Friday night we stopped by Hanleys to say hi to Bryan Talbot and get our copy of ALICE IN SUNDERLAND signed. It was an odd day, as the signing almost had to be cancelled when someone jumped out of the Empire State Building across the street. Only one leg made it all the way to the street, but it landed right across from Hanleys. Brrrrrr…we managed to snag an invite to dinner afterwards with Bryan and his wife Mary, who is a doctor of linguistics and got to grill Bryan with all kind of questions on how he managed to create this singular masterpiece.
Apparently the book has gotten tons of attention in England, where it was published by the UK arm of Random House. (The acquiring editor is also Salmon Rushdie’s editor.) Recounting as it does the history of Sunderland, a rather little known part of England, the book has made Talbot a local hero, with a gallery show and numerous cover stories in the local papers. It’s already broken even sales-wise, we’re told.
Anyway, you can have your very OWN evening with Bryan Talbot tonight in Toronto. Considering that he’s truly one of the unsung masters of the comics form (and an early adapter of the graphic novel format itself) we highly recommend checking it out:
Alice in Sunderland
A Conversation with Bryan Talbot
In support of his new graphic novel ALICE IN SUNDERLAND
Monday, April 16th, 2007, 6PM
The Merril Collection (Lillian H. Smith Library, 239 College St.)
Free to attend.
Hosted by SPACE’s Mark Askwith
Bryan Talbot is coming to Toronto! The creator of One Bad Rat, Luther Arkwright, and the artist of The Sandman Special #1: The Song of Orpheus is touring North America in support of his massive new graphic novel, Alice In Sunderland.
Talbot will be doing a presentation from the work, and will be interviewed on stage by Mark Askwith from the SPACE channel.
We’re very excited to see such an esteemed creator visiting us all the way from the U.K., so save the date and make sure to come out for this rare appearance. Both The Tale of One Bad Rat and the brand-new Alice In Sunderland are available for sale at The Beguiling now!
I didn’t like the first Luther Arkwright book. I still can’t read it all the way through. I basically wrote him off. However, when Talbot did A Tale of One Bad Rat, he blew the doors off. Glad to see you mention that he’s one of the unsung masters of comics. I even LOVED his sequel to Luther Arkwright. I just wish he was faster!!!
…and if you asked him lots of questions, do you have some kind of interview on the way? I’d love to read it. I don’t think I’ve ever read any interviews with the guy, although the letters column in the sequel to Luther Arkwright were fun to read.
The Toronto lecture/signing was very fun. If you’ll pardon the self-plugulation, my thoughts on it are here.
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