Taddle Creek #32 Comix Supplement

by Ethan Rilly, Dave Lapp, Michael Cho, Jason Turner, Jason Kieffer, Joe Ollmann, Maurice Vellekoop, Corey McCallum, Matthew Daley, and David Collier

Just in time for TCAF this year, the fine people at Taddle Creek have put together a terrific broadsheet comics supplement to their latest volume; seven massive pages of comics for only $2.  I always enjoy Taddle Creek's fiction and reporting, but the way it's embraced the Toronto comics scene is something that's always endeared me to the magazine.

The first strip (shown in the image) is by Ethan Rilly, of Pope Hats fame.  It's about a stained glass artist who is so unhappy with his creation that he feels compelled to destroy it.  This story would not feel out of place in an issue of Adrian Tomine's Optic Nerve, as it has many of the same sensibilities.

Dave Lapp, the most regular of Taddle Creek contributors, has a nice strip about an incident from his childhood, when he got in trouble for drawing 'Dirty Drawings' in his classroom.

Michael Cho, one of Toronto's greatest cartoonists, has a nice little piece about a man looking back at his youth, and the way the ever-changing city has cut him off from many of his memories, although that's not exactly a bad thing.  I love his stuff.

Jason Kieffer, who is probably the perfect person to adapt Rob Ford's story into a graphic novel (since it would fit nicely with his Zanta! and The Rabble of Downtown Toronto), adapts an Achomawi legend to the comics page.

David Collier contributes a page of reminiscences about the Toronto Reference Library (home to TCAF), and the joys of looking through old bound newspapers and comics.

There are other strips here, but these are the ones that stood out to me as the most memorable and most impressive.  I hope this is something that Taddle Creek chooses to do again, as I loved it.

For readers outside of Toronto, you can check out the comics here.

Taddle Creek No. 29

Edited by Conan Tobias

It's always cause for excitement when a new issue of Taddle Creek shows up in my mailbox.  I like supporting this most local of literary magazines (although I feel that they are really relaxing the rules around where contributors have to live, and have stopped including the specific neighbourhood of residence in each author's bio), and am always rewarded with some very good fiction, and some decent comics.

This time around, the best piece in the magazine by far is Emily Schultz's 'The Side Sleeper', a fictional portrait of a woman who moves through life lying and stealing from just about everyone she meets.  She's found a new man, who she is happy to spend her nights with, but she's already back to her usual habits of deceiving him, and swiping objects from his home.  This is an excellent story.

Many of the other excellent stories were incredibly short, often only one page in length.  This includes great tales by Tony Burgess, Alexandra Leggat, and Gary Barwin.  Stuart Ross's one-pager is classic Stuart Ross, if you like that kind of thing (I don't think I do).

In terms of longer pieces, there is a nice one by Zoe Whittall which is narrated by a girl whose father was just arrested for his improprieties, and by Jessica Westhead, who shares a story about a family gathering at a Chinese buffet.

Marguerite Pigeon writes an interesting story about a woman who meets her double one day on the street, except unlike the narrator, this woman has a child.  Matthew Firth's story is about a Canadian man living in Scotland who can't handle his upstairs neighbours, a pair of Greek brothers who like to wrestle with each other.

In terms of comics, Joe Ollmann gives us 'Movie Night', about his relationship with his son, and Jason Kieffer provides his recipe for do it yourself nude pickling.  I think the nudity is optional.  Dave Lapp writes about the first engagement ring he ever bought, and also provides us with a collection of his recent Biblical drawings, which are rather strange.

There is also an interview with novelist Grace O'Connell (who is adorable), and a piece on the design elements that the cartoonist Seth incorporated into his wife's new barber shop in Guelph Ontario.  There is also a great deal of poetry to read, and enjoy.

In all, a very worthy magazine, and well worth the $6 you will pay for it on the stands.

Zanta the Living Legend

by Jason Kieffer

Toronto has a proud history of being home to many a street-corner eccentric, and it appears that cartoonist Jason Kieffer has taken on the task of chronicling them through his cartoons.  Kieffer is best known in the city for his controversial book The Rabble of Downtown Toronto, a field guide to the downtown's homeless, drug addicts, and harmless weirdos.  Now, he's turned his gaze on one of our most storied folk, Zanta.

For people not from the city, Zanta is a muscle-bound man who, from 2003 at least until 2008, would pop up around the city, yelling at people, and performing very theatrical push-ups.  I distinctly remember eating lunch at Maison du Croissant (man I miss that place) watching him block traffic while yelling at cars and doing push-ups in the middle of the intersection at Yonge and Gerard.

Zanta was immediately recognizable - he was always wearing just a pair of shorts, a pair of boots, and a Santa hat, no matter the weather.  He often performed his calisthenics on top of newspaper boxes, or upside down in the subway, while making a hydraulic noise, or wishing everyone a "Merry Christmess".

Kieffer's book consists of a few sections.  It begins with a graphic novel transcription of a long interview Kieffer conducted with the man in 2006.  They discuss Zanta's love for this 'character', and he chronicles his many issues with Toronto Police Services and the Toronto Transit Commission's Constabulary.  As time went by, Zanta became banned from an increasingly large section of the downtown core, and TTC property excluding bus routes.  Much of the interview is made up of Zanta defending his actions.

The second section is more straight-forward transcription of a radio interview Zanta gave while locked up in the Don Jail.  In this part of the book, Zanta seems much more mentally ill than he does in the first; gone is the harmless eccentric, replaced by the ravings of a man who seems pretty deluded.

Later, we check in with Zanta when he is free once again, and see that the constant police harassment has broken the man.  That there is no indication that he ever received any kind of useful support or assistance can be seen as an indictment on our whole city.

Still, Kieffer paints Zanta as the type of person who makes the city exciting and unique.  He suggests that we need these types of characters in our lives, and is sympathetic to the man throughout.  This is a fun read, and a nice reminder of an aspect of our city that I haven't seen in many years, and that I miss.

The Rabble of Downtown Toronto

by Jason Kieffer

Every once in a while, you come across a book or film, with a central concept that you immediately wish you'd been the one to think of, followed closely by wondering why no one else had ever done it before. Jason Kieffer's field guide to Toronto street people is exactly that project. When I saw it advertised on The Beguiling's website, I knew I had to buy it.

The concept of this book is sound. Each double-page spread features a different individual, with a close-up illustration of their face and a map demarkating their usual territory make up the first page, while the second has a full-body illustration, annotated by little arrows pointing out unique features of the individual. Below that are notes as to their behaviour patterns, or history, if it is known.

Upon getting the book, I went through a few different reactions. At first, I thought it was funny in a juvenile, immature sort of way. Then, I started to fear that the book was pretty mean-spirited, pointing fun at the people within it and mocking their sad conditions. As I read through it though, I began to see that Kieffer was allowing his subjects to be somewhat 'in' on the joke, as his affection for them began to show through. I do think that a more responsible editing job should have removed entries like 'Retarded Crackhead', and instead focused the book on the more recognizable eccentrics of the city, like Zanta.

When reading a book like this, it's impossible to not make up your own list of characters you would include. While they are both dead now, I kept hoping to see Ben Kerr (the guy who used to sing on the corner of Yonge and Bloor and who ran for mayor many times) or Crad Kilodney (the author who used to sell his self-published books of short stories)(EDIT: I've just learned that Kilodney is not dead, he's just on the internet). I also expected to see the guy who hangs out in front of the entrance to the parking garage under Nathan Phillips Square with a rat or five hanging out on his shoulders and arms.

The book is by no means complete, and does not add anything of merit to any learned discussion of issues like homelessness, drug addiction, or mental health on the streets of Toronto, but it did make me smile a few times, and sadly may be the only lasting testament to the existence of many of these individuals. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that.

Taddle Creek

Christmas 2009

This is my first regular issue of Taddle Creek (my previous experience being limited to the comics issue), and I'm pleased with it. I've been feeling the need to be more connected with the city, in terms of the arts that it produces, and this periodical scratches that itch quite nicely (one of the stories is set blocks from where I grew up).

What I liked about this issue:

Why, Zanta?... Why?... is a wonderful comic treatment of Zanta, the notorious Toronto character, known for doing push-ups on the streets of Toronto wearing shorts and a Santa hat. It's done by Jason Kieffer, whose book on local street people will be the subject of a posting in another week or so.

Terry Murray has a nice piece about Merle Foster, the Toronto sculptress and philanthropist.

There is a collection of four of Michael Cho's alley scenes. I bought two of these prints at the first TCAF I attended, and it's really nice to see more of these being displayed. They are wonderful pieces of art.

Nathaniel G. Moore has a couple of excerpts from his new work Savage. These pieces about a boy growing up in North Leaside were like a direct injection of nostalgia. I will definitely keep an eye out for the finished product.

The other stories in this issue, by Heather Hogan, Cary Fagan, and Stacey May Fowles were also all decent efforts.

In all, a very good magazine, well worth picking up.