Delisle Goes in new Direction with Muybridge
By Dan Brown Muybridge is a funny, thought-provoking portrait of a little-known historical figure that represents an interesting departure for Quebec comic maker Guy Delisle. Delisle, who lives in France, originally made his name with travelogues – like Pyongyang – and his volumes about sloppy parenting. In Factory Summers, he told the story of his teen years. With the exception of 2017’s Hostage, he has not focused on a main character other than himself. Now comes Muybridge, an inventor who was unknown to me before now. Published this spring, the new release is a biography of one of the pioneering minds who helped usher in the age of the photograph, as well as moving pictures – Englishman Eadweard Muybridge. I loved it. I should put my cards on the table: I feel the same way about pretty much all of Delisle’s output. His work has always been strong, in my opinion. And Muybridge – the book, not the man – may also be a bridge to a new kind of storytelling for Delisle. The most interesting bits of the narrative are the parts where Deslisle admits the historical record is incomplete. He does the best he can to recreate Muybridge and his times, but there are moments when he calls attention to the constructed nature of his account. There’s also no question Delisle imbues his central character with some of his own traits. That’s part of the fun. At one point, Delisle says the death of Muybridge’s wife “must have weighed heavily on him,” yet he doesn’t know for sure what he was feeling in that moment. Muybridge was one of the key innovators who helped solve a hotly debated question in the 1800s: Do a horse’s four hooves all leave the ground at the same time when the animal is at full gallop? You and I are used to a media-saturated world in which there are movies about horses, and races like the Kentucky Derby are televised. So keep in mind this was a period when good, old-fashioned painting was only gradually losing its status as the most important representation of reality. The story begins with the advent of early photos such as daguerreotypes. The same guy was also the accused in one of the most sensational murder trials of his day. In Delisle’s telling, he is tenacious and adaptable. Dealt a setback, it’s only a matter of time before he rises again. Along the way, Delisle refuses to play at omniscience in his narrative, reminding the reader multiple times of the gaps in his knowledge. On an early jaunt to France, for instance, Delisle depicts Muybridge peering in the window of a camera studio. Delisle asks, “Is that when he began practicing photography? We don’t know.” (If you’ve ever read Alice Munro's short stories, you’ll have noticed the same kind of narrative uncertainty, so it may be one of the writing quirks that marks Delisle as distinctively Canadian.) Muybridge lived from 1830 to 1904. We may think of those decades as somehow uneventful or idyllic, but it was an age of rapid change. It saw the invention of mass-market photography, recorded music, the paint tube, motion pictures, naughty photos, the phonograph (if the book has a villain, it’s Thomas Edison, who doesn’t come off well), impressionism, colour photography, and animation. I also enjoyed the parts in which Delisle uses comic panels to represent individual frames of a moving picture – he even gives a nod to the film The Matrix as one source of inspiration, driving the point home that Muybridge’s contributions were foundational. As I said, I wasn’t aware of Muybridge until I picked up the book. I recommend it. The truth is, I don’t believe there’s a person or topic Guy Delisle couldn’t make interesting. If you haven’t read his stuff, check him out. This comic creator is a national treasure. Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 32 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
Make The Bay Stripes Affordable Again
By Dan Brown I have a brilliant idea. Humble, right? But bear with me. It’s my belief Canadian Tire has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to honour Canadian culture while making an honest buck at the same time. The folks who run Canadian Tire can do so by making the Bay stripes affordable again. Let me explain. You may have heard how the iconic hardware chain recently bought the intellectual property of another retailer, the now-defunct Hudson’s Bay Company – or the Bay, as it was known to my generation of Canadians. Maybe you read about the Bay going out of business, or even went to one of their stores, like the location in Masonville Place, in search of last-minute bargains. The Bay has been imploding in public for the last few months, but my point here isn’t to heap scorn on the bosses for running the venerable department-store firm into the ground. I’d rather focus on the future. For the reported low price of $30 million, Canadian Tire now has the rights to the Bay’s intellectual property, including its iconic green, red, yellow and indigo stripes. If you’re of a certain age, like I am, you would recognize the pattern instantly. They’ve appeared on all kinds of Bay wares, most famously its blankets – the history of which predates Canada itself – but also coats, mittens, book bags, and other items such as coffee mugs. In a way, the Bay’s iconic stripes are even more Canadian than the maple leaf. But in the last few years, the Bay has had a tough row to hoe. They were losing ground to internet retailers, and instead of going populist – like, say, Walmart – they purposely went upscale, alienating many customers, including yours truly. Before the bankruptcy sale, I hadn’t been to a Bay store since about 2009. I’m not rich enough to shop there on the regular for stuff like clothes. Say what you will, but I can’t justify spending $100 or more on a shirt I can get at Winners for $20 or something similar at Goodwill for less than $10. The Bay tried to capture affluent shoppers, and in the deal they priced items with the stripes on them out of the reach of most of us. They gambled by going upmarket, offering merch the average Canadian couldn’t afford, and the result is a firm that was founded in 1670 has finally reached the end of the road. Here’s where Canadian Tire comes in. The tire retailer can breathe new life into the stripes by offering items that aren’t overpriced. Besides, expensive stripes would look out of place in Canadian Tire stores since it’s not that kind of place. Everyday people still shop at Canadian Tire. Canadian Tire is all about utility, so pricey, upscale merch wouldn’t make sense on their shelves. This is the company whose mascot is Sandy McTire – the “flinty” Scot always looking for a deal. Why do I care? Because in a very real sense, the Hudson’s Bay stripes belong to every Canadian. I’m not saying we’re owed cheap deals, but I am urging Canadian Tire to heed the example of the Bay and not emulate it. The Bay targeted the Richie Riches in this country, and where did it get them? That strategy is surely one of the reasons contributing to their demise. Canadian Tire has defied the odds by thriving in the age of online shopping. If the brain trust that runs Canadian Tire stores is smart, they’ll find a way to sell us nostalgia at a price point we can all afford. Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 32 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
GNG Assembles to Talk Mister X
By Dan Brown SPOILER WARNING: This column contains plot details from Dean Motter’s Mister X: The Modern Age, so stop reading right now if you value surprise! Here’s the lowdown on the most recent meeting of the L.A. Mood Graphic-Novel Group, which was held Saturday, June 14. The book: Dean Motter’s Mister X: The Modern Age, which collects all of the Mister X stories published by Dark Horse Comics. The discussion: The full range of opinions was represented around the table. There were people, like me, who love the book. There were others who felt meh – who didn’t give the book a thumb up or down, but a sideways thumb. And there were some who didn’t even feel motivated enough to finish reading the 360-page tome. Gord Mood, L.A. Mood’s co-owner, argued for including Mister X on the 2025 reading list at our January pitch meeting. He is among those who love it. Gord also brought some examples of Motter’s early work from Media 5 when he was a student at Fanshawe College. (Late Town Crier Bill Paul published that sci-fi fan publication.) I knew very little about the character beforehand. Knowing it had been praised for blending film noir, Art Deco and German Expressionism, I was expecting something ponderous and pretentious. Wrong! In my view, it’s an amazing graphic novel. DC can only wish that Batman were as cool as Mister X! It takes place in Radiant City, where it always seems to be 4 a.m. Its nickname is Somnopolis, because of the large number of residents who can’t sleep. The title character is possibly one of the original architects who founded Radiant City, it’s never made clear. The closest he gets to revealing his identity is when he states, “I want to fix my city. I want it to run as designed.” The problem? The city’s architecture is driving its residents insane. None of this, of course, is meant to be taken literally – which Gord’s business partner Carol Vandenberg touched on when she mentioned the humour of the book. The key, for me, was to not take anything in the book at face value. I appreciated how Mister X is a riot of invention. Some members of the group pointed out the many references in the story. For example, one robot who shows up is an homage to Gort from The Day The Earth Stood Still. 1984 is referenced, as well as CanCon icon Nash the Slash. The characters have the clipped speech of detectives in films from the 1940s: “You’re the man without a name,” an interrogator tells Mister X. “That’s what I’m called,” the mystery man replies. Even better, Motter adds his own creative touches, elevating The Modern Age to a level above a mashup. Mister X is an insomnalin addict, meaning if he doesn’t feed his habit, and falls asleep, he will automatically die. There are insomnatoriums on each block. Zombycillin is a drug that can bring the dead to life. Pscychetecture describes the style of buildings in Radiant City and how they torture the human mind. Further reading: Instead of reading, I would say watch Blade Runner or episodes from Batman: The Animated Series, as well as Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie. L.A. Mood’s Graphic-Novel Group meets the second Saturday of each month. Next month’s selection is Roaming, by cousin creators Jilliam and Mariko Tamaki. We continue our streak of Canadian books established in recent months! We’ll reconvene July 12 at the gaming tables in the store at 11 a.m. All are invited to come join the discussion! Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 32 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
New Pokémon Card Collection Available Starting Saturday, June 14 at 10 AM
New Pokémon Collection Available Starting Saturday, June 14 at 10 AM We have big news! L A Mood has purchased a large collection of vintage English and Japanese Pokémon Wizards of The Coast Era cards. This is your big chance to purchase those rare and hard to find cards. Don't miss out. This collection will be available in store and the following week select cards will be added online. Visit early for best selection! Watch for future emails and Facebook posts for more reveals. This collection will be available in store and the following week select cards will be added online. Visit early for best selection! Watch for future emails and Facebook posts for more reveals.
We are Drowning in Acronyms, LOL
By Dan Brown Have you heard about Donald Trump’s OBBB? Apparently the signature legislation from POTUS may be DOA in the Senate because some legislators object to the SALT and SNAP provisions. If you read those sentences without thinking “WTF?” then you, my friend, have adjusted to life in the Age of the Acronym. Or TAOTA for short. I just made that up. The things are everywhere. You can’t get through the day without running into at least a few of them. If you drive a car, you worry about how many MPG it gets. They also stand for institutions like banks – think TD and BMO. Other acronyms represent such media outlets as CTV, CNN, ABC, and MSNBC. They even stand for people – one of Trump’s most vocal critics is AOC. And apparently RFK’s goal is to MAHA. An early adopter were the four Swedes in the band ABBA. Back then, in the 1970s, acronyms were relatively rare – and fun. They still had some weight because they were found only in a specialized context. The members of the generation growing up back then encountered words like NASA and SCUBA. If you knew what the letters stood for, you belonged to a segment of the population that was educated. Since those days, they’ve multiplied faster than rabbits. You can now find them in every situation. As a 2022 movie’s title indicates, they are EEAAO. In the entertainment sphere, we went from mellow AOR sounds to NWA over the decades. Heck, there was even an X-rated song in the pandemic years titled WAP (you might not wanna look that one up). Another early adopter was the RPG industry, which included the makers of D&D. They have given us terminology like NPC that has now migrated to video games – think WOW or COD, among the more popular titles. They once served a clear purpose. Since the tendency of language is to become more efficient, they made communications faster. Then they really took off when the internet and texting became the dominant ways of getting a message across. LOL. But what’s not funny is how, unfortunately, bureaucrats also seized on them as a way to hide meaning rather than make things clearer. KIA and MIA are anodyne terms that mask a much darker reality, although there was something poetic about CREEP, it was the perfect contraction to describe Richard Nixon’s re-election effort. We’re at the point where a lot of reverse-engineering goes on, too. Some minor government official or political professional will choose a pre-existing word, then come up with the words it stands for, not the other way around. An early example of this was the agency SHIELD in the Marvel Comics of yesteryear. Yes, we rely on acronyms too much. How bad is the situation? It’s gotten to the point where we are now recycling old acronyms, for example POS, which stands for at least three different sets of words that I know of. Our lives are now full of FOMO because we don’t want to miss out on events like a BOGO sale. But hey, let’s face it, it’s not always WYSIWYG. If you don’t mind, I will take a pause RN. I don’t want to get too PO’d. I’ll BRB! Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 32 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
Local Mini-comics Are Where It’s At!
By Dan Brown It’s been a month since Free Comic Book Day. So the time is right to go over the freebies handed out at local comic stores like L.A. Mood on May 2 to put a spotlight on the ones that stand out. What really jumped out at me this year are the mini-comics from local creators, more on that in a moment. There were more than 40 titles in all, with something for members of every fandom. Such heroes as the Hulk, Spider-Man, Judge Dredd, Archie, the Thundercats and the Transformers show up. Publishers from Dark Horse to IDW to Image to Boom! are represented. Off the bat, I noticed how Titan Comics extended its streak for having the best cover of the FCBD lot, with the Scourge of the Serpent preview featuring a Roberto De La Torre rendering of everyone’s favourite barbarian, Conan, almost being swallowed by a giant snake. It’s a dynamic image and recalls the glory days of the Cimmerian over at Marvel, when he was drawn by John Buscema. And no surprise, Marvel put out a Fantastic Four sampler – the new FF movie, First Steps, comes out July 25, so expect lots more hype. The story concerns a group of bored teenage aliens who summon Marvel’s First Family by occult/scientific means. The Thing even gets to bellow, “It’s clobberin’ time!” but I’m not a fan of Johnny Storm’s handlebar moustache. (Nor Pedro Pascal’s, as regular readers of this column are aware.) There is a symbolic passing of the torch in I Hate Fairyland, with Byron illustrator Derek Laufman taking over art duties from Skottie Young. You can’t help but dig the four-page splash section Laufman supplies, including a glimpse at Hellicorn – his spoof of a certain demonic anti-hero. London/L.A. writer Sam Maggs is also part of the local contingent, handling script duties on Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins. The backup story is a Black Hammer prologue written by another Southwestern Ontario comic creator, Jeff Lemire. Now, about those mini-comics . . . They are not to be missed! Many of them were published by Kitchener’s Studio Comix. There’s a horror offering from Becka Kinzie titled Gehenna: Death Valley in which the characters recognize they are not acting wisely: “This is the stuff from horror movies! Stupid people doing stupid things!” one proclaims when they ignore warnings not to trespass In Wendy and the Sprite, Eric Olscvary sets himself the challenge of writing and drawing a comic about . . . a pile of snow. He more than rises to the occasion. Craig Ferguson and Alfonso Espinos offer readers a tale of the Night Spike, which has a Spy vs. Spy flavour and is also self-aware. At one point, after some back story is related, the Night Spike’s sidekick admits she embellished saying the duo had fought in the Secret Wars: “Well, I just said that to make the flashback a bit more dramatic!” I greatly enjoyed Scott Wojcik’s Cereal Box Time Machine, which tells the story of a trio of young siblings who get their hands on an all-powerful magic wand. They wish for a time machine – in the form of a cereal box – and are transported to a magical setting where they must rid a far-off land from a dragon who looks suspiciously like an overgrown version of their own cat. And I was utterly charmed by The Mini-Fridge Space Adventures from Roxy Reed Creations. It features a spaceship in the shape of a kitchen appliance with a penguin piloting the craft. The whole thing reminded me of Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot. It also appears the mini-fridge of the title is larger on the inside. Hey, if it worked for a police call box, then why not? Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 32 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
