! The second volume of MEGA MAN MEGAMIX is scheduled to debut at the event, and volume 1 will also be available. In addition to the popular manga ser ies, Hitoshi Ariga is an acclaimed character designer and graphic designer for video games and creator of many manga series.

“We’re truly honoured to welcome Ariga-San to Toronto,” said Christopher Butcher, event organizer and Manager of The Beguiling. “His work is very energetic and passionate, and it’s fantastic to see the games I remember investing so many hours into brought to comics! I think both fans of Mr. Ariga’s work on the MEGA MAN MEGAMIX manga, and fans of the Mega Man video games in general, are very fortunate to be able to meet him and will enjoy the event.”

The doors will open for the event at 7pm, with the event beginning at 7:30pm. Mr. Ariga will give a short presentation (In Japanese, with an English-language interpreter), and following the presentation he will take questions from his fans and the audience, and will sign autographs for all in attendance. Manga and Artbooks featuring Mr. Ariga’s work will be available for sale at the event courte sy of The Beguiling. Classic Mega Man video games and gaming equipment will be available to play and for sale courtesy of A&C Games in Toronto.

Because of the popularity of Mr. Ariga’s work, the organizers will be capping attendance at 100 participants. To attend, please RSVP at (416) 966-1600 ext. 103 or online at http://www.jftor.org/whatson/rsvp.php.

ABOUT
UDON Entertainment: UDON is an award-winning Canadian-based art collective formed in 2000 to provide high-quality creative services to the entertainment industry. Our client list reads like a “Who’s who” of the business, and includes Alliance/Atlantis, Capcom, DC Comics, Hasbro, Konami, Marvel Comics, Nintendo, Random House, ToyBiz, and Wizards of the Coast amongst others. In addition to client work, UDON is a diverse publisher producing comics, manga, and artbooks for all ages and audiences. http://udonentertainment.com/

The Japan Foundation: The Japan Foundation aspires to the role of catalyst for international exchange throughout the world, presenting valuable and appealing aspects of Japanese culture to other countries and promoting mutual understanding with peoples around the world. In addition to organising and supporting Japan-related events, a large portion of The Japan Foundation, Toronto activities involves the administration of its grant programs, grouped under three main areas: Arts and Cultural Exchange, Japanese-Language Education, and Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange. http://www.jftor.org/

The Beguiling: Founded in 1987, The Beguiling has set a new standard in Canada for comics and graphic novel retail. Showcasing the largest selection of alternative, underground and avant-garde graphic story telling in the country, The Beguiling has a worldwide reputation for excellence. Visit us online at http://beguiling.com.

A & C Games: We have the largest selection of rare and old school video games in Toronto! Buying, selling, and trading Video Games, Consoles, and Accessories for every generation of gamer! Visit us downtown at 706 Spadina Ave. (Just south of Bloor) or online at http://www.acgamesonline.com/.

NYCC 2010 Unveils Artist Alley

Press Release:

NEW YORK COMIC CON ANNOUNCES 300 GUESTS IN ARTIST ALLEY AND THE LIST IS GROWING!

New York Comic Con’s Newly Added Artists Include J. Scott Campbell, Tom DeFalco, Steve Scott, Mark Morales, among many others …

Norwalk, CT, July 29, 2010:  New York Comic Con (NYCC) has announced the preliminary line up of artists who will be appearing in Artist Alley this year.  More than 300 guests have already signed up and show officials note that the list will continue to grow as the annual pop culture convention gets closer.  This compares with 250 artists who appeared in Artist Alley last year.   NYCC, which will be co-located with the New York Anime Festival (NYAF) in 2010, will take place October 8 – 10 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.  Among the artists who have joined the top headliners in Artist Alley include:  J. Scott Campbell, Jimmy Cheung, Chris Claremont, Geof Darrow, Tom DeFalco, Leo Leibelman, Mark Morales, Steve Scott, and Leinil Francis Yu.

“This is an awesome Artist Alley and it’s only going to get better,” notes Lance Fensterman, Vice President for ReedPOP and Show Manager for both NYCC and NYAF.  “It certainly underscores how popular the venue is, and how much the fans want to see and talk to these incredible artists.  Artist Alley is an unparalleled opportunity since it offers a unique chance to get up close to some of the best artists working today.  We are incredibly pleased to be able to facilitate this kind of ‘up close’ communication and interaction.  Across the board, this is going to be New York Comic Con’s best year ever!”

For more information about the complete line up of artists participating in Artist Alley please go to their website.   As noted, the 2010 New York Comic Con be co-located with the New York Anime Festival (NYAF) and will occupy the entire Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.  Tickets for NYCC and NYAF may be purchased at www.nycomiccon.com.  Other information about the shows, as well as news about ReedPOP, which also organizes Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), is available at Lance Fensterman’s blog, www.mediumatlarge.net.

J. SCOTT CAMPBELL: J. Scott Campbell is a renowned illustrator and a world famous comic book artist with over a decade and a half in the business. Best known for his landmark series Danger Girl, where he served as both creator and artist, Scott has also created a huge fan-base over the years from his work on such titles as Gen 13, Spider-Man, Wildsiderz and most recently his very first pin-up calendar FairyTale Fantasies, featuring his very recognizable, sexy and playful girly art. An all around talent, Campbell has also dabbled in the fields of film design, video games, toys, animation, commercial art, and self publishing. His current projects include upcoming interiors on Spider-Man in addition to many high profile covers for Marvel Comics.

JIM CHEUNG: Originally hailing from the UK, Jim now resides in Florida, pencilling exclusively for Marvel Comics. He is currently working on a new Young Avengers project with Allan Heinberg as well as providing covers for the Secret Warriors series. His past projects for Marvel have included Iron Man, X-Force, Uncanny X-Men, Illuminati and New Avengers, and he is responsible for co-creating the Young Avengers and Scion for Crossgen Comics.

CHRIS CLAREMONT:  Writer Chris Claremont’s stories have achieved best-seller status, won numerous awards, and are trend-setters for the industry. Although best known for his work on Marvel Comic’s X-Men series, he has written other seminal characters such as Batman and Superman; originated several creator-owned series; is published throughout the world in many different languages; authored nine novels; and has had his first video game premier in Spring 2006.  In total, Chris has sold approximately 500,000,000 comics, world wide.  Chris is also known for his progressive treatment of women in a genre that oftentimes relies on stereotype. Active, intelligent, courageous women characters such as Jean Grey, Kitty Pryde, and Storm have made Chris’s X-Men as popular with women readers as men. The Summer of 2000 saw the release of the feature film, X-Men, based largely on material created by Chris. The sequel, X-2, contains characters and key story elements from Chris’s best-selling graphic novel, God Loves, Man Kills. X-Men: The Last Stand, released in May 2006, is grounded in the Dark Phoenix saga. The forthcoming second Wolverine movie is based largely on the graphic novel, Wolverine, by Chris and Frank Miller.  Current projects include the on-going Marvel series X-Men Forever, the one-shot X-Women, drawn by renowned Italian artist Milo Manara, and several exciting, soon-to-be announced prose projects.

GEOF DARROW: Geof Darrow was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and studied drawing at the Chicago Acadamy of Fine Arts and Hanna-Barbera School of Frustration. He has lived and worked in four countries: U.S.A., France, Japan, and California. His credits include the comics work HardBpiled, Big Guy (with Frank Miller) and Shaolin Cowboy (with his split personality The  Chubby Johnson). He has done concept work with film directors Wachoswki Brothers, Ridley Scott, and JJ Abrams amongst others. He has met President Frederick Mitterand of France and has never met either Bush Presidents. He continues to work in comics, film, animal husbandry, and never intends to meet either Bush’ or maverick media vampire Sarah Palin.

TOM DEFALCO: A former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics with over thirty books currently in print, Tom DeFalco has written comic books, graphic novels, short stories, prose novels and books like Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide and Comic Creators on Fantastic Four.  He was also a major contributor to The Marvel Encyclopedia and The Marvel Chronology. DeFalco has recently worked on Star Wars: The Clone Wars for Titan Comics, The Man From RIVERDALE for Archie Comics, Flash Gordon for Ardden Entertainment, The Flying Fool for Moonstone Books and, of course, The Spectacular Spider-Girl for Marvel Comics.  He is currently writing a new Thunderstrike limited series with co-creator Ron Frenz.

LEO LEIBELMAN: Leo Leibelman went to the HS of Music and Art and took a How to Draw Comic Books class under Carlos Infantino. Those classes paid off because a few years later in 1994 he began working for Marvel Comics on Savage Sword of Conan. From there, Leo worked for Acclaim Comics on Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Majick: the Gathering and Topps on Hercules.  Leo eventually moved to the Great White North and found himself in the film industry while still keeping his hand in the comics business. Besides comics and film, Leo has painted covers for romance novels and has illustrated for educational CD roms. Currently, Leo is working on films and TV shows full time and has produced some covers for magazines like Heavy Metal.

MARK MORALES: A graduate of New York’s famed School of Visual Arts, Mark Morales is a longtime comics veteran.  Over the course of his 15 year career, he has worked for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics and various others, mostly as an inker.  Through the years, Mark has worked on such titles as Uncanny X-men, Secret Invasion, Justice League, New Avengers, Thor, Daredevil and many others.  Currently he is hard at work on ‘Siege’ from Marvel Comics.

STEVE SCOTT: Comic artist Steve Scott’s work recently graced the  X-Men Forever series with writer Chris Claremont as well as a current Green Lantern special project at DC Comics.  He is also the only artist tapped by DC Comics to do any work relating to Batman Forever, depicting the now legendary turn of Heath Ledger as The Joker.  Steve’s work has also often been seen on the television show Smallville and in other special projects for DC Comics.  He began his comics career at Malibu Comics and enjoyed immediate success but continued to lead a dual life as firefighter by day and artist by night– for more than sixteen years, in fact! After 9/11, Steve was selected among the few to contribute to DC Comics’ The Worlds Finest Comic Book Writers & Artists Tell Stories to Remember.  Recent and current projects at Marvel Comics, and DC Comics include working with industry legends Louise Simonson and Chris Claremont on the titles Magik and Exiles, the Marvel Adventures line featuring Fantastic Four, Avengers, and the Hulk, work on She-Hulk, and a Kyle XY one shot for Disney/ABC with writer Jeff Parker.

LENIEL FRANCIS YU: Leinil Yu’s first interest in Comics was sparked by a copy of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way when he was 11.     It was later reinforced by positive responses from talent scouts from Wildstorn/Homage and Darkhorse, published fan art in Wizard Magazine and first professional work on Entity Comics’ Aster.  The major break was Whilce Portacio’s tutelage where the training landed him his first mainstream comics gig: Wolverine in 1997.   After a lengthy run, he later took on the Uncanny X-men, X-men, Highroads, Superman: Birthright, Silent Dragon, Ult, Hulk/Wolverine, New Avengers, Marvel’s 2008 Epic: Secret Invasion,  and a series of projects with writer Mark Millar, Ultimate Avengers and their creator-owned project:  Superior.  He lives in Manila, Philippines.

ABOUT REEDPOP: ReedPOP is a boutique group within Reed Exhibitions which is exclusively devoted to organizing events, launching and acquiring new shows, and partnering with premium brands in the pop culture arena.  ReedPOP is dedicated to producing celebrations of popular culture throughout the world that transcend ordinary events by providing unique access and dynamic personal experiences for consumers and fans.  The ReedPOP portfolio includes: New York Comic Con (NYCC), Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) East & West, Star Wars Celebration V, New York Anime Festival (NYAF), and UFC Fan Expo.  The staff at ReedPOP is a fan based group of professionals producing shows for other fans, thus making them uniquely qualified to service those with whom they share a common passion.  ReedPOP is focused on bringing its expertise and knowledge to world communities in North America, South America, Asia and Europe.

CA – Stan Lee Goes Manga

Meet Stan Lee at Barnes & Noble on Friday July 16, 2010 at 7:00 PM! The comic book legend is signing the latest volume of his manga Ultimo.

The Grove at Farmers Market
189 Grove Drive Suite K 30, Los Angeles, CA 90036

323-525-0270

CA – Avatar: The Last Airbender Signing

Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino sign at Golden Apple Comics on June 19th at 1pm.

Golden Apple Comics
7018 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 658-6047

Heroes Con Welcomes New Guests & Old Friends

Press Release: Heroes Convention is preparing for one of the LARGEST Guest Lists in it’s 28 year history this June 4-6!  Pack your bags and gas up the car, because this will be one of our greatest shows of all time!  Making their First Appearance at Heroes Con this year are J. Scott Campbell, Brian Bolland, Humberto Ramos, Jimmy Cheung, and Rob Liefeld!  They’ll be joining the Heroes Con Family of regular All-Stars like Adam Hughes, Tony Harris, Frank Cho, Brandon Peterson, Mark Brooks, Tommy Lee Edwards, Phil Noto, Cully Hamner, and tons more!!

Long-time favorites like Ron Garney, Rick Leonardi, and Michael Golden are returning, as well as West Coast heavy-hitters like Mike Mignola, Tim Sale, Dustin Nguyen, Eric Canete, and Sean “Cheeks” Galloway.  It’s insane!!  Now we just have to figure out where to put everybody!  One thing is for sure, this all points to a stellar Art Auction on Saturday night!!

MCAF Announces Panel Schedule

The Maine Comics Arts Festival has announced its pre-convention panel schedule for Saturday, May 22nd hosted by the Portland Public Library (Main Branch, 5 Monument Square, Portland, ME) 

All Saturday events will be held in the Rines Auditorium unless otherwise noted.
Kids Cartooning Workshop – 10:00 AM

Children ages 7-12 are invited to try their hand at cartoon art. Using simple shapes, comic book artist Jay Piscopo will demonstrate how to build figures and perspective to create art that tells a story. Stand by for adventure in this hour-long, interactive workshop! Click here to watch a video clip

Portland, Maine artist Jay Piscopo is the author and illustrator of The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli all-ages graphic novel series. Piscopo also co-created The Scrap City Pack Rats, art directed the award-winning Fizz and Martina Math Adventures, and was an animator for ABC TV’s Squigglevision.
The World of Graphic Novels – 11:00 AM
Presenter: John Shableski, Diamond Book Distributors

“The graphic novel is to publishing today very much as rock and roll was when it first entered the music industry mainstream: a strange format already familiar to the popular culture but not yet understood by the established distribution channels.” ~ John Shableski, Diamond Book Distributors

This free presentation is for librarians and educators who are interested in the world of graphic novels and are looking for definitions, explanations, and advice on where to begin or expand your collection or how to effectively use graphic novels in the classroom. John conducts this workshop nationally with librarians and educators and is known for his interactive, conversational style. This is his first time presenting in Maine. You won’t want to miss this unique opportunity!

THE PRESENTER: John Shableski is sales manager at Diamond Book Distributors, the world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books, and one of the biggest distributors of graphic novels in the U.S. through its Diamond Book Distributors division. John has been a panelist at BookExpo America, a moderator for graphic novel panels at the New York Comic Con, a guest speaker at library events, regional book shows and a symposium coordinator. He’s currently collaborating on several graphic novel symposiums across the country. His focus is on the independent bookstore market, public and school libraries. 

Cartooning Styles – 12:30pm
A humorous presentation about art styles, featuring images of popular cartoon characters like Sponge Bob Squarepants and Mickey Mouse, and how different artists interpret them. We’ll talk about designing characters, and then give an interactive drawing demo, in which the audience will instruct Raina in creating characters and images.
Age range: 5 – 12

 
Center for Cartoon Studies Presents: Page Building Workshop – 1:30pm
This hands-on workshop will take a closer look at the basic building blocks of the comics page. Cartoonist and teacher Robyn Chapman will explain how to use page composition to control pacing and create effective stories. No matter how little experience you have, you will leave this workshop having composed a comics page!  All supplies will be provided.

 
Live Comics Reading: Smile & Astronaut Elementary – 2:30
Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman will read (and perform) chapters from their all-ages graphic novels, as the illustrated panels are projected onto a large screen for all to see. They’ll also ask for some volunteers from the audience to play some of the characters.
Age range: 5 and up. 
Featured Guest Discussion - 3:00pm
Jeff Lemire, Brian Wood and Skottie Young
This panel discussion will cover the works of the festival’s featured guests and will include a question and answer session.

 
The Pros and Cons of Small Press Publishing – 4:00pm
When a writer or artist decides to pursue the comic book industry, the 21st century has provided them with several different options, one of them being small press publishing. But how does one decide the best route to take. Join the creator of Sky Pirates of Valendor, Everett Soares along with Promotions Consultant, Susan Soares as they discuss the Pros and Cons of small press publishing as they share their journey through the industry.
Sunday, May 23 – 10:00 AM- 5:00 PM
Maine Comics Arts Festival
Ocean Gateway, Portland
Meet over 100 comic writers, artists and publishers, see exhibits and shop for cool comics and graphic novels. Click here to see the full guest list

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