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Posts Tagged Chromatic Press

Sparkler Monthly Launches With New Chapters of Off*Beat, and Multiple Series’ Debuts

Sparkler Monthly Launches With New Chapters of Off*Beat, and Multiple Series' Debuts

Back in February I posted an interview with comic creator, Jen Lee Quick – best known for her series, Off*Beat – as part of the launch of Chromatic Press. Yesterday the new publisher launched issue number one of their digital multimedia magazine, Sparkler Monthly.

Issue #001
Issue #000 (Preview)

This first issue – which is free for everyone to read – includes the long-awaited new chapter of Off*Beat (yay!), and the first chapter of Christy Lijewski’s new comic series, Dire Hearts. It also has the newest chapter of their prose story, Tokyo Demons, (which I’ve written about previously) and premieres another prose story, Gauntlet, and a new audio drama, Awake.

As a disclaimer, I am currently working with Chromatic Press and got to help do some work on their Sparkler series. I was completely smitten with the goal of the publisher, and the staff and creators who made it up, so I was quick to offer what help I could at the beginning. I’m thrilled to be a part of it. I hope readers and listeners enjoy all the content already available and stick around as a subscriber for all the continuing goodies.

Information about submitting work for consideration to the magazine can be read on their website, along with subscription information.


TCAF 2013 Report – Comics, Comics, Everywhere!

TCAF 2013 Report - Comics, Comics, Everywhere!

Last weekend was  the Toronto Comics Art Festival – a “celebration of comics and graphic novels and their creators, which culminates in a two-day exhibition and vendor fair featuring hundreds of comics creators from around the world.”. Summed up, TCAF is an event where comic creators and lovers from around the world come together to celebrate and adore all things comic-related. And it’s wonderful!

This was my third year attending and the show continues to impress, getting bigger and better every time. Thankfully it’s yet to ever waver in the consistency of it’s spirit – this is an event free from the Hollywood and mainstream influence that shadow over comic conventions such as NYCC. Thousands and thousands of people, all crowding (quite calmly and politely) into a library. It’s all about the comics and the creators, and there was no shortage of art to buy and people to talk to.

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Showcase: Tokyo Demons

Showcase: Tokyo Demons

Welcome to the first instalment of a new feature for Kuriousity – Showcase! I’ve been wanting to start something like this for a long time and hopefully it’s the start of many interesting things to come. In these columns, which will have no discernible frequency or scheduling (like everything else here – always a surprise!), I’ll be taking a look at some different independent projects that I think readers here at Kuriousity would enjoy. It might be a comic, it might be a novel, it might be a web comic – who knows! I’m a huge fan of self-published creators and hope to introduce great stories to new fans, promote a creator’s work and have a chance to rave about some favourites.

The first title I’m writing about has not only rekindled the fiction lover in me – who has been buried far too long – but is also well-timed as one of the flagship titles for the newly announced, Chromatic PressTokyo Demons.

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Back in Off*Beat Business: An Interview With Jen Lee Quick

Off*beat

Back in January I was able to share the news that Jen Lee Quick’s Off*beat series would be going back to print, and with the long-awaited third volume finally being released after some long legal struggles. Today I’m pleased to say that not only do we now have more details about these upcoming books but also an interview with the creator herself!

Jen Lee Quick, comic artist and creator off Off*beat, and the staff of the newly announced, Chromatic Press – the publishing company behind the series’ new editions – were kind enough to organize an interview for me so I could ask some questions about the past, present and future of one of my favourite graphic novel series.

You can read the full interview after the cut, as well as see a bonus Off*beat image by Jen drawn just for this interview!

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