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TCAF

MAY 8, 2011
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is held at the Central Library every May. I've been attending with my son Jacob for the past couple of years. It's an incredibly intense pooling of talent. I started out as a cartoonist and walking through this event is humbling and awe-inspiring at the same time.
Chris Ware, Jillian Tamaki ( who did this year's poster), Chester Brown and Michael Cho, to name a few, were amongst the exhibitors this year.
Toronto is a central hub for a lot of independent comic publishers. What I love about this festival is that its focus is on the indies and not the traditional muscle-bound underwear clad superheroes. And hey - it's free, too! This year's festival is a bit crowded, the first floor of the library is undergoing renovations, so the attendance was elbow to elbow.
I ran into Aaron Leighton, drawing on a huge mural with Trio Magnus behind the winding central staircase.

My find of the day was Even the Giants by Jesse Jacobs (Adhouse Books), beautiful and hypnotic drawings. I also had a great time seeing PEC Comix Jam collaborator Niall Eccles and his Character of the Day exhibit, who designed a 3-D poster to commemorate the event.
 
Last year we went Sunday, it was much less crowded and there was a lot more opportunity to talk with the artists. If you are in Toronto, it is a must-see event.

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