Sunday At TCAF 2024 In Pictures

The second day of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2024 (TCAF) happens to fall on Mother’s Day. What’s that you say? Our mothers will be upset if we attend TCAF instead of visiting them? No, our moms will understand. For one thing, there are lots of women cartoonists and practitioners we can honour and hear speak — some of them may be mothers themselves. For another, I’m sure our mothers will understand that if there’s one thing we should skip visiting them for, that thing should be TCAF! Hmmm … you’re right, it is a lot less busy today than it was yesterday. Are most people actually visiting their mothers then? I gave mine a card last weekend; now I’m starting to feel guilty. Why are you making me feel guilty?

There’s still lots going on, though. Let’s check out the new Canadian stamps featuring the comics work of Seth, the Tamaki cousins, Chester Brown, and Michel Rabagliati. Boy, they’re really prominently displayed in the lobby, aren’t they? They’re blown up replicas and it’s impossible to miss them once you enter the Toronto Reference Library.

Here’s Andy Brown, venerable publisher of Conundrum Press, wearing his company’s t-shirt. That’s a handsome logo/illustration he’s chosen. What’s that — there are no 2XL t-shirts? Boy, I really need to get working on losing weight. Maybe next year…

Let’s walk through and check out some of the sellers and their tables.

Ooh, here’s Top Shelf‘s table. Let’s ask the rep why Alan Moore‘s taken his name off the colourized version of From Hell. Is he being evasive? He’s saying Moore’s still keeping his name on the black and white version but decided to take it off the colour version because that’s more Eddie Campbell‘s thing? It looks like they didn’t bring any copies of either to sell with them. It’s a pretty hefty book to carry multiple copies of all the way up here from the US, I guess.

Here’s Adrian Tomine on his spotlight panel talking about adapting Shortcomings into a movie directed by Randall Park, with the script written by Tomine himself. Toronto critic Glenn Sumi is interviewing him. Is Adrian bored by his own spotlight?

Hey, that’s Toronto veteran comics artist, muralist, and art teacher Fiona Smyth handling the tech — the slideshows presented in the background of the various panels held in the Hinton theatre must be her doing. I guess she’s working for the festival now?

Let’s sit through a couple of panels in the Hinton theatre featuring various cartoonists. First up, we have Rick Altergott, Caitlin Cass, Anita Kunz, and Beth Hetland. The moderator is Talia Kliot.

I recognize Jillian Tamaki and Michael DeForge, but who’s that between them? That’s E. M. Carroll, you say? Carroll won the Pigskin Peter Doug Wright award last night for best experimental or avant-garde comic? Wow — that is impressive! No, I don’t live under a rock. I just couldn’t attend the awards last night, okay?

Ok, let’s walk around a bit or my legs will go to sleep. What’s that — your head’s going to sleep? That’s not very nice! Is my company really that dull? Oh well, I guess it’s too late for us to stop being friends now.

Oh, there’s Josh Rosen, artist on The Good Fight among other things. We’d better stop and say hi or he’ll think I’m snubbing him. My workplace owes him money. Don’t ask, it’s a long story and won’t make my company any more interesting if I tell it to you. I’ll just come off as worse.

Hey, here’s Tomine and Altergott just hanging out in a corner, acting all inconspicuous. Do you think it’d be rude of me to ask Tomine to sign my book of his that I forgot to bring yesterday? What do you mean I don’t have anything to lose? I don’t want him to think I’m an idiot. What’s that — he won’t bother to waste his time thinking anything at all as far as I’m concerned? I guess you’re right, although the way you put it makes it seem… yeah, you’re probably right, I might as well ask. With all the movies and plays and stuff Adrian’s working on, he probably won’t return to Toronto for a decade or more. Well, what do ya know? He said yes. Now, I wish I had a copy of Rick’s book so I could also ask him to sign something.

Let’s go wait in front of the Learning Centre for the panel that Rob Sikoryak‘s moderating. It’s called “Laugh Riot” so it should be funny. Oh hey — here’s Rob and his wife, Kriota Willberg, waiting to get into the room themselves. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone else called Kriota, although I could have and just forgot. They’re really nice, talented people and Rob’s intellectual humour and pastiche really hits an odd, sweet spot on my funny bone.

OK, they’re letting us in now. Rob’s setting up while the panelists wait to start talking. Oh, Altergott’s on this panel too? There’s his new Doofus and Hotchkiss book up on the screen, Blessed Be. Apparently, he’s been working on it for years and years. How come he evaded getting his characters cancelled? Maybe the secret to avoid being cancelled is to work so slowly that no one notices you’re doing it?

Oh wow, there’s Deni Loubert. She started Aardvark-Vanaheim with Dave Sim back in the day, not to mention a whole bunch of other stuff over the years. Wow, she’s a really engaging, compelling speaker. Did she just say that she’s in her seventies? How is that possible?

Boy, this was an exhausting two days. They always are! Let’s go walk around and look at the books on sale one more time before the library shuts down. What’s that — you can’t take any more of my prattling and would rather jump out the third floor window than do one more lap with me? Okay, okay, you don’t have to be mean about it. Let’s split up. And maybe see you next mother’s day weekend for TCAF 2025?