Event Recording: Charles Burns in conversation with Seth

Charles Burns was in Toronto on Thursday October 24, 2024 to help promote the debut of FINAL CUT, his newest book published in the Pantheon Graphic Library series. Released on September 26, the book is an omnibus of a story that was originally serialized in France over three volumes (from 2019-2023) under the title DÉDALES which translates into English as "Labyrinths". 

To support the hotly anticipated release of the North American English language version, renowned comics retailer The Beguiling organized a special book talk in an auditorium on the St. George Campus of the University of Toronto that featured Burns interviewed by local cartoonist Seth (himself one of The Beguiling's most famous supporters and clients).

Seth (left) in conversation with Charles Burns

I was lucky enough to have my travel stars align in order to attend this unique event and listen in on this conversation between two cartoonists whose work I've followed and admired since the early days of their careers. Though situated on opposite tail ends of the generation of post-underground cartoonists, what Burns and Seth have in common are highly-stylized individual graphic sensibilities that are informed by a genuine nostalgia for an American popular culture that was before their time. This served as the basis for a leisurely hour-long conversation that explored their artistic relationships with their inspirations, and how these influences fuse with their autobiographical tendencies to express their respective comics voice. One of the more enjoyable and interesting segments involved Burns recounting his first meeting with Art Spiegelman and the subsequent mentor role that he occupied in his artistic development during the RAW years.

Their conversation was framed with words of introduction by Peter Birkmoe, the owner extraordinaire of The Beguiling, and a brief Q&A session with the audience.

For IJOCA readers interested in listening to this talk, my recording can be found here. 

-Nick Nguyen

Recording and photos taken by Nick Nguyen

Seth and Charles Burns

Seth and Charles Burns