MONTREAL COMIC ARTISTS – West Coast Book Tour

BY JEN VAUGHN – From solid cartoonist, Sophie Yanow, a mini-comics TOUR is happening in TWO different countries. Deets below:

MONTREAL COMIC ARTISTS – August West Coast Book Tour

MONTREAL, QC, JULY 30, 2012 — August 17-25, members of Canadian independent comic book collective Colosse tour from San Francisco to Vancouver BC with multimedia readings of their acclaimed and edgy works, followed by book signings. Authors include Sophie Yanow (In Situ, a graphically daring, poetic journal strip) and Francois Samson-Dunlop and Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau (Pinkerton, an indie-rock rom com about getting over a truly 90s breakup in a post-90s world). Don’t miss this rare West Coast appearance!

Friday, Aug. 17 • Mission: Comics and Art, San Francisco, CA

Saturday, Aug. 18 • The Escapist Comic Bookstore, Berkeley, CA
Tuesday, Aug. 21 • Spine and Crown Books, Seattle, WA
Thursday, Aug. 23 • Lucky’s Comics, Vancouver, BC
Friday, Aug. 24, • The Waypost, Portland, OR
Saturday, Aug. 25 • Floating World Comics, Portland, OR

In Situ by Sophie Yanow

“This is an innovative, clever diary strip book that is strongly influenced by the poetic abstraction of John Porcellino… a beautiful first major work by an artist who is quite clearly concerned about how she affects the world, in terms of both art and politics.” – Rob Clough, THE COMICS JOURNAL

In Situ is Sophie Yanow’s poetic and humorous treatment of daily life, begun in Oakland in her native California, and continued throughout her residency at La Maison de la Bande Dessinée in Montreal. As the political climate in Oakland heats up, Yanow captures the tension between excitement for a new place, and the loss and longing for old homes and loves. Shifting through visual styles as often as philosophies, In Situ recounts a life in transition.

Yanow’s decision to stay in Montreal is reflected in In Situ no. 2, and finds the author sleeping on couches, bewildered at doom metal shows, and settling into a queer new city. A graphically daring, artistically ambitious endeavour as well as a revealing glance into the daily travails & hurdles of a politically aware cartoonist far from home.

Sometimes funny, sometimes touching, always quotidian.

Sophie Yanow’s work has appeared online in places like Top Shelf Comix and The Rumpus. She grew up in the woods just north of San Francisco, and in Fall 2011 moved to Montreal, Quebec for an artist residency at La Maison de la Bande Dessinée. Here she began her more experimental journal comics, published under the title In Situ, a nod to site-specificity in her creative process. She lives in Montreal.

IN SITU
Journal comics by Sophie Yanow
$11.00 Softcover • 40 pages black and white
ISBN 978-2-924001-17-2
Publication Date: November 26, 2011

IN SITU no 2
Journal comics by Sophie Yanow
$5.00 Staple bound • 32 pages black and white
ISBN 978-2-924001-30-1
Publication Date: May 5, 2012

Pinkerton by Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau and Francois Samson Dunlop

“Simplicity of drawing and complexity of pen unite to capture the essence of an era, creating a wit drenched story with a well-balanced dose of neurosis… Pinkerton is a bit like if early Woody Allen had a kid with early Kevin Smith, and chose Jean-Luc Godard as the child’s godfather.” – Samuel Cogrenne, DISCORDANCE

After being forced back into celibacy for reasons beyond their control, two unlikely heroes embark on a quest to understand, through an obsessive study of pop culture and rock music’s impact on their generation’s collective psyche, why they are the victims of what they call “amplified negative romantic conditioning.” Serious introspection leads them to believe Weezer’s 1996 album Pinkerton is the root of all sentimental evil in their lives.

Here’s an indie-rock rom-com that’s thankfully barely emo. Let’s keep it short and sweet: more Pavement than Death Cab, definitely more Clerks than Singles. Bursting with hand-numbered limited edition vinyl pressings, highly scientific pie charts, Woody Allen quotes, Douglas Sirk retrospectives, a Sheezer guest appearence and loads and loads of poutine, Pinkerton is finally available in English following (moderate) success and (relative) critical acclaim in its initial French-language run.

The perfect gift for your breakup partner.

Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau is a glutton for culture. He has been a film critic for Panorama-cinéma since 2004, and hosts a weekly radio show in Montréal, which he has called home since 2005. His comics work, done largely in collaboration with François Samson-Dunlop, includes the self-published strip collection Douze amertumes, and comics published in 24 images, Tout va bien and Fonte. Pinkerton, his first full-length graphic novel, was inspired by a heartbreak he has since gotten over.

When he’s not making propaganda comics about Quebec’s political landscape through obscure movie references, François Samson-Dunlop programs weekly jazz radio shows and draws strips largely plagiarized from old Life in Hell strips (he just hopes nobody in the French-speaking diaspora will notice). Pinkerton is believed to be his first long-form work. Previous works includes Philadelphia – une histoire sans complexe, a foreboding tale about the current student crisis in Quebec, as well as other short comic strips with long-time collaborator Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau.

Pinkerton
By Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau and Francois Samson-Dunlop
$15.00 Softcover • 162 pages black and white
ISBN 978-2-924001-28-8
Publication Date: May 5, 2012

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Sophie Yanow, [email protected]

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 7PM
Mission: Comics and Art
3520 20th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 695-1545
http://www.missioncomicsandart.com

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 5PM
The Escapist Comic Bookstore
3090 Claremont Ave
Berkeley, CA, 94705
(510) 652-6642
http://www.escapistcomics.com

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 7PM
Spine and Crown Books
315 E. Pine St.
Seattle, WA 98122
1 (206) 322-1227
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spine-and-Crown-Books/213665755504

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 7PM
Lucky’s Comics
3972 Main Street
Vancouver, BC V5V 3P2
CANADA
(604) 875-9858
http://www.luckys.ca

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 8PM
The Waypost
3120 N. Williams Ave
Portland, OR 97227
(503) 367-3182
http://www.thewaypost.com

SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 6PM
Floating World Comics
400 NW Couch St
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 241-0227
http://www.floatingworldcomics.com