PRE-ANGOULÊME PRIZES
Two prizes have recently been given in advance of the upcoming Festival International de la BD in Angoulême, France. The "Prix Public du Meilleur Album" award has been given to "Blacksad" Vol. 2, by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, the Festival's website reports. The Prix Public is given by 12-person jury comprising readers of three French publications (L’Express, Télé Poche and Canal BD) as well as three individuals selected by the Festival. Meanwhile, BD Sélection reports that the "Prix France Info" has been given to Charles Masson's "Soupe Froide." This prize is awarded by a group of nine journalists, and had, in previous years, been given along with Festival awards. Like the ACBD critics' prize, the "France Info" has this year been excluded from participation of the Festival's awards ceremony, which now only includes official Festival prizes.
INFO: BD Angoulême
INFO: BD Sélection
posted by Egon on Thursday, January 08, 2004

BROWN, WOODRING, SACCO FEATURED
Several cartoonist profiles have run in a variety of recent print publications. Ho Che Anderson speaks with Chester Brown about "Louis Riel" in a piece for the Toronto Star. "When I started Riel, I was an anarchist, so the whole purpose was to make government look as bad as possible," Brown told Anderson. "Then through the process of working on the book, I kind of lost my anarchistic beliefs and ended up believing, OK, there is some role for government after all." Jim Woodring is the subject of a profile in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, discussing the success of his recent "Frank" collection. "I don't like Frank to appear as a tattoo," Woodring told the paper. "He does, of course. There are tattoo shops in San Francisco that feature him among their standard flash designs. I wish they wouldn't. I can imagine a bloated body on a slab and a faded little Frank winking at the morgue attendant." Finally, Drawn & Quarterly's website reports that "Joe Sacco is the subject of a two-page feature in the 1/22/04 issue of Rolling Stone ... Contributing writer Mark Binelli traveled to Portland to interview Sacco for the in-depth career overview."
INFO: Toronto Star
INFO: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
INFO: Drawn & Quarterly
posted by Egon on Thursday, January 08, 2004

KATCHOR, SLUGS INVADE CITY, KITCHEN
Ben Katchor's "The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, or The Friends of Dr. Rushower" will open at The Kitchen in New York City on Friday, March 19 for a series of performances running through March 27. The show, subtitled "A Tragicomedy for Music Theater," was written and directed by Katchor and features his images throughout. Katchor's website offers a synopsis: "The chemical emissions and aphrodisiac soft drinks of a ruined tropical factory-island set the stage for this 21st century absurdist romance by cartoonist Ben Katchor (recipient of a 2000 MacArthur "genius award") and composer Mark Mulcahy (former lead of the rock bands Miracle Legion and Polaris). With projected drawings, animation, and a sung-through pop score, The Slug Bearers of Kayrol follows the efforts of a New York philanthropist to bring the modern poetry of instructional pamphlets to a group of exploited island workers." The show's opening performance is a $120 benefit which includes a reception with the cast; tickets to other performances cost $10 and $20 dollars, variously.
INFO: Ben Katchor
INFO: The Kitchen
posted by Egon on Monday, January 05, 2004

GLOECKNER GRANTS AMNESTY, INTERVIEW
Phoebe Gloeckner describes recent research for an upcoming project in an update to her website: "November 2003: Phoebe spent two weeks in Mexico researching a story for a big book that will benefit Amnesty International. Cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco is also involved and traveled to Russia to research his story. The professionals at AdBusters Magazine are designing the book, which is the brainchild of activist Mia Kirshner. Look for this book in early 2005." Gloeckner has also begun writing an online journal, where she links to a lengthy interview on Sean Collins' "Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat" website. The interview includes a series of 12 photographic self-portraits by Gloeckner, incorporating text in a near-fumetti style. Gloeckner further notes in her online journal that she recently served as a judge for the 46th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Illustrators. "I was one of a panel of 'experts' in the 'Sequential Art' category," writes Gloeckner. "The secret is: the category is absolutely undefined and criteria for judging the work are even less clear. We were judging apples against oranges."
INFO: Phoebe Gloeckner
INFO: Phoebe's News and Thoughts
INFO: Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat
posted by Egon on Monday, January 05, 2004

DAZED & CONFUSED ON COMICS
Dazed & Confused magazine's ninth issue, subtitled "the Illustration Issue," includes short pieces on Le Dernier Cri and Skin Graft Records. Paul Gravett surveys Canadian comics for the magazine, spotlighting work by Marc Bell, Dave Cooper, Michel Rabagliati, and Jay Stephens.
LINK: Dazed and Confused
posted by Egon on Monday, January 05, 2004

CEREBUS' FINAL DAYS
The Monthly Montreal Comics Jam's "Sequential" website runs an interview with Dave Sim from the November issue of Saturday Night Magazine. The article, presented online as scanned images, describes events that led Sim to take on "Cerebus" as his life's work, traces Sim's own personal development over the course of the series, and offers a portrait of Sim and collaborator Gerhard in the final days of the series' 300-issue run. "For me, working on Cerebus has been one big, long, slow nervous breakdown," Gerhard told the magazine.
INFO: MMCJ: Sequential
LINK: Saturday Night Magazine
posted by Egon on Monday, January 05, 2004