Marc Ngui + Ho Che Anderson + Paul Roux

Now to catch up on stuff I saw on the weekend. This years BookFEST Windsor had a graphic novel component to it...finally! For the inaugeral year they graciously brought in Marc Ngui, Ho Che Anderson and Paul Roux. Unfortunately, I did not get to hear their talks as I was stuck in Detroit after watching a teeth gnashing horrible documentary at the Detroit DocFest. It was Detroit: A ruin of a city and if any aspiring filmmaker wants to know how not to make a documentary...this is THE film for you!! But that is another tale only told with beer in hand. So ANY-w-a-y, Marc Ngui did his cool book slideshow reading thingy that I encourage anyone to see if they get a chance. Also, I guess some of the discussions were about 'french' vs. 'english' comic support and audience. Quebec has the advantage of carrying over the BD culture from France and thus has much bigger support and ergo MONEY for comic artists. Hopefully, this 'Graphic Novel' shift will become something akin to BD or Manga and not just a fad so that artists such as Marc and Ho Che can earn a living off of it. Now with some of the bigger publishers getting onto the graphic novel scene more money and exposure can be brought to many overlooked artists. One last thing, I know I am not giving the artists just reward but do check them out! Picked up Ho Che's, King, and was blown away by the black and white intensity of his drawings.