TCAF Laffs ’09
by Dan Nadel
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
PictureBox alighted to Toronto for the weekend to set up shop, sell books, and enjoy a comics “vacation.” I drove up with Frank Santoro and Dash Shaw. Many things were discussed. We went to see Star Trek. It was very excellent. We ate hamburgers (twice, Hodler!) and enjoyed the company of our colleagues. Also, there were back issues to be had at The Beguiling. Always with the back issues.
Two handsome men and a lot of books. 
Which one of us bought these? I bet you can guess…
Tom Devlin reserves judgment.
Comic critic enforcers Jeet Heer and Bill Kartalopoulos loom large over PictureBox.
A fleeing Gabrielle Bell says “maybe” to Frank’s generous offer to collaborate on a Cold Heat Special. “Maybe means maybe,” says Bell!All in all, a truly excellent weekend. TCAF is the best comics festival in North America — it’s cosmopolitan but still feels very community oriented. Everyone retreats to one bar, everyone is accessible. It’s really quite nice. So hats off to Chris, Peter, and the whole crew.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that my favorite surprise of the show was the English translation of Francois Ayroles’ Key Moments from the History of Comics. The Beguiling published this little chapbook, which contains one page cartoons mostly focusing on the great American and European cartoonists. It’s perhaps my favorite work of general comics history in years. A real gem. I have no idea how to get it, though I suspect it will soon be available from The Beguiling itself.
Labels: Bill Kartalopolous, Dash Shaw, Francois Ayroles, Frank Santoro, Gabrielle Bell, great comics stores, hamburgers, Jeet Heer, TCAF, The Beguiling, Tom Devlin
Hey Dan, good time hanging out with you and the boyz. I have too many comics to read now.
You know, I eat things besides hamburgers sometimes, Dan. I cooked a pretty great chipotle-rubbed skirt steak on the Weber this weekend, if I do say so myself, and grilled some apples and bread to put in a salad with arugula, blue cheese, and grapes. (Come to think of it, we ate that salad twice, too.)
I successfully avoided Star Trek, which I may not have been able to do if I went with you. That’s really the only reason I’m glad I didn’t go to Toronto, though.
For the record, I’ve never seen Tim eat anything other than a hamburger. His claims above would need to be supported by witnesses.
Nice to meet you at TCAF. That Dalton book is mighty sweet, the inside cover is alive. Keep up the great work!
TCAF really is the best festival in North America.
and…The Beguiling is AWESOME!!
I found a whole set of Star*Reach!!, haha!
and Dash got me to buy
Ghost in a Shell 2: Electric Bugaloo
and, for the record, I had a veggie burger.
and, man, does Toronto have some good used book stores with really awesome stuff. A real walkin’ around talkin’ comics town.
Wow this gigantic Anya Davidson portfolio thing that you guys had for sale is currently kicking the shit out of me. Thanks! Who is she? What is her deal???
Anya Davidson is a cartoonist/musician in Chicago introduced to me by C.F. She’s very prolific and very, very, very good.
Hmm TCAF is lovely but a bit of a stretch to say it's the best comics gathering in all of North America.
I really enjoyed this audio interview with Dash Shaw (although you may have heard enough of his voice on the drive to Toronto).
http://tci.libsyn.com/index.php?post_year=2006&post_month=08
It’s not a stretch at all. The single most professionally run show I’ve been too. Consistently fun. The only thing missing was Fanta.
This isn’t a slight to SDCC which is amazing. SDCC just doesn’t have the intimacy that makes this show.
Word.