Sneak peek at the new graphic novel from 'Hamilton's Harvey Pekar'

Hey, I didn't coin that-- some record company exec did -- but I can't help but fully endorse (steal) it. I've long considered David Collier a national and regional  treasure; quirky, eccentric, smart and funny, his early comics are true gems and were partly responsible for helping break my lingering fascination with mainstream comics (Ah, Vertigo -- you were a great old lass...). Meeting Dave at Word on the Street in Toronto many years ago was really thrilling, and I'm always pleased to bump into him semi-regularily, the last being at May's Doug Wright Awards.

Around that time I was handed a copy of his latest work-in-progress; a graphic novel that deals with his experiences re-enlisting in the Canadian Forces some 20 years after he left. I'm happy to say that it's classic Collier, winding through an at-times awkward experience with many amusing asides. Like the one below -- ha ha, what a card!

Anyways, Dave has given me permission to run a three-page "exclusive" (is it? I guess it is..) preview of his Spring 2001 book from Conundrum Press, Chimo (the name of the navy ship he is assigned to as part of the Canadian Forces Artists Program). I hope you were as jazzed as I was. Click to enlarge...but I'm guessing you knew that already.

David Collier Sells Out

Hey all - OK, Mom - Guess what? Hamilton, Ontario's own Hero-of-Comics David Collier dropped me a line to let me know that he's SOLD OUT! That's right, after years of living the life as the bluest of blue- collar cartoonists, Dave has cashed in his "street cred" to collaborate with Canadian indie-rocker Luke Doucet.

Collier has penned a comic based on Doucet's lyrics that will be included in his upcoming CD, Steel City Trawler. The comic and the CD appear to be about the steel city itself, Hamilton. One can only hope that Pigskin Peters/Pete makes a cameo at some point.

Of course, I joke about Dave selling out -- but it is always exciting to see new work from the man and heartening to see it push its way into other media such as this. (Does anyone else remember his weekly strip in the National Post? Is there a better use of Canada Council grants than a collection of the best of those strips? Chris? Peggy? Tom??? Andy???)

Anyways, here's a short promo video for the CD that features art from Dave and an interview with The Man Himself. Enjoy!

Reason #356

Why I love old Jimmy Olsen comics:

New Doug Wright Annuals at D+Q

Well, since Chris Oliveros has officially made public Drawn and Quarterly's plans for their Doug Wright property I figure I can now talk about over here as well. The first book to debut (this September) will be Nipper: 1963-1964 and will pick up directly where The Collected Doug Wright: Canada's Master Cartoonist left off. Each book will collect two-years worth of strips and will feature Seth's able design work (see below for a non-final draft of the cover).

A preview of the book is over here.

I also contributed a brief introduction which serves to set the scene a bit for this fertile period in the Canadian cartoonist's career. The beauty of this new format is that it echoes the previous publishing history of Wright's work, mainly two cheap (but very popular) collections of his Nipper material that appeared in the 1960s and 70s. The landscape layout of the book is even the same. The difference this time around is that the D+Q books will be high-quality - just the way Wright intended them to appear - and they will contain dozens of strips republished for the first time ever.

The other bonus is the cover illustration of Nipper motoring away in his "Hot Rod." As a kid I was obsessed with this go-kart and was inspred to build several of my own for local parades etc. None ever looked as cool as Nipper's though.

And fans of the Bed Red Book, fret not. Seth, Chris and I are fully committed to publishing Volume Two a few years down the road. Be patient!