TORONTO STAR'S PEOPLE TO WATCH IN 2014: Jeff Lemire brings Justice League to Canada

I've been featured in today's Toronto Star as one of the "People to Watch in 2014". The article includes a new interview and some new details about my upcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA project for DC Comics. The new Justice League series launches in April and will be drawn by the amazing Mike McKone. More details will be announced very soon...

In addition, Tom Spurgeon at The Comic's Reporter has another new interview with me up on his blog.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

SWEET TOOTH and TRILLIUM ORIGINAL ART ON SALE!

My original artwork from Sweet Tooth, Trillium as well as a few smaller projects is now available through CADENCE COMIC ART and many pieces are on sale for the holiday season.

Click here to visit the site and browse the artwork.

 

Simon & Schuster acquires new graphic novel Jeff Lemire

Simon & Schuster acquires new graphic novel from New York Times bestselling author Jeff Lemire

New York, NY, Toronto, Ontario—October 10, 2013—Jeff Lemire, the award-winning, New York Times–bestselling author of Essex County and The Underwater Welder, will publish Roughneck, a new graphic novel, with Simon & Schuster and Simon & Schuster Canada, it was announced today. This literary graphic novel follows the story of a former hockey player forced to face his demons and reconnect with his Cree heritage when his troubled sister comes running home to the remote northern town where he now lives. Roughneck will be published in 2015.

Derek is a former hockey tough guy whose quick rise to the NHL was cut short when a brutal on-ice incident left him banned from professional hockey for life. Now, four years later, Derek has returned to Black River, his hometown in Northern Ontario, not far from the Moose Cree First Nation, where his mother grew up. Derek’s slide into alcoholism and depression is interrupted when his long-lost sister, Annie, returns home trailing a violent ex-boyfriend. Together, the two escape to the woods, where they struggle to reconnect with the traditions of their Cree ancestors in order to escape their past and gain redemption.

Brit Hvide of Simon & Schuster acquired world English rights from Charlie Olsen of Inkwell Management.

Ms. Hvide commented, “We’re absolutely honoured to be publishing Roughneck. It’s a story about cycles—the way patterns, memories, and people return to us, again and again, whether we want them to or not. Jeff is one of those unique storytellers whose books speak to readers across all genres, and we think that Roughneck will be his finest work yet.”

Kevin Hanson, Publisher of Simon & Schuster Canada, commented, “We are thrilled to add Jeff to our emerging list.  His graphic novels are inspiringly original and explore ideas that are deeply Canadian.”

Jeff Lemire is the New York Times-bestselling creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, and The Underwater Welder and the sci-fi love story Trillium. Jeff is also a prominent writer for DC Comics, where he currently writes the monthly adventures of Green Arrow and Justice League of America. He has also written the monthly adventures of Superboy, Animal Man, and The Atom, among many others. In 2008 and 2013, Jeff won the Shuster Award for Best Canadian Cartoonist. He has also received The Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent and the American Library Association’s prestigious Alex Award, recognizing books for adults with specific teen appeal. He has also been nominated for 7 Eisner awards, 7 Harvey Awards, and 8 Shuster Awards. In 2010, Essex County was named as one of the five Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade by the CBC. He currently lives and works in Toronto with his wife and son.

NELVANA of the NORTHER LIGHTS KICKSTARTER

Toronto, ON – Two Toronto-based comic book historians, Hope Nicholson and Rachel Richey, will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to reprint Nelvana of the Northern Lights in its entirety. The campaign commences October 1^st, 2013 and concludes on October 31^st, 2013.

During WWII, the Canadian government banned the import of US made luxury goods. Bereft of Superman and Batman comic books, Canadian publishers rushed to fill the void, creating hundreds of original comic book characters. Nelvana of the Northern Lights, created by Adrian Dingle, was the best-known of this era, responsible for selling millions of comic books across the country. Nelvana was an Inuit goddess in a miniskirt brought to earth to protect Canada from the Axis powers and outer-space invaders. She’s one of the world’s first superheroines, predating the better-known Wonder Woman by four months.

After WWII, none of these comic books has since been seen by the public.

The campaign is supported by the contributions of internationally-renowned local artists including:

• Ramón Pérez (Tale of Sand, Wolverine and the X-Men)
• Francis Manapul (Witchblade, The Flash)
• Jeff Lemire (Essex County, Sweet Tooth)
• Ray Fawkes (One Soul, Constantine)
• J. Bone (Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Super Friends)
• Marco Rudy (Swamp Thing, Spider-man: Marvel Knights)
• Kalman Andrasofszky (Captain Canuck, X-23)

Nelvana of the Northern Lights will be reprinted with the permission of the copyright holders, Corus Entertainment and the National Archives of Canada.

About Hope Nicholson and Rachel Richey :

Hope Nicholson and Rachel Richey are comic book historians who participate in international fan and academic conventions to promote Canada’s comic book legacy. They are currently involved in the research and production of Lost Heroes, a documentary on Canadian comic history set to air on Superchannel in Fall 2013, directed by Orphan Black writer/producer Will Pascoe.

Rachel has worked closely on the John Bell Collection of Canadian Comics at Library and Archives Canada, and documents Canadian comic books for the blogs Sequential and Comicsyrup.

Green Arrow: THE OUTSIDER WAR is coming!

Starting in December, everything Andrea Sorrentino and I have been building towards in Green Arrow comes to a head with the huge storyline, THE OUTSIDER WAR. If you haven't been reading Green Arrow, next months Issue 24 is written as a jumping on point and sets the stage for The Outsider War, so make sure to reserve a copy from you're local comic shop!

Details below...

GREEN ARROW #26
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art and cover by ANDREA SORRENTINO
1:25 B&W Variant cover by ANDREA SORRENTINO
On sale DECEMBER 4 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

“THE OUTSIDERS WAR” begins here! Oliver Queen finally knows the location of the Outsiders’ base, but first he must return to the place where Green Arrow was born: The Island! Secrets are revealed, new villains introduced, and a mind-blowing final page kicks off this new storyline with a bang!

JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA Is Coming in 2014!

At this weekend's FAN EXPO Canada THE TORONTO STAR  announced that I will be taking the reigns as writer of DC Comic's Justice League of America title this Spring with the brilliant Mike McKone joining me as the books artist.

I was also on CANADA AM this morning on CTV discussing the project...

We're not revealing the full roster of the new Justice League team yet, except for one of my all time favourite DC characters ADAM STRANGE!  Adam will finally appear in the New 52 DCU and he will be a Canadian! Mike McKone and I will also be creating a brand new Canadian character for the team during the Justice League Canada arc.

Aside form Adam Strange the rest of the roster will be made up of my dream team of DC characters. A few of these characters are members of the current team, but many have never been in a Justice League before (note, the cover image above was just a mock-up for the announcement and not representative of the actual team).

Obviously I'm pretty excited about the gig, and the most exciting thing of all is that we will be changing the book's title to JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA for our first story-arc before the book permanently changes into something else...something bigger...so stay tuned!