by: Raju Mudhar

Nov. 26, 2006. 01:00 AM, Toronto Star

At first glance, Degrassi, the inner workings of an anim convention, and the origins of the Hudson’s Bay Co. have little in common. But this afternoon, all three come together at a comic book signing at the Toronto Reference Library. Organized by stalwart local comics hub, The Beguiling, this second event offers material slightly outside the mainstream.

“Last year, we mixed a bunch of genres, like superheroes, some videogame-inspired stuff and even some manga, so the age range was a little bit wider. This year, we really wanted to do a young-adult focused event,” says The Beguiling manager Chris Butcher. “Our big thing is Canadian creators, especially local, and pumping their stuff. Well, it turns out the Degrassi books based on the Next Generation series are all being created by guys who live within five blocks of each other, and one guy out in Waterloo. We wanted to do an event for that book, and then we thought it made sense to widen it out,” Butcher adds.

Alongside the new Degrassi books and its many creators, including J. Torres and Ed Northcott, the event will feature Svetlana Chmakova, the creator of Dramacon, a manga-styled story of love that blooms at an anim event.