GOING POSTAL — indie comics

It must be over a year ago now that Alex, the brains behind Phicno.com, contacted me via Twitter to see if I would be interested in selling and promoting 'Alexandra Forever' through Phicno, a platform he informed was tailored to help indie community. I will admit that I didn't give it much thought at the time. As with many creators I hold down a full time job that pays the bills while being chief cook and bottle washer for the nearly full time hobby that is my passion. There's not a lot of spare time for exploring potential new avenues...

  In Ottawa’s touristy Market district, a rare driveway-width alley runs almost unnoticed directly off of Murray Street. Between Navarra Restaurant and Not Your Father’s Barber, it leads to a tight and gravely patch of uneven land that is home to four parking spots and one story, all but windowless, beige, stuccoed, crisped edged box of a building. Once a dance school, the building that Ottawa Brands calls home couldn’t be better situated and better suited for Donald Lanouette’s needs. He’s the company’s owner-manager. Insulated by surrounding buildings, it is very quiet back there, in spite of being downtown. Entry...

  One thing that stood out to me in the month of October was the number of comic book related articles which weren’t coming from the usual sources like ComicBookResources.com or Comicbook.com. Media outlets with mastheads involving the name ‘Herald’ seemed predominant. I take it as a telling sign that comic book culture has hit the mainstream. I particularly love to see press far from the usual comic book hot spots reporting on pop culture events. I love local press. Whether it’s Herald and News article on the comic con being held in the Klamath County Library in Oregon or,...

Last week we saw something new. It seems that pop culture may have turned a corner. Earlier this month Montreal's UNTTLD label won a Star Wars fashion week contest with a Leia-inspired bikini dress. Designers José Manuel St-Jacques and Simon Bélanger were awarded the $15,000 prize on Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion Week. [LINK] "We decided to empower Leia and bring back the chain and make a dress out of it that's somewhat armour, somewhat very sexy," said St-Jacques. "When something is so iconic, it's easier for people to understand where you started," said Bélanger. We’ve actually seen Star Wars on the...

Upon review of the last two weeks of comic book news I’d have to say that it is the diversity of the latest entrants into the art-and-commerce melange that is the comic book industry which stands out. If you follow me on Twitter or Google Plus, you’ll know what I’m referring to (hint: it is not small independent publishers). If we can glean anything from the past couple of weeks it has become clear that the growing interest in all things comic book has not yet even begun to crest. Comic books are transitioning from pop culture to the mainstream....