Tip sheet for Li'l Kids by Von Allan
Synopsis:
Li’l Kids is a short story collection (in graphic novel form) featuring a young girl named Marie. Each story focuses on an element of Marie’s life, from meeting a new friend to her burgeoning awareness of her mom’s mental illness. While this later theme is explored fully in the forthcoming graphic novel the road to god knows…, Marie is only 8 years old at the time of these three stories. As a result, she is only just beginning to be aware of the world around her and her place in it.
Each story stands on its own but, when taken together, they demonstrate that childhood, like most aspects of life, can have its ups and downs. Being a child can be fun, scary, and magical; but sometimes the things that seem very little at the time can have a profound effect on you later on in life. That’s certainly true for Marie and her experiences in these stories help bear that out. Later, in the road to god knows…, we see just how significant some of those events can be.
Sales Pitch:
Best friends. Fantastic dreams. A solitary old crow. These are snapshots from a young girl’s life.
Cover:
Publishing Specs:
- ISBN: 978-0-9781237-1-0
- 88 pages
- Release Date: 2008
- Trim Size: 11.0" x 8.2" x 0.2"
- Weight: 0.486 lb.
- Suggested Retail Price: $13.95 US
- Art: black and white with grey watercolour washes
- Extras: concept art, thumbnail sketches, concept writing and complete scripts
Features and Selling Points:
- An original graphic novel
- Will appeal to readers of Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise (Abstract Studio, $11.95 US, ISBN: 1-892597-00-4), Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World (Fantagraphics Books, $11.95 US, ISBN: 1-56097-427-3), Judd Winnick’s Pedro and Me (Henry Holt, $22.95 US, ISBN: 0-8050-6403-6) and Bryan Talbot’s The Tale of One Bad Rat (Dark Horse Comics, $14.95 US, ISBN: 1-56971-077-5)
- The story deals with mental illness in a straightforward and convincing way
- The art features hand painted grey washes to go with the hand drawn black and white art
- Each of the three short stories is unique: Fast Friends focuses on friendship, Brawl is a dream sequence, and The Old Crow focuses on themes of poverty and mental illness
- Promotional website at http://www.vonallan.com
- Monthly ad began appearing Project: Wonderful’s ad server in July of 2008 (http://www.projectwonderful.com)
- Convention appearances (including Small Press Expo (September 2005 & October 2006) and the Alternative Press Expo (April 2006 & April 2007)). In addition, a free 300 copy ashcan of the short story Fast Friends was distributed at the Alternative Press Expo’s 2007 edition.
- Gallery showing of early pages at Rasputin’s Folk Café in Ottawa, Ontario in July 2006, at the Parkdale Gallery in December 2007, and Ristorante La Dolce Vita in May 2008.
- Each story was initially serialized online at various websites (including the popular webcomics portal Webcomics Nation (http://www.webcomicsnation.com))
- The entire 88 page book was also distributed as a
free downloadable PDF eBook on Von Allan Studio’s homepage
(http://www.vonallan.com/shop.html). In addition, the book
was released as a torrent file for download at LegalTorrents.com
(http://beta.legaltorrents.com/torrents/191-lil-kids)
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 and, consequently, spent a lot of time in the worlds of comics and wrestling. He managed an independent bookstore in Ottawa for many years, all the while working on story ideas in his spare time-- eventually, he decided to make the leap to a creative life, and both Li’l Kids and the road to god knows… (a forthcoming graphic novel) were the result.
Von currently lives in Ottawa, Canada, with his writer/editor geek wife, Moggy; a husky dog, Rowen; and two feisty cats, Bonny and Reilly.
Von's Twitter Feed
Von Allan
c/o Von Allan Studio
P.O. Box 20520
390 Rideau Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. K1N 1A3
Email: von(at)vonallan(dot)com
Von Allan's art & writing by is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
Based on work at www.vonallan.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.vonallan.com.
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