The
Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) gathers together indie comic makers to display and sell their wares. It's like TIGSource, only with comics. TCAF is a massive comic festival (around 10,000 people attended last year) that takes place over two floors of the Toronto Reference Library.
It is not a typical comic event, it pulls a more diverse audience, emphasizes small press and independent creators (not super hero stuff!), and doesn't have vendors or any big press attending (that means no Marvel or DC). Also
ADMISSION IS TOTALLY FREE! Still bring money, because you'll want to buy comics (the prices are great). TCAF is where I first discovered a comic about
a robot that wears pants.
Veteran TOJammer
Benjamin Rivers will be selling several different graphic novels. I recommend "Empty Words" and "Snow". "Drop-In" (2009) by Toronto's own David Lapp (read
Children of the Atom)is a funny/perceptive/sad/great comic "documentary" about his experiences teaching young kids art in at-risk areas. If you like David Lynch, buy
Daniel Clowes' "Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron" (1998). It's just a matter of time before Cactus recommends it.
But that's not all... this year, TCAF invited the
Hand Eye Society along! We've gathered together a ragtag collection of hardened Toronto indies to show off their games including:
][ Games,
The Cat Whisperers,
GetSetGames,
Golden Gear,
NotSoftSpooky Powers,
Spooky Squid Games,
SpyeArt,
Untold Entertainment Inc.,
Bigpants (me)
Not to mention the
Torontron - the indie arcade cabinet.
If you're in Toronto, come by and play!
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