Just a quick post to share my favourite fan letter for STARGAZER!. You can find the series in better bookstores and comic shops world wide, including Amazon (volume 1 and volume 2)! You can also use the handy BookFinder site to help, too!
Hi everyone! I just wanted to share a free story! Titled "Sheba the Great!" this is a fun little 17 page romp. It's over at my main website at https://www.vonallan.com/2023/01/short-story-sheba-the-great.html. I hope you enjoy it! It was really fun to do! Oh, and it's also available in a few different formats (as a webcomic as well as a .cbz download).
Synopsis for Volume 1. The synopsis for Volume 2 can be found here.
The Midwest Book Review recently reviewed Volume Two and wrote the following:
"'Stargazer' is the second volume of graphic novels from Von Allan, following Elora and her two best friends Sophie and Marni as they journey to a tower, making friends with robots and other creatures who at first don't seem so friendly. Through friendship and their own creativity, they will have to see themselves back home for adventure and much more. A fine pick for younger readers who often have daydreams of their own, "Stargazer" is an excellent and much recommended pick, not to be overlooked."
The full review is over at http://midwestbookreview.com/sbw/jan_12.htm#Comix/GraphicNovel. You can also read their review of Volume 1 by visitng http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ibw/jul_10.htm#Comix/GraphicNovel
Marc Schuster recently reviewed each volume of Stargazer at Small Press Reviews. He writes:
"While Stargazer certainly evokes “little girl lost” tales a la Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, Allan puts a new twist on the formula by sending three friends into the mysterious realm on the other side of the proverbial looking glass. In so doing, he gives his characters the opportunity to come of age even as they bump up against the limits of their friendship. In this sense, the graphic novel is a spiritual and emotional cousin to Stephen King’s “The Body” in that it’s as much about growing up as it is about exploring the unknown.
Overall, Stargazer is an excellent graphic novel by an artist whose talent is only rivaled by his heart. Perfect for readers of all ages, particularly those with a love for the fantastic."
The full review is at http://smallpressreviews.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/stargazer-vols-1-and-2/
I have to say I'm pretty pleased with both of these!
Additional reviews from a wide variety of sources can be found at http://stargazer.vonallan.com/2010/05/reviews-for-stargazer.html.
Well, this is very nice! The GeekMom blog included Stargazer for their GeekMom 2011 Holiday Gift Guide. They wrote:
"Three girls are transported to a magical world by an amulet that one inherited from her grandmother. Not only is this an incredibly imaginative world well-rendered by Allan’s art but, at its core, it’s about the friendship between the girls in the face of adversity. There just aren’t enough girl friendship comics in the world and to find one that’s also a well-written fantasy is a real find."
Neat, huh?
You can see the list at http://www.geekmom.com/2011/12/geekmom-2011-holiday-gift-guide-3-books/
“Comics and graphic novels have appeared to skew toward older readers over the past twenty years or so,” said Allan. “While there's nothing really wrong with that, it's a shame there aren't more age-appropriate graphic novels for younger readers, especially when you consider the history of the medium. Characters like Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. all had a very diverse readership back in the 1930s and 1940s. Boys and girls embraced these characters in a way that rarely happens in today's publishing climate. I think that's a shame; when readers are not introduced to comics at a young age, it's much harder for them to embrace the medium as they grow older.”
“Comics and graphic novels are such a wonderful form of storytelling and I believe it's very important to reach out as much as possible to younger readers,” added Allan. “I think this situation is actually made worse by the lack of stories featuring girls as the main characters. While there are a strong female protagonists in young adult fiction, in comics this is far less prevalent. Part of the reason I wanted to create Stargazer is to challenge all of these norms. And I also wanted to try and show that just because a story may appeal to a younger reader certainly doesn't mean that it has to be dumbed down or otherwise simplified. People often forget that children can often handle subject matter that belies their age.”
Stargazer is the story of Marni, a young girl dealing with the recent death of her grandmother. That death has left Marni emotionally devastated and struggling to cope. Granny Hitchins was a wonderfully curious woman, responsible for giving her granddaughter a rich sense of imagination and adventure, as well as an old and mysterious "Artifact." While not a replacement, the Artifact is nonetheless a treasured memento for Marni after her grandmother's death. With the love and support of her two best friends, Sophie and Elora, and the magic of the Artifact to comfort her, Marni is just beginning to cope with the loss of her beloved grandmother when her life takes an abrupt and strange turn. While the girls are examining the Artifact on a backyard camping trip, the object suddenly takes on a life of its own, transporting the three friends and their tent to a strange and distant world. After summoning their courage, Marni, Sophie and Elora venture out to explore their alien surroundings, where they find a surreal world containing a robot, a mysterious far-off tower, and an illusive yet terrifying monster. Scared, yet buoyed by the stories and songs that they've heard while growing up, the three girls gather their meagre supplies and head out into the wilderness, determined to find a way home. A magical tale with the most unlikeliest of heroes, Stargazer is an exploration of friendship, loss, and hope. By turns terrifying, poignant, and humorous, Stargazer is part fairytale, part science fiction, and part adventure story.
Stargazer Volume One has an ISBN of 978-0-9781237-2-7, a suggested retail price of $14.95 US/$15.95 CDN and is 122 pages in length.
About Von Allan: Von Allan was born red-headed and freckled in Arnprior, Ontario, just in time for Star Wars: A New Hope. The single child of two loving but troubled parents, Von split most of his childhood between their two homes. Additional information about the graphic novel can be found at http://stargazer.vonallan.com
Contact:
Von Allan
P.O. Box 20520, 390 Rideau Street,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. K1N 1A3
Email: von@vonallan.com
Sample Images from the graphic novel (please click on each image to open larger versions):
Copies of Stargazer Volume 2 are making their way out to distributors and have started to show up in various stores, too.
I'm trying to stay on top of it and there's a "known" list of stores, both brick and mortar and online, carrying Stargazer available here. Or by clicking the "retailers" button above.
Mike Levin (of Unfolding fame) did an interview with me that's now online right here. An excerpt:
"That’s not to say that Stargazer is dense; in fact it’s just the opposite as Allan bounces among multi-aged readers. But it is a story with deep meaning if you want to go searching, something the novelist will ask from his next project: the idiosyncrasies of capitalism."
Also, Chuck O'Donnell from the New Jersey-based newspaper The Montclair Times wrote an article on all-ages comics and said some very nice things about Stargazer:
"'Stargazer' by Von Allan (Von Allan Studio): Although Marni, Sophie and Elora are transported to an alien world, Allan's realistic portrayal of young, female protagonists captures fleeting moments of the human condition: fear and joy, loss and hope."
Lastly, Christian Marcoux of Perspectives Vanier (a community newspaper in my neighbourhood) took the following photo to go with an article that will run in December. Neat, huh?
Reviews are now coming in for Stargazer Volume Two. I'm excerpting them below and I'll continue to do that as more come in. Curious about reviews for Volume One? Well then! Please click here to read 'em!
Reviews for Stargazer Volume Two:
Ain't It Cool News
"Allan is an accomplished writer; he captures the essence of coming-of-age without ever blatantly slapping the reader across the face with it...at the end of the day STARGAZER was written for children and I can’t recommend it enough for the most overlooked demographic out there.
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/51899#11
Small Press Reviews
Allan’s latest effort, Stargazer, explores similar themes but sees the writer/artist expanding his artistic palette to include strong elements of science fiction and fantasy–and succeeding wildly in his creation of an emotionally complex and touching imaginary realm.
http://smallpressreviews.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/stargazer-vols-1-and-2/
Comic Attack
"Most stories these days are written with certain boundaries. Some because of publishers and editors standing over a writer tapping them on the shoulder and shaking their heads back and forth. Some because they’re writing characters with an enormous amount of history that inhibits their creative ability. Such is not the case with Stargazer, and I for one applaud Von Allan for having not only the courage, but the vision to put this wonderful story out there!"
http://comicattack.net/2011/10/stargazer2/
Nilskidoo
"This is a tale of children merely playing, on one hand, but also a tale of children finding in fantasy a thing as terrifying as anything the real world could ever manage to offer. In the metaphorical convergence of reality with childhood fantasy, the reader is shown in finite form a story where the threshold into the adult world is fully breached, with no turning back, even if the cost is the exchanging of realities for the promise of love. What an insightful message to see exampled in an all-ages, family-friendly comic book. But don't let that lofty attempt at a description bog down the potential reader. This is absolutely fun and original stuff, to be sure, and I promise you will be zealously frustrated at reaching the story's end."
http://nilskidoo.blogspot.com/2011/09/stargazer-2.html
Montclair Times
"Although Marni, Sophie and Elora are transported to an alien world, Allan's realistic portrayal of young, female protagonists captures fleeting moments of the human condition: fear and joy, loss and hope."
http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/130365393_Who_created_the_EscapeGoat_.html?page=all
Reviews for Stargazer Volume One:
From the Midwest Book Review
"Stargazer Volume One is a black-and-white graphic novel following three girls stranded on a faraway alien world. Young Marni has recently lost her grandmother, with whom she was very close. Her grandmother had also bequeathed a mysterious "Artifact" upon her - and it is this object that transports Marni and her friends, Sophie and Elora, far away from any home they have ever known. The three girls must pool their courage and resources to learn more about this unreal new world, and the strange things within it - a robot, a faraway tower, and an unknown monster hidden in shadows. Stargazer is a story of wonder, exploration, determination, and inward as well as outward challenge, and is highly recommended for readers of all ages."
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ibw/jul_10.htm#Comix/GraphicNovel
(Cult)ure Magazine
"Although the underlying issue is about a young girl named Marni, who is dealing with the recent death of her grandmother, the story takes a twist when an artifact she inherited from her grandmother transports her and two of her friends, Sophie and Elora, to a different world. After gathering their courage, they set out to explore their new alien surroundings in hopes of finding a way home.
Although the theme of Marni's loss is what sets the pace for the story, it is quickly overshadowed by the strange world she and her friends are transported to. Allen's depiction of the three girls is very true to how three pre-teen girls generally behave: silly, brave, part-woman, part-child, and not quite sure which category they fall under yet. Even though the story is set in an alternate world with very fantastical settings and creatures, Allen has done an excellent job of showing his characters in an everyday struggle to determine how much independence they possess, and that, despite their young age and distance from authority figures, these young girls are trying out their own judgment and courage for the very first time."
http://culturemagazine.ca/books/second_time_around_a_surreal_delight.html
Canister X
"This is my first exposure to Von Allan’s work aside from what I’ve seen on his website (which I think I found while Googling Canadian cartoonists). I’m very pleased and Stargazer was better than I anticipated.
The writing: very solid. Allan’s pacing is spot on and his delivery of information is succinct and gets you from point A to B without any clutter. I was very impressed with how he was able to convey what are very detailed story points, characters and the world they inhabit without him over-explaining everything. His word choice and placement does the work for you and tells you what you need to know when you need to know it.
The art: Lately I’ve been falling in love with black-and-white comic books and Stargazer further convinced me that the black-and-white comic book medium is an arena that needs to be explored by comic book enthusiasts everywhere. Von Allan’s artwork is natural, shaded well, inked clearly and is detailed enough so you know what you’re looking at, without you getting lost in endless black lines. His proportions are bang on and regardless of the camera angle chosen, each scene unfolds smoothly and easily."
http://canisterx.com/?p=1806
From Zedura
"With shades of both J.M. Barrie and C.S. Lewis, Stargazer is a coming of age adventure. Specifically, set in the waning seasons of adolescence for a trio of young girls, this science-fantasy tale both realistically and imaginatively expresses the yearnings every human being on the planet feels for an escape from the harshness of this tiresome old real world.
Having previously read and reviewed (and loved) Von Allan’s debut original graphic novel, The Road To God Knows, I thought I’d have a better idea of what to expect here. In fact. even having been able to spy some of the earlier work in progress, this finished work really left its mark on me. Von is a brilliant writer, in the sense that while many writers might be honored with the compliment of possessing an ear for dialogue, this man seriously, truly, does. As such, each and every one of his characters is wonderfully portrayed so realistically that it’s easy to find comparisons to real persons that any of us might know, might even be or have been ourselves. And this story, thankfully but an opening chapter to a larger work (hefty though this book is), exhibits a fantastic scope of vision. While fictional settings such as Never Land and Narnia, or Wonderland and Oz, have worked so successfully in capturing the minds of readers over the years is because they all appeal to multiple levels of cognition. Young readers can easily find aspects to enjoy and so take to heart, and equally, older readers as well can find aspects to take to heart and so enjoy. What Von is building here- accomplishes the same thing. Still, a part of me solemnly wishes this book had been around when I myself was the age of the protagonists of the piece, Marni, Sophie, and Elora.
Von’s art has grown as well, since his last book. His storytelling has always been on the nose, but his attention to details has somehow found a way to expand. While the mundane real life things such as houses and cars are now all the more compass and protractor sharp, the fantastical elements of the story easily show a designed grace that are completely undistracting. Everything works here, everything given obvious forethought and arranged like puzzle pieces slowly unifying, increasingly hinting at the larger picture to come. He is a king of facial expressions, too, so watch out, Kevin Maguire and Adam Hughes.
While this is only Volume One, this is a rather sizable book unto itself, loaded as well with pages and pages of bonus content, from detailed notes describing Von’s writing process, to character designs and sketch pages, even extra pin-ups and the like. Really, it all serves as a painful teaser of the many places the story of Stargazer might deign to lead. This is a fun story at that, with colorful characters, even in light of the darkness implied therein to their respective backstories. One of those books that is not so easily compared to others, Stargazer will make the ideal book for drawing in new readers to the medium, and will easily and competently do so while entertaining those of us older readers desperate for something original and knowing. Layered writing, when done well, writes down to nobody. And Von Allan has instilled his Stargazer with enough layers to appeal to anyone who gives it a chance. So please, give it a chance and be so appealed."
http://www.zedura.com/?p=306
From Panels on Pages
"The story itself is great, mind you. Marni is suffering from the loss of her grandmother, who may also have been her best friend. After a few pages of her parents own stumbling efforts to deal with the inherent grief, Marni’s dad suggests she invite friends Elora and Sophie over for a camp out. It’s a great set up and the dialog between the girls is a perfect blend of whimsy and wisdom beyond their years...Once they’ve been transported to the mystical world in which the latter half of the issue takes place, the girls’ voices continue to ring true - mixing apprehension with a thirst for adventure. The girls may seem to come around to their new surrounding a bit too quickly, but their unease at not knowing where they are or how to get home resurfaces throughout the tale. It reminds us of how easily children can become wrapped up in the moment and forget the more pressing issues that may trouble them."
http://panelsonpages.com/?p=29906
Comic Attack
"This book is definitely something that should be on the radar of parents out there that are looking for something innocuous. The book isn’t just for kids, though. When read, it took me back to the days of my youth when everything including life itself was much more simplistic. Definitely give Von Allan’s Stargazer a look for yourself, or anyone needing a great gift for the holidays! Again, kudos to Von Allan and his smooth style of writing a simple story in a world where it seems everything is interweaving like a spiderweb and sometimes too hard to follow. Let’s face it, a story doesn’t need to span a lifetime or contain forty different characters to be good."
http://comicattack.net/2010/11/stargazer-gn/
BW Media Spotlight
"The back cover describes the book as “part fairytale, part science fiction, and part adventure story”. It is indeed all three, and very well told. This first GN is set-up, allowing you to get to know the girls and become attached to them. Then you visit the strange world and get a robot. The teaser for the next volume seems to indicate Marni will have to fight an evil force and the cover indicates another local will join them. Von Allan creates a believable world (two, in fact) both in story and in the look.
As a bonus you get to see some behind-the-scenes of the book, from early art to the brainstorming process as to how he created the three-part graphic novel tale. I don’t know how the next two parts will come out, but I can easily recommend part one for the curious fantasy fan, young girls, or anyone who likes a decent story. It’s not a “girly book”, but it is a good book about girls coping with death and an unusual situation. I’m looking forward to volume two."
http://bwmedia.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/todays-comic-stargazer-volume-1/
Optical Sloth
"Anyway, this book deals with a young girl who is very distraught about the recent death of her grandmother. The early moments of the book are all about this and the family dynamic that comes from it, but don’t worry, that title comes into effect before too long. Marni (the main character) eventually has a sleepover with friends, they end up camping in the backyard and eat too much pizza… then things get weird. Marni has inherited an odd artifact from her grandma, and they’re all poking around at it when something flashes and they find themselves in a strange land. Oh, and the artifact is gone. The rest of the book is essentially them trying to get acclimated to this new place, as they find an old statue, a tiny robot guy, a boat and a few other things I probably shouldn’t get into. To top it all off Von has decided to put his notes in the back, so we get to see his thought process for how this would all eventually play out. He did take out the spoilers for future volumes, but I still skipped over most of it because I don’t want anything ruined and I’m a big enough dork to go back and read those notes after the series is finished anyway. I liked it overall, as it has a ton of potential, but this is still very much the early days of this saga. Well, I’m hopeful that it ends up being a saga, but you never know with comic finances the way they are. One quibble is that the characters had a tendency to stutter to convey seemingly any emotion, as the mourners at the funeral were all about stuttering, then the kids were all about it whenever they ran into anything odd in the new world. That can be conveyed just as easily by a facial expression, says the guy who couldn’t draw a realistic person if his life depended on it. Like a said, a mere quibble, and it should in no way be meant to indicate a lack of overall quality. The art is amazing (although I’m thinking future volumes will give Von more of a chance to flex his artistic muscles), the writing was excellent overall and I can’t wait to see what happens next, so that sure sounds like a success to me."
http://www.opticalsloth.com/?p=17773
Kids Read Comics
Stargazer from Von Allen is a great sci-fi epic for young readers that features great art and girl friendly adventure.
http://twitter.com/krcomics/statuses/20196999450075136
I also received one of the nicest reviews I ever received from a young third grade girl at a school in Florida. If you'd like to read her thoughts on Stargazer, please visit http://stargazer.vonallan.com/2010/09/wonderful-review-of-stargazer.html
Yes, here I am sitting with the proof copy of Stargazer Volume 2. Very, very neat to be holding it. While it's not out until October 12th, there is a 36 page sample of volume 2 available in the Previews section of this website. Please give it a read and let me know what you think, ok?
And here's the final cover including the spine and back cover text for Stargazer Volume Two. Almost there!
Stargazer Volume 2 will be arriving in stores in mid-October. Still quite a bit to do before then, but I'm very pleased to say that everything is finished now. All pages penciled and inked and I just finished touch-ups to the lettering. I still need to put the book together and get the bound proof copies, but that should be happening over the next few weeks. The ISBN has also been secured (it's 978-0-9781237-4-1). Slowly but surely it's coming together and I've now got a mock-up of the cover for volume two now:
The second part of the interview I did with Richard Caldwell is now up on the Poplitiko website:
http://poplitiko.blogspot.com/2011/01/americanauts-von-allan-pt-2-of-2.html
It's a wide-ranging interview where we discuss the Direct Market, comic book stores, readership, and (of course!) Stargazer. A sample:
"Choosing girls and young women as the protagonists wasn't something that I really aimed for. It just sort of flowed, one decision leading to another. I chose to make Marie, the main character in “the road to god knows...,” female because I didn't want the story to be too autobiographical. If she had been a boy it would have been far clearer that I was talking about myself. I wanted to distance myself from that and force myself to explore her as her own character and not just a stand in for me. As I started chewing over the story that became “Stargazer,” I hit upon the idea of echoing some of the themes in “road.” Marie's struggle is really one of letting go. She realizes that she can't “save” her mom or somehow solve her mom's problems. “Stargazer” tackles the same “letting go” issue as Marni struggles to cope with her granny's death. I don't want to reveal too much of the plot, but it's no accident than Marie and Marrni share similar names and similar genders. Making Marni a young girl meant that her friends were going to be girls, too, mainly because of my own experiences with how genders don't mix all that much at that age. Added into that was the idea that I couldn't think of that many fantasy stories that dealt with younger girls as the protagonists. Even blockbusters like “Harry Potter” focus on boys and I thought it would be interesting to turn that on its head and go in a different direction character-wise."
Part One can be found at http://poplitiko.blogspot.com/2011/01/americanauts-von-allan-pt-1-of-2.html
What's especially neat is a number of Ottawa authors have been shortlisted in various categories, including Marie Bilodeau (for "Destiny's Blood," Best English Novel), Matt Moore (for "Touch the Sky, They Say," Best English Short Story) and Hayden Trenholm (for "Stealing Home," Best English Novel and "The Burden of Fire," Best English Short Story).
A full list of the various categories and nominated authors, artists, and titles can be found on the Prix Aurora Award website at http://www.prix-aurora-awards.ca/wordpress/
The Concordian, one of Concordia University's student newspapers, posted a lovely review of Stargazer.
From the review:
"Stargazer begins with the funeral of Granny Hitchins, Marni’s grandmother and co-conspirator in endless imaginary adventures of afternoons past. Sensing their daughter’s grief, Marni’s parents decide to pass on a small worn sculpture known as the Artifact which belonged to Granny Hitchins, so that Marni can hold onto a memento. The origins of the Artifact are not exactly clear, but it had become a key ingredient to the imaginary adventures shared between Marni and her grandmother.
Now in possession of the Artifact, Marni hosts a sleepover with her two best friends, Sophie and Elora. After the appropriate pizza binge ends, the girls head out to their tent in the backyard. Inside, they begin talking about mementoes and memories when suddenly a burst of light comes from the Artifact."
More at http://theconcordian.com/2011/03/29/loss-and-learning-in-a-strange-and-distant-world/
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