One touch is never enough.

365 days of lovers!

Wilson.

When I was growing up I always suffered the embarrassment of my father talking to anyone who would listen... my Dad talks more to the person sitting on the other side of him than me when we attend baseball games... if you ask him why... the response will be the same every time... "I find people interesting."... in that way my father and I are polar opposites... I avoid talking to strangers at all costs... maybe that's why I've spent the past 20 years with headphones on... I just make fun of strangers to the person I'm with... and on occasion to their face... it depends on my level of intoxication at the time... and shockingly enough... up until this point I haven't had my ass kicked... and while I was reading the new graphic novel Wilson by Daniel Clowes... I thought to myself... he is exactly what my Dad and I would become if you could combine our personalities... it would be like releasing the ultimate talkative asshole accentuating negativity on society at every turn... but lucky for society... this will never happen... that doesn't mean we can't read about it and live vicariously through a cartoon character... Wilson is a 40 year old divorced loner... a loud mouth that will disrespect anyone willing to listen... and once again Clowes has developed a character that is self loathing and cynical... similar to Enid Coleslaw in his breakthrough novel Ghost World... Wilson is 71 standalone strips that shift styles and is Daniel's first book in five years... published by Drawn & Quarterly... and for some reason he chose a small publisher out of Montreal rather than a New York giant which he was used to with Pantheon... I'm sure this will end up on many best seller lists... and people everywhere will be laughing out loud at what it contains... and some... like myself... might just identify with him.
You can buy a copy of Wilson here.

Marta Chudolinska.

There is a unwritten rule about supporting your friends when it comes to their artistic endeavours... no matter how bad... but after seeing your friends band or gallery opening... you put on a smiling face and tell them how great they are for pursuing their dream... no matter what you might actually think... and I've done this more times than I can count... mostly at art shows while drinking wine that no doubt came from a box and secretly wishing I was somewhere else... but that all changed on Saturday afternoon... for the first time... someone I actually know made something worth while... I was attending the The Toronto Comic Arts Festival... mostly to buy a copy of Wilson... the new book by Daniel Clowes and to meet the man himself... but there was another surprise waiting for me... I walked through the front door to find a familiar face... Marta Chudolinska was selling her book Back + Forth with a little man holding a sign behind her announcing her nomination for a Doug Wright Award in the Best Book category... and I suppose Marta is far too modest for her own good... because this was the first time I heard of this... but if it was me and my name was mentioned alongside Seth and Marc Bell... everyone would have heard about it... whether they wanted to or not... and while waiting in what felt like a never ending line up for Daniel Clowes I read Back + Forth... a wordless graphic novel that is made up of 90 linocuts... a print making technique where images are carved into linoleum and pressed onto paper... in which Marta takes you down a recognizable road... a story that is familiar to so many of us... similar stories in my life that I've tried so hard to forget... yet Marta has courageously bounded them in a book for everyone to see... while going through the captivating images Marta pulls you into her life... so much so that you feel you're on an adventure with her while she's asleep and awake... locking horns with life and coming to terms with a failing relationship... a heart-wrenching and beautiful story by an amazing lady... a friend that is finally worth supporting.
Marta lives and works in Toronto... and you can buy a copy of her book here.