Toronto Comic Arts Festival

The amazing TCAF is happening May 8-9th. Reasons to go, organized via flavours of nerds:

Comix nerds: It’s got an amazing array of international talent and all the local lights as well.
Book nerds: It’s at the newly renovated Toronto Reference Library, with new rooms and facilities to wonder at.
Game nerds: The Torontron will be there alongside the Hand Eye Society table.
No Media Kings nerds: Shannon and I will be there selling & signing Sword and chatting on panels
Cheap nerds: It’s free.

UPDATE: I am doing two panels on Saturday:

The Spirit of Indie: Where Comics Meet Video Games
Saturday, May 8th, 2:00 – 2:45pm, The Pilot

There’s more to the game industry than blockbuster, multi-system titles just as there’s more to comics than Batman. This panel
seeks to explore the ways in which independent comic artists and game developers have influenced each other and spurred each other on to explore the possibilities of their medium. Cartoonists/game contributors and creators Scott Campbell, Jamie McKelvie, Jim Munroe, and Miguel Sternberg will be interviewed by games journalist Matthew Kumar.

Tracers, Photoshoppers, Cut & Pasters: Cheaters or Revolutionaries
Saturday, May 8th, 3:30 – 4:15pm, Novella Room

Comic artistry has traditionally valued drawing things with nothing but a pen and raw illustrative talent. But people working from photoreferences, using digital tools and collaging techniques are producing some of the most innovative and beautiful work in the comic world. Does this diversify comic expression and represent an unshackling from the draftstable? Or is it just cheating? Four non-traditional comic artists discuss this and their approach to comic making. Featuring Shannon Gerard, Emily Horne, Sonja Ahlers, Ryan North, and moderator Jim Munroe.