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  January 18, 2007 | 15 Minutes « Previous | Current | Next » Comments (0) | Archives | About Email lind at lindtoons.com

Even with the return of windchill factors, I hope Canadians will keep our politicians in the hot seat and insist on real measures to alleviate global warming. This begins a series of four cartoons that will deal with this issue from a personal side -- and will have great ramifications for Weltschmerz. Stay tuned.


10 Years Ago This Week: January 23, 1997
mbanx ads were everywhere at the outset of 1997. Now defunct, it was the Bank of Montreal's first foray into virtual banking. The fact that Bob Dylan allowed his song, "The Times They Are a-Changin'," to sell a bank was a matter of some controversy. At the same time, Ontario Premier Mike Harris' plan to amalgamate all the boroughs of Toronto into one megacity was generating heated debate -- which he was, in turn, trying to stifle. The below cartoon used the feel-good imagery of the mbanx ad campaign (a native girl on a swing; a boy with his hand to his ear in a field) in an ad that promotes Harris' monolithic mcity. "Maybe it's time for a new relationship with your city."



I just checked through my files, and low-and-behold, I still have some copies of the mbanx print ads, which included a hefty colour four-page insert. Set in the then-futuristic font, Matrix, these ads seem almost quaint now. I found them irritatingly smarmy at the time. Note how prominent the phone number is, while the URL is almost buried -- odd for a pioneer in Internet banking. The wired revolution was still in vitro.






Retailers for Attack of the Same-Sex Sleeper Cells:

Toronto:
Pages, 256 Queen Street West (at John).
The Beguiling, 601 Markham Street (near Bloor and Bathurst)
Book City, three locations - 501 Bloor St. West, 348 Danforth Ave., 663 Yonge St.
Hairy Tarantula, 354 Yonge Street (near Dundas).

Guelph:
The Bookshelf, 41 Quebec Street.
Macondo Books, 18 Wilson Street

Waterloo: Words Worth Books, 100 King Street South

Kitchener: KW Bookstore, 308 King Street West

Hamilton: Bryan Prince Bookseller, 1060 King Street West



  Elsewhere

Lindtoons

You can see a more extensive portfolio of my work at the blog lindtoons.com, including This Bright Future, a distilled and partial continuation of Weltschmerz, Turtle Creek, a daily comic about a turtle and a computer, and Footprint in Mouth, a quarterly cartoon I draw for Alternatives.

Weltschmerz in Print

Weltschmerz ran in Toronto's Eye Weekly from 1997 to 2007. It ran in weekly papers in southwestern Ontario, Ottawa and Edmonton between 1995 and 2008.

Notes on Writing a Comic Strip

I wrote this 17-page, 4 MB PDF document for my workshop at the 2006 Eden Mills Writers' Festival. It details the creation of one strip and gives tips on writing comics.

Politics and Environment

Monbiot | Guardian columnist and Heat author George Monbiot's blog. Not only about global warming, but expect plenty of refutations of the flat-earthers. His writing is witty, incisive and bang-on.

Desmog Blog | An indispensible (and Canadian) resource that "clears the PR pollution that clouds climate science."

Soundtrack

Weltschmerz playlist at CBC Radio 3 | Some of the music I listen to while drawing this comic -- independent and Canadian.

This American Life | Radio documentaries that hit the heart, brain and funny bone.

CBC Podcasts | I don't listen to much live radio. Now, podcasts allow me to catch a lot of what I miss. I listen to The Current, Ideas, Spark and Search Engine while inking.

Comics

Diesel Sweeties by R Stevens | Witty repartee between guys, girls and robots drawn in a pixelated yet surprisingly versatile style.

Scott Pilgrim Manga-style indie-rock romance by Canadian Bryan Lee O'Malley | The most fun I've had in a comic book in recent memory. Highly recommended.

Dykes to Watch Out For | Alison Bechdel's brilliant weekly strip has been ghettoized because of its gay themes but deserves a wider readership.

Doonesbury | Garry Trudeau is still great after all these years.

Kevin Heuzenga | Enviable drawing style and dry wit. Start with Time Travelling.

Graeme MacKay | The editorial cartoonist for the Hamilton Spectator has a distinctive, addictive drawing style. And he makes me chortle.

Friends and Neighbours

Blog Guelph | Hometown photos and events.

The Narrative | Riveting photoblog. Matt O'Sullivan is at the right place at the right shutter speed.

Breast of Canada | A calendar promoting women's health.


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